Would it be correct to state no single factor caused the Civil War? Support your answer with evidence of what factors converged to break down national unity by 1860.
Here are some ideas you need to consider in your responses.
1. Do you believe that the war was caused by a blundering generation of inept political leaders?
2. Was the opposition to slavery caused mainly by a real concern for the equality of slaves ?
3. What role did Lincoln’s election have in southern states seceding from the union?
4. Why would the South care so deeply about slavery when most southerners did not own slaves?
5. When Southern states formed the Confederacy, how different was their constitution from the U.S. Constitution?
6. Did southerners show any sign of welcoming free states (those that prohibited slavery) into their new nation.
If so, does that “fit” into the interpretation that slavery caused the Civil War?