Social Studies Unit 2B Lesson 1 Conflict and compromises

John C. Calhoun

(1782-1850) a leading member of the House of Representatives for South Carolina under Presidents Madison and Monroe. He spoke for the interests of the South, and who later served as vice president and U.S. senator

Why was the Free-Soil party founded? How were most Free-Soilers fundamentally different from abolitionists, and why is this an important distinction?

Many Northern Democrats and Whigs were against the spread of slavery, but they did not want to lose Southern support. They also wanted to preserve the Union. They founded the Free-Soil party to try to create an antislavery party with support from the North and South. Most Free-Soilers were fundamentally different from abolitionists because Free-Soilers wanted to keep new states free, but abolitionists wanted to end slavery altogether. This is an important distinction because Free-Soilers elected to Congress would be unlikely to vote to end slavery altogether, but would ensure all new states would remain free. Abolitionists would vote only for bills to end all slavery.

Who viewed California's request for admission to the Union as a threat?

Slave states viewed the admission of California as a threat.

How did Northerners respond to the Fugitive Slave Act?

Some followed it just like they would any other law, but it especially made abolitionists angry. Some states passed their own laws to limit the impact of the Fugitive Slave Act.

How did the Missouri Compromise preserve a balance of power in the Senate?

The Missouri Compromise kept the balance of power in the Senate between slave and free states equal by allowing Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state and Maine to enter as a free state.

Why do you think Northerners felt it was crucial not to lose power in the Senate? What would have happened as a result?

The North felt it was important not to lose power in the Senate because the South would then have a majority vote. As a result, they would give the South the chance to spread slavery by admitting slave states.

What effect did the admission of California to the Union as a free state in 1850 have on the balance of power in the Senate?

The admission of California to the Union as a free state in 1850 tipped the balance of power in the Senate toward free states.

What was the significance of Uncle Tom's Cabin?

The book showed many people the realities of slavery.

Why do political leaders compromise?

The issue of slavery continued to divide the nation. Specifically, it was unclear how new states should handle the issue of slavery. Political leaders compromised in an effort to try to prevent the breakup of the Union.

Even though the Compromise of 1850 had the positive effect of holding the union together temporarily, what issue still remained

The issue of the expansion of slavery remained.

What was one of the effects of sectionalism?

There was a sharp division over the issue of expanding slavery.

Why did Southerners object to the book?

They claimed it did not give a true picture of slave life.

What occurred in the election of 1848 that showed that slavery had become a national issue?

Thirteen members of the Free-Soil Party won seats in Congress.

How do you think Uncle Tom's Cabin contributed to the tensions between the North and the South?

Uncle Tom's Cabin contributed to the tensions between the North and South because it drew attention to the cruelty enslaved persons were forced to endure. Many Northerners opposed slavery, while many Southerners favored slavery because it was crucial to the Southern economy. Many Southerners felt that the book was inaccurate, while the book helped many Northerners see that slavery was a moral problem facing every American.

What does the outcome of both the 1848 Congressional and presidential elections suggest about voters' feelings on the issue of slavery during this time in history? Use evidence from the text to support your answer

Voters were still very divided on the issue of slavery. They voted for Zachary Taylor, a presidential candidate who likely supported slavery, yet they also voted for many Free-Soil candidates who opposed slavery in the new territories.

Wilmot Proviso

a law passed in 1846 that banned slavery in any territories won by the United States from Mexico

Fugitive Slave Act

a law passed in 1850 that required all citizens to aid in the capture of runaway slaves

Daniel Webster

a leading member of the House of Representatives for New Hampshire under Presidents Madison and Monroe who spoke for the interests of the North, and who later served as a representative and U.S. senator from Massachusetts and as U.S. Secretary of State

fugitive

a runaway

civil war

a war between people of the same country

Uncle Tom's Cabin

an 1852 novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe written to show the evils of slavery and the injustice of the Fugitive Slave Act

Compromise of 1850

an agreement over slavery by which California joined the Union as a free state and a strict fugitive slave law was passed

Missouri Compromise

an agreement, proposed in 1819 by Henry Clay, to keep the number of slave and free states equal

popular sovereignty

government by consent of the governed

Free-Soil party

the bipartisan antislavery party founded in the United States in 1848 to keep slavery out of the western territories

What was the main goal of the Free-Soil party?

to ban slavery in new western lands

secede

to withdraw from membership in a group