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Questions For Class Discussion

Questions For Class Discussion
Chapter 18: Renewing the Sectional Struggle, 1848 - 1854

  1. Was the Compromise of 1850 a wise effort to balance sectional differences or a futile attempt to push the slavery issue out of sight? Could a better compromise have been met if California had not skipped the regular territorial phase?

  2. Why did the North so strongly resent the Fugitive Slave Law, and why did the South resent northern resistance to enforcing it?

  3. Is there a significant difference in the leadership of Old Guard senators such as Clay, Webster, and Calhoun when compared to the Young Guard of Douglas and Seward?

  4. Did the North, South, or West benefit most from the Compromise of 1850? Why?

  5. Why was the issue of acquiring Cuba so controversial in the 1850s? Could some of the Caribbean islands or parts of Central America have become incorporated as slave states with the United States? How would American designs for expansion into the Caribbean and Central America effect U.S. relations with Latin America? Did European turmoil in the late 1840s and early 1850s encourage American expansionist dreams?

  6. Would the sectional conflict have been reheated had Douglas not pushed through the Kansas-Nebraska Act? Why or why not?
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