Combining history with critical thinking

Have historians overemphasized the slavery issue as a cause of the Civil War?

That’s the question posed to four Cheney High School students in instructor Steve Arensmeyer’s AP U.S. History class on Friday, Jan. 20 — two tasked with defending the argument and two opposing it in a debate in front of the class.

And that isn’t the only debate topic Arensmeyer has presented his students. Among 31 total subjects, students can pick things like “Was the Confederacy defeated because of its ‘Loss of Will?’” or “Did the Bank War cause the Panic of 1837?” or perhaps “Was the Mexican War an exercise in imperialism?”

Arensmeyer said in an email that he has “many layers of objectives” he wishes to achieve from the debates, which began Jan. 13 and run each Friday afternoon through the end of February. Practice in public speaking is one objective, but Arensmeyer also wants students to be able to create and support an argument based on their understanding and interpretation of historical facts.

“This is great critical thinking practice and good preparation for the AP (advance placement) exam, where they have to write two essays in which they have to create and support a thesis supported with relevant historical facts,” Arensmeyer said. “In addition, it provides a deep review of historical events and processes.”

Tasked with defending the supposition that slavery is overemphasized as a cause of the Civil War were Peyton Stark and Trinity Wigren. After an initial poll of students’ opinions on the subject, with most saying they didn’t have one and needed more information, Stark and Wigren spent seven minutes presenting their side by restating the question, explaining its importance, laying out reasons for their position and ending with an emotional quote and appeal — all part of the debate format.

The pair used sources to stress state’s rights reasons as the cause of the Civil war, noting the South’s anti-federalism views, that there were no references to slavery or white supremacy on the Confederate flag and the North’s desire to harm the Southern economy through eliminating slavery. In an interview later, both girls said it was a position they found “hard to prepare for and defend.”

“We felt like we wanted to agree (with the other side),” Wigren said.

Presenting that other side were Dillon Dalton and Cole Garcia. Following the same format, they acknowledged historians do not agree completely on the war’s causes, but pointed out the effect its outcome had on the nation — ending with a quote from a South Carolina newspaper editorial written at the war’s start in 1860 that “The issue before the country is the extinction of slavery.”

After a three-minute pause, both sides presented rebuttals to each other’s argument, with the class then asking questions. For Arensmeyer, the real question was defining what was meant by “overemphasis.”

“Overemphasis is in the eye of the beholder,” he told the class, noting that if the question were posed in a classroom at a school in the South, the answer would be different than that from a school in the North, or even out West.

Later, Garcia agreed, saying he knew firsthand of the difference because he has relatives living in Louisiana.

All four students felt the debate experience was valuable in many ways. For Dalton, it meant being able to learn about an issue by examining both sides, and creating an informed opinion.

“It’s a lot more respectful,” he said of the format.

Stark echoed Arensmeyer’s public speaking reason, adding that as a Running Start student at Eastern Washington University, she has found most presentations at the college level are done publicly in class.

At the end of the debate, Arensmeyer polled the class again about how they felt on the question. Seven felt it was overemphasized while 11 believed it was not, with two saying they still didn’t know.

“I’m very proud of the hard work these kids do,” Arensmeyer said.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.