chapter 8 Flashcards
popular sovereignty
the idea that people living in a territory had the right to decide by voting whether or not to allow slavery
transcontinential railroad
a railway system extending across the continent
How did the results of the Mexican War increase tensions in the United States?
The territory acquired from Mexico ignited the debate over expansion of slavery
What was the Wilmont Proviso?
an addendum to another bill that prohibited slavery in territories gained from Mexico
What was the idea that People settling in a territory should vote over whether or not to allow slavery there?
popular sovereignty
What was the major abolition platform of the Free-Soil Party?
keeping slavery out of the western territories
How did the Compromise of 1850 help calm the debate over slavery?
It offered concessions to people on both sides of the slavery issue
The Compromise of 1850 appealed to Southerners for several reasons, including
it included the fugitive slave act
What was an unintended result of the Fugitive Slave Act?
many northerns who had been indifferent to slavery were enraged by it
what was the underground railroad?
an informal system of abolitionists who help enslaved African Americans escape to the North
What caused Senator Douglas to introduce the Kansas-Nebraska Act?
the construction of the transcontinential railroad
What happened when Kansas voted on whether or not to allow slavery?
Northerns and Southerners poured into the territory and violently fought over the vote
referendum
letting voters accept or reject measures proposed by the legislature
insurrection
an act of rebellion against the established government
What effect did the Kansas-Nebraska Act have on the Whig Party?
it divided Northern and Southern Whigs
______ was formed in 1854 out of Northern Whigs, antislavery Democrats, and Free-Soilers
republican party
what argument did Democrats put forward in order to get James Buchanan elected in 1856?
that only Buchanan could save the Union
In the Supreme Court case Dred Scott v. Sandford, what was Scott’s claim?
that his time in a free territory meant he was a free man
What about Chief Justice Reger Taney’s opinion in the Dred Scott case enraged many northerns?
he said it was unconstitutional to prohibit slavery in the western territories
How did republicans respond to Taney’s contorversial opinion?
they claimed it was not binding because it was an opinion, not a ruling
what was the Freeport Doctrine?
Stephen Douglas’s argument that people could keep slavery out of a territory by refusing to pass laws supporting it?
In 1859, what fervent abolitionist attacked the arsenal at Herpers Ferry?
John Brown
What did the raiders on Harper’s Ferry hope to accomplish?
They wanted to start an uprising of enslaved people
What reaction did Southerners have on the raid on Harpers Ferry?
They became convinced that the North was plotting to kill slaveholders
