Read the “Speech of Henry Benning to the Virginia Convention” online at the following site, AND one of the other speeches (your choice which) by a “secession commissioner” sent by the first states to secede to the other Southern states to help persuade them to join the Confederacy as well:
http://civilwarcauses.org/commish.htm
After reading the speeches, post a response to it of at least 300 of your own words on the forum. Why, according to Benning and the other “secession commissioners,” did the election of Abraham Lincoln as president in 1860 make the secession of the Southern states necessary? Then respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts.

Visit the following site and read the transcript of, or listen to, the podcast “A More Perfect Union?: the Reconstruction Era”:
https://www.backstoryradio.org/shows/a-more-perfect-union
Then make a post of at least 300 of your own words on the forum, summarizing the main points of this podcast, as well as offering your own reflections and analysis. What was Reconstruction? What was it intended to accomplish, and what did it actually accomplish? Do you consider Reconstruction a success? Why or why not?
After posting, read some of your classmates’ posts and respond to at least two of them.