Slavery and the Mexican-American War summary and study guide

The following texts are the property of their respective authors and we thank them for giving us the opportunity to share for free to students, teachers and users of the Web their texts will used only for illustrative educational and scientific purposes only.

All the information in our site are given for nonprofit educational purposes

The information of medicine and health contained in the site are of a general nature and purpose which is purely informative and for this reason may not replace in any case, the council of a doctor or a qualified entity legally to the profession.

Slavery and the Mexican-American War summary and study guide

Chapter 14 Section 1
Key terms
Popular sovereignty- people in the territory or state would vote directly on issues rather than having their elected representatives decide
secede- to withdraw
fugitive- runaway slaves
Henry Clay- the great compromiser; came up with a series of proposals to resolve bitter debates
John Calhoun- from the south and was against compromise and thought it was an attack on slavery and there was only 2 ways to protect the south: states’ rights and secession
Daniel Webster- from the north and supported compromise to preserve the union

Key ideas
Slavery and the Mexican-American War
New land from the Mexican-American war didn’t fall under the Missouri compromise
The Wilmot Proviso
No slavery in the new territory
It doesn’t pass but scares the south à many southerners viewed it as an attack on slavery
An Antislavery Party
Free-Soil Party
Democrats and whigs didn’t take sides on slavery
Popular sovereignty was considered to decide slavery’s fate, but didn’t happen
General Zachary Taylor (whig) becomes the 12th president but dies in office making millard fillmore the 13th president
A Bitter Debate
California- free or slave state?
North-free: most of California was north of the Missouri compromise line
South-slave: afraid that they wouldn’t have enough power to stop antislavery movements
South threatened to secede if California was free
North wanted slave trade abolished in DC
South wanted law that forces the return of fugitives
Henry Clay, the Great Compromiser, came up with series of proposals
John Calhoun was against compromise and thought it was an attack on slavery and there was only 2 ways to protect the south: states rights and secession
Daniel Webster supported clay and thought compromise was needed to preserve the Union

Chapter 14 Section 2
Key terms
propaganda- false or misleading information that is spread to further a cause
Harriet Beecher Stowe – author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Stephen Douglas- pushed the Kansas-Nebraska act through to build railroads in the west
John Brown- led a raid at pottawatomie creek killing 5 people

Key ideas
The Compromise of 1850
Congress passes 5 of Clay’s proposals
President Taylor disagreed with it, but he dies in office and Millard Fillmore takes over and approves of it
To Please the North
California is admitted as a free state
Slave trade banned in america’s capital, Washington DC
To Please the South
Popular sovereignty will be used to decide slavery for the rest of the Mexican cession
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850: allowed government officials to arrest any person accused of being a slave and required northerners to help capture them
Outrage in the North
Northerners were outraged to see people being accused of being fugitives deprived of their freedom
Instead of forcing northerners to admit slave owners had rights to slavery, every time the law was enforced it convinced more people that slavery was evil à strengthened the abolition movement

Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet met many escaped slaves because her father was an abolitionist minister
Slavery becomes a moral issue
It was a bestseller in the north à people now viewed slavery as a moral problem facing every american
Southerners were outraged by her book and criticized it as propaganda claiming the novel didn’t paint a fair picture of slavery

The Kansas-Nebraska Act
Pushed through by Senator Stephen Douglas because he wanted to develop railroads in the west
Add Kansas and Nebraska territories to the union
Allow each territory to decided slavery by popular sovereignty
Essentially undoes the Missouri compromise
Passed by Franklin Pierce, the 14th president
South- liked it and was sure that slave owners would move in the territories and make them slave states
North- outraged and hated it

Bleeding Kansas
Elections are held, but results are incorrect
Thousands of Missourians came into Kansas to illegally vote for slavery
Of 39 legislators who voted, only 3 didn’t support slavery à they called for second election
Growing Violence
Two governments form-proslavery and antislavery- who claimed the right to govern
In reaction to a proslavery attack on Lawrence Kansas, John Brown led 7 men to a proslavery settlement near Pottawatomie creek and murdered 5 proslavery men and boys
Violence grew so badly Kansas got the name bleeding kansas
Bloodshed in the Senate- The Brooks-Sumner Incident
Congressman Preston Brooks savagely beats Congressmen Charles Sumner with a cane in the senate
South- felt sumner got what he deserved
North- even more convinced that slavery was brutal and inhuman

Chapter 14 Section 3
Key terms
Dred Scott- slave who sues for his freedom because he lived in a free state
Roger B. Taney- chief justice of supreme court who decides the dred scott case
Abraham Lincoln- Illinois lawyer against the dred scott decision; pro-union; debated against douglas

Key Ideas
A New Antislavery Party
Republican party forms when whig party split apart
Its main goal was to stop the spread of slavery in the western territories
Election of 1854- republican victories in the house of representatives
Ran its first candidate for president- John Fremont
James Buchanan becomes 15th presdient but Fremont came in close

The Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott vs. Sandford
Dred Scott was a slave who sued for his freedom and said that he was free because he lived where slavery was illegal
The Court Decides
Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote the decision for the court

Scout has no right to sue because he’s property, not a citizen
Living in a free territory doesn’t make slaves free
Congress doesn’t have the power to prohibit slavery in any territory
Missouri Compromise declared unconstitutional

Reaction
Slavery supporters rejoiced
Northerners were shocked and angry that slavery was spreading
It brought more white people against slavery
Abraham Lincoln- Illinois lawyer who spoke out against the ruling

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Lincoln- elected to congress as a whig and voted for the Wilmot proviso, opposed the Kansas-Nebraska act with the republicans
Rival- stephen douglas à personal and political
A House Divided
Illinois republicans chose Lincoln to run for senate against douglas
Lincoln was pro-union, not antislavery
Debating Slavery
Douglas strongly defended popular sovereignty and painted Lincoln as a dangerous abolitionist who wanted equality for African Americans
Lincoln took a stand against the spread of slavery and said slavery would die on its own and Americans should keep it out of the west
Douglas won the senate seat, but the debates made Lincoln known throughout the country

John Brown’s Raid
John Brown wanted to raise an army and free slaves in the south
Harper’s Ferry
Brown’s plan: seize the guns in harper’s ferry à give the ammunition to the slaves à they lead a revolt
Robert E. Lee captures brown and his force
Brown was found guilty and was executed
North- felt sympathy for brown and mourned him
South- shocked and angry that the north was mourning brown à convinced that the north was out to destroy their way of life
Chapter 14 Section 4
Key terms
Civil war- a war between opposing groups of citizens of the same country

Key ideas
The Nation Divides
Election of 1860
Republicans chose Lincoln as their candidate
Democrat party split into north and south democrats
Stephen Douglas- North democrat
John Breckinridge- South democrat
john bell- Constitutional Union Party
Lincoln won in all free states, Breckinridge won in all slave states but four- bell won 3 and douglas won 1 (Missouri)
Lincoln got 40% of popular vote but enough electoral votes to win
Southern States Secede
Lincoln’s election shocked and scared the south
South felt like they had no voice and that president and congress were against them
South Carolina is the 1st state to secede from the union
The Confederate States of America
6 more states followed South Carolina and seceded
The 7 states formed the confederate states of America
By the time Lincoln took office, they wrote a constitution and named Jefferson Davis their president

The Civil War Begins
In his inaugural address, Lincoln told the southern states he meant them no harm and that he didn’t want to interfere with slavery in the south
Lincoln’s friendship was rejected
South takes over all federal offices- how should Lincoln react?
Fort Sumter
the fort refused to surrender to the south
the south decided to starve them and put the fort under siege
the south then opened fire on the fort and they surrendered
Why War Came
Fort sumter was the beginning of the civil war
Lincoln didn’t want to go to war, but had to because the south attacked

Source : http://sarahstudyguides.wikispaces.com/file/view/Chapter+14.doc

Web site link to visit: http://sarahstudyguides.wikispaces.com

Google key word : Slavery and the Mexican-American War summary and study guide file type : doc

Author : sarahstudyguides or not clearly indicated on the source document of the above text

If you are the author of the text above and you not agree to share your knowledge for teaching, research, scholarship (for fair use as indicated in the United States copyrigh low) please send us an e-mail and we will remove your text quickly.