Deck 12: The Union in Peril

Question 1

The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

A) won widespread support from Whigs and abolitionists.
B) reopened the question of slavery in the territories.
C) ensured the orderly settlement of Kansas.
D) strengthened party lines on the issue of slavery.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The majority of Republicans in the 1850s supported a government policy to

A) abolish slavery immediately throughout the United States.
B) grant equal rights for free northern blacks.
C) prevent the expansion of slavery in the territories.
D) extend and protect slavery in the territories.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

According to the doctrine of popular sovereignty, the decision whether to permit slavery in a territory would be made by the

A) local territorial legislature.
B) president of the United States.
C) Missouri Compromise line.
D) Congress of the United States.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

During the 1850s, William Walker was unsuccessful in his attempts to

A) negotiate with Spain for the purchase of Cuba.
B) command the first American trading expedition to Japan.
C) purchase lands from Mexico on which to build a transcontinental railroad.
D) capture and control new slave lands in Latin America.

Question 5

Radical abolitionist John Brown

A) beat Senator Sumner senseless with his cane.
B) delivered "The Crime Against Kansas" speech.
C) led a massacre at Pottawatomie Creek.
D) directed the sacking of Lawrence.

Question 6

The supporters of "free soil" in the territories made all of the following arguments EXCEPT that

A) northern white farmers could not compete with large-scale slave labor.
B) blacks should be granted equality and allowed to seek western lands.
C) slavery was a moral evil and should not be extended.
D) free western land belonged to white men only.

Question 7

The provisions of the Compromise of 1850

A) left unresolved the status of territories in the Mexican cession.
B) allowed for lax enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act.
C) established one of the largest slave markets in the nation's capital.
D) ended the balance between free and slave states in the Union.

Question 8

Passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854

A) opened the way for antislavery and proslavery forces to meet physically and compete for territory.
B) determined that slavery would exist in Kansas, but not Nebraska.
C) quickened westward expansion.
D) quieted sectional conflict temporarily.

Question 9

Members of the American Party feared Catholic immigrants of the 1840s and 1850s would

A) give their highest loyalty to the pope.
B) refuse to work for low wages.
C) continue to support revolutionary causes in Europe.
D) favor legislation restricting personal behavior.

Question 10

As a consequence of the Compromise of 1850

A) political parties realigned more closely along sectional lines.
B) several states invalidated personal liberty laws.
C) more serious sectional conflict was avoided.
D) ideas such as secession and abolitionism were repudiated.

Question 11

During the early 1850s, political parties lost influence because of the

A) parties' sharp differences in moral tone and values.
B) standardization of various state political and economic procedures.
C) general decline in national economic prosperity.
D) nomination of dynamic independent political leaders.

Question 12

Harboring presidential ambitions, Stephen Douglas hoped to win the support of southern Democrats by recommending that the Kansas and Nebraska territories

A) contain the route of a transcontinental railroad.
B) protect the rights of slaveholders.
C) abide by the restrictions of the Missouri Compromise.
D) organize on the basis of popular sovereignty.

Question 13

In the 60 years after the Constitutional Convention, compromise over questions relating to slavery had been possible because of the

A) willingness of Congress to avoid the issue.
B) existence of a two-party system with intersectional membership.
C) lack of significant differences of opinion.
D) common bonds and loyalties forged during the Revolution.

Question 14

According to South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun, Congress lacked the power to

A) exclude slavery from the territories.
B) increase the tariff above a nominal rate.
C) prohibit the importation of slaves.
D) impose a "gag rule" on antislavery debate.

Question 15

Northerners were offended by the provision of the Fugitive Slave Act that

A) accorded a jury trial to the alleged fugitive.
B) designated a higher fee for commissioners deciding to return rather than free a fugitive.
C) created a panel of commissioners to decide special cases.
D) restricted northern citizens from assisting in the capture or return of fugitive slaves.

Question 16

The election of a proslavery territorial legislature in Kansas in 1855

A) resulted from wholesale election fraud.
B) helped delay secession of the South.
C) was nullified by President Pierce.
D) accurately reflected popular sentiments.

Question 17

The election of 1852 was characterized by

A) a serious discussion of the issues.
B) widely divergent political choices.
C) voter apathy and lackluster campaigns.
D) the decisive nomination of party candidates.

Question 18

Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852),

A) pictured slaves as basically happy and content.
B) achieved enormous popular success.
C) glorified northerners and vilified southerners.
D) enraged President Lincoln as dangerous propaganda.

Question 19

Which of the following factors did NOT contribute to Zachary Taylor's victory in the election of 1848?

A) Democratic defections to the Free Soil Party
B) successful evasion of the controversial slavery issue
C) heroic military exploits during the Mexican War
D) long record of political participation and leadership

Question 20

The Ostend Manifesto, a document intended to pressure Spain to sell Cuba to the United States, was

A) denounced by the American ministers to Spain, France, and England.
B) urged most by those who advocated the expansion of slavery.
C) delivered to President Pierce by Secretary of State William Marcy.
D) hailed by northerners as the solution to the sectional crisis.

Question 21

The prospect of territorial acquisition from the Mexican War spurred a political debate over the issue of extending slavery. Discuss the various solutions offered, as well as the impact of the issue on the election of 1848.

Question 22

All of the following statements are true of John Brown's raid EXCEPT:

A) The raid took place in 1859.
B) Brown led 22 men in the attack.
C) The raiders attacked a federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia.
D) The attack was a major military success.

Question 23

Which of the following southern states was the first to leave the Union?

A) Virginia
B) North Carolina
C) South Carolina
D) Georgia

Question 24

Which of the following was NOT part of the long-term historical importance of the Scott case?

A) The Court's arguments about black citizenship infuriated northerners.
B) Prominent black leaders lost faith in the government but were galvanized by the decision.
C) Many African American slaves rebelled after the decision.
D) President Buchanan endorsed the decision, further dividing the nation.

Question 25

Which of the following events split the Democratic Party during the 1850s?

A) Lincoln-Douglas debates in Illinois
B) Dred Scott decision
C) John Brown's raid
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 26

Abraham Lincoln believed that

A) there should be immediate abolition of slavery.
B) blacks were equal to whites and deserved equal rights.
C) slavery should be placed on a course of ultimate extinction.
D) separation of the races would have harmful long-term implications.

Question 27

All of the following statements are true about Dred Scott and his legal case EXCEPT:

A) Scott and his wife had filed suit for their freedom in Missouri in 1846.
B) They argued that their master had taken them into free territory, making them free people.
C) Their case reached the Supreme Court at a time when slavery had become a hot issue.
D) The court ruled that Scott was a citizen.

Question 28

The rejection of the Lecompton Constitution in 1858 meant that

A) its sponsors lost political prestige in the North.
B) slavery would be abolished in Kansas.
C) Kansas would enter the Union as a free state.
D) Kansas would remain a territory.

Question 29

General Zachary Taylor, living in Louisiana, was a

A) corn farmer.
B) factory owner.
C) shipping magnate.
D) slave owner.

Question 30

Although the slavery issue had been largely ignored in the election of 1848, several problems forced political debate and a compromise in 1850. Discuss the provisions, process, and consequences of the compromise.

Question 31

What was the long-term outcome of John Brown's raid at Harper's Ferry?

A) Brown survived and led a large slave army to freedom.
B) Brown was hanged and became a martyr, inflaming tensions and leading to the Civil War.
C) The South gave up on slavery.
D) The North stopped its attempt to restrict the expansion of slavery.

Question 32

Northerners supported which of the following?

A) public education and temperance laws
B) the rights of free labor
C) policies favoring industrial growth
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 33

Which of the following issues faced the nation in 1849?

A) the rush of thousands of miners to California qualifying the nation for statehood.
B) the unresolved status of the Mexican cession
C) the existence of slavery and a slave market in the nation's capital
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 34

In the Dred Scott case, the Supreme Court ruled that

A) Congress could not ban slavery in a territory.
B) the Missouri Compromise was constitutional.
C) blacks were entitled to sue in federal courts.
D) slaves taken to free territories became free citizens.

Question 35

The Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court

A) prompted harsh criticism from President Buchanan.
B) ruled that Scott was not a citizen.
C) settled the political issue of slavery in the territories.
D) insulted and infuriated most southerners.

Question 36

In contrast to northerners, southerners emphasized the

A) values of economic enterprise.
B) sovereignty of the federal government.
C) importance of public education.
D) genteel life of an ordered society.

Question 37

In the Freeport debate against Lincoln, Stephen Douglas argued that slavery

A) would not spread where it was unprofitable.
B) could not exist without favorable local legislation.
C) represented a moral and social evil.
D) should be protected in the territories.

Question 38

Which of the following men ran for office in 1860?

A) Abraham Lincoln, Republican Party
B) John Bell, Constitutional Union Party
C) Stephen Douglass, Democrat (Northern) Party
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 39

Analyze the major developments between 1848 and 1861 that contributed to the Civil War.

Question 40

All of the following statements are true about the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin EXCEPT:

A) The book outraged the South.
B) It became an immediate bestseller.
C) It was published in 20 languages.
D) It focused on the white exploitation of Native American people.

Question 41

Discuss the events from November 1860 to April 1861 that sparked the Civil War.

Question 42

Analyze the reasons for and the results of transformations in American political parties during the 1850s.

Question 43

Contrast the views of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas as expressed in the Illinois debates of 1858 concerning slavery, abolitionism, and racial equality. Discuss the political impact of these debates.

Question 44

Discuss the events of the 1850s that fed northern suspicions of a conspiracy to extend the power and influence of the South in government.

Question 45

It is 1859. As a northerner or southerner, write an article for your local newspaper, expressing your views of the proper values and vision for the nation, and point out why the views of the other position are improper and dangerous.

Question 46

How and why did the events of 1855-1856 concerning Kansas offer a preview of the Civil War?