In the years before the American Civil War, the sectional tension between Northern and Southern states was at its peak.

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ASSIGNMENT ONE: Objective 1

Question two

      In the years before the American Civil War, the sectional tension between Northern and Southern states was at its peak. There were quite a few reasons for this tension but the key issue was slavery. Since the war, many other causes have been considered as the main cause. For example, the ‘Progressive’ historians argued that it was not so much a fight between North and South, but more of a conflict between agriculture and industry. If this were the case, the issues of tariffs and transport would have been a lot more important. Although these were problems, they did not need a war to settle them. After all, tariffs had been a problem for quite a while.

      The revisionists believe that the issue of slavery was not a major cause of the war, but the fault of weak leaders who could not reach a compromise. They also argue that these politicians caused people to react with emotions that were out of proportion to the actual issues involved.

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       In the past whenever slavery had been a problem, it had always been compromised about. However just before the outbreak of war, the issue had been made worse due to recent events of the time. John Brown’s raid Harper’s Ferry caused uproar in the South as they assumed that all Northerners were like John Brown. This incident intensified the worry felt by the South when Lincoln was elected president in 1861. As he was a republican with anti-slavery views.

      When he was elected Lincoln dealt with these worries by confirming that he did ...

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