-176603 CHAPTER 14—THE GATHERING TEMPEST, 1853-1860 Murrin, Johnson, McPherson, Fahs, Gerstle, Rosenberg & Rosenberg Copyright © 2008 Wadsworth Group Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People, 5e 0704lep5e.bmp
Times Instructions: Identify the following term(s). Under the Missouri Compromise slavery would be excluded in the new territory of Nebraska. the issue of slavery would be determined by the territorial legislature in Nebraska. slavery in Nebraska was not affected. Nebraska's residents would decide whether to permit slavery. slavery was not excluded from any territory in the west. A Average p. 410 Factual 1 The leading advocate for southern rights in the dispute over Kansas was Stephen Douglas. David Atchison. Franklin B. Pierce. Jefferson Davis. Abraham Lincoln. B Average p. 410 Factual 1 The Kansas-Nebraska Act divided the Nebraska Territory into two territories. repealed the Missouri Compromise. represented the interests of the southern faction of the Democratic Party. was supported by Stephen Douglas. all of the above. E Average p. 410-411 Factual 1 The final act that destroyed the Whigs as a national political party was the passage of the Missouri Compromise. passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. passage of the Compromise of 1850. passage of the Lecompton Constitution. the Fugitive Slave Act. B Average p. 412 Factual 1 The destruction of the Whig Party led to the formation of the liberal Democrats. Liberty Party. Republican Party. Free Soil Party. the Socialist Party. C Least Difficult p. 412 Factual 1 Most immigrants between 1800 and 1830 were Irish, Catholic, and unskilled laborers. British, Protestant, and skilled workers. German, Protestant, and unskilled laborers. Italian, Catholic, and skilled workers. Russian, Jewish, and unskilled workers. B Most Difficult p. 412 Analytical 1 Most immigrants in the 1840s and 1850s were Irish, Catholic, and unskilled laborers. British, Protestant, and skilled workers. German, Protestant, and unskilled laborers. Italian, Catholic, and skilled workers. Russian, Jewish, and unskilled workers. A Most Difficult p. 413 Analytical 1 Most immigrants in the 1850s joined the Know-Nothing Party. Republican Party. Liberty Party. Democratic Party. Socialist Party. D Average p. 413 Factual 1 The major issue for the Know-Nothing Party was abolition of slavery. development of business. nativism. women's rights. westward expansion. C Least Difficult p. 414 Factual 1 Most northerners left the Know-Nothings and became Republicans because of the slavery issue. the immigration issue. the temperance issue. economic concerns. concern for public education. A Average p. 415 Factual 1 The subject of Charles Sumner's speech that led to his beating on the floor of Congress was the hanging of John Brown. the Dred Scott Decision. the Compromise of 1850 the Fugitive Slave Act "Bleeding Kansas." E Least Difficult p. 418 Factual 1 The winner of the 1856 presidential election was Millard Fillmore. James Buchanan. Stephen Douglas. Franklin Pierce. Abraham Lincoln. B Least Difficult p. 419 Factual 1 The Dred Scott decision of the U.S. Supreme Court involved a slave who had been taken to live in Kansas. was suing for his freedom because his master had taken him into free territory. sued for his wife's freedom on the grounds that she had been married to a free black. had been freed by his master and who challenged the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. wished to exercise his right to vote. B Average p. 419 Factual 1 One feature of industry pioneered by the United States was production of prestige products by skilled artisans. mass production of interchangeable parts. production of railroads and locomotives. arms and ammunition. a unionized labor force. B Least Difficult p. 422 Factual 1 One of the problems of the southern economy on the eve of the Civil War was lack of productivity in the agricultural sector. over-reliance on industrial growth. a developing commercial attitude. the decline of the cotton industry. a lack of diversification. E Least Difficult p. 425 Factual 1 ____ asserted that southern slaves enjoyed a higher standard of living than northern laborers. Hinton R. Helper George Fitzhugh William Seward James D. B. De Bow James Buchanan B Least Difficult p. 427 Factual 1 At the core of free-labor ideology was the belief that social mobility awaited those industrious laborers who worked hard and efficiently. laborers who worked for free earned merits and future promotion from employers. independent yeoman farmers formed the backbone of society. commerce bred greed and selfishness and should be avoided. all industries should be publicly owned. A Average p. 431 Analytical 1 The great enemy of a free-labor society was commerce. slavery. agriculture. merchants. the government. B Average p. 432 Factual 1 Which political party endorsed the ideas of "free labor"? American Party Democratic Party Socialist Party Liberty Party Republican Party E Least Difficult p. 432 Factual 1 Who of the following would have argued that "freedom is not possible without slavery"? Stephen Douglas John C. Calhoun James Buchanan Henry Clay Nathaniel Hawthorne B Average p. 433 Factual 1 The central issue in the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 was the transcontinental railroad. secession. slavery. states' rights. westward expansion. C Least Difficult p. 433-435 Factual 1 The result of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was northern anger at his actions. northern abandonment of the Republican Party. slave unrest in the South. dramatic growth for the northern Democratic Party. outrage and fear throughout the South. E Average p. 437 Factual 1 The violence in "Bleeding Kansas" involved clashes between white settlers and American Indians. blacks and whites. proslavery and antislavery groups. residents of Nebraska who invaded Kansas and the settlers there. Mexican invaders and the settlers of Kansas. C Least Difficult p. 415-416 Factual 1 Abraham Lincoln's view on the extension of slavery into the territories was slavery was unconstitutional in both the states and in the territories. slavery was constitutional in the states but it should not be extend into the territories. Congress should not have the authority to prohibit the expansion of slavery. unknown as he issued no public statement on the subject. Congress must support the expansion of slavery into the territories. B Most Difficult p. 411-412 Analytical 1 Members of the Know-Nothing Party were all of the following except American-born Protestants. middle-aged and elderly professional men. supporters of the temperance movement. advocates of legislation increasing the naturalization period. pledged to maintain secrecy about their order. B Average p. 414 Factual 1 In the Kansas territorial election of 1855, approximately five thousand Missourians illegally voted. a free-soil legislature was elected. women were allowed to vote. slavery was abolished in the area. blacks were allowed to vote. A Average p. 416 Factual 1 In the mid-nineteenth-century American system of education, most lower-class students worked as apprentices and did not attend school. ninety-five percent of white southerners and 20 percent of the slaves could read and write. was stronger in the North than in the South. most public school teachers were men. literacy was more common in the United States than in Europe. E Average p. 424 Analytical 1 The southern economy was "colonial" in that foreign investors owned over 50 percent of the land in the South. southern financial institutions loaned money to European colonial powers. it depended upon exportation of agricultural goods and importation of manufactured products. it employed slaves. it exported no products. C Average p. 425 Analytical 1 Defenders of slavery claimed all of the following except elderly slaves were freed when they became unable to work. slaves never had to worry about losing their jobs. slaves received free medical care. in general, slaves were better off than white wage earners in the North. slaves did not have to worry about having their wages cut. A Most Difficult p. 427 Analytical 1 The Panic of 1857 caused bloody riots in which dozens of people were killed. increased hostility between northerners and southerners who disagreed over the tariff issue. lasted longer than any other nineteenth-century depression. caused millions of workers to join labor unions. all of the above. B Most Difficult p. 431 Analytical 1 Advocates of the free labor ideology viewed labor strikes as dangerous, subversive plots. unfortunate misunderstandings that could be solved by prayer. evidence of the increased influence of foreign immigrants. justification for forming a new political party. positive events that helped free workers improve their working conditions. E Most Difficult p. 432 Analytical 1 In The Impending Crisis of the South, Hinton Rowan Helper described southern society as bustling, prosperous, and progressive. blamed South Carolina for the violence in "Bleeding Kansas." said that slavery caused economic retardation, illiteracy, and poverty in the South. defended the states' rights position on secession. insisted that slavery must expand to al of the territories. C Most Difficult p. 432 Analytical 1 Non-slaveholders in the South were held together by kinship. economic interest. race. a belief in white supremacy. all of the above. E Average p. 432-433 Analytical 1 In the "Freeport Doctrine," the Supreme Court ruled that residence in Freeport, Illinois, did not automatically free runaways. Stephen Douglas suggested that the territories could maintain popular sovereignty by refusing to protect slavery there. Abraham Lincoln agreed that there was no means of preventing the extension of slavery. Stephen Douglas insisted that slavery was legal in all the free states and territories. slaves who escaped to the North were declared free. B Average p. 435 Analytical 1 John Brown was noted for all of the following except killing unarmed proslavery farmers in the civil war in "Bleeding Kansas." attempting to incite a slave rebellion in Virginia. coining the phrase "the irrepressible conflict" to explain the coming of the Civil War. dying as a "martyr to freedom." attacking Harpers Ferry. C Most Difficult p. 418 | p. 436-437 Factual 1 As a result of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, the state of Illinois passed legislation making slavery a punishment for crime. Stephen Douglas was re-elected to the U.S. Senate. Abraham Lincoln was almost kicked out of the Republican Party. both Lincoln and Douglas were defeated by Know-Nothing candidate Nathaniel Banks. the Kansas-Nebraska Act was repealed. B Average p. 435 Factual 1 Stephen A. Douglas was chair of the Senate Committee on Westward Expansion. Kansas and Nebraska. Territories. New States. the Economy. C Average p. 410 Factual 1 Members of the Order, which eventually evolved into the Know-Nothings, supported all of the following except temperance. restricting public office to native born men. lengthening the naturalization period before immigrants could become citizens. keeping their Order secret. tax support for parochial schools. E Least Difficult p. 414 Factual 1 Which of the following did not run a presidential candidate in 1856? Republican Party Democratic Party Whig Party American Party none of the above. C Average p. 418 Factual 1 James Buchanan won all of the following states in 1856 except Maryland. California. Pennsylvania. New Jersey. Pennsylvania. A Most Difficult p. 419 Factual 1 The value of American exports and imports increased by ____ percent between 1844 and 1856. 50 100 200 300 500 C Most Difficult p. 422 Factual 1 Which of the following was not among the nation's four leading industries measured by value added in manufacturing by 1860? cotton textiles floor milling lumber products boots and shoes iron and steel E Most Difficult p. 422 Factual 1 By 1855, cotton provided more than ____ of total U.S. exports. one-quarter one-third one-half two-thirds one-tenth C Average p. 425 Analytical 1 The 3 million immigrants that entered the United States in the decade after 1845 represented ____ percent of the total America population in 1845. 5 10 15 20 50 C Average p. 413 Factual 1 During the Kansas-Nebraska debate, Missouri's David Atchison held the position of speaker of the House of Representatives. vice president. president pro tem of the Senate. secretary of state. secretary of war. C Most Difficult p. 410 Factual 1 After serving four terms in the Illinois legislature and one term in Congress, Abraham Lincoln was propelled back into politics by the shock of the Kansas-Nebraska bill the Dred Scott decision. John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry. Bleeding Kansas. the Fugitive Slave Law. A Average p. 411 Factual 1 Organization of the Nebraska territory was necessary in order to expand slavery in the West. stop the Republican Party. establish reservations for Native Americans. get Lincoln elected President. build a railroad across the area. E Average p. 410 Analytical 1 The American or Know Nothing Party failed to become the leading opposition party in the 1850s primarily because the large numbers of immigrants joined the party. slavery issue divided northern and southern supporters of the party. Democratic Party picked up its anti-immigrant platforms. Whig Party was revived, diluting its strength. business community strongly supported increased immigration. B Most Difficult p. 414-415 Analytical 1 Most former northern members of the American Party became dropped out of politics. Democrats. Whigs. Free Soilers. Republicans. E Average p. 415 Factual 1 With regard to the Kansas issue, President Franklin Pierce endorsed John Brown's abolitionist campaign. recognized the antislavery legislature. recognized the proslavery legislature. refused to get involved in the conflict. asked Kansas to secede from the Union. C Average p. 416 Factual 1 The leading advocate for southern economic diversification was James D. B. De Bow. T Least Difficult p. 425 Factual 1 On average, wages and opportunities for workers were greater in the North than anywhere else. T Average p. 427 Analytical 1 John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry lasted for thee days. F Average p. 437 Factual 1 The Panic of 1857 virtually destroyed the southern cotton economy. F Most Difficult p. 430 Factual 1 The American Party was renamed the Know-Nothings. T Average p. 414 Factual 1 The leading southern advocate of free labor ideology was Jefferson Davis. F Most Difficult p. 432 Factual 1 The Lecompton Constitution was invalid because it was written by the antislavery minority in the proslavery territory of Kansas. F Average p. 421 Analytical 1 The first year that the Republican Party ran a presidential candidate was 1854. F Average p. 418 Factual 1 Abraham Lincoln believed that slavery and freedom were incompatible. T Least Difficult p. 433 Factual 1 Most of the foreign-born voters in the 1830s and 1840s joined the Democratic Party. T Average p. 413 Factual 1 The Know-Nothing Party was so named because its members were ignorant and uneducated. F Average p. 412 Factual 1 Many of the abolitionists advocated depriving white immigrants and Catholics of equal rights. T Average p. 414 Factual 1 The Impending Crisis of the South exaggerated the disaffection of most non-slaveholders in the South. T Average p. 432 Factual 1 Many southerners read The Impending Crisis of the South. F Average p. 432 Factual 1 Some northern industrial workers volunteered to become slaves in order to get free food and medical care. F Average p. 429 Factual 1 The Kansas-Nebraska Act destroyed the Whig Party. F Least Difficult p. 412 Factual 1 Application of popular sovereignty to the Nebraska Territory was the brainchild of Stephen A. Douglas. T Average p. 410 Factual 1 It was David R. Atchison who insisted that the Missouri Compromise had to be explicitly repealed in order for the South to accept the organization of the Nebraska Territory. T Average p. 410 Factual 1 The Panic of 1857 stemmed entirely from domestic causes. F Average p. 430 Factual 1 Abraham Lincoln saw the prevention of the expansion of slavery into the territories as the first step to its eventual extinction. T Average p. 411-412 Analytical 1 The Kansas-Nebraska bill passed easily in the House of Representatives. F Average p. 412 Analytical 1 Franklin Pierce was president during the debate over the Kansas-Nebraska bill. T Least Difficult p. 412 Factual 1 The elections of 1854 were disastrous for northern Democrats. T Average p. 412 Factual 1 Franklin Pierce supported southern efforts to legalize slavery in Kansas. T Average p. 416 Factual 1 When two competing legislatures emerged in Kansas, the House of Representatives recognized the one that supported slavery. F Most Difficult p. 416 Factual 1 The Republicans were the first truly sectional party in American history. T Least Difficult p. 418 Factual 1 The Republican Party advocated racial equality in the election of 1856. F Most Difficult p. 419 Factual 1 No southern justices supported the Dred Scott decision. F Most Difficult p. 419-420 Factual 1 The Dred Scott decision finally settled the slavery question. F Least Difficult p. 421 Factual 1 The Lecompton debate seriously split the Democratic Party. T Average p. 421 Analytical 1 Between 1844 and 1856, the distance between rich and poor was narrowing. F Most Difficult p. 422 Analytical 1 By the late 1850s, the United States was the second-leading industrial producer in the world. T Average p. 422 Analytical 1 The South did not share in the economy's rapid growth following recovery from the depression of 1837-1843. F Most Difficult p. 425 Analytical 1 The cover of De Bow's Review proclaimed that "Cotton is King." F Most Difficult p. 426-427 Factual 1 Economic diversification made no headway in the South during the 1850s. F Average p. 427 Analytical 1 Southerners had a larger percentage of their capital invested in lands and slaves in 1860 than they had had ten years earlier. T Average p. 427 Analytical 1 Virginians in the late 1850s supported the reopening of the international slave trade. F Most Difficult p. 427 Analytical 1 George Fitzhugh supported the free-market capitalist system. F Average p. 427 Analytical 1 Four million immigrants came to the United States between 1845 and 1860. T Average p. 429 Factual 1 The widespread use of the sewing machine in the 1850s made life easier for seamstresses. F Average p. 429 Analytical 1 The first Republican presidential candidate (1856) was ____________________. John C. Frémont Most Difficult p. 418 Factual 1 0 The Supreme Court chief justice who was motivated more by "Southern life and values" than the law in the Dred Scott case was ____________________. Roger Taney Least Difficult p. 420 Factual 1 0 Stephen Douglas introduced the idea of ____________________, which states that the people of a territory should decide whether they want the institution of slavery, into the debate over the Kansas territory. popular sovereignty Average p. 410 Analytical 1 0 The political group that was pledged to secrecy was the ____________________. Know-Nothings Least Difficult p. 414 Factual 1 0 The abolitionist zealot who massacred five proslavery advocates at Pottawatomie Creek was ____________________. John Brown Least Difficult p. 418 Factual 1 0 After his Kansas speech, ____________________ was attacked in the Senate by a U.S. representative from South Carolina. Charles Sumner Least Difficult p. 417 Factual 1 0 ____________________was the North Carolinian who wrote The Impending Crisis of the South. Hinton Rowan Helper Least Difficult p. 432 Factual 1 0 Southern society was based on the concept of ____________________ democracy in the idea that all members of the superior white race are equal. herrenvolk Most Difficult p. 433 Factual 1 0 The dispute over Kansas and Nebraska gave rise to the ____________________ Party. Republican Least Difficult p. 412 Analytical 1 0 The Dred Scott decision denied the power of ____________________ to restrict slavery in the territories. Congress Average p. 420 Analytical 1 0 The Senate effort to ensure that slavery would not be kept out of Nebraska was led by ____________________. David R. Atchison Most Difficult p. 410 Factual 1 0 The Whig candidate for president in 1852 was ____________________. Winfield Scott Average p. 412 Factual 1 0 ____________________was the first state to enact a prohibition law. Maine Average p. 414 Factual 1 0 By 1856, the ____________________ had become the largest party in the North. Republicans Average p. 418 Factual 1 0 By the late 1850s, the United States was behind only ____________________ in total industrial production. Britain Average p. 422 Factual 1 0 The argument that slaves were better off than northern factory workers reached its fullest development in the writings of ____________________. George Fitzhugh Average p. 427 Factual 1 0 Less than ____________________ percent of the U.S. labor force was unionized in 1860. 1 Most Difficult p. 431 Factual 1 0 The most important social distinction in the antebellum South was ____________________. race Average p. 433 Analytical 1 0 ____________________led the drive for passage of a federal slave code for all territories. Jefferson Davis Most Difficult p. 435 Factual 1 0 ____________________ lost control of the House of Representatives in 1854. Democrats Most Difficult p. 412 Factual 1 0 ____________________ of foreign-born workers settled in free states. Seven-eighths Most Difficult p. 413 Factual 1 0 By 1856, most northern Know-Nothings had become ____________________. Republicans Most Difficult p. 415 Factual 1 0 About ____________________ "border ruffians" from Missouri voted illegally in the spring of 1855 to elect a proslavery territorial legislature in Kansas. five thousand Average p. 416 Factual 1 0 The first use of the term "Republican" to describe the new political party in the 1850s was at ____________________. Ripon, Wisconsin Most Difficult p. 412 Factual 1 0 The leading Catholic prelate who attacked abolitionists and boasted of the decline of Protestantism was ____________________. John Hughes Average p. 414 Factual 1 0 The Supreme Court decision that declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional was the ____________________ decision. Dred Scott Least Difficult p. 419 Factual 1 0 A constitution designed to impose slavery on Kansas was the ____________________ constitution. Lecompton Average p. 421 Factual 1 0 A feature of modern industry that utilizes machines to cut identical parts that fit together with other parts produced in the same way is mass production of ____________________. Interchangeable Parts Average p. 422 Factual 1 0 The end of the ____________________ War in Europe caused a decline in grain exports contributing to the onset of the Panic of 1857. Crimean Most Difficult p. 430 Factual 1 0 ____________________ declared, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." Abraham Lincoln Most Difficult p. 434 Factual 1 0 John Brown: antislavery zealot whose violent raids frightened and enraged southerners. Attacked proslavery forces in Kansas, then launched an unsuccessful raid on the federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in hopes of starting a slave insurrection. Arrested along with several of his supporters and ultimately executed. Became a hero for abolitionists. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 George Fitzhugh: a farmer-lawyer from Virginia who defended slavery as a paternalistic system that took care of the slaves. Published Sociology for the South and Cannibals All. Insisted that capitalism mistreated and exploited free workers. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Know-Nothing Party: nativist, anti-Catholic, political party that grew to great strength in the northeastern United States. Formally known as the American Party, it won big in the elections of 1854, mostly by cutting into the Whig constituency. Shortly thereafter, though, it was overtaken by Republicans who focused on the issue of slavery. Disappeared after 1856. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Republican Party: northern political party that emerged following the Kansas controversy. Primary platform was "no extension of slavery." First wholly sectional party in American history. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Kansas-Nebraska Act: 1854 congressional act that repealed the Missouri Compromise and effectively destroyed the two-party system in the United States. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Hinton Rowan Helper: North Carolinian who wrote The Impending Crisis of the South. Spokesperson for white non-slaveowners who blamed the backwardness of southern economy, the illiteracy of whites and slaves, and the widespread poverty of the South on the institution of slavery. His book was banned in the South. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Lincoln-Douglas debates: a series of seven debates between Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln during the Illinois senatorial race in 1858. These debates focused on the issue of slavery, made Lincoln a national figure, and lost support for Douglas among southern Democrats. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 James D. B. De Bow: Southern publisher of De Bow's Review. Championed economic diversification in the South. Organized annual commercial conventions in various southern cities during the 1850s. Encouraged southerners to invest in shipping lines, railroads, textile mills, and other enterprises. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Homestead Act: a bill supported by the Republican Party that would grant 160 acres of public land to farmers who settled the land. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Freeport Doctrine: Stephen Douglas' attempt to reconcile the Dred Scott Decision with his popular sovereignty approach to the issue of slavery in the territories. He contended that even if slavery were legal in the territories its enforcement would still depend on the people who lived there. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Examine the controversy involving the Kansas-Nebraska Act. What were the issues involved and how were they resolved? The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) was the result of the belief on the part of both regions of the nation (the capitalist North and the proslavery South) that their own expansion was absolutely essential for the survival of the nation. The issue at hand was whether slavery would exist in the Nebraska Territory. Stephen Douglas's attempt to build a railroad ignited great controversy. When southern leaders demanded that Nebraska be split into two territories, Douglas responded by proposing that slavery exist in at least one of the territories. His Kansas-Nebraska Act not only split the region in two, but officially overturned the Missouri Compromise by allowing slavery to exist north of the Missouri Compromise line. The bill caused an outrage in the North, particularly among northern Whigs who refused to vote in favor of the bill. Southerners of both parties strongly supported the bill, especially its provision allowing for the renewed expansion of slavery. Northern Democrats split on this issue; about half voted with the Whigs against the act, but the other half (for the sake of national unity and the belief that slavery would never take hold in Kansas in any case) joined with the South and passed the bill. The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act destroyed the Whig Party as well as the two-party system and set the national stage for renewed sectional struggle. TYPE: Short Essays 1 -1 Explore the importance of nativism to U.S. politics in the 1850s. Political and social nativism were central to northeastern politics in the 1840s and 1850s. Massive immigration introduced a huge variety of ethnic backgrounds to those already populating the United States. Primarily Irish and German, usually Catholic, most often unskilled, the cultural and social values of these groups varied tremendously. Native-born Americans saw immigrants as outsiders, as threats to native skilled labor and to the social order. Many native-born northeasterners also saw the religious beliefs of immigrants (mainly Catholicism) as a despotic, backward, and repressive institution that they equated with slavery. These beliefs and fears led to one of the most powerful anti-immigrant movements in American history: the American Party, or the Know-Nothings. The Know-Nothings were essentially localist in nature and were most concerned with temperance and parochial schools at the state and local levels. They were a secretive party--hence their name--and they won several important state elections, primarily in the North. The movement eventually declined for two reasons: first, the increasing attention to the issue of slavery, and, second, the decline in immigration. TYPE: Short Essays 1 -1 Describe the issues surrounding the Dred Scott Supreme Court case of 1857. What was the effect of this decision on the nation? Dred Scott was a slave from Missouri who sued for his freedom because his owner had taken him into free territories. After working its way through Missouri courts, the case reached the Supreme Court in 1856-57. The case tested whether Congress had the power to control slavery in the territories. The court, under the control of southerner Roger Taney, ruled that Congress did not have the power to keep slavery out of the territories, because slaves were property and therefore were protected by the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. This decision had wide-ranging effects on American politics. It uplifted the South, which saw the decision as a triumph for slavery and the southern way of life. It angered northerners--even those who had little concern about slavery. It confirmed the northern belief that the government was controlled by a "slaveocracy," thus increasing their support for the Republican Party. TYPE: Short Essays 1 -1 Examine the important repercussions of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry. Brown was an antislavery zealot. In 1856, he and several followers attacked and killed five proslavery advocates at Pottawatomie River during the fighting in "Bleeding Kansas." In October 1859, Brown, hoping to foment slave rebellions throughout the South, led a raid on the arsenal town of Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown's plan was to gather guns and materials, move through the mountain ranges of the South, and bring about the collapse of southern slavery. Brown and his followers were surrounded and captured at the arsenal, and they were soon hanged by the state of Virginia. The long-term repercussions of the failed plot were significant, however. In the South, the raid seemed to confirm widely held suspicions about the motives and desires of northerners, leading to the rise of southern militia units throughout southern states. In the North, Brown's actions were condemned, although he himself gained the stature of a martyr for the antislavery cause. This outpouring of northern sympathy enraged the people of the South, further deepening the sectional crisis. TYPE: Short Essays 1 -1 Describe the issues and events involved in "Bleeding Kansas." In 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska Act organized and provided for popular sovereignty in the two territories. Kansas became a symbol for both pro- and antislavery advocates. A majority of the settlers who moved to Kansas came from northern states. Neighboring slaveowners from Missouri crossed into Kansas to vote for a proslavery government in the territorial election. Approximately five thousand illegal votes were cast, but President Franklin Pierce ignored the fraud and recognized the proslavery government. Free-soil settlers rejected the "bogus legislature" and elected an antislavery government that actually reflected the popular sovereignty of Kansas. The national government was split over the issue with the president and Senate siding with the proslavery group and the House of Representatives supporting the free-soil government. The dispute turned violent when Senator Charles Sumner was attacked in the Senate by Representative Preston Brooks. Northerners declared Sumner a martyr and southerners hailed Brooks as a hero. A bloody civil war erupted in Kansas after a group of proslavery Missourians sacked the antislavery town of Lawrence, Kansas. In retaliation for the Lawrence raid, the grim abolitionist John Brown led an attack on a proslavery settlement and murdered five men. Acts of murder and vengeance were repeated over and over until President Pierce appointed a new territorial governor with 1,300 soldiers to quell the hostilities. TYPE: Short Essays 1 -1 Describe the free-labor ideology and the southern response to it. Republican abolitionists believed in the nobility of work and created what historians call the "free-labor ideology." Antislavery advocates asserted that slavery demeaned honest labor. Slaves were forced to toil without compensation and they, therefore, took no pride in their work. In a free-labor system, independent laborers were motivated by ambition and therefore, worked efficiently and determinedly. Economic opportunities and upward mobility stimulated the Protestant virtues of hard work, frugality, and sobriety. Free workers achieved success and profited from their labors. This view was not necessarily an accurate description of the possibilities available to wage earners in the North, but it did reflect the commonly held ideals of northern society. Southerners responded by pointing to free workers' complaints of low wages and mistreatment. They noted that strikes and violence were often a part of the labor movement in the North. Slaveowners contended that slaves were "taken care of" by their masters. George Fitzhugh, for example, claimed that slaves were better fed, housed, clothed, and had better medical care than northern industrial workers. TYPE: Short Essays 1 -1 Compare northern and southern images of each other and their own regions during the turbulent 1850s. Essay should address several key points: A. The relationship between economic conditions and realities with ideologies, or world views, in each region by the 1850s B. Northern idea of "free labor" and its relationship to the antislavery position 1. Belief in capitalism, industry, individual initiative 2. Slavery as a threat to free, white laborers, as well as dehumanizing to blacks 3. Expansive northern economy depends on free labor 4. Slavery must be kept out of territories to allow free labor to expand C. Southern proslavery argument (or slavery as a positive commodity) 1. Description of paternalistic aspects of slavery 2. Comparison of slavery to free labor 3. Criticism of irregularities of northern economy D. How these two world views (free labor versus proslavery) were related to the politics of the 1850s, and became motivating factors for behavior and argumentation between the two regions 1. Southern attack on northern institutions: a. George Fitzhugh b. James Henry Hammond 2. Northern attack on slaveholding South a. Abraham Lincoln b. William Seward 3. Instances of conflict a. "Bleeding Kansas" b. Dred Scott decision c. Harpers Ferry
TYPE: Long Essays 1 -1 Examine the political crisis of the 1850s. What were the origins of this crisis, the central issues involved, and the repercussions for the United States? Essay should address several key points: A. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) 1. Southern fear of being surrounded by free states 2. Role of Stephen Douglas 3. Repeal of Missouri Compromise 4. Breakdown of Whig Party and national politics B. Rise of alternative political parties 1. Know-Nothing Party 2. Republican Party and Free Soilers C. Political breakdown in the mid-1850s 1. "Bleeding Kansas" 2. Lecompton Constitution 3. Dred Scott decision 4. Harpers Ferry D. Repercussions 1. Development of sectional parties 2. Regional mistrust and threats of secession (1856)
TYPE: Long Essays 1 -1 Examine the Lincoln-Douglas debates. What were the issues examined and the two opponents' views on these issues? What effects did this have on politics in the late 1850s? Essay should address several key points: A. Setting for the debates 1. Illinois senatorial election of 1858 2. Backgrounds of Lincoln and Douglas B. Issues debated 1. Douglas's views on slavery--morally neutral 2. Douglas as defender of the Constitution and popular sovereignty 3. Lincoln on "free soil" and inhumanity of slavery 4. Lincoln's "house divided" speech C. Outcome 1. National attention on debates 2. Douglas wins election, but alienates southern wing of Democratic Party 3. Lincoln emerges as major political figure
TYPE: Long Essays 1 -1 Examine the Kansas-Nebraska Act and describe its role in pushing the nation closer to Civil War. Essay should address several key points: A. Kansas-Nebraska Act 1. Provisions a. Organization of the territories b. Repeal of Missouri Compromise c. Popular sovereignty 2. Douglas's motives a. Southern support for presidency b. Real estate holdings c. Belief in expansion 3. Political consequences a. Destruction of Whig Party b. Creation of Republican Party B. "Bleeding Kansas" 1. Migration to Kansas a. Proslavery settlers b. Antislavery settlers 2. Territorial elections a. Fraudulent proslavery election b. Free-soil election 3. Violence a. Caning of Sumner b. Sacking of Lawrence c. John Brown's raid on Pottawatomie d. Military rule C. Lecompton Constitution 1. Proslavery constitutional convention a. Rigged elections b. "Fair" referendum 2. Free-Soil Constitution a. Fair election b. Voters reject both constitutions 3. Congressional debate a. Senate votes yes b. House votes no c. Southerners and Douglas at odds
TYPE: Long Essays 1 -1