Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Class Assignment: Confirmation & Refutation

Assignment: Select a debatable question from history and write a confirmation and refutation on the question. Matters of fact are not suitable for this exercise since they need not be confirmed, nor can they be refuted.

Question: Was the Civil War fought over slavery?
Assertion to be confirmed: Slavery was a factor in the Civil War, but was not its main cause.

Certainty: Slavery had already been in place for a long time before the Civil War started; the war actually began soon after states started seceding from the Union.
Possibility: It is a possibility that President Lincoln would have allowed slavery to stay in place had that been the way to keep the Union together.
Convenience: Tariffs imposed by the North were not enough of an issue to get everyone excited. Slavery was an easy thing to invoke to get people involved, since the South was dependent on slave labor for its economic well being.

Refutation:
Uncertainty: It has never been clear why the South wanted to secede from the Union, but it's logical to think it was slavery. After all, the southern states did depend on it and tempers were starting to rise over it at that time.
Impossibility: The North was wrong and overstepping its boundaries to impose itself on the South; it was impossible for the South not to react in some way.
Inconvenience: The imposition of taxes and opposition of slavery was decidedly inconvenient for the South, and an obvious reason it would want to rebel.

1 comment:

"A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels." Proverbs 1:5
"How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" Psalm 119:103
I can't wait to hear what you have to say to me, whether it be words of wisdom or some sweet honey of encouragement. But if it isn't either of those, please be respectful and keep your thoughts to yourself.