AP U.S. History
Multiple Choice Worksheet – Chapter 18
Make the best choice.
1. In order to maintain the two great political parties as vital bonds of national unity, early 19th century politicians
a) decided to ban slavery from all United States territories
b) decided to allow slavery into all U.S. territories
c) avoided public discussion of slavery
d) banished abolitionists from membership in either national party
e) worked to make third parties almost impossible
2. The U.S.’ victory in the Mexican American War resulted in
a) renewed controversy over the issue of extending slavery into the territories
b) a possible split in the Whig and Democrat parties over slavery
c) the cession by Mexico of an enormous amount of land to the U.S.
d) a rush of settlers to new American territory in California
e) all of the above
3. The Wilmot Proviso, if adopted, would have
a) prevented the taking of any territory from Mexico
b) required California to enter the Union as a slave state
c) overturned the Fugitive Slave Law
d) prohibited slavery in any territory acquired in the Mexican War
e) all of the above
4. The debate over slavery in the Mexican Cession
a) threatened to split national politics along North-South lines
b) nearly resulted in the return of the territory to Mexico
c) resulted in the formation of the Republican party
d) resulted in strong hostility to further expansion
e) all of the above
5. In 1848, the Free Soil party platform advocated all of the following except
a) support of the Wilmot Proviso
b) internal improvements
c) free government homesteads for settlers
d) opposition to slavery in the territories
e) an end to slavery in the District of Columbia
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6. According to the principle of ‘popular sovereignty.’ The question of slavery in the territories would be determined by
a) the most popular national leaders
b) a national referendum
c) congressional legislation
d) a Supreme Court decision
e) the vote of the people in any given territory
7. The public liked popular sovereignty because it
a) stopped the spread of slavery
b) fit in with the democratic tradition of self-determination
c) provided a national solution to the problem of slavery
d) supported the Wilmot Proviso
e) upheld the principles of white supremacy
8. In the 1848 presidential election, the Democratic and Whig parties
a) lost to the Free Soil party
b) addressed the issue of slavery
c) remained silent on the issue of slavery
d) abandoned the tactic of nominating military leaders
e) were divided on the issue of admitting California
9. The key issue for the major parties in the 1848 presidential election was
a) personalities
b) slavery
c) expansion
d) Indian removal
e) The economy
10. The event that brought turmoil to the administration of Zachary Taylor was the
a) passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act
b) influx of immigrants to the west coast
c) attempt to acquire Cuba
d) growth of lawlessness in California
e) discovery of gold in California
11. The Free Soilers argued that slavery
a) was unsuited to the West
b) would cause more costly wage labor to wither away
c) would, through its profits, enable small farmers to buy more land
d) should be gradually abolished
e) all of the above
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12. Of those people going to California during the gold rush,
a) the majority had come from foreign nations
b) slaves constituted a sizable minority
c) the majority gained considerable financial rewards
d) most were interested in free-soil farming
e) a distressingly high proportion were lawless men
13. The Free Soliers condemned slavery because
a) of the harm it did to blacks
b) of moral principles
c) it destroyed the chances of free white workers to rise to self-employment
d) it was the only way they had of combating the appeal of the Democratic party
e) it damaged the national economy
14. By 1850, the South
a) was experiencing economic difficulties
b) feared that slavery might be abolished in states where it already existed
c) remained concerned about its weak voice in national government
d) was relatively well off, p[politically and economically
e) recognized that slavery expansion was over
15. Harriet Tubman gained fame
a) by helping slaves escape to Canada
b) in the gold fields of California
c) as an African-American antislavery novelist
d) as an advocate of the Fugitive Slave Law
e) by urging white women to oppose slavery
16. During the 1850s, slaves gained their freedom most frequently by
a) running away
b) persuading masters to free them
c) rebellion
d) use of federal laws
e) self-purchase
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17. John C. Calhoun’s plan to protect the South and slavery involved
a) a constitutional amendment permanently guaranteeing equal numbers of slave and free states
b) southern secession from the Union
c) support of Henry Clay’s proposed concessions by both the North and the South
d) repealing the president’s veto power
e) the election of two presidents, one from the North and one from the South
18. Daniel Webster’s famed Seventh of March speech in 1850 resulted in
a) Senate rejection of a fugitive-slave law
b) A shift toward compromise in the North
c) Condemnation by northern commercial interests
d) Charges of accepting bribes
e) A movement to draft him for the presidency
19. In his Seventh of March speech, Daniel Webster
a) attacked Henry Clay’s compromise proposals
b) called for a new, more stringent fugitive-slave law
c) advocated a congressional ban on slavery in the territories
d) proposed a scheme for electing two presidents, one from the North and one from the South, each having veto power
e) became a hated figure in the South
20. For his position in his Seventh of March speech, Daniel Webster was viciously condemned by
a) northern Unionists
b) northern banking and commercial interests
c) abolitionists
d) Henry Clay
e) John C. Calhoun
21. The Young Guard from the North
a) regarded preserving the Union as their top priority
b) agreed fully with the Old Guard on the issue of slavery
c) saw expansionism as a solution to the slavery question
d) gave support to John C. Calhoun’s plan for rescuing the Union
e) were most interested in purging and purifying the Union
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22. In the debates of 1850, Senator William H. Seward, as a representative of the northern Young Guard, argued that
a) the Constitution must be obeyed
b) John C. Calhoun’s compromise plan must be adopted to preserve the Union
c) Christian legislators must obey God’s moral law
d) Compromise must be achieved to preserve the Union
e) African Americans should be granted their own territory
23. During the debate of 1850, ___________________ argued that there was a “higher law” than the Constitution that compelled him to demand the exclusion of slavery form the territories.
a) William H. Seward
b) Henry Clay
c) Daniel Webster
d) Stephen A. Douglas
e) Zachary Taylor
24. President Zachary Taylor unknowingly helped the cause of compromise in 1850 when he
a) lead an invasion of Texas to halt its attempts to take part of New Mexico
b) supported fellow southerner John C. Calhoun’s plan for union
c) died suddenly and Millard Fillmore became president
d) ushered in a second Era of Good Feelings
e) decided not to run for re-election
25. Southern delegates met at a convention in Nashville in the summer of 1850 to
a) plan southern secession
b) plan ways to acquire more slave territory
c) propose a series of constitutional amendments
d) denounce Daniel Webster as a traitor to the South
e) condemn the compromises being worked out in Congress
26. In the Compromise of 1850, Congress determined that slavery in the New Mexico and Utah territories was
a) to be banned
b) protected by federal law
c) to be decided by popular sovereignty
d) to be ignored until either territory applied for admission to statehood
e) to be decided by the Mormon Church
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27. The most alarming aspect of the Compromise of 1850 to northerners was the decision concerning
a) slavery in the District of Columbia
b) slavery in the New Mexico and Utah territories
c) the new Fugitive Slave Law
d) settlement of the Texas-New Mexico boundary dispute
e) continuation of the interstate slave trade
28. The Fugitive Slave Law included all of the flowing provisions except
a) the requirement that fugitive slaves be returned from Canada
b) denial of a jury trial to runaway slaves
c) denial of fleeing slaves’ right to testify on their own behalf
d) the penalty of imprisonment for northerners who helped slaves to escape
e) a higher payment if officials determined blacks to be runaways
29. Many northern states passed ‘personal liberty’ laws in response to the Compromise of 1850’s provision regarding
a) slavery in the District of Columbia
b) slavery in the territories
c) restriction son free blacks
d) the interstate slave trade
e) runaway slaves
30. In light of future evidence, it seems apparent that in the Compromise of 1850 the South made a tactical blunder by
a) allowing a ban on the slave trade in Washington, D.C.
b) demanding a strong fugitive-slave law
c) not insisting on federal protection of slavery in the territories
d) allowing the admission of California as a free state
e) allowing popular sovereignty in Nebraska territory
31. The fatal split in the Whig party in 1852 occurred over
a) the nomination of General Winfield Scott or Daniel Webster
b) slavery
c) the Gadsden Purchase
d) homestead laws
e) the transcontinental railroad route
32. The election of 1852 was significant because it
a) saw the victory of a pro-South northerner
b) marked the return of issues-oriented campaigning
c) saw the rise of purely national parties
d) marked the end of the Whig party
e) saw the emergence of an antislavery third party
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33. For a short time in the 1850s, an American seized control of
a) Nicaragua
b) Cuba
c) Japan
d) El Salvador
e) Puerto Rico
34. The man who opened Japan to the U.S. was
a) William Walker
b) Franklin Pierce
c) Lafcadio Hearn
d) Clayton Bulwer
e) Matthew Parry
35. The prime objective of Manifest Destiny in the 1850s was
a) Panama
b) Nicaragua
c) Cuba
d) Hawaii
e) The Dominican Republic
36. The U.S.’ scheme to gain control of Cuba was stopped when
a) Spain thereatened war
b) northern free-soilers fiercely protested the effort
c) U.S. leaders signed the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty
d) Cuba refused to go along with the plan
e) U.S. adventurers bungled their invasion
37. The most brazen scheme for territorial expansion in the 1850s was expressed in the
a) Clayton-Bulwer Treaty
b) Wilmot Proviso
c) Kansas-Nebraska Act
d) Gadsden Purchase
e) Ostend Manifesto
38. Most American leaders believed that the only way to keep the new Pacific Coast territories from breaking away form U.S. control was
a) to allow slavery in these areas
b) to build a canal across Central America
c) to grant the territories quick statehood
d) to construct a transcontinental railroad
e) to establish large naval bases in San Diego
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39. A southern route for the transcontinental railroad seemed the best because
a) northern areas were organized territories
b) slave labor could be used to construct it
c) the railroad would be easier to build in this area
d) Mexican leader Santa Anna agreed to contribute money for the project
e) It would firmly tie southern California to the Union
40. Stephen A. Douglas proposed that the question of slavery in the Kansas-Nebraska Territory be decided by
a) popular sovereignty
b) making Kansas a free territory and Nebraska a slave territory
c) the Supreme Court
d) admitting California, Kansas, and Nebraska to the Union as free states
e) the winner of the next presidential election
41. Stephen A. Douglas’s plans for deciding the slaveyr question in the Kansas-Nebraska scheme required repeal of the
a) Compromise of 1850
b) Fugitive Slave Act
c) Wilmot Proviso
d) Northwest Ordinance
e) Missouri Compromise
42. One of Stephen Douglas’s mistakes in proposing the Kansas-Nebraska Act was
a) not securing the transcontinental railroad for the North
b) overestimating the protest to the bill
c) allowing slavery to spread into new territory
d) underestimating the depth of northern opposition to the spread of slavery
e) believing that slavery could not survive in Kansas