AMSCO Reading Guide: Period 5 1844 - 1877

Complete the following reading guide in its entirety using the provided AMSCO text. Completed reading guides will
result in 7 Extra Credit Points

5.4 | The Compromise of 1850

Learning Historical Developments
Objectives

Explain the 5.4 The Compromise of 1850

similarities
and Why were Southerners unhappy with American expansion?
differences in
how regional
attitudes Southern expansionists looked where to expand their slave land?
affected
federal Why did Spain refuse to sell Cuba to President Polk?
policy in the
period after
the Mexican - What was the Ostend Manifesto?
American
War

Why did President Pierce have to dump this plan?

Walker Expedition
Describe the following actions taken by American adventurer William Walker
➔ Baja, California:

➔ Nicaragua:

➔ Death:

Why did Americans want a Central American canal?

Who else wanted one?

What was the Clayton - Bulwer Treaty of 1850?

What/where was the Gadsden Purchase and why was it significant to the US?

Conflict Over Status of Territories

The main issue regarding these territories was:

Free-Soil Movement
Who supported the Wilmot Proviso [even though it didn’t pass] and why?

Most Northerns supported slavery in the ________________________ but wanted to keep the
_______________________ a land of opportunity for ________________________.

The Free Soil Party advocated for:

1.
2.
Southern Plantation owners at this time believed the free soil movement was:

Moderate Southerners wanted to do what with the Missouri Compromise line?

Timeline adapted from Henretta America’s History Eighth Edition

 Who proposed the Popular Sovereignty compromise and what was it?

Election of 1848
Describe the party platforms and name the nominee for the following parties in the election of 1848:
➔ Democrats:

➔ Whigs:

➔ Free - Soil Party -

◆ What were barnburners?

Who won and why?

Compromises to Preserve the Union

In 1849 California drafted a state constitution that banned ________________________.

Both ________________________ and ________________________were admitted as free states.

Who were fire - eaters and what did they propose?

Henry Clay made yet another compromise that said:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

In their last great debate, the following people argued what?

➔ Henry Clay:
➔ Daniel Webster:
➔ John C. Calhoun:

Who from the North was against this compromise and why?

Why was the Compromise of 1850 able to pass?

Describe the impact of the passage of the Compromise of 1850?

5.5 | Sectional Conflict: Regional Differences

 Learning Historical Developments
Objectives

Explain the 5.5 Sectional Conflict: Regional Differences

effects of
immigration Some of the main issues dividing people in the mid 1800s were:
from various 1.
parts of the
world on 2.
American 3.
culture from
1844 - 1877.
Immigration Controversy
Explain how Why did some oppose immigration?
regional
differences Irish
related to How many Irish came to America at this time and why?
slavery
caused Why were they persecuted?
tension in the
years leading Where did they stay and how did they maintain their culture?
up to the
Civil War Why were some Irish able to join American politics?

What was the Democratic Organization in New York called?

Despite originally not being allowed to participate, by the 1880s the Irish ________________________
Tammany Hall.

Germans
How many Germans came to the US and why?

What skills did they have and where did they settle?

Politically, what did they believe?

Nativist Opposition to Immigration

Why were native born Americans concerned about imigration?

What was nativism? Which society, and later political party sprang from this movement?

What did the “Know Nothing” party support?

1.
2.

Where did this party gain favor?

What temporarily halted nativist ideas?

Ethnic Conflict in the Southwest

Who else faced discrimination and why?

The Expanding Economy

How did American industry change at this time? Factories shifted to making things like:
What was the impact of the sewing machine and who invented it?

What two things sped up communication and transportation around the country?

Railroads
How did the growth of the rail industry impact American business?

What happened in 1850?

Describe the impact the growth of railroads had on the following regions:
➔ Agriculture in the West:
➔ Northeast and Midwest:
➔ North:
What happened in 1857 and why did Southerners believe their economy was superior during the
Panic of 1857?

Agitation Over Slavery

What two events kept the slavery question at the front of American politics?

Fugitive Slave Laws

Why did many Southerners accept California’s admission as a free state?

What was the purpose of the Fugitive Slave Law and how who enforced it?

Who resisted the law and how did they do so?

Underground Railroad
What was the Underground Railroad?

Who was Hariett Tubman?

What else did abolitionists do to protect fugitive slaves?

Books on Slavery
Uncle Tom’s Cabin:
- Author:
- Description:
- Impact:
- Southern Response:
- Aunt Philli’s Cabin:

Impending Crisis of the South:

- Author:
- Purpose:
 - Southern Response:

What did Southerns use to justify slavery after these books?

1.
2.
3.
Describe the reactions to these books in the:
- North:
- South:

5.6 | Failure to Compromise

Learning Historical Developments
Objectives

Explain the 5.6 Failure to Compromise

political
causes of These issues greatly contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War:
the Civil War 1.

2.

3.

National Parties in Crisis

What weakened both the Democrats and the Whigs?

The Election of 1852

What did Winfield Scott attempt to do in his campaign? Was it successful?

Why was Franklin Pierce able to win?

The Kansas - Nebraska Act (1854)

What did Stephen A. Douglas want?

What did the Southerners want?

What was the Kansas - Nebraska Act?

How would the two new territories decide about slavery?

How did the North feel about this?

Extremists and Violence

Describe the actions of the following groups after the Kansas - Nebraska Act:
- Farmers from Midwest -
- Slaveholders from Missouri -
- Northern Abolitionists/Free - Soilers -
Why was the territory referred to as “Bleeding Kansas”?
Describe the events that transpired between slaveholders and abolitionists:

Who was John Brown and what did he do?

What was the Sumner - Brooks incident?

Birth of the Republican Party

Ex - Whigs who supported slavery joined which party?

Former whigs who opposed the expansion of slavery formed which party?

What was the goal of the republican party?

The Election of 1856

Who was the republican party candidate?

They wanted:
1.
2.
3.

Who was the Democratic party candidate?

Who won?

What did this election show about the new Republican party?
Constitutional Issues
What was the Lecompton Constitution? (Specifically, which faction wrote it?)

Was it accepted in Congress? Why or why not?

Dred Scott c. Sanford (1857)

Why did Dred Scott sue for his freedom in Missouri?

The Supreme Court decided what?

They stated the following reasons to support their decision:

1.
2.
3.

What was the result of this decision?

Lincoln - Douglas Debates

Who was elected as the Republican candidate for the Illinois senate?

What were his beliefs on slavery?

What did he say in the “house divided” speech?

What was the Freeport Doctrine?

 How did this alienate Southerners?

Who won?

5.7 | Election of 1860 and Secession

Learning Historical Developments
Objectives

Describe the 5.7 Election of 1860 and Secession

effects of
Lincoln’s Southern Democrats were concerned no only about the slavery issue presented by the Republicans,
election. but also the tariff. Why?

The Road to Secession

Who was John Brown:

Describe the events and goals at Harpers Ferry:

What happened to the uprising?

John Brown’s actions divided ________________________.

The South saw it as….

The Election of 1860

The democratic party split into Democrats and Southern democrats. Describe the platforms of the
following presidential nominees:
➔ Democrats - Stephen Douglas:

➔ Southern Democrats - John C. Breckinridge:

Republican Nomination of Lincoln

The Republican Party nominated ________________________ and ran on the platform that they would:
1.
2.
3.
4.
The South threatened that what would happen if Lincoln was elected?

Constitutional Union Party:

- Made up of:
- Nominated:
- Promised:
Lincoln one all states in the ________________________.
Lincoln lost the ________________________ vote.

The election of LIncoln showed what:

Secession in the Deep South

What happened in December 1860?

Which states followed?

How was the Confederate constitution different from the American Constitution?

Who was elected President and Vice President?

What did James Buchanan do to prevent secession?

What was the Crittenden Compromise?

Why did Lincoln oppose it?

Why did the South believe they could secede?

A Nation Divided
What action did Lincoln take with the important Southern controlled Fort Sumter?

How did they respond?

What united Northerners for war?

Secession of the Upper South
Who seceded after it was clear Lincoln would use military force?

Where was the Confederate capital moved to?

What was the response of West Virginians?

Keeping the Border States in the Union

How and why did the federal government keep Maryland in the Union?

What about Missouri?

What did Kentucky vote?

Why did Lincoln want to keep the border states in the Union?
1.
2.
In order to do so, he rejected calls for ________________________.