Deck 13: The Impending Crisis

Question 1

In the 1820s and 1830s, the government of Mexico

A) consistently opposed American immigration into Texas.
B) consistently favored American immigration into Texas.
C) remained noncommittal about American immigration into Texas.
D) moved from opposing to favoring American immigration into Texas.
E) moved from favoring to opposing American immigration into Texas.

Answer 1

moved from favoring to opposing American immigration into Texas.

Question 2

The presidential election of 1844

A) was a contest between Henry Clay and Martin Van Buren.
B) was a contest between two solidly pro-expansionists.
C) was won by a Democrat.
D) saw a northerner win the presidency.
E) was primarily a referendum on the leadership of John Tyler.

Answer 2

was won by a Democrat.

Question 3

Between 1840 and 1860, most migrants traveling west on the overland trails

A) experienced frequent Indian attacks, which was a leading cause of death.
B) usually faced trips that lasted between two to three months.
C) rode in wagons much more than they walked on foot.
D) found the journey to be a very collective experience.
E) saw men generally working harder during the trip than women.

Answer 3

found the journey to be a very collective experience.

Question 4

President James K. Polk

A) entered office with very few concrete plans about what he wanted to achieve.
B) helped his candidacy for office by expressing a desire to re-annex Texas.
C) had not held any significant electoral office before becoming president.
D) opposed the occupation of Oregon.
E) was generally a pacifist, but was ultimately pushed into faster occupation of the West.

Question 5

The key to victory for the United States in the Mexican War was

A) Zachary Taylor's taking of Monterrey.
B) the Bear Flag revolution in California.
C) Stephen Kearny's capture of Santa Fe.
D) Winfield Scott's seizure of Mexico City.
E) Nicholas Trist's diplomatic maneuvering.

Question 6

Under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the United States

A) officially acquired only Texas.
B) gave up rights to California (for a time) in exchange for New Mexico and Texas.
C) established an open border with Mexico.
D) established an American protectorate over Mexico.
E) agreed to pay millions to Mexico.

Question 7

In 1836, an attack by Mexican forces on the Alamo mission

A) saw the American garrison executed after it had surrendered.
B) saw the death of Davy Crockett.
C) began the Mexican War.
D) led Americans in Texas to proclaim their independence from Mexico.
E) was a surprising victory for American forces in Texas.

Question 8

In the 1840s, critics of territorial expansion by the United States

A) enjoyed considerable political support.
B) found their greatest support in the "penny press."
C) warned it would increase the controversy over slavery.
D) warned that further expansion would cause rifts with Indian tribes.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 9

Before the early 1850s, Americans who traveled west on the overland trails were generally

A) relatively young people who traveled in family groups.
B) over the age of thirty.
C) from the eastern seaboard states.
D) wealthy.
E) domestic servants and prostitutes.

Question 10

In the mid-1840s, the Oregon country in the Pacific Northwest

A) remained the center of the French fur-trading empire.
B) was primarily occupied by Great Britain.
C) contained many more English settlers than Americans.
D) was of little interest to the American government.
E) included an Indian population that had been devastated by disease.

Question 11

As president, James K. Polk

A) sought war with Britain to resolve the Oregon dispute.
B) refused the Texas claim to territory that included much of modern New Mexico.
C) convinced the British government to divide Oregon at the 54°40? parallel.
D) won congressional approval for the annexation of Texas.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 12

In 1836, the Battle of San Jacinto

A) was a victory for General Santa Anna.
B) saw British troops fight alongside Mexican troops.
C) resulted in victory for forces led by Stephen Austin.
D) led to independence for Texas.
E) saw Sam Houston briefly taken prisoner.

Question 13

In 1845, the immediate cause of war with Mexico was

A) a dispute over territory.
B) tariffs.
C) Mexico's debt to the United States.
D) the issue of slavery.
E) the Alamo.

Question 14

In the 1820s, most of the settlers from the United States who migrated to Texas were

A) white southerners and their slaves.
B) white northerners.
C) free blacks.
D) Far West whites.
E) recently-arrived European immigrants.

Question 15

The Mexican War resulted in large part from

A) the United States provoking Mexico to fight.
B) Mexico provoking the United States to fight.
C) Texas citizens attacking Mexican forces.
D) Mexican forces attacking Americans in California.
E) Texas citizens staging an attack by Mexican forces.

Question 16

Within the ideology of Manifest Destiny were all the following beliefs EXCEPT that

A) the United States was destined by God and history to expand in size.
B) the United States should create a vast new "empire of liberty."
C) United States expansion was acceptable so long as it stayed out of Mexico and Canada.
D) the growth of the United States was not selfish but altruistic.
E) None of these answers is correct, as all of these were beliefs encompassed by the ideology of Manifest Destiny.

Question 17

In 1836, Texas did not immediately join the United States in part because

A) Congress feared that giving statehood to Texas might lead to war with Mexico.
B) the American leadership in Texas delayed in applying for statehood.
C) President Andrew Jackson thought that action would add to sectional tensions.
D) England had forged its own political ties to Texas.
E) Texas settlers overwhelmingly did not want to be part of the United States.

Question 18

During the Mexican War,

A) President Polk considered Zachary Taylor to be his closest ally in Mexico.
B) American settlers in California staged a revolt with the help of the United States navy.
C) victory came more easily than President Polk had anticipated.
D) the actual fighting was confined to Texas and Mexico.
E) President Polk tried to placate Whigs by minimizing military offensives.

Question 19

Which of the following towns served as a major departure point for migrants traveling west on the overland trails?

A) Independence, Missouri
B) Cedar Rapids, Iowa
C) Ames, Iowa
D) St. Louis, Missouri
E) Kansas City, Missouri

Question 20

In 1844, President James K. Polk supported the acquisition of

A) Oregon.
B) Texas.
C) Cuba.
D) Oregon and Texas.
E) Cuba and Texas.

Question 21

In the 1850s, the "Young America" movement

A) called for a national resolution of the slave controversy.
B) supported the expansion of American democracy throughout the world.
C) was promoted by Whigs.
D) called for a constitutional ban on slavery.
E) believed America should avoid the slavery controversy by limiting future expansion.

Question 22

The 1853 Gadsden Purchase

A) temporarily calmed the rivalry between North and South.
B) was made with England.
C) advanced the cause of a southern route for the transcontinental railroad.
D) fulfilled the treaty ending the Mexican War.
E) cost the United States government $25 million.

Question 23

The Chinese who came to California during the gold rush

A) typically planned to remain permanently in the state.
B) usually came with their families.
C) more often worked as merchants than miners.
D) had aspirations similar to those of American participants.
E) found themselves banned from working in the mines.

Question 24

Which of the following statements regarding the Kansas-Nebraska Act is FALSE?

A) It divided and destroyed the Whig Party.
B) It led to the creation of the Republican Party.
C) It created two new territories.
D) It explicitly repealed the Missouri Compromise.
E) It was sponsored by Henry Clay.

Question 25

In the 1850s, the issue of slavery complicated the proposal to build a transcontinental railroad, as

A) it raised the question of whether or not slaves would be used as railroad labor.
B) non-slaveowning northerners and slaveowning southerners could not agree on a route.
C) British banks refused to help fund the project as long as slavery existed in the United States.
D) it raised the question of whether or not slaves would be used as railroad labor, and British banks refused to help fund the projects as long as slavery existed in the U.S.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 26

In the 1850s, in an effort to undercut the Fugitive Slave Act, some northern states

A) called for secession from the South.
B) proposed a national referendum on the slave issue.
C) passed laws preventing the deportation of fugitive slaves.
D) forbid fugitive slave hunters from traveling in their state.
E) began actively funding the underground railroad.

Question 27

The Compromise of 1850 allowed for the admission of California

A) as a slave state.
B) along with a strengthened Fugitive Slave Act.
C) along with an agreement to construct a transcontinental railroad.
D) with the agreement that there would be no additional states added for ten years.
E) as a free state, along with Utah and New Mexico as slave states.

Question 28

In the California gold rush,

A) most of the participants were seasoned miners.
B) a majority of the participants found some quantities of gold.
C) upwards of ninety-five percent of the "Forty-niners" were men.
D) few of the participants ended up staying in California.
E) Chinese immigrants who arrived were unable to find work.

Question 29

In the election of 1852,

A) neither party endorsed the Compromise of 1850.
B) the Free-Soil Party gained strength.
C) the Democrats selected a war hero as their candidate.
D) the Whigs were united.
E) the Free-Soil Party endorsed the Compromise of 1850.

Question 30

When President Polk received the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, he

A) readily accepted the treaty.
B) faced criticism for failing to acquire all of Mexico.
C) angrily claimed that Trist had violated his instructions.
D) made plans for a military occupation of Mexico City.
E) became concerned about the expansion of slavery into the new territories.

Question 31

In the 1848 elections, the new party that emerged as a political force was the

A) Liberty Party.
B) Know-Nothing Party.
C) Free-Soil Party.
D) Republican Party.
E) Whig Party.

Question 32

In 1849, President Zachary Taylor favored admitting California

A) as a free state.
B) as a slave state.
C) with no determination on the issue of slavery.
D) as a territory.
E) as two separate states, one slave and one free.

Question 33

The passage of the Fugitive Slave Act

A) intensified the debate over slavery.
B) upset southerners as much as northerners.
C) was readily accepted by northerners in the spirit of compromise.
D) upset southerners as much as northerners, but was readily accepted by northerners in the spirit of compromise.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 34

The admission of California into the United States was a divisive national issue because

A) westerners in other territories believed they deserved statehood before California.
B) California's entry would upset the nation's numerical balance of free and slave states.
C) most Californians opposed entry into the United States.
D) California adopted a constitution that allowed slavery.
E) lawmakers believed California gold would upset the currency and cause inflation.

Question 35

When it came to the issue of the extension of slavery, President James K. Polk favored

A) an extension of the Missouri Compromise.
B) popular sovereignty.
C) free soil.
D) abolitionism.
E) the Wilmot Proviso.

Question 36

The 1854 Ostend Manifesto

A) enraged southern slaveowners.
B) was directed at limiting England's influence in the Caribbean.
C) was part of an attempt by the United States to acquire Cuba.
D) saw several European powers denounce American slavery.
E) prohibited slavery in the Hawaiian Islands.

Question 37

The Wilmot Proviso

A) banned all slavery west of the Mississippi River.
B) passed in the House and was signed into law.
C) overturned the Missouri Compromise.
D) was an appropriation to pay for peace with Mexico.
E) prohibited slavery in any land acquired from Mexico.

Question 38

As a result of the gold rush, by 1850,

A) Californian Indians saw their social conditions improve.
B) California had a large surplus of labor.
C) California had a very diverse population.
D) California had a population larger than any state in the Union.
E) California became virulently antislavery.

Question 39

In the 1840s, regional critics of President James K. Polk claimed his policies favored the

A) North.
B) South.
C) East.
D) West.
E) Northwest.

Question 40

During the debate on the Compromise of 1850,

A) Daniel Webster managed to forge a successful compromise.
B) John C. Calhoun called for southern secession if California were admitted as a free state.
C) Stephen
D) Jefferson Davis resigned from the Senate.
E) President Zachary Taylor suddenly died.

Question 41

Kansas entered the United States

A) after several southern states had left the Union.
B) as a slave state.
C) well after the Civil War ended.
D) during the administration of Abraham Lincoln.
E) at the same time the former Confederate states rejoined the Union.

Question 42

In the election of 1860,

A) Abraham Lincoln was elected with much less than half of the popular vote.
B) the Republican political platform called for an end to slavery.
C) Abraham Lincoln's relative obscurity proved to be a drawback.
D) Stephen Douglas narrowly lost in the electoral vote.
E) disenchanted northern Democrats nominated John Bell for president.

Question 43

In the mid-1850s, the struggle over Kansas saw

A) President Franklin Pierce oppose pro-slavery settlers in the territory.
B) John Brown murder several pro-slavery settlers.
C) the Missouri legislature ban its own citizens from entering Kansas.
D) federal troops take military control of the region.
E) a large antislavery posse sack the pro-slavery town of Lawrence, Kansas.

Question 44

James Buchanan

A) weakly opposed the Dred Scott decision.
B) opposed the admission of Kansas as a slave state.
C) pressured Congress to admit Kansas under the Lecompton constitution.
D) refused to enforce the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 45

As a result of his 1858 debates with Stephen Douglas, Abraham Lincoln

A) gained many new supporters outside of Illinois.
B) won election to the United States Senate.
C) came to be regarded by southerners as an antislavery fanatic.
D) was appointed to the leadership of the Republican Party.
E) was appointed to an open House seat by the Republican governor of Illinois.

Question 46

The Supreme Court ruling in the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) held that

A) Scott must be freed under federal law.
B) slaves were property unless they moved to a free state.
C) states were not allowed to abolish slavery within their borders.
D) the freedom of a slave could not be purchased by a black person.
E) the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.

Question 47

Following John Brown's 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, many southerners were convinced that

A) the raid was the isolated act of an antislavery fanatic.
B) Brown had been given the support of the Republican Party.
C) northern politicians would use the raid as an excuse to further restrict slavery.
D) the abolitionist movement would shortly fall into disgrace.
E) his execution would put a stop to northern agitation over slavery once and for all.

Question 48

Some advocates of Manifest Destiny believed the United States should control the Western Hemisphere.

Question 49

The first Republican candidate for president was

A) James Buchanan.
B) Stephen Douglas.
C) Abraham Lincoln.
D) Millard Fillmore.
E) John C. Frémont.

Question 50

The ideology of Free-Soil included

A) opposition to the expansion of slavery.
B) a call to end slavery in the United States as soon as possible.
C) the use of military force to suppress slavery.
D) the argument that slavery was tremendously harmful to American blacks.
E) an argument for black male suffrage.

Question 51

In The Pro-Slavery Argument (1837), John C. Calhoun stated that slavery was

A) likely to be adopted by non-slave states within fifty years.
B) a "necessary evil."
C) a "positive good."
D) likely to end in the United States within fifty years.
E) the "American way of life."

Question 52

Southern defenders of slavery made all the following arguments EXCEPT that

A) southern slaves enjoyed better conditions than northern industrial workers.
B) blacks were inherently unfit to take care of themselves.
C) slavery allowed whites and blacks to live together peacefully.
D) black codes protected slaves from abuse.
E) the southern way of life was superior to any other in the world.

Question 53

In the 1858 Abraham Lincoln-Stephen Douglas debates,

A) Lincoln called for a full and immediate abolition of slavery.
B) Lincoln made his case so strongly that he was elected to the Senate.
C) the two men agreed that a civil war over slavery was inevitable.
D) Douglas asserted that slavery was legal but not immoral.
E) Lincoln argued slavery was a threat to the growth of white free labor.

Question 54

The 1856 beating of Charles Sumner on the floor of the United States Senate

A) was in response to a pro-slavery speech he had given.
B) was a vicious assault carried out by a member of the House of Representatives.
C) was strongly condemned in the South.
D) resulted in Sumner's death from his injuries weeks later.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 55

The election of 1856 saw

A) no significant third party in the field.
B) the Whig Party make a strong comeback.
C) the Democrats elect a young and forceful pro-slavery leader.
D) former president Millard Fillmore in the running.
E) the Republicans run against the idea of internal improvements.

Question 56

During the 1858 Abraham Lincoln-Stephen Douglas debates, it became clear that Lincoln

A) believed slavery was morally acceptable under certain conditions.
B) was an abolitionist
C) believed racial equality was feasible at the time if certain concessions were made to southern elites.
D) believed slavery was morally wrong, but was not an abolitionist.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 57

In the 1860 elections, the political party most deeply divided over slavery was the

A) Republican Party.
B) Whig Party.
C) Know-Nothing Party.
D) Constitutional Union Party.
E) Democratic Party.

Question 58

In the election of 1860,

A) the Republicans called for a suspension of plans for a transcontinental railroad.
B) Stephen Douglas received a larger popular vote than Abraham Lincoln.
C) John Bell and J. C. Breckinridge, taken together, bested Lincoln in the popular vote.
D) the Republicans won a narrow majority in Congress.
E) white southerners concluded that their position in the Union was hopeless.

Question 59

The political party that came into being largely in response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act was the

A) Republican Party.
B) Know-Nothings.
C) Populist Party.
D) Abolitionist Party.
E) Jayhawk Party.

Question 60

The 1857 Lecompton (Kansas) constitution was

A) twice rejected by a majority of Kansas voters.
B) rejected, then approved by Kansas voters.
C) antislavery.
D) written by Stephen Douglas.
E) approved and later reaffirmed by Kansas voters.

Question 61

In the Mexican War, American troops seized the capital of Mexico City.

Question 62

Most travelers going west found the experience both exhilarating and solitary.

Question 63

The United States went to war with Mexico in 1846 without a formal declaration of war.

Question 64

In the 1820s, the United States and Britain jointly occupied Oregon.

Question 65

President Polk was willing to go to war over Oregon rather than accept a divide at the 49th parallel.

Question 66

The presidential election of 1844 was a contest between Henry Clay and Martin Van Buren.

Question 67

Most participants in the California gold rush left the state within a few months.

Question 68

In 1844, the Democratic Party was more pro-expansionist than was the Whig Party.

Question 69

On the trails westward, almost everyone, male and female, walked most of the time.

Question 70

When Mexico refused a U.S. offer to purchase the disputed territories, Polk ordered Taylor's army in Texas to enter Mexican territory.

Question 71

Texas was a territory of Mexico at the time that it came into the Union.

Question 72

Indian attacks on white migrants as they traveled west were rare.

Question 73

President Polk used the American victory over Mexico to secure his reelection.

Question 74

Only a tiny fraction of the so-called Forty-niners ever discovered gold in California.

Question 75

The Free-Soil Party first gained representation in Congress as a result of the election of 1848.

Question 76

The Compromise of 1850 abolished slavery in the District of Columbia.

Question 77

California's population was very homogeneous.

Question 78

President Taylor favored admitting California to the Union as a free state.

Question 79

President Andrew Jackson did not favor the annexation of Texas.

Question 80

The Wilmot Proviso passed Congress but was vetoed by President Polk.