American History Reading Quiz 3

Harpers Ferry

town in Maryland where there was a federal armory. John brown and his men attacked it to try to get slaves to start a rebellion. It became a standoff in the firehouse of the town. This incident at harper’s ferry caused the execution of john brown and the growing notoriety of Robert E lee.

Underground Railroad

network or trail of common routes slaves took to get to freedom. Some places along the way were common stops for slaves because the homeowners were willing to help them and take them in.

Harriet Tubman

woman who escaped slavery, helped many others including her family to escape, and became a prominent abolitionist

Paternalism

Propaganda used by supporters of slavery to justify slavery by saying that the owners take care of their slaves in return for their work. Also trying to explain that slavery was supported in the Bible so was God ordained

Temperance movement

a movement to either moderate or stop completely the consumption of alcohol

Woman’s suffrage

the fight for women’s right to vote and women’s rights in general. Started with rich white women, and tended to also include discussions about abolition and temperance

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

anti slavery book what was written by a woman

Free Soil Party

a new political party that called for stopping the spread of slavery because it would take white people’s jobs

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

a law from the Compromise of 1850 that required all escaped slaves to be returned to their masters by force

Popular sovereignty

a movement to allow new states and territories acquired by the US to vote for themselves about to allow slavery in their state. Considered by many to be a failure because of the events of Bleeding Kansas

How did the life of Frederick Douglass challenge preexisting notions among whites regarding the aptitude of African Americans?

Douglass’s diverse accomplishments testified to the incorrectness of prevailing ideas about Blacks’ inborn inferiority.

How did the “peculiar institution” influence economic development in the South?

Slavery led the South down a different path of economic development than the North, limiting the growth of industry and inhibiting technological progress.

Other than ownership of the majority of slaves in the South, what distinguished the planter class from the plain folk of the South?

Planters controlled the most fertile land in the region.

Which of the following was NOT an early pillar of the proslavery argument?

FALSE, rather than disappearing, the institution of slavery was expanding in other parts of the Western Hemisphere. Actually, by 1840, slavery was abolished in most of Spanish America and in the British empire.

How was freedom limited for free Blacks in the Old South?

Like slaves, free Blacks were prohibited from owning dogs, firearms, or liquor. They also had no voice in selecting public officials and were not allowed to testify in court against whites.

What was perhaps the most powerful agent of discipline utilized by slaveowners?

The most powerful weapon wielded by slaveowners was the threat of sale, which separated slaves from their immediate families and communities.

   Why might white farmers who owned one or two slaves be less inclined to resort to the same brutal methods of discipline employed by planters on large plantations?

The rising price of slaves after the closing of the African slave trade made it economically inadvisable for owners of small farms to risk the health of their human property, who could not be easily replaced.

In what way were families of enslaved Blacks different from those in white communities?

Owing to constant sales, the slave community had a significantly higher number of female-headed households than among whites.

How did enslaved people find inspiration from the Old and New Testaments?

The biblical stories of the Exodus, Jonah, Daniel, and David all planted seeds of hope in the minds of men and women living in bondage.

Of all the forms of resistance employed by enslaved men and women, why was running away particularly detrimental to slaveholders across the South?

Running away belied proslavery propaganda about contented slaves, which had enabled slaveowners to think of themselves as kind, responsible masters.

Why was the Underground Railroad especially problematic for slaveholders and their supporters to dismantle?

Rather than a well-marked and established pathway, the Underground Railroad was difficult to identify because it was composed of a decentralized system of local routes and stations.

Which of the following was a legacy of Nat Turner’s Rebellion?

The revolt demonstrated conclusively that slaves stood at a fatal disadvantage in any violent encounter where whites outnumbered Blacks and the white community was armed and united.

What was arguably the salient achievement of Abby Kelley’s life?

Kelley covered more miles and gave more speeches than any other female orator of the time.

On the whole, why were utopian communities representative of the reform impulse in the early nineteenth century?

Nearly all the communities hoped to restore social harmony and to counteract what they saw as detrimental social and economic changes wrought by the market revolution.

Which of the following examples of the reform impulse received the most opposition in the North?

The temperance movement aroused considerable hostility among Catholics and the public at large who saw the movement as an attack on their own freedom.

How was Horace Mann’s vision for school reform a reflection of the seemingly incompatible association between freedom and restraint in the era’s reform impulse?

Mann hoped that universal public education could restore equality to a fractured society and train individuals to internalize self-discipline.

What was the fundamental difference between the antislavery agenda of the American Colonization Society and that of abolitionists?

Abolitionists rejected the traditional approach of gradual emancipation promoted by the American Colonization Society and demanded immediate abolition.

Who of the following did NOT play a role in fostering the abolitionist movement?

Henry Clay from Kentucky was a prominent member of the American Colonization Society.

How did the antislavery movement seek to amplify the definition of freedom and liberty?

The antislavery crusade viewed slaves and free Blacks as members of the national community and, as such, entitled to equality before the law regardless of race.

How did northern adversaries to abolitionism express their contempt for the movement?

The House of Representatives adopted the gag rule, which prohibited congressional consideration of petitions from abolitionists calling for emancipation in the nation’s capital.

How did the agenda and practices of Black abolitionists differ from their white counterparts?

Black abolitionists developed a broad definition of freedom, insisting, for example, that it possessed an economic dimension.

What prompted the Grimké sisters to help set in motion the movement for women’s rights?

They used the controversy over their antislavery speeches as a springboard for a vigorous argument for liberty and equality for women.

What is the principal inspiration for Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Declaration of Sentiments at the Seneca Falls Convention?

The Declaration of Sentiments was inspired by Stanton’s conviction that women should have the right to vote.

Which of the following is NOT an example of a conviction evangelized by feminists in the 1840s and 1850s?

Feminists critical of the existing institution of marriage generally refrained from raising in public the explosive issue of women’s “private” freedom, which was the right to regulate their own sexual activity and procreation.

What did Secretary of War Jefferson Davis find objectionable in Thomas Crawford’s proposed statue of freedom for the Capitol’s dome?

Davis feared that the liberty cap might suggest there was a connection between the slaves’ longing for freedom and the liberty of freeborn Americans.

How did America’s westward expansion alter the lives of the Mexican and Native peoples living in the northern provinces of Mexico?

It meant that people who had lived in the region for centuries were now treated as immigrants or savages.

What was controversial about the nature of the Mexican War?

Critics of the war argued both that it was unjust to launch a war to acquire land that Mexico was unwilling to sell and that the land acquired might be used for the expansion of slavery.

How did the California gold rush shape the demographics of California?

The gold rush was a major factor behind an 80 percent reduction in the Native population of California by 1860

Which of the following was NOT a component of the Compromise of 1850?

Only the buying and selling of enslaved people was outlawed in the nation’s capital, not the institution of slavery.

In what way did the Kansas-Nebraska Act move the nation closer to civil war?

The passage of the legislation shattered the unity of the Democratic Party, led to the dissolution of the Whig Party, and to the creation of the Republican Party.

Who were the Know-Nothings?

Know-Nothings were dedicated to reserving political office for native-born Americans.

In what way did the events associated with the settling of Kansas help foster support for the nascent Republican Party?

“Bleeding Kansas” seemed to discredit the policy of leaving the decision on slavery up to the local population, thus aiding the Republicans.

What was one reason the Dred Scott decision caused such an uproar in the North?

Chief Justice Roger B. Taney’s denial of citizenship for Blacks put the question on the national political agenda.

As a candidate for the Senate in 1858, what was Abraham Lincoln’s position on slavery and race relations?

Lincoln sympathized with abolitionists but was willing to compromise with the South to preserve the Union.

What contributed to the split in the Democratic Party at their April 1860 convention?

Northern Democrats would not accept a platform that included protection for slavery in all the territories not yet admitted to the Union as states.

Why did only seven of the fifteen slaveholding states choose to secede from the Union in the immediate aftermath of Lincoln’s election?

States of the Upper South, such as North Carolina and Virginia, had more Unionists than those in the Lower South.