Summary
What caused the United States of America to fight a war against itself? The first shots were fired by the Confederacy at Fort Sumter in 1861. But deep divides over slavery had caused tension from the nation’s very beginning. For nearly a century, the U.S. tried to remain one country with two different positions on slavery. The Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act were all attempts to keep the power balanced between North and South. But as the country grew, so did the pressure to choose one way or the other—freedom or slavery. The divisions even birthed a new, anti-slavery political party: the Republicans. The election of the first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, sparked the South's secession. Press "play" to learn what led the United States to split in two—and fight the bloodiest war in its history.
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
A few questions to talk through after watching Civil War Causes:
- What is one new thing you learned about civil war causes?
- Can you explain it to a partner in your own words?
- Where might you see this in the real world?
- What is one question you still have?
Quick work-a-long
Try it:
- Write one sentence explaining civil war causes.
- Draw or give one example of your own.