Chapter 15 A Divided Nation
What is the Fugitive Slave Act?
A law that made it a crime to help runaway slaves and allowed officials to arrest those slaves in free areas.
What is the Free-Soil Party?
A new party formed by antislavery northerners that supported the Wilmot Proviso.
Who was Harriet Beecher Stowe?
An author who wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin a novel that exposed the harsh reality of slave life
What happened in the Compromise of 1850?
California entered the Union as a free state and the rest of the Mexican Cession was divided into Utah and New Mexico Territory, where the people would decide whether to make them slave states.
Who was Stephen Douglas?
Congressman who proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act and was in favor of building a railroad to the Pacific Ocean.
What was the Kansas-Nebraska Act?
Divided the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase into the two territories of Kansas and Nebraska with each territory deciding for themelves the question of slavery.
How did the debate over the expansion of slavery influence the election of 1852?
Franklin Pierce's support of the Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act helped him win the election.
Who was Henry Clay?
Kentucky senator who helped with the Missouri Compromise and introduced the Compromise of 1850.
Who was Jefferson Davis?
President of the Confederacy
Who was Daniel Webster?
Senator from Massachusetts who supported compromise as a way to preserve the Union.
Who was William Seward?
Senator from New York who opposed a compromise because he wanted California admitted without conditions. Anti-slavery view.
What was John C. Calhoun's position on the Compromise of 1850?
Slave states should separate peacefully from the Union.
.What was The Seventh of March Speech?
Speech made by Daniel Webster who was upset with the South and their talk of secession.
How was Texas affected by the Compromise of 1850?
Texas gave up land claims in New Mexico in exchange for financial help fromthe government.
Who was Franklin Pierce?
The 14th President (Democrat) of the United States ; he swore to honor the Compromise of 1850 and enforce the Fugitive Slave Act
Why was the Democratic Party not a strong force in the election of 1860?
They couldn't agree on a single candidate so votes were split.
Secede
To formally withdraw from the Union
Pottawatomie Massacre
abolitionists' response to the Sack of Lawrence
sectionalism
favoring the interests of one section or region over the interests of the entire country.
Freeport Doctrine
idea that police would enforce voter's decision if it went against the Supreme Court decision in the Dred Scott case.
Wilmot Proviso
legislation to ban slavery in the Mexican Cession
Importance of case of Anthony Burns
persuaded many to join the abolitionist cause
What was the purpose of the Lincoln-Douglas debates?
promote the two candidacies for the Senate
John Brown's raid
rebellion by a group of abolitionists at Harper's Ferry
Dred Scott
slave who sued for freedom in federal court
Confederate states
states that left the Union after the election of 1860
popular sovereignty
the idea that political power belongs to the people
What was the Compromise of 1850?
way to try solve the disputes over the issue of slavery in the lands of the Mexican Cession.
