Violence in Congress
Sumner referred to this Illinois Senator, a proponent of popular sovereignty, as a "noisome, squat, and nameless animal."
Who is Stephan A. Douglass
Were enslaved people and their descendants considered American citizens entitled to file suit in federal courts under Article III of the Constitution?
What is Citzenship?
He advocated for "popular sovereignty" arguing that settlers in new territories should decide for themselves whether to allow slavery.
Who is Stephen A. Douglas?
This 1850 act, part of a larger compromise, required citizens, even in free states, to assist in the recovery of runaway slaves.
What is the Fugitive Slave Act.
Question: In his speech, Sumner referred to slavery as this type of "harlot" mistress that Southern "chivalry" defended.
What is a "Harlot"?
Did residing in a free state or territory make an enslaved person free, and could Congress prohibit slavery in federal territories?
What is the Constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise?
This future president argued that slavery was a "moral, social, and political wrong" and that the nation could not endure half-slave and half-free.
Who is Abraham?
Passed in 1820, this legislation admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, maintaining a balance in the Senate.
What is the Missouri Comprimise?
This South Carolina Representative and kinsman of Andrew Butler was the perpetrator of the caning of Charles Sumner.
Who is Preston Brooks?
In 1857, this Supreme Court ruling declared that African Americans were not U.S. citizens and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories.
What is the Dred Scott Desicion?
In their second debate, Lincoln asked this tricky question that forced Douglas to choose between his popular sovereignty policy and the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision.
What is the Freeport Doctrine?
"Bleeding Kansas" was the violent result of this 1854 act, which allowed settlers other territories to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery or not.
What is the Kansas-Nebraska Act?
Brooks used this type of weapon to attack Sumner while he was sitting at his desk, having just finished his speech.
What is a Cane.
Whether Dred Scott, as a Black person descended from enslaved ancestors, was a citizen entitled to sue in federal court.
Who is... No?
Although Lincoln lost this 1858 election to Douglas, the debates gave him the national reputation needed to win this higher office two years later.
What is Presidency?
Eli Whitney's 1793 invention of this machine caused a massive, renewed demand for slave labor to produce cotton.
What is the Cotton Gin?
The caning of Sumner is considered a key event leading to the rise of this new political party, which opposed the expansion of slavery.
What is the Republican Party?
Whether Congress had the constitutional authority to prohibit slavery in the federal territories, such as the Wisconsin Territory.
What is... No?
These intense debates directly affected the United States by accelerating this, by forcing a formal, public split in this political party over the issue of slavery.
What is the Democratic Party?
This 1852 novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe depicted the harsh realities of slavery and fueled anti-slavery sentiment in the North.
What is Uncle Tom's Cabin?