Discusses possible causes for the Civil War. Emotional or Rational? Cites historians.

Subsequent to the Mexican War, America had acquired a vast majority of land in the West. With slavery in full swing in the southern states, there was much dispute over what to do with this land in regard to slavery. Should it be slave, free, or be decided by popular sovereignty? Ever since the 1820 Missouri Compromise, the balance between slave and free states had remained equal, and any new states could potentially disrupt this balance. …

…reign over the nation. Avery Crane offers another view of the war from a 1930's, post World War I view. Crane says that the economic, social, and political differences between the north and the south could not account for the war. Craven believes that nonviolent abolition was possible through internal reform if the issue had not been so emotionalized. Cravens view stems from a post-war American era, which could explain his standpoint of avoiding war.