Chapter 16 history test

In the quote by Frederick Douglass on page 472, what does he urge Americans to do about the slavery issue?

Douglass is asking Americans to live up to the spirit of the principles contained in the Constitution.

What did the Court decision do to the Missouri Compromise?

Their decision made the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.

Who was the Republican nominee for president in 1860?

Abraham Lincoln of Illinois was the nominee of the Republicans. Their convention was held in Chicago. The leading candidates for the nomination had each alienated a part of the party and it was felt that that would hurt their chances to keep all parts of the party together. They knew what had happened at the first Democratic convention and felt their chances of winning the presidency were very strong as long as the party was united. Lincoln was seen as a viable candidate because he was from the West and his popularity was new, meaning he hadn't had time to alienate anyone. Abolitionists were unhappy with his nomination though, because he was considered a moderate on the slavery issue.

How did antislavery settlers react to the pro-slavery legislature? (What did they do?)

Antislavery Kansans were upset about the election they felt had been stolen. They held their own election and elected an antislavery legislature. So for a time, Kansas had two governments. Eventually, Kansas would end up with a government that opposed slavery and banned it from Kansas.

Stephen Douglas received almost 30% of the popular vote. Why did he receive so few electoral votes?

Basically, Douglas received a lot of votes in many northern states, but came in second to Lincoln. In the Electoral College, most states are winner-take- all.

Who were the Border Ruffians?

Border Ruffians (also known as Bushwhackers) were proslavery Missourians that crossed the border into Kansas to intimidate settlers into supporting slavery in Kansas. Bands of antislavery Kansans (known as Jayhawkers) also crossed into Missouri to seek revenge and retribution for the raids into Kansas.

Why did John Brown plan to raid and capture the federal arsenal at Harpers' Ferry, Virginia?

Brown wanted to start a slave revolt in the South. The weapons he hoped to capture at Harpers' Ferry were to arm these slaves.

The Dred Scott case eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court. What were the decisions the Supreme Court made in their ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford?

First, the Court ruled that since Scott was a slave and not a citizen, he had no right to bring the lawsuit in the first place. This decision should have ended the case, but the Court went further with their ruling. The Court also ruled that slaves were the property of their owners.

The first shots of the Civil War occurred on April 12, 1861 when Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter. The fort was located in the harbor of what vital Southern city?

Fort Sumter was located in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.

What happened at Fort Sumter? (Describe what took place and the outcome.)

Fort Sumter was occupied by a small force of Union soldiers under the command of Major Robert Anderson. He was under orders to hold the fort as long as possible. Soon the fort was running low on food. When President Lincoln informed Confederate officials that he was intending to send a fleet to re-supply the fort with food only, they demanded the fort's surrender. Anderson refused and Confederate guns opened fire. They shelled the fort for several hours. When the Union forces in the fort ran out of ammunition and could no longer fight back, Anderson surrendered.

What Democrat President helped with passage of the Act?

Franklin Pierce used his influence as president to keep the Democratic members of Congress united in favor of the Act.

Who was elected president of the Confederacy?

Jefferson Davis of Mississippi

How did abolitionist John Brown react to the attack on Lawrence by proslavery forces?

John Brown and his followers captured five proslavery farmers and murdered them in retribution for the raid on Lawrence.

What occurred during Douglas/Lincoln 1858 senatorial campaign in Illinois that made Lincoln a national figure?

Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of debates. These debates were covered closely by the news media (newspapers).

What position did Lincoln take on slavery during his Senate campaign?

Lincoln viewed slavery as moral wrong and was opposed to the expansion of slavery into the western territories. However, he was not an abolitionist and did not want to interfere with slavery in the South.

How did Kansas end up with a pro-slavery legislature in 1855? (After all most of the settlers living in Kansas at the time were against slavery.)

Many proslavery Missourians crossed the border on election day and voted illegally.

Why were so many Americans interested in the Senate campaign of Stephen Douglas in Illinois in 1858?

Many thought Douglas would be the likely Democratic candidate for president in 1860. This campaign would provide an early glimpse at what his candidacy might look like.

How did John Brown's execution affect the country (North and South)?

North - Many northerners viewed Brown as a hero or martyr because he was willing to sacrifice his life for a cause that he believed in. South - Southerners viewed Brown very negatively. Anyone who would lead a slave revolt was dangerous. The fact that so many in the North praised him and what he had done convinced southerners that the North was going to attempt to destroy slavery in the South.

In the election of 1860, the Democratic Party split over the slavery issue. Who did each faction of the party nominate to run for the presidency?

Northern Democrats - Stephen Douglas of Illinois Southern Democrats - John Breckinridge of Kentucky

Why did many Northerners oppose the Kansas-Nebraska Act?

Northerners opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act because it would allow the possibility of slavery expanding into these territories. As far as they were concerned, the Missouri Compromise of 1820 had already determined that these territories were off-limits to slavery since they were located north of the line drawn by the Missouri Compromise.

Who were the three presidential candidates in 1856 AND what was the position or opinion they took in the election on the slavery issue?

Republican - John C. Fremont was strongly opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the westward expansion of slavery. Democrat - James Buchanan is sometimes described as a "northern man with southern principles". He saw the slavery issue as a danger to the future of the nation and attempted to follow policies that would prevent a civil war. He favored using popular sovereignty to decide the issue of slavery in the western territories. He was personally opposed to slavery, but believed that slavery was protected under the Constitution. American (Know-Nothing) - Millard Fillmore was this party's candidate. This party did not take a stand on the issue of slavery, but was an anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic party. Fillmore feared that a victory by the Republicans would tear the country apart. It's questionable whether Fillmore was a true nativist, but rather saw this party as his only opportunity to become president again.

Dred Scott was a slave that sued to gain his freedom in the late 1850s. What was the reason that Scott's lawyers argued that he deserved to be freed?

Scott's owner had taken him to live in a free state for many years before returning to the slave state of Missouri. Scott's lawyers argued that this made him free.

Why did violence erupt in Kansas after passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, leading to the descriptive "Bleeding Kansas"? (Basically, what was going on that led to the violence.)

Since Kansas now had the possibility to become a slave territory, both antislavery northerners and proslavery southerners encouraged settlers from their parts of the country to move to Kansas to settle and decide the issue in their favor. This led to the violent clashes between these two groups.

Many proslavery Southerners supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act because they felt that Kansas would ultimately become a slave state. What was their reasoning for this?

Since Kansas was next to the slave state of Missouri, they assumed that most of the settlers that would move into Kansas would be proslavery Missourians and that they would choose to allow slavery there.

In December of 1860 following Lincoln's election as president, Southern states began seceding from the Union (United States). What was the first state to secede?

South Carolina was the first to secede in December 1860. By February 1861, six more states from the deep South had seceded (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

What was one important justification or reason that many Southerners felt they had the right to secede?

Southerners looked to the wording of the Declaration of Independence for their right to secede. It stated that "it is the right of the people to alter or abolish" a government that denies the rights of its citizens. They believed that Lincoln and the Republicans intended to violate their right to own slaves.

Who introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Act in Congress?

Stephan Douglas

Who won the Illinois Senate seat in the 1858 election?

Stephen Douglas won the Senate seat as the Democratic Party won control of the Illinois state legislature which had the power to elect the state's senators.

This Act divided the Nebraska Territory into two territories, Kansas and Nebraska. What else did the Act say concerning slavery in these territories?

The Act allowed the citizens of these territories to decide whether to allow slavery or not through popular sovereignty.

What was one of the first actions taken by the Confederate government that created a problem for Lincoln and the U.S. government?

The Confederates began seizing anything of military value located in the South. They captured most U.S. military posts and forts in the South. President Buchanan did nothing to stop this from happening in the last weeks of his presidency before Lincoln was inaugurated. He argued that the South had no constitutional right to secede, but that he had no constitutional power to stop them.

John Bell was the candidate of the Constitutional Union Party. What was the goal of this new political party?

The Constitutional Union Party was formed by those that were left of the Whig Party.Their goal was to try to avoid having the Union split over the issue of slavery. They pushed for compromise using the campaign slogan, "The Union as it is, and the Constitution as it is."

Explain why you think John Bell won the three states that he did.

The Constitutional Union Party's goal was to compromise to keep the Union together and avoid war at any cost. The states they won were border states in the upper South. If war did break out, these were the states that would most directly be impacted by the fighting. And they were correct. Most of the fighting during the Civil War took place in these very states.

What did the Supreme Court further rule concerning slavery and Congress?

The Court ruled that Congress did not have the Constitutional power to outlaw or restrict slavery in the territories.

One reason that the Democratic Party split at their first nominating convention in 1860 was the influence of a group known as the "fire-eaters". What did this group want the Democratic Party to support?

The Fire-Eaters were proslavery extremists in the South that pushed for secession of the southern states from the Union (United States). At the Democratic nominating convention in Charleston, South Carolina, many delegates followed the lead of the Fire- Eaters and walked out of the convention. The remaining delegates tried to select a nominee, but no one received the required number of votes. Stephen Douglas received the most votes. The delegates decided to adjourn and a second convention was held several weeks later in Baltimore, Maryland. The Fire-Eaters again led a walkout. This time however, the remaining delegates gave the required numbers of votes to Douglas and he became their nominee. The delegates that had walked out held their own convention a few days later and chose Breckinridge as their nominee. The Democratic Party was split and had two candidates running for the presidency.

The Republican Party was formed by members of the Free-Soil Party, northern Democrats and antislavery Whigs in 1854. What was the overall goal of the Republicans with respect to the slavery issue?

The goal of the Republican Party was to stop the spread of slavery in the western territories.

Why did Brown's raid fail to achieve its goal?

The slaves that Brown hoped would flock to him to be armed never materialized. He and his followers were trapped in the arsenal and taken prisoner. He would eventually be put on trial and found guilty of murder and treason. He was sentenced to death.

Senator John Crittenden of Kentucky attempted to appease Southerners after Lincoln was elected by offering a bill that would do what two things that he thought would answer the concerns of the South? (The bill failed to gain support and never became law.)

a. First, his bill would extend the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific. b. His bill would also create an "unamendable" amendment to the Constitution that would guarantee the right to hold slaves in states south of the compromise line forever.