So, what started the Civil War? When did it start? Was there a “civil war” in the North during the Civil War?
We have a two-part question this week:
1) Look for Insights for how and why the Civil War started.
- Now, think back over the course and recall how many times the North and South have disagreed over how America should be run. Think government, business, Africans/slaves, farming versus industry, regional differences, religion, and so forth.
- Answer the question: what started the Civil War? Give three examples. Was it inevitable? Are we still fighting it today?
2) History books imply that racism was only in the South before the Civil War. Not so. Google “Jim Crow New York” and see what you find. Racism was especially rampant in New York state. After Lincoln officially pronounced the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863, the Civil War enveloped a two-fold purpose: fighting for reuniting the Union and prohibiting slavery in captured confederate territory. This action set off a chain reaction that led to draft riots, which demonstrated Northern racism and casualties between blacks and whites.
- Was the North as anti-slavery as we have been led to believe? Explain.