AP U.S. HISTORY: CHAPTER 18 TOPICS, TERMS AND FOCUS QUESTIONS

TOPICS AND TERMS

1848 election
Gen. Lewis Cass (Dem)
Gen. Zachary Taylor (Whig)
“Popular sovereignty”
“Free Soil” Party
Martin Van Buren
California Gold Rush (1848)
California admission application
Underground Railroad
Fugitive Slave laws
Henry Clay
Daniel Webster
Harriet Tubman
John C. Calhoun
Seventh of March Speech
William H. Seward
Millard Fillmore
Compromise of 1850
Election of 1850
Franklin Pierce (Dem)
Gen. Winfield Scott (Whig)
Whig Party demise
William Walker
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty
Com. Matthew C. Perry (Japan 1854)
Ostend Manifesto
Pacific railroad route
Jefferson Davis
Gadsen Purchase
Sen. Stephen A. Douglas
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Missouri Compromise
Republican Party (1854)
filibuster
“conscience” Whigs
“fire eaters”
“higher law”
Treaty of Wanghia

FOCUS QUESTIONS

As you read the next two chapters on the march of events leading to the thoroughly devastating Civil War, think about the question of inevitability. Perhaps draw a timeline of the key events between 1848 and 1861, and try to decide at what point you think an armed conflict between the two regions became inevitable - beyond which even extraordinary statesmanship could not have healed the wounds.

1. Slavery in the New Territories

a. One proposed solution to the question of whether slavery should be allowed into the new territories acquired from Mexico was called #“popular sovereignty.” What was #“popular sovereignty” and why did it appeal to many moderates?

b. The authors say that, in 1848, both the Whigs and the Democrats were national parties, providing a #“vital bond of national unity.#” The first truly sectional party (#“foreshadowing the emergence of the Republican Party six years later”) was the Free-______ Party. How did they propose to handle the question of slavery in the territories?

C. In 1848, Whig Gen. Zachary __________, a potential Southern ally, was elected President. Sectional passions were aroused, however, when a gold rush prompted the new territory of ____________ to apply for early admission as a free state in 1849. If accepted, this would upset the delicate North-South sectional balance, then existing of _______ states each. Southerners were concerned about what they called the fugitive slave problem (facilitated by people like Harriet _______ and the #“Underground ___________ “ to Canada). Does this worry appear to have been a practical one or more a matter of the principle of protecting property? Why?


2. Compromise of 1850

a. In the momentous debate sparked by California’s request for statehood, summarize the positions and critical roles played by the following three Old Guard politicians in putting together the Compromise Act of 1850

(1) Henry Clay (2) John C. Calhoun (3) Daniel Webster (7th of March Speech)

b. The Compromise of 1850 achieved some Northern objectives by admitting ___________ as a free state, taking away some disputed territory from the slave-holding state of ___________, and abolishing the slave trade (although not slavery per se) in _____________ D.C. In return, the main concession to the South was the tightening up of the _________ Slave Law. Why do the authors conclude that the North “got the better deal” and that emphasizing fugitive slaves was #“an appalling blunder on the part of the South#”

3. Expansionism in the 1850s

a. In 1852, the Democrat and #“pro-southern northerner”, Franklin ________ won the presidency. Why do the authors conclude that this election was #“fraught with frightening significance#”

b. Expansionists, especially in the South, had a field day in the early 1850s. Note the adventures of William ________ in Nicaragua and the resolution of disputes with Britain over a potential canal route across the Isthmus of Panama in the Clayton-_________ Treaty of 1850. A fleet under Commodore Matthew ___________ helped open _______________ to trade ties in 1854. And plans to grab ________ from Spain were foiled when the __________ Manifesto became public in 1854.
b. The authors obviously consider pushing the Kansas-Nebraska Act to have been a major blunder on the part of
Douglas, making the #“dreaded sectional rift” permanently irreversible. The act he pushed through in 1854 required repeal of the ______________ Compromise of 1820, which had prohibited slavery in any territories formed from the _______________ Purchase north of the southern boundary of Missouri (latitude 36 degrees/30'). Why did Northern free-soilers, soon to form the purely-sectional ____________ Party around this very issue, so vehemently oppose the bill, even though it would promote a railroad that would benefit their region economically?

TIMELINE TO THE CIVIL WAR

Refer to the note at the beginning of these questions. Draw a timeline of the key events between 1848 and 1861 and try to decide at what point you think an armed conflict between the two regions became inevitable - beyond which even extraordinary statesmanship could not have healed the wounds.

1844
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
1859
1860
1861