The most profitable commodity bought and sold in the upper tier of the southern states
was ________.
A) tobacco
B) cotton
C) slaves
D) wheat
E) corn
Andrew Johnson was impeached by the House for his violation of the _______.
A) Civil Rights Act of 1866
B) Tenure of Office Act
C) Wade-Davis Bill
D) Fourteenth Amendment
E) Loyalty Act
At the end of the Seven Years’ War, American colonists could be best characterized as
________.
A) hostile toward the British
B) optimistic about the future
C) apathetic about colonial-British relations
D) eager for independence from Great Britain
E) trying to rebuild
The fundamental issue leading to the Boston Massacre in 1770 was the ________.
A) British attempt to enforce the Tea Act
B) Boston Tea Party
C) passage of the Townshend Acts
D) sinking of the Gaspee
E) presence of so many British troops in Boston
Which of these was a prominent African-American minister, founder of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church?
A) William Pitt
B) Richard Allen
C) Edward Braddock
D) John Trenchard
E) Thomas Gordon
In 1991, the ________ caused a riot in South Central Los Angeles in which 53 people
were killed.
A) government’s response to the failure of banks
B) court’s acquittal of the police officers who beat Rodney King
C) government’s failure to respond to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
D) American invasion of Iraq and capture of Saddam Hussein
E) end of the Cold War and fall of the Berlin Wall
Which of these was the worst domestic problem facing President Obama at the time of
his election?
A) a series of urban riots
B) the disputed election
C) economic recession
D) drought throughout the Midwest
E) bank failures
What does the following quote mean? “The United States was born in the country and
moved to the city.”
A) The United States started out as a small country, but became extremely populated
over time.
B) Most Americans were uncomfortable with living in large cities until the nineteenth
century.
C) The size of the country grew exponentially larger once people started living in cities.
D) Most Americans preferred living in rural areas, but were forced to move to cities
because that was where most jobs were located.
E) The United States began as a rural country and then became much more urban over
time.
Which was NOT a factor that retarded population growth in seventeenth-century
Virginia and Maryland?
A) Many young women delayed marriage until their terms of service were complete.
B) Infant mortality rates were very high in both colonies.
C) Local Indians kidnapped many women and children.
D) The life expectancy was short.
E) The gender ratio was seriously unbalanced.
How were political parties formed in the United States?
A) Each congressman voted on possible party affiliations.
B) They were a simple continuation of Federalist and Antifederalist groups.
C) Opponents who had disagreed on economic policy split further regarding foreign
alliances.
D) Political parties developed out of the personal followings of Jefferson and Hamilton.
E) Washington, seeing how divided the country was about slavery, proposed political
parties as a way for people to disagree civilly.
How did expansion affect men like John Jacob Astor?
A) As free African Americans, men like Astor could settle in the West and make a life
for themselves.
B) As displaced Native Americans, men like Astor could relocate in the newly acquired
land of the West or Florida making a new life for themselves.
C) Expansion gave entrepreneurs like Astor the opportunity to create prosperous
immigrant neighborhoods like Astoria, New York.
D) Expansion gave entrepreneurs like Astor the opportunity to create prosperous
companies in the West.
E) Expansion gave immigrants like Astor the opportunity to work hard in an industrial
mill and one day save enough money to start their own business.
What were some of the challenges of settling the land west of the Mississippi River in
the late 1800s?
A) The region got little rainfall, and there was little lumber available for housing.
B) The region was frequently flooded by its rivers, which made farming difficult.
C) The Great Plains had many deserts and this made travel and farming difficult.
D) The region had various Native American groups who would not leave their land.
E) The Great Plains were known for their severe and unpredictable weather patterns.
Where did most of the immigrants to the United States come from in the 1840s and
1850s?
A) the Middle East
B) Europe
C) Africa
D) Latin America
E) China
Indentured servants ________.
A) were working off the cost of their passage to America
B) served the same number of years regardless of age or experience
C) had no more legal rights than slaves
D) were never legally emancipated
E) usually lived long enough to complete their terms of service
Most Spanish colonists were ________.
A) members of wealthy families
B) more racially tolerant than their English counterparts
C) unconcerned about economic opportunities
D) unwilling to have contact with native groups
E) unusually racist for their time
How was Monroe’s statement in his first inaugural address that “no country was ever
happier with respect to its domain” contradicted by subsequent events?
A) If the U.S. was happy with respect to its domain, it would not have to expand to
obtain Florida or more land in the West.
B) If the U.S. was happy with respect to its domain, it would not have changed to a
market economy and begun industrialization outside of the home.
C) If the Great Lakes and the great rivers were important to the U.S., it would not have
built national roads.
D) The Great Lakes and great rivers ended up being of little value to the U.S. during the
early nineteenth century, causing the U.S. to seek more “domain.”
E) Because of poor relations with Native American tribes in the Great Lakes and great
rivers regions, the U.S. wasn”t truly happy with respect to its domain.
Who served as Nixon’s national security advisor?
A) Warren Burger
B) G. Gordon Liddy
C) Henry Kissinger
D) William Rehnquist
E) John Mitchell
Why was mainstream society troubled by the influx of new immigrants in the 1880s?
A) They feared that immigrants would try to assimilate into the American society.
B) They worried that the unskilled immigrants would lower factory standards.
C) They feared that the government would give immigrants equal rights.
D) They felt that immigrants would monopolize newly available western lands.
E) They worried that the new immigrants could not be assimilated.
In the Dred Scott v. Sanford decision, which of the following was the one thing the
Supreme Court did NOT rule?
A) An African American could not be a citizen of the United States.
B) Congress had no power to prohibit slavery in federal territories.
C) The Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.
D) The Democratic platform was unconstitutional.
E) Slaves could not pursue justice through the court system.
The new American suburbs of the 1950s were NOT _______ diverse.
A) economically
B) socially
C) professionally
D) racially
E) ethnically
Which of the following was NOT a reason why Congress voted to implement the
Marshall Plan?
A) to strengthen the U.S. military and win the arms race
B) in reaction to a coup in Czechoslovakia
C) to stop the spread of communism across Europe
D) to improve the economy in Western Europe
E) in response to the perceived Soviet threat
How did the Boxer Rebellion affect U.S. foreign policy in China?
A) The United States realized that China would not cooperate with the Open Door
policy and began to join the European nations in dividing up China.
B) The United States affirmed their Open Door policy and declared China’s
independence from any foreign (European) rule.
C) The United States saw that China was determined to keep out foreign influence, so
they withdrew to the Philippines, to avoid armed conflict.
D) The United States realized that anti-imperialists back home wanted them to
withdraw from China, so they negotiated secretly.
E) The rebellion in Cuba turned the United States’ attention away from China and to the
anti-imperialist demonstrations closer to home.
What made the Compromise of 1850 so difficult to pass?
A) President Taylor opposed the compromise, and congressmen kept granting key
concessions to rival parties.
B) President Taylor was for the compromise, but congressmen kept granting key
concessions to rival parties.
C) The compromise was broken into too many small and ineffective measures.
D) President Taylor died and was succeeded by Millard Fillmore, who opposed the
compromise.
E) President Taylor supported the compromise, but key senators kept proposing new
compromises before a vote could be taken.
What was one result of yellow journalism stories about Cuba in the 1890s?
A) Americans believed Cubans were conspiring to control the Caribbean and were,
therefore, reluctant to go to war to help them gain independence.
B) Americans believed that Spain had a right to imperialist holdings in Cuba but that
they should treat their colonies better.
C) Americans became enraged about Spain’s treatment of Cubans and the sinking of the
Maine.
D) Cowardly journalists did not report Cuban atrocities for fear that the Spanish
government would retaliate, hence the term “yellow journalism.”
E) Powerful Asian governments saw Cuba as the first step in a series of imperialist
moves, so they sent journalists to the U.S. to spread rumors against intervention.
Why did the doctrine of popular sovereignty fail in the 1854 Kansas territorial
government elections?
A) voter apathy
B) illegal voting by Missouri residents
C) a lack of enthusiasm from voters
D) a lack of compelling candidates
E) extremists’ destruction of polling centers
The term “D-Day” refers to which of the following dates?
A) the day President Roosevelt died
B) the day Hitler committed suicide
C) the day the Allies invaded Nazi-occupied Europe
D) the day the Germans invaded France
E) the day the Germans surrendered to the Allies
Opposition to Hamilton’s proposed national bank ________.
A) was based on “loose construction” of the Constitution
B) reflected the fears of private bankers
C) was justified because his plans so clearly favored a few “monied interests.”
D) generally did not involve the general public
E) involved issues relating to Congress’s constitutional powers
The greatest change in American literature during the late 1800s was the rise of
________.
A) poetry
B) evolutionism
C) realism
D) romanticism
E) impressionism
Most working African Americans at the beginning of the twentieth century ________.
A) had a life substantially improved from their parents
B) had the opportunity for a high quality education
C) worked as poor Southern sharecroppers
D) had little reason to protest their situation
E) often banded together to start businesses
Building the new skyscrapers depended on ________.
A) concrete reinforced pilings
B) electrical elevators
C) automatic window cleaners
D) indoor plumbing
E) steel and glass
What is the best way to characterize the Plains tribes?
A) as sedentary and pacific
B) as fishermen and farmers
C) as nomadic and warlike
D) as practitioners of human sacrifice
E) as builders of great cities
What did the first neutrality act, passed in 1935, prohibit?
A) adding new troops to the U.S. armed forces
B) sending troops to aid allies at war
C) traveling outside of U.S. borders
D) selling arms to nations at war
E) covering foreign wars in the news
The area of greatest decline in the American economy in the 1920s was _____.
A) automobiles
B) agriculture
C) banking
D) exports
E) manufacturing