The Sectional Crisis



The Sectional Crisis

Essential Question: How did sectional tensions in the antebellum period light the fuse that sparked the Civil War in 1861?

The Civil War was fought over states rights, the right in question being that of Southern states to permit slavery. Over the holiday break, read chapters 17, 18, and 19 to study the sequence of key events and disputes that led up to the outbreak of war in 1861. This will help you prepare for our study of the Civil War & reconstruction at the start of next semester. Additionally, you will also create an annotated timeline of the main events. This is due on the first day back, and is a graded assignment for content points.

Focus Questions for reading:

o How did the geographic expansion of the US contribute to the outbreak of the Civil War?

o What were the moral and political arguments of those who opposed slavery?

o Why did Southern states use the threat of secession as a political tool, whereas northern states did not?

o How effective were attempts at compromise in reducing sectional tensions?

|Chapter 17: Manifest destiny & Its Legacy |

|What was Texas’ status in 1840? A province of Mexico? A territory of the US? |

|Where did the US still face potential conflict with British territorial claims? How were these conflicts resolved? |

|Refer back to 272 for the election of William Henry Harrison. Under what conditions did John Tyler become president? |

|Which of Tyler’s policies most annoyed the Whigs? Why do you think the Whigs opposed these? |

|374-375: Annexation of Texas – How did fears of British interference contribute towards the US offering Texas statehood in 1845? How did Mexico |

|respond to this act? |

|375-377: What were the attractions of Oregon territory for American settlers? Summarize the “symptoms” of “Oregon Fever”. |

|What was the main issue at the heart of the Polk v Clay election of 1844? |

|378-380: What were the four main goals of Polk’s presidency? |

|380-388: Mexican-American War. |

|What were the “misunderstandings” with Mexico? |

|How did Polk first attempt to acquire California? |

|What was Polk’s official reason for declaring war on Mexico? Was “American blood shed on American soil”? |

|Which groups of US politicians opposed the war with Mexico, and why? |

|How far into Mexico did US forces advance? |

|384: Look at the image entitled “War News From Mexico”. What do you think each character in that image is thinking to him/herself? |

|What did the US gain from the Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo? |

|Because did domestic divisions threaten to undermine the US invasion of Mexico? |

|How many Californios lived in California in 1848? |

|388 “In a broad sense, the opening shots of the Mexican Was were the opening shots of the Civil War”. To what extent do you agree with this claim |

|by the authors of American Pageant? |

|What position did abolitionists take regarding the Mexican-American War? Why did they feel this way about it? |

| |

|Local history detour: How many San Francisco street names can you find in this chapter? |

|Pages 370-374 |Pages 377–380 | Pages 384–388 |

|William Henry Harrison |“Manifest Destiny” |Nicholas P. Trist |

|Daniel Webster |1844 election |Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) |

|Henry Clay |“Fifty-four Forty” |“Mexican Whigs” |

|John Tyler | |“Californios” |

|Canadian insurrection |Pages 380–384 |Father Junipero Serra |

|Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842) |California, 1845 |Wilmot Proviso (1846) |

|The Caroline incident |Texas border dispute | |

|Maine boundary dispute |John Slidell mission | |

| |Nueces River (1846) | |

|Pages 374–377 |Polk war message (1846) | |

|Texas Republic |Gen. Santa Anna | |

|Admission of Texas (1845) |Bear-Flag Republic | |

|James K. Polk |Steven W. Kearney | |

|Oregon Country |Battle of Veracruz | |

|Oregon Trail (1840s) |Gen. Zachary Taylor | |

| |John C. Fremont | |

| |Battle of Buena Vista (1847) | |

| |Gen. Winfield Scott | |

| |Attack on Mexico City (1847) | |

|Chapter 18: Renewing The Sectional Struggle |

|What is “popular sovereignty”, and how does this relate to the presence of slavery in a state or territory? What was the appeal of popular |

|sovereignty? |

|What caused the “Free Soil Party” to be formed for the 1848 election? What was the main campaign goal of the Free-Soil Party? |

|392-394 How did the discovery of gold in California “blow the lid off” the slavery issue? |

|393: Pageant lovingly reprints the lyrics from a contemporary song from the California Gold Rush days (you may invent your own tune). What do the |

|lyrics imply about the way Americans viewed the Gold Rush and the prospect of life in California? |

| |

|Local history detour: Look up “Sydney Ducks” and “San Francisco Committee of Vigilance” for some insight into the vigilante justice of San |

|Francisco in the 1840/50’s. |

| |

|394-395 Why was the South “well off” in 1850? |

|In what ways did the Mexican cession introduce conflict and controversy over the issue of slavery? |

|396 Why was slavery unlikely to be profitable in the lands of the Mexican Cession? Why was the prospect of California, New Mexico, and Utah being |

|“free soil” a big deal if slavery was unlikely to work there anyways? |

|397-400 Summarize how the Compromise of 1850 sought to pacify slaveholders and free-soil/abolitionist ideals. Who got the better deal? |

|401-404 Why was Franklin Pierce an acceptable candidate for president in 1852? |

|What early signs are there that the US would soon take its idea of Manifest Destiny beyond its own borders? |

|How does the treatment of the US by Britain & France over the “Ostend Manifesto” contrast with events in the late 170’s and early 1800’s? What does|

|this say about the US standing as a world power? Why do you think contributed towards this change? |

|404-408 How did the proposed transcontinental railroad spark a sectional crisis? Does this suggest the Compromise of 1850 had really settled the |

|fears of Northern and Southern interests? |

|How did the Kansas-Nebraska act affect the Missouri Compromise of 1820? What did this mean for the balance between slave and free-soil states? |

|Pageant describes the Kansas-Nebraska act as “one of the most momentous measures ever to pass Congress”, one that “greased the slippery slope to |

|Civil War”. To what extent do you agree with this view? |

|Pages 390–396 |Pages 396–401 |Pages 401–404 |

|1848 election |Henry Clay |Election of 1852 |

|Gen. Lewis Cass (Dem.) |John C. Calhoun |Franklin Pierce (Dem.) |

|Gen. Zachery Taylor (Whig) |Daniel Webster |Gen. Winfield Scott (Whig) |

|“Popular sovereignty” |Seventh of March Speech (1850) |Whig Party demise (1852) |

|“Free-Soil” Party |William H. Seward |William Walker |

|John Sutter |Millard Fillmore (1850) |Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850) |

|Stephen Douglas |Compromise of 1850 |Com. Matthew C. Perry (Japan, 1854) |

|California gold rush (1848) |Southern “fire eaters” |Ostend Manifesto (1854) |

|California admission application (1849) | |Pages 404–408 |

|Underground Railroad | |Pacific railroad route |

|Harriet Tubman | |Jefferson Davis |

|Fugitive slave laws | |Gadsden Purchase (1853) |

|The “Bloodhound Bill” | |Sen. Stephen A. Douglas |

| | |Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) |

| | |Missouri Compromise of 1820 |

| | |Republican Party (1854) |

|Chapter 19: Drifting Towards Disunion: |

|Over the holiday break you should cover at least up to the election of 1860. |

|How did the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin add fuel to the sectional fires? Where was its message most influential? |

|412-413 Why did pro-slavery southerners feel “betrayed” by northerners and abolitionists settling in Kansas? Summarize the growth of the conflict |

|between pro- and anti- slavery settlers in Kansas in 1857. |

|414-415 How did the tensions raised by ‘Bleeding Kansas’ affect national politics? In what ways did the clash between senators Brooks and Sumner |

|reflect the national divisions over slavery? |

|In what ways was compromise still attempted in a bid to solve sectional tensions? |

|Who were the “Know-Nothing Party”? What were their key ideals? |

|What did the “new” Republican Party stand for in 1856? |

|417-418 What were the implications of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dredd Scott v Sandford? |

|419 What caused the economic crash of 1857? How did the economic crash contribute to the sectional tensions of the late 1950’s? |

|421 What do you see as being the main issue at the heart of the Douglas v Lincoln debates? The morality of slavery? Popular democracy? |

|How did John Brown’s raid affect the national debate over abolition? |

|424-426 Why did the prospect of peace or war hand on the outcome of the 1860 election? Why did the southern democrats oppose Stephen Douglas? What |

|was the appeal of the Republican Party to non-southerners? Why was Lincoln derided as a “rail splitter”? |

|How was the election of 1860 really “two elections”? |

|Outline the “chain reaction of secession” that followed the 1860 election. Could outgoing President Buchannan have done anything prior to leaving |

|office to prevent the Union from breaking apart? What was the main idea of the proposed Crittenden Compromise? |

| |

|Local History detour: Look up “David Broderick” or “Broderick versus Terry duel” for an example of how sectional tensions played out here in San |

|Francisco. |

|Harriet Beecher Stowe |Dred Scott v Sandford |Northern Democrats |

|Uncle Tom’s Cabin |Chief Justice Roger B. Taney |Southern Democrats |

|Henry Ward Beecher |Crash of 1857 |Crittenden Compromise attempt |

|John Brown |Homestead Act |1860 election |

|Pottawatomie Creek (1856) |Tariff of 1857 |Steven Douglas |

|Lecompton Constitution (1857) |Pages 419–422 |John C. Brekinridge |

|Buchanan veto |Abraham Lincoln |John Bell |

|Sen. Charles Sumner |Lincoln-Douglas debates |William H. Seward |

|Sen. Preston Brooks |The “Little Giant” |Lincoln |

|1856 election |“Freeport Doctrine” |South Carolina secession (1860) |

|James Buchanan (Dem.) |John Brown |Confederate States of America |

|John C. Fremont (Rep.) |Harpers Ferry (1859) |Jefferson Davis |

|American (“Know-Nothing”) Party | | |

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