6.01 Sectional Conflicts Study Guide

Which Northern and Southern issues led to the Compromise of 1850?

-Southerners wanted the Missouri Compromise 36°30' boundary extended across the entire continent, which would have opened up most of the Mexican cession land to slavery. -Northern states passed personal liberty laws, which protected fugitive slaves who crossed over to free soil from being returned to their owners. These laws angered many southern states.

After the Compromise of 1850, how many free states existed?

16

How many territories were open to slavery?

4

What was the Wilmot Proviso?

A proposed amendment to a funding bill for the Mexican-American War, which implied that slavery would be banned in whichever territories the United States acquired from Mexico.

From Quiz: What best expresses Southerners' views of Northerners?

Advanced economy bred poverty and inequality.

Southern view of North

An advanced and industrial economy bred poverty and inequality. The region consisted of a free society whose huge lower class of poorly paid and poorly educated workers were unfit for self-government. Workers were hired by the day, not cared for, and meagerly compensated.

The next bill admitted ................... into the Union as a free state

California

The ...................... called for all citizens to assist in the return of runaway slaves

Fugitive Slave Act

Why were Congressmen from southern states greatly alarmed by President Zachary Taylor's actions toward California and New Mexico?

If California and New Mexico entered the Union as free states, the North would have a majority in both the House of Representatives and in the Senate.

This was to happen regardless of previous legislation such as the Northwest Ordinance or the .................... .

Missouri Compromise

This bill also set up a territorial government for nearby .................... calling for popular sovereignty to decide whether it would be a free state or a slave state.

New Mexico

Who would have a majority in the Senate, if both Utah and New Mexico were to become free states?

North

Stephen Douglas solved this problem using the doctrine .................... of that effectively ended the ....................... and kept slavery in the forefront of American politics.

Popular sovereignty ; Missouri Compromise

Which New England writer predicted the United States would conquer Mexico, which would lead to debate over slavery and would cause a fatal split between North and South?

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Northern view of South

Slavery made most of the region's whites lazy and unwilling to work. The region consisted of exhausted soil, decaying small towns and few real cities, and neglected, inadequate roads. The people lack ambition and innovation

From Quiz: Which of the following is not a provision in the Compromise of 1850?

Slavery would be abolished in Washington, D.C.

Stephen Douglas's theory of popular sovereignty:

Stephen Douglas introduced a bill to organize the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, which could then petition for statehood. Southerners were not happy that these two territories could become free states because of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. To satisfy his southern colleagues, Douglas inserted a popular sovereignty provision into his bill, which meant that residents of Kansas and Nebraska would be able to decide for themselves whether to permit slavery in the newly organized territories. Corrupt election tactics such as ballot-box stuffing, violence, and intimidation were used to persuade settlers to support or oppose slavery.

Stephen Douglas came up with a solution for many of the slavery-related questions based on Henry Clays recommendations. His plan involved passing five pieces of legislation, the first of which paid compensation to and established northern and western boundaries for......................... .

Texas

Since most of the land acquired from Mexico lay below the 36°30' parallel, what provision in the Missouri Compromise of 1820 led to a debate about this land automatically becoming slave states?

The Missouri Compromise applied only to land that the United States acquired from France in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The Missouri Compromise said nothing about new territories that the United States might acquire in the future.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act effectively repealed the

The Missouri Compromise of 1820

Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin:

The purpose of the novel was to expose the horrors of slavery. Southerners were outraged by the novel and insisted that Harriet Beecher Stowe had exaggerated the brutality of their labor system.

The Fugitive Slave Law:

This law denied runaway slaves the right to a jury trial and required local law enforcement officials to assist in the arrest and recovery of fugitives. Many Northerners were angry about this law because it required them to protect a system they strongly disapproved of. Northerners believed that if a slave managed to escape to free soil, he should be considered emancipated. Acts of violence broke out between many northern citizens when the lawmen tried to enforce this law.

Which territories did not allow slavery?

Washington, Oregon, Minnesota

The issue of slavery was raised before 1850 when the........................... was added to a piece of legislation in August 1846

Wilmot Proviso

Although it did not pass, the legislation called for slavery to be.................... in lands gained from Mexico

banned

From Quiz: What did Stephen Douglas's theory of popular sovereignty lead to?

corrupted elections, violence, and political chaos

The issue of slavery did not end with the new laws. By 1854 Kansas and Nebraska sought admission to the Union. They were supposed to be ........................... states because they had been part of the Louisiana Purchase.

free

By 1850 the issue of whether a state would be a free state or a slave state was being raised about ................... .

territories

Finally, the last act dealt with slavery and the slave trade in Washington, D.C. In an ultimate act of compromise, the legislation called for the abolition of slave ...................... , but not .........................

trading ; slavery itself

In an attempt to preserve the Union, Senator Henry Clay suggested a series of measures that ultimately become known as the Compromise of 1850. Some Northerners and Southerners opposed Clay's proposal because they believed it did not favor their region. In the following chart, identify which measures favored the North and which measures favored the South. Provisions favoring the North

• California would be admitted as a free state. • The residents of the remaining Mexican territories would decide for themselves whether to allow slavery within their borders. • A longstanding border dispute between New Mexico and Texas would be settled in New Mexico's favor. • The slave trade would be abolished in Washington, D.C.

In an attempt to preserve the Union, Senator Henry Clay suggested a series of measures that ultimately become known as the Compromise of 1850. Some Northerners and Southerners opposed Clay's proposal because they believed it did not favor their region.. In the following chart, identify which measures favored the North and which measures favored the South Provisions favoring the South

• Congress would pass a new and tougher Fugitive Slave Law. • The United States would assume responsibility for Texas's pre-war debt. • Congress would pledge not to interfere with the domestic slave trade outside of the nation's capital. • Slavery would not be abolished in Washington, D.C