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Adrianna Shortman

HIS103

Professor Hamilton

3 March 2022

Chapter 15 study guide

Chandler Gilbert Community College

HIS 103

Answer the questions in the space provided while you read Chapter 15.

1.What was the difference between America in 1800 to 1850?

Between the 1820s and 1850, as more white males won the right to vote and political

parties became more organized, the character of American democracy changed. It became more

partisan and more raucous, a turn that bred ambivalence and even discontent with politics and the

dominant parties.

2.What were the differences between the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850?

The Missouri Compromise had cut California in half. Congressmen argued over whether

California should enter the war as a free or slave state. Henry Clay, the man who worked out the

Missouri Compromise, came out of retirement to try to work out another compromise.

3.Both Southerners and Northerners wanted to expand the nation. What was different about their

desires?
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Expansion lead to economic promise and fueled the manifest destiny but it also lead to

sectional tension over slavery. The north contained a lot of abolitionists while the south was

commonly pro-slavery, this increased sectional tension because each side wanted to see their

ideals extended into the west.

4.What were the Fugitive Slave Laws and what was the reaction to them?

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 was immediately met with a firestorm of criticism.

Northerners bristled at the idea of turning their states into a stalking ground for bounty hunters,

and many argued the law was tantamount to legalized kidnapping.

5.What was the Kansas-Nebraska Act and what was “Bleeding Kansas”? How did this represent the

growing rip in American unity?

It became law on May 30, 1854. The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri

Compromise, created two new territories, and allowed for popular sovereignty. It also produced a

violent uprising known as “Bleeding Kansas,” as proslavery and antislavery activists flooded

into the territories to sway the vote.

6.What happened in the Dred Scott case? Why was this important in the anti-slavery feelings of the

time period?

In its 1857 decision that stunned the nation, the United States Supreme Court upheld

slavery in United States territories, denied the legality of black citizenship in America, and

declared the Missouri Compromise to be unconstitutional. The Dred Scott Decision outraged

abolitionists, who saw the Supreme Court's ruling as a way to stop debate about slavery in the
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territories. The divide between North and South over slavery grew and culminated in the

secession of southern states from the Union and the creation of the Confederate States of

America.

7.There were lots of new political parties. What did they want and why did they come into being?

Political factions or parties began to form during the struggle over ratification of the

federal Constitution of 1787. Friction between them increased as attention shifted from the

creation of a new federal government to the question of how powerful that federal government

would be.

8.What did John Brown do and why?

John Brown was a radical abolitionist whose fervent hatred of slavery led him to

seize the United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry in October 1859. It is widely believed his

intention was to arm slaves for a rebellion, though he denied that.

9.Lincoln won the election in 1860. What was his platform? In some detail, what did the South

do?

The 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago nominated Lincoln, a moderate

former one-term Whig Representative from Illinois. Its platform promised not to interfere with

slavery in the South but opposed extension of slavery into the territories. Southern states seceded

from the union in order to protect their states' rights, the institution of slavery, and disagreements

over tariffs.
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10. In your own words, summarize the chapter. Imagine that your friend hadn’t read the chapter and

there was going to be a test on it. What were the key points? What stood out as “most important or

significant”?

● Between the 1820s and 1850, as more white males won the right to vote and political

parties became more organized, the character of American democracy changed.

● The Missouri Compromise had cut California in half. Congressmen argued over whether

California should enter the war as a free or slave state.

● Expansion lead to economic promise and fueled the manifest destiny but it also lead to

sectional tension over slavery. The north contained a lot of abolitionists while the south

was commonly pro-slavery, this increased sectional tension because each side wanted to

see their ideals extended into the west.

● The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 was immediately met with a firestorm of criticism.

Northerners bristled at the idea of turning their states into a stalking ground for bounty

hunters, and many argued the law was tantamount to legalized kidnapping.

● It became law on May 30, 1854. The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri

Compromise, created two new territories, and allowed for popular sovereignty.

● In its 1857 decision that stunned the nation, the United States Supreme Court upheld

slavery in United States territories, denied the legality of black citizenship in America,

and declared the Missouri Compromise to be unconstitutional.

● Political factions or parties began to form during the struggle over ratification of the

federal Constitution of 1787.

● John Brown was a radical abolitionist whose fervent hatred of slavery led him to seize the

United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry in October 1859.

● The 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago nominated Lincoln, a moderate

former one-term Whig Representative from Illinois.