The sectional crisis and the Civil War
Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
South Carolina's declaration of causes
Who made it: the South Carolina secession convention. When: December 24, 1860. Where: Charleston, South Carolina. For whom: the other states and the public. Why: to explain and justify leaving the Union. Excerpt (Declaration of the Immediate Causes (South Carolina, 1860); the 1860 Charleston pamphlet, p. 9): "A geographical line has been drawn across the Union, and all the States north of that line have united in the election of a man to the high office of President of the United States whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery. He is to be entrusted with the administration of the Common Government, because he has declared that that "Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free," and that the public mind must rest in the belief that Slavery is in the course of ultimate extinction."
Jun wants to know why South Carolina's convention said it was leaving. Which use of the declaration is soundest?
- As unreliable on motives, because a justification written for the public may leave out reasons
- As evidence of what Lincoln intended to do, since the declaration describes his opinions
- As the convention's own stated reasons, to be compared with other states' declarations
- As proof of the real motive of each secessionist, since the convention spoke for the whole state
Frederick Douglass on the Fourth of July
Who made it: Frederick Douglass, a formerly enslaved abolitionist and speaker. When: July 5, 1852. Where: Rochester, New York. For whom: an audience in Corinthian Hall, Rochester. Why: to tell his audience what the Fourth of July meant to an enslaved person. Excerpt (Oration, Rochester, July 5, 1852; the 1852 Rochester pamphlet, p. 20): "What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless …"
Pia reads Douglass's speech of July 5, 1852. Which question can that speech best help answer?
- What the Constitution required Congress to do about slavery in 1852, since he discusses it
- How most free Black Northerners felt about the holiday in 1852, since he spoke for them
- How a formerly enslaved abolitionist described the holiday for the enslaved in 1852
- How enslaved people themselves would have described the holiday, since he speaks for them
The Missouri Compromise, 1820, in brief
Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Missouri asked to join the Union as a state that allowed slavery. In 1820 Congress let Missouri in as a slave state and, at the same time, Maine as a free state, so the number of free states and slave states stayed equal. A slave state is one where the law allowed slavery, and a free state is one where the law banned it. Congress also banned slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Territory north of 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude. Who gained: people in Missouri who supported slavery, whose state could keep it, and people who wanted slavery kept out of the northern Louisiana Territory. Who lost: enslaved people in Missouri, who stayed enslaved. Source card "The Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: In 1854 Congress created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. The act repealed the Missouri Compromise ban on slavery north of 36 degrees 30 minutes. It said the settlers of each territory would decide by popular sovereignty whether slavery would be legal there. Settlers who supported slavery and settlers who opposed it rushed to Kansas, and the conflict turned violent. Opponents of the act helped found the Republican Party. Who gained: people who wanted slavery to spread into the territories. Who lost: people who wanted slavery kept out, because the ban of 1820 was repealed.
Milo compares the Missouri Compromise with the Kansas-Nebraska Act. How did the 1854 act change the 1820 rule?
- It applied popular sovereignty to slavery for the first time, in the Louisiana Territory
- It repealed the 1820 ban north of 36 degrees 30 minutes and let settlers decide by popular sovereignty
- It kept the 1820 line but let Congress decide each new territory case by case
- It extended the 1820 line to the Pacific and banned slavery in the lands north of it
The Missouri Compromise, 1820, in brief
Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Missouri asked to join the Union as a state that allowed slavery. In 1820 Congress let Missouri in as a slave state and, at the same time, Maine as a free state, so the number of free states and slave states stayed equal. A slave state is one where the law allowed slavery, and a free state is one where the law banned it. Congress also banned slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Territory north of 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude. Who gained: people in Missouri who supported slavery, whose state could keep it, and people who wanted slavery kept out of the northern Louisiana Territory. Who lost: enslaved people in Missouri, who stayed enslaved. Source card "The Compromise of 1850, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: In 1850 Congress passed five laws about slavery. California joined the Union as a free state. Utah and New Mexico became territories where settlers would decide the question of slavery, an idea called popular sovereignty. A boundary was set between Texas and the rest of the country, and the buying and selling of people was ended in Washington, DC. A stricter Fugitive Slave Act required officials in every state, free or slave, to help arrest people suspected of escaping slavery, and anyone who helped an enslaved person escape faced prison and a fine. Who gained: California, which joined as a free state, and slaveholders, who got the stricter act. Who lost: people who had escaped slavery, who could be arrested in any state.
Zee compares 1820 with 1850. What did the Compromise of 1850 do that the Missouri Compromise did not?
- It ended the buying and selling of people in the states and the territories alike
- It admitted California as free and left Utah and New Mexico to settlers
- It paired one free state with one slave state, keeping the numbers equal as in 1820
- It banned slavery in the rest of the territory north of 36 degrees 30 minutes
South Carolina's declaration of causes
Who made it: the South Carolina secession convention. When: December 24, 1860. Where: Charleston, South Carolina. For whom: the other states and the public. Why: to explain and justify leaving the Union. Excerpt (Declaration of the Immediate Causes (South Carolina, 1860); the 1860 Charleston pamphlet, p. 9): "A geographical line has been drawn across the Union, and all the States north of that line have united in the election of a man to the high office of President of the United States whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery. He is to be entrusted with the administration of the Common Government, because he has declared that that "Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free," and that the public mind must rest in the belief that Slavery is in the course of ultimate extinction." Source card "Mississippi's declaration, 1861, in our words". Who made it: the Mississippi secession convention. When: January 1861. Where: Mississippi. For whom: the other states and the public. Why: to explain and justify leaving the Union. Summary in our words, not a quotation: When Mississippi left the Union in January 1861, its convention issued a declaration of its reasons. It begins by saying that the state's position was thoroughly tied to slavery, which it called a great material interest of the world. It then lists what it saw as attacks on slavery: the ban on slavery in the northern Louisiana Territory in 1820, laws in free states that blocked the Fugitive Slave Law, and the refusal to admit new slave states. It was written by the convention of Mississippi's leaders.
Kira compares South Carolina's declaration with Mississippi's. What do the two share?
- Both put tariffs and states' rights ahead of slavery, which appears in passing
- Both tie leaving the Union to slavery, though they cite different grievances
- Both blame actions Lincoln took as President after his inauguration in March 1861
- South Carolina stresses slavery while Mississippi stresses economic interests apart from it
Frederick Douglass calls Black men to enlist
Who made it: Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist and editor. When: 1863. Where: Rochester, New York. For whom: free Black men in the North. Why: to urge Black men to join the Union army. Excerpt ("Men of Color, To Arms!" as printed in Life and Times; Life and Times, 1881, pp. 414-415): "Liberty won by white men would lose half its luster. 'Who would be free themselves must strike the blow.' … I am authorized to assure you that you will receive the same wages, the same rations, the same equipments, the same protection, the same treatment, and the same bounty, secured to white soldiers."
Luz reads Douglass's call to enlist. What does he ask free Black men to do, and what argument does he give?
- Enlist, because liberty won by white men alone would lose half its luster
- Enlist, because the Proclamation guaranteed freedom to the families of Black soldiers
- Enlist, because the army had promised higher wages than civilian work offered Black men
- Wait, because freedom should be given by the government and not struck for by those who need it
The Dred Scott decision, 1857, in brief
Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: In 1846 Dred Scott, an enslaved man, and Harriet, his wife, went to court in St. Louis and asked to be free. They said they had lived in a free territory. The case reached the Supreme Court, which ruled in March 1857 that people of African descent whose ancestors were brought to the country and sold as slaves could not be citizens, and that Congress was not allowed to ban slavery in a federal territory. Scott lost his case. The 13th and 14th Amendments later overturned the decision. Who gained: people who wanted slavery allowed in the territories. Who lost: Dred and Harriet Scott, who lost their case for freedom. Source card "The ban of 1820: repeal and ruling". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The Missouri Compromise banned slavery north of 36 degrees 30 minutes in the rest of the Louisiana Territory. Congress repealed the ban with the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. In 1857 the Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott case that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.
In 1857 a new territory asks whether Congress may ban slavery there. Tala reads the Dred Scott card. What does the ruling say?
- Congress may ban it north of 36 degrees 30 minutes, as the 1820 compromise did
- The ruling concerned the Scotts' case, leaving Congress free to ban slavery elsewhere
- Congress may ban it, but the settlers could overturn the ban by a vote
- Congress had no power to ban slavery in a federal territory, so such a ban was unconstitutional
The election of 1860, in brief
Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: On November 6, 1860, voters elected Abraham Lincoln the 16th president. He was the first president from the Republican Party, which was against letting slavery spread into new territories. The Electoral College gave Lincoln 180 of the 303 electoral votes, and 152 were needed to win.
The card says Lincoln won 180 of 303 electoral votes in 1860. Esme asks which claim it supports.
- He won a clear electoral majority; the card gives no popular vote
- He won by the narrowest margin possible, since 152 votes were needed to win
- He won a majority of the popular vote as well, since he won the electoral vote
- He carried the Southern states too, since 180 is more than half of 303
Use this
Source card "Secession, 1860 and 1861, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: South Carolina left the Union on December 20, 1860. Six more states followed: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. In February 1861 delegates met in Montgomery, Alabama, to form the Confederate States of America, and Lincoln took office on March 4, 1861. After the attack on Fort Sumter, Lincoln called on April 15 for 75,000 volunteers. Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee then left the Union. In all, eleven states joined the Confederacy.
A classmate says the South left because Lincoln took office. Noah reads the card and strip. Which reply is best supported?
- Seven states left after Fort Sumter, so the attack began the process of secession
- Seven states left before he took office, so his election drove those exits
- Eleven states left after his inauguration, so his term was the cause of the exits
- His election explains the exits of eleven states, including the four after Sumter
Black soldiers in the Union forces, in brief
Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: About 179,000 Black men served in the Union Army and about 19,000 in the Navy; the National Archives says almost 200,000 Black soldiers and sailors in all. The War Department set up the United States Colored Troops on May 22, 1863. Black soldiers were first paid 10 dollars a month with 3 dollars taken out for clothing, a net of 7 dollars, while white soldiers received 13 dollars with no clothing deduction. In June 1864 Congress granted equal pay and made it retroactive. Nearly 40,000 Black soldiers lost their lives in the war, about 30,000 of them from infection or disease.
Ari reads the card on Black soldiers' pay. Which conclusion is best supported?
- They were paid equally from enlistment, but lost 3 dollars a month for their clothing
- Equal pay came in June 1864, but it covered men who enlisted after that date
- They were first paid 7 dollars net against 13, and Congress later granted equal pay retroactively
- They were first paid 7 dollars a month less than white soldiers, with equal pay denied
