Causes of the American Civil War

History books generally site the following reasons for The American Civil War (1861–1865) with the core issue being slavery and its expansion.  Use the spreadsheet techniques to a analyze statistics to see if they are consistent with these assumptions.

1. Slavery

• Create a heat map showing the distribution of slavery in the United States in 1861 using this DATA and see if the data support the following assumptions:

  1. Southern states depended on enslaved labor for their agricultural economy (especially cotton).

  2. Northern states had largely abolished slavery and opposed its expansion into new territories.

2. Economic Differences

• Create a heat map and bar charts from this DATA to see if the data are consistent with these assumptions:

  1. 1. The North was more industrial and supported tariffs and infrastructure.

     2. The South was agricultural and opposed tariffs that hurt trade with Europe.

     3. These differences created tension over national policies.

3. Election of Abraham Lincoln (1860)

1. Lincoln opposed the spread of slavery.

2. Southern states feared he would eventually abolish it.

3. His election triggered secession—starting with South Carolina.

• Knowing this, analyze the DATA  from the presidential election of 1860 to see if the nations electorate was indeed polarized .

4. States’ Rights

• Use the sort and conditional format feature to see if the DATA suggest that there were significant differences between the Northern and Southern States with regards to State's Rights / Federal Authority.

  1. 1. Southern states argued that states had the right to decide their own laws, including whether to allow slavery.

     2. This became a major justification for resisting federal authority.