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History
Standard 3 Resource
Causes of the Civil War
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Benchmark Addressed: History 3 (Interpretation)
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Suggested Task 1: Read
each paragraph and summarize (paraphrase) each thesis.
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Thesis 1
Slavery was the central, and virtually
the only cause of the war. If the Negro had not
been brought to America, the Civil War would not
have occurred. Because the North and the South held
views on the issue of slavery that were both irreconcilable
and unalterable, the conflict was inevitable.
From History of the United States
from the Compromise of 1850 (1893-1900)
By James Ford Rhodes
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Thesis 2
The clash between different cultures
and ideologies caused the Civil War. Southern
slave holders, convinced that the slave system provided
a far more humane society than the industrial labor
system of the North, constructed a special civilization
that was based upon the relationship between master
and slave. Just as Northerners were convinced that
the Southerners threatened their economic system,
Southerners believed Northerners had aggressive
and hostile designs on their way of life. These
cultural differences made the war between North
and South inevitable.
From The Political Economy of
Slavery (1965)
By Eugene Genovese
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Thesis 3
The actions of politicians during
the 1850s, rather than the irreconcilable differences
between North and South, caused the Civil War. The
Democratic politicians from the South and the Republican
politicians from the North kept the sectional conflict
between the states at the center of political debates
for years.
From The Political Crisis of
the 1850s (1978)
By Michael Holt
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Suggested
Task 2: List and explain possible reasons for the differences
in the interpretations that appear above.
Grades 4-5:
relate answers to "the evidence presented or the point of
view of the author."
Grade 6-8: relate answers to the
historians "choice of questions and use of sources."
Grades 9-12: relate answers to the
historians' "choice of questions, use and choice of sources,
perspectives, beliefs, and points of view."
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*Adapted from Current, Richard
N., et al. (1987). American History: A Survey. Seventh Edition.
Alfred A. Knopf. New York
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