Period 5

Question 1

What was the Missouri Compromise?

Answer 1

An effort by Congress to defuse sectional and political rivalries triggered by Missouri’s request for admission as a slave state in 1819.

Question 2

Who was Zachary Taylor?

Answer 2

A Whig slave holder, general in the Mexican-American War, and the 12th President of the United States.

Question 3

What was the Wilmot Proviso?

Answer 3

A proposal to prohibit slavery in any land acquired in the Mexican War, which was defeated by southern senators.

Question 4

What is popular sovereignty?

Answer 4

The notion that the sovereign people of a given territory should decide whether to allow slavery.

Question 5

What were the key points of the Compromise of 1850?

Answer 5

Slavery was outlawed in Washington D.C., California was admitted as a free state, and Utah and New Mexico would determine slavery through popular sovereignty.

Question 6

Who was Millard Fillmore?

Answer 6

The 13th President who helped pass the Compromise of 1850 and was largely self-educated.

Question 7

What was the Fugitive Slave Act of 1852?

Answer 7

Laws providing for the return of escaped slaves to their owners, aimed at eliminating the underground railroad.

Question 8

Who was Franklin Pierce?

Answer 8

The Democrat who won the election of 1852 and devoted himself to avoiding offense over the slavery issue.

Question 9

Who was Stephen Douglas?

Answer 9

Senator from Illinois who wrote the Kansas-Nebraska Act and ran for president against Abraham Lincoln.

Question 10

What was the Kansas-Nebraska Act?

Answer 10

A law that suspended the Missouri Compromise and allowed voters in Kansas and Nebraska to decide on slavery.

Question 11

What was the Pottawatomie Massacre?

Answer 11

An event where John Brown and followers murdered 5 pro-slavery settlers in Kansas.

Question 12

What was Bleeding Kansas?

Answer 12

A sequence of violent events involving abolitionists and pro-slavery elements in Kansas-Nebraska Territory.

Question 13

Who was Abraham Lincoln?

Answer 13

An honest frontiersman from Illinois who became the first successful Republican president during the Civil War.

Question 14

What was the Republican Party?

Answer 14

Organized in 1854 by antislavery Whigs, Democrats, and Free Soilers in response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Question 15

What was the Know-Nothing Party?

Answer 15

Also known as the American Party, it aimed to extend naturalization and undercut immigrant voting strengths.

Question 16

What was the Free Soil Party?

Answer 16

A party against slavery in new territories, advocating for federal aid and free homesteads for settlers.

Question 17

Who was James Buchanan?

Answer 17

The 15th President who supported popular sovereignty but failed to prevent South Carolina’s secession.

Question 18

What was the Sumner-Brooks Incident?

Answer 18

An event where Senator Brooks beat Charles Sumner over the head with a cane after Sumner’s speech against the South.

Question 19

What was the Dred Scott Decision?

Answer 19

A Supreme Court ruling stating that Blacks were not citizens and Congress had no power to ban slavery in territories.

Question 20

What was the Panic of 1857?

Answer 20

An economic crash caused by inflation from California gold, leading to over five thousand business failures.

Question 21

What was the LeCompton Constitution?

Answer 21

A pro-slavery constitution for Kansas that was ultimately rejected, leading to Kansas becoming a free state.

Question 22

What was Lincoln’s famous speech ‘A House Divided’ about?

Answer 22

‘This country cannot be half slave and half free.’

Question 23

What were the Lincoln-Douglas Debates?

Answer 23

A series of debates where Lincoln and Douglas argued key issues like popular sovereignty and the Dred Scott decision.

Question 24

What was the Freeport Doctrine?

Answer 24

Stated that voters could exclude slavery in a territory by refusing to enact laws protecting slave property.

Question 25

What was John Brown's Raid?

Answer 25

In 1859, John Brown seized the U.S. arsenal at Harper's Ferry to end slavery through violence.

Question 26

What was the Election of 1860?

Answer 26

An election where Lincoln won with 40% of the popular vote, primarily a sectional election.

Question 27

What was the Secession Winter?

Answer 27

The winter of 1860-1861 when seven southern states seceded from the Union.

Question 28

What was Fort Sumter?

Answer 28

A fort in South Carolina where the first action of the Civil War took place.

Question 29

Who was Robert E. Lee?

Answer 29

The General of the Confederate troops who surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox Court House.

Question 30

Who was Ulysses S. Grant?

Answer 30

The commanding general of the Union army who accepted Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House.

Question 31

What was the Peninsular Campaign?

Answer 31

A failed Union attempt to capture Richmond by circumventing the Confederate army by sea.

Question 32

Who was Jefferson Davis?

Answer 32

The President of the Confederate States during the Civil War.

Question 33

What was the Anaconda Plan?

Answer 33

A Civil War strategy emphasizing a blockade of Southern ports and cutting the South in two.

Question 34

What was the significance of the Battle of Bull Run?

Answer 34

The first major battle of the war, showing that the conflict would be longer than anticipated.

Question 35

What was the Battle of Antietam?

Answer 35

The bloodiest single-day battle in American history, allowing Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

Question 36

What was the Emancipation Proclamation?

Answer 36

Lincoln's announcement that all slaves in rebelling states would be free, aimed at injuring the Confederacy.

Question 37

What were the NYC Draft Riots?

Answer 37

A series of violent disturbances in New York City against the draft laws for the Civil War.

Question 38

What was the Battle of Gettysburg?

Answer 38

A Civil War battle that ended in Union victory and spelled doom for the Confederacy.

Question 39

Who were the Copperheads?

Answer 39

Democrats who opposed the Civil War.

Question 40

What was the Gettysburg Address?

Answer 40

Lincoln's speech framing the war as a means to uphold liberty.

Question 41

What was the significance of Vicksburg?

Answer 41

Grant's victory gave the Union complete control of the Mississippi River.

Question 42

What is total war?

Answer 42

Mobilizing all of a society's resources in support of the military effort.

Question 43

What was Sherman's March to the Sea?

Answer 43

A campaign applying total warfare and causing extensive damage in the South.

Question 44

What was the Election of 1864?

Answer 44

An election where Lincoln won against McClellan, who wanted to end the war.

Question 45

What happened at Appomattox?

Answer 45

The end of the Civil War when Lee surrendered to Northern troops.

Question 46

Who was John Wilkes Booth?

Answer 46

The actor who assassinated Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre.

Question 47

What was the Ten Percent Plan?

Answer 47

A plan for readmitting former Confederate states if 10% of citizens took a loyalty oath.

Question 48

What was the Wade-Davis Bill?

Answer 48

A bill requiring 50% of voters in a state to take a loyalty oath, pocket vetoed by Lincoln.

Question 49

What was the Freedmen's Bureau?

Answer 49

Created in 1865 to provide aid for those made destitute by the war.

Question 50

What was the 13th Amendment?

Answer 50

An amendment that freed all slaves and legally forbade slavery in the United States.

Question 51

Who was Andrew Johnson?

Answer 51

The 17th President who opposed radical Republicans and was impeached.

Question 52

What was the Civil Rights Act of 1866?

Answer 52

An act declaring all African Americans to be US citizens and providing legal protection against Black Codes.

Question 53

Who were the Radical Republicans?

Answer 53

A group supporting black suffrage and harsh punishment for the South.

Question 54

What was the Reconstruction Act of 1867?

Answer 54

An act dividing Confederate states into military districts to oversee constitutional conventions.

Question 55

What was the Tenure of Office Act?

Answer 55

An act limiting the President's power to remove civil officers without Senate consent.

Question 56

What led to Johnson's Impeachment?

Answer 56

His dismissal of Secretary of War Stanton, which angered House Republicans.

Question 57

What was the 14th Amendment?

Answer 57

An amendment granting citizenship to African Americans and denying former Confederate officials from office.

Question 58

What were Black Codes?

Answer 58

Laws limiting the freedom of former slaves in the southern states during Reconstruction.

Question 59

What was sharecropping?

Answer 59

A system where freedmen worked land in exchange for housing and a share of the crops.

Question 60

What was the Ku Klux Klan?

Answer 60

A racist group formed in 1865 that targeted African Americans and dominated the Democratic Party.

Question 61

What were the Enforcement Acts?

Answer 61

Laws prohibiting radical anti-black groups and protecting African Americans' voting rights.

Question 62

What were the Slaughterhouse Cases?

Answer 62

A series of Supreme Court cases addressing the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.

Question 63

What group originated in Tennessee in 1865 and was led by General Forrest?

Answer 63

The Ku Klux Klan. ## Footnote They disliked all other cultures and races, dominated the democratic party, and terrorized republicans.

Question 64

What did the Enforcement Acts do?

Answer 64

Prohibited radical anti-black groups and protected the voting rights of African Americans.

Question 65

What were the Slaughterhouse Cases?

Answer 65

A series of post-Civil War Supreme Court cases addressing the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, ruling that these amendments only protected freed blacks' rights.

Question 66

What did the 15th Amendment accomplish?

Answer 66

Granted suffrage to black males and gave Congress the power to enforce this via legislation.

Question 67

What was the outcome of U.S. vs Cruikshank?

Answer 67

The Supreme Court overturned Cruikshank's conviction, limiting the power of the 14th and 15th amendments and stating that states regulate individual actions.

Question 68

What was the ruling in Plessy v Ferguson?

Answer 68

The Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public facilities was legal as long as the facilities were equal.

Question 69

Who were Carpet Baggers?

Answer 69

Displaced veterans who carried their belongings in cheap suitcases and were skilled union army vets.

Question 70

Who were Scalawags?

Answer 70

Ex-confederates who supported reconstruction, including former slaves, whigs, and democrats who favored republicanism.

Question 71

Who was Ulysses S Grant?

Answer 71

Former head of the Union army and president who supported reconstruction but faced scandals like the Whiskey Ring.

Question 72

What was the Credit Mobilier Scandal?

Answer 72

A scandal involving union pacific railroad insiders who inflated costs and bribed congressmen to conceal their actions.

Question 73

Who was Boss Tweed?

Answer 73

Head of Tammany Hall, NYC's powerful democratic political machine, known for defrauding the city during the Tweed Reign. ## Footnote Responsible for a courthouse project that cost taxpayers $13 million, while actual costs were $3 million.

Question 74

Who was Rutherford B. Hayes?

Answer 74

The 19th president of the United States, known for the Hayes-Tilden election, which was the most corrupt election in US history.

Question 75

What was the Compromise of 1877?

Answer 75

An agreement that settled the election of 1876, involving troop removal from Louisiana and South Carolina and concessions for a southern transcontinental railroad.