Week 13 — The Coming of the Civil War
Why this matters
A future journalist checking what a source really said and a law student reading a government's own statement of its reasons both meet this week's habit: let a document's own words name its cause.
In plain language
This week covers the four years from 1858 to 1861, when the fight over slavery's spread broke the Union apart. A new party, the Republicans (a party formed to stop slavery from spreading west), won the presidency in 1860. Seven slave states then claimed the right of secession (a state voting itself out of the Union) before the new President even took office. You will read two dated documents: South Carolina's own statement of why it left, and Abraham Lincoln's first speech as President. Each time you will ask one question: whose words name the cause?
- Already covered: Week 4's declarations of 1765, Week 9's Missouri Compromise, and Week 12's compromises.
- This week: the Republicans, the debates, Brown's raid, 1860, secession, and Lincoln's address.
- How they connect: Week 12's compromises failed; this week the Union breaks.
- Where we're going next: Week 14, The Civil War.
Focus
How did slavery's expansion turn a political crisis into secession and war between 1858 and 1861?
By the end of this module, you should be able to:
- [ ] state the cause South Carolina's convention named
- [ ] read Lincoln's 1861 promise about slavery
- [ ] keep the causes of the Revolution and the Civil War apart
To-do
Plan your week
- Read Chapter 13 (~65–75 minutes), then the lecture and slides.
- Work the lecture tutorial (60–90 minutes).
- Work the practice set (15–25 minutes).
- Do the Primary Source Workshop (about 90 minutes), the discussion, and the assignment.
- Take the quiz.
This week's checkpoint: for any claim about why a state left, find the words its own convention wrote.
You've got this
Take it one section at a time, and ask your instructor if a step snags.
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