1. How did Abraham Lincoln's view of the Constitution's position on slavery differ from Frederick Douglass's? In what ways did Lincoln's and Douglass's views differ from Jefferson Davis's and Lydia Maria Child's?

2. What might Levi Coffin and Lydia Maria Child have thought about the constitutional interpretations of Lincoln, Douglass, and Davis? Judging from the documents in this chapter, how would Lincoln, Douglass, and Davis have reacted to Margaret Garner's actions and Child's arguments?

3. How did each of these individuals define the political problem posed by slavery? What was at stake for these individuals and the people they represented in the debate over slavery?

4. To what extent were racial attitudes and assumptions important in these constitutional arguments? To what extent was the meaning of white racial identity at stake? Why?