Semister 1 Final Exam

Question 1

What was the Wilmot Proviso?

Answer 1

1846 proposal to outlaw slavery in territory acquired from Mexico

Defeated, but foreshadowed sectional conflicts of the 1850s.

Question 2

What was the significance of the Free-Soil Party?

Answer 2

Key part of the anti-slavery movement, focused on economic opportunities for northern whites

Culminated in the Republican Party capturing the presidency in 1860.

Question 3

What did the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 ensure?

Answer 3

Slaveholders’ right to capture enslaved people who had fled

Act was largely ignored by northerners.

Question 4

What was the Compromise of 1850?

Answer 4

Series of acts meant to ease sectional tensions over slavery

Permitted slavery in Washington, D.C., and added California as a free state.

Question 5

What did the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 do?

Answer 5

Strengthened earlier fugitive slave laws, legalizing the hunting down of escaped slaves

Provoked widespread anger in the North.

Question 6

Define the underground railroad.

Answer 6

Routes to northern free states and Canada for enslaved people seeking freedom

Supported by abolitionists and allies.

Question 7

What is Uncle Tom’s Cabin?

Answer 7

A novel depicting the struggles of an enslaved person named Uncle Tom

Aimed to build empathy for enslaved individuals.

Question 8

What was the significance of the transcontinental railroad?

Answer 8

Linked East and West Coasts, facilitating migration and economic connections

Completed in 1869.

Question 9

What did the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 do?

Answer 9

Created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, allowing slavery to be settled by popular vote

Repealed the Missouri Compromise.

Question 10

What was the American Party (Know-Nothing Party)?

Answer 10

Political party that was anti-Catholic and anti-immigration

Aimed to combat foreign influences.

Question 11

What was the Republican Party founded to oppose?

Answer 11

Opposition to the expansion of slavery into territories

Emerged in the 1850s.

Question 12

What was Bleeding Kansas?

Answer 12

Period of violent conflicts over slavery in Kansas Territory

Intensified sectional division.

Question 13

What was the Dred Scott case?

Answer 13

1857 Supreme Court case denying black men rights and upholding slavery in territories

Declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.

Question 14

What were the Lincoln-Douglas debates?

Answer 14

Debates between Lincoln and Douglas focusing on slavery’s expansion

Helped Lincoln rise to prominence.

Question 15

What was John Brown’s raid?

Answer 15

1859 attack on Harper’s Ferry to inspire a slave uprising

Further polarized North and South.

Question 16

What was the Confederate States of America?

Answer 16

Government formed by southern states that seceded from the Union

Aimed to protect states’ rights and slavery.

Question 17

What was the significance of the Election of 1860?

Answer 17

Showcased national divisions over slavery, leading to Lincoln’s victory and subsequent secession of Southern states

Set the stage for the Civil War.

Question 18

What was the Crittenden Plan?

Answer 18

Political compromise over slavery that failed after southern states seceded

Attempted to prevent Civil War.

Question 19

What was Fort Sumter’s significance?

Answer 19

Marked the official beginning of the Civil War

Confederacy fired on the fort in April 1861.

Question 20

What happened at the Battle of Bull Run?

Answer 20

First major battle of the Civil War where Confederate troops defeated Union forces

Showed the war would not be decided quickly.

Question 21

What does the term ‘contraband’ refer to?

Answer 21

Enslaved people who fled to Union lines for freedom

Designated as property forfeited by rebellion.

Question 22

What were the confiscation acts?

Answer 22

Laws authorizing the confiscation of Confederate property, including enslaved people

Aimed to free slaves forced to work for the Confederacy.

Question 23

What was the Battle of Antietam known for?

Answer 23

Bloodiest single day in U.S. military history, gave Lincoln a victory for the Emancipation Proclamation

Occurred in September 1862.

Question 24

What was the Emancipation Proclamation?

Answer 24

Declared all enslaved people in rebellion areas ‘forever free’

Seen as a significant victory for abolitionists.

Question 25

What was the Enrollment Act?

Answer 25

Union draft law that created an impartial lottery for draftees ## Footnote Allowed wealthy individuals to avoid service.

Question 26

What is martial law?

Answer 26

Suspension of standard law with military control over government ## Footnote Rarely declared in the U.S.

Question 27

Who were the Copperheads?

Answer 27

Northern Democrats opposing the Union war effort ## Footnote Wanted an immediate peace settlement with the Confederacy.

Question 28

What was the Battle of Gettysburg?

Answer 28

July 1863 battle that turned the tide for the Union ## Footnote Helped eliminate the threat of European intervention.

Question 29

What was the siege of Vicksburg?

Answer 29

Union troops forced Confederate surrender, gaining control of the Mississippi River ## Footnote Weakened the Confederacy by splitting it.

Question 30

What was the Gettysburg Address?

Answer 30

Speech by Lincoln emphasizing equality and the war's purpose ## Footnote Delivered in November 1863.

Question 31

What is total war?

Answer 31

Strategy of destroying civilian crops and resources to undermine morale ## Footnote Promoted by General Ulysses S. Grant.

Question 32

What was Sherman’s March to the Sea?

Answer 32

Military campaign destroying everything in its path from Atlanta to Savannah ## Footnote Aimed to cripple the Confederacy.

Question 33

What was the Thirteenth Amendment?

Answer 33

Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime ## Footnote Forbids chattel slavery across the United States.

Question 34

What was the November 1864 massacre?

Answer 34

Massacre of 270 Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians by the Third Colorado Cavalry of the U.S. army ## Footnote Marked a turning point in the relationship between American Indian tribes and the Federal Government.

Question 35

What does the Thirteenth Amendment do?

Answer 35

Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime ## Footnote Forbids chattel slavery across the United States and in every territory under its control.

Question 36

What factors contributed to northern victories after 1863?

Answer 36

Population advantage, better transportation system including more railroads ## Footnote North had 24 million people, South had 9 million (4 million enslaved).

Question 37

What role did African Americans and American Indians play in the defeat of the Confederacy?

Answer 37

Served in the Union Army and contributed through manual labor supporting Union forces ## Footnote Their involvement was significant and multifaceted.

Question 38

Define Freedmen’s Bureau and its significance.

Answer 38

Provided assistance to formerly enslaved people and impoverished whites in Southern States ## Footnote Provided food, housing, medical aid, established schools, and offered legal assistance.

Question 39

Who were the Radical Republicans?

Answer 39

Republican politicians who actively supported abolition and sought tighter controls over the South post-war ## Footnote Opposed Lincoln's Reconstruction Plan as too lenient.

Question 40

What are black codes?

Answer 40

Racial laws passed by southern legislatures to keep freedpeople in a condition close to slavery ## Footnote Aimed to prevent African Americans from achieving political and economic autonomy.

Question 41

Define the Fourteenth Amendment.

Answer 41

Granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States ## Footnote Extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people.

Question 42

What is Reconstruction?

Answer 42

Period following the Civil War focused on rebuilding the South and integrating formerly enslaved individuals into society ## Footnote Lasted from 1865 to 1877.

Question 43

What were the Military Reconstruction Acts?

Answer 43

Acts dividing Southern states into military districts and requiring black male suffrage ## Footnote Protected voting rights and safety of African Americans.

Question 44

What was the Tenure of Office Act?

Answer 44

Law preventing President Johnson from removing cabinet members without Senate approval ## Footnote Johnson was impeached for violating the act.

Question 45

What does the Fifteenth Amendment allow?

Answer 45

All men to vote without being denied by race, color, or previous conditions of servitude ## Footnote Grants voting rights for all male citizens.

Question 46

Define the American Equal Rights Association.

Answer 46

Group formed in 1866 to promote gender and racial equality ## Footnote Split in 1869 over support for the Fifteenth Amendment.

Question 47

How did freed people define freedom?

Answer 47

Voting, working without abuse, having the same rights as white citizens, owning land and homes ## Footnote Also included sending children for education.

Question 48

What were President Lincoln's plans for Reconstruction?

Answer 48

Proposed a program allowing Confederate states to establish new governments after loyalty oaths ## Footnote Required recognition of the freedom of formerly enslaved people.

Question 49

To what extent did Reconstruction change the lives of African Americans in the South?

Answer 49

Allowed voting, political participation, land acquisition, employment opportunities, and access to public accommodations ## Footnote Protected by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments.

Question 50

What are scalawags?

Answer 50

Derogatory term for white Southerners who supported Reconstruction ## Footnote Collaborated with Radical Republicans to implement changes.

Question 51

Define carpetbaggers.

Answer 51

Derogatory term for white Northerners who moved to the South after the Civil War ## Footnote Seen as opportunistic by resentful Southerners.

Question 52

What is sharecropping?

Answer 52

System of agricultural production where sharecroppers received tools in exchange for a share of the harvest ## Footnote Affected lives of African Americans and poor whites post-slavery.

Question 53

Who were the Exodusters?

Answer 53

African Americans who migrated from the South to Kansas in 1879 ## Footnote Sought land, economic opportunity, and a better way of life.

Question 54

What are Redeemers?

Answer 54

White, conservative Democrats who challenged Republican rule during Reconstruction ## Footnote Worked to end what they viewed as 'negro misrule.'

Question 55

Define the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

Answer 55

Organization formed in 1865 to enforce prewar racial norms through intimidation and violence ## Footnote Aimed to reestablish white supremacy.

Question 56

What are the Force Acts?

Answer 56

Three acts giving the president authority to use military force to enforce national laws ## Footnote Aimed to protect constitutional rights of blacks.

Question 57

How did white Southerners fight back against Reconstruction?

Answer 57

Through organizations like the Ku Klux Klan and the White League to obstruct Reconstruction efforts ## Footnote Used violence to intimidate black and white Republican officials.

Question 58

What was the Civil Rights Act of 1875?

Answer 58

Act extending full and equal treatment for all races in public accommodations ## Footnote Ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1883.

Question 59

Define the Compromise of 1877.

Answer 59

Compromise between Republicans and southern Democrats resulting in the election of Rutherford B. Hayes ## Footnote Ended Reconstruction with several key demands from Southern Democrats.

Question 60

To what extent was southern society changed by Reconstruction?

Answer 60

Established state-funded public school systems and sought to strengthen laborers' bargaining power ## Footnote Outlawed racial discrimination in public transportation and accommodations.