Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumMexican-American War and Sectional Tension

"Resolved, That the territories of the United States belong to the several States composing this Union, and are held by them as their joint and common property.

Resolved, That Congress, as the joint agent and representative of the States of this Union, has no right to make any law, or do any act whatever, which shall, directly or by its effects, make any discrimination between the States of this Union, by which any of them shall be deprived of its full and equal right in any territory of the United States acquired or to be acquired."

— John C. Calhoun, resolutions submitted to the United States Senate, 1847

Which of the following historical developments of the 1850s most directly reflected the constitutional principles advocated in the excerpt?

  1. The Supreme Court's decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford ruling that Congress lacked the power to prohibit slavery in federal territories.Answer
  2. B
    The implementation of popular sovereignty, which empowered the federal executive branch to directly determine the slave status of new territories.
  3. C
    The outbreak of the Civil War, which was primarily caused by Southern opposition to federal manufacturing tariffs rather than territorial disputes over slavery.
  4. D
    The passage of the Compromise of 1850, which permanently ended sectional tensions by prohibiting the domestic slave trade in all Southern states.

Answer

The Supreme Court's decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford ruling that Congress lacked the power to prohibit slavery in federal territories.
The correct answer is correct because the Supreme Court's 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford decision directly adopted the constitutional reasoning of John C. Calhoun, declaring that Congress had no power to ban slavery in federal territories and that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus to identify Calhoun's core argument.
Calhoun argues that the federal territories are the common property of all states and that Congress has no right to restrict slaveowners from taking their property (slaves) into those territories.
This establishes the constitutional basis of the extreme Southern 'common property' doctrine regarding territorial expansion.
2
Evaluate the historical options to find which one most directly aligns with this doctrine.
In 1857, the Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott case that Congress had no power to exclude slavery from any federal territory, echoing Calhoun's legal reasoning.
The Dred Scott decision was the ultimate judicial vindication of Calhoun's arguments.

Key Concept

The Southern constitutional defense of slavery's expansion and its culmination in the Dred Scott decision.
Rate this question

Topics

Mexican-American War and Sectional Tension

More questions from this topic