Question 1:
Please explain how slavery led to the Civil War. In writing your essay, make sure you answer the
following questions. What was the institution of slavery-like, and why did northern reformers find
it morally repugnant? How did westward expansion and the question of slavery in the territories
catalyze social and political upheaval in the 1850s? How did slavery lead to the creation of the
Republican Party and the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860? In what ways did slavery (and
white supremacy) help bring about the secession of many slave slates?
Question 2:
How did the conventional war play out in the first two years of the Civil War? What was the
Strategies of the Union and the Confederacy? What resources did they have at their disposal?
Was there a difference in the way that the war was waged in the West (Trans-Mississippi and
Western theaters) as opposed to the East? Based on these first couple years of fighting, did the
North or the South have the upper hand? Why?
