The road to the Civil War: compromises that failed and the election of 1860
Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
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Card A (1820): "The Missouri Compromise". Who made it: Congress. For whom: the nation and its new states. Why: to keep the number of slave states and free states equal. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Missouri joins the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state. Slavery is outlawed above the 36 deg30' line in the rest of the Louisiana Territory. What it changed for people: People could be held in slavery in Missouri, while the land north of the line was closed to slavery. How far can I trust it? For: It is the law itself, kept by the National Archives. Against: A law shows what Congress decided, not how people lived under it. Card B (1850): "The Compromise of 1850". Who made it: Congress, from Senator Henry Clay's plan. For whom: the nation. Why: to settle quarrels over slavery in the land won from Mexico. Summary in our words, not a quotation: California joins as a free state. Settlers in the Utah and New Mexico territories will decide on slavery by popular sovereignty. The slave trade ends in Washington, DC, and a stricter Fugitive Slave Act is passed. What it changed for people: Officials in every state, slave or free, had to help capture people who had escaped slavery. How far can I trust it? For: These are the laws themselves, kept by the National Archives. Against: The laws do not show how people in the North reacted. Below the strip: A compromise is a deal in which each side gives up part of what it wants. To secede is to leave the Union.
In Ari's timeline, which state joined as a free state in 1820?
- Kansas
- Maine
- California
- Missouri
By card B, how would Utah and New Mexico decide about slavery, Esme asks?
Use the picture in question 1.
- By an order from the president
- By a ruling of the Supreme Court in 1857
- By popular sovereignty, a vote of settlers
- By the 36°30′ line from 1820
By card B, what did the Fugitive Slave Act require, Jun asks?
Use the picture in question 1.
- Officials everywhere to help capture people who escaped
- Washington, DC, to start a slave trade
- Missouri to become a free state
- Free states to end slavery in the South
When was Lincoln elected president, by the strip, Kira asks?
Use the picture in question 1.
- 1860
- 1857
- 1850
- 1854
When was the Kansas-Nebraska Act passed, by the strip, Luz asks?
Use the picture in question 1.
- 1820
- 1850
- 1857
- 1854
How many years passed from the Missouri Compromise to the Compromise of 1850, Milo asks?
Use the picture in question 1.
- 3,670 years
- 40 years
- 30 years
- 34 years
By the note, what is a compromise, Noah asks?
Use the picture in question 1.
- A law that one side wins outright
- A court's final ruling on a case
- A vote by a state to leave the Union
- A deal where each side gives up something
By the note, what does it mean to secede, Pia asks?
Use the picture in question 1.
- To leave the Union
- To join as a free state
- To split a territory into two
- To elect a new president
By card A's trust line, why can Tala trust it?
Use the picture in question 1.
- It was written by enslaved people
- It tells how families in Missouri lived
- It was written in 1860
- It is the law itself, kept by the National Archives
By card B's trust line, what can these laws not show Zee?
Use the picture in question 1.
- Which state joined as free
- How people in the North reacted
- When the laws were passed
- What the laws required of officials