14. A House Divided: 1840-1861

week 14 - learning objectives

1. Identify the major factors contributing to U.S. territorial expansion in the 1840s.

2. Explain why the expansion of slavery became the most divisive political issue in the 1840s and 1850s.

3. Identify the combination of issues and events that fueled the creation of the Republican Party in the 1850s.

4. Explain what enabled Lincoln to emerge as president from the divisive party politics of the 1850s.

5. Describe the final steps on the road to secession.

week 14 - questions for consideration

• Discuss the controversy over Thomas Crawford’s Statue of Freedom.

• Discuss manifest destiny. Was westward expansion across the continent inevitable? How was the language of freedom used to justify expansion?

• Discuss how westward expansion and the Mexican War affected California. What role did East Asian markets play?

• What were the promises and realities of free labor? Why didn’t proponents of free labor also take on the issue of abolition?

• What destroyed the second American party system, and how was the electorate realigned?

• Why is it ironic that the South supported the Fugitive Slave Act?

• How did the events of the 1850s lead to the collapse of the Union in 1861?

• Who was responsible for the coming of the Civil War? Was it the South’s fault? The North’s? Were strong personalities important? Was the war inevitable?

• Familiarize themselves with the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Be able to take the both positions in an argument.