The American Pageant Chapter 19 Multiple Choice Questions

Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin 

A. Was strongly rooted in the religiously based anti slavery sentiments
B. Argued that non-slaveholding whites suffered the most from slavery
C. Helped northerners understand that southerners disliked the cruelty of slavery
D. Was based on Stowe's extensive personal experience with slavery in the Deep South
E. Portrayed Black slaves as seething with anger and potential violence

Answer is A. (Was strongly rooted in the religiously based anti slavery sentiments).

Hilton R. Helper's The Impending Crisis of the South contented that 

A. The Founders had intended that slavery should eventually be eliminated
B. Slavery was contrary to the religious values held by most Americans
C. Slavery did great harm to the poor whites of the South
D. Slavery violated the human rights of African Americans
E. Wealthy plantation owners would eventually seek to enslave poor whites as well

Answer is C. (Slavery did great harm to the poor whites of the South).

Southerners were especially enraged by abolitionists' funding of antislavery settlers in Kansas because

A. Pro Slavery settlers from Missouri could not receive the same kind of funding
B. Such sponsored settlement would make mockery of Douglas' popular sovereignty doctrine
C. The settlers included fanatical and violent abolitionists like John Brown
D. Most ordinary westward-moving pioneers would be sympathetic to slavery
E. Douglas' Kansas-Nebraska had seemed to imply that Kansas would become a slave state


Answer is E. (Douglas's Kansas-Nebraska had seemed to imply that Kansas would be a slave state).

As submitted to Congress, the Lecompton Constitution was designed to 

A. Bring Kansas into the Union as a free state
B. Bring Kansas into the Union as a slave state and Nebraska as a free state
C. Prohibit both antislavery New Englanders or proslavery Missourians from interferences in Kansas politics
D. Insure that the future of slavery would be determined according to Douglas' principle of popular sovereignty
E. Bring Kansas into the Union, while making it impossible to prohibit slavery there


Answer is E. (Bring Kansas into the Union, while making it impossible to prohibit slavery there).


The fanatical abolitionist John Brown made his first entry into violent antislavery politics by

A. Killing five proslavery settlers at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas
B. Organizing a slave rebellion in Missouri
C. Leading an armed raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia
D. Organizing an armed militia of blacks and whites to conduct escaped slaves to Canada
E. Soliciting funds from abolitionists intellectuals in Massachusetts to finance a slave revolt


Answer is A. (Killing five proslavery settlers at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas).


Congressman Preston Brooks beat Senator Charles Summer nearly to death on the Senate floor because

A. Summer had helped to fun John's Brown's violent activities in Kansas
B. Summer had used abusive language to describe the South and a South Carolina senator
C. Summer had personally blocked the admission of Kansas to the Union as a slave state
D. Summer had threatened to kill Brooks if he had the opportunity
E. Democrats believed that Summer would be a dangerous Republican candidate for President


Answer is B. (Summer had used abusive language to describe the South and a South Carolina senator).

The election of 1856 was most noteworthy for

A. Democrat James Buchanan's surprisingly easy victory over John Fremont
B. The support immigrants and Catholics gave to the American party
C. The dramatic rise of the Republican party
D. The absence of the slavery issue from the campaign
E. The strong showing of former president Millard Fillmore as the American party candidate


Answer is C. (The dramatic rise of the Republican party).


In the Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court

A. Avoided controversy by ruling that the slave Dred Scott had no right to sue in federal court
B. Ruled that the Kansas-Nebraska act was unconstitutional
C. Ruled that Congress could not prohibit slavery in any of the territories because slaves were private property of which owners could not be deprived
D. Ruled that Dred Scott was still a slave because he had not filed suit until he had been returned to the slave state of Missouri
E. Ruled the Dred Scott had to be freed because his owner had taken him into a free state, Illinois


Answer is C. (Ruled that Congress could not prohibit slavery in any of the territories because slavery were private property of which owners could not be deprived).


The financial and economic collapse of 1857 increased northern anger at the South's refusal to support

A. Banking regulation and development of a sound paper currency
B. A transcontinental railroad and transatlantic telegraph
C. Publicly supported state universities
D. The admission of any more free sates into the Union
E. Higher tariffs and free western homesteads for farmers


Answer is E. (Higher tariffs and free western homesteads for farmers).


The crucial Freeport Question that Lincoln demanded that Douglas answer during their debates was whether 

A. Secession from the union was legal
B. The people of a territory could prohibit slavery in light of the Dred Scott decision
C. Illinois should continue to prohibit slavery
D. Kansas should be admitted to the Union as a slave or free state
E. Douglas still supported the brutal Fugitive Slave Law as a part of the Compromise of 1850


Answer is B. (The people of a territory could prohibit slavery in light of the Dred Scott decision).



Southerners were particularly enraged by the John Brown affair because 

A. So many slaves had joined the insurrection
B. Northerner's celebration of Brown as a martyr seemed to indicate their support for slave insurrection
C. Brown had used vicious language to describe southerners and their way of life
D. Brown escaped punishment by pleading insanity
E. Prominent Republican leaders like William Seward and Abraham Lincoln expressed admiration for Brown


Answer is B. (Northerner's celebration of Brown as a martyr seemed to indicate their support for slave insurrection).



In the campaign of 1860, the Democratic party

A. Tried to unite around the compromise popular sovereignty views of Stephen A. Douglas
B Campaigned on a platform of restoring the compromises of 1820 and 1850
C. Split in two, with each faction nominating its own presidential candidate
D. Threatened to support secession if the sectionally-based Republicans won the election
E. Attempted to keep its militant fire-eating southern wing out of sight


Answer is C. (Split in two, with each faction nominating its own presidential candidate).



During the campaign of 1860, Abraham Lincoln and the Republican party

A. Opposed the expansion of slavery but did not threaten to attack slavery in the South
B. Waged a national campaign to win votes in the South has well as the Midwest and the Northeast
C. Promised, if elected, to seek peaceful, compensated abolition of slavery in the South
D. Were forced to be cautious about limiting the expansion of slavery because Stephen A. Douglas' threats to support secession
E. Focused entirely on the slavery question


Answer is A. (Opposed the expansion of slavery but did not threaten to attack slavery in the South).


Within two months after the election of Lincoln, 

A. Northerners were mobilizing for Civil War
B. Seven southern states had seceded and formed the Confederate States of America
C. All the slaveholding states had held conventions and passed secessionist resolutions
D. President Buchanan appealed for troops to put down the secessionist rebellion
E. The southern states had demanded a new constitutional convention to guarantee the future of slavery


Answer is B. (Seven southern states had seceded and formed the Confederate States of America).



Lincoln rejected the proposed Crittenden Compromise primarily because

A. It left open the possibility that slavery could expand into Mexico, Central America, or the Caribbean
B. It permitted the further expansion of slavery north of the mason Dixon
C. It represented essentially the continuation of Douglas' popular sovereignty doctrine
D. The Supreme Court would probably have ruled it unconstitutional
E. It would have restored a permanent equal balance of slave and free states within the Union


Answer is A. (It left open the possibility that slavery could expand into Mexico, Central America, or the Caribbean).