Spring (1854-1861 )

Abolitionist Review

US History/ Pratt Name:

__________________

“Over the centuries, the Northern and Southern sections of the United States had

developed into two very different cultural and economic regions. The distinction between

North and South had its roots in the early 17th century, when British colonists began

settling Virginia in the South and Massachusetts in the North. Along with differences in

geography and climate, the two regions were noticeably dissimilar in their religious and

cultural traditions. However, it was the Southern dependence on the ‘peculiar institution’

of slavery that increased tensions between the regions and brought them into conflict.

The South, with its plantation economy, had come to rely on an enslaved labor force. The

North, with its diversified industries, was less dependent on slavery. As the North

industrialized, Northern opposition to slavery grew more intense. The controversy over

slavery only worsened as new territories and states were admitted to the union. Supporters

of slavery saw an opportunity to create more slave states, while opponents remained

equally determined that slavery should not spread.

As the issue of slavery divided North and South, sometimes violence erupted as in the new

territory of Kansas where pro-slavery and anti-slavery fought. Of course, violence was not

restricted to Kansas. In May, Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts delivered an

impassioned speech in the Senate, entitled ‘The Crime Against Kansas.’ For two days he

verbally attacked the South and slavery, singling out Senator Andrew P. Butler of South

Carolina for his proslavery beliefs.

Soon after, Butler’s nephew, Congressman Preston S. Brooks, walked into the Senate

chamber and struck Sumner on the head repeatedly with a cane until the cane broke.

Sumner suffered brain damage and did not return to his Senate seat for more than three

years.

The widening gulf between the North and the South had far-reaching implications for

party politics as well. As the two regions grew further apart, the old national parties

ruptured, and new political parties emerged, including a party for antislavery Northerners.

By the end of 1856, the nation’s political landscape had a very different appearance than

it had exhibited in 1848. The Whig Party had split over the issue of slavery and had lost

support in both the North and the South. The Democratic Party, which had survived

numerous crises in its history, was still alive, though scarred. A new Republican Party had

formed and was moving within striking distance of the presidency.” ~ Americans

1. In response to an attack on slavery from

the floor of the Senate, South Carolinian

Preston Brooks caned Senator ________.

(1) Thaddeus Stevens

(2) Charles Sumner

(3) Stephen Douglas

2. What contributed to the rise of

sectionalism in American history?

(1) Religious differences.

(2) Geographic and economic conditions.

(3) Gender and demographic factors.

(4) Political parties that proposed radically

(4) Roger B. Taney different tax policies.

Multiple-Choice Review Questions:

1. In the period between 1820 and 1860,

Southerners wanted slavery extended to the

Western territories so that the South could

(1) Continue to elect Southern Presidents.

(2) Continue to dominate the Supreme

Court.

(3) Keep enough strength in the Senate to

protect Southern interests.

(4) Use slave labor to expand Southern

industries.

2. During the period 1820–1860, the major

concerns in the United States dealt with

issues related to

(1) Determining the future of slavery.

(2) Increasing public funding of political

campaigns.

(3) Decreasing the number of elective

offices.

(4) Decreasing voter registration drives.

3. In the United States, the widespread

disregard of the fugitive slave laws most

clearly indicated that

(1) Strongly held values are difficult to

regulate.

(2) The federal government is generally

unable to enforce its own laws.

(3) Little respect is given to the legal system.

(4) The judicial system is too lenient in its

treatment of offenders.

4. In the early 1850s, enforcement of the

_____ gave many northerners an eyewitness

view of the heartlessness of slavery.

(1) Kansas-Nebraska Act

(2) Fugitive Slave Act

(3) Freeport Doctrine

(4) Dred Scott decision

(5) Compromise of 1850

5. Who published the anti-slavery

newspaper, The Liberator?

A. William Lloyd Garrison C. Nat Turner

6. Who was the most famous Underground

Railroad conductor?

(1) Angelina Grimke

(2) Sarah Grimke

(3) Isabel Sojourner Truth

(4) Harriet Tubman

7. Abolitionists in the pre–Civil War period

were most likely to support the

(1) removal of the Cherokee Indians from

Georgia

(2) passage of the Fugitive Slave Act

(3) activities of the Underground Railroad

(4) use of popular sovereignty in the

territories

8. The Supreme Court decision in Dred

Scott v. Sanford (1857) was significant

because it

(1) allowed slavery in California

(2) outlawed slavery in the Southern States

(3) upheld the actions of the Underground

Railroad

(4) ruled that Congress could not ban

slavery in the territories

9. One way that “Bleeding Kansas,” the

Dred Scott decision, and John Brown’s raid

on Harper’s Ferry had a similar effect on

the United States was that these events

(1) ended conflict over slavery in the

territories

(2) eased tensions between the North and the

South

(3) contributed to the formation of the Whig

Party

(4) made sectional compromise more

difficult

10. Who purchased his freedom from his

slaveholder and later started an abolitionist

newspaper called The North Star?

(1) Charles T. Weber (3) Frederick Douglass

(2) Horace Mann (4) Sojourner Truth

B. Harriet Beecher Stowe D. John Brown

Profiles in History: Nat Turner 1800-1831

A group of African Americans in Virginia carried out an armed uprising during the early

hours of August 22, 1831. Leading the attack was Nat Turner, an enslaved minister who

believed God had chosen him to bring his people out of bondage. Turner and his followers

killed more than 50 white men, women, and children before state and local troops put

down the uprising. A court then tried Turner and sentenced him to hang.

The man who led perhaps the nation’s best-known slave revolt believed from an early age

– through his mother’s encouragement – that he was divinely inspired. ‘I was intended for

some great purpose,’ he once declared.

Although many considered Nat Turner a religious fanatic – he claimed to take his

directions from mysterious voices and the movements of heavenly bodies – others knew

him to have a sharp mind. ‘He certainly never had the advantages of education,’ said the

man appointed to be his lawyer, ‘but he can read and write…and for natural intelligence

and quickness of apprehension is surpassed by few men I have ever seen.’

As he awaited execution, Turner reportedly showed little remorse for his deeds, certain

that he had acted in the name of God to free his people. ‘I am here loaded with chains and

willing to suffer the fate that awaits me,’ he said.

Turner’s lack of remorse chilled those around him, including his lawyer, who described

the calm, deliberate composure with which Turner spoke of what he had done, ‘I looked

on him,’ the lawyer wrote, ‘and my blood curdled in my veins.’

Turner’s revolt sent a wave of terror through the South and heightened fears of future

uprisings. As a result, many states adopted even harsher restrictions on both enslaved and

free African Americans.” ~ The American Vision

1. In 1831, Nat Turner organized and led a

slave insurrection in Southampton County,

Virginia, that resulted in

(1) The gradual and compensated

emancipation of the majority of slaves in

Virginia.

(2) The immediate emancipation and

eventual transportation of Nat Turner and

his followers to Santo Domingo

(3) Congress passing a stringent fugitive

slave law.

(4) The Southern states expanding their

militia systems and strengthening the slave

codes.

2. The only “successful” slave insurrection

in the nineteenth-century South was led by

(1) Harriet Tubman.

(2) Nat Turner.

(3) Frederick Douglass.

(4) Dred Scott.

3. What lesson did white southerners learn

from the Nat Turner Rebellion?

(1) That slave insurrections were an ever-

present threat.

(2) That gradual emancipation was

inevitable.

(3) That slaves should not be allowed to

work in cities.

(4) That slaves should be allowed to read.

Reading:

“The Democratic party was a unifying force, strong in the North, West, and South. In

1854, Democrats were challenged b y a new sectional party, the Republicans, who drew

support from the North and West. Southerners opposed the party as antislavery.

The Republican platforms (statements of political ideas) of 1856 and 1860 proposed the

following:

• A ban on slavery in Western territories

• A high protective tariff to aid Northern industries

One Republican, Abraham Lincoln, spoke forcefully on stopping the spread of slavery:

‘The Republican party looks upon slavery as a moral, social, and political wrong. They

insist that it should be treated as a wrong; and one of the methods of treating it as a wrong

is to make sure that it should grow no longer.’

In 1860, the Republicans nominated Lincoln for president. A majority of Democrats

nominated Stephen Douglas, a moderate on slavery. Southern Democrats nominated John

Breckinridge, a proslavery Southerner. Lincoln’s victory was the worst possible outcome

from the South’s point of view.

One month after Lincoln’s election, South Carolina seceded from the Union. (In

Lincoln’s view, the nation was a union of people, not states; therefore no state had the right

to secede.) Other Southern states followed suit, and by March, 1861, the North and the

South were virtually separate nations.”

~ Reviewing U.S. History and Government

1. Which argument did President Abraham

Lincoln use against the secession of the

Southern States?

(1) Slavery was not profitable

(2) The government was a union of people

and not of states.

(3) The Southern States did not permit their

people to vote on secession.

(4) As the Commander in Chief, he had the

duty to defend the United States against

foreign invasion.

2. Early in his Presidency, Abraham Lincoln

declared that his primary goal as President

was to

(1) enforce the Emancipation Proclamation

(2) preserve the Union

(3) end slavery throughout the country

(4) encourage sectionalism

3. Which statement best explains President

Abraham Lincoln’s justification for the

Civil War?

(1) As an abolitionist, President Lincoln

wanted to end slavery in the United States.

(2) President Lincoln wanted to keep the

South economically dependent on the

industrial North.

(3) President Lincoln’s oath of office

required him to defend and preserve the

Union.

(4) To keep the support of Great Britain and

France, President Lincoln had to try to end

slavery immediately.

Answer the following question: How did events

unfold in Kansas after the passage of the Kansas

Nebraska Act of 1854?