Sectionalism and Civil War Topic 6

Introduced in 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act

• maintained the balance of slave and free states in the Union.

• divided the Louisiana Purchase into two territories.

• let the federal government decide on slavery in the Louisiana Purchase.

• reinforced the restriction placed on slavery by the Missouri Compromise.

Most northerners opposed the Fugitive Slave Act because it

• endangered their way of life since a large number of fugitive slaves lived in the north.

• encouraged slaves to resort to rebellion and violence to protest the new law.

• gave commissioners too much power and should have allowed slaves the right to jury trials.

• forced Northerners to be a part of the slave system.

The Wilmot Proviso was an idea proposed to Congress to

• prohibit slavery in all parts of the Mexican Cession.

• reinstate slavery in the northern states.

• allow slaves to be counted in the population of a state.

• increase and improve the rights given to slaves.

What did Harriet Beecher Stowe do to influence the debate over slavery?

• pushed for the start of the Civil War

• wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin, a book exposing the horrors of slavery

• accused the federal government of obeying the southern states

• attacked political figures who supported slavery in the South

How did the idea of popular sovereignty affect slavery in the United States?

• Slavery would not be permitted in unofficial states.

• States or territories would decide whether to permit slavery.

• Slavery would not be permitted anywhere in the country.

• The federal government would have the last word on slavery.

The Wilmot Proviso spurred a debate that showed growing sectionalism, which refers to

• attempts to outline electoral districts based on religion.

• taking advantage of loopholes in state and federal laws.

• paying attention to just one part of a problem.

• favoring the interests of a region over those of the country.

What was the significance of the election of 1860?

• It brought to light the divisions that existed in the United States over slavery.

• It exposed the corruption of the electoral college in the election process.

• It showed that the South was losing its political power in the nation.

• It illustrated that a candidate did not have to carry a state to win.

Why was John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry a failure?

• His supporters did not follow his plan.

• He did not have enough supporters for his cause.

• His men turned on him before the raid began.

• He was met with resistance from slaves in Virginia.

Why were Republicans angered by the Dred Scott decision?

• The Supreme Court ruled that Congress did not have the power to ban slavery.

• The Supreme Court had shifted the balance of power to the states.

• Dred Scott had been denied the due process of law.

• Slaves were declared the social and political equals of white citizens.

In leading an armed resistance in Virginia in 1859, John Brown was attempting to

• steal weapons and bring them to local slaves.

• fight the work of antislavery supporters in Virginia.

• control the slaves that had escaped in Virginia.

• show his anger over the Dred Scott decision.