J. Kelly Robison

Crisis of Union

  1. Introduction
  2. Slavery in the Territories
    1. Wilmot Proviso (1846)
    2. Popular Sovereignty
    3. Election of 1848
      1. Free Soil Coalition
      2. Whig party
    4. California
      1. California Gold Rush (1849)
      2. California Statehood
    5. Compromise of 1850
      1. The Great Debate
      2. Douglas's Compromise
    6. Kansas-Nebraska Crisis
      1. The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
      2. "Bleeding" Kansas (1854-1856)
      3. The Brooks-Sumner Incident (May 22, 1856)
  3. Rise of the Republican Party
    1. The Republican Coalition (1854)
    2. Ideology of the Republican Party
      1. Free Soil
      2. Slave-Power Conspiracy
    3. Election of 1856
      1. Fremont's Near-Miss
    4. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
  4. Deepening Sectional Crisis
    1. Dred Scott Case
    2. Lecompton Constitution
    3. Panic of1857
    4. John Brown's Raid
  5. End of the Road
    1. Split in the Democratic Party
    2. Election of Lincoln
    3. Secession of the Deep South
    4. Final Attempts at Compromise
  6. Conclusions

Significant Terms:

Wilmot Proviso popular sovereignty Free Soil Coalition
California Goldrush California Statehood Compromise of 1850
Stephen Douglas Uncle Tom's Cabin Kansas-Nebraska Act
"Bleeding" Kansas Sack of Lawrence Republican Party
"free labor" ideology John C. Fremont Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Dred Scott Lecompton Constitution John Brown
Harper's Ferry Abraham Lincoln Ft. Sumter
Crittenden Compromise

Study Questions:

How did sectional lines harden between the Mexican-American War and 1860? What events pitted the sections against each other and how did each interpret them? How did Lincoln's election catapult the nation into civil war?

quiz

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