Lesson 17- WTP Notes
“How Did the Civil War Test and Transform the American Constitutional System?”
Constitutional Issues that laid the Foundations for the Civil War
- Constitutionality of ____________________________
- Issue of Slavery in ___________________________
- Sectional tension due to various Fugitive _____________________________
The Constitution & Slavery
The Philadelphia Convention dealt with the issue very gently……
What were three ways the Convention compromised on the issue????
1.
2.
3.
The Constitution and New Territories, and more Compromises in the 1800’s
-Articles of Confederation- _________________________….. banned slavery in its area
-The question of slavery was a concern when new states were added, because the south
and north both were concerned with keeping representation in the
_____________________ balanced (same number of free and slave states)
-The _____________________________ of 1820 dealt with this issue in the territories in
the west.This agreement allowed Missouri to enter as a slave state, and Maine as a
free state, with the agreement that no other states above Missouri’s Southern
border (36-30 line) would be admitted as slave states.
-This led to the period known as “_______________________” over the slave issue on
the National Government scene.
-____________________ ______ 1850- California is admitted as a free state, upsetting
the balance in the Senate, and the south in turn received a Stronger
________________Slave Law. This brought the slavery issue back into national
discussion
-The ___________________________-__________________________Act 1854
This allowed the people of these territories to decide by
“______________________” the slave issue when they were admitted as a state.
This led to the debate/battle known as “_________________ Kansas” over the
issue of slavery. ______________________, an abolitionist, led some free soil
battles in Kansas.
“____________________” were people that believed no new territory should be
admitted as a slave state.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act essentially gave southerners hope of gaining new states
as slave states, despite the Missouri Compromise of 1820.
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857 Supreme Court Case
This case involved a slave, Dred Scott who was suing for his freedom, due to the fact he
had been taken into “non-slave” territory. He began this challenge in 1846, prior to the
KS.-Neb. Act. He appealed it many times before it reached the Supreme Court.
Three major outcomes of the case include…
1.
2.
3.
This decision and its impact divided the nation more on the slave issue.
Reading - & Q’s over Dred Scott case
Video
Just the Facts: Documents of Destiny: Compromise and Conflict Dred Scott v. Sanford
1. African Americans, both free and slaves, could not be citizens of the U.S., therefore
they could not bring suit in federal court
2. The Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. This meant the federal government
had no right to make laws banning slavery in any territory.
3. The 5th Amendment Due Process clause protected property rights(protection of life,
liberty, and property) which included slaves, so Scott was not free no matter where his
owner took him.
3/5ths Compromise
No ban on slave trade until 1808
Fugitive Slave clause of Art. IV, Section 2