Civil War Starter Quiz

What was the main cause of sectional tension between the North and South?

• Trade with Europe

• Slavery and states' rights

• The election of Andrew Jackson

• Religious differences

What was the Supreme Court's ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)?

• African Americans could sue in federal courts

• Slavery was illegal in all U.S. territories

• Congress had no power to ban slavery in U.S. territories

• The Fugitive Slave Act was unconstitutional

The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) introduced what concept?

• The prohibition of slavery in new states

• The right of territories to decide on slavery through popular sovereignty

• The re-establishment of the Missouri Compromise line

• Immediate abolition of slavery

What was the primary goal of the Republican Party when it formed in the 1850s?

• To expand slavery into the western territories

• To prevent the expansion of slavery into new territories

• To support Southern plantation owners

• To compromise with pro-slavery Democrats

What event directly led to the secession of South Carolina in December 1860?

• The Dred Scott decision

• The election of Abraham Lincoln

• The attack on Fort Sumter

• The signing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act

Which law increased tensions between the North and South by requiring citizens to return escaped enslaved people?

• The Compromise of 1850

• The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

• The Kansas-Nebraska Act

• The Wilmot Proviso

Which event is known as 'Bleeding Kansas'?

• A Supreme Court ruling on slavery

• A series of violent conflicts between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers

• A battle between Union and Confederate forces

• A debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas

The attack on Fort Sumter (April 12, 1861) led to:

• The end of the Civil War

• The start of the Civil War

• The secession of South Carolina

• A peace treaty between the North and South

What was the main economic difference between the North and South before the Civil War?

• The North relied on agriculture, while the South relied on industry

• The South had a more developed transportation system

• The North was industrialized, while the South depended on plantation farming

• The South focused on manufacturing, while the North focused on farming

The Lincoln-Douglas debates (1858) focused primarily on:

• The future of slavery in the territories

• The expansion of railroads

• The Fugitive Slave Act

• The taxation of Southern cotton