SSUSH8 Guided Reading Questions
SSUSH8 Guided Reading Questions
SSUSH8 Guided Reading Questions
1. What caused the debate over slavery to increase? The US acquired new territories in the West
2. Summarize: What was the impact of the Missouri Compromise? States would send representatives
and senators to Congress. Therefore, whether or not these territories should allow slavery was
the object of much heated debate among political leaders.
Document Analysis 1
3. Based on the document, what region of the United States had slaves? South
4. Based on the document, what region of the United States had made slavery illegal? North
5. Were the Western territories for or against slavery? they look neutral because they were not
against it yet they were not free
6. Slave states and free-states were equally represented in the Senate, and Missouri's admission would
disrupt the balance of power.
7. Summarize: How did the Missouri Compromise impact the following states?
1. Missouri: as a slave state
2. Maine:as a free state.
8. Summarize: What was the geographic impact of the Missouri Compromise? (THINK 36°30' N) a dividing
line for any new states admitted to the Union.
b. Examine James K. Polk’s presidency in the fulfillment of Manifest Destiny including the
Texas annexation and Oregon.
Presidency of James K. Polk
9. One of the controversial aspects of Manifest Destiny is that in America's quest to expand there were
native people's displaced and land that was controlled by Mexico was taken by war.
10. Summarize: Which president promoted Manifest Destiny by annexing Texas and Oregon? President
James Polk
11. Polk had fulfilled the Manifest Destiny of the United States to span the North American continent from the
Atlantic the Pacific coastlines.
Document Analysis 2
17. Identified: List the states were added as a result of the Mexican-American War? Utah, Nevada, Arizona,
California, Texas, and western Colorado
Wilmot Proviso
d. Explain how the Compromise of 1850 arose out of territorial expansion and population
growth.
California
22. Where did settlers discover gold in 1848? north of Sacramento, California
23. Who were the 49ers? gold seekers from all over the world that was a part of the California Gold
Rush of 1849
Compromise of 1850
1. admitted California to the Union as a free state and declared the unorganized
western territories free as well.
2. The Utah and New Mexico territories, however, were allowed to decide the issue
by popular sovereignty (the will of the majority).
3. the people living in these territories would vote on whether or not to allow
slavery.
25. Define: Fugitive Slave Law- law required that northern states forcibly return escaped slaves to their
owners in the South.
26. Summarize: Why did politicians create the Compromise of 1850? attempt by politicians to solve the
issue of territorial expansion and population growth.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Scott v. Sanford
32. What court case threw the nation further into turmoil? The 1857 Scott v. Sanford
33. Identified: Who was Dred Scott? a slave in Missouri, went with his owner into free territory where
he lived for four years.
34. The Supreme Court ruled that Scott had no right to sue because, as a slave, he was not a citizen.
35. Summarize: What was the significance of Scott v Sanford? The decision outraged both abolitionists
and those favored popular sovereignty because it suggested that slaveholders could keep their
slaves in any state.
Document Analysis 3
47. Was the Republican Party against slavery or against the expansion of slavery? a party opposing slavery
in new territories)
48. Who became the Republican’s presidential candidate in 1860? Abraham Lincoln
49. Who did northern democrats support for the presidential election in 1860? Stephen Douglas
50. Who did northern democrats support for the presidential election in 1860?
51. The southern states feared that Lincoln would seek not only to prevent slavery in the new territories, but
to dismantle it in the South as well.
52. Identified: What president was elected in 1860? Lincoln
53. Define: Seceding- (withdrawing)
54. Summarize: How did the Presidential Election of 1860 impact the United States? Within two months, six
other states had seceded as well:
55. Summarize: List the four events that led to the Civil War
1. In February 1861, southern delegates from the seceded states met in Montgomery,