Individual Assignment

[fiona_m]

Hiya!
For my IA, I'm doing the American Civil War, however it isn't going too well. Does anyone know of any questions that I could use or how I could approach this? I would appreciate any help you can offer,
Fiona

[vehelpfulguy]

What is an IA and how does it work ?

I am not sure why you ask for questions that can be used ?

[fiona_m]

IA = Individual Assignment. It's basically a project where all year we research it, and then have four hours to write an essay about it.

[St Germain]

How about asking the question, whether or not the American Civil War was really about the emancipation of the slaves. Then you could go into details about the motives each side had for going to war.
Or:
Was it John Brown's actions at Harper's Ferry that sparked off the civil war or was it waiting to happen.
Or:
Take a feminist perspective on the civil war and discuss the role of women in America during that period. You could pick women from different backgrounds, ie. one from the north, one from the south or a black slave. Compare and contrast. There is plenty of material - letters, memoirs etc that you could use.
Or:
The role of black men as combatants on both sides. Think of the film "Glory".
Or:
Conditions of POWs in the notorious concentration camps, such as Andersonville.

[jno]

a good question about any war is 'Was it necessary?'

[fiona_m]

Thank you so much for your help! Especially St Germain! It was exceedingly awesome of you!
Thank you!
Fiona

[suffragette]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-revi ews/0517371510/ref=cm_cr_dp_pt/102-3984864-442 4943?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books

It might be worth taking a look at this book as it details some oft overlooked facts about the Civil War that may give you a different angle from which to approach your IA. You could tackle the involvement of the European powers (We supported the South, I believe.), or of individual foreigners and why they chose to fight for a particular side. Apparently, there was even a naval battle between the Union and Confederates close to Cherbourg in France. This episode reminds us that civil wars often have many outside/foreign influences working on them. Good luck.