Quiz for Sources for America’s History, Chapter 13

Question

1. In The Emigrant’s Guide to Oregon and California (Document 13-1), Lansford Hasting characterized life on the West Coast as

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is d. In his effort to entice more Americans to venture west, Hasting emphasized the ways in which life on the West Coast imitated life in the East. He reassured potential migrants that the soil was good, that towns included numerous buildings, and that other improvements were in process. He also stressed the importance of issues like temperance in western towns.
Incorrect. The answer is d. In his effort to entice more Americans to venture west, Hasting emphasized the ways in which life on the West Coast imitated life in the East. He reassured potential migrants that the soil was good, that towns included numerous buildings, and that other improvements were in process. He also stressed the importance of issues like temperance in western towns.

Question

2. John D. Sloat’s announcement “To the Inhabitants of California” (Document 13-2) presents the U.S. annexation of California as a result of which of the following?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is a. Sloat presents his arrival in California as the result of a war that began with “Mexico having commenced hostilities against the United States of America, by invading its territory and attacking the troops of the United States stationed on the north side of the Rio Grande.”
Incorrect. The answer is a. Sloat presents his arrival in California as the result of a war that began with “Mexico having commenced hostilities against the United States of America, by invading its territory and attacking the troops of the United States stationed on the north side of the Rio Grande.”

Question

3. Francisco Mejia, in “A Proclamation at Matamoros” (Document 13-2), attributes the cause of the 1846 war to what factor?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is c. Mejia states clearly that the war resulted from American actions that stemmed from “dissimulation, fraud, and the basest treachery, in order to obtain possession, in the midst of peace, of the territory of a friendly nation, which generously relied upon the faith of promises and the solemnity of treaties.”
Incorrect. The answer is c. Mejia states clearly that the war resulted from American actions that stemmed from “dissimulation, fraud, and the basest treachery, in order to obtain possession, in the midst of peace, of the territory of a friendly nation, which generously relied upon the faith of promises and the solemnity of treaties.”

Question

4. In his 1850 speech on the question of slavery (Document 13-3), John Calhoun asked whether it was possible to reach an agreement that would terminate agitation and save the Union. Answering his own question, he said, “Yes, easily; not by the weaker party, for it can of itself do nothing—not even protect itself—but by the stronger.” The stronger party that Calhoun refers to in this passage was which of the following?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is d. Calhoun refers to the South as the weaker party, forced to compromise repeatedly on the question of slavery, and the North as the stronger party, foisting its abolitionist agenda on the people of the South.
Incorrect. The answer is d. Calhoun refers to the South as the weaker party, forced to compromise repeatedly on the question of slavery, and the North as the stronger party, foisting its abolitionist agenda on the people of the South.

Question

5. After delivering the speech excerpted in Document 13-4, Charles Sumner was savagely beaten on the floor of the U.S. Senate, sustaining injuries that incapacitated him for years. How do Sumner’s speech and the response to it reflect the broader historical context of the 1850s?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is a. Charles Sumner was adamantly opposed to slavery and its extension into the territories. His strong position on this issue and the violent response to it reflect the sectional divisions and growing violence that would lead to the Civil War in 1861.
Incorrect. The answer is a. Charles Sumner was adamantly opposed to slavery and its extension into the territories. His strong position on this issue and the violent response to it reflect the sectional divisions and growing violence that would lead to the Civil War in 1861.

Question

6. How would the southerners known as “fire-eaters” have responded to Chief Justice Roger B. Taney’s opinion in Dred Scott v. Sanford (Document 13-5)?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is d. Fire-eaters, such as John Calhoun and his supporters, would have welcomed the decision in this case as one that validated their beliefs that slaves were property and that slavery was protected by the U.S. Constitution and should be allowed in all states.
Incorrect. The answer is d. Fire-eaters, such as John Calhoun and his supporters, would have welcomed the decision in this case as one that validated their beliefs that slaves were property and that slavery was protected by the U.S. Constitution and should be allowed in all states.

Question

7. According to the views she expressed in her 1860–1861 diary (Document 13-6), Keziah Goodwin Hopkins Brevard viewed her slaves as

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is a. Brevard described her slaves as difficult and troublesome but suggested that free blacks would present even greater threats to southern society because they were “half barbarians” and “not prepared for freedom.” She pinned her hopes for the South on the colonization movement, writing, “I hope & trust in God as soon as Secession is carried out—we of the South begin to find a way to get all the Negroes sent back to Africa & let the generations to come after us live in more peace than we do.”
Incorrect. The answer is a. Brevard described her slaves as difficult and troublesome but suggested that free blacks would present even greater threats to southern society because they were “half barbarians” and “not prepared for freedom.” She pinned her hopes for the South on the colonization movement, writing, “I hope & trust in God as soon as Secession is carried out—we of the South begin to find a way to get all the Negroes sent back to Africa & let the generations to come after us live in more peace than we do.”

Question

8. Based on the documents in this chapter, historians would be most likely to identify the period from 1844 to 1860 as a coherent period in U.S. history characterized by which of the following developments?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is a. The period from 1844 to 1860 is identified by historians as one characterized by national expansion, accomplished through the rhetoric of Manifest Destiny and war with Mexico and Native Americans, and sectionalism. Due to the new territory it acquired in the 1840s, the U.S. government became increasingly divided by sectional interests, leading to the conflicts that resulted in the Civil War.
Incorrect. The answer is a. The period from 1844 to 1860 is identified by historians as one characterized by national expansion, accomplished through the rhetoric of Manifest Destiny and war with Mexico and Native Americans, and sectionalism. Due to the new territory it acquired in the 1840s, the U.S. government became increasingly divided by sectional interests, leading to the conflicts that resulted in the Civil War.