1850s:
The Decade of Crisis
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Sectionalism
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which event was the greatest
cause of the Civil War?
pg 3
Document 1
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pg 4
Document 1
state
% of population
slaves
Maryland
17
Kentucky
22
Missouri
13
Virginia
35
North Carolina
34
South Carolina
58
Georgia
42
Florida
45
Tennessee
24
Alabama
44
Arkansas
22
Mississippi
51
Louisiana
49
Texas
27
pg 5
Document 1
Railroads and Slave Density
1. What generalization can be made about railroad development in the North and
South?
2. What inferences can be made about the differences between the economies of the
two sections?
3. The first 7 states to secede from the union were South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama,
Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Florida. Do you think there is a connection
between slave density and cotton production to which states seceded first?
4. Why did differences in economies lead to tensions between the North and the
South?
pg 6
Document 2
The Compromise of 1850
In 1850 California wanted to apply to become a state. Thirty years prior, the Missouri Compromise had cut
California in half and now Congressmen argued over whether California should enter the war as a free or
slave state. Henry Clay, the man who worked out the Missouri Compromise, came out of retirement to try
to work out another compromise. The new agreement was called the Compromise of 1850. In this
compromise Northern California entered the Union as a free state.
The Compromise of 1850 added some new laws. Buying and selling slaves in Washington, D.C. was
outlawed. The people living in Washington, D.C. could still own slaves, but could not buy or sell new ones.
In the South the land received from Mexico was broken up into two states, New Mexico and Utah. In these
states the settlers could decide for themselves whether they wanted slavery or not. The term for "deciding
for themselves whether they wanted slavery or not" is called popular sovereignty.
The South got a new law called the Fugitive Slave Law which said that any slaves escaping from the south
to freedom in the north should be returned to their masters. Bounty hunters received a bounty for each
slave they returned. Some free black people were captured by bounty hunters and sold as slaves. Any
person who did not help a bounty hunter could be punished under the law.
1. How were future new states to decide if they entered the Union as a free or slave state?
2. What was the Fugitive Slave Law?
3. How many slave states are there in 1850?
4. How many free states are there in 1850?
5. What evidence is there on the map to show a past compromise?
pg 7
Document 3
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe published the best-selling antislavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin,
in 1852. She wrote this book to show that slavery was evil and that the Fugitive Slave
Law was unjust. The novel set sales records and became an international sensation
soon after it was published. In its first year, 310,000 copies were sold in the US and
more than 2 million worldwide. Stowe knew how to appeal to a wide audience which
made the book successful.
Many Northerners viewed slavery as wrong. Abolitionists wanted to end slavery and some
helped slaves escape to the North and Canada. The Southerner's believed that they were
stealing their property.
pg 8
Mrs. Webb's reading of Uncle Tom's Cabin was reviewed in Boston's The Liberator on
December 15, 1855. "Mrs. Webb read to an audience of 1300 persons. We trust that the
story of 'Uncle Tom' may find access to thousands of hearts, and so hasten the day when
the millions of whom he is the representative shall shake off the fetters (chains) of cruel
bondage, and stand erect in the dignity of that freedom ."
1. What did Harriet Beecher Stowe write about in Uncle Tom's Cabin?
2. Did many people read Uncle Tom's Cabin? Explain your answer.
3. What effect did Uncle Tom's Cabin have in the North? How did it make people feel
about slavery?
pg 9
Document 4
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S. Congress on May 30, 1854. It allowed people
in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery
within their borders (popular sovereignty). The Act served to repeal the Missouri Compromise of
1820 which prohibited slavery north of latitude 36°30´.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act infuriated many in the North who considered the Missouri
Compromise to be a long-standing binding agreement. In the pro-slavery South it was strongly
supported.
After the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed, pro-slavery and anti-slavery supporters rushed in to
settle Kansas to affect the outcome of the first election held there after the law went into effect.
Pro-slavery southerners burst into Kansas before the first vote hoping to vote for Kansas to be a
slave state. Anti-slavery northerners did the same, hoping to vote NO to slavery as well. Violence
soon erupted, with the anti-slavery forces led by John Brown, a radical who was against slavery.
The territory earned the nickname "bleeding Kansas" as the death toll rose.
1. How did the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 change the Missouri Compromise of 1820?
2. Name previous legislation where slavery was determined by popular sovereignty?
3. Why do you think the Kansas-Nebraska Act caused such controversy in the North? Why
did the South support it?
pg 10
Document 4
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Document 5
Dred Scott Decision
Watch the video about Dred Scott and the Supreme Court summary before answering
the following questions.
1. Why did Dred Scott think he should be free?
2. Was Scott a citizen with the right to sue in federal courts?
3. What did the court decide? Explain.
4. Which side (the North or the South) was happy with the court’s decision?
pg 12
Document 6
John Brown’s Raid
Watch the video then read the excerpt from the speech and answer the questions that
follow.
John Brown’s final speech, 1859
EXCERPT:
In the first place, I deny everything but
what I have already admitted, of a design
on my part to free Slaves. I intended,
certainly, to have made a clean thing of
that matter, as I did last winter, when I
went into Missouri, and there took
Slaves, without the snapping of a gun on
either side, moving them through the
country, and finally leaving them in
Canada. I desired to have done the same
thing again, on a much larger scale. That
was all I intended. I never did intend
murder, or treason, or the destruction of
property, or to excite or incite Slaves to
rebellion, or to make insurrection.
1. In what ways was John Brown a traitor?
2. In what ways was John Brown a hero?
3. What was Brown’s involvement in the Underground Railroad?
4. According to his speech, what were Brown’s intentions?
pg 13
Document 7
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Document 7
Election of 1860
1. What determines who becomes president?
2. Which candidate carried the North?
3. Which candidate carried the border states?
4. Which candidate carried the South?
5. Which candidate carried the far West?
6. What evidence is there that Lincoln had some competition in the North?
7. Some historians have described the election of 1860 as actually two elections, one
in the North and one in the South. Find evidence on the map that supports this
opinion.
pg 15