The North
What was the general economic system in the North during the early and mid 1800s?
The North developed an industrial economy, which relied on factories and technological innovation to produce many products.
What was the general economic system in the South during the early and mid 1800s?
Agricultural economy using slave labor, increasingly focused on cotton production and trade with the North and Europe.
What was the purpose of the "line" drawn at 36 degrees North latitude in the Missouri Compromise?
The Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery in new territories or States to the North of the line.
What term refers to a work stoppage by employees as a protest against an employer?
Strike
T/F: Lincoln was strongly against slavery, but did not plan to end slavery in the Southern states at the time he was elected.
True. Lincoln's priority was to prevent the expansion of slavery into the western territories, and to avoid civil war and keep the Union together. After the war started, he eventually came to believe that slavery needed to be ended in the South.
Name (at least) two technological innovations or developments which encouraged economic growth in the North during the early and mid 1800s.
Transportation: expansion of roads, canals, and railroads; the steam engine (steamboats and steam locomotives); clipper ships
Communications: telegraph; Morse code
Agriculture: steel-tipped plow; mechanical reaper; thresher; cotton gin
Name (at least) one technology which increased productivity in the South's agricultural economy.
Cotton gin (Eli Whitney); sewing machine (Elias Howe)
Describe the five points of the Compromise of 1850.
-- California joined the U.S. as a free state.
-- The Utah and New Mexico territories would determine slavery by popular sovereignty.
-- The slave trade (but not slaveholding) would be illegal in Washington, DC
-- The Fugitive Slave Act required all Americans, including in free states, to deny support to runaway slaves.
-- The borders of Texas were settled at the present-day borders.
What term refers to a person opposed to immigration?
Nativist
How did economic differences between the North and South create an advantage for the North once the civil war began?
The diversified, industrialized Northern economy was better prepared to produce and transport the enormous amounts of equipment needed to fight the war. The South had much less industry, and once the war began found it was unable to effectively trade its cotton and other agricultural products for the war equipment it required.
Name (at least) two new groups that joined the factory workforce in the early and mid 1800s.
Women; immigrants; children
What is the term for the "average" white Southerner in the mid 1800s? Describe the lifestyle of these people.
Most white people in the South were called "yeomen". They were farmers who owned small farms of 50-200 acres, and grew crops which they consumed with their families or traded with local merchants. They typically owned zero or very few slaves, unlike large plantation owners who had very large estates, many slaves, and white staff to manage the plantation.
Describe the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Was this new law considered better for free states or slave states?
The Kansas and Nebraska territories would decide slavery by popular sovereignty. This was considered a blow to the free states, as it abolished the 36N line established in the Missouri Compromise and made slavery possible in a large portion of new territory.
What term refers to the laws in Southern states that controlled enslaved people?
Slave codes
The South's economic model was very efficient, but fragile. Name one way it was fragile.
The South was unable to make many war products on its own and relied on the North and Europe as reliable trading partners. When the Civil War broke out, they were unable to trade freely, which hurt their economy and ability to win the war.
Which continent did most immigrants to the U.S. come from in the 1840s and 1850s? Name (at least) one of the three countries which provided the most immigrants during this period.
Europe, notably Ireland, Germany, and Great Britain
What was the Underground Railroad?
The Underground Railroad was a network of transportations links and "safe houses" managed by anti-slavery leaders. The Railroad supported slaves trying to escape to freedom.
Describe the Dred Scott v. Sandford case. What was the "precedent" set by the Supreme Court?
Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri (slave state) who later moved to Illinois and Wisconsin (free state/territory) and then back to Missouri. He attempted to sue for his freedom. After eleven years of appeals, the Supreme Court ruled that Scott was still a slave, and additionally established the precedent that all black people were not and could never be U.S. citizens, and that slavery was protected across the entire United States, according to the Constitution. This meant there was no legal way to stop slavery, even in areas which had abolished slavery many years before.
What term refers to a person who dies for a cause they believe in? What abolitionist was considered (this term) by his supporters, after he was killed following his raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859?
Martyr; John Brown
What might have been different about American history if Lincoln had decided not to resupply Fort Sumter?
Complicated question for class discussion!
Describe one positive and one negative impact of large-scale immigration on the American economy and/or society during the 1840s and 1850s.
Immigration increased overall economic productivity in the North, but put downward pressure on wages as many new immigrants would work for very low wages. New immigrants brought the languages, religions, and traditions of their home countries, which made American society more diverse. Many American-born citizens developed prejudice against immigrants (nativism) which led to social and political conflict, included the rise of the anti-immigrant Know-Nothing Party, or American Party.
Describe at least one way in which slaves attempted to maintain stability despite their extreme hardship.
Family life -- the law did not recognize slave marriages, but many slaves married and raised families, even though they were often separated over time.
Maintaining African culture -- passage of African customs across generations, including folk stories, music, dance
Religion -- many slaves maintained traditional African religious practices, adopted Christianity, or blended traditions together
Describe the sequence of major events from late 1860 to early 1861 leading to the Civil War.
November 1860 -- Abraham Lincoln is elected President
December 1860 -- South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the Union
January-February 1861 -- TX, LA, MS, AL, GA, and FL secede and, with SC, form the Confederate States of America
April 12, 1861 -- Confederate forces attack Fort Sumter in South Carolina after Lincoln attempts to resupply the fort
April 17, 1861 -- Virginia secedes from the Union and joins the Confederacy
May-June 1861 -- NC, TN, and AR secede
What term means "withdrawal", as in withdrawal from the Union by the Southern states?
What term means the process of inheriting a property, family title, etc.?
Secession; succession
According to the theory of comparative advantage, what should a country do to become wealthy? What does the theory need to work properly? What was the comparative advantage of the South in the early and mid 1800s?
A country should specialize in the industry of their comparative advantage, and trade for other products they need.
The theory requires reliable trading partners to work property.
The South had a comparative advantage in producing cotton due to its climate and the use of slave labor. They could specialize in producing cotton, sell the cotton to the North or Europe, and use the money they earned to purchase other products.