Popular Sovereignty Led To The Civil War

SLAVERY AND THE ROAD TO THE CIVIL WAR

1. Explain the doctrine of “popular sovereignty” Popular sovereignty gives the power of government to the people. This doctrine was mainly used by the people who opposed abolition, and was used in several states to decide the issue of slavery. Popular sovereignty gives people the freedom to decide on regional policies without interference from the federal government. On the issue of slavery, states such as New Mexico and Utah were decided by popular sovereignty, which meant that the balance between slave and free states could be interfered with, based on the amount of abolitionists and anti-abolitionists lived in those states.

2. What were the terms of the Compromise of 1850? Who helped to create

It repealed the Missouri Compromise which banned slavery north of a certain line in the United States. Senator Douglas was the person who proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. He was worried for the future of slavery in the western United States and wanted to find compromise. In Kansas, an anti-slavery government was created in Topeka that opposed the pro-slavery government that already existed in Lecompton. These opposition of these two governments led to Bleeding Kansas. The passage of this act disrupted the balance between free and slave states, which set in motion many of the other events to come that would lead to the Civil War.

5. Why did the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin have such an impact? Uncle Tom’s Cabin had such an impact on the United States because of the way it depicted slavery’s effect on families. This had a huge emotional impact on northerners especially because many of them did not necessarily know what was going on in the south. Uncle Tom’s Cabin personalized political and economic arguments about slavery. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s writing style impacted people because she wrote in such a way that depicted slavery in such a true and emotional way, which only made some northerners want abolition even

Douglas attempted to revive the doctrine of popular sovereignty, which was basically outlawed by the Dred Scott decision. This Freeport Doctrine stated that slavery could legally be barred from the territories if the territorial legislatures refused to enact the type of police regulations necessary to make slavery work. Without the legal foundation, slavery would be excluded from the territories.

10. Explain the effect of John Brown's raid and death on both the North and the South?
In the north, John Brown’s raid was looked at with widespread admiration. They recognized that the raid itself was the act of a madman, but many northerners admired his courage. On the other hand, southerners were outraged by John Brown’s raid. They wondered how anyone could be sympathetic to someone who raided their land and destroyed their property. Southerners wondered how they could live under a government that considered this madman, John Brown, a martyr.

11. Explain Lincoln's election, the secessionist movement and the failure of the Crittenden