Question 1

What made Abraham Lincoln an attractive candidate for the Republican nomination?

Accepted Answer

Abraham Lincoln's representation of the crucial state of Illinois made him an attractive candidate for the Republican nomination.

Question 2

Why was John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, Virginia, so significant to both northerners and southerners in America?

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Question 3

Why did the slave states of the Upper South initially reject secession?

Accepted Answer

The slave states of the Upper South, such as Virginia and Tennessee, did not have as great a stake in slavery as the states in the Lower South, such as South Carolina and Mississippi, where the economy relied heavily on the institution of slavery. Therefore, they initially rejected secession as they did not see it as a necessary or desirable option.

Question 4

Why were southerners so angry with President Zachary Taylor's position on the admission of California to the Union?

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Question 5

Which was the first state to secede from the Union after Lincoln's election?

Accepted Answer

South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union on December 20, 1860, following Lincoln's election in November of that year.

Question 6

In his first inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln

Accepted Answer

In his first inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln reassured the South that he had no right to interfere with slavery where it existed. He stated that he had "no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so."

Question 7

Explain the provisions of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act and the reaction to it in both North and South.

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Question 8

How did James Buchanan respond as the secession crisis loomed over the final weeks of his presidential administration?

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Question 9

Cite the key economic and political factors that motivated Stephen A. Douglas to propose the Kansas-Nebraska Act in the way he did.

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Question 10

Which southerner argued that "I consider slavery much more secure in the Union than out of it"?

Accepted Answer

Alexander Stephens, who would later become the Vice President of the Confederate States of America, made this statement in a speech in Savannah, Georgia in 1860. He argued that remaining in the Union was necessary in order to protect the institution of slavery, which he believed was threatened by abolitionists outside the South.

Question 11

Why did Republican John C. Frémont's showing in the presidential election of 1856 worry southerners?

Accepted Answer

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Question 12

Who became the president of the new Confederate States of America?

Accepted Answer

Jefferson Davis became the president of the new Confederate States of America.

Question 13

Explain the basic northern arguments for and southern arguments against the Wilmot Proviso.

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Question 14

How did the increasingly confident Republican party prepare for the election of 1860?

Accepted Answer

The Republican Party broadened its appeal by addressing a wider range of issues beyond the central issue of slavery, aiming to attract a more diverse electorate.

Question 15

Southerners felt so much hostility toward the Republican party during the presidential election of 1860 that

Accepted Answer

Ten states in the South, including Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas, refused to put Lincoln's name on the ballot during the election of 1860. This reflected the strong animosity and hostility that southerners felt towards the Republican party, which they saw as a threat to their way of life and their institution of slavery. Some southern Democrats even threatened to secede from the Union if Lincoln won the election, which eventually led to the outbreak of the Civil War.

Question 16

Identify the chief factors that prompted Republicans to select Abraham Lincoln as their candidate for Illinois senator in 1858.

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Question 17

Explain why southern Democrats walked out of the Democratic nominating convention in Charleston in 1860. What did this example of the Lower South Democrats "voting with their feet" say about the nation's sectional party configuration?

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Question 18

Explain the process by which Stephen A. Douglas engineered the passage of the Compromise of 1850, and what was contained in this collection of bills.

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Question 19

In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president because he had

Accepted Answer

Lincoln had strong support in the free states, which had a larger population than the slave states. This gave him the advantage in the electoral college despite not winning the popular vote. He did not carry any slave states, but rather won with virtually no support in the South.

Question 20

In his first inaugural address, how did President Abraham Lincoln seek to assure southerners that they had nothing to fear from a Republican administration?

Accepted Answer

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Quiz 14: The House Divided