Growing Sectionalism and the Experiences of Enslaved People

What type of event does this image depict?

• an escape on the Underground Railroad

• a rebellion of enslaved people

• the daily lives of enslaved people

• a religious gathering

Nobody knows the trouble I’ve been through

Nobody knows my sorrow

Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen

Glory hallelujah!

What is the primary theme of this spiritual?

• hardship and struggle

• escape on the Underground Railroad

• celebration

• resistance

What was the primary purpose of the Missouri Compromise?

• to allow the spread of slavery into western territories

• to balance the numbers of slave and free states

• to declare all new states as free states

• to end slavery in all states

What was a significant outcome of the Compromise of 1850?

• It allowed for the potential spread of slavery into some western territories.

• It completely abolished slavery in all western territories.

• It established the Underground Railroad.

• It sparked the Civil War.

What was significant about the ruling of the Dred Scott decision in 1857?

• Enslaved people were officially granted freedom

• Enslaved people were stripped of all remaining rights

• Enslaved people were considered citizens with full rights.

• Enslaved people were not considered citizens with constitutional rights.

Which changes were direct results of the Compromise of 1850?

• The Fugitive Slave Law was repealed

• The federal government banned slavery in all new territories.

• The people of each territory would decide the issue of slavery for themselves.

• The slave trade was banned in Washington, D.C.

• California was admitted to the Union as a free state.

How did enslaved people resist slavery?

• speaking in code language

• silent protests and hunger strikes

• written petitions to the government

• organized rebellions

• breaking tools and working slowly

When the slave ceases to perspire, as he often does when taxed beyond his strength, he falls to the ground and becomes entirely helpless. It is then the duty of the driver to drag him into the shade of the standing cotton or cane, or of a neighboring tree, where he dashes buckets of water upon him, and uses other means of bringing out perspiration again, when he is ordered to his place, and compelled to continue his labor.

What does this excerpt suggest about the lives of enslaved people?

• They were often pushed beyond their limits.

• They were well cared for by the drivers.

• They were allowed rest breaks to regain their strength.

• They were given quality medical care when needed.

We are now far into the fifth year since a policy was initiated with the avowed object and confident promise of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased, but has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new, North as well as South

What did Lincoln believe about the future of the United States in relation to slavery?

• The government would enforce stricter laws on free states

• The government would dissolve due to the issue of slavery.

• The nation would remain divided between free states and slave states.

• The nation would become either entirely free or entirely slaveholding.

What was the outcome of John Brown’s raid at Harpers Ferry in 1859?

• the successful capture and permanent control of the arsenal by John Brown’s group

• the peaceful negotiation and resolution of the conflict without any casualties

• a large-scale slave revolt that spread throughout the South

• the capture and execution of John Brown and associates