Sectionalism & the Civil War

Which of the following claims is supported by the document?

"… After the Missouri crisis it was no longer possible to pretend that the United States was a single nation with a single set of national interests. Although politicians in both North and South worked hard over the next two decades to suppress the issue of slavery in the national debate lest it drive a deeper wedge between the northern and southern wings of both national parties, the society of slaveholders would henceforth be in conflict with the society of free labor.…"

• The Missouri Compromise allowed citizens to vote on whether their state would be a free or slave state

• The Missouri Compromise divided the nation into Northern free states and Southern slave states.

• The Missouri Compromise allowed Maine to be admitted as a slave state, and Missouri as a free state.

• The Missouri Compromise settled the debate over expanding slavery into the territories until the U.S. Civil War in 1861.

In which order did the pre-Civil War compromises occur?

• Compromise of 1820, Compromise of 1850, Kansas-Nebraska Act
• Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1820, Compromise of 1850
• Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, Kansas-Nebraska Act
• Kansas-Nebraska Act, Compromise of 1850, Missouri Compromise

Which evidence best supports the claims made by this excerpted resolution?

In 1847, the Massachusetts legislature passed a resolution, written by Charles Sumner, opposing the war with Mexico. This is an excerpt from the resolution.

Resolved, That the present war with Mexico has its primary origin in the unconstitutional
annexation to the United States of the foreign State of Texas, while the same was still at war with
Mexico; that it was unconstitutionally commenced by the order of the President, to General
Taylor, to take military possession of territory in dispute between the United States and Mexico,
and in the occupation of Mexico; and that it is now waged ingloriously—by a powerful nation
against a weak neighbor—unnecessarily and without just cause, at immense cost of treasure
[money] and life, for the dismemberment of Mexico, and for the conquest of a portion of her
territory, from which slavery has already been excluded, with the triple object of extending
slavery, of strengthening the “Slave Power,” and of obtaining the control of the Free States,
under the constitution of the United States.…

• Mexican military forces attacked U.S. army troops on the northern bank of the Rio Grande river.

• American settlers of Texas who grew cotton with enslaved labor hoped to join the union as a slave state.

• The U.S. Congress authorized use of force against Mexico in response to a request by President Polk.

• Most Americans were in favor of proceeding with the annexation of Texas

This excerpted resolution opposing the Mexican American War reflects which debate raging at that time?

Resolved, That the present war with Mexico has its primary origin in the unconstitutional annexation to the United States of the foreign state of Texas while the same was still at war with Mexico; that it was unconstitutionally commenced [begun] by the order of the President, to General Taylor, to take military possession of the territory in dispute between the United States and Mexico, and in ' the occupation of Mexico; and that it is now waged ingloriously [shamefully] by a powerful nation against a weak neighbor unnecessarily and without just cause, at immense cost of treasure and life, for the dismemberment of Mexico, and for the conquest of a portion of her territory, from which slavery has already been excluded, with the triple object of extending slavery, of strengthening the "Slave Power," and of obtaining the control of the Free States, under the Constitution of the United States.

• The debate over whether or not slavery should be allowed to expand into American territories, challenging the balance of free and slave states

• The debate over the idea of a bicameral legislature in the legislative branch of the federal government

• The debate over whether or not popular sovereignty should be used as a tool to decide if a state would allow the enslavement of African Americans

• The debate over whether or not the United States should proceed with the annexation of Texas

According to popular sovereignty, the issue of slavery would be decided in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska by

• Random selection
• a vote of the people in a given territory

• Dictatorship
• Unpopular sovereignty

In the Compromise of 1850, it was decided that...

• to admit Texas as a free state
• to ban slavery in all states
• to establish a slave trade in Washington D.C.
• to admit California as a free state, allow the territories of New Mexico and Utah to decide on slavery through popular sovereignty, abolish the slave trade in Washington D.C., and enact a stricter Fugitive Slave Law

The effect of the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision was

• African Americans were granted full citizenship rights
• Congress was not allowed to decide whether states were free or slaveholding

• The decision led to the abolition of slavery
• The ruling was overturned by Congress

The Supreme Court’s decision in the Dred Scott case was that

• The decision granted voting rights to all African Americans
• The case was dismissed due to lack of evidence
• African Americans were not considered citizens and could not sue in federal court.
• African Americans were considered citizens and had equal rights

According to the Missouri Compromise Slavery was illegal...

• south of the parallel 36°30′ north
• in all states
• west of the Mississippi River
• north of the parallel 36°30′ north

In writing the Missouri Compromise Congress was trying to...

• maintain a balance between free and slave states
• abolish slavery in all states
• establish a monarchy in the United States
• expand slavery to all territories