Ch. 18 Class Discussion Questions
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#1: What were the most fundamental issues causing the sectional crisis and threatening to split the Union in
1850?
The Popular Sovereignty Panacea
Political Triumphs for General Taylor
California Gold Rush
The Sectional Balance
The Underground Railroad *
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#2: Why did the two major political parties, the Whigs and the Democrats, strive to keep the most important
problem facing America, slavery, out of the national political discussion? Do you think that was a wise decision? *
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#3: How did the Compromise of 1850 attempt to deal with the most difficult issues concerning slavery? Was it a
success? Would it have been more successful if the Fugitive Slave Law had not been included?
Twilight of the Senatorial Giants
Deadlock and Danger on Capitol Hill
Breaking the Congressional Logjam
Balancing the Compromise Scales
Personal Liberty Laws
– Prigg v. Pennsylvania (1842) | Ableman v. Booth (1859) *
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#4: Why were proslavery southerners and the Pierce administration (they controlled) so eager to push for further
American expansion into Nicaragua, Cuba, and elsewhere in the 1850’s?
Defeat and Doom for the Whigs
President Pierce the Expansionist
Nicaragua | Clayton-Bulwer Treaty
Coveted Cuba | Ostend Manifesto
America Becomes a Pacific Power *
#5: What were the causes and consequences of the Kansas-Nebraska Act? Was it realistic to believe repeal of
the Missouri Compromise would not have caused more sectional tension?
Pacific Railroad | Gadsden Purchase
Douglas’s Kansas-Nebraska Scheme
Congress Legislates a Civil War *
#6: How similar was the Compromise of 1850 to the Missouri Compromise of 1820? How did each sectional
compromise affect the balance between North and South? Why could sectional issues be compromised in 1820
and 1850, but not after 1854? *