The war was fought to preserve the Union. Students want and need to know where the issue of slavery enters the picture. Was there an administration position? What were President Lincoln's personal views? The text quotes Lincoln's famous letter to Horace Greeley. Invite several students to take the matter further by consulting Benjamin Quarles, Lincoln and the Negro (1962), and by preparing a one-page statement summarizing Lincoln's views. Go on with a consideration of Abraham Lincoln, a towering figure in American history. What was he like? Select perhaps half a dozen students to prepare a one-page profile. Send students dealing with both questions to different sources, and have them report to the class. Consult selections from David Donald, Lincoln Reconsidered (second edition; 1956) and his masterful Lincoln (1995); Stephen B. Oates, Abraham Lincoln: The Man Behind the Myth (1984); Charles B. Strozier, Lincoln's Quest for Union: Public and Private Meanings (1982); and portions of the great biography by James G. Randall, Lincoln the President (1945). Consult also Merrill D. Peterson, Lincoln in American Memory (1994), for a consideration of the mythic, posthumously created Lincoln. Meanwhile, the remainder of the class will each prepare a two- or three-sentence statement based on their reading in the text. Will there be differences of opinion among the students? After a few reports, open a general discussion.

Give students a choice between two questions: Why did the North win the Civil War? Why did the North take so long to win the Civil War? Assign selected essays in David Donald, editor, Why the North Won the Civil War (1960), and have students write a one-page answer to one of the questions. Also useful is approaching from the other direction. See Richard E. Beringer et al., Why the South Lost the Civil War (1986), and Gabor S. Boritt, editor, Why the Confederacy Lost (1993). In a later class, begin discussion of the choice of question that each has made rather than the answers themselves. Either way, the instructor will be prepared with arguments in support of the alternative choice. The substance of the written answers will inevitably enter the discussion, and there is every possibility that students will enjoy the disputation.

Freedom of dissent in an open society can be a major problem, especially in time of war. Pose a question on the matter. For example, was the treatment of Clement Vallandigham justified? A few students will be assigned to prepare a brief statement using such resources as James G. Randall, Constitutional Problems Under Lincoln (revised edition; 1951); Frank L. Klement, The Copperheads of the Middle West (1960); Carl L. Degler, The Other South: Southern Dissenters in the Nineteenth Century (1974); and Mark E. Neely, Jr., The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties (1991). In class discussion the instructor will not fail to suggest analogies to other wars at other times.