AP U.S. HISTORY I
NAME ________________________
CH. 18 REVIEW SHEET: RENEWING THE SECTIONAL STRUGGLE, 1848-1854
fire-eaters: the most extreme southern defenders of slavery (who allegedly would “eat fire” in its support)
doughfaces: northern politicians such as Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan who seemed too
conciliatory toward the South
Webster’s 7th of March speech: supported the Compromise of 1850. Note its famous start (bottom, p. 2).
the election of 1848: both major parties avoid direct comment on the slavery issue
1) (D) Lewis Cass’s past position on slavery?
2) (W) Zachary Taylor’s fame? Taylor and the slavery issue?
3) Martin Van Buren and the Free Soil Party’s position on slavery? on other issues?
4) the election winner? the impact of the Free Soil Party? (Van Buren was from New York and had been
5) elected president as a Democrat in 1836)
the California gold rush (1849)
6) [gold was originally discovered by James Marshall in 1848 while he was building a sawmill for John
Sutter]
7) the site of the gold strike? [note text and map, p. 392]
8) the great need for a state government?
9) the proposed California constitution’s slavery provisions?
the South and sectional issues c. 1850
10) southern political strengths?
11) the cotton economy?
12) the admission of California as an issue?
13) the issue involving Utah and New Mexico territories?
14) the western boundary of Texas as an issue? [note map, p. 394]
15) slavery as an issue in the District of Columbia?
16) runaway (“fugitive”) slaves as an issue?
the underground railroad: just what was it?
17) Harriet Tubman?
18) problems with Fugitive Slave Law of 1793?
19) [Prigg v. Pennsylvania (1842) and Ableman v. Booth (1859) were two Supreme Court cases in which
the court upheld the convictions of men accused of helping slaves to escape in defiance of federal
fugitive slave laws. Note the irony of southerners supporting federal laws and the Supreme Court, and
not states’ rights.]
20) the number of slave runaways lost by the South per year? why were southerners so angry at such a
relatively small number (of about 4 million total slaves)?
the Congressional debate over the Compromise of 1850--note the roles of the following, especially for
Clay, Webster, and Calhoun (the “great triumvirate” or “immortal trio”):
21) Henry Clay?
22) Stephen A. Douglas?
23) John C. Calhoun? [note his two presidents plan]
24) Daniel Webster?
25) William H. Seward?
26) President Zachary Taylor on the Compromise? his successor Millard Fillmore on the Compromise?
27) the actions of the “southern extremists” at the Nashville Convention?
the terms of the Compromise of 1850? sectional advantage from each?
28) [map, p. 394 and text, p. 397-399]
29) the admission of California?
30) organization of the territories of New Mexico and Utah?
31) provisions in regard to Texas?
32) provisions in regard to the District of Columbia?
33) provisions in regard to fugitive slaves?
reactions to the Compromise of 1850
34) the actions of northern mobs? [mentioned in your text: the hundreds of federal troops needed to return
35) fugitive slave Anthony Burns from Boston to captivity in 1854]
36) personal liberty laws? [Ableman v. Booth was prompted by one of these laws]
37) what advantages did the North gain from the delay in conflict which resulted from the Compromise of
1850?
the election of 1852
38) (D) Franklin Pierce’s background? why was he nominated? his position on the Compromise of 1850?*
39) (W) Winfield Scott’s background? his position on the Compromise of 1850?
40) the results of the election of 1852? its significance for the Whigs?
efforts toward American expansion in the 1850’s
41) the impact of the Compromise of 1850 on southern ideas about expansion in Central America?
42) William Walker’s failed filibustering expedition to Nicaragua?
43) the seizure of the Black Warrior?
44) the terms of the Ostend Manifesto (1854)? who proposed it? its impact?
45) Caleb Cushing’s treaty with China (1844)?
46) Matthew Calbraith Perry’s treaty with Japan (1854)?
47) the terms of the Gadsden Purchase (1853)? [note its location and usefulness as a railroad route, map,
p.405]
the fateful Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
48) Democrat Stephen Douglas’s motives in supporting a central transcontinental railroad route?
49) Douglas’s Kansas-Nebraska Act? its likely impact on southerners?
50) why did the Kansas-Nebraska Act arouse so much hostility from the North?
51) the impact of the Kansas-Nebraska Act on the Compromise of 1850?
52) the long-term impact of the Kansas-Nebraska Act on the Democratic Party? its impact on the
53) Republican Party?
the dramatic beginning of Webster’s 7th of March speech:
“I rise to speak today, not as a Massachusetts man, nor as a Northern man, but as an American . . . I speak
today for the preservation of the Union. Hear me for my cause.”