Name:__________________________ Date:_______________
Period:_________
Divided Nation
New Land renew slavery disputes
The nation’s debate over slavery continued as the country got bigger. Many northerners
for example, supported the Wilmont Proviso, which would outlaw slavery in new lands. Many
southerners, on the other hand, did not support the bill. Arguments about the proviso showed
how sectionalism was dividing the country. Some favored the idea of popular sovereignty, the
idea that political power belongs to the people, to decide the question of slavery for that
region. Many felt that there should be a compromise, a way of reaching agreement in which
each person or group gives up something that was wanted in order to end an argument or
dispute
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was presented by Kentucky’s
Henry Clay. Its purpose was to maintain the delicate balance
between slave states and Free states. It became a law
because the support by representatives. Part of the
Compromise of 1850 required the passage of the Fugitive
Slave Act. This act made it a crime to help runaway slaves.
Abolitionist especially reacted in anger to the
Compromise. Sometimes that anger turned into
violence.
Political Parties undergo a
change and Election of 1860
As the 1850s progressed Whigs, Democrats, Free Soilers and abolitionist united to
create the Republican Party to fight slavery. The country was torn as the 1860 presidential
election approached. The Democratic proposed two candidates --- the North’s Stephan Douglas
and the South’s John C. Breckinridge. In addition, the new to run on a platform against the idea
of states’ rights. Abraham Lincoln ran on the Republican Party ticket. Lincoln won the election,
but he did not carry a southern state in his win. The angered southerners who worried that they
had lost their political power and slavery
The South
Southern states responded to Lincoln election with succession, a formal separation
from an alliance or Union. These states joined into a new country – the Confederates States of
America. They elected Mississippian Jefferson Davis as their first president. In this country,
slavery was legal.
Name:__________________________ Date:_______________
Period:_________
Lincoln argued that southern states could not secede. It
seemed that even compromises, like one proposed by Kentucky
Senator John J. Crittenden, would not mend this tear in the
national fabric. President-elect Lincoln declared there could
be no compromise where slavery was concerned. He also
announced that the federal property southern lands
remained part of the United States.
Fill in the blanks
1. Why do you think southerners were opposed to the Wilmot Proviso?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.
2. What made Henry Clays law a compromise?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.
3. How did the Fugitive Slave Act effect slaves and abolitionist?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________.
4. What event lead the southern states to secede from the U.S.?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.
Vocabulary:
In this section you define this vocabulary in your own words and write a sentence using them.
Sectionalism: _________________________________________________________________________.
Sentence:_____________________________________________________________________.
Popular sovereignty: ___________________________________________________________________.
Sentence:______________________________________________________________________.
Succession___________________________________________________________________________.
Sentence:______________________________________________________________________.
Compromise:_________________________________________________________________________.
Sentence:______________________________________________________________________.