National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: The Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854
An exploration of how the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 impacted the debate between free and slave states, and the precarious political equilibrium. It looks at how Stephen Douglas tried to avoid a national conflict in the debate over...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Teaching History: Beyond the Textbook: Causing the Civil War
An essay that looks at other, more complex reasons for the outbreak of the Civil War, beyond the traditionally accepted ones related to the Northern industrial economy versus the Southern agricultural one.
American Battlefield Trust
American Battlefield Trust: Civil War: Trigger Events of the Civil War
A list with descriptions of the major events that led up to the outbreak of the Civil War.
Lumen Learning
Lumen: Boundless: u.s. History: The Compromise of 1850
Presents the events leading up to the passing of the Compromise of 1850, followed by a description of those events, the content of the Compromise, and its impact.