What was Lincoln's initial aim regarding the Civil War when it ...

[HCHenry]

What was Lincoln's initial aim regarding the Civil War when it began in 1861?
 
  A) to free the slaves and allow the nation to separate peacefully
  B) to preserve the Union without ending slavery
  C) to preserve the Union and free the slaves
  D) Lincoln was completely surprised by the South's secession; he had no initial aims

Question 2

What was the Kansas-Nebraska Act? Why was it so politically important? What does the conflict in Kansas tell us about the issue of slavery at the time?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[al]

Answer to Question 1

Answer: B

Answer to Question 2

Ideal Answer: The ideal answer should:
1. Define the Kansas-Nebraska Act as a compromise measure to satisfy northern and southern state issues over the expansion of slavery.
2. Explain that in 1854 Senator Stephen Douglas introduced a bill in Congress to organize the Kansas and Nebraska Territories that soon provoked white settlers in Kansas to kill each other over slavery.
3. Explain that Douglas's proposalknown as popular sovereigntyangered many northerners because it created the possibility that slavery might expand to areas where it had been prohibited. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 banned slavery north of 36 30' line of latitude. Douglas's Kansas-Nebraska Act would repeal that limitation and allow settlers in Kansas, which was north of that line, to vote on slavery there.
4. Conclude that Douglas managed to muster enough votes in Congress to pass the bill, but its enactment destroyed an already divided Whig Party and drove a wedge between the North and South over the issue of the expansion of slavery outside of the southern states.

[HCHenry]

Thanks for the timely response, appreciate it

[amit]

Excellent