Toward Civil War Study Guide

What did the Missouri Compromise of 1820 accomplish?

• It preserved the balance between slave and free states in the Senate.

• It established the northern half of Missouri as free and allowed slavery in the southern half.

• It declared Missouri a free state but allowed slavery in newly annexed territories.

• It shifted the balance of power in the Senate to the free states.

What territories did the United States gain as a result of the Mexican War?

• New Mexico and Texas

• Texas and California

• California and Oregon

• New Mexico and California

What did the Wilmot Proviso propose for new territories gained from the Mexican War?

• It was a proposal to allow slavery in new territories.

• It was a proposal to have the existing residents of the new territories decide whether to allow slavery.

• It was a proposal to ban slavery in new territories.

• It was a proposal to ban slavery in half of the new territories and allow slavery in the other half.

Which issues did the Compromise of 1850 address? Select ALL that apply.

• laws discriminating against free African Americans

• slavery in Washington, D.C.

• California’s status as a free or slave state

• a national fugitive slave law

How did some Northerners disobey the Fugitive Slave Act? Select ALL that apply.

• They passed laws directly contradicting the Fugitive Slave Act.

• They donated money to buy freedom for enslaved people.

• They kept runaways as their own property.

• They refused to convict those accused of breaking the law.

What was the significance of the Gadsden Purchase?

• It settled the southern border of the United States.

• It ended the Mexican-American War.

• It allowed Mexico to complete a railroad along its northern border.

• It secured the presidency for James K. Polk.

What was one outcome of the Kansas-Nebraska Act?

• Kansas became a free state, and the state government forced out slaveholders.

• Supporters of and opponents to slavery set up rival governments in Kansas.

• Free African Americans moved to Kansas to establish an antislavery government.

• Supporters of and opponents to slavery agreed to create no laws regulating slavery.

What did the birth of the Republican Party in 1854 suggest about the issue of slavery?

• Slavery was not important enough to change the voting behaviors of northern Democrats.

• Slavery was an important issue only in certain states.

• Slavery was an important enough issue that northern Democrats helped form the Republican Party.

• Slavery was not important enough to increase voter turnout.

In the Supreme Court case Dred Scott v. Sandford, Scott believed he should be a free man, because __________.

• Sandford had promised to free him when Sandford died

• he had the money to purchase his freedom

• he was born free

• he had lived in free territories

What was the Supreme Court’s decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford?

• It is unconstitutional to allow slavery, because it would violate the federal government’s responsibility to citizens.

• It is unconstitutional to ban slavery, because it would violate the Fourth Amendment’s right to privacy.

• It is unconstitutional to ban slavery, because taking property would violate the Fifth Amendment.

• It is unconstitutional to allow slavery, because it would violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.