Chapter 12: Sectional Conflict and Crisis

What was the 1846 Wilmot Proviso?

a ban on slavery in territory acquired from Mexico

Who proposed the Wilmot Proviso and what did he believe?

David Wilmot and he was anti-slavery

Did the Wilmot Proviso pass as a law?

no it was passed in the House but then defeated in the South by southerners

What now states were acquired from Mexico in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo for 15 million dollars?

CA, NV, UT, AZ, NM, CO

What was the Free Soil Movement Party and why was it created?

it was a political party that viewed slavery as a threat to democracy and opposed expansion of slavery. It was created because of fear of southern political domination

What was the 1850 Oregon Donation Land Claim Act?

it granted farm-sized plots to settlers who moved there within 4 years

Did Congress annex the Oregon Territory?

yes, in 1848

Who discovered gold in 1849 in California that prompted the gold rush?

John Sutter

What were the people who poured into California during the Gold Rush nicknamed?

Forty-Niners

What was the Foreign Miners Tax?

it forced Chinese and Latin American miners to pay large fees for the right to prospect for gold

Who wanted the Foreign Miners Tax?

white prospectors who demanded immigrants to be removed from the mining areas

What happened as a result of the Foreign Miners Tax?

it forced most foreign miners out of the gold fields

What happened to the Native Americans living in California after the Gold Rush?

their populations drastically dropped because of disease and killing campaigns and Congress revoked many treaties with Native Americans which reduced their lands from 7 million acres to 25,000 and many were forced to work as slave labor on California farms

What was the 1850 Crisis?

California was ready to join the Union as a free state and southern politicians in Congress opposed it because they wanted slavery to expand westward

Who proposed popular sovereignty?

Senator Stephen Douglas of IL

What was popular sovereignty?

it let settlers in territories to vote to determine if territory would be slave or free

What was the Compromise of 1850?

it created the Fugitive Slave Act, CA was admitted as a free state, settled Texas and New Mexico border dispute, abolished the slave trade (not slavery) in Washington, D.C, and Utah and New Mexico would use popular sovereignty to determine if it will be in favor of being slave or free

What was the Fugitive Slave Act?

New federal law to allow slave catchers to go into northern states/territories and required northerners to assist in capturing runaways or face fines/jail; bounty paid for each captured slave (including free African Americans); abolitionists refused to follow the law

Who published Uncle Tom’s Cabin?

Harriet Beecher Stowe

What was Uncle Tom’s Cabin about?

it depicted the cruelty of slavery: torture, sexual abuse, forced separation of families

Where was Uncle Tom’s Cabin popular?

it was a bestseller in the North and banned in the South

Who was elected President in 1852 and what did he want to do?

Franklin Pierce and he wanted to expand American territory

What was the 1853 Gadsden Purchase and why was it bought?

the US bought a small piece of Mexico (AZ&NM) to build a transcontinental railroad from New Orleans to Los Angeles

What did Franklin Pierce do in 1854 in hopes of acquiring Cuba?

threatened war with Spain

What was the Ostend Manifesto and who created it?

it urged Pierce to annex Cuba. It was created by Secretary of State William Marcy

Why did Congress oppose the Ostend Manifesto?

it saw it as evidence of “slave power” in government

What was the Treaty of Kanagawa?

it allowed US ships to refuel at 2 Japanese ports and a US embassy was established in Edo (Tokyo)

What was the Kansas-Nebraska Act?

it allowed the Kansas and Nebraska territories to vote on whether to be slave/free which would repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1820

Who proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act and why?

Stephen Douglas because he hoped to win southern support for a transcontinental railroad

What happened as a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act?

thousands of proslavery supporters and abolitionists moved into Kansas to vote for/against slavery

What was the Republican Party?

a new political party formed in 1854 as a coalition of Whigs, Free Soilers, and Democrats

What was “Bleeding Kansas” in 1865?

a guerrilla war that killed almost 200 people including a proslavery force of 700 that burned the antislavery town of Lawrence, and John Brown’s attacks

Who was John Brown and what did he do during “Bleeding Kansas?”

he was an abolitionist who massacred 5 pro-slavery people in Pottawatomie with 8 other supporters

Who was Charles Sumner and what happened to him?

he was a senator who gave a fiery anti-slavery speech publicly criticizing fellow Senator Andrew Butler. Butler’s cousin, Representative Preston Brooks attacked him on the Senate floor

Who was elected President in 1856 and was he for or against slavery?

James Buchanan and he was proslavery

What did James Buchanan urge Congress to do?

admit Kansas as a slave state

What was the 1857 Dred Scott Case?

Dred Scott, a slave who moved with his master from Missouri to the free states of Illinois and Wisconsin, sued for his freedom in court

What was the ruling of the Dred Scott Case?

they ruled against Scott saying slaves were not citizens and had no rights in court. Said the Missouri Compromise and Northwest Ordinance of 1787 were unconstitutional and that Congress could not grant territorial governments the right to ban slavery

Who was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court during the Dred Scott Case?

Roger B. Taney

Which 2 people ran for US Senate Seat in a series of 7 public debates?

Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas

What were famous quotes that Lincoln said during the Lincoln-Douglas Debates?

“A house divided against itself cannot stand” and America “cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. It will become all of one thing or all the other.”

What did Lincoln argue about free African Americans?

they should have equal economic opportunities but not equal political rights and urged African Americans be resettled in Africa

Who was reelected to the Senate after the Lincoln Douglas Debates?

Douglas but he was elected narrowly

What happened during the 1859 John Brown raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia?

John Brown led 18 men to seize federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry to arm slaves and start a national slave uprising. The raid failed and John Brown was captured and later executed

What did proslavery and abolitionists call John Brown after his raid on Harpers Ferry?

Proslavery (southerners) vilified him calling him the “devil” and abolitionists called him a martyr

Who were the 4 candidates nominated in the 1860 election?

Stephen Douglas (nominated by Northern Democrats), John C. Breckinridge of KY (nominated by Southern Democrats), John Bell (nominated by Constitutional Union Party), and Lincoln (nominated by Republicans)

What happened on December 20, 1860?

South Carolina voted to secede from the Union

What states followed South Carolina in seceding?

Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas

What did the seceding states form and where was their capital?

the Confederate States of America and Montgomery, Alabama was their capital

Who were President and Vice President of the Confederacy?

Jefferson Davis (President) and Alexander Stephens (Vice President)

Which border states stayed loyal to the Union?

Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri

What did Lincoln say when he was inaugurated as President?

he vowed to safeguard slavery where it existed, but refused to expand slavery, the Union was “perpetual” and Confederacy was illegal, and vowed to use military force unless the South returned to the Union

What happened on April 12, 1861 at Fort Sumter?

Lincoln sent an unarmed ship to resupply Fort Sumter and Confederates fired on the fort and the fort surrendered 2 days later. The Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to put down southern insurrection

What states voted to secede from April to June 1861 and where was the new capital of the Confederacy located?

Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee. The capital moved to Richmond, Virginia