Given the changing nature of the Internet, you may wish to preview these sites. Always check for updated links to U.S. history sites.

Allow approximately one week to teach this chapter. In order to save time in the semester, you might combine Chapters 15 and 16 and compose one test to include the causes of the Civil War and the war itself.

In writing their essays, it is important that students demonstrate a sophistication reflecting all sides of the issue under discussion. College-level analysis assumes that students understand and can articulate all sides of an issue. Essay readers look for writing that indicates this skill.

Chapters 10 through 13 have set the stage for the study of Chapter 14 by describing how the sections of the country were developing different political, social, and economic interests and structures. While historians hold various views on what caused the Civil War, the authors of the text single out four themes to consider: 1) the dispute about the extension of slavery into the Western territories; 2) the breakdown of the two-party political system; 3) widening differences in the views and lifestyles of the regions, especially between Southerners and Northerners; and 4) "intensifying emotional and ideological polarization" between North and South.

A special focus is given to the events in Kansas in 1855 and 1856. Students should be aware of the boundaries of the territories before and after 1850 in case the AP* exam includes a map question about territorial boundaries during this time period.

The table "Causes of the Civil War" on p. 457 is an excellent review tool. Either as a written assignment or as a whole class activity, have students analyze each cause by writing a paragraph explaining it in more detail.

When students have completed their paragraphs, have them develop introductory and closing paragraphs and revise the individual paragraphs to create an essay answering the question: What factors were long-term causes of the Civil War? In revising their paragraphs, students should be sure that the paragraphs are in the best possible order to make the point they established in their opening. Students should also be sure that the paragraphs flow one from the other. In order to do the latter, students will undoubtedly need to develop transitions between paragraphs.

You might also find these additional readings useful in developing students' background knowledge or for DBQ activities: