Study Guide and Learning Resources

Short Answers:

As you read the chapter and view the videos, take notes on the following questions. Be sure to provide specific examples from this text in your responses. Responses should be at least 1-2 paragraphs:

Why did so many people come to question the existence of slavery in the late early nineteenth century? Think in particular about the role played by the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions.
Why was the balance between the number of slave states and free states so important in the pre-Civil War period?
How did the ambiguity/internal contradictions of the US Constitution contribute to the debate over slavery in the early 19th century?
Where did the Democrats draw most of their support and why? Where did the Whigs draw most of their support and why?
How did African Americans contribute to the anti-slavery cause? (Be sure that you can discuss the specific contributions of people like Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Tubman, among others)?
How did the Mexican-American War contribute to increasing sectionalism in the US?
What factors led to the collapse of the Whig Party in the early 1850s?
How did the Kansas-Nebraska Act split the Democratic Party?
What precedents were set by the Scott v. Sandford decision, and what role did those precedents play in furthering the path to the Civil War?
What factors allowed Abraham Lincoln to win the election of 1860 with only 40% of the popular vote?

Key Terms:

As you read and view the videos, use the following terms to help you take notes.

Haitian Revolution
Missouri Compromise
Democratic Party
Whig Party
Frederick Douglas
Free Soil Party
Wilmot Proviso
Compromise of 1850
Fugitive Slave Act
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Stephen Douglas
popular sovereignty
.Kansas-Nebraska Act
Bleeding Kansas
Charles Sumner
Republican Party
Scott v. Sandford
John Brown
election of 1860
secession