Chapter 14 Practice Test
Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
____ 1. What impact did the Wilmot Proviso have on life in America?
a. / It angered the southern states so much so that they decided to secede from the Union and form their own nation.b. / It started a debate between the North and the South that showed a growing sectionalism in the United States.
c. / It ended the conflicts between the North and the South over the issue of slavery in the territories.
d. / It exposed the divisions between the North and the South over the issue of abortion for the first time.
____ 2. How did the outcome of the Mexican War lead to the proposal of the Wilmot Proviso?
a. / The U.S. was suffering after the war with Mexico and the Wilmot Proviso provided ideas on how to improve the economy.b. / The U.S. received money from the war and the Wilmot Proviso proposed a way to divide the cash.
c. / The U.S. won the war with Mexico and the Wilmot Proviso was written to help improve U.S. relations with Mexico after the war.
d. / The U.S. gained territory from the war and the Wilmot Proviso proposed a way to settle the dispute over slavery in the territory.
____ 3. The Wilmot Proviso led to the introduction of the idea of popular sovereignty. How did the idea of popular sovereignty affect slavery in the United States?
a. / It stated that slavery should not be permitted in lands that were not official states.b. / It stated that states or territories had the power to decide whether to permit slavery.
c. / It declared that slavery was unjust and should not be permitted anywhere in the U.S.
d. / It declared that the federal government should make decisions about slavery in the U.S.
____ 4. What was the main reason that most northerners were opposed to the new Fugitive Slave Act created by the Compromise of 1850?
a. / They felt it would endanger their way of life since a large number of fugitive slaves lived in the North.b. / They felt it would encourage slaves to resort to rebellion and violence to protest the new law.
c. / They felt it gave commissioners too much power and was unfair to slaves by giving them a trial without a jury.
d. / They felt it would end the progress that the antislavery movement had made in America.
____ 5. What was the significance of the Compromise of 1850?
a. / It illustrated that the issue of slavery was becoming less important.b. / It lessened the divisions between North and South.
c. / It destroyed the economic benefits of the slave trade in all parts of the nation.
d. / It ended the balance between free and slave states in the Union.
____ 6. Why did Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin anger many southerners?
a. / They thought that Stowe’s novel would outsell novels by southern authors.b. / They felt that Stowe’s novel would inspire people to join the anti-slavery movement.
c. / They were angered by the negative description that Stowe gave of slaves.
d. / They believed that the novel gave an accurate portrayal of southern life.
____ 7. The Kansas-Nebraska Act did all of the following, except what?
a. / Maintain the balance of slave and free states in the Union.b. / Divide the Louisiana Purchase into two territories.
c. / Allow popular sovereignty to decide the slavery issue in the Louisiana Purchase.
d. / Lift the restriction on slavery made under the Missouri Compromise.
____ 8. Which of these was an effect of the Kansas-Nebraska Act?
a. / It prohibited the practice of slavery in the territories once and for all.b. / It brought the slavery issue between the North and South back into the spotlight.
c. / It reinforced ideas that had been introduced in the Missouri Compromise.
d. / It declared the conditions of the Fugitive Slave Act unconstitutional.
____ 9. Which of the following issues most greatly influenced the election of 1852?
a. / westward growth of the U.S.b. / economic policy in the U.S.
c. / the growth of the cotton industry in the U.S.
d. / the expansion of slavery in the U.S.
____ 10. Which of these was a result of the Pottawatomie Massacre?
a. / Kansas’ citizens began a mass migration to northern states.b. / Kansas collapsed into a civil war and many citizens were killed.
c. / Kansas’ government was no longer divided over the issue of slavery.
d. / Kansas was declared a free state by the federal government.
____ 11. Lawrence Kansas was burned by...
a. / hostile indians.b. / The women’s Christian Temperance Union led by Carrie Nation.
c. / rabid abolitionists led by John Brown.
d. / a posse of pro-slavery vigilantes.
____ 12. What issue did the Republican Party rally around in 1854?
a. / global warming.b. / the spread of slavery in the West.
c. / harsh treatment of Native Americans.
d. / the unchecked flood of immigrants.
____ 13. The decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford said...
a. / slaves are property and as such have no legal rights.b. / only Congress can regulate interstate trade.
c. / The Bank of The United States is Constitutional.
d. / The State of Georgia cannot make a treaty with the Cherokee nation.
____ 14. The purpose of the Lincoln-Douglas debates was for Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas to
a. / announce their candidacies for Senator of Illinois and gain the support of voters.b. / spread the importance of the antislavery movement to the state of Illinois.
c. / gain supporters for the newly formed Republican Party in the U.S.
d. / fight for the rights of African American slaves in the U.S.
____ 15. What changes occurred to political parties in the United States after the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed?
a. / The Whig Party gained strength and worked to spread slavery throughout the U.S.b. / The Republican Party was formed and united against the spread of slavery to the West.
c. / The Democratic Party lost the presidential election because of its support for the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
d. / The Know-Nothing Party lost support after it failed to stop the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
____ 16. Why did John Brown lead an armed resistance in Virginia in 1859?
a. / to steal weapons and bring them to local slavesb. / to fight the work of antislavery supporters in Virginia
c. / to control the slaves that had escaped in Virginia
d. / to show his anger over the Dred Scott decision
____ 17. Why did John Brown’s raid lead some southerners to begin to consider seceding from the Union?
a. / They thought that the raid would increase southern support for the antislavery movement.b. / They feared that the slaves in the South would take a cue from the raid and lead their own attack.
c. / They thought that the federal government would soon declare slavery illegal in the South.
d. / They feared for the safety of the South and thought another attack from the North might occur.
____ 18. Which of these best describes John Brown in his attack on Harpers Ferry, Virginia?
a. / organized / c. / fearfulb. / determined / d. / victorious
____ 19. In Lincoln’s inaugural speech in 1861, he tried to convince the South that
a. / he would make the needs of the South his priority.b. / the government would not start a war with the seceded states.
c. / the government would not try to take Fort Sumter from the South.
d. / he was actually a strong supporter of slavery.
____ 20. Which of these expresses the reason why the Democratic Party was not a strong force in the election of 1860?
a. / Many members of the Democratic Party decided to vote for a candidate that was not in their party.b. / The Democrats were a relatively new political party and had not yet gained enough support.
c. / Many southerners in the Democratic Party became abolitionists and supported other parties.
d. / The Democrats could not agree on a single candidate so their votes were divided between two candidates.
____ 21. Why did southerners oppose the entry of California into the Union as a free state?
a. / The balance between slave and free states would be upset.b. / The California gold rush had caused rapid population growth.
c. / Most Californians did not approve of organized religion.
d. / Most Californians supported John Brown.
____ 22. The term for favoring the interests of one region over the interests of the entire country is called
a. / populism. / c. / sectionalism.b. / communism. / d. / socialism.
____ 23. Which of the following was not part of the Fugitive Slave Act?
a. / Fugitive slaves could testify on their own behalf.b. / People who hid or helped runaway slaves would be fined.
c. / Commissioners earned more money by returning fugitives than rejecting slaveholders’ claims.
d. / Slaveholders could use testimony from white witnesses.
PRACTICING SOCIAL STUDIES SKILLS
Study the list below and answer the questions that follow.
The Compromise of 1850
. California to enter the Union as a free state.
. The rest of the Mexican Cession to be divided into two federal territories, where popular sovereignty will decide on the issue of slavery.
. Texas to give up land east of the upper Rio Grande. In return, the federal government will pay Texas's debts from when it was an independent republic.
. The slave trade to end in the nation's capital.
. A more effective fugitive slave law to be passed.
____ 24. According to the Compromise of 1850, which state would enter the Union as a free state?
a. / New Mexico / c. / Kansasb. / California / d. / Texas
Completion
Complete each statement.
25. In the election of 1860, Abraham Lincoln won despite not having won a single ______state. (southern/western)
26. The novel ,______,helped educate northerners about slavery.
27. The issue of slavery in the West was the key issue of the ______debates.
28. President James Buchanan ______the secession of the southern states. (opposed/supported)
Matching
In the space provided, write the letter of the term or place that matches each description. Some answers will not be used.
a. / Abraham Lincoln / h. / Kansas-Nebraska Actb. / Constitutional Union Party / i. / McCulloch v. Maryland
c. / Dred Scott v. Sandford / j. / Republican Party
d. / Freeport Doctrine / k. / Roger B. Taney
e. / Henry Clay / l. / Whig Party
f. / James Buchanan / m. / Wilmot Proviso
g. / Jefferson Davis
____ 29. Proposal that called for a ban on slavery and involuntary servitude in all parts of the Mexican Cession
____ 30. Senator who proposed both the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850
____ 31. His election angered southerners and led southern states to withdraw from the Union
____ 32. Political party that fell apart when northern and southern members disagreed about the Kansas-Nebraska issue
____ 33. Stephen Douglas's idea that the police would enforce the voter's decision regarding slavery even if it contradicted the Dred Scott ruling