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120 Cards in this Set
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In general, Native American groups prior to contact with Europeans
a. had developed dry farming techniques. b. had adapted to a variety of geographic and climate conditions. c. had developed large-scale cities with hierarchical governments. d. lived in scattered groups. e. had extensive trade networks that linked North and South America. |
The correct answer is B. This is the only answer that applies to Native American groups IN GENERAL. The other answers are culture traits of only certain groups. TIP: Be alert to qualifiers like "in general." They can change the meaning of a question.
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Which of the following was NOT a factor in the success of the Spanish in conquering Native American peoples?
a. Spanish exploitation of rivalries among native peoples b. Spanish use of firearms and horses c. focus of other European nations on their own internal political and religious issues d. Native Americans' lack of immunity to European diseases e. the importation of Africans |
The correct answer is E. Choice E occurred after the Spanish had firmly established their hold on Native American areas. The other factors all contributed to the ability of the Spanish to take over Indian lands.
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All of the following were reasons the English were interested in colonization EXCEPT
a. English merchants were looking for new markets b. English landlords wanted to import their enclosure movement to the Americas to make money c. the English, convinced there was a Northwest Passage to Asia, wanted to establish posts to supply ships going and back through the Northwest Passage d. the English needed a base from which to attack Spanish treasure ships sailing back to Spain e. religious rivalry between Protestant England and Catholic Spain motivated England to establish a Protestant empire in the Americas |
The correct answer is B. The only effect of the enclosure movement on the Americas, answer B, was to provide landless farmworkers with a reason to emigrate. The other answers are all true and, therefore, not correct for this reverse answer question.
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Which of the following was NOT a direct result of the dumping of precious metals from the Americas into European markets?
a. introduction of joint-stock companies b. the commercial revolution c. widespread inflation d. lower standard of living for most Europeans e. increased profits for merchants |
The correct answer is A. Answer choices B through E were direct results of the dumping of gold and silver, most notably silver from Mexican mines. People may have decided to create joint-stock companies to take advantage of commercial opportunities, but they were not a direct result. TIP: Be careful of NOT questions. You are looking for what is NOT true or does NOT fit.
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Which of the following is a true statement about Puritanism?
a. Puritanism attracted few followers among the growing English middle class of merchants and commercial farmers. b. Puritanism was based on a set of religious, political, and social values. c. Puritans renounced the Calvinist concept of the work ethic. d. Rigorous adherence to social mores for their own sake was a cornerstone of Puritanism. e. In leaving England, the Puritans renounced any political ambitions. |
The correct answer is B. Think about the Massachusetts Bay Colony that the Puritans founded. The Puritans kept tight control over not only religious, but also political and social aspects of the colony. Choices A, B, and E are the opposites of what occurred. Choice D doesn't make sense; behavior to Puritans was an indication of whether one was saved or not.
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The first published poet in the North American colonies was
a. Phillis Wheatley b. Emily Dickinson c. William Bradford d. Jonathan Edwards e. Anne Bradstreet |
The correct answer is E. The wrong answers are good distracters in that they are all known for their writings. Answer A is the first published African poet in the colonies; among her poems is one she wrote to George Washington. Answer B is well known, but wrote in the late 1800s, long after there was American poetry. Answer C was a contemporary of Bradstreet's, but he wrote a History of Plymouth Plantation. Answer D was a famous Puritan preacher whose sermons were published.
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William Penn called his colony a "Holy Experiment" because he
a. intended to buy land from Native Americans rather than seize it b. wanted to establish a self-governing colony with political and religious freedom c. intended to keep a journal history of the development of the colony d. welcomed people of various faiths e. banned indentured servants |
The correct answer is B. While answer choices A and D have elements of truth in them, answer choice B states Penn's intention. Answers C and E are just wrong.
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The Bodies of Liberty, the first set of laws in the English colonies, was passed by the
a. Virginia House of Burgesses b. Massachusetts General Court c. First Continental Congress d. Proprietors of Georgia e. Maryland General Assembly |
The correct answer is B. You should have been able immediately to cross off choices C and D. Common sense would tell you that the First Continental Congress was too late in the history of the colonies. Proprietors, choice D, didn't have to pass laws; they decreed what needed to be done. The thing to remember about answer A is that the House of Burgesses was the first lawmaking body in the English colonies. Answer E passed the Act of Toleration, granting religious freedom to most faiths.
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Tobacco was the most important export commodity in the late seventeenth century for which of the following?
a. Massachusetts b. New York and New Jersey c. Georgia d. Virginia and Maryland e. North and South Carolina |
The correct answer is D. Discard choice C immediately. Georgia wasn't founded until 1732 and the question asks about the late seventeenth century. Remember John Rolfe's introduction of tobacco into the Virginia Colony in 1613 and how it saved the fledgling colony from extinction? The climate in choices A and B is too cold. Rice and indigo were answer choice E's export products.
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Which of the following is NOT a true statement about life in the English colonies?
a. Families tended to be large, because many children meant many workers. b. Women had little opportunity outside the home but played a central role within the family. c. The English had fairly open immigration policies. d. Colonial culture tended to be similar to that of England. e. The colonies had no colleges, so young men had to go to England for higher education. |
The correct answer is E. The first century of colonization saw the founding of Harvard, William and Mary, and Yale. Other colleges such as Princeton (College of New Jersey) followed in the 1700s. Answer A is true for all frontier communities in the settlement of the United States as is answer B. TIP: This is another NOT question. Remember to look for the statement that is not true.
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Which of the following was fought between colonists and Native Americans?
a. King Philip's War b. Bacon's Rebellion c. Shays's Rebellion d. Stono Uprising e. First Seminole War |
The correct answer is A. King Philip is his English name, but to his Wampanoag nation he was known as Metacom. He led a war against the colonists in New England over land rights. Answer B was a rebellion of frontiersmen against the governor and House of Burgesses in the Virginia colony. Answer C was a rebellion on the frontier in the early days of the new United States. Answer D was an uprising of slaves in South Carolina and Georgia in 1739. Answer E was fought in Florida between Seminole and the U.S. Army, not colonists.
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A major difference in government structure between royal colonies and charter colonies was
a. the monarch paid the governor's salary in a royal colony, whereas in a charter colony the legislature paid his salary b. royal colonies had no local legislative representation, whereas charter colonies elected a colonial legislature c. the colonists elected their own governor in charter colonies, whereas the monarch appointed the governor in a royal colony d. town meetings made decisions for towns in charter colonies, but in royal colonies all government decisions were made by the royal governor and council e. royal colonies limited the right to vote and participate in government to white, male property owners. |
The correct answer is C. Answer A is incorrect, because the colonial legislatures paid the salaries of all governors. Answer B is false because all colonies had legislatures. Remember the Patriot mantra of "no taxation without representation." The royal governor and council had little impact on local government, so answer D is incorrect. All colonies limited voting, so answer E is incorrect.
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The development of enslaved Africans as the chief labor supply after Bacon's Rebellion occurred because of
a. greater availability of slaves b. the inability to find Europeans willing to be indentured servants c. Indian resistance to working as laborers d. the labor-intense nature of tobacco agriculture e. the growing number of white landless and discontented former servants |
The correct answer is E. Bacon's Rebellion attracted former indentured servants who wanted land and did not quibble about killing Native Americans to get it. Large and small planters alike came to see these discontented former servants as potential rebels who might come after them next. As a result, the planters turned to slave labor rather than indentured servants. While the pool of indentured servants, choice B, grew smaller over the decades, that was not the reason for the shift in labor pool. Choices A and D may be true in general, but not in relation to Bacon's Rebellion.
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The first colony in the 1600s to require that each town establish a public primary school was
a. Pennsylvania b. Massachusetts c. New York d. Virginia e. Georgia |
The correct answer is B. Eliminate answer E, Georgia, right away, because Georgia wasn't a colony until 1732. Based on what you know about Southern colonies—the agricultural base of their economies and their widespread settlements—eliminate answer D. Why would they care about establishing schools in far-off towns? That leaves the New England and Middle colonies. While any one might be a good choice, think ahead to the reformers of the 1800s. Massachusetts' educational system was so far advanced by the 1830s that Horace Mann, the first Massachusetts' secretary of education, organized the existing school districts into a statewide system. Answer B would be an educated guess and the right answer. By the way, answers A and C, Pennsylvania and New York, got on the education bandwagon in the 1800s.
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While the English were the largest group of people to immigrate to the colonies, the second largest group were
a. Irish b. Scots Irish c. French Huguenots d. Germans e. Welsh |
The correct answer is B. By 1700, some 150,000 English had immigrated to North America. Answer B, the Scots Irish, had originally immigrated to Ireland from Scotland, and the end of the cloth-making industry in Ireland in the 1700s forced many of their descendants to emigrate. Answer D, the Germans were the first group of non-English speakers to immigrate in large numbers. Most of the 100,000 or so that came went to Pennsylvania. Answer A, the Irish, is the wrong time period; the Irish came in large numbers in the 1840s as a result of the potato famine. However, their numbers were never as great as the Germans. The same is true for answer E, the Welsh. Answer C, French Huguenots, came in the 1680s to escape religious persecution and settled mainly in Carolina colony.
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A significant characteristic of the social class structure in the English colonies was
a. its lack of social mobility b. the size and wealth of the middle class c. the lack of importance given to wealth d. an upper class of wealthy merchants and professionals only e. the lack of a lower class of poor |
The correct answer is B. About 70 percent of all white colonists were considered middle class. They were the small farm owners, shopkeepers, and craftworkers. Answer A is incorrect, because the ability to move up the social ladder was a characteristic of colonial society. Answer C is incorrect, because wealth still determined a person's place in the social structure. Answer D is incorrect because it leaves out wealthy planters. Answer E is incorrect because there was a large lower class of poor farm families, slaves, and indentured servants.
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The child depicted in this painting reflects what idea of Puritans?
a. Children were gifts from God and should be well cared for and well dressed. b. Children were considered small adults. c. Children wore many layers of clothing for modesty's sake. d. Dressing children like their parents were God-like. e. No expense should be spared in clothing children, because their outfits were another indication that the parents were saved. |
The correct answer is B. Puritans saw children as adults in miniature and dressed and treated them as such. Their personalities and childishness were to be bent to the teachings of God and all evidence of sin eradicated, often by the rod. Don't be fooled by answer A. Clothes were not important to Puritans; they would have been more likely to dress their children sensibly than fashionably, what well dressed implies.
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"The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so intolerably loathsome, that it was dangerous to remain there for any time, and some of us had been permitted to stay on deck for the fresh air . . . "
This quotation probably describes a. an American warship during the American Revolution b. the Mayflower c. an Irish immigrant ship in the early 1700s d. a slave ship bound for the Americas e. a German immigrant ship in the early 1700s |
The correct answer is D. This is a common sense question. Why would anyone ask a question about conditions on a ship if it weren't a slave ship? Look for clues in the quotation itself to confirm your idea. The words coast and permitted to stay signal that this was indeed written by someone who was captive on a slave ship. Africans were routinely captured inland and marched to slave factories on the coast and from there onto ships. Permitted indicates the writer didn't have any choice.
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The religious group that had the greatest influence in New England after the initial phase of settlement was
a. Roman Catholicism b. the Anglican Church c. Presbyterianism d. Congregational Church e. Methodism |
The correct answer is D. The early rigidity of the Puritans and Pilgrims gave way to a less strict adherence to religious tenets. However, the churches of New England continued to avoid any kind of hierarchy. Local congregations, or churches, managed their own affairs, hence the name. Roman Catholicism, answer A, although the faith of the Calvert proprietors of Maryland, had little influence anywhere, even in that colony. Answer B had the most influence among the planters of the Southern colonies. Answer C was limited mostly to the Scots and Scots Irish who settled the inland areas of the Southern colonies. Answer E had its greatest influence in the 1700s as a result of the Great Awakening religious revival in the colonies.
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Over time, which of the following rights were married women in the colonies able to exercise?
a. vote b. conduct business c. attend college d. hold public office e. act as ministers |
The correct answer is B. Single women and widows initially had more rights in the colonies, including the right to conduct business. This was a holdover from English common law. Over time, colonial legislatures and courts included married women in the right to conduct business, provided it was in connection with or for their husbands.
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The Great Awakening spurred all of the following EXCEPT
a. the development of religious pluralism b. establishment of nonsectarian colleges c. separation of church and state d. active participation in church affairs by ordinary people e. the banning of Anglicanism |
The correct answer is E. Answer choice E is antithetical to choice A. They can't both be true. Common sense points to choice A as being true and, therefore, choice E must be the answer. TIP: Be careful of EXCEPT questions. With these questions, you are looking for what is not true.
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A major difference between slavery in Virginia and in the Carolinas and Georgia was that
a. landowners were less tolerant of slaves creating families b. there was more cultural diversity in the Carolinas and Georgia as a result of the blending of European and African cultures c. the major crop that slaves in Virginia cultivated was cotton, whereas in the Carolinas and Georgia, it was rice d. most slaves in Virginia had been born in the colony rather than imported e. there was a greater degree of diversity in the kinds of work that slaves did in the Carolinas and Georgia |
The correct answer is D. Answer A is incorrect, because slaves were encouraged to have families so that natural increase rather than importation would provide new workers for slaveowners. Answer B is the opposite of what occurred. Answer C is incorrect because the major colonial crop in Virginia was tobacco. Answer E is the opposite of what occurred; there was more diversity in jobs in Virginia.
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Which of the following was a major advantage for the British in North America during the French and Indian War?
a. The British colonies joined together through the Albany Plan of Union to wage war as a single unit. b. A number of Native American groups allied with the British. c. The British colonies had a homogeneous population loyal to Great Britain. d. The British had thirteen separate governments directing the war along with the government in London. e. The British colonies were populated with families willing to fight for their homes. |
The correct answer is E. French North America had few colonists. Most of the French immigrants were men who made their living as fur trappers and traders. Answer choice A is incorrect, although Benjamin Franklin attempted to join the colonies into a union during the war. Choice B is wrong; the British have only one ally, the Iroquois. Choice C is also untrue; the British colonies had a variety of ethnic groups within their borders.
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The British government did not enforce the Proclamation of 1763 because
a. the French removal from Canada made the proclamation unnecessary b. it was to the benefit of the British empire to have the colonists move West c. the government did not want to enrich land speculators d. the colonists refused to obey the law e. the Native Americans turned on the British and the government wanted revenge |
The correct answer is B. Answer B is correct because the land beyond the settled colonies had riches that would ultimately benefit the British government through increased trade. Answer A makes no sense because the proclamation was issued because the French had been defeated and the area now was under British control. Answer C is the opposite of what would have happened if the proclamation had been enforced. Answer D is true, but was not the reason behind the government's lack of action. Answer E is incorrect; most of the Native Americans were British allies in the French and Indian War.
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British policy toward its colonies in the 1600s and 1700s was based on the principle of
a. popular sovereignty b. salutary neglect c. direct representation d. the price revolution e. mercantilism |
The correct answer is E. According to mercantilism, colonies exist for the benefit of the home country. Answer A relates to the establishment of slavery in new states in the 1800s. Choice B was the British government's attitude toward enforcing economic laws related to the colonies prior to the 1760s. Choice C was the colonists' argument against Parliament's attempt to tax the colonies. Choice D is what occurred in Europe in the 1500s as money poured into circulation and goods became scarce in relation to available money.
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The "power of the purse," colonial legislatures' ability to influence the actions of royal officials in the colonies, was eliminated by the
a. Stamp Act b. Quartering Act c. Intolerable Acts d. Townshend Acts e. Declaratory Act |
The correct answer is D. The revenues raised by the customs duties imposed in the Townshend Act were to be used to pay royal officials in the colonies, thus eliminating the bargaining chip that colonial legislatures held. Answer A refers to the direct tax on documents. Answer B required colonists to provide housing for British troops. Choice C are the laws passed to punish Boston and Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. Answer E was passed by Parliament reasserting its authority to make laws for the colonies.
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All of the following are examples of the influence of Enlightenment thinking EXCEPT
a. Benjamin Franklin's scientific experiments b. John Locke's social contract theory c. the Declaration of Independence d. predestination e. the use of inoculations against smallpox |
The correct answer is D. The basic premise of the Enlightenment was that the natural world was governed by certain rules that were knowable by humans through observation. These rules could be applied to further the good of humankind. The Enlightenment encouraged scientific experimentation. Answer D, predestination, refers to the religious belief that people were either saved or damned by God and that their own good works were of no value in determining their salvation.
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"Of more worth is one honest man to society, and in the sight of God than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived."
This quotation was most probably written by a. Marquis de Lafayette b. William Pitt c. George Washington d. Thomas Paine e. Edmund Burke |
The correct answer is D. This is very inflammatory language and would hardly have been spoken by a French nobleman, choice A, or by choice B, William Pitt, the British Prime Minister, even though he was a defender of the American colonists. It is out of character for George Washington, answer C. Choice E, Edmund Burke, the Irish member of Parliament, supported the Americans, but in more reasonable terms. The sentiments fit the nature of Thomas Paine, answer D, the author of the inflammatory pamphlet Common Sense.
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The battle of Saratoga in 1777 was important because it
a. gave the British a much needed victory b. brought France into a formal alliance with the United States c. convinced the Iroquois Confederacy to side with the Patriots d. ended the war in New England e. ended any interest by Spain and the Netherlands in aiding England |
The correct answer is B. The battle of Saratoga was a turning point in the American Revolution. Answer A is the opposite of what occurred; the battle was a much needed American victory. Answer C is incorrect because most of the Confederacy were on the British side. General William Howe's departure from Boston in 1776 ended any fighting in New England, so answer D is incorrect. Spain and the Netherlands, answer E, were enemies of England.
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The Peace of Paris called for all of the following EXCEPT
a. Loyalists were to be paid for their confiscated property b. the British were to withdraw from all U.S. territory c. the Mississippi would serve as the western boundary of the United States d. Florida was given to the United States e. the United States was given fishing rights in the northern waters off Canada |
The correct answer is D. Florida was given to Spain by Great Britain and did not become part of the United States until 1819.
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The major difficulty of government under the Articles of Confederation was
a. lack of a judiciary b. lack of a chief executive c. the inability to collect taxes d. the lack of a method for admitting additional states e. irregularly scheduled meetings of Congress |
The correct answer is B. Answer choices A, B, and C are true, but the question asks for the major problem of the Confederation government. That's answer A Think of the Confederation government as a body without a head. TIP: Establishing a way to admit new states was the only major achievement of the Confederation government.
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Which of the following provided the plan for all subsequent admission of territories to statehood in the United States?
a. Bill of Rights b. Homestead Act c. Kansas-Nebraska Act d. Gadsden Purchase e. Northwest Ordinance |
The correct answer is E. The Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 are considered the achievement of the Confederation government. Answer A refers to the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution and guarantees certain rights of individuals. Answer B set up a system to give land to families in the West who were willing to work it; passed in 1862 this act is too late to fit the question. Answer C also is too late in chronology to be correct; it was passed in 1854 and set up a way for residents of Kansas and Nebraska to decide whether they wanted their state to be free or slave. Answer D is the acquisition of land from Mexico in 1853 that makes up the current border between Mexico and the United States in southern Arizona and New Mexico.
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The Great Compromise reached at the Constitutional Convention resulted in
a. the establishment of the office of president b. the counting of slaves as three-fifths of a person c. the establishment of the new nation's capital in an area between Virginia and Maryland d. the establishment of a legislature of two houses, a House of Representatives based on population and a Senate with equal representation among the states e. setting the date for the end of slavery as 1808 |
The correct answer is D. Answer A, the establishment of an executive branch, or office of the president, was the result of a compromise among delegates to the Constitutional Convention, but it was not the Great Compromise. Answer B is known as the "three-fifths compromise." Answer C was the result of a compromise engineered by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison to ensure that the new United States pay all federal and state debts resulting from the Revolutionary War, however, it was achieved after the U.S. Constitution went into effect. Answer E is a misreading of Article 1, Section 9, Clause 1 of the Constitution, which states that Congress may not prohibit the importation of slaves into any state before 1808. The section did not end slavery.
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The major shortcoming of the new Constitution according to Anti-Federalists was
a. lack of protection for individuals b. the method of ratification c. the use of the three-fifths compromise d. the small states would be overpowered by the large states in Congress e. that it gave the states too much power |
The correct answer is A. Answers B and C are just distracters. They have something to do with the Constitution, but nothing to do with the right answer. Answer D was eliminated as a concern by the Constitutional Convention through the Great Compromise, also known as the Connecticut Compromise. Answer E doesn't make sense, because the purpose of federalism was to balance power between the national government and the states.
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Which of the following is the correct listing of the freedoms included in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution?
a. freedom of religion, freedom of speech, right to due process, right to have an attorney b. freedom of the press, right to assemble, freedom of speech, right to bear arms c. right to vote; one man, one vote; right to assemble d. freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, right to assemble e. freedom of speech, freedom of the press |
The correct answer is D. The First Amendment also includes the right to petition the government. In answer A, the right to have an attorney is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment and right to due process is guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. In answer B, the right to bear arms is guaranteed by the Second Amendment. The right to vote, answer C, was extended to African American men by the Fourteenth Amendment and to women by the Nineteenth. "One man, one vote" refers to redistricting issues.
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The authority of Congress to approve presidential nominees to the federal judiciary is an example of
a. judicial review b. checks and balances c. the amendment process d. implied powers e. enumerated powers |
The correct answer is B. Answer B is correct. The delegates to the Constitutional Convention set up a system to ensure that no one branch of government became too powerful; this system is called "checks and balances." Answer A refers to the right of the Supreme Court to judge the constitutionality of Congressional laws and executive acts; this right was established in Marbury vs. Madison. Answer C is the process by which the Constitution is changed. Answers D and E are terms given to certain clauses within Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution. Answer E refers to Clauses 1 through 17, which list specific powers granted to Congress. Answer D is a term used to describe Clause 18, which gives the Congress the power to make all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out the business of the government. This is also known as the "elastic clause."
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The reason underlying Alexander Hamilton's proposal that the United States government redeem all bonds at face value and pay all state debts was
a. to force the northern states to help southern states that had not paid their debts b. to enrich himself because he had bought bonds at a discount c. to enrich bond speculators who were his political supporters d. to convince wealthy Americans that the United States was a safe investment e. to convince other nations that the United States did not need foreign investment |
The correct answer is D. As the new Constitution went into the effect, there was still some doubt as to whether wealthy men in some states would support the Union or attempt to take their states out of the Union. Hamilton's proposal was meant to reassure this segment, answer D. Answer A is incorrect because it was the southern states that had repaid their debts for the most part. Answers B and C are not true. Answer E doesn't make sense, since the new nation needed investment capital from anywhere.
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Which of the following was the first test of the unity of the United States under its new Constitution?
a. Whiskey Rebellion b. Shays's Rebellion c. Denmark Vesey's Conspiracy d. XYZ Affair e. War Hawks |
The correct answer is A. As part of Hamilton's plan to put the new nation on sound footing, he proposed and Congress passed an excise tax on whiskey. Farmers in the Pennsylvania backcountry rebelled because they turned much of the corn they raised into whiskey, which was easier to transport and sell. President George Washington called out the state militia to put down the rebellion against the federal government. Answer B, Shays's Rebellion, refers to an uprising in Massachusetts under the Articles of Confederation government. Answer C, Denmark Vesey's Conspiracy, was a planned uprising of enslaved African Americans in South Carolina to take control of Charleston, which was stopped before it began. Answer D, XYZ Affair, refers to an episode that almost led to war between the United States and France in 1797. Answer E, War Hawks, were a party in Congress that wanted the United States to declare war on Great Britain in the early 1800s. They finally achieved their wish with the War of 1812.
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Which of the following helped to lay out Washington, DC, and was a mathematician and astronomer?
a. Benjamin Franklin b. Benjamin Banneker c. Joseph Henry d. Charles Wilson Peale e. Benjamin Rush |
The correct answer is B. Answer A, Benjamin Franklin, had died by the time Washington, DC, was being surveyed and designed. Answer C, Joseph Henry, was a physicist and the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, in the mid 1800s. Answer D, Charles Wilson Peale, was a famous painter of the period. Answer E, Benjamin Rush, was a Philadelphia colleague of Franklin's and a doctor. He was the first to diagnose insanity as an illness.
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The Federalists party of the 1790s found its support among
a. Northern merchants, New England farmers, and skilled workers b. Southern planters and frontier settlers c. poorer farmers in the North d. Southern planters and Northern merchants e. Northern merchants, farmers in North and South, and semiskilled workers |
The correct answer is A. The Federalists were the party of industry and growth; think Alexander Hamilton. Therefore, its members would be drawn from those who would benefit from trade and industrial growth, answer A. Their opponents, the Republicans who were led by Thomas Jefferson favored an agrarian nation of small farmers. Answer B and C together would describe Republicans. Answers D and E are there to distract you from the correct answer; they're both wrong.
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"'Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances, with any portion of the foreign world."
This quotation is most likely from a speech by a. Benjamin Franklin b. Thomas Paine c. George Washington d. John Adams e. Abraham Lincoln |
The correct answer is C. This sentence is from Washington's "Farewell Address." His warning against foreign entanglements is one of the most often cited pieces of his advice for the new nation. If you didn't know this, common sense would help you eliminate some answers. Answer A isn't logical since Franklin worked to achieve an alliance with France during the war. You know Thomas Paine, answer B, as the writer of pamphlets to incite colonists to rebel, but you don't know him as a foreign policy expert—and he wasn't. Abraham Lincoln, answer E, is associated with preserving the Union, not on foreign policy, so this answer doesn't make much sense. Answer D, John Adams, is a distracter.
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The Treaty of Greenville is significant because
a. it ended the continuing British presence in the Ohio Valley b. the United States agreed to buy Florida from Spain c. Native Americans in the Old Southeast agreed to live within a certain area d. Native Americans in the Old Northwest ceded most of their lands to the United States e. it removed the Spanish from the Ohio Valley |
The correct answer is D. The Shawnee, Miami, Sauk, Fox, and other Native American nations in the Old Northwest agreed to the treaty after their defeat in the battle of Fallen Timbers. Answer A was solved by Jay's Treaty by which the British agreed to leave the western frontier by 1796. Answer B was achieved in 1819. Answers C and E are distracters.
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The Sedition Act was used primarily against
a. traders who supplied Native Americans with guns b. Republican printers and editors c. Federalist judges d. French immigrants e. British sailors |
The correct answer is B. The Sedition Act, passed on July 14, 1789 made the publishing of "false, scandalous, and malicious writing" against the government illegal. The act was passed under the guise of protecting the U.S. from "dangerous" aliens, but in reality, it was a tool the Federalists used to hinder the growth of the Democratic-Republican Party.
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The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions are significant because
a. they institutionalized slavery in their respective states b. they were the first articulation of the doctrine of nullification c. they were written in support of the Constitution during the ratification process d. they were written in support of the passage of the Twelfth Amendment after the election of 1800 e. they were written in support of war with France in 1798 |
The correct answer is B. The theory of nullification, that states could declare null and void any law passed by Congress, was at the center of the states rights' issue in the nineteenth century prior to the Civil War. Answer A is incorrect because slavery had been institutionalized by a series laws going back to the 1660s in Virginia. Answers C, D, and E are incorrect.
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The Supreme Court decision that established the principle of judicial review of acts of Congress was
a. Brown v. Board of Education b. Plessy v. Ferguson c. Dred Scott decision d. Marbury v. Madison e. McCulloch v. Maryland |
The correct answer is D. Answer A, Brown v. Board of Education, was decided in 1954 and eliminated the argument of "separate but equal" facilities and ended school segregation. Decided in 1896, answer B, Plessy v. Ferguson, established the doctrine of "separate but equal." Answer C, the Dred Scott decision, declared slaves property and protected the property rights of slaveowners. Its effect was to declare null and void the Missouri Compromise, which had banned slavery north of the 36th parallel in lands acquired under the Louisiana Purchase, and the popular sovereignty provision of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. In McCullock v. Maryland, answer E, the Supreme Court broadened the powers of Congress to include implied powers in addition to the enumerated powers listed in Article 1. TIP: It's important to read all the answers. A good distracter like answer A here sounds familiar and has something to do with the topic, but isn't the right answer.
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All of the following were results of the Louisiana Purchase EXCEPT
a. it doubled the size of the United States b. it removed the French threat from the center of the continent c. it permanently opened New Orleans for trade with Americans in the interior d. it increased tensions over slavery e. it provided a Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean |
The correct answer is E. Once and for all, the Lewis and Clark expedition commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson ended the hope of a Northwest Passage.
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The purpose of the Embargo Act of 1807 was to
a. force France and Great Britain to end their boycott of American goods b. preserve the neutrality of the United States c. end impressment of British sailors by Americans d. punish Americans trading illegally with the British and French e. end smuggling from Canada |
The correct answer is B. The United States had declared its neutrality in the fight between Great Britain and France, which should have allowed its ships to trade with both nations. However, neither Great Britain nor France respected this declaration of neutrality and seized ships and goods bound for the other nation. Answer A is the opposite of the truth. Both Great Britain and France were highly dependent on U.S.-made goods. Answer C is the opposite of what was occurring; the British were impressing American sailors. Answers D and E are distracters. Both had something to do with the embargo but not as stated.
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Which of the following groups lost significant influence as a result of the War of 1812?
a. War Hawks b. Federalists c. Whigs d. Westerners e. Democrats |
The correct answer is B. Answer B, Federalists, lost influence because they had protested the war. Answer A, War Hawks, a group of congressmen from the frontier states, were vocal supporters of the war. Answer D, Westerners, is similar to answer A and incorrect for the same reason. Answer C, Whigs, were later than the War of 1812. Answer E, Democrats, supported the war.
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The War of 1812 was significant because
a. it showed the superior firepower of the American forces b. it damaged the British economy, but did not harm the United States economy c. it ended Native American efforts to block the expansion of white settlement d. it made Andrew Jackson a national hero e. the new United States fought Great Britain to a standoff |
The correct answer is E. Answer A is incorrect; the United States had a small and poorly trained army. Answer B is incorrect because the United States lost tax revenues because of the loss of foreign trade and suffered high unemployment. Answers C and D are true but less significant than the war's effect on the national consciousness and sense of national identity of Americans. The United States was not yet two decades old and had taken on the most powerful nation in the world and fought it to a standoff. Neither side won and neither side lost.
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Between 1780 and 1830, the population of the United States grew from 2.7 million to 12 million chiefly as a result of
a. immigration b. the importation of Africans c. natural increase d. the inclusion of Native Americans in population figures e. acquisition of the Louisiana Territory |
The correct answer is C. Answer A would be a good guess, but the real waves of immigration came after 1840. Answer B is a bad guess because the importation of Africans was banned after 1808 by the Constitution. Answer D is a bad guess, too, because Native Americans were considered foreign nations during that period of history. Answer E is illogical because the United States bought empty land except for Native Americans.
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The Monroe Doctrine was a bold statement by the United States because
a. it came so shortly after the end of the War of 1812 b. the nation did not have the power to back it up c. it gave notice to all European nations to stay out of the affairs of the Americas d. it offered help to the newly independent nations of South America e. no one had asked the United States to intervene in the affairs of any other nation |
The correct answer is B. The operative word in the question prompt is bold. What would make a nation's foreign policy be considered bold? Answer A doesn't give an adequate reason why time would make a difference. Answer C is part of what the Monroe Doctrine states, but that's not what the question asks. Answer D is not true of the Doctrine. Answer E is not true, because Great Britain had asked the United States to join it in issuing a declaration similar to the Monroe Doctrine, but Monroe decided to issue it in the name of the United States alone.
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Henry Clay's plan to finance a national bank, levy a protective tariff, and use federal funds to finance internal improvements is known as
a. Era of Good Feelings b. Monroe Doctrine c. Compromise of 1820 d. Hartford Convention e. American System |
The correct answer is E. Answer A, Era of Good Feelings, was the term given to the administrations of James Monroe. Answer B, Monroe Doctrine, is the name given to the Monroe's warning to European nations to stay out of the Americas. Answer C, Compromise of 1820, also known as the Missouri Compromise, banned slavery below the 36th parallel in states made from territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. Answer D, Hartford Convention, was a meeting called in New England to denounce the War of 1812.
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The Missouri Compromise was important because
a. it established the principle of popular sovereignty as law b. it established a boundary line for the expansion of slavery c. it showed the extent of party rivalries d. it earned Henry Clay his nickname "the Great Compromiser" e. it ended the coalition between frontier and Northeastern politicians |
The correct answer is B. Answer A is incorrect; that was the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Answer C is incorrect because the issue of the expansion of slavery and its solution was a result of sectional, not party, rivalries. Answer D is too obvious. Answer E is incorrect; there was no coalition.
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The Democratic Party of Andrew Jackson attracted
a. a coalition of wealthy merchants and landed gentry in all regions. b. former Federalists c. Free-Soilers d. those who favored a national government e. Southerners, Westerners, and Northern urban workers |
The correct answer is E. Read "Andrew Jackson" and think West and the "common man."
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The election of 1824 resulted
a. in a president from one party and a vice president from another b. in passage of the Twelfth Amendment c. in "the corrupt bargain" between Henry Clay and Andrew Jackson d. in the House of Representatives' deciding the election e. in the beginning of the dominance of the presidency by New Englanders |
The correct answer is D. Answers A and B were results of the election of 1800. Answer C has a familiar ring to it, but Jackson claimed that John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay had struck "the corrupt bargain" when Clay gave his support to Adams and Adams then made Clay his secretary of state. Answer E is the opposite of what has occurred. Between 1824 and 1960 when John Kennedy was elected, presidents came from all sections of the country except New England.
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The subject of the following cartoon is
a. Jackson's lavish entertaining in the White House b. Jackson's appeal to the "common man" c. the damage Jackson was doing to the nation by his policies d. Jackson's misleading of the American people into thinking he was doing good when he was doing evil e. Jackson's use of the spoils system to reward supporters |
The correct answer is E. The title of this cartoon is "Office Hunters of the Year 1834." Jackson's introduction of patronage on a grand scale was a favorite subject of his political opponents.
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Which of the following transformed the economy of the Southern states?
a. the transportation revolution b. the mechanization of textile production c. the introduction of tobacco agriculture d. the invention of the cotton gin e. the passage of protective tariffs |
The correct answer is D. Answer A, the transportation revolution, did not greatly affect the South. By 1860, it still had fewer miles of railroad track than either the Northeast or the Midwest. Answer B, the mechanization of textile production, made use of the increased amount of raw cotton available, but did not increase cotton agriculture. Answer C, the introduction of tobacco, is the wrong century; that's Jamestown Colony in the early 1600s. Answer E, protective tariffs, actually hurt the economy of the South.
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Jackson's Specie Circular resulted in
a. a land boom b. the federal government's paying off its debt c. an economic depression d. state banks issuing more and more banknotes not backed by gold or silver e. the issuing of charters to banks by the states |
The correct answer is C. The Specie Circular was an order issued by President Andrew Jackson that required that all federal lands be paid for in gold or silver (specie). Answers A, B, and D were all causes of Jackson's order, not results. Answer E is a good distracter. It refers to Jackson's fight to end the Second Bank of the United States, but is not related to the Specie Circular.
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"John Marshall has made his decision. Now let him enforce it."
This quotation was most likely spoken by which of the following Presidents? a. George Washington b. Thomas Jefferson c. James Monroe d. Andrew Jackson e. Abraham Lincoln |
The correct answer is D. Some knowledge of chronology would help you here. John Marshall was the first Supreme Court Chief Justice, so it would be doubtful that he would still be alive when Lincoln was President. Eliminate Lincoln. Then consider the character of the men who are left. A sentiment as combative as that expressed here fits only Andrew Jackson. He used these words in referring to the Supreme Court decision in Worcester v. State of Georgia, which held that Georgia could not take Cherokee lands.
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The transportation revolution had all of the following effects EXCEPT
a. the South was more closely tied to the Midwest b. the price of food fell in the Northeast c. nationwide mail delivery was possible d. manufactured goods took the place of homemade goods e. less value was placed on women's work that did not generate income |
The correct answer is A. The transportation revolution connected the Midwest and the Northeast more closely. Answer B provided a clue. The price of food fell because food was shipped from the Midwest to the Northeast through the canal system.
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All of the following resulted from the Second Great Awakening EXCEPT
a. the development of a sense of community and social belonging among followers b. the rapid decline in the Methodist and Baptist churches c. a desire among followers to reform society d. the prominence of itinerant preachers e. a newfound importance for women as moral pillars of their communities |
The correct answer is B. The Second Great Awakening led to a rapid increase in membership in the Methodist and Baptist churches. Perhaps the most significant fact in these right answers is answer C. The Second Great Awakening provide the impetus for much of the reform movements of the first half of the nineteenth century.
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The putting-out system was made possible only because of the adoption of
a. interchangeable parts b. division of labor c. master and apprentice model of medieval guilds d. assembly line e. water power |
The correct answer is B. Prior to the development of the putting-out system, one worker would do all steps in a process to make something like a shoe. With the putting-out system, a worker would do only one step in the process, such as cutting out the leather for shoes. Answers A and D relate to industrialization, as does answer E, the first source of power to run machinery in factories.
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One of the biggest societal changes of the early 1800s was
a. the general acceptance of the value of public education b. the increasing volume of print materials c. the new concept of domesticity governing women's roles as wife and mother d. the acceptance of unmarried women as teachers e. the use of servants in middle-class households |
The correct answer is C. It was not until the early 1800s that the so called “traditional” family roles were established. It was at this time that husbands and fathers became the “breadwinners” whilst the wives became defined as “homemakers.”
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Early union efforts were aimed at organizing
a. skilled and unskilled white male workers b. skilled male workers—white and free African Americans c. skilled and unskilled workers—men and women, white and free African American d. skilled, white male workers e. skilled white male and female workers |
The correct answer is D. It was not until late in the nineteenth century that unions were interested in organizing unskilled workers, women, and African Americans. The Knights of Labor accepted African American men. The American Federation of Labor began organizing skilled and unskilled male and female workers, African Americans, and immigrants in 1890.
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An author whose works helped to establish a national identity for American literature was
a. James Fenimore Cooper b. Edgar Allen Poe c. Horace Greeley d. Walt Whitman e. Emily Dickinson |
The correct answer is A. Cooper used the experience of the frontier in New York State as the subject matter for his novels. Answer B, Edgar Allan Poe, was a later author as was answer C, Horace Greeley, a famous journalist of the latter half of the nineteenth century. Answer D, Walt Whitman, is a good distracter because the American consciousness was his subject matter, too, but he wrote in the mid 1800s. Answer E, Emily Dickinson, wrote very personal poetry that was not indicative of a larger national identity.
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Transcendentalists were interested in using their literary output
a. to create a romanticized view of American life b. to foster the development of a national identity c. to question natural law d. to reform American life e. to develop a rational explanation for life |
The correct answer is D. As Emerson wrote, "What is a man born for, but to be a Reformer?"
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By the 1830s, the greatest growth in printed material occurred in
a. Newspapers b. religious literature c. literary magazines d. almanacs e. sentimental novels |
The correct answer is A. The huge increase in the number of newspapers paralleled the increasing interest in politics among ordinary people. Political parties published their own papers and gave a decidedly partisan view of events. In the 25 years between 1810 and 1835, the number of papers almost quadrupled, from 376 to 1,200. Answer D, almanacs, were highly popular in colonial times.
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Which of the following artists painted romanticized versions of life on the western frontier?
a. John James Audobon b. George Caleb Bingham c. George Catlin d. Thomas Cole e. Asher B Durand |
The correct answer is B. Answer A, John James Audobon, painted detailed and realistic pictures of birds in their natural habitat. Answer C, George Catlin, painted Native Americans and tried to interest other white Americans in rectifying the ill-treatment they were receiving at the hands of the federal government and settlers. Answer D, Thomas Cole, founded the Hudson River School of landscape painting. Answer E, Asher B Durand, an African American, was a member of the Hudson River School.
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The campaign for local option laws was one aspect of which of the following movements?
a. prison reform b. abolition c. care of the mentally ill d. schools for the blind and hearing impaired e. temperance |
The correct answer is E. Local option laws were laws that gave municipalities, that is, local governments, the option to ban the sale of alcohol within their boundaries.
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Which of the following characteristics of European American society was not adopted by the Cherokee nation?
a. written language b. enslavement of African Americans c. individual's right to sell land to European Americans d. Christianity e. written constitution |
The correct answer is C. The Cherokee were one of what was termed the "Five Civilized Nations" because they adopted various culture traits of white residents of the United States, while remaining a separate nation.
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All of the following are associated with the abolition movement EXCEPT
a. Frederick Douglass b. William Lloyd Garrison c. Elizabeth Cady Stanton d. Sojourner Truth e. George Washington Carver |
The correct answer is E. Answer E was an African American scientist who worked after the Civil War in the South. Don't be fooled by answer C. Stanton was an abolitionist and a feminist. Her experience with the male-dominated abolition movement helped her become a feminist.
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All of the following were associated with the Underground Railroad EXCEPT
a. Quakers b. Sojourner Truth c. the spiritual "Follow the Drinking Gourd" d. Canada e. the Deep South |
The correct answer is E. Answer E, the Deep South, doesn't fit because the Underground Railroad didn't reach that far. Freedom in the North or Canada was too far away. Answer A, Quakers, were among the first to help African Americans escape their owners in an informal network that over time became the Underground Railroad. Answer B, Sojourner Truth, was known as "Moses" for helping so many of her fellow African Americans escape. Spirituals like "Follow the Drinking Gourd," answer C, were codes for instructions for escaping North. Answer D, Canada, was the destination for many escaped slaves.
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All of the following split the abolitionist movement EXCEPT
a. the exportation of slaves to and colonization in Africa b. Southern abolitionists versus Northern abolitionists c. the role of women in the abolitionist movement d. gradual versus immediate emancipation e. participation in the political process to change slave laws |
The correct answer is B. The conflicts within the abolitionists movement split along ideological lines, not sectional lines, so answer B is the correct choice because it's wrong. TIP: Remember to look for the answer that doesn't fit when you are answering an EXCEPT or a NOT question.
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Texas gained its independence as a result of
a. the Mexican War b. the battle of San Jacinto c. the fight at the Alamo d. annexation by the United States e. a vote of all male Americanos and Tejanos property owners |
The correct answer is B. Answer A, the Mexican War, settled the disputed boundary between the United States and Mexico along the southern border of Texas, but Texas already had been annexed by the United States. Answer C is illogical, because the Texans lost the battle. Answer D is incorrect because independence and annexation are not the same. Texas gave up its independence when it was annexed. Answer E is a nice try, but wrong.
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Members of the Whig Party were most likely to disagree among themselves over the issue of
a. protective tariffs b. social reforms c. continuation of the central bank d. extension of slavery into the territories e. immigration policies |
The correct answer is D. The Whig Party solidly supported a strong role for the federal government in the nation's economic affairs, so answers A and C can't be right. Whigs also believed in the perfectibility of people, so answer B can't be correct either. Answer E is a distracter, because immigration was becoming an issue in national politics by the mid-1800s; however, it isn't relevant for the Whigs. The major split in the Whig Party came about over national expansion and slavery.
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The first example of the factory system in the United States was the work of
a. Samuel F.B Morse b. Eli Whitney c. Francis Cabot Lowell d. Samuel Colt e. Robert Fulton |
The correct answer is C. Remember Lowell, Massachusetts, and the textile factories that employed native-born young women from farms and then replaced them with cheaper immigrant labor. That town was named after Francis Cabot Lowell. Answer A invented the telegraph; answer B, the cotton gin; answer D, the Colt revolver and the use of interchangeable parts for manufacturing; answer E, established the first successful commercial steamboat service in the United States.
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The first well-known woman scientist in the United States was
a. Margaret Sanger b. Jane Addams c. Elizabeth Cady Stanton d. Maria Mitchell e. Alice Paul |
The correct answer is D. Maria Mitchell, answer D, was an astronomer who discovered a comet and several distant star groups. Answer A, Margaret Sanger, worked for women's access to birth control in the twentieth century. Answer B, Jane Addams, was a social reformer who began the settlement house movement to aid immigrants. Answer C, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was an abolitionist and founder of the feminist movement; she was one of the co-organizers of the first women's rights conference held at Seneca Falls in 1848. Answer E, Alice Paul, led the fight for voting rights for women in the early 1900s.
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Middle-class Americans at mid-century viewed public education
a. as a civilizing influence on immigrants b. as a stabilizing force in a world of rapid change c. as a way to mold a subservient working class d. as a way to increase productivity while wiping out innovative thinking e. as still unnecessary for girls |
The correct answer is B. Education was meant to turn out educated workers who could use the new machinery in factories while instilling good habits of character such as obedience and hard work. This was the stabilizing effect that middle-class Americans were looking for. However, education was not meant to stamp out innovative thinking, which led to greater productivity, so answer D is incorrect. That also means that answer C is incorrect. Answer A is not true, although at a later period education was seen as the way to turn immigrants into citizens. Answer E is not true.
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Most fiction and nonfiction writers in the first part of the mid-nineteenth century
a. wrote for the new magazines b. used themes from the nation's past c. supported abolition d. were social critics e. were "yellow journalists" |
The correct answer is D. While writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Washington Irving did use themes from the past, this was not true of many writers, so answer B is untrue. While answer C may be true, answer D is a better answer because it includes answer C. Answer E is a term that belongs to the end of the nineteenth century.
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Which of the following is an allegory of good and evil?
a. Leaves of Grass b. Moby Dick c. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow d. The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass e. Godey's Lady Book |
The correct answer is B. Herman Melville's story of Captain Ahab's search for the white whale is social critique of American society. Answer A is a volume of poetry by Walt Whitman. Answer C is a short story by Washington Irving that draws on the rich history of the Dutch in New York. Answer D is an autobiography and, therefore, nonfiction, although certainly a story of good and evil. Answer E is the title of a women's magazine popular in the nineteenth century.
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This political cartoon
a. is in support of the temperance movement b. plays off Andrew Jackson's humble beginnings c. plays off the Democrats' depiction of Harrison as living in a log cabin and drinking hard cider d. is in support of Harrison and Tyler e. is an example of the mudslinging that went on in the election of 1840 |
The correct answer is E. The election of 1840 ushered in a new form of political campaign complete with slogans, barbecues, negative campaigning, and political songs. If you chose answer A, it's a good guess, but you didn't read the text. Answer B is incorrect; Jackson wasn't an abolitionist or a Whig. Answer C is a misstatement of the truth; it was the Whigs, not their opponents who depicted their candidate Harrison as living in a log cabin. Answer D is illogical. TIP: Always remember to read all the answer choices. You might have read answer A, jumped to the wrong conclusion, and chosen it for your answer.
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Labor had limited success in organizing in the 1840s and 1850s primarily because of
a. lack of workers willing to lead organizing efforts b. periodic economic depressions that made workers afraid to organize c. the displacement of human labor by machines d. the lack of a history of successful labor organization in the United States e. the increasing ethnic diversity of the workforce as immigration increased |
The correct answer is E. The ethnic and cultural diversity of the workforce worked against the development of a sense of unity among workers. Answer B hindered unionizing because workers were afraid to lose their jobs, but it wasn't the main reason. Answer C doesn't make sense. Answer D would be true for any country since there had been no industrialization before the nineteenth century.
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Americans who settled in Texas under Mexican rule plotted rebellion when Mexico tried
a. to enforce its ban on slavery b. to collect the excise tax on goods exported from Texas c. to conscript Americanos into the Mexican army d. to encourage Native American attacks on Americanos settlements e. to end American immigration into Texas |
The correct answer is A. Mexico had always banned slavery, but had not enforced the law and Americanos had ignored it. Answer B was enforced and while answer E did occur the reason for rebellion was answer A. Answers C and D are untrue.
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The Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 took up the issue of
a. temperance b. women's rights c. abolition of slavery d. prison reform e. universal education |
The correct answer is B. The full name was the National Women's Rights Convention and passed a Declaration of Sentiments modeled after the Declaration of Independence. It proposed twelve rights for women including free speech, property rights, and the right to vote. This is one you need to know because any of the other answers fit the time frame.
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Folk artists tended to use which of the following as themes for their works?
a. portraits and scenes of family life b. ideas from the nation's past c. scenes from nature d. factory scenes e. scenes from Greek and Roman myths |
The correct answer is A. Answer C better fits the works of artists painting in the Romantic style. Answer D would be true of realist painters, but they don't appear until later in the century.
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East by sunrise, West by sunset, North by the Arctic Expedition, and South as far as we darn well please."
This quotation was another way of describing which of the following ideas? a. nativism b. manifest destiny c. manumission d. internationalism e. globalization |
The correct answer is B. The quotation is from a Philadelphia newspaper published in 1853 and is similar to the views expressed by an editor of a New York paper in 1845, which coined the term manifest destiny. Answer A, nativism, is a policy of favoring native-born over immigrants. Answer C, manumission, is the freeing of slaves. Answers D and E are anachronisms, that is, they are not terms that would have been used by mid-nineteenth century Americans; they belong to the rhetoric of a later century.
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Those most likely to move into the class of Southern elite were
a. middle-class professionals b. frontier farmers c. smaller farmers with a few slaves d. carpetbaggers e. politicians |
The correct answer is A. Middle-class professionals were doctors, lawyers, and merchants who had the money to invest in land and slaves and were sometimes paid in land and slaves. Answer D, carpetbaggers, is a negative term used to describe Northerners who moved South after the Civil War to make their fortunes at the expense of Southerners. Answer E is illogical since Southern politicians were usually from the upper class.
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Which of the following was NOT a utopian community?
a. Deseret b. New Harmony c. Amana d. Brook Farm e. Oneida |
The correct answer is A. Answer A, Deseret, was the name given to the first Mormon state in what would become Utah Territory. Answer B, New Harmony, Indiana, was founded by Robert Owen. Answer C, Amana, was in Iowa. Answer D, Brook Farm, was in Massachusetts. Answer E, Oneida, was founded in New York State. TIP: Don't be confused by NOT questions. Remember to look for the answer that doesn't fit. It's wrong but right for a reverse question.
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Oberlin College is credited with being
a. the first women's college b. the first coeducational college c. the first historically all-black college d. the first land-grant college e. the oldest college in the United States |
The correct answer is B. Answer A is Mount Holyoke founded by Mary Lyons in 1837. Answer C is Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. Both of these colleges still exist. The honor of answer E belongs to Harvard, founded in 1836.
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All of the following underlay anti-immigrant feelings in the 1800s EXCEPT
a. immigrants would hold back progress b. immigrants would take jobs away from the native-born c. immigrants would weaken the nation because they tended to live in their own communities d. many immigrants were Roman Catholic rather than Protestant e. immigrants |
The correct answer is A. Except for immigrants being Roman Catholic, the same arguments were used against all immigrants in the 1800s, whether Italian or Chinese.
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Which of the following is an accurate description of the growth of cities by the mid-1800s?
a. The largest centers of population had shifted to the Midwest. b. Cities were ringed by factories. c. Cities were becoming separated into neighborhoods based on socioeconomic levels. d. Sewer systems, regular garbage collection, and public water systems had come into wide use. e. Cities were safer because of street lights at night and traffic lights at intersections. |
The correct answer is C. In colonial times, socioeconomic classes lived in close proximity to one another. Shopkeepers and artisans usually lived where or close to where they worked. Answer A is incorrect; the major population centers were still in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states along the coast. Answer B is incorrect, because factories were not established in large numbers until later in the century. Answer D is incorrect; the lack of sewers, the prevalence of garbage thrown into the street, and the lack of safe water still plagued cities. Answer E requires electrical power and that wasn't invented until later in the century either.
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The Whig Party was replaced as a major party in the two-party system by the
a. Democratic Party b. Democratic-Republican Party c. Loyalists d. Republican Party e. Bull Moose Party |
The correct answer is D. Answer A is the party of Andrew Jackson, which is descended from answer B, the party of Jefferson. Answer C is incorrect, but might trip you up because it sounds familiar. It's the name given to supporters of Great Britain during the American Revolution. Answer E is the splinter party that Theodore Roosevelt founded when he bolted the Republican Party to run for President in 1912.
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The majority of pioneers in Oregon and the Puritans in Massachusetts had which of the following motivations in common?
a. look for gold b. establish a theocracy c. escape repressive government policies d. better themselves financially e. convert the Native Americans to Christianity |
The correct answer is D. One of the basic motivations for emigration and immigration alike was to better one's self financially. Neither group was interested in answer A. Answer B was a motive only for the Puritans; a theocracy is a government system on the rule of God. Answer C is illogical since the pioneers in Oregon were going to an area claimed by the United States. Don't be confused because every history textbook seems to mention the Whitmans and their efforts to Christianize the Native Americans. That wasn't the motive of most emigrants to Oregon.
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Which of the following was meant to stop Congress from considering anti-slavery petitions?
a. committee system b. censure c. filibuster d. cloture e. gag rule |
The correct answer is E. Answer A doesn't make sense because that's how Congress conducts business, by the committee system. Answer B, censure, is what Southern members of Congress tried to do to Senator John Quincy Adams who fought an eight-year battle to repeal the gag rule. Answer C, filibuster, is a tactic used in the Senate to forestall a vote on a bill. Answer D, cloture, is a parliamentary procedure by which debate is ended and a vote taken on a bill.
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Most white Southern families
a. were plantation owners b. were tenant farmers c. lived on the frontier d. lived at subsistence level e. owned fewer than 20 slaves |
The correct answer is D. Most white Southern families lived on farms and raised crops for their own use. Answer A is incorrect, because there were only about 50,000 plantations with from 20 to 200 slaves, whereas there were hundreds of thousands of small farmers. Answers B, C, and E are incorrect.
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All of the following were reasons that Southerners gave to justify slavery EXCEPT
a. slavery helped slaves by guaranteeing them life-long employment and care b. the demand for cotton was on the increase c. raising cotton was very labor-intensive, so a cheap source of labor was needed d. the lack of a transportation network in the South meant there was no motivation to become industrialized e. slavery was cost-effective because the warm climate of the South allowed year-round cultivation of cotton |
The correct answer is D. Believe it or not, answer A was actually used to justify slavery. Southern plantation owners pointed to the conditions in Northern textile factories and claimed slavery was more beneficent. Answers B, C, and E provided reasons for continuing slavery. With an increasing demand for cotton, there was no end in sight to the profitability of slavery, and, therefore, no reason to abolish it.
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Which of the following was NOT true about life in the North for free African Americans?
a. The basis of African American community life was the black church. b. Although African Americans lived in segregated areas, their children did not attend segregated schools. c. Free African Americans had few civil rights. d. Free African Americans faced discrimination in public facilities such as streetcars and theaters. e. Free African Americans had limited job opportunities. |
The correct answer is B. This wrong answer should have been easy to spot, because if African Americans lived in segregated housing, their children would have gone to segregated schools. TIP: For NOT questions, remember to look for what isn't correct or true.
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Can people of a Territory in any lawful way, against the wishes of any citizen of the United States, exclude slavery from their limits prior to the formation of a State constitution? I answer emphatically, . . . that in my opinion the people of a Territory can by lawful means, exclude slavery from their limits prior to the formation of a State constitution."
The principle referred to in this quotation is a. annexation b. slave codes c. direct representation d. popular sovereignty e. virtual representation |
The correct answer is D. Stephen Douglas spoke these words in a debate with Abraham Lincoln during the Senatorial election campaign in Illinois in 1858. Douglas's answer to a question from Lincoln has become known as the Freeport Doctrine. Answers C and E are two principles that were involved in the American Revolution. Parliament claimed answer E and the colonists demanded answer C. Answers A and B are distracters that are real terms but have nothing to do with the question.
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All of the following increased tensions between North and South over slavery EXCEPT
a. the Fugitive Slave Act b. Uncle Tom's Cabin c. "Bleeding Kansas" d. the rise of the Know-Nothing Party e. John Brown's raid |
The correct answer is D. The Know-Nothing Party was founded to restrict immigrants and keep Roman Catholics from holding public office. Don't confuse it with the Free-Soil Party that was founded to stop the expansion of slavery into the territories. Answer A was one of the five laws that comprised the Compromise of 1850. Answer B was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and gave a face to slavery in the person of Uncle Tom. Answer C was the term given to the violence that erupted when it came time for Kansans to vote for or against slavery in their territory. John Brown, answer E, was an abolitionist who seized the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in an effort to start a slave insurrection.
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The Ostend Manifesto
a. demanded that Spain sell Florida to the United States b. was the formal agreement handing over the Louisiana Territory to the United States c. set the boundary between Canada and the United States d. denounced the annexation of Texas e. threatened a U.S.-supported revolution in Cuba if Spain would not sell the island to the United States |
The correct answer is E. The Ostend Manifesto was drawn up by three proslavery members of the Pierce administration to be submitted to Spain. The administration rejected the proposal as too inflammatory. The underlying purpose of the proposal was to gain additional slave states to support the South. Answers A, B, and D are distracters. The Adams-Onis Treaty is the correct match for answer C.
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The Wilmot Proviso was controversial because it proposed
a. a ban on adding new states until a solution could be worked out about slavery b. a constitutional amendment giving Congress the power to ban slavery c. a ban on slavery in any state created out of land bought from Mexico d. federal funding for colonization efforts in Africa e. abolishing slavery and compensating slaveowners |
The correct answer is C. The Wilmot Proviso was never passed by both houses of Congress. Answer B is based on the decision in the Dred Scott case that Congress had no power to ban slavery without due process. Only states could decide whether they should ban slavery. However, this answer has nothing to do with the Wilmot Proviso. Answer E is similar to Lincoln's view that if slavery were abolished, slaveowners should be compensated. The other answers are just wrong.
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Most goldhunters in the California gold rush of 1849
a. came in family groups b. planned on finding gold and using it to buy land and settle down c. were immigrants d. expected to find gold and return home e. were from the Northeast |
The correct answer is D. Answer A is incorrect; most 49ers were white, single men, and native-born. Answer B is incorrect, although men attracted by the mild, sunny climate and rich farmland stayed to farm and ranch. Answer C is incorrect and illogical; this trip would cost money and most immigrants used whatever they had saved just to get to the United States. Answer E is incorrect; most of the goldhunters were from the Upper South and the Midwest.
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Of the various provisions of the Compromise of 1850, which one helped to turn many Northerners into abolitionists?
a. admission of California as a slave state b. banning of the slave trade, but not slavery in the District of Columbia c. allowing people in Utah and New Mexico to decide whether they wanted to be admitted as free or slave states d. payment of $10 million to Texas in exchange for an end to its claim on parts of New Mexico e. the Fugitive Slave Law |
The correct answer is E. Answer A is a misstatement; California was to be admitted as a free state. The other answers are stated correctly, and the one that turned Northerners into abolitionists was the Fugitive Slave Law. It seemed very unfair to turn over to slavecatchers men, women, and children who had risked death to escape slavery.
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The Republican platform of 1860
a. supported John Brown's raid b. promised to stop the spread of slavery into new territories c. promised to provide access to public land for homesteaders d. promised to fund a transcontinental railroad e. promised to raise the tariff |
The correct answer is A. The 1860 platform promised something for everyone—or at least for a number of people with different interests. Answer C along with a severe denunciation of the Know-Nothings proposal to make naturalization more difficult appealed to immigrants. It also appealed to easterners who wanted to make a new start. Answer D was meant to appeal to the same people and to existing Californians. Answer E attracted New England manufacturers.
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The Civil War was most likely a result of
a. racism on the part of Southerners b. political rather than economic differences c. incompetent political leadership on the national level d. opposing and intractable differences between North and South e. moral rather than political differences |
The correct answer is D. Neither the North nor the South was willing to give in on the subject of slavery. Answer A enabled Southerners to enslave people, but it did not in itself lead to the Civil War. Answers B and E are incorrect because the Civil War encompassed moral, political, and economic differences. Answer C is illogical in context.
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Which of the following explains why Lincoln did not initially make emancipation a goal of the Civil War?
a. He did not want to incite a general uprising of slaves. b. He did not believe that the Constitution gave the President the authority to end slavery. c. He was concerned that the British would support the Confederacy against the Union. d. He was concerned that the border states would join the Confederacy. e. He believed that slaveowners should be compensated for their lost property and the government didn't have enough money to pay them. |
The correct answer is D. The border states—Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri—were slave-owning states and Lincoln was concerned that a bill freeing their slaves would drive them out of the Union and into the Confederacy. Answer A is the opposite of what the Radical Republicans hoped and not Lincoln's reason. Answer B is a distracter. Answer C is incorrect because Great Britain had outlawed slavery in its possessions almost 20 years before this, and the Radical Republicans hoped that freeing the slaves would keep Britain from trading with the Confederacy. Only half of answer E is correct. Lincoln did believe that slaveowners should be compensated, but the rest of the answer is incorrect.
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All of the following were disadvantages of the Confederacy EXCEPT
a. high inflation b. lack of rail lines for transporting goods and supplies and moving soldiers c. little industrial production d. northern blockade of ships that severely limited trade e. they had to fight a defensive war |
The correct answer is E. Answer E is actually an advantage. The Confederacy had only to defend their land, not invade the enemy's territory as the Union had to. Both sides suffered from high inflation, answer A, but it was more severe in the South where by the end of the war a Confederate dollar was worth about one cent in gold.
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The major goal of the Confederacy's foreign policy was to
a. gain the help of Great Britain in blockading Northern ports b. sell government bonds to foreign governments to raise money c. keep Mexico from invading Texas d. buy supplies from France e. gain recognition as an independent nation from foreign governments |
The correct answer is E. If the Confederacy could achieve answer E, then it would have been able to accomplish answers B and D. Answer A is the reverse of the situation. The Union was successfully blockading Southern ports and cutting off the flow of cotton to British manufacturers, thus drastically damaging the South's economy. Answer C is a distracter.
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The main goal of Lincoln's plan for Reconstruction was to
a. remake Southern society to guarantee African Americans their rights b. grant voting rights to former male slaves c. punish the South d. restore the Union as quickly as possible e. return the same politicians to office as before the war in order to maintain continuity |
The correct answer is D. Answer A was the goal of the Radical Republicans. Answer B is incorrect, because Lincoln did not propose granting voting rights to former slaves. Answer C is incorrect and out of character for Lincoln. Answer E is illogical.
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All of the following were part of Johnson's Reconstruction plan EXCEPT
a. Confederate debts would be repaid b. states could hold constitutional conventions without requiring a set number of voters take an oath of allegiances to the United States c. pardons for all who took the oath of allegiance to the United States except for certain officials and wealthy Southerners d. ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment e. repeal secession |
The correct answer is A. Johnson's plan specifically calls for the cancellation of all Confederate debts, so that no one would receive back the investment in Confederate bonds or be paid for any goods supplied to the Confederacy.
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After the Civil War, women were told to put aside their demand for voting rights and to work instead for
a. property rights b. voting rights for African American men c. an end to the poll tax d. equal educational opportunities for African Americans e. passage of the Thirteenth Amendment |
The correct answer is B. Answer A, property rights, were a matter of states' granting certain rights to women rather than the federal government. If answer E had been the Fifteenth Amendment, which granted voting rights to African American men, it would have been correct. The Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery.
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Andrew Johnson based his veto of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 on which of the following?
a. The act did not include provisions against the black codes. b. It was unconstitutional because it violated states' rights. c. It did not include women's voting rights. d. Its provisions were covered in the Fourteenth Amendment. e. It would antagonize Northern supporters. |
The correct answer is B. You can eliminate answer D because the Fourteenth Amendment was written and passed after the Civil Rights Act. Others besides Johnson thought that the 1866 act might be unconstitutional so they set about changing the Constitution. Answer A is incorrect, because the act's provisions were meant to address the violations of African Americans rights under the black codes. Answer E is illogical.
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The most important goal for freed slaves was
a. to take surnames b. to marry legally c. to search for family members who had been sold away d. to leave their plantations to prove they were free to travel e. to acquire land, a house, and a means of making a living |
The correct answer is E. Being able to provide for themselves and their families would prove to former slaves that they were finally free. Answers A, B, C, and D were all important and activities that freed slaves engaged in, but economic independence was the long-term goal.
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Which of the following was part of the Radical Republicans' plan for Reconstruction?
a. A state could be readmitted to the Union when 10 percent of its voters took the oath of allegiance to the United States. b. The military governor of each district would appoint delegates to state constitutional conventions. c. State legislatures had to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment. d. The new state constitutions were to guarantee voting rights for African American males. e. Pardons would not be granted to former high-ranking Confederate officials. |
The correct answer is D. Answer A states the Ten Percent Plan, which was part of Lincoln's Reconstruction plan, not the Radical Republicans', who at one point called for 50 percent of voters to swear allegiance (Wade-Davis Act). Answer B is incorrect, because the voters elected delegates. Answer C is tricky; the state legislatures had to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment in the Radical Republicans' plan. It was the Thirteenth Amendment in Johnson's plan. Answer E is incorrect; they had to ask Congress for a pardon.
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Seward's Folly" refers to
a. the purchase of Alaska from Russia b. the annexation of Hawaii c. the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico d. the annexation of Texas e. the acquisition of Oregon |
The correct answer is A. William Seward was secretary of state when Russia offered to sell Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million. When gold was found in the new territory in 1896, Seward didn't seem so foolish. How the United States acquired answers B, C, and D is correctly stated. Answer E, Oregon, was part of a settlement over a disputed boundary with Great Britain.
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Redeemers were so-called because they
a. worked for the Freedmen's Bureau b. were white Southern politicians who restored white supremacy in the South c. were members of a white supremacist group similar to the Ku Klux Klan d. oversaw the sharecropping system for absentee landowners e. were the civilian administrators for the military districts in the South during Reconstruction |
The correct answer is B. By the end of Reconstruction, Redeemers had gained control of state government in all the former Confederate states. The Redeemers were not the old-line Southern politicians from before the Civil War, but businessmen interested in making money in the "New South."
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Reconstruction ended in 1877 because
a. all the Southern states had satisfied the requirements of Radical Reconstruction b. a deal was reached to name Hayes the winner of the presidential election of 1876 in exchange for an end to Reconstruction c. Northerners had grown tired of paying for military occupation of the South d. the Amnesty Act had made military occupation unnecessary e. Hayes, the Republican presidential candidate, had campaigned on a promise to end Reconstruction |
The correct answer is B. Answer A is incorrect because Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina were still under military control. Answer C is partially true; Northerners had grown tired of the corruption that was reported about Reconstruction governments. Answer D is illogical; the act pardoned most ex-Confederates so that they could vote and hold public office. Answer E is incorrect.
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Which of the following replaced the plantation system of agriculture in the South?
a. sharecropping b. large-scale commercial farming c. small independently owned farms d. day labor on former plantations e. farm mechanization |
The correct answer is A. Because the slaves had been freed, landowners had no workers and no money to pay them, so a system of sharecropping was worked out. In exchange for land, tools, a mule, seed, and shack, a sharecropper and his family would give a third or a half of the harvest to the landowner. The system was set up so that the sharecropper was left little money at the end of the harvest and would have to borrow again for the next year. Answer A dominated the Midwest. Answers C, D, and E are distracters; they sound familiar but don't relate to the question.
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White Southerners benefited from all of the following after the Civil War EXCEPT
a. greater spending on public education b. improved transportation network c. introduction of more industry into the South d. more democratic state constitutions e. lower taxes |
The correct answer is E. In order to subsidize the rebuilding of the infrastructure of the South and to improve such aspects of it as transportation, Southern governments levied high taxes. Answer A was a great improvement. Prior to the Civil War, only one out of every eight white children went to school. Answer D is true—if you were white as the question prompt states.
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What did Presidents George Washington, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, and Ulysses S. Grant have in common?
a. None fought on the frontier. b. All were Southerners. c. All were Democrats. d. All were war heroes. e. All were slaveowners. |
The correct answer is D. Nominating and electing a war hero is a time-honored American political behavior. Answer A is incorrect because all fought on whatever was considered the frontier when they were in the army. Answers B and E are incorrect because Grant was originally from Ohio. All the other men were at least born in the South to slave owning families or in the case of Jackson acquired slaves on his own. Answer C is incorrect because Washington held Federalist opinions although he claimed no party; Harrison and Taylor ran as Whigs and Grant as a Republican.
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