The Road to the Civil War Test REVIEW

How did the Wilmot Proviso contribute to increasing tensions between the North and the South in the years leading up to the Civil War?

• It attempted to give Southern states more political power in Congress, reducing sectional conflicts.

• It attempted to ban slavery in territories gained from the Mexican-American War, angering the South.

• It attempted to strengthen the Fugitive Slave Act, which led to greater cooperation between the North and South.

• It attempted to allow new states to decide the issue of slavery through popular sovereignty, easing tensions.

Which of the following statements explains an effect of the Missouri Compromise?

• The compromise allowed slaves to be counted toward a state’s population for representation in Congress.

• The compromise ended the slave trade in Washington, D.C.

• The compromise maintained the balance between the number of free states and slave states in the Senate.

• The compromise enabled Southerners to pursue fugitive slaves into the North.

How did Henry Clay attempt to ease tensions between the North and South prior to the Civil War?

• He proposed the Compromise of 1850, which included measures to balance the interests of free and slave states.

• He refused to negotiate on the issue of slavery, leading to further division.

• He led Southern states in seceding from the Union to protect slavery.

• He supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which increased sectional tensions.

Based on the map showing the U.S. after the Compromise of 1850 and your knowledge of U.S. history, which TWO outcomes resulted from this compromise?

 Select TWO correct answers. 

• New territories were given the power to decide the issue of slavery.

• The Florida territory was purchased from Spain and admitted as a free state.

• California was admitted into the Union as a free state. 

• Southern state legislators failed to get a new fugitive-slave law passed.

• A parallel was designated as the boundary between free and slave states.

Which of the following was one effect of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850?

• Tensions among the populations of northern and southern states increased.

• Immigrants were forced to relocate from eastern cities to western territories.

• The Republican Party lost influence in the federal legislature.

• The Missouri Compromise was deemed unconstitutional by federal courts.

Which of the following statements describes the significance of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin?

• Many plantation owners in the South decided to set enslaved people free.

• Many members of Congress supported an amendment making the practice of slavery illegal.

• Many enslaved people read the book and used it as a guide to escape to the North.

• Many Northerners changed how they felt about slavery and supported abolition.

Which statement below best describes the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854?

• It banned slavery in all new U.S. territories, following the Missouri Compromise.

• It allowed the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide the issue of slavery through popular sovereignty.

• It strengthened the Fugitive Slave Act by requiring all states to return escaped enslaved people.

• It granted immediate statehood to Kansas and Nebraska as free states.

* The Missouri Compromise

* The Compromise of 1850

* The Kansas-Nebraska Act

  QUESTION: What was the fundamental question addressed in each of these congressional acts listed above?

• Should states be allowed to nullify federal laws?

• Should slave labor be allowed in new states?

• Should the U.S. expand westward?

• Should states be able to secede from the Union?

Which quote below best expresses the idea of popular sovereignty in the United States before the Civil War?

• “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.”

• “Slavery shall not exist in any territory of the United States.”

• “The whole question of slavery in the territories should be left to the people residing therein (living there) ”

• “Congress must protect slavery in all territories and states.”

Which of the following THREE key groups made up the Republican Party when it was founded in the 1850s?

 Select THREE correct answers.

 

• Free-Soilers who opposed slavery in new territories

• Supporters of the Kansas-Nebraska Act who wanted popular sovereignty

• Northern abolitionists who wanted to end slavery

• Former Whigs who opposed the expansion of slavery

• Southern plantation owners who supported slavery