Topic #12 Overview Sheet
 

  Assignment #1
 

Sources:

 

Questions:

  1. How did the political parties react to the Compromise of 1850?  How did the sections of the country react?
  2. What was the "Young America" movement?  What national sentiment did it reflect?  Who were its spokespersons and what did it accomplish?
  3. How was it that American foreign policy objectives in the 1850s began to reflect the growing sectional divisions in the country?
  4. Why did the issue of a transcontinental railroad help to reopen the sectional controversy?
  5. Identify the candidates, the issues, and the results of the presidential election of 1852.
  6. List the provisions of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and explain its impact on sectionalism.  What effect did it have on the Whigs?   on the Democrats?
  7. How did the North react to the Kansas-Nebraska Act?  the South?  What effect did it have on the Whigs?  on the Democrats?
  8. Who were the new Republicans?  Which groups comprised this party?  What was its platform?
  9. What problems were faced in the attempt to organize a legitimate government in Kansas?  Why did these problems arise?
  10. How was it that Kansas became a battle ground for the sectional controversy?
  11. Explain the maneuvering by pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces to gain control of the Kansas government.  What did both sides come to believe that Kansas symbolized for the nation?
  12. What type of society did northerners with to create?  How did "free soil" and "free labor" fit into their plans?
  13. How did the "free soil" ideology manifest itself in the Republican Party?  What diverse views did it unite?
  14. What were the elements of the South's pro-slavery response?  Who were its major spokespersons?
  15. What effect did the depression of 1857 have on political divisions in America?  How did it increase the tension between the North and South?
  16. What transpired in the Sumner-Brooks incident?
  17. What were the origins of the Dred Scott case?  What issues were involved?
  18. How did Chief Justice Taney rule on this case?  What was the impact of the decision on the nation's efforts to reach a compromise regarding the slavery issue?
 

Terms:

 
  Assignment #2
 

Sources:

 

Questions:

  1. Why did the Lincoln-Douglas debates take place?  Why did they draw so much attention?
  2. How did Lincoln and Douglas differ in their solution to slavery in the territories?
  3. How was Douglas's stand reflected in the Freeport Doctrine?  What affect did this position have on Douglas's future presidential aspirations?
  4. How did the Lincoln-Douglas debates define the distinctions between the Democratic and Republican parties?
  5. What were the goals of John Brown's raid on the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, VA?  How did the South react to this event?
  6. Why is John Brown's raid considered to be a turning point in the South's road to secession?
  7. What caused the split between northern and southern Democrats in 1860?  What was the result of this division?
  8. What was the Republican platform in 1860?  To whom did it appeal most?
  9. What role did the Lyceum play in educating the American public, especially with regard to public controversies of the period?
  10. What sort of people took part in the Lyceum movement?
  11. On what constitutional interpretation was the concept of secession based?  What was the reaction of the United States government to the southern states that seceded first?
  12. What compromises were proposed to bring these states back into the Union?  Why did they fail?
  13. What was Lincoln's opinion regarding the legality of secession?  How was that opinion reflected in his action concerning Fort Sumter?
  14. What problem presented itself to the South by Lincoln's decision to re-supply Fort Sumter?
 

Terms:

 

                
Quizzes:
  1. Textbook Quizzes -->  chapter 13    chapter 14
  2. My Quizzes -->  A   B  
     
Outlines / Lecture Notes / Review Sheets:
  1. Giant AHAP Review Sheet by a student from the class of '04, Horace Greeley HS
  2. Lecture outline --> "The Secession Crisis" (Prof. David McGee, Central Virginia Community College)
  3. Note Cards -->  551-600
  4. Cram Sheet --> James Buchanan Through Andrew Johnson
  5. Presidential Election Data --> 1848     1852    1856    1860
  6. "1850s- Decade of Controversy" - outline
  7. "Now We Are Engaged in a Great Civil War," 1848-1880" - good summary

 


   
 

Ten Commandments of Good Historical Writing

College Board A. P. U. S. History Main Page (.pdf file)