Two hundred years ago, on March 6, 1820, President James Monroe signed into law legislation referred to as the Missouri Compromise, which prohibited slavery in the northern parts of the Louisiana Territory and allowed it in the southern parts. Under the Missouri Compromise Act, Missouri was admitted to the Union as a slave state and Maine was admitted as a free state.
The quiz below, from the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University, provides an opportunity for you to test your knowledge of the Missouri Compromise, its repeal in 1854 and its significance in the growing contentiousness over the issue of slavery that eventually led to the Civil War.
1. In what year did Missouri first apply for statehood?
A. 1812
B. 1815
C. 1818
D. 1819
2. Which statesman, referred to as the “Great Compromiser,” is credited with getting the Missouri Compromise Act passed?
A. Martin Van Buren
B. Henry Clay
C. William Pinkney
D. Stephen Douglas
3. The Louisiana Territory, which was central to the Missouri Compromise, had been bought by the United States for $15 million in 1803 from what country?
A. France
B. Canada
C. Mexico
D. Spain
4. Congressman James Tallmadge Jr. of New York introduced a proposed amendment to the bill that would eventually become the Missouri Compromise. The amendment, which was ultimately rejected by the Senate, would have done what?
A. Prohibited the introduction of new slaves into Missouri
B. Emancipated Missouri slaves at the age of 25
C. Emancipated children born to slaves in Missouri
D. All of the above
5. The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise’s restriction on slavery in the Louisiana Territory and gave territorial legislatures the power to decide whether they would petition to enter the Union as slave or free states. In what year was this legislation passed?
A. 1824
B. 1840
C. 1854
D. 1861
6. Opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act gave rise to what political party?
A. Whig Party
B. Federalist Party
C. Democratic Party
D. Republican Party
7. Which former president wrote in a letter that he believed the Missouri Compromise would be the “knell of the Union”?
A. George Washington
B. John Adams
C. Thomas Jefferson
D. James Madison
8. In 1821, Missouri became the first state West of the Mississippi River to be admitted into the Union. Which state was next to be admitted?
A. Ohio
B. Arkansas
C. Michigan
D. Texas
9. Which well-known Supreme Court case affirmed the right of slave owners to take their slaves into all of the Western territories, further heightening tensions between free and slave states?
A. Dred Scott v. Sanford
B. Plessy v. Ferguson
C. Marbury v. Madison
D. Gibbons v. Ogden
10. Which of the following post-Missouri Compromise wars had implications on the issue of slavery?
A. Border War
B. Mexican-American War
C. Civil War
D. All of the above
Answers: 1-C, 2-B, 3-A, 4-D, 5-C, 6-D, 7-C, 8-B, 9-A, 10-D
