Before you take the Chapter Quiz, review what you learned in this chapter:
In chapter 19, you learned how disagreements between the North and south led to the Civil War. In the 1800s, the United States was expanding. Each time a territory wanted to become a state, there was disagreement over the issue of slavery. The North did not want to admit more slave states. The South thought slavery should be allowed in all new territories and states. neither side wanted the other to have the majority in congress. The South was afraid the North would abolish slavery if it had the majority.
The sectional crisis began when President Zachary Taylor wanted Congress to admit California as a free state. This made the south angry. The Compromise of 1850 solved the problem in Congress. It did not solve the problem for the people. The country was still divided over the issue of slavery.
The Kansas and nebraska Territories caused another crisis. The Compromise of 1850 outlawed slavery in these territories. Senator Stephen Douglas wanted the South to vote to admit the territories. He proposed a plan of popular sovereignty. many people in the North felt the plan violated the Missouri Compromise. Free-soilers did not want slavery in any new territories. The Kansas-Nebraska Act was finally passed, but it tore apart the Whig Party. The Republican Party was formed as an anti-nebraska party.
The divide between the North and South grew. In Kansas, there was violence between proslavery and antislavery settlers. The, in the Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court struck down the Missouri Compromise. It ruled that slaves who lived in free states were not automatically free. The South supported the decision. The North did not. In another crisis, abolitionists raided the arsenal at Harpers Ferry to get weapons for a slave uprising. The leader, John Brown, was tried and hanged. The North made him a hero. This shocked the South. The final straw for the south was the election of Abraham...