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CHAPTER 14: THE POLITICS OF SECTIONALISM 1846–1861
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following was one of the proposed solutions to slavery in the territories that dominated
the debate from the late 1840s until 1861?
A) extension of the Missouri Compromise line to Utah
B) popular sovereignty
C) temporary protection of the right to own slaves
D) gradually legislating an end to slavery
2. Proponents of popular sovereignty believed that __________.
A) all slaves should be declared free
B) southerners were too unreasonable for a fair debate on slavery
C) residents of a territory should decide the issue of slavery
D) presidential elections should not be decided by the electoral college
3. The Wilmot Proviso proposed that __________.
A) free labor should exist in the territory gained in the Mexican War
B) slavery should be ended by the turn of the century
C) the gag rule should be restored in Congress
D) the property of western slaveholders should be protected
4. Zachary Taylor’s strong base of electoral support was in the __________.
A) far West
B) Northeast
C) South
D) western territories
5. In January of 1848, gold was discovered in __________.
A) New Mexico
B) California
C) Texas
D) Florida
6. Pro-slavery southerners became concerned __________.
A) upon the election of Zachary Taylor
B) that support for states’ rights was slipping in the Lower South
C) when California and New Mexico wished to be admitted as free states
D) about the popularity of the Free-Soil Party in the South
7. The greatest significance of California’s desire to enter the Union was __________.
A) the large tax revenue it would provide to the federal treasury
B) the concern of southerners that it would upset the balance of free and slave states
C) the impact of California gold on the value of the dollar
D) how Mexico would react
8. Under the Compromise of 1850, which of the following would be able to choose whether to be a free or
a slave state?
A) California
B) Oregon Territory
C) Utah Territory
D) Minnesota Territory
9. Effects of the Compromise of 1850 included __________.
A) peaceful resolution of the fugitive slave issue
B) sectional dissatisfaction by both sides
C) the unsure status of slavery in California
D) the South’s decision to attack Fort Sumter
10. The Compromise of 1850 established which of the following?
A) the Fugitive Slave Act
B) rejection of California as a free state
C) popular sovereignty in Idaho
D) admission of New Mexico as a slave state
11. Reaction against the Fugitive Slave Act was strongest among __________.
A) members of the Free-Soil Party
B) northern blacks
C) working-class ethnic groups
D) conscience Whigs
12. One of the effects of the Fugitive Slave Act was to __________.
A) create harmony between north and south
B) cause many escaped slaves to flee to Mexico
C) intimidate abolitionists
D) polarize north and south further
13. The influential novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin was written by __________.
A) Hinton Rowan Helper
B) Angelina Grimke
C) Frederick Douglass
D) Harriet Beecher Stowe
14. As a novel with social power, Uncle Tom’s Cabin succeeded because it __________.
A) included symbolism which was difficult to interpret
B) presented real characters and not just abstract arguments
C) portrayed southerners as virtuous defenders of freedom
D) never directly addressed the moral issues of slavery
15. What effect did the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin have on many northern white people?
A) It moved them to active participation in the debate and the end of slavery.
B) It had no effect.
C) It caused them to think about literature for the first time.
D) It made them more sympathetic toward slave owners.
16. The election of 1852 __________.
A) was the first contested by the Republican Party
B) saw the strongest showing ever for the Whigs
C) focused primarily on troubles with Mexico
D) was won by a northern Democrat
17. Members of Young America supported __________.
A) extending American influence throughout Central and South America
B) universal suffrage for all males
C) repeal of the unpopular Compromise of 1850
D) Winfield Scott for president in 1852
18. The revolutions of 1848 were triggered by street protests beginning in __________.
A) France
B) Britain
C) Austria
D) Hungary
19. The revolutions of 1848 were driven by __________.
A) peasant laborers
B) the working and middle classes
C) the Protestant clergy
D) high-ranking army officers
20. Ultimately, the revolutions of 1848 were __________.
A) victorious
B) victorious in some countries, but defeated in others
C) defeated
D) the catalyst for the reelection of James Polk as president
21. Franklin Pierce failed to __________.
A) get elected president by a large margin
B) consider foreign policy in developing his plans as president
C) effectively handle the territorial problems in Kansas
D) support the American cause in the Mexican War
22. President Pierce tried to mute the conflicts about slavery by emphasizing __________.
A) Indian removal acts
B) rechartering of the National Bank
C) wide-scale social reforms
D) an aggressive foreign policy
23. Which of the following is one of the reasons why Stephen Douglas wanted a transcontinental
railroad?
A) He was the majority owner of the Union Pacific railroad.
B) He felt it would hasten the Civil War.
C) It would limit the spread of democracy.
D) He stood to profit personally from its completion.
24. Northerners of all parties were outraged by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, because it __________.
A) admitted Nebraska to the union as a slave state
B) was viewed as a plot to extend slavery above the Missouri Compromise line
C) did not acknowledge California’s existence as a permanent free state
D) was passed after Stephen Douglas threatened that southern states would secede
25. Proslavery elements in Kansas manipulated the statutes of the Kansas-Nebraska Act by __________.
A) refusing to engage in slave trade in the territory
B) encouraging and arming proslavery residents from Missouri
C) boldly defending themselves against “the sack of Lawrence”
D) buying all of their slaves from traders in Nebraska
26. Results of the Kansas-Nebraska Act included __________.
A) a brief period of peace in Kansas before the outbreak of the Civil War
B) a bloody civil conflict between proslavery and antislavery forces in Kansas
C) an increase in the popularity of Stephen Douglas in the North
D) the congressional admission of both territories as new slave states in the Union
27. Stephen Douglas supported which of the following ideas?
A) limiting the nation’s rail system
B) popular sovereignty
C) the Oklahoma-Nebraska Act
D) immediatism
28. Who was an antislavery agitator in the middle of the violent confrontation in Kansas?
A) Hinton Rowan Helper
B) Frederick Douglass
C) John Brown
D) Charles Sumner
29. Anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic sentiment gave rise to which party?
A) Anti-Masons
B) Republican Party
C) Democratic Party
D) Know-Nothing Party
30. Which statement would most likely have been said by creators of the Republican Party?
A) “The extension of slavery must be stopped, for it is the largest issue facing our nation.”
B) “If the people would follow the wise counsel of President Pierce, we would be at peace.”
C) “States’ rights were the foundation of this great republic and they must remain so.”
D) “We welcome ex-southern Democrats as the foundation and backbone of this party.”
31. The Republican Party’s first candidate in a presidential election was __________.
A) Abraham Lincoln
B) William H. Seward
C) Thomas Hart Benton
D) John C. Fremont
32. In the controversial Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court declared that __________.
A) blacks were only free when they entered free territory
B) blacks were not citizens of the United States
C) Dred Scott had the right to sue, but not the right to freedom
D) only the national government could end slavery in new territories
33. In the Dred Scott decision, Roger Taney argued that __________.
A) free blacks were citizens
B) slavery could not be banned in any territory
C) all of the Founding Fathers intended for the rights of blacks to increase over time
D) President Pierce had exceeded his authority regarding slavery in Kansas
34. Robert Walker showed integrity when he __________.
A) uncovered and revealed electoral corruption in Kansas
B) defended John Brown at his trial
C) resigned from the presidential cabinet after the Dred Scott decision
D) stopped a congressional vote on the issue of secession
35. The Panic of 1857 __________.
A) was only a mild recession
B) favored the Republicans in 1858
C) favored the Democrats in 1858
D) was ameliorated by massive aid to the poor from the federal government
36. In the 1858 senatorial campaign in Illinois, __________.
A) Lincoln identified himself as a strong abolitionist
B) Douglas held that all territories should become slave states
C) Lincoln narrowly defeated Douglas
D) Lincoln gained national recognition
37. In an intriguing race for the U.S. Senate in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln was opposed by __________.
A) Stephen A. Douglas
B) John C. Fremont
C) James M. Mason
D) John C. Breckinridge
38. Abraham Lincoln was a popular politician in Illinois for many reasons, including his __________.
A) sophisticated humor
B) charismatic speaking style
C) crafty avoidance of the issue of slavery
D) firm stand that slavery should spread to the territories
39. Compared to the North in 1860, the South had __________.
A) more people employed in agriculture
B) a greater percentage of factories
C) more miles of railroad tracks
D) a lower illiteracy rate
40. John Brown hoped that his raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia would __________.
A) force governments of the South to voluntarily emancipate slaves
B) cause the government to support the Lecompton Constitution
C) cause the resignation of James Buchanan
D) start a slave rebellion in the state of Virginia
41. Abraham Lincoln earned the Republican nomination for president by upsetting __________.
A) Horace Greeley
B) William Seward
C) Stephen Douglas
D) James Buchanan
42. In the 1860 election, who received the second highest popular vote count, yet the lowest number of
electoral votes?
A) Stephen Douglas
B) John Bell
C) John C. Breckinridge
D) John C. Fremont
43. The Republicans became the clear favorite in the presidential election of 1860 when __________.
A) Stephen Douglas refused to run
B) William Seward defected from the Democratic Party
C) James Buchanan supported Abraham Lincoln
D) the Democratic Party split into sectional factions
44. The election of 1860 revealed that __________.
A) very few voters cared a great deal about the issues expressed by the candidates
B) Republicans had very little electoral support in the East
C) Americans voted very strongly along sectional lines
D) urban voters in the South were the strongest proslavery voters
45. Within three months after the election of 1860, __________.
A) Stephen Douglas left the Democratic Party
B) the South had attacked Fort Sumter and Washington D.C.
C) Lincoln decided to express no words of reconciliation
D) seven southern states had left the Union
46. The first state to choose secession was __________.
A) Texas
B) Louisiana
C) South Carolina
D) Georgia
47. The declared president of the Confederate States was __________.
A) Robert E. Lee
B) John C. Calhoun
C) P.G.T. Beauregard
D) Jefferson Davis
48. In the last days of his presidency, James Buchanan was __________.
A) responsible for the secession of all Upper South states
B) successful at stalling secessionist fever
C) criticized for firing southern cabinet members
D) ineffective and powerless
49. President Lincoln’s strategy regarding secession focused on __________.
A) stopping states of the Lower South from seceding
B) keeping states of the upper South in the Union
C) ignoring the demands of any slave state
D) installing military governments in the Lower South
50. The Confederacy fired shots at Fort Sumter when Jefferson Davis discovered that __________.
A) President Lincoln ordered that food be sent to the fort
B) the Union army was closing in from the west
C) Union gunners had fired upon Confederate positions
D) the Union was plotting to kill him
Essay Questions
51. Imagine that you are either a southern Democrat or a northern Whig in the U.S. Congress of 1854.
Express your opinion on the proposed Kansas-Nebraska Act.
52. Discuss the ways in which the North and South had become far different cultures in the areas of
politics, economics, and social customs.
53. Write a series of letters from Abraham Lincoln to Stephen Douglas that reveals the two men’s
different visions of solving the nation’s problems.
