230 Chapter 9 | Expansionism: part 1 | period Four 180 0 –1848 putting it all together^231231
Step 2 Generate a working thesis
For a review of this step, see Building AP® Writing Skills in Chapters 1 through 5
(pp. 22, 51, 79, 111, 142).Step 3 Identify and organize your evidence
Determine the political debates as presented in this chapter. You may use previ-
ous factors to help organize your evidence (for example, economic, geographic,
military, and legislative). Use the following chart to identify your evidence, and
determine whether a moral consideration figured into the debate. Your determi-
nation represents an inductive approach.Document political debate Moral consideration?Debates over
the Missouri
CompromiseShould the expansion of slavery be
limited?Slaves as property; individual
states’ rightsWhat role is played by Native Ameri-
cans in westward expansion?Does Manifest Destiny mean isolation-
ism from Europe?Was the Anglo-Texans’ revolt against
Mexico the same as the American colo-
nists’ revolution against Great Britain?
What economic gains were achieved
from the Louisiana Purchase? Who
gained the most?For example, consider the following analysis of Two Opinions on the Mis-
souri Crisis of 1819 (Doc 9.2):Senator Rufus King’s speech about extending the role of the federal govern-
ment to limit slavery addresses the powers that the federal government
had to allow a new state into the union and restrict the spread of slavery.
This is a legal argument.
Senator Freeman Walker’s speech about limiting the role of the fed-
eral government to limit states’ rights concerns the power of the govern-
ment to regulate commerce. But there is an implied moral dilemma in
terms of individual state autonomy.
Thus, the debate between these two over the expansion of slavery
implicity involved morality, but this morality had less to do with human
rights and more to do with states’ rights.10_STA_2012_ch9_213-234.indd 231 15/04/15 10:36 AM