Question

In 1836, when abolitionists began to flood Washington with petitions calling for emancipation in the nation’s capital, the House of Representatives adopted the gag rule, which prohibited southern congressmen from speaking out against the petitions.a) trueb) false

Answer 1

The correct answer is b) false.

Step-by-step explanation:

A gag rule refers to a rule or law that prevents discussion of a certain topic, usually of a delicate or controversial nature, by a government body. The gag rule wasn't adopted to prevent Southern congressmen from speaking out against the petition - quite the opposite. Southern congressmen who adopted the gag rule to prevent abolitionist petitions from being considered or even read out in Congress. In the early 1830s northern congressmen, supported by John Quincy Adams, tried to pass a series of laws to abolish slavery. However, these were blocked by the so called Pinckney Resolutions of 1836, presented by Henry L. Pinckney, a representative from South Carolina. These forbade discussion of slavery on Congress, arguing that it didn't have faculty to discuss it. These restrictions were hardened by the Twenty-First Rule of 1840, which banned even the reception of any abolitionist petition. The gag rules forbidding discussion of abolition would remain in place until 1844.