The House Divided
How did the "Dred Scott" decision increase sectional tension? a) It lent credence to the belief in the North that a slave power conspiracy existed b) It precipitated the resignation of Supreme Court justices from the North c) It indicated that the issue of slavery could be determined in any territory long before the moment of statehood d) It strengthened the Democratic party by unifying its northern and southern branches
a
What did the Supreme Court rule in its 1857 "Dred Scott" decision? a) Dred Scott was not a citizen of the United States b) Congress had the power to prohibit slavery in the territories c) The Missouri Compromise was constitutional d) Slaves were free once they visited northern states
a
How did more moderate southern Democrats respond to the choice of John C. Breckenridge as presidential nominee? a) They backed Breckenridge once he offered support for a federal slave code b) They organized the Constitutional Union party c) They joined Republicans in an effort to preserve the Union d) They attempted to revive the Whig party
b
What common thread wove together northern men to form the Republican party in 1854? a) The conviction that the federal government should increase social reform efforts b) The opposition to the extension of slavery into any territory of the United States c) The belief that Congress should move more quickly to abolish slavery where it existed d) The belief that citizenship was too easily achieved by ill-prepared foreigners
b
The presidential election of 1856 revealed the a) fundamental flaws in the electoral college b) weakness of the Democratic party in the South c) strength of the new Republican party d) indifference of southern voters
c
What was the result of the Lincoln-Douglas debates? a) Lincoln defeated Douglass and became a U.S. senator b) The Democrats shunned Douglass c) Lincoln became nationally known d) Douglass scored a landslide victory against Lincoln
c
Who became the president of the new Confederate States of America? a) Howell Cobb b) Alexander Stephens c) Jefferson Davis d) John Smith Preston
c
Why did the Democrats remain a national organization after 1854? a) They welcomed former Whigs into their ranks b) They made inroads into the North c) Gains in the South offset losses in the North d) They abandoned popular sovereignty in favor of a free-soil platform
c
Why did the United States negotiate the Gadsden Purchase in 1853? a) To remove troublesome Native Americans from the area ceded by Mexico b) To establish James Gadsden as a territorial governor c) To support the dream of a southern route for the transcontinental railroad d) To secure rights in the Southwest
c
Why did the slave states of the Upper South initially reject secession? a) They feared that secession would lead to a great slave rebellion b) They had great difficulty in getting together a quorum on legislators to debate the issue c) They believed the North would quickly send invading armies to the Upper South d) They did not have as great a stake in slavery as the states in the Lower South
d
