Deck 14: From Compromise to Secession, 1850-1861

Question 1

Which provision of the Compromise of 1850 antagonized the North the most?

A) The entrance of California as a free state in the Union
B) The abolition of the slave trade in Washington, D.C.
C) The use of popular sovereignty as the basis for determining the status of slavery in the territories
D) The strengthening of the Fugitive Slave Act
E) The federal assumption of the Texas debt

Answer 1

The strengthening of the Fugitive Slave Act

Question 2

What did the Know-Nothing Party argue?

A) Free blacks should be offered equal opportunities as whites.
B) Slavery should be extended to all territories.
C) Immigration should be strictly limited.
D) Free blacks and immigrants should be encouraged to settle in the North.

Answer 2

Immigration should be strictly limited.

Question 3

Which of the following was not one of the issues leading to the Compromise of 1850?

A) Enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act
B) The Dred Scott ruling
C) The policy regarding slavery in the territories
D) The balance between slave states and free states
E) The sale of slaves in the District of Columbia

Answer 3

The Dred Scott ruling

Question 4

Which of the following provisions was not part of Henry Clay's "Omnibus Bill"?

A) the abolition of slavery in states west of the Mississippi.
B) the abolition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia.
C) a new fugitive slave law.
D) the admission of California as a free state.
E) the federal assumption of the Texas debt.

Question 5

Which of the following was not an opinion on slavery held by free soil supporters?

A) Free-soilers objected to slavery because of their racist hatred of blacks.
B) Free-soilers believed that American slavery had natural geographic limits beyond which it would not spread.
C) Free-soilers believed that the presence of slavery impeded the progress of white civilization.
D) Free-soilers believed that wherever slavery appeared, labor loses its dignity.
E) Free-soilers thought that slavery should be abolished simply because it was immoral.

Question 6

The Gadsden Purchase was

A) the symbolic first land sale in the new Kansas Territory.
B) James Gadsden's purchase of supplies for an unofficial military expedition to Honduras.
C) a small strip of land in southern Arizona and New Mexico purchased from Mexico for a railroad line.
D) a plan to purchase Cuba from Spain for a maximum price of $25 million.
E) the first slave whose freedom was purchased with money raised by John Brown.

Question 7

Why did Abraham Lincoln win the 1860 presidential election?

A) He obtained over half of the popular vote throughout the country.
B) He won all of the southern vote.
C) Since no candidate won a clear majority, the House of Representatives selected Lincoln.
D) He took advantage of the split in the Democratic Party and won a plurality of the vote.
E) None of these choices

Question 8

What was the reaction of many northerners to the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act?

A) They joined with southerners to prevent runaway slaves from escaping to Canada.
B) Although some Northerners saw the act as the price of saving the Union, many more saw it as a vile monument of infamy and therefore took up the abolition cause.
C) They began campaigns to repeal the old "personal-liberty laws" that had been passed under the Articles of Confederation.
D) In Boston and other northern cities, mobs surrounded houses where runaway slaves were hiding, and forced the owners to surrender the fugitives.
E) They built special jails to accommodate slaves captured on northern soil.

Question 9

What was the final blow to the Whig party?

A) Ostend Manifesto
B) Kansas-Nebraska Act
C) Compromise of 1850
D) Lecompton Constitution
E) Fugitive Slave Act

Question 10

In Dred Scott v. Sandford, the Supreme Court ruled that slaves

A) were not citizens; therefore, they could not sue in federal courts.
B) were human beings, and therefore, possessed certain inherent rights.
C) were citizens and could buy their freedom.
D) could not be transported to non-slave holding states.
E) could only gain their freedom if their owners gave it to them.

Question 11

The "Conscience Whigs" were

A) members of the Whig party who were convinced that their party had an obligation to adhere to the terms of the Compromise of 1850.
B) northern politicians who believed that the best way to eliminate slavery was to curb expansionist sentiment among southerners.
C) the northern, antislavery wing of the party, led by Senator William Seward of New York.
D) the southern, proslavery wing of the party, led by John Bell.
E) southern antislavery Democrats who were looking for an alternative political party.

Question 12

In the 1850s, what did filibusters like William Walker do?

A) They talked unceasingly in Congress to prevent the passage of any antislavery legislation.
B) They spoke on behalf of the Ostend Manifesto.
C) They led bands of proslavery "ruffians" into Kansas to vote illegally for a proslavery state legislature.
D) They conducted raids across the border between Canada and Oregon, in an attempt to retake "lost" territory.
E) They organized unofficial military expeditions to Cuba and Central America.

Question 13

During the 1850s, the American political system

A) remained relatively stable with two major parties.
B) underwent a realignment as the Republicans emerged as a major party.
C) was dominated by the Whig Party.
D) collapsed after the Democratic Party disbanded.
E) saw the reemergence of the Federalist Party reemerged as a viable party.

Question 14

Which of the following was a provision of the Fugitive Slave Act?

A) Alleged fugitive slaves had no right to a jury trial.
B) Alleged fugitive slaves had to take the witness stand in their own defense.
C) Alleged fugitive slaves would be returned to slavery if the claimant presented at least six witnesses.
D) Slaves who had escaped prior to the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo were exempt from capture.
E) Only state law enforcement officials could pursue runaway slaves.

Question 15

Which statement concerning the presidential election of 1852 is true?

A) The Whig party lost much support in the South and began to break up.
B) Franklin Pierce won a close victory.
C) Whig candidate Winfield Scott won by vigorously endorsing the Compromise of 1850.
D) The Republican party made its first major electoral gains.
E) Franklin Pierce refused to run for reelection.

Question 16

Which of the following is not true about the Kansas-Nebraska Act?

A) It rendered the terms of the Compromise of 1850 void.
B) It superseded the Missouri Compromise.
C) It split the Nebraska Territory into Kansas and Nebraska.
D) It applied the principle of popular sovereignty to Nebraska and Kansas.
E) It was sponsored by Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois.

Question 17

The Whig party began to disintegrate and decline in the 1850s because they

A) introduced a policy of low tariffs at a time when most Americans favored a high protective tariff.
B) an internal, north-south split over the slavery issue.
C) supported unlimited immigration and lost popularity among urban workers.
D) became too closely identified with the nation's radical abolitionist faction.
E) did not have a large enough free soil wing to attract Americans who wanted to move west.

Question 18

Before his assault on Harpers Ferry in 1859, John Brown had gained notoriety by

A) publishing an anti-slavery journal that savagely attacked the South.
B) kidnapping slaveholders in the South and publicly executed them.
C) massacring five pro-slavery settlers in Kansas.
D) conspiring with Denmark Vesey to start a slave rebellion in South Carolina.
E) challenging Stephen Douglas to a debate.

Question 19

Where were the first shots of the Civil War fired?

A) Fort. Bragg
B) Fort. Jackson
C) Fort. Belvidere
D) Fort. McHenry
E) Fort. Sumter

Question 20

What was the significance of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin?

A) It contradicted prevailing stereotypes about blacks.
B) It challenged the common notion that slavery tore apart the black family.
C) It pushed many waverers to an aggressive antislavery stance.
D) It strengthened the southern defense of slavery by reinforcing stereotypes of blacks as docile and inferior.
E) It sold relatively few copies and was soon out of print.

Question 21

In the course of his campaign against Stephen Douglas in 1858, Abraham Lincoln declared all of the following except

A) Congress had no constitutional authority to abolish slavery in the South.
B) Social and political equality between blacks and whites was not desirable.
C) The Dred Scott decision rendered popular sovereignty "as thin as soup boiled from the shadow of a pigeon that had starved to death."
D) This nation cannot exist permanently half slave and half free.
E) The best way to preserve the Union was to ensure that slavery was legal in all states, North and South.

Question 22

Congressman Preston Brooks

A) murdered John Brown before Brown could be tried for his actions at Harpers Ferry.
B) beat Charles Sumner with a cane.
C) defeated Abraham Lincoln in the 1858 Illinois gubernatorial race.
D) argued that slavery should be limited to the south.
E) led religious opposition to slavery in the south.

Question 23

How did Zachary Taylor dismay both southern Democrats and Whigs?

A) He believed that states and territories should be able to decide for themselves whether to have slavery or not but questioned whether slavery would be viable in the Southwest.
B) He argued that proponents and opponents of slavery should square in a series of duals.
C) He stated that the military should patrol the Southwest and prevent any radical supporters or opponents of slavery from entering.
D) He recommended that the federal government abolish slavery and compensate slave owners by paying them $4,000 per slave.
E) He insisted that slavery be allowed, but that slave states should educate and train slaves for eventual freedom.

Question 24

Which provision did the Lecompton constitution include?

A) Slavery was illegal in Kansas.
B) Slaves residing in Kansas in 1857 could remain, but no more slaves would be allowed.
C) Slaves were property; therefore, the territory could not regulate them.
D) Slaves should be counted as 3/5 of a person for tax purposes.
E) A referendum would be held to decide whether to allow more slaves into the state.

Question 25

Which statement is an element of the compromise proposed by John Crittenden?

A) There should be a constitutional amendment to prohibit federal interference with southern slavery.
B) There should be another constitutional amendment declaring the Kansas-Nebraska Act as the guide for future slavery extension.
C) The Missouri Compromise should be repealed.
D) Southerners would have to accept the personal economic loss if one of their slaves ran away.
E) The principle of popular sovereignty should be applied to states' personal-liberty laws.

Question 26

The Lecompton Constitution

A) protected the property rights of Kansas slaveholders and provided for a referendum on the admission of more slaves.
B) outlawed slavery in Kansas and petitioned Congress for statehood.
C) rejected the Kansas-Nebraska Act and proclaimed the Dred Scott decision to be the state's new guideline on slavery.
D) was adopted by a convention that was boycotted by proslavery forces who believed it would be rigged by free-soilers.
E) repealed the Missouri Compromise and officially adopted the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Question 27

The Ostend Manifesto called for the United States to acquire

A) Mexico.
B) Canada.
C) Alaska.
D) Cuba.
E) Haiti.

Question 28

Which of the following is not a reason why the Know-Nothing party declined rapidly?

A) The party's split into northern and southern.
B) The party's acceptance of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
C) The party's radical policy of open membership and public meetings.
D) The party proved vulnerable to the challenge posed by the emerging Republican party.
E) The party's difficulty reconciling its antislavery attitudes with its anti-Catholic impulses.

Question 29

The principle of popular sovereignty mean that

A) the United States would hold a referendum to determine if slavery should be allowed to spread beyond its current boundaries.
B) each territory would decide for itself whether to allow slavery or not.
C) states could determine whether they would permit the buying and selling of slaves.
D) American citizens could determine how they would manage their slaves without interference.
E) the political party in power in any state could determine that state's slavery policies.

Question 30

Who won the 1856 presidential election?

A) Millard Fillmore
B) James Buchanan
C) Franklin Pierce
D) Winfield Scott
E) Zachary Taylor

Question 31

Which of the following candidates ran as Democrats in the 1860 election?

A) Abraham Lincoln and John Bell
B) John Breckinridge and Stephen Douglas
C) Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln
D) John Breckinridge and John Bell
E) John Breckinridge and Abraham Lincoln

Question 32

In the 1860 presidential election, the Republican party adopted an economic program that included all of the following features except

A) Federal aid for internal improvements
B) A protective tariff.
C) Free homesteads for settlers in the west.
D) a national income tax.
E) providing land to immigrants who were not yet citizens.

Question 33

As a result of John Brown's raid at Harpers Ferry,

A) Southerners realized that extremists like John Brown had no ties to northern abolitionists.
B) Southern slaveholders were incensed.
C) the states of the Upper South seceded from the Union.
D) Southern slaveowners were convinced that a slave uprising could never be successful.
E) Northern moderates formed vigilante committees to ensure civil peace in the southern states.

Question 34

In the 1850s, the main issue that unified the otherwise diverse elements of the new Republican party was

A) a national economic policy relating to the tariff, banking, and internal improvements.
B) "Bleeding Kansas"
C) Abolitionism
D) Nativism
E) U.S. expansion into the Caribbean

Question 35

What was James Buchanan's position on slavery?

A) He believed it was less important than the preservation of the Union.
B) He believed it should be preserved in the current slave states but prohibited from the territories.
C) He believed it was an issue the legislature-not the courts-had to settle.
D) He believed it had to be abolished immediately.
E) He believed it was wrong, but the federal government had no right to interfere with it.

Question 36

Which territory had two competing governments in the 1850s?

A) Texas
B) Nebraska
C) Kansas
D) Michigan
E) California

Question 37

Which statement best describes the Republican party position in the election of 1860?

A) There should be immediate emancipation of slaves in the South.
B) A program of gradual compensated emancipation should be started.
C) There should be no further extension of slavery into the territories.
D) The principle of popular sovereignty should be honestly applied in the remaining territories.
E) The constitutionality of slavery should be decided by the Supreme Court.

Question 38

Why did "Bleeding Kansas" occur?

A) Proslavery forces stole the election for the state legislature.
B) Antislavery forces took up "Beecher's Bibles."
C) John Brown led a brutal murder of five proslavery men.
D) The nation's precarious sectional balance was in danger.
E) All of these choices

Question 39

Many northern states passed personal-liberty laws in order to

A) minimize the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law.
B) weaken the position of free blacks in their states.
C) weaken the abolitionist movement by offering some personal liberties to blacks but not true equality.
D) protect the rights of white men against the attacks of abolitionists and women.
E) make sure that the Bill of Rights was respected.

Question 40

After the 1860 presidential election, why did Republicans reject any further compromise on the slavery issue?

A) They believed that war was the only method left to settle the issue.
B) They believed that moderate southerners would soon regain control, and that compromise on matters of basic principle was tantamount to surrender.
C) They believed that the nation was better off split in half because it obviously could not exist half slave and half free.
D) They believed that the issue had already been settled by the election of 1860.
E) All of these choices

Question 41

Why did the states of the Upper South join the Confederacy?

A) Richmond was designated the capital of the Confederacy.
B) Lincoln announced his intention of appointing William Seward as secretary of state.
C) The Crittenden compromise was rejected.
D) Lincoln called for volunteers to suppress the rebellion in the Lower South.
E) Northern troops were defeated at the first battle of Manassas.

Question 42

MAP QUESTIONS
Instructions: Choose the letter on the accompanying map of the United States in 1860 that correctly identifies each of the following:

Kansas Territory

Question 43

MAP QUESTIONS
Instructions: Choose the letter on the accompanying map of the United States in 1860 that correctly identifies each of the following:

Nebraska Territory

Question 44

MAP QUESTIONS
Instructions: Choose the letter on the accompanying map of the United States in 1860 that correctly identifies each of the following:

New Mexico Territory

Question 45

MAP QUESTIONS
Instructions: Choose the letter on the accompanying map of the United States in 1860 that correctly identifies each of the following:

Indian Territory

Question 46

MAP QUESTIONS
Instructions: Choose the letter on the accompanying map of the United States in 1860 that correctly identifies each of the following:

Alabama

Question 47

MAP QUESTIONS
Instructions: Choose the letter on the accompanying map of the United States in 1860 that correctly identifies each of the following:

South Carolina

Question 48

MAP QUESTIONS
Instructions: Choose the letter on the accompanying map of the United States in 1860 that correctly identifies each of the following:

Utah Territory

Question 49

MAP QUESTIONS
Instructions: Choose the letter on the accompanying map of the United States in 1860 that correctly identifies each of the following:

Missouri

Question 50

MAP QUESTIONS
Instructions: Choose the letter on the accompanying map of the United States in 1860 that correctly identifies each of the following:

California

Question 51

MAP QUESTIONS
Instructions: Choose the letter on the accompanying map of the United States in 1860 that correctly identifies each of the following:

Texas