SSUSH8 Guided Reading Questions

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SSUSH8 Guided Reading Questions

SSUSH8 Explore the relationship between slavery, growing


north-south divisions, and westward expansion that led to the
outbreak of the Civil War.
a. Explain the impact of the Missouri Compromise on the admission of states from the
Louisiana Territory.
Impact of the Missouri Compromise

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

Impact of the Missouri Compromise (Continued)

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.

c. Analyze the impact of the Mexican War on growing sectionalism.


Mexican American War
12. What country was angered by the annexation of Texas? Mexico
13. Why did President Polk sent John Slidell to Mexico? to settle the disputes over the US-Mexico border
and negotiate for the purchase of California and New Mexico (the area between Texas and
California).
14. After the Mexican president refused to meet with Slidell, Polk ordered Taylor to move into the disputed
territory between the Nueces and Rio Grande rivers.
15. What treaty ended the Mexican American War? Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
16. What was the significance of the Gadsden Purchase? The acquisition of these territories all but
completed the continental expansion envisioned by those who believed in Manifest Destiny.

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

18. Define: Sectionalis- (Division between two or more regions in a country)


19. Identified: What did the following regions want to do with the land gained from the Mexican American
War?
1. Southern States:wanted more slave states.
2. Northern States:wanted more free states
20. Define: Wilmot Proviso- This proviso, or condition, proposed banning slavery from any land
purchased from Mexico.
21. What exposed the sectional division over slavery that existed in the United States? the Mexican
American War and the Wilmot Proviso exposed the serious sectional divisions over slavery that
existed in the country.

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

24. Identified: List 3 provision included in the 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.

e. Evaluate the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the failure of popular sovereignty, Scott v. Sanford,


John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry, and the election of 1860 as events leading to the Civil
War.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

27. What did Congress pass in 1854? the Kansas-Nebraska Act.


28. What was the Kansas-Nebraska Act? This act allowed the previously free and unorganized territories
of Kansas and Nebraska to choose whether or not to permit slavery by popular sovereignty 
29. Define: Popular Sovereignty- (Rule by the people, when the population is allowed to vote on a
political issue).
30. What two groups rushed to Kansas as a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act? pro-slavery and anti-
slavery supporters
31. Summarize: What was the political significance of the Kansas-Nebraska Act? the failure of popular
sovereignty and politicians inability to solve the issue of slavery

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

36. Who wrote the document? John Brown


37. According to John Brown all men have this rights….. to be born free
38. According to John Brown, No matter what color a man’s skin, he is entitled to…….. liberty
39. According to John Brown, what is he willing to do in order to free the slaves? if it takes blood to gain it,
so be it!”

John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry

40. Identified: Who was John Brown? abolitionists


41. What was stored at Harper’s Ferry? weapons are made and/or stored
42. What did John Brown plan to do with the seized weapons? give them to slaves who could then rise up
in armed rebellion
43. Summarize: How did the following regions feel about John Brown’s Raid on Harper's Ferry?
1. South:saw him as a terrorist.
2. North: saw John Brown as a Martyr
Document Analysis 2

44. Who wrote the following document? Jefferson Davis


45. According to Jefferson Davis was the election of Abraham Lincoln the cause of secession? No
46. How did Jefferson Davis characterize Abraham Lincoln election?Sectional hostility manifested in
hostile legislation by states and raids of organized bodies sustained by Contributions . . .
of northern Society furnish to us sufficient cause. . . .

Abraham Lincoln and the Election of 1860

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,

2. the presidential election of 1860


3. ______________________________
4. ______________________________

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