Ahistorian would like to assess the historical contingency between many factors that may or may not have contributed to the south's decision to secede from the union before the civil war. which of the following actions would he take to best apply this historical thinking skill?

analyze conversations between southern leaders to determine which arguments for secession they used.

connect the popular southern ideology of secession with similar historical ideas during different eras.

create a thesis arguing in favor of a particular interpretation of the civil war's causes.

compare the factors leading up to the civil war with factors that caused other major crises in american history.

the triple alliance. germany and austria-hungary were already allies by 1879 when, worried about a threat from russia, they formed the dual alliance. italy joined the group in 1882. there was a concern about a possible attack from france and the alliance needed powerful friends to defend it.

during the debate over his landmark energy policy proposal, president jimmy carter failed to consult one of the most powerful senators, louisiana’s russell long, who would have a big say over whether the legislation moved through the upper chamber. this was classic carter. with a strong distaste for congressional politics, the president simply refused to do what most other presidents would consider routine, such as courting key senators. long became so irate with the president that when he was finally invited to a white house dinner, he stood up to ask a question and, before doing so, proceeded to sarcastically introduce himself: “i’m russell long, chairman of the senate finance committee.”

this interaction is a revealing moment in stuart e. eizenstat’s fascinating new history of carter’s presidency. the former peanut farmer from georgia was a president who, according to conventional wisdom, didn’t care much for party politics; nonetheless, in eizenstat’s view, carter’s legacy on domestic and foreign policy has been vastly underappreciated. the author paints carter as a “bold and determined” leader who bravely attacked the challenges of his time. eizenstat goes so far as to argue that carter might very well be the most successful one-term president in american history.