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America's Wars, Causes of

A guide to resources for the study of causes or origins of America's major armed conflicts.

Terminology

  • Civil War
  • War between the States
  • War of Northern Aggression
  • War of Southern Independence
  • War for the Union
  • Second American Revolution
  • War of the Rebellion
  • War of the Great Rebellion
  • Freedom War (African-American)
  • The American Civil War (England)
  • War of Secession (in several European languages)
  • United States -- History -- Civil War -- 1861-1865 (LCSH)

 

Reference Sources

Search Suggestions

Books, Videos, etc.

 

For books, etc. held by Notre Dame analyzing the causes of the Civil War use:

  • ND Catalog
  • Advanced Search
  • Subject
  • Is (exact)
  • and enter: 
    • United States History Civil War, 1861-1865 Causes

For books, etc. providing contemporary (1845-1890) opinion & analysis use:

  • ND Catalog
  • Advanced Search
  • ANY
  • Contains
  • and enter: 
    • ("United States" OR america*) AND ("Civil War" OR "War between the States") AND (cause* OR origin OR origins)
  • Limit results (on left) to: 
    • 1845 to 1890
  • Use "facets" (left column) to further narrow results

For materials held by other libraries:

 

Articles

 

For scholarly articles:

  • In one or more of the recommended article databases
  • Do a "keyword" search for:
    • ("United States" OR america*) AND ("Civil War" OR "War between the States") AND (cause* OR origin OR origins)
  • If retrieval is too great or too small,
    • limit search terms to title, subject or abstract,
    • adjust search by adding or removing or modifying search terms, and/or
    • limiting search results to "peer reviewed" or "refereed" articles.

For contemporaneous popular opinion & analysis (1845-1890):

In one or more of the recommended article databases

  • Do a "keyword" search for:
    • ("United States" OR america*) AND ("Civil War" OR "War between the States") AND (cause* OR origin OR origins)
  • Limit results to:
    • 1845-1890
  • If retrieval is too great or too small,
    • limit search terms to title, subject or abstract,
    • adjust search by adding or removing or modifying search terms

Primary Sources