Chapter 8 Study Questions
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What did John Brown do on Oct. 18, 1959 and in your opinion did he have a logical and ethical plan?
249-250
Evaluate the big cities in US like NY and what is your opinion on them? Explain. 252-53
What immigrants came to America between the 1830’s and 1850’s and where did they go? 253-54
What was the Know Nothing Party and would you have supported it? Explain 254
Was slavery profitable in your opinion and what else could southerners do to make money and why
didn’t they do it? 257-260
Ultimately slavery exists only through the power of the state. Evaluate this statement. 260
What book did G. Fitzhugh write and do you agree with his position? Explain. 261-262
What was the impact of Nat Turner’s Rebellion? 263-264
In your opinion, was W.L. Garrison’s position on abolition and other issues too radical? Explain 264
What is popular sovereignty and do you agree with it? 265
Summarize the problems of California coming into America as a state. 266-67
What was the result of the California statehood problem? 267
What was the Fugitive Slave Law (details) and what was its impact?
Why and how did people not obey the Fugitive Slave Law and would you have disobeyed the
Fugitive Slave Law? Explain. 269
What was the significance of Harriet Beecher Stowe? 269-270
What is your assessment of the use of popular sovereignty in the Kansas Territory? 272-73
What was the Sumner/Brooks Affair and what is your assessment of the Sumner/Brooks Affair? 274
What is your assessment of John Brown and his methods to end slavery? 275
Why did the Whigs die out as a party? Explain. 275-276
What was the Republican Party’s approach to slavery? 276
What was the Dred Scott v. Sandford case and do you agree with it? Explain. 278-79
In your opinion did the Dred Scott cause the Panic of 1857? Explain 280
What conspiracy theory took hold in the North and in the South? Do you believe either? Explain.
281
What was the LeCompton Constitution and do you agree with it? Explain. 282-283
Summarize the life of Lincoln and his position on slavery. 284-293
What was the Freeport Doctrine and do you agree with it? Explain. 286
Who would you have voted for in the Senate election of Illinois in 1858 and why? 288-89
Was Lincoln a racist and was he a follower or a leader on the racial issue? Explain 290-93
Did John Brown’s actions at Harpers Ferry prove Lincoln’s conclusion on slavery to be accurate? 291
What was the position and perspective of southerners who wanted to re-open the international
slave trade in America and what was Lincoln’s perspective on it? 292
What was the Wanderer case and how did it relate to Lincoln’s conclusion on slavery? 292-93
Unit 8 = the House Dividing, 1848-1860
I. How was the sectional conflict between the North and South manifested since the birth of America?
A. What were the Ordinances, Compromises?
* Northwest Ordinance 1787 =
* 3/5’s Compromise 1789 =
* Slave Trade Compromise 1808 =
* Missouri Compromise 1820 =
* Tariff Compromise 1832-1833 =
* Gag Resolution 1830’s =
B. What were some states rights issues?
* Nullification =
* Tariffs =
* Land Sales =
* US Post Office and South Carolina =
* Fugitive Slave Law =
C. What was the American System?
* 3 essentials = BUS, Tariffs, and internal improvements (transportation)
* South = Agrarian and raw materials, North = Industrial and finished goods
D. What were some prominent abolitionists in ANTEBELLUM America?
* Moderate abolitionists
* Radical abolitionists
* Quakers = 1st group to actively seek to end slavery in America
* American Colonization Society = return slaves to Africa by creating Liberia
* Theodore Weld = Slavery as it is. Lane Rebels
* W.L. Garrison = Liberator Paper and speaker, radical
* Wendell Phillips = boycott of southern products made by slaves, golden trumpeter
* Charles Finney = 2nd Great Awakening preacher and reformer
* David Walker = Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World, bloody end to slavery
* Frederick Douglas = ex-slave, a narrative of his life, most prominent
* Sojourner Truth = ex-slave, abolitionist and feminist speaker
* Harriet Beecher Stowe = Uncle Tom’s Cabin
* Martin Delaney = return to Africa, Niger Valley
* Elijah Lovejoy = abolitionist pastor who was killed for his views to end slavery
* Charles Sumner = Senator from Massachusetts against slavery
* Henry David Thoreau = transcendentalist and Civil Disobedience over Mex./Amer. War
* Grimke Sisters = daughters of slave plantation owner who became radical abolitionists
* Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Stanton = abolitionists and feminists
* Slave Rebellions
- Gabriel Prosser = Virginia 1801
- Denmark Vesey = South Carolina 1822
- Nat Turner = Virginia 1832
* Abolitionist Political Parties
- Liberty Party 1840 and 1844
- Free Soil Party 1848
- Republican Party 1854 –
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E. What were some prominent Apologists of Slavery in ANTEBELLUM (life before Civil War)America?
* Before 1830 = slavery was justified as a necessary evil
* After 1830 = slavery was justified as a positive good, PATERNALISM, and lasting security
* Slaves treated better than factory wage slaves of North
* Ancient Greece and Rome owned slaves.
* Mud Seal Theory = elevated the status of poor whites as someone below them
* Tariff issue forced the South to be subservient to the North so slavery justified
* Cotton huge part of US economy so slavery justified
* Josiah Strong = Pastor who used biblical references to justify slavery
* George Fitzhugh = Cannibals All, slaves free of responsibility and some whites need to be
slaves as well
* Aunt Eva’s Cabin = glorious portrayal of slavery to counter Uncle Tom’s Cabin
F. Why was the annexation of Texas delayed for eight years?
* To avoid the issue of slavery
* President Jackson and President Van Buren both avoided Texas because of slavery
II. What was the impact of the Mexican American War of 1846-1848?
A. the slavery issue was inflamed because of the new territory acquired from the war
* Manifest Destiny viewed by abolitionists as a way to extend slavery
* Abolitionists created the Wilmot Proviso where no new territories from Mexico could
become slave states. It passes the House of Representatives but not the Senate.
* with Texas and other southern states cotton production quickly moving westward
III. What was the reaction of Political Parties (Whigs and Democrats) to the slavery issue? Avoid it,
A. What was the decade of Manifest Destiny and Expansionism? 1840’s
B. What were the decades of avoiding the slavery issue? 1830’s and 1840’s
Democratic Party and Van Buren, Gag Resolution, US Post Office and South Carolina, stricter
slave codes
C. What became the policy of the parties on slavery? Silence and avoidance with emphasis on
keeping the Union together but slavery kept on showing its ugly head
IV. Who won the Presidential Election of 1848? Taylor
A. Who did the Democrats nominate? General Lewis Cass. He supported the extension of slavery
through POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY
B. Who did the Whigs nominate? General Zachary Taylor. He was non committal on the issue of
slavery but he owned slaves in Louisiana.
C. Who did the Free Soil Party nominate? Martin Van Buren. Ironic since him and the Democratic
Party avoided slavery for so long.
* No slavery in any new territory and therefore against popular sovereignty
* Supportive of the Wilmot Proviso
* Frederick Douglas supported the Free Soilists
* Believed that slavery was also hurting the majority (75%) of poor whites who did not own
slaves. And they did not believe the MUD SEAL THEORY.
* The Free Soil Party foreshadowed the emergence of the Republican.
D. Taylor wins and he does not fit the times.
E. Taylor dies in 1850 and his Vice President Millard Fillmore becomes President.
V. What territory seeking to become a state almost broke up the UNION in 1850? California
A. What happened in Calif. In 1848? Gold was found on John Sutter’s property near Sacramento and
thousands of “49ers” rush to the territory
* Lawlessness common in California and suppliers not miners more apt to get rich
* Bypassing the territorial government stage the apply as a free state but the South opposes
B. What were the myriad (many) issues brought about by Calif.?
* Balance of 15 free states to 15 slave states would be upset.
* If California allowed to be free then the precedent would be set for Utah & NM territories.
* Land dispute between New Mexico and Texas.
* The continuation of slavery in the national capital of Washington DC
* The continuation of the Fugitive Slave Law with more strict enforcement
* The secession of the south
(**Will California break up the Union?**)
- What northern state laws allowed states to invalidate the Fugitive Slave Law?
Personal Liberty Laws
- What helped many runaway slaves get to freedom?
The Underground Railroad where people like Harriet Tubman and many Quakers
helped thousands attain freedom. Havens for runaways were Boston and Philly.
C. What Senator known as the Great Compromiser introduced the Compromise of 1850 to settle all
the issues brought about by California? Henry Clay
* What were the terms of Clay?
- California will be free
- Utah and NM decided by Popular Sovereignty
- NM will get land in dispute with Texas
- DC will remain slave but the domestic slave trade will end in DC
- New stricter Fugitive Slave Law
* What Senators debated Clay’s Compromise of 1850? Calhoun, Seward, Webster, Douglas
- What did Calhoun of SC believe? He rejected the Compromise because there were
no safeguards for the south and the balance of free to slave states would be upset.
He wanted one President from the south and one from the north each with veto
power.
- What did Seward of NY believe? He rejected the Compromise because there was a
higher law than the US Constitution that being the Bible and he called for the
immediate abolition of slavery. President Taylor was in support of Seward.
- What did Webster of Mass. believe? He supported the Compromise and denounced
Calhoun and Seward for not being willing to compromise. He gave a 7 th of March
speech stating that keeping the Union together was more important than ending
slavery. He petitioned the north to make a stricter FSL. Many abolitionists viewed
him as a hypocrite because he did not support slavery.
- What did Douglas of Illinois do? He supported the Compromise. He did not think
the Compromise would pass all packaged together so he separated the bill into a
series of individual bills. The plan worked as the Compromise of 1850 passed
although largely because many southerners boycotted the vote.
-What did President Fillmore do after Taylor’s death? He signed the bills into law and
the Union was preserved. Taylor was planning on vetoing the bills as Seward wanted.
- What did southern extremists do? They met in Nashville, Tenn. To condemn the
Compromise of 1850 and Senator Toombs of Georgia spoke of secession.
* Who came out better in the Compromise of 1850, the North or the South?
- Southern perspective = the North did because they gained new free territories while
the south only kept what they already had in the FSL and slavery in DC.
- Northern perspective = Not a matter of who came out better but that the UNION
was still together. The radical abolitionists thought the South did as they now have a
stricter FSL in place.
* What was the most controversial aspect of the Compromise and of slavery itself? The FSL
- US Marshalls must help slave owners retrieve their slaves and in doing so the US
Marshalls could force people to help find them without their consent. Many free
northern blacks feared kidnapping or mistaken identity and captured runaways could
not defend themselves. Judges were paid more for ruling to return a runaway than
for freeing an accused runaway. All those helping runaways could be fined or jailed.
- The FSL turned many northerners into abolitionists.
- Personal Liberty Laws were made although invalidated by Prigg v Penn
- The return of runaway Anthony Burns set off riots in NY
- Runaways would use any possible means to get free like BOX Car Joe
who stowed away in a box on a train to get to freedom.
* What have many historians concluded about the Compromise of 1850? The north came
out better because more than anything else they had more TIME to prepare for war with
growth in industry and in population.
* Would the Compromise of 1850 appease both the north and south long term???????????
VI. Who stirred up the nation by introducing the KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT of 1854? Stephen Douglas
A. What would the K-N Act allow? It would allow the Nebraska territory to be divided up into two
states. One being Nebraska and the other being Kansas with each deciding the status of slavery
themselves according to popular sovereignty.
B. How did Douglas get it to pass? He used his great negotiating and persuasive skills to get
Congress & President Pierce to approve it. His nicknames were the Great Debater and Gladiator.
C. What was America’s reaction to the K-N Act? Douglas did not think that the issue of slavery
mattered much as the geographical terrain of Kansas not conducive to slavery and only 2 slaves
known to exist in Kansas. He did not consider the national scope of slavery. He thought the K-N
Act would help stop discussion of slavery and that slavery would eventually die out.
D. Why did Douglas want to develop the K-N territories? He envisioned expansive Railroad and real
estate growth that would directly benefit his home state of Illinois. He also had aspirations on
becoming President but the his indifference to slavery cost him support in north and south.
E. What did the K-N Act create in America? A firestorm
* it unofficially repealed the sacred Missouri Compromise and the 36’ 30’ line
* it ruined the resolve of the Compromise of 1850
* it sectionalized America further
* it led to bloodshed in Kansas
* it led to violence in Congress
- Abolitionists and slavery supporters both crossed over into Kansas to vote
- New England Emigrant Aid Company financed moving abolitionists to Kansas
- Slavery supporters from Missouri crossed the border to vote
- 2 slaves known in KS in the approx. population of 107,000
- Both sides create their own government with abolitionists in Shawnee Mission and
slavery supporters in Topeka.
- Slavery supporters create the LECOMPTON CONSTITUTION guaranteeing slavery in
KS. Voters in KS could vote for the LECOMPTON with slavery or without slavery. If
vote for no slavery then all present slaveholders still could keep their slaves thus
guaranteeing slavery in KS. The abolitionists boycott the vote and KS votes for
slavery.
- President Pierce who defeated the Whig Winfield Scott in the election of 1852 and
he removed the Governor of KS for trying to invalidate the Lecompton Constitution.
- President Buchanan also supported the Lecompton Const.
- Eventually the Lecompton Const. was put to a popular vote and slavery abolished in
KS
- Violence between abolitionists and slavery supporters erupts in KS
- slavery supporters burn the free soil town of Lawrence in 1856
- abolitionists led by John Brown avenge Lawrence and kill slavery supporters at
Pottawattamie Creek
- boxes filled with guns labeled Bibles arrive in KN. Abolitionists begin to employ new
phrase, use guns to end slavery instead of the Bible.
- Violence between abolitionists and slavery supporters in Congress
- Mass. Senator Charles Sumner gives a speech called the Crime Against Kansas
condemning slavery and in a vivid and profane manner. Sumner particularly verbally
bashes Senator Butler of South Carolina.
- Senator Brooks of SC, relative of Brooks, gets up from his seat and beats Sumner up
with his cane
- Sumner’s seat was left vacant as he takes 3 and ½ years to recover while Brooks
meanwhile kept his Senate position.
- Emotion was beginning to replace thought
VII. What material was printed in Antebellum?
ABOLTIONISTIST material
A. WL Garrison, HD Thoreau, Wendell Phillips, David Walker, Frederick Douglas, Theodore Weld
B. Harriet Beecher Stowe 1852 = UNCLE TOM’S CABIN, influenced Americans and British as well
SLAVERY APOLOGIST material
C Hinton Helper 1857 = Impending Crisis of the South. Showed that non slave holding whites (75%)
were being held back and that the South needed to industrialize and slavery should be stopped.
Despite being pro-south he was killed by radical southerners for his beliefs.
D. George Fitzhugh = Cannibals All
E. Josiah Strong = pastor using the Old Testament to justify slavery
F. Debow = a southern Review encouraging the south to industrialize while keeping slavery
G. Articles of southerners boasting on how the Panic of 1857 did not impact the south like it did
The north
SLAVERY APOLOGIST attempts at growth for more slave territory
G. Walker in Nicaragua
H. Ostendo Manifesto in Cuba
More tension resulted when the north requested to raise the tariffs
VIII. Who ran for the Senate position in Illinois in 1858? Douglas against Lincoln
A. What was the central issue in the many debates between the two? Popular sovereignty
1. Lincoln = against popular sovereignty believing that slavery should not be extended into
the territories of America but the southern states could keep their slaves. He thought slavery
would eventually die out in the south. He gave the House Divided Speech stating that
America could not forever be half free and half slave.
2. Douglas = supportive of popular sovereignty and believed America could survive ½ and ½
3. Lincoln challenged Douglas by saying popular sovereignty was irrelevant because of the
Dred Scott of 1857 that stated slaves are slaves anywhere in the US and are not free just
because they are in a free state. Douglas responded with the FREEPORT DOCTRINE where he
stated states can overcome this by passing laws that will not uphold slavery.
4. Douglas with his FREEPORT DOCTRINE won the election but Lincoln received widespread
praise
B. What was the Dred Scott v. Sandford case 1857 = Dred was a slave from Missouri who traveled
with his master to the free state of Illinois. Dred sued for freedom while in a free state. The
Supreme Court which controlled by the south and led by Chief Justice Taney ruled the following:
1. Slaves were property and could not sue
2. Blacks were not citizens and could not sue
3. Missouri Compromise was invalid because Congress cannot constitutionally make laws
about slavery
IX. Who raided the federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859? JOHN BROWN
A. Brown plan was to seize the federal arsenal and then give the weapons to slaves and blacks to
start a massive rebellion in the south
B. a group called the millionaire six from the north help finance the raid
C. the raid was a failure as few knew anything about the raid or plan and after a short time of
controlling the for the US Army led by Colonel Robert E. Lee captured Brown and the others.
D. Brown was put on trial and was found guilty and was hung. He would not plead insanity. The
south viewed Brown as an insane murderer while the north viewed him as a martyr. Lincoln did
not condone his actions while other abolitionists did.
E. Frederick Douglas believed Brown started the Civil War and just before Brown was hung he said,”
I am now quite certain that the sins of the guilty land will never be purged away but with blood.”
X. Who ran for President in the election of 1860?
A. Democrats = split with the north choosing Douglas and the south choosing J. Breckinridge
B. Republicans = Lincoln largely because of his unwillingness to allow slavery to spread into new
territories
C. Union Party = John Bell for those who primarily wanted to keep the Union together
D. Lincoln wins and becomes a sectional President receiving almost no votes in the south. He
attained 40% of the popular vote but won the Electoral College because of northern population.
The south still controlled Supreme Court and could stop anti-slavery legislation for the time being.
E. The south threatened to secede if Lincoln was elected because they saw his election as a mandate
for the future abolition of slavery in America.
XI. Did the south secede as they threatened?
A. South Carolina 1st to secede on Dec. 20, 1860
B. 6 states follow in close elections to form the Confederate States of America = Missip, Florida,
Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, and Texas and Jefferson Davis was made President.
C. President Buchanan was blamed for the secession of these 7 states as he does nothing to stop
them because he believes he does not have the Constitutional power to stop secession. He
adopted a wait and see policy in dealing with the 7 seceding states.
D. The Crittenden Compromise was created as one last attempt to avoid secession and war but it
failed.
Was the Civil War inevitable?
Was the Civil War the result of extremists on both sides?
Matthew Perry = an American Naval Officer was sent to Japan to open up trade with the Country.
Japan refused but Perry forced them to trade with America, 1853.