AP U.S. History – Unit 7 – Westward Expansion: The Antebellum Politics (1840 – 1854)
Chapter 18: Renewing the Sectional Struggle (1848 – 1854)
Enduring Understanding: Social, political, religious, international, technological, and economic issues
contributed to the growth of the United States in the early 1800s. While there was conflict abroad,
political partisanship, economic growth, and social and religious movements at home developed the
American character.
Concepts: Partisanship, Judicial Review, Internationalism, Isolationism, the Second Great Awakening,
Abolitionism, Feminism, Industrialization, Expansionism, Nationalism, Nativism, Universal Male
Suffrage, Women’s Suffrage
Topic/Take-Away: The sectional conflict over the expansion of slavery that erupted after the Mexican
War was temporarily quieted by the Compromise of 1850, but Douglas’ Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
exploded it again.
Topic/Take-Away: In the 1850s American expansionism in the West and the Caribbean was extremely
controversial because it was tied to the slavery question.
Academic Terms to Know
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1848 election
Gen. Lewis Cass (Dem.)
Gen. Zachery Taylor (Whig)
“Popular sovereignty”
“Free-Soil” Party
Martin Van Buren
California gold rush (1848)
California admission application (1849)
Underground Railroad
Harriet Tubman
Fugitive slave laws
Henry Clay
John C. Calhoun
Daniel Webster
Seventh of March Speech (1850)
William H. Seward
Millard Fillmore (1850)
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Compromise of 1850
Election of 1852
Franklin Pierce (Dem.)
Gen. Winfield Scott (Whig)
Whig Party demise (1852)
William Walker
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850)
Com. Matthew C. Perry (Japan, 1854)
Ostend Manifesto (1854)
Pacific railroad route
Jefferson Davis
Gadsden Purchase (1853)
Sen. Stephen A. Douglas
Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
Missouri Compromise of 1820
Republican Party (1854)
Mr. M.A. Rivera
Unit 7 – Chapter 8 –Introduction
Page 1 of 2
AP U.S. History – Unit 7 – Westward Expansion: The Antebellum Politics (1840 – 1854)
Guided Reading Questions
1. Who were the three nominees for president of the U.S. in the election of 1848, what parties did they
represent, and what were their ideas regarding slavery?
2. What factor led to the increase in population in California, how did California apply for free statehood,
and how did California’s application threaten the balance of power in the Senate?
3. What was the Underground Railroad, who was Harriet Tubman, and how many slaves did she free en
route to Canada?
4. Who were the “Three Giants” who met to discuss a compromise to the slavery issue and why were two
of the three seen as traitors to their region? How were these compromises eventually signed into law by
Millard Fillmore in what became known as the Compromise of 1850?
5. What were the details of the Compromise of 1850 and what did each of the regions (north and south)
get?
6. How did the election of 1852 end the Whig party?
7. How did Williams Walker and the Ostend Manifesto contribute to people’s theories about the
“slavocracy” in the South?
8. How did the U.S. enter into negotiations for opening up the East for trade with China and Japan?
9. Why was it determined that there was a need for a transcontinental railroad, what two factors
contributed to the Gadsden Purchase and how much was paid for it?
10. What were the stipulations of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, how did it repeal the Missouri Compromise,
why were northerners against it, and how did it wreck the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Law,
and the Democratic Party?
Mr. M.A. Rivera
Unit 7 – Chapter 8 –Introduction
Page 2 of 2