Deck 14: A Union Unraveling, 1848-1860

Question 1

One of the central paradoxes of the 1850s was that southerners and northerners

A)held increasingly different views on slavery,yet managed to keep tensions minimal.
B)disagreed on the issue of slavery,but both sides were aware that the institution was on its way out.
C)became more polarized on slavery,yet more unified by economic ties.
D)parted ways on slavery,but were together on most other significant political issues.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The term fire-eaters referred to those who

A)favored letting the status of slavery in the West be determined by popular sovereignty.
B)proposed using the Missouri Compromise line and dividing territories between the North and South.
C)would not tolerate the introduction of slavery into any part of the country.
D)took the view that the federal government had no constitutional right to restrict slavery at all.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The most significant result of the Fugitive Slave Act was that

A)almost 200 people were returned to bondage.
B)Garrison and his followers were mobilized.
C)white opinion in the North was swayed toward the cause of abolition.
D)three runaways were forcibly rescued from their captors.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The victor of the election of 1848 was

A)James Polk.
B)Zachary Taylor.
C)Lewis Cass.
D)Martin Van Buren.

Question 5

Which of the following was NOT one of the efforts made on behalf of the fugitive slave Anthony Burns?

A)attempted murder of his owner
B)an armed rescue attempt
C)inflammatory handbills
D)an attempt to purchase him

Question 6

The most visible source and symbol of a national connection in the United States was

A)mass publishing.
B)the system of canals.
C)the railroad network.
D)telegraph wires.

Question 7

During the run-up to the 1848 election,the Free Soil coalition drew support from all of the following EXCEPT

A)Wilmot Proviso advocates.
B)Liberty Party voters.
C)Whigs who opposed the Wilmot Proviso.
D)northern antislavery Democrats.

Question 8

The Fugitive Slave Act

A)tilted the legal scales decisively toward accused runaways.
B)stipulated that the trial of an accused runaway would be a summary proceeding before a federal magistrate.
C)allowed a fugitive to contest the legality of slavery.
D)dramatically decreased the obligation of citizens in free states to cooperate with slave catchers.

Question 9

Which of the following was NOT one of the methods used to finance the high initial costs of building the new train network?

A)money borrowed from European banks
B)land grants from the federal government
C)investment by major figures in the farming industry
D)state government contributions

Question 10

Which of the following was NOT one of the measures passed as part of the Compromise of 1850?

A)Congress abolished slavery in the nation's capital.
B)New Mexico received a generous eastern boundary.
C)The status of slavery in the new territories of New Mexico and Utah would be decided by popular sovereignty.
D)California would be admitted as a free state.

Question 11

The period that witnessed the most explosive growth of railroad track mileage was between

A)1860 and 1864.
B)1848 and 1860
C)1819 and 1827.
D)1837 and 1844.

Question 12

Anthony Burns was

A)restored to Charles Francis Suttle's plantation.
B)killed by a stray bullet in the violent outbreak of the Boston procession.
C)set free when his owner gave up his effort to recover his property.
D)returned to Richmond where he was jaileD.

Question 13

Americans by and large celebrated the arrival of tracks and trains for all of the following reasons EXCEPT that

A)they symbolized growth and expansion into new terrain.
B)the new technology of the steam engine impressed them.
C)they had not witnessed mechanization in industry the way Europeans had.
D)urbanites and municipalities encouraged the use of rail cars on city streets.

Question 14

Which of the following was a trend in rail traffic in the 1850s?

A)It tended to flow in an east-west direction.
B)It tended to flow in a north-south direction.
C)It tended to flow in a north-east direction.
D)It tended to flow in a south-west direction.

Question 15

Southern reviewers criticized Stowe and her popular book for

A)underestimating the economic value of slaves.
B)glamorizing the abolitionist movement.
C)characterizing blacks with comic caricatures.
D)describing slavery without ever having visited a plantation.

Question 16

The Fugitive Slave Act served to

A)bring the slavery conflict to the towns and cities of the North and West.
B)temporarily ease the tensions of slavery between the North and South.
C)isolate the issue of slavery in the South.
D)shift the issue of slavery from a local conflict to a matter for Congress.

Question 17

Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel,Uncle Tom's Cabin,reinforced the idea of the ________ as the symbolic divide between southern slavery and northern freedom.

A)Ohio River
B)Mississippi River
C)Appalachian Mountains
D)Ozark Plateau.

Question 18

Which of the following is true about the Uncle Tom plays that toured the U.S.?

A)Copyright laws of the time prevented playwrights from changing a popular story.
B)Theater productions were seen by far fewer people than had read the book.
C)Several of them changed the plot to downplay the novel's abolitionism.
D)Stowe's characters were always portrayed as innocent victims.

Question 19

Which of the following was NOT true of the rail network of the 1850s?

A)was more vulnerable to adverse weather conditions than water travel
B)brought new areas of the country into the orbit of long-distance trade
C)reached places that lay far from navigable waterways
D)afforded farmers more consistent access to urban markets

Question 20

Most supporters of the Wilmot Proviso advocated

A)abolishing slavery.
B)federal regulation of slavery in territories that had not yet become states.
C)the freeing of the 3 million African American slaves.
D)abandoning the "free soil" principle in western lands.

Question 21

The Emigrant Aid Society

A)pushed for a stronger Fugitive Slave Act.
B)lobbied for child labor laws.
C)dispatched twelve hundred settlers to Kansas.
D)instituted a program to relocate free blacks from the northeast to Nebraska.

Question 22

In July of 1854,American Party delegates from thirteen states promulgated a platform calling for

A)the exclusion of Irish immigrants from holding public office.
B)the extension of the Fugitive Slave Act.
C)women's rights.
D)restrictions on naturalization.

Question 23

Texan Sam Houston pointed out that the Kansas-Nebraska Act

A)was the ideal solution for expansion into the West.
B)marked the official abandonment of the idea of a serious boundary between the U.S.and Indian country.
C)unnecessarily expanded the "Indian Territory."
D)unfairly influenced the slavery issue in Texas.

Question 24

Which of the following was NOT one of the factors that contributed to the growth of Chicago?

A)the decision of the Illinois legislature to build a canal with a Chicago terminus
B)a harbor project
C)the infusion of private investment capital from New York
D)the U.S.Army's removal of the Cherokee from there in 1832

Question 25

The Know-Nothings in the Massachusetts legislature did NOT enact

A)laws designed to strengthen the Fugitive Slave Act.
B)child labor laws.
C)the desegregation of Boston schools.
D)a married women's property act.

Question 26

All of the following were factors that made Chicago central on the nation's commercial map EXCEPT that

A)farm products were sent there for redistribution eastward.
B)several railroad lines ran through Chicago.
C)it was the major port on Lake Michigan.
D)manufactured goods were shipped there from eastern cities to be resold westwarD.

Question 27

John Brown led a small party on an attack against settlers at Pottawatomie Creek

A)in protest of the March election results.
B)in an attempt to crush the abolitionist movement there.
C)in retaliation for the raid on Lawrence.
D)to confiscate the crates of Sharpe's rifles being held there.

Question 28

Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner considered the Kansas-Nebraska Act a

A)well-crafted compromise.
B)blow to the institution of slavery.
C)deal passed merely to placate northern congressmen.
D)great moral wrong.

Question 29

The concern for accuracy in time keeping became more prevalent due to

A)factory work schedules.
B)the availability of clocks and pocket watches.
C)the faster speed of train travel.
D)All of these answers are correct.

Question 30

The Know-Nothing Party

A)stood on an antislavery platform.
B)was dedicated to bringing about spiritual renewal in the nation.
C)advocated for the development of the western part of the U.S.
D)was committed to protecting the U.S.from the "menace" of Catholic immigration.

Question 31

The rail network helped shape the slavery conflict by

A)providing an additional escape option for runaway slaves.
B)displacing agricultural production with that of iron and coal.
C)bolstering the domestic slave trade business with cheaper transportation.
D)contributing to the rise in the proportion of Americans who worked for wages.

Question 32

The beating of Sumner resulted in

A)his reelection.
B)the expulsion of Brooks from Congress.
C)his death three days later from head injuries.
D)his retirement from active political life.

Question 33

The Compromise of 1850

A)stipulated that slavery would be allowed in western states.
B)was vague on the question of whether and under what terms slavery could be introduced in the West.
C)ensured that new territories entering the union would become free states.
D)extended the geographical dividing line established by the Missouri Compromise.

Question 34

Which of the following statements about the national rail network is most accurate?

A)It had little to no impact on the economic and social life of the South.
B)It did not alter the labor system in the South.
C)By mostly bypassing the South,it forced the southern economy into depression.
D)All these answers are correct.

Question 35

President Pierce's administration had in mind the goal of

A)constructing a rail line between New Orleans and San Diego.
B)investing massively in railroad construction throughout Missouri.
C)making Chicago the hub of an expanding regional rail network.
D)a northerly route from the east to the Pacific Ocean.

Question 36

In 1855,proslavery forces prevailed in the Kansas election

A)but were displaced by the antislavery government in Lawrence.
B)but free-state voters immediately established a rival government.
C)and proceeded to enforce slavery throughout the state,settling the issue.
D)and expanded their influence into Nebraska.

Question 37

The most controversial feature of the new world of industrial work was

A)wage labor.
B)factory conditions.
C)long hours.
D)mechanization.

Question 38

Senator Charles Sumner's venomous verbal attack from the Senate floor on "The Crime Against Kansas" was aimed at

A)reaching the antislavery public who would read it in print.
B)influencing the conflict in Kansas.
C)provoking South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks into a fight.
D)insulting Senator Andrew P.Butler.

Question 39

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

A)ended westerners' hopes for a program of popular sovereignty.
B)was opposed by President Pierce.
C)was proposed by Stephen Douglas.
D)extended the provision of the Missouri Compromise that banned slavery north of 36 ^$\circ$ 30'.

Question 40

The problem of time variations from town to town was ultimately solved by

A)using military time as a standard.
B)a system determined by Boston clockmaker William Bond.
C)the adoption of the time zones mapped out by the railroad industry.
D)adopting British standard time.

Question 41

Dred Scott sued for his freedom on the basis that

A)he had served his time as a slave.
B)he was being unjustly punished by his owner,John Emerson.
C)his owner had died.
D)he had lived in a free state and a free territory.

Question 42

In the case of Dred Scott v.Sandford,the court under Chief Justice Taney ruled that Scott

A)was not entitled to sue because he was black,and that Congress had the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories.
B)could not become a citizen until first being declared free,and that Congress had the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories.
C)was not entitled to sue because he was black,and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories.
D)could not become a citizen until first being declared free,and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories.

Question 43

Summarize the cultural and political effects of the national rail network.

Question 44

Explain why Kansas became central in the conflict over slavery and how the events that transpired there spilled over into Congress.

Question 45

In his inaugural address,Buchannan expressed the view that the status of slavery in the territories was really

A)a matter for Congress to decide.
B)a judicial question.
C)something that required an executive order.
D)an issue that would only be settled by armed conflict.

Question 46

For the Election of 1860,Lincoln was nominated by the Republican Party because he was

A)a prominent antislavery politician.
B)considered a moderate on the issue of slavery.
C)opposed to issues such as protective tariffs,homesteads,and internal improvements.
D)associated with nativism.

Question 47

Compare and contrast the effects of the Fugitive Slave Act and Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Question 48

Explain the growth and economic impact of the railroad industry.

Question 49

Examine the debate leading up to the Compromise of 1950 and its basic provisions.

Question 50

The Election of 1860 was significant because it was the first time in U.S.history that a president had been elected

A)on a platform that was explicitly critical of slavery.
B)with a clear majority of the popular vote.
C)with an extremely low voter turnout.
D)None of these answers is correct.

Question 51

In 1858 President Buchanan sought statehood for Kansas

A)with the understanding that the slavery issue was yet to be determined there by popular sovereignty.
B)with support only from Republicans.
C)on the basis that slavery was now constitutionally illegal in the territories.
D)under the proslavery Lecompton Constitution.

Question 52

Analyze the significance of the Lincoln-Douglas debates and the election of 1860.

Question 53

The new Republican Party

A)hoped to build a coalition that pulled support from both the North and the South.
B)renounced all hopes of winning votes in the Deep South.
C)was committed to driving the nation to war.
D)took over half the popular vote in the election of 1856.

Question 54

John Brown's raid on the arsenal in Harper's Ferry succeeded in

A)securing arms for his insurrection.
B)discouraging abolitionists in their efforts to eradicate slavery.
C)propelling him into a role in national politics.
D)bolstering proslavery defiance.

Question 55

Discuss the background,decision,and effects of the Dred Scott v.Sandford case.

Question 56

In the Lincoln-Douglas debates,Stephen Douglas promoted the Freeport Doctrine,which declared that

A)racial equality was the only viable path for the future of the nation.
B)the Supreme Court's ruling could be overturned by a joint effort of three of more territories.
C)settlers could make slavery unworkable in a territory in spite of the Supreme Court's ruling.
D)slavery would spread even to free states if gone uncheckeD.