Question

read the excerpt from president lincolns 1865 inaugural address, in which he speaks about the civil war.

one - eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the union, but localized in the southern part of it. these slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. all knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. to strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the union even by war, while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it.

which statement best summarizes the central idea in this excerpt?

• before the civil war, most enslaved people were living in the southern part of the union.
• the union fought in the civil war because they wanted to strengthen, perpetuate, and extend slavery
• the civil war occurred because people in the south wanted to protect and spread the practice of slavery.
• before the civil war, the government did not try to stop slavery, but only tried to keep it from growing.

Explanation:

• Analyze Option A: The excerpt's main focus is the cause of the Civil War, not the distribution of enslaved people. So A is incorrect.
• Analyze Option B: The excerpt says the insurgents (Southerners) wanted to strengthen slavery, while the Government (Union) claimed no right to do more than restrict its territorial enlargement. So the Union did not fight to strengthen slavery. B is incorrect.
• Analyze Option C: The excerpt states that the insurgents (Southerners) wanted to "strengthen, perpetuate, and extend" the interest of slavery and would rend the Union by war for that, which means the Civil War occurred because Southerners wanted to protect and spread slavery. This matches the central idea.
• Analyze Option D: The excerpt focuses on the cause of the war related to slavery, not the government's actions before the war in terms of stopping or restricting slavery growth. D is not the central idea.

Answer:

C. The Civil War occurred because people in the South wanted to protect and spread the practice of slavery.