APUSH Essay help

“Describe two problems that were important causes of the Civil War and analyze how the war and Reconstruction provided solutions to the problems.”</p>

I’m always bad at writing essays and usually have trouble outlining. Should I focus two paragraphs on the two causes and one paragraph for the reconstruction solution. Or two paragraphs on the two causes with reconstruction solution in each paragraph?
Also, do you guys think Slavery and Lincoln’s election should be the main cause because I’m not sure if I can provide enough support for election of Lincoln and the Reconstruction solution that tie to his election. Thank you</p>

I made this for a similar essay. My outline should help you get started ;).</p>

The Cause of the Civil War</p>

A. Intro
a. 3/5 Compromise at Constitutional Convention in 1787-1788
b. could not be settled then-> continued until Civil War
B. Political
a. Legislative Branch
i. Blood in Congress

  1. Brooks of SC beats Sumner of MA
    ii. Senatorial Debates
  2. Lincoln v Douglas
    a. Lincoln loses but gain fame and prez support
    b. Douglas win Senate but Demo. party too divided/enemies
    b. Executive Branch
    i. Buchanan and Lincoln
  3. Lincoln’s victory splits off South (excuse to secede ie. SC)
  4. “wait and see” policy
  5. both not “Old Hickory”/no strong-arm tactics
    a. but might start Civil War earlier with N seen as aggressor
    c. Judicial Branch->Marbury v. Madison (judicial review)
    i. Dred Scott case
  6. slave is property protected by 5th Amendment
  7. Congress could not restrict slaves brought into federal territories
    a. Missouri Compromise &NW Ordinance is unconstitutional
    b. 1st Fed. law declared since Marbury v. Madison
    d. Purchases/Treaties
    i. Louisiana
  8. Missouri Crisis
    ii. Florida
    iii. Pinckney’s
    iv. Mexican/Guadalupe Hidalgo<br>
  9. Texas and California
  10. Wilmot Proviso
    v. Gadsden
    vi. Oregon
    e. Compromise
    i. Missouri Compromise
  11. Maine is free while Missouri is slave
  12. no slavery above 36o30’ except for MO
    ii. Compromise of 1850
  13. Fugitive Slave Act
  14. Utah and New Mexico territories
  15. no slave trade in D.C.
  16. California as free state
    iii. Crittenden Compromise
  17. last hope of Compromise
  18. rejected by Lincoln
    iv. The Great Compromisers
  19. Clay, Calhoun, and Webster dead by Civil War
  20. only Civil War warhawks left: young “hotheads” like Seward
    v. Kansas Nebraska Act
  21. divided rest of Louisiana Purchase into Nebraska and Kansas
  22. repealed Missouri Compromise
  23. slavery by popular sovereignty
    f. reasons for Secession (pol)
    i. free soil criticism
    ii. self-determination: voluntarily joined Union and can secede from it
    C. Economic
    a. Tariffs
    i. 1828 Tariff of Abominations
  24. Calhoun’s SC Exposition: nullification
    ii. 1857: 20%
  25. too low and made North suffer a bit
    iii. new tariff by Lincoln (his platform)
  26. that would definitely be higher
    b. Industrialization
    i. Clay’s American System
    ii. Industrial Revolution
  27. Slater: father of the modern factory
    iii. inventions
  28. Whitney’s cotton gin 1783
  29. Whitney’s interchangeable parts 1798 but into effect 1850
    c. Internal Improvements
    i. railroads
  30. 1850 30, 000 miles (3/4 in North)
    ii. Cumberland National Road (right at “border” b/tw Union and Confederacy)
    iii. Clinton’s Big Ditch (Erie Canal) connect N and W
    d. Economic crisis
    i. Financial Crash of 1857
  31. affirms cotton is King while North suffers ec. but also psych.
  32. Homestead Act of 1860: $0.25 per acre
    a. rejected due to Northern settlement and surrounding of S
    e. reasons for Secession (ec.)
    i. Southerners think manufacturers and bankers of North would slit own economic throats by separation
    ii. Lincoln’s platform tariff would probably be high
    D. Social
    a. Transcendentalism
    i. each person has a divine spirit within them (Thoreau and Emerson)
    ii. abolition
  33. Individuals
    a. Douglas’ “North Star” and black Union soldier regiment
    b. Brown at Harper’s Ferry Raid
    c. Tubman in Underground Railroad
    d. Turner’s rebellion
  34. Political involment
    a. Liberty party in 1840
    b. Free-Soil Party in 1848
    c. Republican Party in 1850s
    b. Literature
    i. Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”
  35. showed evils of slavery which greatly divided the ppl
    c. Racial Feelings
    i. South majority feelings of racial superiority
  36. hate race but like individuals
  37. social mobility through slavery
    ii. abolitionist feelings in North
  38. like race but hate individuals
  39. against Fugitive Slave Act (nullification sentiments)
  40. Underground Railroad
    d. Manifest Destiny
    i. ecological imperialism
    ii. purchases of land
  41. New England Emigrant Aid Company
  42. Bleeding Kansas by Brown
    e. reasons for Secession (soc.)
    i. abolitionist nagging
    ii. Northern interference (from Underground Railroad to Brown’s actions</p>

Thank you, that really helped.
Can anyone judge my essay please, but it doesnt have a conclusion yet.</p>

<pre><code>----The Civil War was a major battle between the North and the South in the year of 1861-1865. Politically, it was the result of the raging internal turmoil of a United states government split into separate factions of proslavery and antislavery. In terms of Slavery, it was viewed as a moral issue in the North versus its defense and expansion in the South. To provide solutions to the problems, one must analyze how the war and Reconstruction take in effect. Thus, two problems that were important causes of the Civil War was the political and slavery issue between the North and the South.
----Slavery issue was one of the main cause of the Civil War. The North were consisted of free-soilers who wanted to keep the west free of slaves so the slaves wouldn’t compete with the whites for jobs while the South were dependent on slavery since they needed slaves labor for their cotton. Slaves had no civil or political rights at that time and their labor are usually ranged from cruelty punishment to murder. Therefore, the majority of the slaves seeks freedom. In the 1850s, Harriet Tubman helped slaves escaped through the Underground Railroad and into the free soil land. This angered the South so they called for a stricter Fugitive Slave Law, which eventually passed in the Compromise of 1850. The tension of slavery also called for the published of Uncle’s Tom Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stoner. This novel moved many northerner as well as Europeans to recognize the inhumane of slave owners who treat their slaves. In effect, Southerners accused the untruth in the novel and the north’s prejudice against the south way of life. In addition, in the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford in 1857, Dred Scott sued for his freedom, since he argued his residency on a free soil land made him a free citizen. The court decided against him because slaves are property and had no right to sue, thus angered the North and delighted the South. South’s tension rises against the North when John Brown, a northerner, attacked on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry. His motive was to seized the weapons and help the slaves revolt, but they didn’t. In effect, Southerners saw the raid as proof of the North’s intention to use slave revolts to destroy the South. All these evidences shows that Slavery issue was the cause of the Civil War because the slaves wanted freedom.
----Political issue was one of the main cause of the Civil War. When Missouri wanted to entered as a slave state, there were controversy of its admission because of the balance between free states and slave states. Therefore, Henry Clay proposed a solution called the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which not only allowed Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state to balance the issue, but also prohibited slaves north of the latitude 36 30 line and allowed slavery south of that line. However, the Missouri Compromise was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 which proposed that the Nebraska territory be divided into the Kansas territory and Nebraska territory and that the settlers there ruled with popular sovereignty, the power to decide whether or not to allow slavery. Since these territories are located north of the 36 30 line, the Missouri Compromise was repealed. As a result, proslavery “border ruffians” from Missouri flooded into Kansas to vote it as a slave state leading to violence between antislavery and proslavery, also known as “Bleeding Kansas.” Another political issue was the Compromise of 1850. After the gold rush in 1849 which resulted in an influx of settlers in California, California drafted a constitution for their new state because of the need for law and order; This constitution banned slavery in California. President Taylor supported this, but causes the South to threatened secession. To solve this, Henry Clay proposed the Compromise of 1850 which stated California entered as a free state, divide the New Mexico territory into Utah and New Mexico with popular sovereignty, adopt a new strict Fugitive Slave Law, and ban slave trade in the District of Columbia. The Compromise deepened the North’s commitment because it shows that they are doing what they can to save the Union from secession. Leading up to Lincoln’s election, the Lincoln-Douglas Debate in 1858 was a series of debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas campaigning for the Senate seat. One famous debate was in Freeport where Lincoln questioned Douglas, “If the people of a territory voted slavery down, which side would you support, the people or the Supreme Court?” Douglas replied, “No matter how the Supreme Court ruled, slavery would stay down if the people vote it down.” His reply was known as the Freeport Doctrine, which in turn, angered the South and ruined Douglas’ chance of nomination in the next election. However, the debate also made the South viewed Lincoln as a radical abolitionist. When Lincoln was elected president in the Election of 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union and other southern states began to joined because knowing that Lincoln is an abolitionist of slavery, the South wanted to perpetuate the institution of slavery. All these evidences shows that political issues was the cause of the Civil War because….?
----The war and Reconstruction provided many solutions to the problems of the Civil War. During the war, Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 which free slaves in all states that are in rebellion. The Proclamation had no effect on the border states because Lincoln didn’t want the border states to secede from then Union. This was important because it shows that it commit the U.S government to a policy of abolition in the South and enlarged the purpose of the war, which is reunification. Lincoln also issued the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction plan during the war. It included the Ten-Percent Plan which stated that a southern state could be readmitted in the Union once 10 percent of its voter of the 1860 voters swore an allegiance to the Union. The plan also include the state to form a new government and a new constitution, but it had to abolish slavery. Since this was planned during the war, it shows that Lincoln wanted to end the war quickly with reunification. However, many Radical Republicans disliked Lincoln’s 10 percent plan and instead passed the Wade-Davis Bill which increased the percent to 50; In counter, Lincoln vetoed the bill. After the war, numerous reconstruction policy took place such as the Civil Rights Act of 1866 followed by the Fourteenth Amendment. In the Civil Rights Act, it pronounced that all African Americans to be U.S citizens. Due to the fear of Democrats taking control over in Congress and repeal the act, they also imposed the 14th Amendment which declared all male born in the U.S are granted citizenship. Also, in order for readmission to the Union, the southern states had to ratify the 14th Amendment. These two acts purposed was to give Blacks equal rights and protection. Congress also passed a series of 3 reconstruction acts which placed the South under military occupation. These acts also increased the requirements for the South readmission to the Union: ratifying the 14th amendment and grant the right to vote to all adult males in its constitution. All these Reconstruction policies demonstrates that the North wanted readmission to the Union to be official and that another Civil War won’t happen again.
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^^ Sorry, not that one, here’s the final draft. It would be great if someone can rate this essay: </p>

<pre><code>-------The Civil War was a major battle between the North and the South in the year of 1861-1865. Politically, it was the result of the raging internal turmoil of a United states government split into separate factions of proslavery and antislavery. In terms of Slavery, it was viewed as a moral issue in the North versus its defense and expansion in the South. Thus, two problems that were important causes of the Civil War was the political and slavery issue between the North and the South. To provide solutions to the problems, one must also analyze how the war and Reconstruction take in effect.
-------Political issue was one of the main causes of the Civil War. When Missouri wanted to enter as a slave state, there were controversies in its admission because of the balance between free states and slave states. Therefore, Henry Clay proposed a solution called the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which not only allowed Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state to balance the issue, but also prohibited slaves north of the latitude 36 30 line and allowed slavery south of that line. However, the Missouri Compromise was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 which proposed that the Nebraska territory be divided into the Kansas territory and Nebraska territory and that the settlers there ruled with popular sovereignty, the power to decide whether or not to allow slavery. Since these territories are located north of the 36 30 line, the Missouri Compromise was repealed. As a result, proslavery “border ruffians” from Missouri flooded into Kansas to vote it as a slave state leading to violence between antislavery and proslavery, also known as “Bleeding Kansas.” This fighting lead to increasing tension between the North and the South into the Civil War. Another political issue was the Compromise of 1850. After the gold rush in 1849 which resulted in an influx of settlers in California, California drafted a constitution for their new state because of the need for law and order; This constitution banned slavery in California. President Taylor supported this, but caused the South to threatened secession. To solve this, Henry Clay proposed the Compromise of 1850 which stated California enter as a free state, divide the New Mexico territory into Utah and New Mexico with the slave issue being solved with popular sovereignty, adopt a stricter Fugitive Slave Law, and ban slave trade in the District of Columbia. The Compromise deepened the North’s growing identity because it induced them to do what they can to save the Union from secession. However, the idea of popular sovereignty created a controversy between the two factions because one wants slavery and the other wants abolishment of slavery, thus creates hostility, such as the “Bleeding Kansas,” and pushed the South more towards secession. Leading up to Lincoln’s election, the Lincoln-Douglas Debate in 1858 was a series of debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas campaigning for the Senate seat. One famous debate was in Freeport where Lincoln questioned Douglas, “If the people of a territory voted slavery down, which side would you support, the people or the Supreme Court?” Douglas replied, “No matter how the Supreme Court ruled, slavery would stay down if the people vote it down.” His reply was known as the Freeport Doctrine, which in turn, angered the South and ruined Douglas’ chance of nomination in the next election. However, the debate also made the South view Lincoln as a radical abolitionist, which thus heightened the tension for secession. When Lincoln was elected president in the Election of 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union and other southern states began to joined because knowing that Lincoln is an abolitionist of slavery, the South wanted to perpetuate the institution of slavery. All of this political evidence stimulated the pressure between the North and the South, and therefore help cause the Civil War.
-------Slavery was one of the main causes of the Civil War. The North was consisted of free-soilers who wanted to keep the west free of slaves so the slaves wouldn’t compete with the whites for jobs while the South were proslavery owners, dependent on slavery since they needed slaves labor for their cotton. In this one can see clearly the diverging views of the two factions. However, these views magnified as abolitionist movements emerged and African spirits started rising up to fight for their rights. At the time Slaves had no civil or political rights at that time and their labor were usually ranged from cruelty punishment to murder. This lead to massive runaway slaves trying to seek the freedom they thought they deserved. In the 1850s, Harriet Tubman’s underground railroad, supported by Northern abolitionist, helped slaves escaped yet, angered the South causing an even deeper rift. They called for a stricter Fugitive Slave Law, which eventually passed in the Compromise of 1850. This infuriated the northerners and caused them to revolt even to the point that local governments issued personal liberty laws, laws that prevented slaves or helpful whites from being jailed in their local towns. These exponentially magnified the tensions of slavery and pushed even more northerners into abolition and more southerners into proslavery campaigns. What even more angered the south was the publishing of Uncle’s Tom Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This novel moved many northerner as well as Europeans to recognize the inhumane of slave owners who treat their slaves. In effect, Southerners accused the untruth in the novel and the north’s prejudice against the south way of life. In the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford in 1857, Dred Scott sued for his freedom, since he argued his residency on a free soil land made him a free citizen. The court decided against him because slaves are property and had no right to sue, thus angered the North and delighted the South. Arguably, the tipping point in the civil war causes was the action of Northern abolitionist John Brown, a northerner, who attacked on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, a southern stronghold. His motive was to seize the weapons and help the slaves revolt, but it didn’t work. In effect, Southerners saw the raid as proof of the North’s intention to use slave revolts to destroy the South. All of these encouraged tension between the north and the south, it fired up their spirits against each other ultimately leading up to the famous digression and war. Such reasons shows that Slavery was a main cause of the Civil War.
-------The war and Reconstruction provided many solutions to the problems of the Civil War. During the war, Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 which free slaves in all states that are in rebellion. The Proclamation had no effect on the border states because Lincoln didn’t want the border states to secede from the Union. This was important because it shows the commitment the U.S government had to a policy of abolition in the South and enlarged the purpose of the war, which is reunification. Lincoln also issued the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction plan during the war. It included the Ten-Percent Plan which stated that a southern state could be readmitted in the Union once 10 percent of its voters swore an allegiance to the Union. The plan also included the state to form a new government and a new constitution, but it had to abolish slavery. Since this was planned during the war, it shows that Lincoln wanted to end the war quickly with reunification and abolish slavery. However, many Radical Republicans disliked Lincoln’s 10 percent plan and instead passed the Wade-Davis Bill which increased the percent to 50; In effect, Lincoln vetoed the bill. After the war, numerous reconstruction policies took place such as the Civil Rights Act of 1866 followed by the Fourteenth Amendment. In the Civil Rights Act, it pronounced that all African Americans to be U.S citizens; This provided solutions to the Dred Scott case by reversing the decision the Court made on Scott which is slaves are property and cant sue. Due to the fear of Democrats taking control over in Congress and repeal the act, they also imposed the 14th Amendment which declared all male born in the U.S are granted citizenship. Also, in order to be readmitted to the Union, the southern states had to ratify the 14th Amendment. These two acts’ purposes was to give Blacks equal rights and protection. Congress also passed a series of 3 reconstruction acts which placed the South under military occupation. These acts also increased the requirements for the South readmission to the Union: ratifying the 14th amendment and grant the right to vote to all adult males in its constitution. In addition, it decreased Southern political power in the government because they were not allowed to enter congress and provided a solution to the political conflict-the political rift-that raged in antebellum America.
-------All of these stated shows that political and slavery issue was the main cause of the Civil War. Politically, it was states rights versus federal control. Issue of Slavery was also gained where South wanted slaves for their labor while North viewed slavery as a moral issue. These issues were the reasons why countless bloods were spilled in the period of 1861-1865. But after the war, Reconstruction policies were enforced to provide solutions to the damage that was caused by the Civil War.
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