Download Slave States and Free States— Compromise and

Name
Date
REVIEW
CALIFORNIA CONTENT
STANDARD 8.9.5
Slave States and Free States—
Compromise and Debate
Specific Objective: Analyze the significance of the States’ Rights Doctrine, the Missouri
Compromise (1820), the Wilmot Proviso (1846), the Compromise of 1850, Henry Clay’s role
in the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854),
the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision (1857), and the Lincoln-Douglas debates (1858).
Copyright © McDougal Littell/Houghton Mifflin Company
Read the chart below to answer questions on the next page.
States’ Rights
Doctrine
- Supported by many southerners before the Civil War
- Said the U.S. Constitution was an agreement among the states; states could
block the actions of the federal government they didn’t like; states were free
to secede from the Union
- Main proponent—John C. Calhoun
Missouri
Compromise,
1820
- Missouri asked for statehood as a slave state, threatening to upset the
balance in Congress between slave and free states.
- Henry Clay came up with the Missouri Compromise: outlawed slavery in the
future anywhere north of Missouri’s southern border; admitted Maine as a
free state; kept the balance in Congress
Wilmot Proviso,
1846
- Proposed outlawing slavery in any territory the United States might win in
the Mexican War
- Slaveholders were against it; they said slaves were property and the
Constitution gave equal rights to all property holders.
Compromise of
1850
- California asked to be let in as a free state.
- Henry Clay suggested the compromise: California would be a free state;
Congress agreed not to outlaw slavery in the rest of the territories; Congress
had to promise a stronger fugitive slave law.
KansasNebraska Act,
1854
- Proposed by Senator Stephen A. Douglas
- Allowed popular votes in Nebraska and Kansas to decide if each would be
a free or slave state (popular sovereignty)
- Replaced the Missouri Compromise of 1820
Dred Scott v.
Sandford,
1857
- Dred Scott, a slave, sued for his freedom because he had lived in a territory
where slavery was illegal.
- The Supreme Court ruled against him; said slaves, and all African
Americans, were not citizens of the United States.
- The decision increased tensions between the North and South.
Lincoln-Douglas
debates,
1858
- Douglas was the Democratic Senator from Illinois; Lincoln was his
Republican challenger.
- In a series of debates throughout Illinois they discussed the expansion of
slavery, Dred Scott, and the future of the Union.
- Lincoln argued against the expansion of slavery, but not for abolishing
slavery outright; Douglas argued for popular sovereignty, or allowing the
population of a state to decide its own laws by voting.
CSS Specific Objective 8.9.5: Review 151
Name
Date
PRACTICE
CALIFORNIA CONTENT
STANDARD 8.9.5
Slave States and Free States—
Compromise and Debate
Directions: Choose the letter of the best answer.
The states’ rights doctrine held that
A
B
4
What was the aim of Henry Clay’s
Compromise of 1850?
states had fewer rights than the
federal government.
A
the U.S. Constitution applied to some
states but not all.
to protect states by limiting the power
of the national government
B
to resolve the issue of slavery in the
territories once and for all
C
to stop the South from splitting away
from the United States
D
to unite the North and South againt
the western territories
C
the federal government was useless.
D
states could choose to leave the
Union.
2 Which law repealed the ban on
slavery north of Missouri’s southern
border?
A
Compromise of 1850
B
Kansas-Nebraska Act
C
Missouri Compromise
D
Wilmot Proviso
3 In his 1858 debates with Stephen
Douglas, Abraham Lincoln argued
that slavery should be
A
expanded throughout the Union.
B
spread worldwide.
C
completely abolished.
D
regulated to certain states.
152 CSS Specific Objective 8.9.5: Practice
5
In the case of Dred Scott, the
Supreme Court decided that
A
Scott should be allowed to go free.
B
Scott was not a citizen of the United
States.
C
slavery was illegal north of the
Missouri Compromise line.
D
slavery should not be allowed in the
South.
Copyright © McDougal Littell/Houghton Mifflin Company
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