AP®HistoryCollege BoardUS HistoryExam QuestionsPeriod 5: 1844-1877Failure of Compromise

Failure of Compromise (College Board AP® US History): Exam Questions

4 mins4 questions
11 mark

"They had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations; and so far inferior, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit."

Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, Majority Opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857

 The issue that precipitated the passage above was the

  • Debate over whether slavery was a national issue or a sectional issue

  • Growing disputes over federal economic policies

  • Discussion over whether Southern states could secede from the Union

  • Argument over whether Black Americans should have full voting rights

Choose your answer

21 mark

"They had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations; and so far inferior, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit."

Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, Majority Opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857

Which of the following best describes the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford?

  • Ruled that slavery was unconstitutional under the principles of the Declaration of Independence

  • Declared that Congress had the power to prohibit slavery in new territories

  • Stated that Black Americans were not U.S. citizens and had no legal rights in federal courts

  • Determined that enslaved people in free states were automatically granted freedom

Choose your answer

31 mark

"They had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations; and so far inferior, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit."

Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, Majority Opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857 

The language of this document can be seen as a repudiation of which of the following policies or actions from the antebellum period?

  • The Fugitive Slave Act

  • The Wilmot Proviso

  • The Missouri Compromise

  • The Kansas-Nebraska Act

Choose your answer

41 mark

"They had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations; and so far inferior, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit."

Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, Majority Opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857

Which of the following best explains a major reaction in the North to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford?

  • Many Northerners turned to third-party movements such as the Know-Nothings to express their discontent

  • Most Northern leaders accepted the ruling as a necessary compromise to maintain sectional harmony

  • Northern states immediately passed laws granting full citizenship and voting rights to free African Americans

  • Northern abolitionists and Free-Soil politicians increased their opposition to the expansion of slavery 

Choose your answer