APUSH Semester Review

Historians have argued that all of the following were causes of the Civil War EXCEPT

• the clash of economic interests between agrarian and industrializing regions

• the actions of irresponsible politicians and agitators in the North and the South

• differences over the morality and future of slavery

• the growing power of poor Southern Whites who resisted planter dominance and sought to abolish slavery

• a constitutional crisis pitting states’ rights against federal power

“With regard to the northwestern States, to which the ordinance of 1787 was applied—Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan—no one now believes that any one of those States, if they thought proper to do it, has not just as much a right to introduce slavery within her borders as Virginia has a right to maintain the existence of slavery within hers.

“Then, if in this struggle of power and empire between the two classes of states a decision of California has taken place adverse to the wishes of the southern States, it is a decision not made by the General [federal] Government; it is a decision respecting which they cannot complain to the General Government. It is a decision made by California herself, and which California had incontestably a right to make under the Constitution of the United States. . . . The question of slavery, either of its introduction or interdiction, is silent as respects the action of this [federal] Government; and if it has been decided, it has been by a different body—by a different power—by California herself, who had a right to make that decision.”

Senator Henry Clay, speech in the United States Senate, 1850

The excerpt best reflects which of the following historical situations?

• Congressional leaders sought political compromise to resolve discord between the North and the South.

• States in the Great Lakes region advocated to legalize slavery within their borders

• Senators appealed to the idea of American exceptionalism to encourage national unity.

• The Supreme Court decision in the Dred Scott case reduced sectional conflict within the United States

“With regard to the northwestern States, to which the ordinance of 1787 was applied—Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan—no one now believes that any one of those States, if they thought proper to do it, has not just as much a right to introduce slavery within her borders as Virginia has a right to maintain the existence of slavery within hers.

“Then, if in this struggle of power and empire between the two classes of states a decision of California has taken place adverse to the wishes of the southern States, it is a decision not made by the General [federal] Government; it is a decision respecting which they cannot complain to the General Government. It is a decision made by California herself, and which California had incontestably a right to make under the Constitution of the United States. . . . The question of slavery, either of its introduction or interdiction, is silent as respects the action of this [federal] Government; and if it has been decided, it has been by a different body—by a different power—by California herself, who had a right to make that decision.”

Senator Henry Clay, speech in the United States Senate, 1850

The position expressed by Clay in the excerpt best serves as evidence of which of the following?

• Northern politicians showed less interest in California than Southern politicians.

• The United States Senate could not agree on treaty terms with Mexico

• The acquisition of new territories created disputes over the expansion of slavery.

• Nativist groups opposed incorporating new states into the Union.

The most controversial and divisive component of the Compromise of 1850 was the

• measure’s endorsement of popular sovereignty

• admittance of Missouri as a slave state and the establishment of the 36°30' line

• passage of a tougher national fugitive slave act

• admittance of Texas as a slave state

• legislation permitted the surveying of a southern transcontinental railway line

Which of the following statement about the Dred Scott decision is correct?

• It recognized the power of Congress to prohibit slavery in the territories, but refused on technical grounds to free Scott.

• It stated that Black people were not citizens of the United States.

• It upheld the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise.

• It upheld the principle of popular sovereignty.

• It freed Scott, but not other slaves in circumstances similar to Scott’s.

“I am filled with deep emotion at finding myself standing here in the place . . . from which sprang the institutions under which we live. . . . I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence. . . . It was not the mere matter of the separation of the colonies from the mother land; but something in that Declaration giving liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but hope to the world for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights should be lifted from the shoulders of all men. . . .

“Now, my friends, can this country be saved upon that basis? If it can, I will consider myself one of the happiest men in the world if I can help to save it. If it can’t be saved upon that principle, it will be truly awful.

“Now, in my view of the present aspect of affairs, there need be no bloodshed and war. . . . And I may say in advance, there will be no blood shed unless it be forced upon the Government. . . .

“My friends, this is a wholly unprepared speech. I did not expect to be called upon to say a word when I came here. . . . I may, therefore, have said something indiscreet, but I have said nothing but what I am willing to live by, and, in the pleasure of Almighty God, die by.”

President-elect Abraham Lincoln, speaking at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, February 22, 1861

The excerpt best serves as evidence for which of the following developments?

• Abraham Lincoln attempted to increase the size of the army to regain Southern states

• Lincoln rejected allowing any additional states to join the United States.

• Lincoln sought to avoid violence over the issues that divided the country.

• Lincoln intended to enforce the Kansas-Nebraska Act

“I am filled with deep emotion at finding myself standing here in the place . . . from which sprang the institutions under which we live. . . . I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence. . . . It was not the mere matter of the separation of the colonies from the mother land; but something in that Declaration giving liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but hope to the world for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights should be lifted from the shoulders of all men. . . .

“Now, my friends, can this country be saved upon that basis? If it can, I will consider myself one of the happiest men in the world if I can help to save it. If it can’t be saved upon that principle, it will be truly awful.

“Now, in my view of the present aspect of affairs, there need be no bloodshed and war. . . . And I may say in advance, there will be no blood shed unless it be forced upon the Government. . . .

“My friends, this is a wholly unprepared speech. I did not expect to be called upon to say a word when I came here. . . . I may, therefore, have said something indiscreet, but I have said nothing but what I am willing to live by, and, in the pleasure of Almighty God, die by.”

President-elect Abraham Lincoln, speaking at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, February 22, 1861

The excerpt most likely reflects which of the following historical situations?

• Abraham Lincoln won all of the electoral college votes in the presidential election.

• Formerly enslaved people were given the right to vote in presidential elections

• Southern states refused to participate in the presidential election.

• States in the South had begun seceding after the presidential election

Which of the following factors best explains the territorial expansion of slavery in the middle of the nineteenth century?

• The belief in Manifest Destiny encouraged settlers to move to the West

• The Mexican-American War incorporated extensive new lands into the United States

• The rise of industry in the North created more demand for raw materials such as cotton.

• The growing nativist movement sought to place restrictions on new immigrants

Which of the following would most likely have opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act?

• A Missouri slaveholder

• A midwestern investor in a Pacific-to-Chicago railroad line

• A Southern supporter of popular sovereignty

• A New England abolitionist

The 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act instituted popular sovereignty to

• prohibit slavery above Missouri’s southern border

• assure that Congress had a constitutional right to establish or abolish slavery in new territories

• allow people living in a territory to determine whether slavery should be permitted there

• admit Kansas as a slave state and Nebraska as a free state

• allow towns to decide the issue of slavery on a case-by-case basis