Laws
What did the Kansas-Nebraska Act do?
Say Kansas and Nebraska should decide to be free or slave states using popular sovereignty
Define Secede
To legally break away from a country and form a new country
Define Abolitionist
A person who fights to end slavery
How did the Cotton Gin impact slavery in the US?
It made cotton more profitable, which made slavery increase because there was more money to be made from it
What did the Missouri Compromise say?
When making future states, states above the 36-30 parallel on a map will ban slavery, states below the 36-30 line will have slavery
Explain at least 2 different specific arguments that abolitionists made against slavery
Slavery was evil from a moral / religious perspective
Slavery makes the US hypocrites because of the Declaration of Independence, 4th of July, Constitution, etc.
Slavery is not self government because it removes enslaved peoples' right to self government
etc.
Name one abolitionist we learned about who aided the Underground Railroad
Harriet Tubman
Frederick Douglass
What exact year did the first ship of enslaved Africans arrive in the US?
1619
Name at least 2 specific parts of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
Fined officials up to $1,000 for not enforcing the act
Paid judges more for a guilty verdict than an innocent one
Banned fugitive enslaved people from testifying or having a lawyer
What is popular sovereignty?
The idea that people living in territories should vote about whether they become free states or slave states
What is the Underground Railroad? Be as specific as possible
A network of secret safe houses used to help transport and hide fugitive enslaved people as they ran to freedom
Using at least 4 specific details, what was life like for enslaved people on plantations?
Answers vary. Key ideas:
-work 12-15 hours/day, 6 days/week, mostly in the fields growing cash crops.
-severe physical punishments (especially whipping) common, usually designed to hurt but not kill
-families separated, live in communal wooden houses with many non-family members
-sexual assault common
What are 2 things the Constitution said about slavery?
Slave trade must stay legal until at least 1808
Fugitive enslaved people must be captured and returned
Original constitution never mentions slavery by name
What is the name of the journey of ships from Africa to the US AND describe this journey using at least 3 specific details
Ships were overcrowded. Enslaved people were forced to eat, food was low quality and there was not enough of it. Physical punishment was common. People often died from hunger and diseases on the ships. Rarely if ever saw the sun. 6 month journey.
As a reaction both to the Sacking of Lawrence and to the caning of Charles Sumner, John Brown led a massacre in Kansas
Killed 5 pro-slavery settlers
In the next 3 months, retaliatory raids resulted in 29 deaths
What is the Triangle Trade and what good were sold in each part of the journey?
Trade in the shape of a triangle between US, Europe, and Africa. Ships got manufactured goods in Europe, sold them in Africa, and got enslaved people in return. They sold these people to the Americans where they got raw materials in return, which could be used to make manufactured goods.
What are the 4 parts of the Compromise of 1850
1. No slave trade in DC
2. California gets to be a free state
3. Other territories won in Mexican-American War pick if they are slave states by popular sovereignty
4. Make fugitive slave laws more strict
What are 2 specific decisions made in the Dred Scott Decision
Scott was not free
Black people (free or enslaved) could not be citizens of the US and therefore cannot sue in court, vote, etc.
Missouri Compromise is unconstitutional
Congress cannot regulate slavery
Black people have "no rights which the white man is bound to respect" in the US
What occurred at Harper's Ferry?
1859 John Brown tried to start a mass slave-revolt by taking over the US arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia
Planned to take the group south, freeing enslaved people of every state as they went
Successfully took over the arsenal for several hours but ultimately lost. Of the 22 people involved, 17 were killed and 5 escaped
Who was Anthony Burns and how did he change Massachusetts?
Last fugitive enslaved person captured in MA and sent back to slavery - people of MA rioted to try and save him, passed personal liberty laws afterwards to help protect fugitive enslaved people