Develop an interpretive essay to one of the following questions (1,000 word minimum).

Include in your essay a well formed introduction with your main idea (hypothesis), a body of evidence to support your interpretation and a conclusion which summarizes the main points of your essay and explains your overall argument. You can use material from any of the sections of the course.

Be specific in your facts and explain how they fit with an overall interpretation based upon what the question requires.

1. In terms of cultural philosophy(i.e. Hamiltonian v. Jeffersonian, Enlightenment v. Romanticism, or even Red States/Blue States from the context of our time but with evidence from the course), what is the real meaning of the Civil War.

2. "A House Divided." How do the economic systems of North and South contribute to a context of modernization that polarizes these societies significantly enough to cause the American Civil War?

3. Who started the Civil War and Why? Use the important political context in the decade before the beginning of the American Civil War to develop an argument as to the real issues of the conflict between North and South.

4. Comprehensive: Develop an argument utilizing the whole course which seeks to understand the major trends in American History from pre-colonization to the Civil War.