Chapter 13 of Foner/ True or False Statements

While the Fugitive Slave Act was a symbolic victory for the pro-slavery side, it was seldom enforced.

False, the law allowed special federal commissioners to determine the fate of the fugitive. It required individual citizens to assist in a capturing. The Southern leaders supported a measure allowing the agents to go into the North looking for runaway slaves. Slave catchers entered California and other states scouting out runaways. Free born blacks feared they could be taken back as slaves and therefore fled to Canada.

The Free Soil party contended that the western lands should stay "free" of settlement by the United States.

False, they wanted western lands to stay free of slavery, but not free of settlement. They believed settling west would lead to economic betterment.

Another name for the American Party of 1854 was the Know-Nothing Party.

True.

As late as 1860, California's male population outnumbered females by nearly three to one.

True.

Born during George Washington's presidency, by the time James Buchanan was elected president, he had served in Pennsylvania's legislature, in both houses of Congress, and as secretary of state under James K. Polk.

True.

By 1860, nearly 300,000 men, women, and children had traveled over land to Oregon and California.

True.

By the 1840s, southern leaders were convinced that slavery must expand or die.

True.

During the mid-1850s, Kansas witnessed a series of bloody conflicts between pro- and antislavery groups.

True.

For almost a decade, from the mid-1830s to 1845, the Republic of Texas was neither part of the United States nor part of Mexico.

True.

In the Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court ruled that African Americans had no rights that whites were compelled to recognize.

True.

In their initial pronouncements, Confederate leaders stressed the preservation of white supremacy and slavery.

True.

John Brown and his followers murdered five supporters of slavery at Pottawatomie Creek in May 1856.

True.

Lincoln shared many of the racial prejudices of his day.

True.

When the Mormons settled in Salt Lake City, Utah was part of Mexico.

True.

A series of revolutions in Europe —in England, France, Italy, and Germany —succeeded in permanently making those countries republics.

False,

By 1850, the South's railroad networks accounted for approximately 50 percent of the lines in the nation.

False,

Following the Texas Revolt of 1835 -1836, the newly formed Republic of Texas resisted annexation by the United States.

False,

In 1860, the Republican Party platform sought to lower taxes by decreasing the tariff.

False,

In his 1858 senate campaign against Stephen Douglas, Abraham Lincoln called for the immediate abolition of slavery.

False,

In the famous brawl on the floor of Congress, antislavery advocate Senator Charles Sumner was beat almost to death by Representative Preston Brooks over a debate regarding the legitimacy of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

False,

John Brown was a Confederate hero martyred in his attempt to preserve what is now West Virginia as a slave state.

False,

The Crittenden Compromise would have guaranteed the end to slavery in states where it existed already, after a seven-year cooling-off period.

False,

The Know-Nothing Party was founded as a crusade against compulsory public education.

False,

Under the Fugitive Slave Act no slaves were ever actually returned to the South.

False,