Civil War and The Reconstruction

1) Civil War
Explain the origins of the Civil War. Be sure to include discussion of how westward expansion contributed to sectional tension between North and South.
How did the Union and the Confederacy mobilize resources for the war?
How might the different ways the Market Revolution developed in North and South have contributed to the North’s victory?
How did a war to preserve the Union become a war to end slavery?
Some historians have called the Civil War the “Second American Revolution.” How might one argue that the transformation of American government and society brought about by the war justify such a term?
2) Reconstruction
What visions of freedom did the former slaves and former slave holders pursue in the postwar South?
What were the social and political effects of Radical Reconstruction in the South?
In what sense did the Reconstruction Amendments to the constitution (the 14th and 15th) mark a second founding of the United States?
Why did ownership of land and control of labor become points of contention between former slaves and whites in the South? How did the failure of land reform and continued poverty lead to new forms of servitude for both blacks and whites?
By what methods did southern whites seek to limit African-Americans civil rights and liberties? How did the federal government respond?
What caused the confrontation between President Johnson and Congress over Reconstruction policies?
What were the main factors, in both the North and the South, for the overthrow of Reconstruction?