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Question 1

1. Why did Mississippi politician Jefferson Davis object in the 1850s to the original design of the Statue of Freedom that now adorns the U.S. Capitol dome?

Answer 1

C. Its use of an ancient Roman liberty cap on “Freedom” raised a touchy matter about slaves’ longing for freedom

Question 2

2. Why did slavery become more central to American politics in the 1840s?

Answer 2

B. Territorial expansion raised the question of whether new lands should be free or slave

Question 3

3. When Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, _______

Answer 3

C. its Native American population was relatively large compared to its non-Indian population

Question 4

4. In 1821, the opening of the Santa Fe Trail between Santa Fe and ________ led to a reorientation of New Mexico’s commerce from the rest of Mexico to the United States.

Answer 4

D. Independence, Missouri

Question 5

5. The term “Californios” referred in the 1830s and 1840s to _____ in California.

Answer 5

A. Mexican cattle ranchers

Question 6

6. American settlement in Texas in the 1820s and 1830s ________.

Answer 6

C. led Stephen Austin to demand more autonomy from Mexican officials

Question 7

7. Why did presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren reject adding Texas to the United States?

Answer 7

D. The presence of slaves there would reignite the issue of slavery, and they preferred to avoid it.

Question 8

8. Which two political figures agreed to keep the issue of annexing Texas out of the 1844 presidential campaign possible?

Answer 8

B. Henry Clay and Martin Van Buren

Question 9

9. When Democrats demanded the “reannexation” of Texas in 1844, they ______.

Answer 9

A. implied that Texas had once been part of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase

Question 10

10. “Fifty-four forty of fight” referred to demands for American control of __________.

Answer 10

B. Oregon

Question 11

11.During the Mexican War, ______.

Answer 11

C. U.S. troops occupied a foreign capital for the first time

Question 12

12. Who questioned President Polk’s right to declare war by introducing a resolution to Congress requesting the president to specify the precise spot where blood had first been shed?

Answer 12

D. Abraham Lincoln

Question 13

13. Who wrote “On Civil Disobedience” as a response to the U.S. war with Mexico?

Answer 13

D. Henry David Thoreau

Question 14

14. With the exception Alaska, what was the last piece of territory acquired by the United States toward the solidification of its present boundaries in North America?

Answer 14

C. the Gadsden Purchase

Question 15

15. According to John L. O’Sullivan’s Democratic Review, what was the key to the history of nations and the rise and fall of empires?

Answer 15

A. race

Question 16

16. The California gold rush _________.

Answer 16

B. resulted in laws that discriminated against “foreign miners”

Question 17

17. Which of the following statements related to ethnicity was True in California in the 1850s?

Answer 17

A. Thousands of Indian children were declared orphans and treated as slaves

Question 18

18. During the 1850s, 80 percent of the world’s gold came from two places that experienced gold rushes at about the same time: California and ____________.

Answer 18

D. Australia

Question 19

19. What American naval officer negotiated a treaty that opened two Japanese ports to U.S. ships in 1854?

Answer 19

D. Matthew Perry

Question 20

20. In 1846, Congressman David Wilmot proposed to _____.

Answer 20

A. prohibit slavery from all territory acquired from Mexico

Question 21

21. The Free Soil Party _______.

Answer 21

A. demonstrated that antislavery sentiment had spread far beyond abolitionists ranks

Question 22

22. The opponents of the Compromise of 1850 ________.

Answer 22

B. received a boost from President Zachary Taylor

Question 23

23. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 _______.

Answer 23

A. gave new powers to federal officers to override local law enforcement

Question 24

24. The controversy over the arrest of Anthony Burns in 1854 shows _________.

Answer 24

C. the unpopularity of the Fugitive Slave Act in parts of the North