National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Before Brother Fought Brother
A lesson plan that addresses the "complex series of events" leading to the Civil War. Through this lesson, students will "gain an appreciation of everyday life in the North and South, changes occurring, and some of the major social and...
US Department of State
Bureau of International Information Programs: History Outline: Sectionalism
Article reviews several conditions of American society that sowed the seeds of civil war, particularly slavery and sectional conflict.
Digital History
Digital History: Growth of Political Factionalism and Sectionalism
Even as national feeling was rising, there was also the emergence of regionalism in politics and economic though. Read about the interests of the three major sections of the country at this time.
Library of Congress
Loc: The Learning Page: The North During the Civil War
This is a brief summary of how the Civil War affected the Northern states. It has just a small mention of the North's industrial nature, but you can link to first-person accounts of what it was like to live in the North during Southern...
Digital History
Digital History: Western Expansion: Conclusion
A good overview of the territorial expansion and its results that occurred in the United States over the first half of the 19th century.
Digital History
Digital History: "Bleeding Kansas" and "Bleeding Sumner"
Read about how the concept of popular sovereignty expressed in the Kansas-Nebraska Act resulted in political intrigue and murder in Kansas and the caning of a U.S. Senator in the Senate chamber.
Digital History
Digital History: The Impending Crisis: Conclusion
A concise review of the ways the issue of slavery split the country from the Missouri Compromise to eventual secession of the southern states.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Abolitionist Sentiment Grows
Abolitionists had been active since the end of the Revolutionary War, but in the 1830s they became more radical in their demands to end slavery. See what their solutions were, and read about how abolitionist views were thwarted in the...
Digital History
Digital History: The Gathering Storm
A look at how the Northerners perceived the conflict between North and South, a conflict between people who were for freedom and and those who were for slavery.