1. Why was there a reassertion of Manifest Destiny in the 1850s? What were the goals of America’s diplomacy at the time?

2. Explain the widespread popularity of the concept of popular sovereignty as a way to resolve the issue of slavery in the territories. Then explain why, ultimately, it failed.

3. Explain the relationship between the Ostend Manifesto and the slavery controversy in the United

States.

4. Write your definition of compromise. Then use this definition to argue that popular sovereignty was or was not a reasonable compromise between the sections on the slavery expansion issue.

5. Do you believe there is a "higher law" than the Constitution? What is it? Why is this concept "dangerous to republican government"?

6. In what way did the Compromise of 1850 contribute to the Union victory in the Civil War?

7. Explain why the Kansas-Nebraska Act might be characterized as a serious mistake for southern interests.

8. Compare and contrast the views of Clay, Webster, and Calhoun in the congressional debate that produced the Compromise of 1850.

9. Why might it be argued that the building of the first transcontinental railroad to link the East and the West contributed to the wrenching apart of the North and the South?

10. The text’s authors observe that during the debate in 1850, John C. Calhoun, hoping to save the Union, proposed "an utterly unworkable scheme of electing two presidents, one from the North and one from the South, each wielding a veto." Explain why such an arrangement would have been "utterly unworkable."

11. The authors argue that the North "got the better of the Compromise of 1850." Do you agree? Why or why not?

12. It has been said that "the historian who searches for examples of intelligent and tolerant statesmanship in the period 1850—1854 seeks almost in vain." Citing the "statesmanship" of men like Clay, Douglas, Webster, Calhoun, Pierce, and Fillmore, demonstrate that this is or is not a supportable argument.

13. Do you think that by the end of 1854 the two sections had reached an impasse and that now, sooner or later, Civil War was inevitable? Why or why not?