1) Discuss the compromise of 1850. What were the compromises? What were its goals? Why did it succeed or fail? The Compromise of 1850 comprised five laws and amendments that were passed in order to prevent discord. Its main goal was to stop the spread of slavery and solve the conflict of interests between northern and southern states. So five compromises included California’s joining the Union, putting an end to slave trade in DC, allowing New Mexico and Utah to decide on the slavery issue through popular voting, solving the territorial conflict between Texas and New Mexico and amendments to fugitive slave act that envisioned fining any federal officials in case they did not arrest fugitive slaves. The Compromise was controversial as on the one hand it postponed the start of the Civil War, but on the other hand was in the root of future conflict in Kansas which also demanded popular sovereignty (Kelly).
2) In what way did women participate in social activism in the 19th century? Give specific examples and people? Seeing all the changes in the society of the 19th century and realizing the extent of inequality, women started to openly advocate their rights that led to creation of a “Women’s Declaration of Independence” promoted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. In the document she created a list of political, economic, and social grievances. Stanton was one of the most well-known women’s rights supporters campaigning for universal suffrage (Hoffberger et al.)
3) What was Bleeding Kansas? What caused it and what were its consequences? The Kansas-Nebraska Act was one of the reasons for the bloodshed as it gave the settlers the right to vote on the issue of slavery. As a result, Kansas became a place of clash of interests of Northern abolitionists and proslavery Southerners who both moved to the territory prior to the voting in order to support their ideas. This led to violence and armed clashes between the warring parties. As a consequence, Bleeding Kansas increased the overall tensions in the country bringing the Civil War near (Shirley).
4) What actions of President Johnson drove Moderate Republicans in Congress into cooperation with Radical Republicans? Johnson’s position was questioned by Moderate Republicans as he pardoned many ex-Confederates after the war, which did not make them change their views and even created a possibility for them to re-create slavery in future. Moreover, President blamed Congress for not abiding by the idea behind the Civil War. As a result, Johnson’s unwilling to coordinate actions with Congress forced many Moderate Republicans to join the radical wing of the party leading to their victory in the election of 1866 (Matthew 135).
5) Why did Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and some other feminists oppose the Fifteenth Amendment? The Amendment was supposed to entitle all African American Men to legal protection and suffrage while denying the same rights of women. This caused a difference of opinion among the proponents of women’s rights. Thus, some of them including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony refused to back the Amendment (“Elizabeth Cady Stanton” ).
6) What were some of the impediments to Reconstruction in the South and how were they dealt with? Major impediments were the result of white resistance and inexperienced leaders often involved in corruption schemes. The white population in the South often did not support new laws and amendments proposed by African Americans, whereas the notorious Ku Klux Klan group was founded to intimidate African Americans and their supporters. Another obstacle was sharecropping that was used by whites to make blacks work on their land (Lutz).
7) Who were the transcendentalists, what were their ideas and what inspired them? The transcendentalists were young Americans born in the early 19th century who resisted the rationalism of their ancestors. The most famous representatives of the trend were Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Transcendentalists proclaimed the universal equality and thereby did not distinguish people on the basis of sex, race etc (Gura). To a large extent, transcendentalists were inspired by romantic literature and the philosophical idealism of Germany (Miller).
8) What was the court’s decision in Worchester v Georgia and how did Jackson respond to the ruling? In Worcester v Georgia case the decision of the Court was that Indian nations are only liable to the authority of the federal government and therefore individual states cannot interfere with Indians’ affairs. However, President Jackson supported Georgia and did not agree to enforce the law so all Georgia Cherokees were made to move (McBride).
9) Why did poor southern whites often support slavery? When slavery was abolished poor southern whites found themselves at the same social level as blacks. Therefore, they wanted to retain racial hierarchy especially given the fact that in some regions poor whites were in the minority and thereby were afraid of possible superiority of blacks. Moreover, some poor whites were looking upon the rich slave-owners and dreamed of becoming slave-owners themselves (Loewen).
10) Explain why the South disliked high tariffs and what John C. Calhoun proposed to do about such protective import duties. The South was primarily an agricultural region and therefore imported most manufactured goods from Britain and Europe. As a result these goods were really expensive because of high tariffs that were implemented to protect the merchandise of the Northern states, which could not compete with European goods. Such tariffs led to a crisis and John C. Calhoun adopted the Tariff of 1833 which presupposed reducing import tariffs over the following ten years by 20% (“Tariff of 1833”).
Works cited
“Elizabeth Cady Stanton.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 21 June 2015.
“Tariff of 1833.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 21 June 2015.
Gura, Philip F. “Transcendentalism and Social Reform.” The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Web. 21 June 2015.
Hoffberger, Courtney et al. “Nineteenth Century Reform Movements: Women's Rights.” UMBC Center for History Education. Web. 21 June 2015.
Kelly, Martin. “Compromise of 1850 (Slavery and the U.S. Territories).” About Education. Web. 21 June 2015.
Loewen, James W. “5 Myths about Why the South Seceded.” The Washington Post, 9 Jan. 2011. Web. 21 June 2015.
Lutz, Alexandra. “Reconstruction Period: Goals, Success and Failures.” Study.com. Web. 21 June 2015.
McBride, Alex. “Cherokee Indian Cases (1830s).” PBS. Web. 21 June 2015.
Miller, Perry. “The American Transcendentalists.” Westminster College. Web. 21 June 2015.
Poteat, R. Matthew. Henry Toole Clark: Civil War Governor of North Carolina. North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1969. Print
Shirley, Steven. “Bloody Kansas: Causes, Effects and Summary of Events - Video & Lesson Transcript.” Study.com. Web. 21 June 2015.
