Chapter Chronology

Quiz for Historical Question: “How Did America’s First Congress Address the Question of Slavery?”

Select the best answer for each question. Click the “submit” button for each question to turn in your work.

Question

1. Which of the following reasons did the 1790 Quaker petitions cite as an objection to slavery?

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B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is d. The Quaker petitions asked Congress to outlaw the international slave trade and emancipate all slaves in the United States. The petitions argued for “the restoration of liberty” to the slaves, citing the Constitution’s dedication to “secure the blessing of liberty” for all people, which, they argued, must include slaves.
Incorrect. The answer is d. The Quaker petitions asked Congress to outlaw the international slave trade and emancipate all slaves in the United States. The petitions argued for “the restoration of liberty” to the slaves, citing the Constitution’s dedication to “secure the blessing of liberty” for all people, which, they argued, must include slaves.

Question

2. Some southern Congressmen argued that the Quakers’ petitions should be dismissed immediately because the Constitution explicitly forbade intervention with what before 1808?

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B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is b. Article 1 of the Constitution forbade Congress from interfering in any way with the international slave trade before 1808. Because the first Quaker petition specifically asked Congress to end the “trafficking in the persons of fellow-men” (the slave trade), Congressmen from South Carolina and Georgia urged Congress to dismiss the petition immediately.
Incorrect. The answer is b. Article 1 of the Constitution forbade Congress from interfering in any way with the international slave trade before 1808. Because the first Quaker petition specifically asked Congress to end the “trafficking in the persons of fellow-men” (the slave trade), Congressmen from South Carolina and Georgia urged Congress to dismiss the petition immediately.

Question

3. Which of these reasons did Southerners cite as a justification for maintaining slavery in the United States, despite the protests of abolitionist Quakers in 1790?

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B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is a. In response to the Quaker petitions against slavery in 1790, Southerners cited multiple justifications for why slavery was just and right, including its Biblical approval, its foundational function in the American economy, and its civilizing effect on the slaves themselves.
Incorrect. The answer is a. In response to the Quaker petitions against slavery in 1790, Southerners cited multiple justifications for why slavery was just and right, including its Biblical approval, its foundational function in the American economy, and its civilizing effect on the slaves themselves.

Question

4. The 1790 congressional report that responded to Quaker petitions against slavery declared that Congress had no authority to regulate domestic slavery because this power was reserved for

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B.
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D.
Correct. The answer is c. The congressional report stated: “The Congress have no authority to interfere in the emancipation of slaves, or in the treatment of them within any of the States; it remaining with the several States alone to provide any regulation therein, which humanity and true policy may require.” In other words, the right to regulate slavery was reserved for the states.
Incorrect. The answer is c. The congressional report stated: “The Congress have no authority to interfere in the emancipation of slaves, or in the treatment of them within any of the States; it remaining with the several States alone to provide any regulation therein, which humanity and true policy may require.” In other words, the right to regulate slavery was reserved for the states.

Question

5. What is the historical significance of the congressional report that responded to Quaker petitions against slavery in 1790?

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B.
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D.
Correct. The answer is b. This essay argues that the 1790 congressional report, a short document in response to a specific set of petitions, ultimately became a silencing mechanism that extinguished all efforts to get the federal government to disrupt slavery for more than forty years.
Incorrect. The answer is b. This essay argues that the 1790 congressional report, a short document in response to a specific set of petitions, ultimately became a silencing mechanism that extinguished all efforts to get the federal government to disrupt slavery for more than forty years.