Deck 12: Politics and the Fate of the Union

Question 1

The radical, new southern position on the territories espoused by John C. Calhoun in 1846 contradicted the

A) Missouri Compromise.
B) Monroe Doctrine.
C) Polk Doctrine.
D) three-fifths compromise.

Answer 1

Missouri Compromise.

Question 2

What part of the Compromise of 1850 increased sectional controversy and conflict during the 1850s?

A) The admission of California as a free state
B) The settlement of the Texas boundary question
C) The ending of the slave trade in Washington,D.C.
D) The Fugitive Slave Act

Answer 2

The Fugitive Slave Act

Question 3

In Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe

A) denounced slaveowners as immoral and sinful.
B) portrayed slavery as beneficial to blacks.
C) condemned the national government for allowing slavery to continue.
D) portrayed the evil effects of the institution of slavery on slaveowners rather than condemning all southerners.

Answer 3

portrayed the evil effects of the institution of slavery on slaveowners rather than condemning all southerners.

Question 4

After passage of the Fugitive Slave Law,

A) Mexican authorities extradited runaway slaves to the United States for prosecution.
B) a significant number of blacks living in the North saw the act as a threat to their freedom and fled to Canada.
C) most northern judges refused to enforce the act because of its repressive nature.
D) the Underground Railroad ceased to operate.

Question 5

Which of the following is true of the Compromise of 1850?

A) It completely rejected the idea of popular sovereignty.
B) It included a stronger fugitive slave law.
C) It abolished both slavery and the slave trade in the District of Columbia.
D) It angered northerners by acknowledging the boundary claims made by Texas.

Question 6

Fear of the Slave Power was fear that the

A) use of slave labor would allow southern producers to undersell northern producers.
B) distribution of abolitionist literature among slaves was likely to inspire a violent slave revolt.
C) slaveholding elite that controlled the South was determined to control the entire nation.
D) slave population was growing so rapidly that slaves would soon far outnumber whites in many southern states.

Question 7

Under the terms of the Oregon Treaty of 1846,

A) the Columbia River was established as Oregon's northernmost boundary.
B) Great Britain accepted President Polk's demand for a boundary at 54° 40'.
C) the United States and Great Britain agreed to a twenty-year joint occupation of the Oregon Country.
D) Great Britain gave the United States all of present-day Oregon.

Question 8

Which of the following is true of expansionists who supported the War with Mexico?

A) Humanitarian concerns dominated the thoughts of the war's supporters.
B) Support of expansionism and of the war often had an undercurrent of racism.
C) Egalitarian principles dominated the thoughts of expansionists and supporters of the war.
D) Support for the war was based primarily on the belief that expansion would open new markets for American products.

Question 9

Which of the following is true of the presidential campaign of 1848?

A) Although Martin Van Buren lost all of the southern states, he won the election by carrying the Northeast and Northwest.
B) Zachary Taylor campaigned in favor of the exclusion of slavery in the territories.
C) In the North, antislavery Whigs, members of the former Liberty Party, and New York Democrats committed to the Wilmot Proviso formed the Free-Soil Party, which selected Martin Van Buren as its presidential nominee.
D) Lewis Cass appealed to northern voters because he called for the immediate abolition of slavery.

Question 10

The southern demand that slavery be allowed to expand into the territories seems to have been motivated by the

A) expectation that slavery would be even more profitable in the West than in the South.
B) fear that free territories could be used as bases for spreading abolitionism into the South.
C) belief that expansion was necessary to allow the profitable sale of surplus southern slaves.
D) assumption of southern politicians that they should put forward extreme positions as a tactic in political bargaining with the North.

Question 11

Those who criticized the war with Mexico often expressed which of the following ideas?

A) They expressed racist fears that victory would bring nonwhite Mexicans into the United States.
B) They expressed the belief that the war was unconstitutional.
C) They expressed the fear that the war would widen and engulf all of Latin America.
D) They expressed the belief that the United States military was unprepared for the conflict.

Question 12

The proposal for popular sovereignty called for deciding the issue of slavery in the territories through a

A) constitutional amendment.
B) direct nationwide election.
C) decision by the residents in each territory.
D) vote in both houses of Congress.

Question 13

The overriding issue in the presidential election of 1848 was

A) tariff rates.
B) the conduct of the War with Mexico.
C) slavery in the territories.
D) the independent treasury bill.

Question 14

Which of the following occurred in response to California's application for statehood in 1850?

A) President Taylor called a special session of Congress for the purpose of repealing the Missouri Compromise.
B) Some southern politicians wanted to postpone California's admission to the Union and make it a slave territory.
C) Several New England states threatened to secede from the Union if California was admitted as a slave state.
D) Congress adopted an amendment to the California statehood bill that extended the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific.

Question 15

How did Senator Stephen Douglas salvage the Compromise of 1850?

A) He won a public endorsement of the compromise from President Zachary Taylor.
B) He ultimately allowed southern Democrats to dictate the terms of the compromise.
C) He introduced each measure of the compromise separately and in that way gained passage of all of the measures.
D) He threatened to remove Democrats who opposed the compromise from important congressional committees.

Question 16

The most critical question that emerged in the aftermath of the War with Mexico was

A) what course the South would take if northerners continued to press the slavery question.
B) what to do about slavery in the territory acquired from Mexico.
C) how to limit the president's vaguely defined war powers.
D) how much to pay Mexico for the territory acquired by force.

Question 17

Which of the following was a consequence of the Wilmot Proviso?

A) It transformed the debate over the War with Mexico into a debate over the expansion of slavery.
B) It led to the annexation of Texas by joint resolution of Congress.
C) Its stipulations further fed northern fears of the Slave Power.
D) It caused southerners to become outspoken opponents of the War with Mexico.

Question 18

Which of the following was a major problem associated with the idea of popular sovereignty?

A) Proponents of the idea refused to say whether or not slaves would be counted in determining the population of a territory.
B) Northern Democrats explained the idea to their constituents in one way, while southern Democrats explained it to their constituents in a different way.
C) The idea of popular sovereignty allowed Congress to determine qualifications for voting in a particular territory.
D) Those who supported the idea disagreed among themselves over whether or not free blacks would have equality under the law in the territories.

Question 19

Which of the following was the decisive campaign in the War with Mexico?

A) General Zachary Taylor's assault against Monterey
B) The taking of Santa Fe by Colonel Stephen Kearny
C) The taking of Palo Alto by General Zachary Taylor
D) General Winfield Scott's campaign against Mexico City

Question 20

Which of the following constitutional arguments was designed to protect the institution of slavery?

A) The Constitution should be interpreted loosely so that the central government may assume as much power as possible.
B) Because slaves are property, slaveowners have a constitutional right to take them into the territories.
C) Slave states are afforded special privileges under the Constitution.
D) The Union is the result of a compact among the people of the nation.

Question 21

The different political factions that joined together to form the Republican Party in 1854 were united by their

A) opposition to the expansion of slavery into the territories.
B) fear over the possibility of civil war.
C) determination to abolish slavery.
D) desire to acquire more territory from Mexico.

Question 22

Which of the following statements best expresses the beliefs of the Republican Party of the 1850s?

A) Both the dignity of labor and the availability of economic opportunity are essential to the future progress of the United States.
B) All ethnic groups living in the United States should be afforded political, social, and economic equality.
C) The central government should remain limited in its power and should not intervene in the economic life of the states.
D) Slavery is morally wrong and should be abolished immediately.

Question 23

Southern Democrats appealed to nonslaveholders in the South by

A) advocating the passage of protective tariffs.
B) supporting a federal land-grant program in the territories.
C) playing on their racial fears.
D) arguing that any hardworking person could acquire slaves.

Question 24

The Democrats chose James Buchanan as their presidential nominee in 1856 largely because he had

A) been a highly respected Senate majority leader.
B) taken a strong position against the expansion of slavery.
C) acquired fame as a commanding general in the War with Mexico.
D) not been involved in territorial controversies.

Question 25

What seems to have been Stephen Douglas's intent in introducing the Kansas-Nebraska bill?

A) He wanted to promote the construction of a midwestern transcontinental railroad in order to economically benefit his home state of Illinois.
B) He wanted to strengthen his chances for re-election to the Senate in 1854.
C) He wanted to settle permanently the conflict over slavery in the territories.
D) He wanted to win national attention as the basis for a future presidential campaign.

Question 26

As a result of the 1854 congressional elections, the

A) Whigs gained control of both the House and the Senate.
B) Republicans gained control of both the House and the Senate.
C) Whigs captured most of the House seats from the North.
D) Republicans captured a majority of the House seats from the North.

Question 27

The American Party of the mid-1850s the Know-Nothings) drew its primary support from those who feared

A) abolitionism.
B) foreigners.
C) possible civil war.
D) uncontrolled industrialization.

Question 28

Who introduced the Kansas-Nebraska bill into the Senate?

A) James Buchanan
B) Henry Clay
C) Stephen Douglas
D) Franklin Pierce

Question 29

Which of the following is true of the presidential campaign of 1852?

A) By rejecting Winfield Scott, voters rejected the idea of popular sovereignty.
B) Franklin Pierce, a supporter of the Compromise of 1850, pleased southern leaders.
C) John Hale's repudiation of parts of the Compromise of 1850 attracted a great deal of support in the South.
D) Winfield Scott's call for the repeal of the Compromise of 1850 worked against him in the South.

Question 30

President Franklin Pierce's attempt to annex Hawai'i to the United States failed for which of the following reasons?

A) Northern and southern Congressmen alike expressed doubts about the nation's ability to defend Hawai'i.
B) Southerners would not vote for the entry of another free state into the Union.
C) Northern congressmen feared that an expansionist Slave Power was behind the annexation treaty.
D) Northern and southern Congressmen expressed fears that acquisition of Hawai'i would draw the United States into an Asian war.

Question 31

Which of the following is true of Charles Sumner and Preston Brooks?

A) Their treatise against slavery on economic grounds caused an increase in antislavery sentiment among Northerners.
B) By supporting the Lecompton Constitution in Kansas, they sought a peaceful and moderate solution to the Kansas crisis.
C) They demonstrated that Northern and Southern moderates could still work together for the national interest.
D) They were symbolic of just how emotional the political issue of slavery had become by 1856.

Question 32

Which of the following was a consequence of the case of Anthony Burns?

A) The Fugitive Slave Act was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
B) Nonslaveholding southerners began to challenge the political power of the South's plantation aristocracy.
C) The Underground Railroad was declared illegal and ceased its operations.
D) Fear that the Slave Power dominated American government increased among northerners.

Question 33

How did proslavery theorists counteract the indictment of slavery as a moral wrong?

A) They proposed that slaves be paid a nominal fee for the work they performed.
B) They contended that slavery was more humane than wage labor.
C) They pointed to the three-fifths clause in the Constitution.
D) They argued that passage of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 legalized slavery in a portion of the Louisiana Territory.

Question 34

In the Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court ruled that

A) Dred Scott was not a United States citizen.
B) slaves could acquire freedom only by purchasing it.
C) residence in free territory made Dred Scott free.
D) Congress had the power to bar slavery from a territory.

Question 35

As a result of the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act,

A) northern states threatened to hold special state conventions for the purpose of declaring the act unconstitutional and thus null and void.
B) a coalition of northern Democrats withdrew from the Democratic party and formed the American Party.
C) the Whig Party broke into northern and southern wings and was no longer able to operate as a national party.
D) southerners became more convinced than ever that Congress had become the puppet of antislavery advocates.

Question 36

The results of the 1854 congressional elections were significant because they

A) demonstrated strong northern support for the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
B) ended up being the last time the South was assured of a sympathetic majority in Congress.
C) marked the first time a sectional party based on a sectional issue had gained substantial power in the political system.
D) resulted in such an even division of power between the parties that meaningful action by Congress was virtually impossible.

Question 37

Which of the following is true of the Kansas-Nebraska Act?

A) It cleared up the confusion that surrounded popular sovereignty.
B) It prohibited slavery in the two organized territories created by the law.
C) It had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise.
D) It extended the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific.

Question 38

The Republican party of the 1850s

A) began as and remained a one-issue party.
B) had a pessimistic outlook concerning the future of the nation.
C) was prepared to moderate its position on slavery in the territories.
D) adopted a platform that appealed to those who were interested in the economic development of the West.

Question 39

Which of the following statements best expresses the southern version of republicanism?

A) To create a more perfect society, individuals must subordinate their individual desires to the good of the group.
B) The rights and liberties of the people can best be protected by a strong central government.
C) Social distinctions between rich and poor are necessary for the creation of an orderly society.
D) White citizens in a slave society enjoy liberty and social equality because of slavery.

Question 40

President Pierce's efforts to acquire Cuba caused which of the following?

A) Northern support for the liberation of Cuba allayed fears in that region that Pierce was controlled by the Slave Power.
B) Many northerners were angered because slavery was legal in Cuba.
C) Support for such efforts by both northerners and southerners led to friendlier relations between the two sections of the country.
D) Many southerners concluded that Pierce wanted to end slavery and colonize blacks in the Caribbean.

Question 41

The Jacksonian Democrats favored

A) expanded government.
B) limited government.
C) reformist government.
D) nonpartisan government.

Question 42

Why did President Jackson reject the doctrine of nullification?

A) He rejected the idea of state sovereignty.
B) He was adamantly opposed to states' rights.
C) He totally distrusted the federal government.
D) He personally disliked Daniel Webster.

Question 43

Which of the following was convincing evidence that the Buchanan administration was attempting to impose its will on the people of Kansas?

A) Buchanan's actions in relation to the Lecompton constitution
B) Buchanan's lobbying of Supreme Court justices
C) Buchanan's deployment of federal troops to Kansas
D) Buchanan's improper use of presidential power in the Lincoln-Douglas senatorial race

Question 44

Statistics indicate that between 1824 and 1840 the proportion of eligible voters actually voting in presidential elections

A) increased substantially.
B) increased slightly.
C) decreased substantially.
D) decreased moderately.

Question 45

During the nullification crisis,

A) Jackson acknowledged the constitutional validity of the theory of nullification.
B) Calhoun and Clay drafted a compromise tariff to resolve the crisis.
C) the Supreme Court ruled that a state lacks the power to nullify a federal law.
D) a majority of southern states supported South Carolina's ordinance of nullification.

Question 46

After the Dred Scott decision,

A) northern newspapers strongly urged that the decision be accepted in spite of the dangers it posed.
B) the justices who dissented in the decision resigned from the Supreme Court.
C) Lincoln warned that the next step would be for the Supreme Court to deny a state the right to exclude slavery.
D) the Republican party was thoroughly discredited because the Supreme Court had endorsed southern constitutional arguments.

Question 47

During Jackson's presidency, there was a substantial increase in the power of the

A) diplomatic branch of government.
B) judicial branch of government.
C) executive branch of government.
D) legislative branch of government.

Question 48

John Brown's raid at Harpers Ferry increased anger in the South because

A) it was revealed that Brown had financial backing from several prominent abolitionists.
B) it led to a general slave uprising throughout Virginia.
C) President Buchanan praised Brown as a hero and a martyr.
D) federal troops came to Brown's aid, allowing him to escape.

Question 49

Which of the following is considered to have launched the women's rights movement?

A) The Seneca Falls' Declaration of Sentiments
B) The publication of the Grimké sisters' books in 1838
C) The merger of the abolitionist and feminist movements in 1839
D) The emergence of Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton as national figures in the 1840s

Question 50

Which of the following is true of President Andrew Jackson?

A) He strongly supported the educational reforms advocated by Horace Mann and advocated federal aid to education.
B) Out of his desire to cleanse the body politic, he supported the temperance and antiprostitution movements.
C) Promoting a limited role for government, he used the veto more often than all previous presidents combined.
D) Believing that government could be a force for good in society, he favored the use of the positive power of government.

Question 51

Which of the following is true of the Jacksonian Democrats?

A) They were generally proponents of high protective tariffs.
B) They favored government action to stimulate economic growth.
C) They believed in strong central government that actively promoted religious reform.
D) They sought to foster the Jeffersonian concept of an agrarian society.

Question 52

How did the majority of states choose their presidential electors by the time of the 1824 presidential election?

A) Through the caucus system
B) By popular vote
C) Through the state legislature
D) By special state convention

Question 53

Stephen Douglas angered southern Democrats by

A) introducing legislation designed to undo the Dred Scott decision.
B) proposing a constitutional amendment to extend citizenship to African Americans.
C) calling for the extension of the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific.
D) taking a public stand against the Lecompton constitution.

Question 54

In his speeches in the 1850s, Abraham Lincoln

A) accepted a limited application of the policy of popular sovereignty.
B) called for the immediate abolition of slavery.
C) advocated the passage of a constitutional amendment to end slavery gradually.
D) suggested that the South sought to spread slavery throughout the nation.

Question 55

Beginning with an Arkansas law passed in 1835, by 1860 sixteen additional states allowed

A) no-fault divorces.
B) married women the right to vote.
C) single, married, and divorced women to own and convey property.
D) children sixteen years of age and older to choose their own marriage partner.

Question 56

As a result of the Dred Scott decision,

A) President Buchanan called publicly for the impeachment of Chief Justice Roger Taney.
B) the presence of an aggressive Slave Power was confirmed in the minds of many northerners.
C) several southern states threatened to secede from the Union.
D) most white northerners favored a constitutional amendment extending equal rights to African Americans.

Question 57

In the 1840s and 1850s, what was the response of most male abolitionists to the idea of extending the right to vote to women?

A) Support
B) Neutrality
C) Opposition
D) Toleration

Question 58

Andrew Jackson enhanced executive power relative to the power of Congress by making a major political weapon out of

A) treaty negotiations.
B) impoundment of funds.
C) the presidential veto.
D) cabinet appointments.

Question 59

With regard to the doctrine of nullification, John C. Calhoun asserted that federal legislation could be overruled by a

A) state governor.
B) state court.
C) special state convention.
D) state referendum.

Question 60

Which of the following is true of the multi-candidate presidential race of 1824?

A) Although John Quincy Adams was second in the electoral vote, he was elected because he led in popular votes.
B) John Quincy Adams had a majority of electoral votes and became president, but his major opponent, Andrew Jackson, became vice president.
C) Because no candidate received a majority of electoral votes, the Speaker of the House, Henry Clay, assumed the presidency.
D) Although Andrew Jackson led in both popular and electoral votes, he was not elected.

Question 61

Instructions:
_∙ Identify each item. Give an explanation or description of the item. Answer the questions who, what, where, and when.
Explain the historical significance of each item. Establish the historical context in which the
_∙ item exists. Establish the item as the result of or as the cause of other factors existing in the society under study. Answer this question: What were the political, social, economic,
and/or cultural consequences of this item?
the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Question 62

The evangelical Protestants of the 1840s and 1850s were most closely associated with the

A) Whig Party.
B) Federalist Party.
C) Democratic Party.
D) American Party.

Question 63

Instructions:
_∙ Identify each item. Give an explanation or description of the item. Answer the questions who, what, where, and when.
Explain the historical significance of each item. Establish the historical context in which the
_∙ item exists. Establish the item as the result of or as the cause of other factors existing in the society under study. Answer this question: What were the political, social, economic,
and/or cultural consequences of this item?
the Taos Revolt

Question 64

The 1836 Specie Circular provided that only gold or silver would be accepted as payment for federal

A) lands sold to speculators.
B) loans extended to corporations.
C) tariffs imposed on luxury items.
D) taxes owed by individuals.

Question 65

Instructions:
_∙ Identify each item. Give an explanation or description of the item. Answer the questions who, what, where, and when.
Explain the historical significance of each item. Establish the historical context in which the
_∙ item exists. Establish the item as the result of or as the cause of other factors existing in the society under study. Answer this question: What were the political, social, economic,
and/or cultural consequences of this item?
President James K. Polk

Question 66

How did the Whigs and the Democrats want to promote economic expansion?

A) Both the Whigs and the Democrats advocated a limited government.
B) The Whigs advocated a limited government; the Democrats advocated an activist government.
C) Both the Whigs and the Democrats advocated an activist government.
D) The Whigs advocated an activist government; the Democrats advocated a limited government.

Question 67

During the presidency of John Tyler,

A) the United States negotiated its first treaties with China.
B) the United States annexed the Hawaiian islands.
C) the Bank of the United States was rechartered.
D) the powers of the presidency waned while the powers of Congress expanded.

Question 68

In the 1830s, an individual's political party affiliation was primarily determined by

A) geographic region.
B) economic occupation.
C) religion and ethnicity.
D) wealth and social standing.

Question 69

The regional treasury bill enacted during the Van Buren administration

A) was designed to help banks survive the economic crisis that began in 1837.
B) stimulated the use of paper currency.
C) required all government funds to be kept in a central treasury.
D) was a deflationary economic measure.

Question 70

Which of the following is true of President John Tyler?

A) Tyler refused to affiliate with either the Whig party or the Democratic party and ran as an independent candidate.
B) Tyler's decision to switch officially from the Whig party to the Democratic party caused so much animosity that neither party accepted him.
C) Because the Whig party disbanded soon after Tyler's election, he was left without a party organization and without a political platform.
D) Although Tyler ran on the Whig ticket with William Henry Harrison, he was a Democrat at heart and opposed the Whig congressional program.

Question 71

Instructions:
_∙ Identify each item. Give an explanation or description of the item. Answer the questions who, what, where, and when.
Explain the historical significance of each item. Establish the historical context in which the
_∙ item exists. Establish the item as the result of or as the cause of other factors existing in the society under study. Answer this question: What were the political, social, economic,
and/or cultural consequences of this item?
the Wilmot Proviso

Question 72

Adopted by the House of Representatives in 1836, the gag rule

A) ordered the immediate arrest of any and all persons engaged in the slave trade in Washington,D.C.
B) ordered the cessation of debate in southern state legislatures over South Carolina's ordinance of nullification.
C) made it illegal for anyone in the United States to speak against slavery.
D) automatically tabled abolitionist petitions.

Question 73

The major issue in Jackson's campaign for re-election in 1832 was the

A) stationing of federal troops in South Carolina.
B) Second Bank of the United States.
C) gag rule.
D) Maysville Road veto.

Question 74

Which of the following is most likely to have been a Democrat in the 1840s?

A) A native-born evangelical Protestant
B) A free black man
C) A Congregationalist
D) An Irish Catholic

Question 75

Instructions:
_∙ Identify each item. Give an explanation or description of the item. Answer the questions who, what, where, and when.
Explain the historical significance of each item. Establish the historical context in which the
_∙ item exists. Establish the item as the result of or as the cause of other factors existing in the society under study. Answer this question: What were the political, social, economic,
and/or cultural consequences of this item?
Lincoln's "House Divided" speech

Question 76

Which of the following advantages did the Whigs enjoy in the 1840 presidential campaign?

A) They were seeking to re-elect an incumbent.
B) Harrison was a spellbinding orator who insisted on running an issue-oriented campaign.
C) They had put together a huge majority of registered voters.
D) They could blame the nation's economic problems on the Democrats.

Question 77

Instructions:
_∙ Identify each item. Give an explanation or description of the item. Answer the questions who, what, where, and when.
Explain the historical significance of each item. Establish the historical context in which the
_∙ item exists. Establish the item as the result of or as the cause of other factors existing in the society under study. Answer this question: What were the political, social, economic,
and/or cultural consequences of this item?
the Lincoln-Douglas debates

Question 78

Instructions:
_∙ Identify each item. Give an explanation or description of the item. Answer the questions who, what, where, and when.
Explain the historical significance of each item. Establish the historical context in which the
_∙ item exists. Establish the item as the result of or as the cause of other factors existing in the society under study. Answer this question: What were the political, social, economic,
and/or cultural consequences of this item?
the Slave Power

Question 79

Instructions:
_∙ Identify each item. Give an explanation or description of the item. Answer the questions who, what, where, and when.
Explain the historical significance of each item. Establish the historical context in which the
_∙ item exists. Establish the item as the result of or as the cause of other factors existing in the society under study. Answer this question: What were the political, social, economic,
and/or cultural consequences of this item?
the Oregon Treaty

Question 80

After Jackson was re-elected in 1832, he took away the power of the Bank of the United States to regulate the economy by

A) persuading Congress to revise its charter.
B) depositing federal funds in state-chartered banks.
C) closing most of its branch banks.
D) issuing an executive order that curtailed the bank's regulatory powers.