Antebellum Period and Civil War Quiz

What was the main purpose of the Missouri Compromise?

Which event contributed most directly to the rise of sectionalism in the United States?

What did the Kansas-Nebraska Act allow the territories to do?

Which significant role did Frederick Douglass play during the Civil War?

What was a major consequence of the Dred Scott Case?

What was a primary focus of the Freedmen's Bureau during Reconstruction?

Which amendments provided African Americans with political rights during Reconstruction?

What was one factor that contributed to the decline of the Republican Party in the South during the 1870s?

Antebellum Period

Manifest Destiny was the belief that the US was ordained to spread democracy
Sectional tensions arose over slavery in newly acquired territories, particularly in the West
The Missouri Compromise (1820) temporarily resolved the issue, but it resurfaced with the Mexican-American War
The Compromise of 1850, including popular sovereignty, aimed to lessen tensions
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 failed to address slavery and led to strife in "Bleeding Kansas"
The Dred Scott Supreme Court decision ruled that slaves were property, not citizens, and Congress had no power over slavery

Political Parties

Know-Nothings: A nativist political group advocating for white Protestants to exclude Catholics from immigration
European immigration (Irish and German Catholics) fueled nativist sentiment in the 1830s and 1840s

Emancipation & Civil War

The Civil War's purpose shifted from preserving the Union to abolishing slavery
Frederick Douglass argued that Black soldiers' service would secure citizenship rights
The Confederacy lost a higher percentage of its total forces compared to the Union, with the Confederacy losing ~40% compared to the Union losing ~25%
Farmworkers comprised a higher percentage of Confederate soldiers than Union soldiers (60% vs 47.5%)

Reconstruction

The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments granted political rights (including voting) to African Americans in the South
The Republican party's decline in the South started in the 1870s
The Freedmen's Bureau offered education to formerly enslaved people

Test your knowledge on the Antebellum Period and the Civil War, focusing on key events like Manifest Destiny, the Missouri Compromise, and the roles of political parties. This quiz covers important legislative acts and court decisions leading up to the Civil War, as well as significant figures like Frederick Douglass.