Digging for the Truth

The Antebellum South

You are a young reporter from Delaware.��It is 1837 and you are going to the Senate to hear a speech by former Vice President John Calhoun.

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Abolition and the Union cannot coexist. As the friend of the Union I openly proclaim it–and the sooner it is known the better. We of the South will not, cannot, surrender our institutions. To maintain the existing relations between the two races, inhabiting that section of the Union, is indispensable to the peace and happiness of both. The relation now existing in the slaveholding States between the two races, is, instead of an evil, a good–a positive good.

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Contrary to what you’ve heard from abolitionists in the North, he says slavery is good for everyone involved and the nation.��You decide to travel to his home state of South Carolina and investigate for yourself.

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Instructions

• For each of the following exhibits…
• Write the exhibit name
• Then copy and complete the following sentences.
• I think it is a ____________ because I see _______________________.
• This tells me the South _____________________________ because _____________________.

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EXHIBIT A

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EXHIBIT B

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EXHIBIT C

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EXHIBIT D

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EXHIBIT E

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EXHIBIT F

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What Does it All Mean?

Write one paragraph describing what these 6 exhibits tell you about slavery in the South.