Mad Libs: Sectionalism & the Civil War - Vocabulary Review

As the (a)   (terms), or farm based, economy of the United States flourished, there was an increasingly reliance on slave labor.

Simultaneously, as the belief in (a)   (terms) took hold, and our nation expanded its borders from sea to shining sea, questions of whether or not slavery should also be expanded arose.

Some felt that slavery should be contained to the states and territories where it was already allowed, and not allowed to further spread. Others believed in a policy of (a)   (terms), meaning that citizens in those territories could vote & choose to allow or outlaw slavery in their newly settled stated. Many Americans believed that the balance between free and slave states was vital to our nation’s survival, as this balance ensured that both free and slave states would have equal say in Congress.

As sectional tensions over slavery and other issues rose, lawmakers attempted to maintain peace through a series of compromises. The compromise of 1820, also known as the (a)   (terms), allowed for Missouri to be admitted as a slave state but banned slavery north of parallel 36⁰ 30’.

Following the Missouri Compromise was the (a)   (terms), which admitted California as a free state & allowed the territories of Utah and New Mexico to decide on the issues for themselves.

Additionally, the (a)   (terms) was strengthened and states across the nation, free or not, were compelled by law to turn in runaway slaves once they were identified.

Sectional tensions were further increased by the work of abolitionists such as (a)   (people), a former slave himself,

..and authors such as (a)   (people).

Traveling around the nation and organizing against slavery, such champions of abolition gained much ground between 1850 and 1860. However, they faced a major setback in 1857 after the decision in the supreme court case of (a)   (terms), which suggested that African Americans enslaved or free were not citizens of the United States.

Following the election of President (a)   (people) in 1860, the sectional tensions in the United States reached an all - time high.