1.  Why did Charles Dew begin his book about the 1860s with an overview of his own early life -- more than a century later? 

2.  Which claims and arguments proved most effective for the secession commissioners? 

3.  How should we interpret the widespread support they garnered in the Cotton South? 

4.  Why was the Upper South immune to the commissioners' appeals before April 1861? 

5.  Do you see the commissioners' work as evidence of the strength -- or the weakness -- of the secession movement in the pre-war South? 

6.  Why didn't John J. Crittenden's proposed compromise succeed in reconciling the contending interests after Lincoln's election? 

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