Chapters 14 & 15 History Quiz

Which Southerner argued that "I consider slavery much more secure in the Union than out of it?" A) Jefferson Davis B) Howell Cobb C) John Smith Preston D) Alexander Stephens

D) Alexander Stephens

What happened to John Brown after his raid on Harper's Ferry? A) He escaped to Massachusetts. B) He was deported to Canada. C) He was pardoned by the Republican governor. D) He was executed.

D) He was executed

How did more moderate southern Democrats respond to the choice of John C. Breckenridge as presidential nominee? A) They joined Republicans in an effort to preserve the Union. B) Moderate Democrats attempted to revive the Whig Party. C) They backed Breckenridge once he offered support for a federal slave code. D) Moderate Democrats organized the Constitutional Union Party.

D) Moderate Democrats organized the Constitutional Union Party.

Why did the slave states of the Upper South initially reject secession? A) The states believed the North would quickly send invading armies to the Upper South. B) They had great difficulty in getting together a quorum of legislators to debate the issue. C) People in the Upper South states feared that secession would lead to a great slave rebellion. D) The Upper South did not have as great a stake in slavery as the states in the Lower South.

D) The Upper South did not have as great a stake in slavery as the states in the Lower South.

In the mid-1850s, Abraham Lincoln's search for a political home was based on his A) commitment to the abolition of slavery throughout the United States. B) belief that nothing short of war would settle the slavery issue in the country. C) desire to fight the Dred Scott decision. D) opposition to the extension of slavery in the United States.

D) opposition to the extension of slavery in the United States

What did the Supreme Court rule in its 1857 Dred Scott decision? A) Dred Scott was not a citizen of the United States. B) The Missouri Compromise was constitutional. C) Slaves were free once they visited northern states. D) Congress had the power to prohibit slavery in the territories.

A) Dred Scott was not a citizen of the United States.

How did the increasingly confident Republican Party prepare for the election of 1860? A) It expanded its platform to address other issues. B) It focused on the slavery issue with more intensity than ever. C) It nominated John Bell for president. D) The Republicans focused on gaining votes in the South.

A) It expanded its platform to address other issues.

How did the Dred Scott decision increase sectional tension? A) The decision lent credence to the belief in the North that a Slave Power conspiracy existed. B) It indicated that the issue of slavery could be determined in any territory long before the moment of statehood. C) The decision strengthened the Democratic Party by unifying its northern and southern branches. D) The ruling precipitated the resignation of Supreme Court justices from the North.

A) The decision lent credence to the belief in the North that a Slave Power conspiracy existed.

During the debates, Stephen A. Douglas depicted Abraham Lincoln as A) an abolitionist who loved blacks. B) uninformed on key issues. C) an avid supporter of the Fugitive Slave Act. D) a political chameleon who changed his opinions to get votes.

A) an abolitionist who loved blacks.

Early in the struggle to win Kansas, proslavery supporters A) invaded Kansas to control the election through fraud and intimidation. B) initiated the first orderly implementation of popular sovereignty. C) saw that the cause was lost and retreated from the contest. D) got no support from the presidential administration of Millard Fillmore.

A) invaded Kansas to control the election through fraud and intimidation.

In his first inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln A) reassured the South that he had no right to interfere with slavery where it existed. B) threatened to declare war if any more southern states seceded from the Union. C) promised he would not allow the South to fire the first shot in a civil war. D) declared that he did not have the power to execute the law in states that had seceded.

A) reassured the South that he had no right to interfere with slavery where it existed.

How did James Buchanan respond as the secession crisis loomed over the final weeks of his presidential administration? A) He called several ineffective special sessions of Congress. B) Buchanan remained in Washington and did nothing. C) He urged the Supreme Court to rule secession before Lincoln took office. D) Buchanan prodded Congress to beef up the military in case there was a war.

B) Buchanan remained in Washington and did nothing.

What made Abraham Lincoln an attractive candidate for the Republican nomination? A) Lincoln supported high tariffs. B) He represented the crucial state of Illinois. C) Lincoln's extreme racial views appealed to antislavery southerners. D) He was good friends with powerful Democrats.

B) He represented the crucial state of Illinois.

What was the result of Preston Brooks's caning of Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner in 1856? A) The incident settled a long-standing personal grievance between two men. B) It further inflamed sectional passions over the institution of slavery. C) Brooks's caning ended Sumner's long career in the Senate. D) It resulted in Brooks becoming an outcast in his home state of South Carolina.

B) It further inflamed sectional passions over the institution of slavery.

What did Douglas argue in what became known as the Freeport Doctrine? A) The Dred Scott decision would very likely be reversed in the near future. B) Settlers could ban slavery by not passing the laws necessary to protect slave property. C) The Supreme Court could not supersede the implementation of popular sovereignty. D) Halting slavery would cause dire financial consequences for the United States.

B) Settlers could ban slavery by not passing the laws necessary to protect slave property.

What happened when Democrats met to choose a presidential candidate in Charleston, South Carolina? A) The Democrats agreed unanimously to Stephen A. Douglas. B) The party divided into southern and northern factions. C) The Democrats selected Jefferson Davis as their candidate. D) The delegates agreed to reject popular sovereignty.

B) The party divided into southern and northern factions.

In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president because he had A) a majority of the popular vote. B) strong support in the more populous free states. C) enough popularity to carry tow crucial slave states. D) three opponents who split the southern vote.

B) strong support in the more populous free states.

What was the result of the Lincoln-Douglas debates? A) The Democrats shunned Stephen A. Douglas. B) Douglas scored a landslide victory against Lincoln. C) Abraham Lincoln became nationally known. D) Lincoln defeated Douglas and became a U.S. senator.

C) Abraham Lincoln became nationally known.

Who, according to Abraham Lincoln, had the responsibility to stop the spread of slavery? A) Southern planters B) The Democratic Party C) Congress D) State governments

C) Congress

How did Stephen A. Douglas respond in 1857 when proslavery forces in Lecompton, Kansas, drafted a constitution that many felt was fraudulent? A) Douglas stood solidly behind southern Democrats in supporting the document. B) He demanded that the votes be recounted before he would take a stand on that issue. C) Douglas came out against the proslavery constitution. D) He ignored the issue because he feared it would ruin his career.

C) Douglas came out against the proslavery constitution

What happened when the first territorial legislature in Kansas met? A) Legislators voted to settle the slavery issue peacefully. B) It voted to secede from the union. C) Legislators enacted tough proslavery laws. D) It voted to repeal the Fugitive Slave Act.

C) Legislators enacted tough proslavery laws

What did Abraham Lincoln personally believe about slavery? A) Slavery would be acceptable with a few humane modifications. B) It should be abolished immediately. C) Slavery was morally wrong. D) It was dangerously misunderstood by most Northerners.

C) Slavery was morally wrong.

Which was the first state to secede from the Union after Lincoln's election? A) Virginia B) Mississippi C) South Carolina D) Texas

C) South Carolina

How did a Nashville convention of southern businessmen shock the nation in 1860? A) A group of influential southerners called for the abolition of slavery. B) Participants urged the South to secede from the union. C) The meeting called for the reopening of the African slave trade. D) The businessmen said they would support civil war with the North.

C) The meeting called for the reopening of the African slave trade.

Southerners felt so much hostility toward the Republican Party during the presidential election of 1860 that A) they burned Lincoln effigy in most major areas of the South. B) Southerners boycotted the polls in numerous states. C) ten states refused to allow Lincoln's name to appear on the ballot. D) states passed laws allowing women to vote in order to defeat the Republicans.

C) ten states refused to allow Lincoln's name to appear on the ballot.