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Worksheets

Expansion and Slavery 1820 - 1850

Total questions: 18

Worksheet time: 13mins

Name
Class
Date
1.
In the Missouri Compromise, what state was allowed to enter as a free state?
a)
Missouri
b)
Maine
c)
Kentucky
d)
Alabama
2.
Why was the South against California entering the union?
a)
California would upset the delicate balance of the Senate
b)
California wanted to be a slave state
c)
California was the scene of violence and bloodshed
d)
I don't have the foggiest idea
3.
The cotton gin:
a)
made it easier and cheaper to produce cotton
b)
was created by Eli Whitney
c)
increased the value of enslaved people
d)
All of the above
4.
Mexico argued that the Texas border was the Nueces River, while the U.S. believed it was the ________ river
a)
Rio Grande
b)
Mississippi
c)
Colorado
5.
U.S. citizens believed it was their God-Given fate to travel westward, which they titled what?
a)
American Expansion 
b)
Westward Ho!
c)
Manifest Destiny
6.

Which state was not gained by the U.S. as a result of the Mexican American war?

a)

California

b)

Arkansas

c)

New Mexico

d)

Arizona

7.
What President was the biggest supporter of Manifest Destiny?
a)
James K. Polk
b)
Thomas Jefferson
c)
James Monroe
d)
George Washington
8.
Why did people rush to California?
a)
Religious Freedom
b)
Silver 
c)
Gold
d)
Beaver Pelts 
9.
In what way did the Compromise of 1850 appease the South?
a)
It created new taxes for railroad construction.
b)
It provided an end to the slave trade in Washington, D.C.
c)
It included a law requiring the return of escaped slaves
d)
It added California as a slave state
10.

The Compromise of 1850 outlawed slave auctions in...

a)

Washington, DC

b)

Richmond

c)

New Orleans

d)

Charleston

11.

The Compromise of 1850 admitted _________ as a free state.

a)

Arizona

b)

California

c)

New Mexico

d)

Utah

12.

Which state entered the union as a free state and which entered as a slave state as a result of the Missouri Compromise

a)

Texas entered as a slave state, California entered as a free state

b)

Missouri entered as a slave state, Maine entered as a free state

c)

Maine entered as a slave state, Missouri entered as a free state

d)

California entered as a slave state, Texas entered as a free state

13.

Which of these BEST describes the belief of "Manifest Destiny"?

a)

the belief that the U.S. should send astronauts to the moon

b)

the belief that the U.S. should occupy all lands between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans

c)

the belief that slavery in the U.S. was a state issue

d)

the belief that the U.S. should prevent European military activity in the hemisphere

14.

When the admission of new states threatened the balance of free and slave states in the Union, which Kentucky Senator drew up the "Missouri Compromise" in 1820?

a)

Henry Clay

b)

John C. Calhoun

c)

Andrew Jackson

d)

William H. Harrison

15.

The Wilmot Proviso (1846) attempted to forever ban slavery in territories that were won as a result of

a)

the Civil War.

b)

the Louisiana Purchase.

c)

the Mexican War.

d)

the Spanish-American War.

16.

California was initially admitted as a "free state," while citizens of the Utah and New Mexico territories were left to decide the issue for themselves. Which of these set this up?

a)

Wilmot Proviso

b)

Missouri Compromise

c)

Compromise of 1850

d)

Kansas-Nebraska Act

17.

Which of these was a DIRECT result of the failed slave revolt of Nat Turner in 1831?

a)

Southern legislatures questioned the moral foundation of slavery.

b)

Laws greatly restricting the legal rights of free blacks and slaves were passed.

c)

Congress passed a law that would phase out the importation of African slaves.

d)

President Buchanan was elected for a second term.

18.

The nullification confrontation of 1832-1833 between President Andrew Jackson and South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun concerned

a)

Jackson's attempts to abolish slavery in the South

b)

Calhoun's claim that a state has the power to ignore federal laws

c)

the constitutionality of the second Bank of the United States

d)

whether slavery would be allowed in western territories