<p>In the early nineteenth century, Americans sought to resolve their political disputes through compromise,
yet by 1860 this no longer seemed possible. Analyze the reasons for this change.
Use the documents and your knowledge of the period 18201860 in constructing your response.</p>
<p>Here's my thesis:</p>
<p>During the years 1800-1860, the United States split into Northern and Southern factions. Each side held completely opposing viewpoints on issues affecting the nation. In particular, compromise was made impossible by 1860 due to disagreement over states' rights, intense growth in sectionalism and dispute over the morals of slavery. </p>
<p>It seems pretty good, however, to the best of my knowledge, slavery was the main cause of the civil war, so you might want to make it a more prominent part of your thesis instead of just 6 words at the end. In addition, you might want to get rid of the “morals” part because many southern planters considered slavery to be a “necessary evil”(Thomas Jefferson), so they thought it went against the Republican ideology but they were under the impression that it was essential for maintaing their southern lifestyle(however, some southerners especially in the Chesapeake Region were arguing that it was instead a “positive good,” so use your best judgement). Furthermore, expansionism played a major role in secession in that the southern states wanted to expand slavery into Latin America, Cuba, and Western U.S. while Northerners wanted to limit slavery to the South. However, this boiling pot finally spilled over in the Elections of 1860 when Lincoln was elected. Originally, Lincoln thought slavery was evil, but he also believed that the Constitution protected property rights, so he was willing to limit slavery to the south, so the Northern and Southern ideologies weren’t complete opposites. However, the Deep South felt that Lincoln would next try to attack slavery, so they seceded from the Union following his elections. So, obviously I gave you more information then you need for your body paragraph, but just make sure to emphasize slavery and conflicting ideologies over expansionism and you should be fine.</p>