McCarthy 1

Sean McCarthy
Honors Geography 9
Mr. Fronk
5/11/16

Liberty or Death

1. Who led the charge to Southern secession? Why did they want to secede?
a. The Southern Elites, were a group of rich southerners, who were also slave
owners. They wanted to secede, because they wanted to maintain the use of
slavery and make huge profit. They could not make this profit, if the North took
away their asset of slavery.
2. Who held Federal Government positions in the south? Were they the majority or minority
of the people living in the south?
a. The Southern Elites were the ones who held government positions, because they
had the money to make a campaign, and no one running against them. They were
a minority in the south.
3. How did the rest of the Southern population feel about the background of these elected
officials?
a. Most of the south actually did not agree with the ideals of the Southern elite, and
believed them to be corrupt and that they only cared about themselves, which in
retrospect, was true.

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4. What impact did the collapse of the know-nothing party have on who represented the
south in the federal government?
a. The collapse left the Democratic Party, the majority in the south, without an
opposing party. This allowed the Elite, to run uncontested.
5. What were the subcultures of Texas? Explain each.
a. The Lower South, which housed the proponents of slavery, the Upper South,
western European, and Mexican. The other three groups were firm supporters of
the Federal government but were fragmented between two reasons to support the
Federal Union.
6. Who did the Democratic Party represent?
a. The Democratic Party, ironically represented many of the Lower South Culture
ideals which was the largest unified cultural group in Texas, as well as the only
one to use slavery.
7. What impact did this have on the state of Texas?
a. This created an ideological imbalance in the state of Texas.
8. What was the impact of these subcultures on Texas future of staying or breaking away
from the union?
a. The unity between the Democratic Party, and the Lower South, was strong
enough, that when the Federal government attacked the ideals of the Lower South,
they pulled in the whole Democratic Party, which drove a spike between the
Federal government, and the state of Texas.
9. What was the Kansas-Nebraska Act?
a. The Act that repealed the Missouri Compromise, which outlawed slavery in the
northern territories. This was important for the Southern elites, whose whole
business relied on slavery.
10. What was the reaction of the Southern elite to this Act? Why?

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a. This act was a huge victory for the Southern elite, because that meant that they
could expand their business into the new territory. Before this act, when slavery
was banned in the territory, it barred off the Southern elite, who relied on the asset
of slavery as their work force.
11. What political party was produced, because of this Act? What did they stand for?
a. The Republican Party was an anti-slavery party and had a desire to repeal the
Kansas-Nebraska Act. This would have harmed the Southern elite, because it
would have outlawed slavery in the new land again.
12. In 1860, who took control of the Federal Government? Why did this upset the Southern
elites?
a. In 1860 the Republican Party took control of both the Executive and Legislative
branch, severely compromising the Southern elites power in government. Two of
the three branches of government, were now voting against the Democratic
Southern elites, on national issues.
13. Summarize how the Southern elites attempted to convince the rest of the South to secede
if the Kansas-Nebraska Act was repealed.
a. They said that if the Kansas Nebraska Act was repealed, any possibility of equal
representation for the south would not exist. They said that the North had no
interest in the economic welfare of the South if the Act was repealed, because it
stopped the expansion of their business.
14. How did the Southern elites spread their ideas?
a. The Southern elites spread their by flooding the South with pamphlets, editorials,
and articles. They wanted to spread their influence, so that the rest of the South
would want to secede as well.

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15. How did Northern and Republican rhetoric fuel Southern secession
a. The South began to believe that they were now part of a government system that
alienated them, and no longer represented their welfare, because the Republicans
had control of two of the three branches of government.
16. What economic policies and beliefs from the North did Southern elites want to keep out
of the South? Why?
a. In order to maximize its profits from its raw materials, the South needed to export
those materials to both domestic and foreign markets. However the North, in
order to maximize its profits need to get the raw materials locally for a cheap
price. Thus, northern manufactures needed Southern farmers to only sell to them
and sell to them at below market prices.
17. What labors practices from the North did the Southern elites want to keep out of the
South? Why?
a. They wanted to keep wage-labor out because they believed it was a form of white
enslavement. It also would require them to actually spend money on their
workers, rather than having the slaves work for nothing but stale food.
18. To persuade the people of the South, what did Southern elites use to claim that the
Federal Government had abused its power?
a. The federal government kept its garrisons within southern states such as South
Carolina during a time of peace.
19. In general, all of these claims stated by the Southern elites that you used to answer
questions 9-18, were designed to do what?
a. They were designed to convince the population of the south to secede.
20. Who do you think the author is of this article?
a. Mr. Fronk