Question

identify the topic sentence in each question below.
one of the questions often asked a civil war historian is, \why did the north fight?\ southern motives seem easier to understand. confederates fought for independence, for their own property and way of life, for their very survival as a nation. but what did the yankees fight for? why did they persist through four years of the bloodiest conflict in american history, costing 360,000 northern lives—not to mention 260,000 southern lives and untold destruction of resources? puzzling over this question in 1863, confederate war department clerk john jones wrote in his diary: \our men must prevail in combat, or lose their property, country, freedom, everything... on the other hand the enemy, in yielding the contest, may retire into their own country, and possess everything they enjoyed before the war began.\

Explanation:

The topic sentence introduces the core question that the rest of the passage explores. The opening sentence presents the key inquiry about the North's motives for fighting the Civil War, and all subsequent text expands on this question, contrasts it with Southern motives, and includes related commentary.

Answer:

One of the questions often asked a Civil War historian is, "Why did the North fight?"