APUSH Period 5, Key Concept 5.2 Notes
Overview
- Development of distinct societies in the North and the South
- Manifest Destiny and westward expansion raise the issue of slavery
- Sectionalism increases in the 1840s and 1850s, leading to Civil War
- Compromises fail to ease sectional tensions
Key Historical Events
Territorial Expansion
- Oregon Treaty (1846): Oregon enters union under James K. Polk
- Texas Annexation (1845): Leads to conflict with Mexico, sparking Mexican-American War (1846)
- Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848): U.S. gains large territory from Mexico
- Wilmot Proviso: Attempt to ban slavery in new territories, rejected by Southern senators
Compromise of 1850
- California enters as a free state
- Abolishment of slave trade in Washington D.C.
- Popular sovereignty to decide slavery in other territories
- New Fugitive Slave Law
Sectional Tensions in the 1850s
- Ostend Manifesto: Failed Southern attempt to acquire Cuba for slavery expansion
- Gadsden Purchase (1853): Land bought for railroad provoking North-South controversy
- Fugitive Slave Act: Caused Northern resistance, angering Southerners
Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
- Introduced by Stephen Douglas; popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska
- Repealed Missouri Compromise of 1820
- Opposition leads to formation of Republican Party; demise of Whig Party
Bleeding Kansas and Violence
- Pro- and anti-slavery forces clash in Kansas
- Sack of Lawrence, Potawatomi Creek: Violence erupts
- Two governments: Free Soil (Topeka) and Pro-Slavery (Lecompton)
- Charles Sumner attacked by Preston Brooks in Congress
Supreme Court and Political Effects
Dred Scott Decision (1857)
- Ruling: African Americans are not citizens; Congress can’t ban slavery in territories
- Missouri Compromise deemed unconstitutional
John Brown’s Raid (1859)
- Attempted slave revolt in Virginia; fails but incites Southern outrage
Election of 1860
- Lincoln elected without Southern support, seen as sectional president
- Southern secession follows
Economic and Cultural Differences
Northern Society
- Industrial economy, manufacturing
- Population growth due to immigration
- Abolitionist movement grows, though a minority
Southern Society
- Agricultural, plantation economy
- Slow population growth, reliant on slave labor
- Defense of slavery as beneficial
Pro-Slavery Arguments
- Slaves seen as family
- Slavery argued to be better than Northern wage slavery
- Racial stereotypes perpetuated in minstrel shows
States’ Rights and Secession
- State Rights and Nullification: Emphasized by Southerners
- Growing abolitionist movement in North
Distrust Between North and South
- Northern Distrust: Fugitive Slave Act, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Bleeding Kansas
- Southern Distrust: Wilmot Proviso, Northern resistance to Fugitive Slave Act, John Brown’s raid
Conclusion
- Increasing distrust and failed compromises set stage for Civil War
- Transition to Key Concept 5.3: The Civil War
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