Our theme in Unit III has been “A Nation and its Discontents,” and as you studied the Civil War in Week 16, you saw how those discontents led to the most destructive era in American history. So the question is, why civil war? Was it unavoidable, and if so, why? If it was avoidable, then why did the country not avoid it? In writing this essay, find the connections between “big picture” issues like slavery, politics, economics, and geography, and the details of specific events and personalities that you have learned about in the antebellum period.
