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INPI History of the USA - Modulo IV
Module IV: The War of the Union
“I believe this Government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not
expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will
cease to be divided.”
Abraham Lincoln--June 16, 1858
.
The reading material for this module includes sections of chapters 15, 16 and 17 in G.B.
TINDALL & D.E.SHI (2004) America a Narrative History, volumes 1 and 2.
--- Divided Culture: The Industrial North and the Old South.
This section looks into the Pre-Civil War conditions. In the 1850s growing numbers of
Americans were convinced that the North and South saw each other as a threat to the American way
of life.
It is believed that main factors led to this state of affairs:
A- SECTIONAL POLITICS:
The Missouri Compromise
Political Parties: platforms / regional voters
B- ECONOMIC DIFFERENCES: Industrial North vs Agrarian South
C- SOCIAL DIFFERENCES:
Population constitution and distribution
Cultural factors
D- THE SLAVERY ISSUE:
Abolitionists vs defenders of the institution
View the Prezi presentation Pre-Civil War America and follow the guideline.
Factor N°1. Sectional politics
As regards national policies the Missouri Compromise (1819) was a significant step in the rising
conflict between the northern and southern sections.
-- Click on The Missouri Compromise and answer the following:

What was the Compromise about?

What crucial issue had been avoided by the Constitutional Convention to achieve
the Union?

What Congressional resolution was annexed to the Missouri’s admission to the
Union?
In spite of the Compromise, many believed that it would lead to bitter rivalry in the future.
The map on the next page can help you figure out why.
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INPI History of the USA - Modulo IV
Available from this link.
The following chart summarizes the representatives’ agreement on the Missouri Territory.
The Issue:
The Solution:
The Missouri Territory,
part of the Louisiana
Purchase, applied for
admission to the Union
as a slave state. If
approved, this would
upset the delicate
balance of 11 free states and 11 slave states
- and this would give the slave-holding
southern states a dominance in the U.S.
Senate. The north, which controlled the
House of Representatives due to its larger
population, sought to block admission of
Missouri.
Henry Clay, a leading
congressman, devised a
compromise plan. The
Missouri Compromise (would
allow Missouri to be
admitted as a slave state,
but also admit Maine as a
free state, which would
maintain the balance in the U.S. Senate.
The second part became more controversial
in the years to come. Congress drew a line
at 36-30 latitude and stated that all land
south of that line would be admitted as
"slave territory", north of that line would
be "free territory".
Critical Thinking
The Missouri Compromise delineated which states would be free and which would
not considering the line at 36-30 latitude.
If Congress controlled the decision of the new states to decide whether or not to allow slavery, then
would the new states have fewer rights than the original ones? Give your opinion.
INPI History of the USA - Modulo IV
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Rival factions. Political parties.
Read the following:
Click on the following link about Rival Factions: the Political Parties.
The reading material for this section includes pages 500 to 502 and 505 to 515 in
G.B.TINDALL & D.E.SHI (2004) America a Narrative History, volume 1.
Develop the points:
--- What main issues did the Democrats and the Republicans disagree on? Provide at least
two examples.
--- Who were the Democrats’ and the Republicans’ nominees for the 1860 presidential
election?
--- Why was Abraham Lincoln’s election a pivotal event in American history?
Factors N°2 and 3. Economic and social differences.
Complete the activities described in the Prezi presentation.
The reading material for this section includes pages 451 to 454 in G.B.TINDALL &
D.E.SHI (2004) America a Narrative History, volume 1.
Factor N°4. The Slavery Issue
The rise of antislavery movements and various abolitionist insurrections characterized the pre-civil
war period.
Read the following:
The reading material for this section includes pages 471 to 473 and 477 to 478.
The article John Brown’s Raid on pages 508 and 509 in G.B.TINDALL & D.E.SHI (2004)
America a Narrative History, volume 1.
-- The article on the link “The Peculiar Institution”
-- Interactive map: The expansion of slavery throughout the 19 th c.
Take part in the following task: Classroom debate
-- Group A. You are members of an Anti-slavery society in the 1830s. What arguments do
you present to support your view?
-- Group B. You are defenders of slavery in the 1830s. What arguments do you present to
support your view?
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INPI History of the USA - Modulo IV
--- The Secession of the South: the War of the Union
The reading material includes pages 512 to 519 in G.B.TINDALL & D.E.SHI (2004)
America a Narrative History, volume 1.
Video: The Path to Civil War (This video is in the Prezi as well)
Video: The Emancipation Proclamation
Viewing: Click on the Civil War Interactive chart to see the figures of the war.
Written assignment. Develop the next topics.
 What was the southern convention in Charleston about?
 What was Lincoln’s last effort at Compromise?
 Mention at least two advantages and disadvantages of both parties during the Civil War.
(Use the link to the “Civil War interactive chart” )
 What reasons made Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation?

Provide at least three reasons for the Union’s victory and the Confederacy’s defeat.
Political antagonism
The map shows the nation politically
divided into the Union and the
Confederacy.
Available from this link.
--- Reconstruction: a transformed South. The consequences of the war.
It is often thought that the reconstruction years lasted from 1766 to 1777. However, actual
reconstruction lasted for about a hundred years until Martin Luther King led his campaign for black
people’s rights. It wasn’t until the 1960s that African-Americans really began to enjoy the rights that
were promised under the Constitution at the end of the Civil War.
INPI History of the USA - Modulo IV
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1. Analize the following sources and do the tasks below.
Click on The Reconstruction. (2.35 min)
The Civil War Amendments
2. Answer:
What three Amendments were passed during the Civil War and the Reconstruction Years?
Could the Central Government guarantee the rights to freed slaves? Support your answer.
Amendments
Complete the chart below:
--- From past to present:
How the Republican Party went from Lincoln to Trump.
Show the evolution of the Republican Party since Abraham Lincoln’s days to the present.
List of links in this Module:
1. Prezi presentation Pre-Civil War America
2. The Missouri Compromise
3. Rival Factions: the Political Parties.
4. The article on the link “The Peculiar Institution”
5. Interactive map: The expansion of slavery throughout the 19 th c.
6. Video: The Path to Civil War
7. The Emancipation Proclamation
8. Civil War Interactive chart
9. The Reconstruction. (2.35 min)
10. The Civil War Amendments
11. How the Republican Party went from Lincoln to Trump.