Study Guide Answers
1. Manifest Destiny is the belief that God wanted the US to expand all the way to the Pacific Ocean, and the divine providence was the reason we
succeeded where others thought we would fail.
2. People of Letters were the residents of the towns who could read and write. Most were merchants or teachers, and they were the ones who were the
driving force behind many of the more scholarly pursuits developing in the towns and cities.
3. Missouri wanted in the union and since slavery was already legal in the territory, abolitionists did not want the balance of power to tilt in favor of slave
states in Congress. Part of Massachusetts was turned into Maine, and entered as a free state, while Missouri entered as a slave state. This also caused
the creation of the 80’, 30 minutes north line, banning slavery to the north. (except Missouri). This was along Missouri’s southern border.
4. Delivered by Chief Justice Roger Taney, this opinion declared that slaves were not citizens of the United States and could not sue in Federal courts. In
addition, this decision declared that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional and that Congress did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in
the territories. The Dred Scott decision was overturned by the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution.
5. California was admitted as a free state, The Fugitive Slave act was made law, and popular sovereignty for western states to decide whether to be a slave
or free state.
6. They went for many reasons, land, gold, opportunity, freedom, to start a new life. Be prepared to discuss.
7. Color of skin dictated type of work, harsh conditions and hard work for dark skinned, lighter skinned treated better or worked indoors. Children
separated from parents, sold at auction. Harsh punishments for disobedience or escape attempts. Poor food, no education, was actually illegal for a
slave to learn to read or write.
8. Election of 1860 was when Abraham Lincoln was elected and because of his stance on slavery, his election was the final catalyst for secession. Before
Lincoln's inauguration, seven Southern states declared their secession and later formed the Confederacy South Carolina was the first. Secessionists from
four additional border states joined them when Lincoln's call to restore federal property in the South forced them to take sides, and two states,
Kentucky and Missouri, attempted to remain neutral.
9. See your handouts, just remember the differences between them were based around the differences between pro-slavery and abolitionist states, the
agrarian south and the industrial north, the belief that Lincoln, who was elected with no southern support would not represent their interests and
abolish slavery, and the fact that each area believed their way of life to be superior.
10. John Brown was a fiery abolitionist, made many attempts to violently uproot slavery. Believed that the whole nation was rotten because of the
toleration of slavery.
Sojourner Truth was an African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, Ulster County, New York, but
escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. After going to court to recover her son, she became the first black woman to win such a case
against a white man.
Stephen Arnold Douglas was an American politician from Illinois and the designer of the Kansas–Nebraska Act. He was a U.S. Representative, a U.S.
Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee for President in the 1860 election, losing to Republican Abraham Lincoln. Douglas had previously defeated
Lincoln in a Senate contest, noted for the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858. He was nicknamed the "Little Giant" because he was short in physical
stature, but a forceful and dominant figure in politics.
11. Fugitive Slave Law was the law that allowed slave hunters to go into free states and recover slaves. The accused had no legal recourse, and many
innocent free blacks were also taken this way. Sectionalism is a reference to the divisions and differences between the northern and southern states.
These became more pronounced as the debate over slavery intensified, and eventually led to the US Civil War. Antebellum is simply referring to the
south before the civil war. The Underground Railroad was a way for blacks to escape to the north and relative freedom. They were helped by
abolitionists, black and white, along the way, with Harriet Tubman one of the most famous, as she kept going back south to help more of her people
escape. Slave Codes were the laws that helped keep slaves in captivity and subservient, such as laws that made it illegal for a slave to learn to read or
write. The southern social ladder included white plantation owners all the way down to itinerant farmers. Slaves had a social order as well, with lighter
skinned slaves getting better treatment and less harsh conditions. Know the terms and their positions! (see your handout!) The Great Awakening was
the resurgence of religion in the US, especially styles of preaching, moving towards a more fiery revivalist style. In addition to a religious movement,
other reform movements such as temperance, abolition, and women's rights also grew in antebellum America.
12. Economic and social differences between the North and the South. (sectionalism) States versus federal rights. The fight between Slave and Non-Slave
State Proponents. Growth of the Abolition Movement. The election of Abraham Lincoln.
For 13 and 14, Please be prepared to write about the differences, and to explain your reasoning. Make sure you include where the industry was, and the
type of economy each had. The north was becoming more and more city based, industrialized and capitalistic, while the south remained rural and agrarian,
with slavery and the growth of cotton and tobacco as the main economic drivers. For nullification, could a state override the constitution and nullify any
federal law or statute that it felt was unfair? States rights were powers the reserved to the states that were not enumerated in the constitution. However,
the constitution gave the federal government specific powers. Could a state arbitrarily dismiss these?