Causes of the Civil War (DBQ Background Essay)

What was the Three-fifths Compromise?

• A compromise to allow Southern states to count slaves as three-fifths of a person for representation purposes

• A compromise to abolish slavery in the United States

• A compromise to give citizenship to all slaves in the United States

• A compromise to allow slaves to count as a full person for representation purposes

What was the Missouri Compromise?

• A compromise to admit Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state

• A compromise to abolish slavery in Missouri

• A compromise to prohibit slavery north of the southern boundary of Missouri in all existing states

• A compromise to allow slavery in Maine and Missouri

In 1828, and again in 1832, what issue threatened to tear the United States apart?

• The issue of Manifest Destiny

• The issue of tariffs

• The issue of slavery

• The issue of representation

What was John Calhoun's argument regarding states' rights?

• States had the right to nullify federal laws they didn't like

• States had no rights in relation to federal laws

• Federal laws could only be nullified with the approval of the President

• The Supreme Court had the final say on which laws states would obey

What was the impact of the Mexican-American War on the balance of free and slave states in the United States?

• The balance was not affected by the war

• The war resulted in the immediate addition of new free states

• The war resulted in the immediate addition of new slave states

• The war resulted in a threat to the balance of free and slave states

What was the Fugitive Slave law?

• A law that abolished slavery in the District of Columbia

• A law that allowed slaves to vote on whether they wanted to be free or not

• A law that made it a crime to help runaway slaves and required citizens to aid in their capture

• A law that prohibited the slave trade in the United States

What was popular sovereignty?

• The idea that the federal government had the final say on the issue of slavery

• The idea that slave owners had the right to vote on whether their slaves would be free or not

• The idea that the people in a territory would have the right to decide whether to be slave or free by a vote

• The idea that slavery should be abolished in all states

What was the main cause of the Civil War?

• The issue of states' rights

• The issue of tariffs

• The issue of slavery

• The issue of representation

Which TWO provisions of the Compromise of 1850 favored the South?

• The admission of California as a free state

• The abolition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia

• The formation of New Mexico and Utah into states without restrictions on slavery

• The enactment of a new and stricter Fugitive Slave law

Which TWO provisions of the Compromise of 1850 favored the North?

• The admission of California as a free state

• The abolition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia

• The formation of New Mexico and Utah into states without restrictions on slavery

• The enactment of a new and stricter Fugitive Slave law