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Name____________________ Date_____________ Student Reading 12.6: Westward Expansion and the Role of Slavery Part 2 Americans in the nineteenth century thought and spoke of their country as an “empire of liberty.” America was a land of opportunity and liberty for those adventurous enough to take on the challenge of moving west. With the northern colonies becoming crowded and the southern colonies being used for large plantations, many new settlers felt that heading west would provide the best opportunities to start a new life. During the 1800s, southern slave owners insisted that slavery was essential to the progression of the new nation. They believed that slavery freed the higher class from the need to do manual labor, or work done without machines. With more free time on their hands, wealthy Americans would have more time to devote themselves to their education, the arts, literature, and intellectual topics such as politics and the economy. The Southerners believed that if slaves did the work on the plantations, then much more work could be accomplished, leading to the economic progress of our nation. 1 Activity 12.6: Westward Expansion and the Role of Slavery Part 2 Name____________________ Date_____________ Northerners, however, did not agree with this way of thinking because they lived in non-slave states. As America acquired more territory, Northerners became concerned and fearful that slavery would continue to spread across the nation as more states entered the Union. Henry Clay introduced the Compromise of 1850 to Congress, hoping that it would settle disputes (Broadside announcing an abolitionist lecture, 1857. Courtesy of Ohio Pix.) arising from the end of the Mexican-American War. The bill was divided into four separate parts: A. The bill required California to enter the Union as a free state. B. The slave trade, but not slavery itself, was abolished in Washington, D.C. 2 Activity 12.6: Westward Expansion and the Role of Slavery Part 2 Name____________________ Date_____________ C. The Fugitive Slave Law was strengthened to protect the slave owners. D. The territories of Utah and New Mexico were opened to slavery, based on popular vote. In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act passed, dividing the region with Kansas to the south and Nebraska to the north. It provided both territories the right to vote on whether to be a free or a slave state. Both proslavery and antislavery supporters moved to Kansas, trying to persuade people to vote one way or the other. This caused a great disagreement between the two groups of people, and before long the two groups began fighting, giving Kansas the nickname of “Bleeding Kansas.” The years of 1854-1861 were a rough time in the Kansas territory, with continued fighting over whether or not it would become a free or slave state. The antislavery forces finally won and Kansas entered the Union as a free state on January 29, 1861, just a few months after Abraham Lincoln was elected the President of the United States. 3 Activity 12.6: Westward Expansion and the Role of Slavery Part 2 Name____________________ Date_____________ Following the election of Abraham Lincoln, tension was high throughout the states. Eleven states seceded, or withdrew from the union, by July of 1861 and created the Confederate States of America. The Civil War started April 12, 1861 with the Battle of Fort Sumter in South Carolina. The views of the Westerners were as varied as those in the Eastern portions of the United States. Although there were few states in the west, more people were beginning to inhabit the territories. The soaring population of California, caused by the Gold Rush, brought a need for a transcontinental railroad. The government (Abraham Lincoln. Courtesy of Ohio Pix.) was pushing for the railroad to reach across the nation, along with coast-to-coast telegraph wires for communication. Western farmland was being opened up to millions of settlers and American 4 Activity 12.6: Westward Expansion and the Role of Slavery Part 2 Name____________________ Date_____________ (This photograph shows a miner’s camp and large log cabin on a hillside; prospectors, some with shovels, and pix axe pose near a ditch. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) Indians were forced to once again give up their lands for the sake of American settlers. Many Westerners supported the expansion of slavery into the West, and some would support southern secession. The Civil War ended in 1865 with a northern victory. At the conclusion of the war, thousands of slaves received the news that they were free from their life of forced labor. After they were given their freedom, many slaves left the South where they had been enslaved and moved to new areas in the West and the 5 Activity 12.6: Westward Expansion and the Role of Slavery Part 2 Name____________________ Date_____________ North, though many stayed in the South. The United States government passed new amendments to the Constitution, giving African Americans rights they had never had before. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. The 14th Amendment made all people born in the United States regardless of enslaved status citizens. The 15th Amendment was passed in 1870, and gave all men, regardless of race or former enslavement, the right to vote. Policies for the future growth of the West came during the Civil War. Congress passed the Homestead Act in 1862. Lincoln also signed the Pacific Railway Act that year, providing land and government loans to construct the first transcontinental railroad. He also passed the Morrill Act, allotting pubic lands to states to finance colleges dedicated to agricultural education and research. This would help the West develop its dry land into fertile land to use for farming. 6 Activity 12.6: Westward Expansion and the Role of Slavery Part 2 Name____________________ Date_____________ Reading Comprehension Questions 1. Southern slave owners insisted that slavery was important for the progression of our nation. They believed the slaves should do all of the ___________________________________________________________ so owners would have more time to spend on the arts, literature, and intellectual topics. 2. The Fugitive Slave Act was a bill divided into four parts. It included all of the following except: a. Abolished slave trade in Washington D.C. b. Required California to enter the Union as a free state c. Abolished slavery in all states d. Strengthened the Fugitive Slave Law 3. While the North and the South were fighting over slavery issues, which of these events were happening in the West? Mark all that apply. 7 Activity 12.6: Westward Expansion and the Role of Slavery Part 2 Name____________________ Date_____________ a. The California Gold Rush was happening in the 1840s and 1850s b. Many people were moving out west for land and freedom c. The Transcontinental Railroad was beginning to move eastward d. Americans in the West wanted to become their own country 8 Activity 12.6: Westward Expansion and the Role of Slavery Part 2