The growth in sectional tensions- part three

Question 1

Give four reasons why ending slavery’s expansion would be a problem for the south

Answer 1

1. Blacks would outnumber whites. 2. Anti slavery propaganda could enter the south. 3. Moral opposition from the government and abroad. 4. Over cultivation of land would lead to soil exhaustion.

Question 2

What were the Lincoln Douglas debates?

Answer 2

1858- Douglas and Lincoln vied for the Illinois senate seat, Lincoln said that slavery must end or must expand, it contradicted the DofI, but he was not an abolitionist.

Question 3

Give three consequences of the Lincoln Douglas debates

Answer 3

1. Lincoln raised his political profile. 2. Lincoln made it clear that slavery was morally and economically wrong. 3. Lincoln lost the election, but made his strong personality known. He contrasted with the weak Pierce and Buchanan who had given into slave power.

Question 4

Why did the south demand a new slave code in 1860?

Answer 4

Fears over slavery caused by the growth in republicanism and john brown’s raid, they insisted that all states support slavery.

Question 5

Give three consequences of the south’s demands

Answer 5

1. Democrat Douglas refused, so was rejected. 2. South held their own convention, electing Breckinridge. 3. Ex whigs formed the constitutional unionists and elected bell.

Question 6

Why did the republicans choose Lincoln?

Answer 6

Seward was seen as too radical, Lincoln was best placed to win over the boarder states.

Question 7

What were the results of the 1860 election?

Answer 7

1. Lincoln won 40% of the popular vote and all northern states bar New Jersey. 2. Douglas won 30% of the popular vote and Missouri. 3. Breckinridge won all but three southern states. 4. 69% had voted for anti slavery candidates.

Question 8

What did the election expose?

Answer 8

1. Slavery lacked support. 2. The south faced a president elected by the north who opposed slavery and southern economic interests.

Question 9

How did the south see Lincoln?

Answer 9

Poor white born in a slave state, his election raised fears over black republicans who wanted to thwart the fugitive slave act and overrun the south with abolitionist propaganda.

Question 10

Give five terms of the Crittenden compromise

Answer 10

1. 36’30’ reimposed. 2. Stop on any attempt to prohibit slave holding. 3. Personal liberty laws repealed. 4. Slavery to enter the constitution. 5. Compensation for owners of runaways.

Question 11

What happened when the republican rejected the compromise?

Answer 11

South Carolina called for a convention of southern states, seceded 20th December calling the union a failed experiment.

Question 12

Give three reasons why the republicans thought secession was unlikely?

Answer 12

1. Union was too popular/respected. 2. Federal legislation protected slave owners and had put in place the fugitive slave act, the south had considerable government influence. 3. South was unenthusiastic about secession and border states remained in the union.

Question 13

Why did compromise fail?

Answer 13

Idea that secession could be a good thing- south could pass measures protecting slavery and the north would be able to progress economically without the backward south.

Question 14

Give three reasons why the republicans rejected the compromise

Answer 14

1. Founding fathers had deliberately excluded slavery from the constitution. 2. Adding slavery to the constitution would make it impossible to end and would undermine all they stood for. 3. 36’30’ line would allow slavery to expand into new lands, hampering social and economic progress.

Question 15

Which 10 states seceded?

Answer 15

Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. Followed by Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina.

Question 16

Give three reasons why the south thought war was unlikely

Answer 16

1. North needed southern cotton and war would undo economic progress. 2. Britain needed southern cotton, so might aid the south. 3. North too afraid to fight the south- southern men could fight whilst slaves stayed and worked- the north had no such ability.

Question 17

Give five reasons why it was hard to understand why there was a war

Answer 17

1. Lincoln’s cabinet was divided, Seward suggested war with Britain to unite the country. 2. Few northerners wanted to fight for slaves. 3. Armed forces were small. 4. Border states remained in the union, there was hope that moderation would prevail. 5. Northern economic system used southern cotton and sold the south economic goods.

Question 18

What three events overcame obstacles to war?

Answer 18

1. Secessionist governments ordered the seizure of federal property, fort Sumter held out. 2. Lincoln had to decide if he would provision major Anderson at fort Sumter. 3. Lincoln couldn’t abandon Anderson, so sent ships in April to provision the fort, he also called for forces to be deployed in the upper south to ensure they stayed in the union.

Question 19

Give three reasons why war broke out

Answer 19

1. Lincoln had committed himself to the illegitimacy of secession, but if force was used, the upper south would secede. 2. Confederacy offered compensation for lost property, but this would have meant recognizing them as a separate political entity. 3. Lincoln couldn’t afford to be seen as weak.

Question 20

Give three more reasons why war broke out

Answer 20

4. Not provisioning the brave Anderson would look like Lincoln didn’t support his defense of the union. 5. Lincoln was so hated by the south that negotiations were impossible. 6. Both sides thought they’d win the war.