The Assignment:

Pro-slavery and Indian Removal advocates argued that their position on these issues were rational extensions of economic development practices in keeping with the spirit of the Market Revolution. Their beliefs led them to justify slavery and Indian Removal as ways of securing greater political freedom and economic independence for themselves. Using evidence from the sources listed below, respond to the following question:

What were the arguments that advocates of Indian Removal and Pro-slavery ideologues used to justify their positions, and how would Frederick Douglass have responded to their arguments?

Here are some approaches that may be helpful in developing your thesis. These are suggestions only. Feel free to follow your own lines of inquiry.

1. Compare and contrast the arguments for Indian removal and slavery. What are the recurring themes?

2. In the views of nineteenth century white Americans, how does race affect one’s ability to achieve political freedom and economic independence?

3. According to advocates for slavery and Indian removal, are there ways in which abolition of slavery and the presence of sovereign Indian nations within American states threaten political freedom and economic independence for white Americans?

4. Why and how did anti-removal and anti-slavery activists oppose Indian removal and slavery?

5. Why did white people consider slavery the best possible fate for black people and removal the best possible fate for Indian people?

6. How did Native Americans and enslaved people respond to Indian Removal and Slavery?

The Sources: Your essay must draw evidence from ALL of the following required sources. You may also use the listed sources designated as optional. This assignment is meant to provide you with an opportunity to showcase your analytical and writing skills rather than your research skills. All readings are available on Blackboard in this folder. Do not use any outside sources.

          

Required Sources: These must ALL be used in your paper! This does not mean to drop a quote from each into your paper, but the argument you make should engage the arguments they contain in a meaningful way.

• Excerpts from Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, (Proslavery Ideology Readings, Blackboard)

• Lewis Cass, Removal of the Indians, January 1830 (Cherokee Removal Reading, Blackboard)

• Andrew Jackson, State of the Union Address 1830 (Cherokee Removal Reading, Blackboard)

• United States Supreme Court Worcester v. Georgia (Cherokee Removal Reading Blackboard)

• Hinton Rowan Helper, excerpts from The Impending Crisis of the South (1857), (Proslavery Ideology Readings, Blackboard)

• James Henry Hammond, excerpts from “Letter to an English Abolitionist,” (1845), (Proslavery Ideology Readings, Blackboard)

• George Fitzhugh, excerpts from Sociology for the South, or the Failure Of Free Society, 1854 (Proslavery Ideology Readings, Blackboard)

• George Fitzhugh, excerpts from Cannibals All!, or Slaves without Masters, 1857, (Proslavery Ideology Readings, Blackboard)

• Bennet Barrow, “Plantation Rules.” (Proslavery Ideology Readings, Blackboard)

Additional Requirements:

Formatting: Your essay must be an MS Word document. Do not use Apple Pages, Google Docs, or PDFs!! Your essay must be double-spaced, written in 12 point Times New Roman font, and have 1-inch margins.

Citations:

You do not need a bibliography or “works cited” page since everyone is using the same sources. However, you must cite any material drawn from the sources. You must, of course, cite all direct quotes, and you must also cite paraphrased examples. A good rule to follow is—if the information in your paper wasn’t in your head before you started the assignment or cannot be found in your textbook—you need to cite it. Important: Papers without citations will receive no credit.

Use simple parenthetical citations at the end of sentences. Follow these examples:

• Hugh Montgomery suggested that if Governor Gilmer provided money to “pay for

Improvements,” then many Cherokees would voluntarily remove. (Montgomery,

3).

• James Henry Hammond insisted that slavery was “especially commanded by

God through Moses.” (Hammond, Letter, 264).

• George Fitzhugh claimed that liberty and equality with our white population has

been approached much nearer than in the free States.” (Fitzhugh, Sociology, 4).

• George Fitzhugh congratulated the many southern authors who had joined him

arguing that slavery was a “normal and natural institution.” (Fitzhugh, Cannibals, 1).

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Some additional writing advice: Substance, Structure, and Style

Substance – Your thesis, supporting claims, and evidence are the most important parts of your essay, therefore they will weigh heavily in determining your grade. What is the point, AKA the thesis, of your paper? You should state it in a single sentence. On what evidence do you base this thesis?

• “Evidence” can and often does mean dropping quotes from primary documents into your essay. Keep your quotes brief—never more than three lines.

1. Do not use block quotes in this paper.

2. Do not use quotes to “write” your paper.

3. Use quotes like salt—just a little to add flavor!

• Structure – Your introductory paragraph, your presentation of supporting claims and evidence in successive paragraphs, and your concluding paragraph comprise the structure of your paper. Strive for clear organization and a logical flow. Writing from an outline will help.

• Style – Be Brief. Be Clear. Make it sound good.

o Brevity – State your thesis, claims, and supporting evidence succinctly.

Avoid florid or obfuscatory language in an attempt to sound smart or disguise your lack of insight. Avoid any overly general or extraneous material.

o Clarity – Write plainly!! Use concrete, specific language and examples to make your point. If your writing is vague, awkward, or unclear, you have probably failed to communicate your point. Students frequently assume that I will somehow know what they meant despite awkwardly phrased prose. Be clear.

o Euphony – Make it sound good. Read your drafts aloud. Your ear will pick up awkward sentences, paragraphs and sentences that are too long, and those that are unclear. You will notice any long, extraneous sequences that lack evidence or fail to present a claim.

Academic Honesty: Academic dishonesty for the purposes of this course includes cheating, fabricating or falsifying information or sources, collaboration not specifically authorized by the instructor, submitting the same paper for different classes without permission, and plagiarism. Plagiarism occurs when writers deliberately or unintentionally use, purchase, commission, or paraphrase closely another person’s language, ideas, or materials and present them as their own without properly acknowledging and citing the source. For the purposes of this paper use of outside sources will also constitute a violation of academic integrity.

Penalties for Plagiarism: Any student found in violation of the above will receive a zero on the assignment and will be reported to the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs. Academic dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated and violations will be reported in accordance with this policy.