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The Crises of the 1850s Trivia Quiz

This quiz tests you on your knowledge of 1850s American history.

A multiple-choice quiz by bosmina. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
bosmina

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
37,058

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
20

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
12 / 20

Plays
2512

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 20

1. Who was the Whig candidate in the Election of 1852? Hint

Franklin Pierce

John P. Hale

Winfield Scott

John C. Fremont

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Question 2 of 20

2. What state's Supreme Court declared the federal Fugitive Slave Act void in 1857, in Ableman v. Booth? Hint

Massachusetts

Pennsylvania

Ohio

Wisconsin

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Question 3 of 20

3. Why did John Y. Mason, James Buchanan and Pierre Soule write the Ostend Manifesto? Hint

To persuade Mexico to agree to the Gadsden Purchase to the United States

To persuade Great Britain to cede Canada to the United States

To peruade Japan to open up its ports to Commodore Perry

To persuade Spain to cede Cuba to the United States

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Question 4 of 20

4. Who succeeded Zachary Taylor? Hint

Millard Fillmore

Henry Clay

Franklin Pierce

James Buchanan

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Question 5 of 20

5. What was the purpose of the Gadsden Purchase? Hint

To settle a boundary dispute with Mexico

To extract more land from Mexico because Trist did not acquire enough land in the Treaty of Guadalup

To acquire land for a transcontinental railroad

To provide land for an Indian Reservation

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Question 6 of 20

6. Who first introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Act to Congress?

Answer: ( Two words, or just surname )

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Question 7 of 20

7. What was the major platform of the Know-Nothing or 'Native' American party? Hint

Slavery should be allowed to expand into the new territories

Only popular war heroes should be elected to the Presidency

Slavery should not be allowed to expand into the new territories

Anti-immigration

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Question 8 of 20

8. Who gave a speech entitled 'The Crime Against Kansas' in May 1856 in the Senate, that spoke out against slavery and Andrew Butler, a senator from South Carolina? Hint

Charles Sumner

Preston Brooks

Abraham Lincoln

John Quincy Adams

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Question 9 of 20

9. Why were Northerners so enraged by the Kansas-Nebraska Act? Hint

Because it ensured that the Transcontinental Railroad would run through the South.

Because it repealed the Missouri Compromise.

Because it would upset the balance of free and slave states.

Because it was a Southern measure.

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Question 10 of 20

10. Which of the following was NOT an opinion of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott Decision? Hint

Scott was not a citizen of the United States, so he could not file a lawsuit

Free blacks could never exist in the United States

Slaves were property, and their owners could not be dispossessed

The Missouri Compromise was null and void

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Question 11 of 20

11. Was Dred Scott freed by the US Supreme Court?

Yes

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Question 12 of 20

12. Who was Stephen Douglas's major competitor in the Illinois Senatorial election of 1858? Hint

Abraham Lincoln

William Seward

Charles Sumner

John Bell

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Question 13 of 20

13. Was Kansas admitted to the Union as a free state or a slave state?

Answer: (Free or Slave?)

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Question 14 of 20

14. Who was hanged for his attempt to raid Harper's Ferry in the fall of 1859? Hint

John C. Fremont

William Lloyd Garrison

John Brown

Davy Crockett

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Question 15 of 20

15. What was the original platform of the Republican party? Hint

To promote Northern industry

Nationalism

Slavery should not be allowed to expand into the new territories

Advocation of the Temperance Movement

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Question 16 of 20

16. Which of these men opposed slavery? Hint

Thomas R. Dew

John C. Calhoun

Cassius M. Clay

James Buchanan

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Question 17 of 20

17. How many candidates were there for the Presidential Election of 1860? Hint

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Question 18 of 20

18. Who wrote 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' in 1852? Hint

Harriet Tubman

Abigail Washington

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Harriet Beecher Stowe

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Question 19 of 20

19. Who was Abraham Lincoln's first Vice-President? Hint

Edward Everett

William Seward

Hannibal Hamlin

John Bell

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Question 20 of 20

20. Which state was the first to secede from the Union? Hint

Mississippi

South Carolina

Georgia

Alabama

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Who was the Whig candidate in the Election of 1852?

Answer: Winfield Scott

General Winfield Scott was a military hero whose political views were unknown. John P. Hale was the Free Soil Party candidate, John C. Fremont was the Republican candidate in 1856 and Franklin Pierce was the Democratic candidate.

2. What state's Supreme Court declared the federal Fugitive Slave Act void in 1857, in Ableman v. Booth?

Answer: Wisconsin

Wisconsin even ignored the U.S. Supreme Court when it over-ruled the Wisconsin ruling.

3. Why did John Y. Mason, James Buchanan and Pierre Soule write the Ostend Manifesto?

Answer: To persuade Spain to cede Cuba to the United States

The document was supposed to be confidential, but the Northern leaders found out about it and were furious. They considered it an attempt to admit another slave state to the Union.

4. Who succeeded Zachary Taylor?

Answer: Millard Fillmore

Taylor suffered a sudden stomach disorder following an attack of heat prostration and died on July 9, 1850, midway through his term.

5. What was the purpose of the Gadsden Purchase?

Answer: To acquire land for a transcontinental railroad

The United States needed a transcontinental railroad to link the East with the West. The North and South debated over whether the route should go through the North or the South. The South wanted the land from Mexico to make sure that a Southern route would be possible.

6. Who first introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Act to Congress?

Answer: Stephen Douglas

7. What was the major platform of the Know-Nothing or 'Native' American party?

Answer: Anti-immigration

Some of the Know-Nothings' plans for the country were to prohibit Catholics and immigrants from holding public office, institute tougher naturalization policies and have literacy tests for voting. Their secret password was 'I know nothing,' which earned the party its name.

8. Who gave a speech entitled 'The Crime Against Kansas' in May 1856 in the Senate, that spoke out against slavery and Andrew Butler, a senator from South Carolina?

Answer: Charles Sumner

Preston Brooks, Butler's nephew, beat Sumner up with a cane a few days after his speech. Sumner was absent from the Senate for four years and his seat remained vacant in his name for the entire time.

9. Why were Northerners so enraged by the Kansas-Nebraska Act?

Answer: Because it repealed the Missouri Compromise.

10. Which of the following was NOT an opinion of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott Decision?

Answer: Free blacks could never exist in the United States

Supreme Court Justice Taney upset many with this verdict.

11. Was Dred Scott freed by the US Supreme Court?

Answer: No

In fact, the Supreme Court ruled in 1857 that he was a slave, had always been a slave and that he wasn't a US citizen - and that he had no right to bring any lawsuit to the Supreme Court. (The decision was deeply divisive). His owners returned him to his previous owner, who granted him his freedom, but he died of tubercolosis the following year (1858).

12. Who was Stephen Douglas's major competitor in the Illinois Senatorial election of 1858?

Answer: Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln and Douglas had a series of memorable debates.

13. Was Kansas admitted to the Union as a free state or a slave state?

Answer: Free

President Buchanan tried to force Congress to admit Kansas as a slave state, but the voters of Kansas wouldn't vote for a constitution that allowed slavery. Finally, in 1861, when many Southern states had left the Union, Kansas was admitted as a free state.

14. Who was hanged for his attempt to raid Harper's Ferry in the fall of 1859?

Answer: John Brown

15. What was the original platform of the Republican party?

Answer: Slavery should not be allowed to expand into the new territories

16. Which of these men opposed slavery?

Answer: Cassius M. Clay

17. How many candidates were there for the Presidential Election of 1860?

Answer: 4

Abraham Lincoln was the nominee of the Republicans, Stephen Douglas was the nominee of the Northern Democrats, John C. Breckinridge was the nominee of the Southern Democrats and John Bell was the nominee for the Constitutional Union party.

18. Who wrote 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' in 1852?

Answer: Harriet Beecher Stowe

The book created a national controversy. Lincoln called her 'The little lady who started the war'.

19. Who was Abraham Lincoln's first Vice-President?

Answer: Hannibal Hamlin

20. Which state was the first to secede from the Union?

Answer: South Carolina

South Carolina seceded on December 20, 1860. Mississippi was the second state to secede (January 9, 1861), then Florida followed on January 10, 1861, Alabama on January 11, 1861 and Georgia was fifth, on January 19, 1861.

Source: Author bosmina

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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