Name _____________________ 7. Social Reforms and American Culture in the 1840’s and 1850’s
Reform movements to improve people’s lives began in the mid -1800s. The first convention for women’s rights began
with the writing of the Declaration of Sentiments in Seneca Falls, NY in 1848. Other reform movements followed such
as abolition, which informed Americans about the evils of slavery. Others sought to preach the evils of alcohol
(Temperance Movement), to improve conditions for the mentally ill, as well as prison and education reform.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
VOCABULARY
1. What reform movements began during this time period?
Seneca Falls Convention
Abolitionist movement
Horace Mann
Dorothea Dix
Temperance movement
UNIT 6 – DIVISION AND REUNION
1. Underlying Causes of the Civil War
The question of what to do about slavery in the new territories continued to divide the country, as we expanded west.
No longer could the Mason-Dixon Line (southern border of Pennsylvania), or the Ohio River, or the Missouri
Compromise (divided free from slave states in the Louisiana Territory) act as guides to determine whether these new
acquisitions would eventually be “free” or slave states. Henry Clay, acting as the Great Compromiser, was able to
“postpone” the inevitable war with his many compromises. The emotional impact of slavery was heightened when
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and the Supreme Court handed down the Dred Scott decision
(slaves are property and Congress cannot make laws outlawing slavery in the territories). Politically, Southerners, led
by John C. Calhoun, believed in states’ rights (the federal government did not have the right to interfere in what
Calhoun considered state issues such as slavery and tariffs). The failure of political compromises such as the use of
popular sovereignty (the people in each new territory should decide for themselves whether or not to have slaves) in
the Compromise of 1850 (included the Fugitive Slave Law) and the Kansas-Nebraska Act (use popular sovereignty to
determine slavery issue in those territories) further fueled the division between the industrial North and the agrarian
(farming) South. As Southerners began to talk of secession (leaving the Union), Northern spokesman Daniel Webster
argued that states had no right to secede (“Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable”). With the
founding of the Republican Party (no spread of slavery into the territories), the Lincoln-Douglas debates, and John
Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry (he attempted to arm the slaves to overthrow their masters), it appeared only a miracle
could prevent war. With the election of Republican Abraham Lincoln in 1860, seven Southern states seceded. After
South Carolina opened fire on U.S. government “owned” Fort Sumter in 1861, four more states seceded. War had
begun!
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
VOCABULARY
1. What political and economic differences between the
north and South helped lead to the Civil War?
Fugitive Slave law
Underground Railroad/Harriet Tubman
2. How did the election of 1860 reflect the nation’s
sectional differences?
Republican Party
Secede
Missouri Compromise
Compromise of 1850-
Uncle Tom’s Cabin-
Dred Scott decision-
UNIT 6 – DIVISION AND REUNION. 2. CIVIL WAR BREAKS OUT
Seven Southern states seceded after Lincoln was elected. Four more states left after he took office. The Civil War began
on April 12, 1861 with the Confederate firing on Fort Sumter and ended on April 9, 1865 with Robert E. Lee’s
surrender to U.S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse. At the start of the war, the advantages of both sides can be
summed up by the statement, “The North had more of everything (men, money, supplies) and the South had better
(soldiers, leaders, cause).” A Southern victory at the first Battle of Bull Run showed both sides the war would be long
and bloody. After the Battle of Antietam (bloodiest single day of fighting), President Lincoln issued the Emancipation
Proclamation. This proclamation freed the slaves in Confederate held territories and made freeing the slaves a goal of
the war. It also contributed to about 200,000 African Americans fighting for the North. Draft (racial) riots in NYC
showed not all Northerners were willing to fight the war to end slavery. As a result of the Battle of Gettysburg
(Considered the “turning point” as the South’s attempt to fight the war in the North failed.), Lincoln issued the
Gettysburg Address to honor the soldiers who died and as a statement of American ideals. The Northern strategy of
total war eventually wore down the South and helped lead to their surrender.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
VOCABULARY
1. For what reasons did the North and the South fight the
Civil War?
Border States
Anaconda Plan
2. What were the strengths and weaknesses of the North
and South at the beginning of the war?
Fort Sumter
Battle of Bull Run
Battle of Antietam
3. What battle strategies did the North and South employ
during the war?
Emancipation Proclamation
4. Who was the role of each of the following political and
military leaders for the North and South?
-Abraham Lincoln
-U.S. Grant
54th Massachusetts Regiment
Battle of Gettysburg
Gettysburg Address
-Jefferson Davis
Total war
-Robert E. Lee
Appomattox Courthouse
6. Describe the hard life of soldiers during the war.
7. What was the role of women and minorities during
the war?