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Siteseen
Siteseen: Civil Conflict: Causes of the Civil War
Presents a list of 38 causes of the Civil War. This is broken up into timelines for 1793-1846 and 1846-1861, with some links to more information. Includes a 3-minute video about the life of Abraham Lincoln.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Open Course Ware: The Civil War and Reconstruction
University-level syllabus, reading suggestions, lecture notes, and quizzes for a course of the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Causes of the Civil War
Through a comprehensive powerpoint presentation, students will learn details of the five main causes of the Civil War in the United States.
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Teaching History: Beyond the Textbook: Causing the Civil War
An essay that looks at other, more complex reasons for the outbreak of the Civil War, beyond the traditionally accepted ones related to the Northern industrial economy versus the Southern agricultural one.
American Battlefield Trust
American Battlefield Trust: Civil War: Trigger Events of the Civil War
A list with descriptions of the major events that led up to the outbreak of the Civil War.
American Battlefield Trust
American Battlefield Trust: Civil War: Animated Map: Fort Sumter
Animated map tells the story of the events that led up to the first shots of the Civil War fired at Fort Sumter. [7:31]
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Freedom: A History of Us: A War to End Slavery Webisode 6
A wonderful, interactive site covering many aspects of the Civil War. See photographs, primary sources, and find interesting tidbits about the war. Included are links to lesson plans, teacher guides, resources, activities, and tools.
CPALMS
Florida State University Cpalms: Florida Students: What Caused the Civil War?
A tutorial that looks at the main causes of the American Civil War. A PDF file of the tutorial is available.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: Secession of the Southern States
This collection uses primary sources to explore the secession of southern states from the United States prior to the Civil War.
Library of Congress
Loc: The Civil War: The Nation Moves Toward War
Examine the causes of the Civil War using primary source documents. This lesson plan gives background on the Civil War, includes a timeline, and a bibliography for further reading. Primary source documents include music, newspapers,...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: Civil War, a Nation Divided
A wonderful resource using primary and secondary source materials to explore many facets of the Civil War from the war itself to its impact on the home front. Includes video and text downloads.
Other
Pennsylvania Heritage Society: Pennsylvania Civil War 150
The sidebar of this site reads "Understand the War Through People Then and Now." That is the mission of the site, and when you click on each word or phrase, you open up a world of information about the Civil War. Compiled resources help...
Digital History
Digital History: Why Do People Fight? The Causes of the Civil War [Pdf]
Throughout the years since the end of the Civil War, historians have been weighing in on the causes of that terrible time in the history of the United States. Interpretations have changed over the generations. Read the questions that...
History of American Wars
History of American Wars: What Caused the Civil War?
A timeline from the 17th to the 19th century showing the evolution of the slavery issue in the United States, leading eventually to the Civil War.
CommonLit
Common Lit: Text Sets: The Civil War
This is a collection of 29 Grade-Leveled texts (6-12)on the topic The Civil War. The American Civil War lasted for only 5 years but divided the country along bitter lines as the North fought to keep southern states from seceding from the...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: The Effects of the Civil War
Students will work in groups to research the causes of the Civil War, events during the war, and Reconstruction. They will compile their information into a multimedia presentation. They will use research to answer the essential question,...
White House Historical Association
White House Historical Association: The Great Cause of Union
Information with lesson plan for grades 9-12 about Abraham Lincoln's presidency focuses on the decisions and political actions he had to make throughout the Civil War.
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Louisiana Believes: Us History: Grade 7: Sectionalism Prior to the Civil War
This sample task contains a set of primary and authentic sources about how the differences between the North and South deepened the feelings of sectionalism leading up to the Civil War.
Other
Causes of the Civil War: A North Georgia Perspective
Read about the causes of the Civil War from a southern perspective.
Virginia Historical Society
Virginia Historical Society: An American Turning Point: Civil War in Virginia
An exhibition that commemorated the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. While slavery caused the war, the war was not begun to free the slaves, but to determine whether the Confederate States of America would be allowed to break...
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: Impact of Dred Scott: The Road to Civil War
After the Dred Scott decision by the US Supreme Court, the friction between the North and South over slavery escalated, and the North began to fear that they might not be able to prevent slavery from spreading into their states. The Dred...
Cosmo Learning
Cosmo Learning: The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845 1877
In this course Professor David Blight explores the causes, course, and consequences of the American Civil War, from the 1840s to 1877 through twenty-seven video lectures. The primary goal of the course is to understand the multiple...
Social Studies Help Center
Social Studies Help Center: What Caused the Beginning of the Civil War
Discusses what caused the Civil War, including a section on the political parties of the mid 1800's.
Virginia Historical Society
Virginia Historical Society: The Portent: John Brown's Raid in American Memory
Online companion of an exhibition mounted in 2009 to commemorate the anniversary of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry examines Brown's role as a catalyst of the American Civil War.