History Exam Memorization Flashcards
Argue for or against states’ rights as the primary cause of the Civil War.
Thesis: States’ rights were the primary cause of the Civil War, because the differences between the north and south and government regulation of slavery were what caused the Civil War.
Point 1: The North and South were vastly different territories, with different economies and ideas about the future. This created a lot of tension between the two states.
North has factories, South has cotton farms North is industrialized, and the south was holding on to farm and rural life
Point 2: The North and South had different views on slavery, and the government regulated slavery, and the south took it as an attack upon their liberties and rights
Point 3: States rights were the rallying cry of the South, so many believed that slavery was a state’s right to choose.
Opposing argument: Some say slavery was the main cause, and that is partly true. Slavery became an issue of states rights when the government tried to regulate it.
Identify and explain the major arguments of the modern pro-choice and the antebellum pro-slavery movements. Thoroughly explain how Christians must respond to these arguments.
Pro-choice: Women need to have the freedom to make decisions about whether to have children, and people can’t tell them what to do.
Pro-slavery: Slavery was beneficial to the vulnerable and helpless black people who wouldn’t survive otherwise, and the states/slave owners should be able to choose what they do.
Thesis: Neither of these are correct through a biblical worldview, because it dehumanizes people, takes away their free will, and deifies people.
Point 1: It dehumanizes people the takes away their worth in Christ. (Isaiah 43:4, John 3:16)
Point 2: They take away the free will of people. (Galatians 5:13)
Point 3: It puts people into the position of God, because they put themselves as the Lord of these people’s life, with complete control, which should only belong to God.
Opposing argument: Christians should respect the free will of the women and slave owners. But by aborting a baby or holding a slave against their will, you are taking away their free will and making them subject to a dictator.
With the closing of the Frontier, America should adopt an isolationist, not an imperialist foreign policy. Argue for or against this position.
Thesis: America should lean more towards an isolationist policy than an imperialist policy, because America is still a fairly young nation with much to learn, and other nations have problems that America doesn’t need to get involved in.
Isolationism specifics: America should have economic relations, and look at other nations’ politics and relations. We cannot make everything, so we need to be able to trade with other nations so we can get things they make better or we cannot make. Also, there is a lot to be observed from other nations’ politics, so observing them and looking at their conflicts will help America grow and avoid problems they have.
Point 1: As a young nation, America still had many problems and things to figure out. The Civil War and Reconstruction had been completed only 20 years beforehand, and America was not perfect. They still had problems within their nation that they were figuring out, and other people didn’t need that influence.
Point 2: Other nations have problems and fights as well, which America does not need to get involved in. Europe has lots of fighting amongst themselves, and other nations have issues that we shouldn’t get involved in.
Point 3: Isolationism also reduces the risk for the young nation. As a new nation, if betrayed or screwed over, it is much harder to recover and fight back.
Opposing argument: Having allies in other nations would be beneficial for security.
But with allies from other nations, when they go to war, we would also go to war, even if we don’t agree with it. It ties us into things that we cannot afford to get dragged into.
