Choose one question from the list below and respond. Identify to which question you are responding. Submit your 2-3 page response to the Discussion Area. Remember to use supporting citations from the textbook and online lectures. (Here is a guide to help you with APA-style citations.) By the end of the week, please comment substantively on two or more classmates’ assignments and to any questions left to you by the instructor in his or her feedback. Leave comments that raise salient points and stimulate discussion. Focus on the topic and its historical context. Be respectful, helpful, clear, and concise. Always utilize constructive language, even in criticism, to work toward the goal of further learning.
Question 1:
Discuss the various issues confronting the nation in the 1850s that so inflamed the passions of people in both the North and the South such that peaceful compromise became less and less a possibility in the election of 1860. Do you ever foresee a time when America might reach a similar impasse that could lead to another Civil War? What issues would likely create this situation?
Question 2:
In the eyes of many historians, Reconstruction failed. Explain your view on this question using specific information to support your position.