Pre-Civil War Tension study guide

What land did the Missouri Compromise impact?

| The Louisiana Purchase territory

What two states joined the Union as part of the Missouri Compromise?

| Missouri and Maine

Why was it important to keep a balance between free and slave states?

To maintain equal political power in Congress

Who was William Lloyd Garrison?

A radical abolitionist and publisher of The Liberator

Who was Frederick Douglass?

|A formerly enslaved abolitionist and speaker

What abolitionist cause did both Garrison and Douglass support?

The immediate end of slavery

What was The Liberator?

An abolitionist newspaper

What was The North Star?

An abolitionist newspaper founded by Frederick Douglass

What was the main goal of abolitionist newspapers?

To persuade people that slavery was immoral

What was the Wilmot Proviso?

A proposal to ban slavery in territories gained from Mexico

Why did Southern lawmakers oppose the Wilmot Proviso?

It threatened the expansion of slavery

What ultimately happened to the Wilmot Proviso?

It was never passed

Why did many Americans move to California in the late 1840s?

To find gold

What major event caused this population movement?

The California Gold Rush

Which state joined the Union as part of the Compromise of 1850?

California

What was the Fugitive Slave Law?

A law requiring escaped enslaved people to be returned to their enslavers

Why did the Fugitive Slave Law anger Northerners?

It forced them to support slavery

Finish the quote: “You’re the little woman who wrote the book that…”

“…started this great war”

Who wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin?

Harriet Beecher Stowe

What was the central message of Uncle Tom’s Cabin?

Slavery was cruel and immoral

Why was Uncle Tom’s Cabin so influential?

It made people emotionally oppose slavery

Besides books, how did most people experience Uncle Tom’s Cabin?

As a play

What was the Kansas–Nebraska Act?

A law allowing settlers to vote on slavery

Who proposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act?

Stephen Douglas

What is popular sovereignty?

Letting voters decide on slavery

How did popular sovereignty affect slavery in new territories?

How did the Kansas–Nebraska Act undo the Missouri Compromise?

It allowed slavery north of the 36°30′ line

Why was Kansas known as “Bleeding Kansas”?

Violence broke out over slavery

Who were “border ruffians”? |

Pro-slavery settlers from Missouri

Why did people send Representative Preston Brooks canes? |

To support his attack on Charles Sumner

What did Preston Brooks do to Senator Charles Sumner? |

He beat him with a cane

Why did Brooks attack Sumner? |

Sumner gave an anti-slavery speech insulting the South

Which political party formed during the 1850s? |

The Republican Party

Why did this new political party form? |

To oppose the expansion of slavery

What did Dred Scott believe made him free? |

Living in free territory

What did the Supreme Court rule in Dred Scott v. Sandford? |

Enslaved people were property and not citizens

Why did the Dred Scott decision anger abolitionists? |

It protected slavery everywhere

What office were Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas running for in 1858? |

U.S. Senate

What was the Freeport Doctrine? |

Territories could ban slavery by not enforcing it

Why did Southerners dislike the Freeport Doctrine? |

It weakened slavery’s expansion

What was Abraham Lincoln’s main priority when he became president? |

Preserving the Union

What was John Brown’s plan at Harpers Ferry? |

To start a slave rebellion

Why did John Brown’s raid fail? |

He was captured by federal troops

How did Southerners view John Brown after the raid? |

As a terrorist

In the North, who was John Brown compared to? |

A martyr or hero or Jesus

What ultimately happened to John Brown? |

He was executed/hanged

By the start of the Civil War, what was Lincoln’s position on slavery? |

Opposed its expansion, not immediate abolition

What political party did Abraham Lincoln belong to? |

The Republican Party

Why was Lincoln’s election threatening to the South? |

He opposed the spread of slavery

Who won the presidential election of 1860? |

Abraham Lincoln

What was the goal of the Crittenden Compromise? |

To protect slavery permanently

Why did Lincoln reject the Crittenden Compromise? |

It allowed slavery to expand

What is secession? |

Leaving the Union

How many slave states seceded from the Union?

Eleven

How many slave states stayed loyal to the Union? |

Four

What were these loyal slave states called? |

Border states

What new country formed from the seceded states? |

The Confederate States of America

Why did enslavers fear enslaved people learning to read? |

It could lead to rebellion

What does the Underground Railroad show about resistance to slavery? |

Many people actively opposed slavery

How did the Dred Scott decision hurt enslaved people and abolitionist goals? |

It denied rights and strengthened slavery