Introduction
The Civil War was fought between the North and South States.
The North, also called the Union, consisted of 25 states. The North was bigger and had more industry than the South.
The Southern states didn't want to be part of the United States any more. When the South broke away (seceded), they named themselves the Confederate States of America, or the Confederacy. They wrote their own Constitution and even had their own president, Jefferson Davis. The Confederacy was made up of 11 Southern states. The Southern states were worried that as the United States expanded (Manifest Destiny), they would lose power.
Abraham Lincoln was the president of the United States during the Civil War. He wanted a stronger federal government and was against slavery. It was his election that triggered the Southern states leaving and spark the Civil War. He was determined that the country remain united.
Task
The burning issue that led to the disruption of the union was the debate over the future of slavery. That dispute led to secession, and secession brought about a war in which the Northern and Western states and territories fought to preserve the Union, and the South fought to establish Southern independence as a new confederation of states under its own constitution.
In this Webquest, you will decide if slavery was the primary cause of the Civil War.