Deck 14: The Impending Crisis

Question 1

In the 1850s, the United States increased its territorial gains to a greater extent than it had during the previous fifty years.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

According to the Compromise of 1850, California would be admitted to the Union as a free state.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Which of the following is a true statement about the Wilmot Proviso?

A)It banned slavery from spreading to new places.
B)It got rejected by the House of Representatives several times before it was finally passed.
C)It prohibited slavery in any territory that the United States might acquire from Mexico.
D)It forced the president to declare that his real reason for desiring a war with Mexico was to gain territory.
E)It prohibited anyone from owning over 1,000 acres in any new territory.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following is a true statement about the white northern Democrats who opposed slavery?

A)They believed, as southern whites did, in the legitimacy of white supremacy.
B)They agreed to disagree with southern Democrats on the slavery issue for the sake of party unity.
C)They hoped that when the slaves were freed, they would come north for industrial work, where they would finally find acceptance.
D)They accepted slavery in the western territories as long as the practice did not spread northward.
E)They did not understand how southern whites could stand spending so much time around blacks.

Question 5

The first state to secede from the Union was South Carolina, which took the fateful step on December 20, 1860.

Question 6

_____ was a derisive name for a northerner who openly supported the South.

A)Abolitionist
B)Filibuster
C)Know-Nothing
D)Doughface
E)Free Soiler

Question 7

In the South, only Lincoln and Douglas held any popular appeal as presidential candidates.

Question 8

Which of the following was a major concern when California applied for statehood?

A)Whether California still had large gold reserves
B)Whether California would disrupt the economic equilibrium of the country
C)Whether California would enter the Union as a slave state or a free state
D)Whether the country's transportation system was prepared to deal with the needs of a state that was far from the others
E)Whether another potential state could be found to balance out whatever California decided about slavery

Question 9

Which of the following is an accurate statement about the Free Soil Party?

A)It was recognized as the proper heir to the Federalist Party.
B)It argued that southern slave owners were blocking northern progress.
C)It was the first party in national politics committed to the abolition of slavery.
D)It embraced women's right to vote.
E)It opposed westward migration to avoid conflict with Native American tribes.

Question 10

_____ proposed the Compromise of 1850.

A)Daniel Webster
B)John C. Calhoun
C)Henry Clay
D)Zachary Taylor
E)Millard Fillmore

Question 11

Southern Whigs and Democrats opposed the introduction of slavery into new the territories.

Question 12

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the prominent philosopher and abolitionist, publicly proclaimed John Brown a saint.

Question 13

Northerners argued that if slavery were allowed in Texas and other parts of the West, all the new land would:

A)become small farms used by slaves.
B)be bought by those who do not have civilized values.
C)be bought up completely by wealthy plantation owners.
D)be given to the railroad magnates to encourage them to build rail lines into the West.
E)be fought over by proslavery and antislavery groups.

Question 14

The initial wave of secession from the Union was confined to the Upper South.

Question 15

The Free Soil Party was staunchly abolitionist.

Question 16

Which of the following events did NOT occur during the presidential election of 1848?

A)Disaffected anti-southern Democrats started the Free Soil Party.
B)Former president Martin Van Buren led the Free Soil Party.
C)Slave owner Zachary Taylor won under the Whig banner.
D)Northern Whigs disliked Zachary Taylor and joined the Free Soil Party.
E)Southern Democrats called for "free soil, free speech, free labor, and free men."

Question 17

Which of the following events did NOT occur when the Senate debated the Compromise of 1850?

A)President Zachary Taylor attended the proceedings, ready to defend the compromise. b. The Senate heard arguments from the three great orators of the day-John C. Calhoun, Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay-together for the last time.
B)Incorrect. Opposed by hardliners on both sides of the slave state issue, the Compromise of 1850 gave
C)John C. Calhoun wrote his last speech in support of slavery.
D)Months of impassioned arguments for and against the compromise went on in Congress.
E)The first truly sincere discussions on possible secession took place.

Question 18

Which of the following was NOT a part of the Compromise of 1850?

A)California would join the Union as a free state.
B)Slave trade would be banned in the nation's capital.
C)The Congress passed a tougher Fugitive Slave Law.
D)Texas would get $10 million but would have to stop trying to sway New Mexico toward adopting the system of slavery.
E)New Mexico and Utah could have slaves as long as they remained territories, but slavery would end when they become states.

Question 19

The original name of the Know-Nothing Party was the Federal Party.

Question 20

The Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln as their presidential candidate mainly because of his extreme proslavery stand.

Question 21

In the Dred Scott decision, Chief Justice Roger Taney asserted that:

A)Dred Scott had become a free man by virtue of having been moved temporarily to a free state.
B)Congress had no right to prohibit slavery anywhere in the United States.
C)whites could never be found guilty of murdering a slave.
D)Dred Scott was guilty of running away from his owner.
E)Dred Scott had never set up residence personally in either Illinois or Wisconsin, so he was not free.

Question 22

Which of the following was a result of the creation of the Lecompton Constitution?

A)The shenanigans surrounding its creation disgusted southerners.
B)The controversy convinced many northern Democrats to switch to the Republican Party.
C)It started a nationwide movement to make slavery illegal in all the states.
D)The Lecompton Constitution had great success in achieving its purposes.
E)The people voted for the constitution only once.

Question 23

The death of America's second two-party system can be attributed, in part, to the:

A)Missouri Compromise.
B)Compromise of 1850.
C)Free Soil Party.
D)rise of the Know-Nothing Party.
E)Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Question 24

"The Crime Against Kansas" speech was delivered by _____ in the Senate Chamber.

A)David Wilmot
B)John C. Calhoun
C)Charles Sumner
D)Andrew P. Butler
E)Thaddeus Stevens

Question 25

Before the election of 1860, the main goal of the new Republican Party was to:

A)end slavery.
B)prevent slavery from expanding further into the West.
C)get Abraham Lincoln elected president.
D)ensure a protective tariff.
E)ensure that the election in Kansas was fair.

Question 26

The _____, which built its base of support on anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic sentiment, was also known as the Know-Nothing Party.

A)Free Soil Party
B)Democratic Party
C)American Party
D)Republican Party
E)Whigs

Question 27

Senator Douglas created two territories, Kansas and Nebraska, and left the status of slavery in each territory open, to be decided by the _____.

A)territorial legislature
B)northern and southern Democrats
C)territorial governor
D)popular sovereignty of those who settled there
E)Supreme Court

Question 28

John Brown led the massacre at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas, in order to avenge:

A)the victory of Free Soilers in the election.
B)the fact that antislavery activists had been killed in several different places throughout the territory.
C)the burning down of the Free Soil town of Lawrence by proslavery advocates.
D)what God told him was a great sin against the black population.
E)the deaths of his son and son-in-law in the Lawrence raid.

Question 29

Congress found itself debating slavery once again in the early 1850s, this time as it tried to settle the issue of:

A)the place where a transcontinental railroad could be built.
B)the future of runaway slaves.
C)Maine becoming a state.
D)allowing popular sovereignty in Kansas.
E)outlawing the freeing of slaves by their masters.

Question 30

The Republican candidate _____ was the founder of the free state of California.

A)David Wilmot
B)John C. Frémont
C)Charles Sumner
D)Andrew P. Butler
E)Thaddeus Stevens

Question 31

The Kansas-Nebraska Act upheld all of the following EXCEPT:

A)popular sovereignty.
B)the Missouri Compromise of 1820.
C)the potential westward expansion of slavery.
D)the development of new territories.
E)the establishment of new states.

Question 32

_____ were adventurers who attempted to invade the island of Cuba to bring it into the Union as a slave state.

A)Abolitionists
B)Filibusters
C)Know-Nothings
D)Dough faces
E)Free Soilers

Question 33

Which of the following happened as the settlers of Kansas prepared to hold an election to set up their territorial government?

A)Abolitionists entered the territory to hold protests against slavery.
B)Missouri moved slaveholding families into Kansas so they could vote for slavery.
C)The people of Kansas became so disgusted with the outsiders that they threw everyone out.
D)The territory experienced a pre-election bloodbath as the two sides raged against each other.
E)It appeared that most legal residents of the territory were proslavery.

Question 34

The Lecompton Constitution, written by delegates elected in Kansas, was controversial because it:

A)ignored the question of slavery and left it to popular sovereignty.
B)allowed slavery in the territory and refused to let citizens challenge or reject the constitution.
C)forbade slavery in the territory.
D)required that a two-thirds majority of the citizens vote to approve it before it could be adopted.
E)said the people needed to hold another election to decide about slavery.

Question 35

In 1853, just a year after they formally established their party, the Know-Nothings won important electoral victories in all of the following places EXCEPT _____.

A)Pennsylvania
B)Ohio
C)New York
D)Texas
E)Massachusetts

Question 36

Which of the following statements is true of the Know-Nothing Party?

A)It embraced alcoholism and urban disorder.
B)It partly appealed to the middle class and working men.
C)It strongly believed in the practices of the Irish Catholics.
D)It relied on the pope for instructions to function as citizens.
E)It disdained democracy and the exercise of independent minds.

Question 37

Which of the following statements is true of the Fugitive Slave Law?

A)It protected free blacks in the North.
B)It protected escaped slaves who made it into the North.
C)It required all runaway slaves be returned to their masters.
D)It allowed slave owners to free their slaves according to their will.
E)It protected northern slaves who worked independently in the cities.

Question 38

During the Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858, Abraham Lincoln's position on slavery was that:

A)he did not seek to end slavery in the South but did not want it to extend to the West.
B)slavery was an evil institution and he wanted to see it come to a swift end.
C)slavery had no place in the North but was vital to the agricultural development of the South and West.
D)the Fugitive Slave Law should be repealed since it infringed on northern states' rights.
E)he favored popular sovereignty in matters regarding slavery.

Question 39

Personal Liberty Laws were designed to:

A)reimburse plantation owners for the cost of each slave they freed.
B)prohibit slavery in all of the territories that the United States had won from Mexico.
C)protect escaped slaves who made it into the North.
D)protect free blacks in the North.
E)end slave auctions in the nation's capital.

Question 40

The Know-Nothing Party wanted tougher laws dealing with:

A)fugitive slaves.
B)immigration.
C)popular sovereignty.
D)Native Americans.
E)slavery in general.

Question 41

What were the provisions of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854?

Question 42

To expand into Latin America, Presidents Polk and Pierce both tried to buy _________ from Spain.
a. Cuba
B. Costa Rica
C. Puerto Rico
D. Mexico

Question 43

In 1798, Thomas Jefferson had claimed the right of nullification in the _____.

A)Missouri Compromise
B)Fugitive Slave Law
C)Kansas-Nebraska Act
D)Kentucky Resolution
E)Personal Liberty Law

Question 44

After the first seven southern states seceded from the Union, the new Confederate States of America elected _____ as president of the new southern slave republic.

A)Robert E. Lee
B)Jefferson Davis
C)Stonewall Jackson
D)P.G.T. Beauregard
E)John C. Calhoun, Jr.

Question 45

After several southern states threatened to secede from the Union, the Crittenden Compromise attempted to stop them from seceding by:

A)offering to extend the Missouri Compromise line of 1820 all the way to the Pacific, excluding California.
B)reinstating the slave trade in the District of Columbia.
C)allowing slave owners to establish slavery in the West.
D)promising to reimburse plantation owners for the cost of each slave that they freed.
E)agreeing to put the major hub of the transcontinental railroad in the South.

Question 46

Discuss the impact of the Wilmot Proviso. How did it contribute to the escalation of sectional conflict over the issue of slavery?

Question 47

What argument in Congress led to the Compromise of 1850? What were its main provisions?

Question 48

Discuss the reasons for the death of the second two-party system and note the tensions in both the Whig and the Democratic parties.

Question 49

Abraham Lincoln won the presidency in 1860 _____.

A)with a landslide victory in the electoral college
B)with a plurality in the popular vote
C)by carrying two southern states along with all northern states
D)without winning a single southern state
E)at the same time that the Republicans gained control of Congress

Question 50

The _________ nominated John Bell of Tennessee as their presidential candidate.
a. southern Democrats
B. northern Democrats
C. Constitutional Union Party
D. Republican Party

Question 51

For the Republicans to win the presidential election of 1860, they needed to win _________.
a. South Carolina
B. Illinois
C. California
D. Utah

Question 52

What was the significance of Fort Sumter's surrender?

A)The fort had a profusion of supplies while the nearby forts were running low on food.
B)The fort's surrender to the Confederacy led to war between the North and South.
C)Rebel states fell to the Union forces because of it.
D)It helped Lincoln convince a broad swath of Northerners to support the Confederacy.
E)None of the above

Question 53

Which of the following was an outcome of John Brown's raid?

A)John Brown failed to foment the slave revolt he had planned.
B)John Brown failed to inspire a keen sense of fear and loathing among the southern public.
C)John Brown's raid was an unfathomable, appalling episode to all northerners.
D)John Brown was badly criticized by abolitionist Ralph Waldo Emerson.
E)John Brown's raid crushed the "northern way of life."

Question 54

Abraham Lincoln won presidency as a sectional candidate in the _____.

A)election of 1842
B)election of 1848
C)election of 1854
D)election of 1856
E)election of 1860

Question 55

Briefly describe the Free Soil Party.

Question 56

_________ proposed that slavery be prohibited from any new territories that the United States might acquire from Mexico.
a. Daniel Webster
B. David Wilmot
C. Henry Clay
D. Zachary Taylor

Question 57

Which of the following was Abraham Lincoln's position on secession?

A)He was eager to fight to save the Union.
B)He did not believe that any state had the right to leave the Union.
C)He believed that the southern states did not follow the proper procedures for leaving the Union.
D)He did not want the seceding states to return Union funds and property.
E)He considered secession illegal and the seceding states' leaders to be traitors of the Union.

Question 58

_____ was a radical abolitionist who had provoked some of the violence in "Bleeding Kansas."

A)John Brown
B)John C. Frémont
C)Charles Sumner
D)Andrew P. Butler
E)Thaddeus Stevens

Question 59

_________ was the first state that withdrew from the Union.
a. Mississippi
B. Alabama
C. Georgia
D. South Carolina

Question 60

John Brown carried out a raid on the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in order to:

A)show his resistance to slavery.
B)show his solidarity with the local slaves.
C)spark a slave revolt among the local slaves.
D)avenge the deaths of several antislavery activists in Lawrence, Kansas.
E)seize ammunition held at the federal arsenal there so that he could return to Kansas and lead a slave revolt.

Question 61

Describe the Crittenden Compromise.

Question 62

Briefly describe the Dred Scott controversy.

Question 63

Examine the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Why was it written the way it was? How did economic issues intersect with the expansion of slavery? How did the act increase tensions in the United States and what were the political consequences?

Question 64

Discuss the tensions caused by the addition of the Mexican cession in Congress. What was its impact on the presidential race of 1848? How did the issue of the expansion of slavery begin fracturing the political parties?

Question 65

There were several crises in the late 1850s that contributed to the growing divisions in the United States. Discuss these crises and their impact in the South and in the North.

Question 66

Examine the Compromise of 1850. What did each side get in this compromise? Why was it a fragile compromise?

Question 67

Discuss the rise of the Republican Party. How did this political party lay the foundation for the splintering of the Union? Why did Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860 provide the final impetus to secession?

Question 68

Describe the events in the Kansas Territory that led to Kansas receiving the label "Bleeding Kansas."

Question 69

Write a description of John Brown's raid and its impact on American politics.

Question 70

Explain the reasons why slavery plunged the United States into civil war in 1861.