Deck 12: Politics and the Fate of the Union, 1824-1859

Question 1

Which is Harriet Beecher Stowe's best-selling 1852 novel that aroused widespread Northern sympathy for slaves and widespread Southern anger?

A) Uncle Tom's Cabin
B) In the Wilderness
C) Nat Turner's Rebellion
D) Aunt Phillis's Cabin

Answer 1

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Question 2

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 agreed to give the United States all of present-day Oregon

Answer 2

Great Britain agreed to give the United States all of present-day Oregon

Question 3

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

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

Answer 3

Racist fears that victory would bring nonwhite Mexicans into the United States

Question 4

The Compromise of 1850:

A) Completely rejected the idea of popular sovereignty
B) Included a stronger fugitive slave law
C) Abolished both slavery and the slave trade in the District of Columbia
D) Angered Northerners by acknowledging the boundary claims made by Texas

Question 5

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

Question 6

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 7

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 8

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) The number of votes received in the North by Martin Van Buren indicated a deepening division between Northern and Southern public opinion.
D) Lewis Cass appealed to Northern voters because he called for the immediate abolition of slavery.

Question 9

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

A) The Constitution was intended to be interpreted loosely so that the federal government may assume as much power as possible.
B) Slaveholders may take their slaves into the territories, because the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution guarantees that no person may be denied his property without due process of law.
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 10

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 11

What was a result of the Fugitive Slave Law?

A) Mexican authorities were required to extradite runaway slaves to the United States for prosecution.
B) Fugitive slaves living in the North, seeing the act as a threat to their freedom, moved to Canada.
C) Most Northern judges refused to enforce the act because of its repressive nature.
D) The Underground Railroad ceased to operate.

Question 12

What issue decided the 1848 election?

A) Tariff rates
B) The conduct of the War with Mexico
C) Slavery in the territories
D) The independent Treasury bill

Question 13

What is the practice of rewarding political supporters with public office called?

A) Democracy
B) Political violence
C) Spoils system
D) Nepotism

Question 14

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 15

The Wilmot Proviso:

A) Transformed the debate over the War with Mexico into a debate over the expansion of slavery
B) Led to the annexation of Texas by joint resolution of Congress
C) Increased Northern fears of the Slave Power
D) Caused Southerners to become outspoken opponents of the War with Mexico

Question 16

What happened 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 Ocean.

Question 17

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 18

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) brought the issue of slavery home to many who had never before given it much thought.

Question 19

The primary ambiguity of opinion regarding the question of popular sovereignty related to the question of _________.

A) whether slaves would be counted in determining the population of a territory
B) when settlers in a territory could outlaw slavery
C) who would determine voting qualifications in a particular territory
D) whether African Americans would have equality under the law in the territories

Question 20

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 would tip the balance of power in the Senate against the South and slaveholding states.
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 21

Which of the following statements best describes the Southern expression 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 federal 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 the enslavement of blacks.

Question 22

President Pierce's efforts to acquire Cuba for the United States 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) Some Northerners concluded that Pierce was doing the bidding of the Slave Power.
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 settle free blacks in the Caribbean.

Question 23

Which of the following is true of Senators 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 24

The Republican party of the 1850s _________________.

A) began as, and remained, a one-issue party
B) was prepared to scaremonger among its supporters 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 25

The Kansas-Nebraska bill was brought onto the floor of the Senate by ____________________.

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

Question 26

As a result of "Bleeding Kansas,"

A) a United States Senator was brutally beaten on the floor of the Senate.
B) the Democratic party chose a hard-line states' rights candidate as their presidential candidate.
C) the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed.
D) the United States Army was deployed to ensure a fair election in Missouri.

Question 27

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 28

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 the island..
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 29

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 separated 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 30

The Kansas-Nebraska Act:

A) Cleared up the confusion that surrounded popular sovereignty
B) Prohibited slavery in the two organized territories created by the law
C) Had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise
D) Extended the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific Ocean

Question 31

Franklin Pierce's election as president in 1852 was due to __________________.

A) his charismatic personality.
B) the weaknesses of the Whig party.
C) the strength of the Free-Soil party's organization.
D) his fame as a commanding general in the War with Mexico.

Question 32

The results of the 1854 congressional elections were significant because they

A) demonstrated strong support in Northern states for the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
B) were 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 33

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 34

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 the territorial controversies

Question 35

In which election year did five candidates all identify as Democratic Republicans?

A) Election of 1824
B) Election of 1828
C) Election of 1820
D) Election of 1832

Question 36

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 37

Which of the following, formerly called the National Republicans, became a major political party in the 1830s?

A) New Englanders
B) Whigs
C) New Compromisers
D) Jacksonian Democrats

Question 38

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) Pierce's victory seemed to confirm voter support for the Compromise of 1850.
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 39

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 40

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 federal 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 41

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 42

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 43

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 44

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 45

Jacksonian Democrats favored:

A) Expanded government
B) Limited government
C) Reformist government
D) Nonpartisan government

Question 46

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 47

What is the practice of rewarding political supporters with public office called?

A) Democracy
B) Political violence
C) Spoils system
D) Nepotism

Question 48

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 49

A tariff applied in 1828 to protect Northern factories, infuriating Southerners and spawning the Nullification Crisis, was called the Tariff of ____________________.

A) Antimasonry
B) Abominations
C) Political Violence
D) Nullification

Question 50

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 51

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 52

Which of the following controversial measures gave additional powers to slave owners to recapture slaves, and angered Northerners by requiring their complicity in the return of fugitive slaves?

A) Fugitive Slave Act
B) Wilmot Proviso
C) Kansas-Nebraska Act
D) Underground Railroad Act

Question 53

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 54

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

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 55

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 56

Why did President Jackson reject the doctrine of nullification?

A) He believed that sovereignty rested with the people; therefore, he did not accept 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 57

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 58

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 59

Which of the following is an anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant party that enjoyed a brief surge of popularity in the early 1850s?

A) Northern Democrats
B) Free-Soil Party
C) Know-Nothings
D) Southern Democrats

Question 60

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 61

The Antimasons introduced which of the following to national politics?

A) The convention system for choosing candidates
B) The direct presidential primary election
C) The campaign for a straight party-line ticket
D) The distribution of campaign literature through the mail

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

Examine the realignment of the American political system between 1854 and 1861.

Question 64

After Jackson was re-elected in 1832, he removed 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

Question 65

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 out against slavery
D) Automatically tabled abolitionist petitions and thus prevented debate on them

Question 66

The independent 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 67

How did the Whigs and the Democrats each 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 68

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 69

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 70

Discuss the provisions of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and explain the far-reaching consequences of its passage in 1854.

Question 71

Compare and contrast Abraham Lincoln's approach to abolition with that of John Brown.

Question 72

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

A) geographic region
B) economic occupation
C) religion and ethnicity
D) urban versus rural residence

Question 73

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

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

Question 74

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 75

Discuss the ideology of the Republican Party, and explain how the party managed, within a short period of time, to become a major political force in the North.

Question 76

Why is President John Tyler referred to as a "president without a party"?

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 77

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 78

Discuss the sectional disputes that led to the Compromise of 1850. How was the compromise reached? What were its provisions? What were its results?

Question 79

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 their opponents.

Question 80

Examine the development of the concept of a Slave Power in the North from 1836 to 1861. What events made the presence of such a power credible to northerners? Why did northerners fear the Slave Power? What forces and events caused that fear to increase?