APUSH Exam Review Guide

Sectional Conflict In The Antebellum Era: 1820-1861

General Sectionalism Questions

  • What is sectionalism? What were the major geographic and philosophical sectional differences in the U.S.?
  • Trace the historical roots of sectional conflict in the U.S. prior to 1820.
  • Was the Civil War an avoidable conflict? If so, why did it happen? If not, why not?

The Role Of Slavery In The U.S.

  • How did the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 alter the role of slaves in the South?
  • What social, political and economic reasons made Northerners reluctant to abolish slavery in the South when, by 1804, it was universally illegal in the North?
  • What major slave rebellions occurred in the South? What was the political impact of those rebellions?
  • What arguments were used to justify slavery as a” positive good” rather than a “necessary evil”?
  • What were Southern critics of Slavery most concerned with regarding Slavery?

Sectional Conflict in Legislation: 1820-1861

  • How does the Missouri Compromise (Compromise of 1820) reflect the growing sectional conflict in the U.S.? Assess the long term effectiveness of the legislation.
  • How does the debate over official support of the Texas Revolution and the annexation of Texas reflect sectional conflict?
  • How did the spoils of the Mexican-American War lead to greater sectional conflict? How were these issues resolved at the start of the 1850’s?
  • What is the concept of popular sovereignty and how was it an attempt to deal with sectionalism? What legislation was enacted which relied upon that concept? What conflict did popular sovereignty inflame?
  • What was the Kansas-Nebraska Act? How did the Kansas-Nebraska Act change the sectionalist crisis of the 1850’s?
  • What was John Brown’s Raid and what was its social and political impact?

The Election of 1860

  • What was the Freeport Doctrine, how does it relate to popular sovereignty and Dred Scott, and why do some historians believe it led to Stephen Douglas’ failure to win the election of 1860?
  • What is secession? Why is it directly related to the fears of Southerners following Lincoln’s election? Were those fears rational?
  • Why is secession the pinnacle of the nullification debate?

Key Terms/Concepts

“King Cotton”-

Missouri Compromise-

popular sovereignty-

The Gag Rule-

Texas Annexation-

Wilmot Proviso-

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo-

Free Soil Party-

Compromise of 1850-

Fugitive Slave Law-

Kansas-Nebraska Act-

Republican Party-

Lincoln-Douglas Debates-

John Brown’s Raid-

The Election of 1860-

Key People

Eli Whitney-

Charles Sumner-

Preston Brooks-

Dred Scott-

Abraham Lincoln-

Stephen Douglas-

John Brown-

Frederick Douglass-

William Lloyd Garrison-