Why was it difficult for northern abolitionists to mount a legal attack against the
institution of slavery in southern states?
a. Southern states generally had much better lawyers than northern states.
b. There was a serious lack of strong northern congressional leadership.
c. The Constitution protected state laws that allowed slavery.
d. Southern plantation owners donated heavily to northern political candidates.
e. Slavery was overshadowed by issues people felt more strongly about.
Participation in the Vietnam War was connected to socioeconomic class primarily
because wealthy young men __________.
a. were more likely to be in college and thus could avoid the draft
b. were more likely to volunteer and enlist without being drafted
c. could hire someone to take their places in the military
d. often bribed officials and bought their way out of the draft
e. were often given safer desk jobs rather than combat duty
What was the effect of uniformity and standardization on the lives of average
Americans?
a. an increase in the average salary of the American worker
b. women being able to afford to enter the workforce
c. homogenization of consumer goods and a decline in regional variety
d. economic stability that persisted throughout the rest of the decade
e. countless new brands emerging as different regions produced their own goods
The first migrations westward __________.
a. headed for the Middle Plains region
b. focused on the Southwest
c. rushed to Oregon and California
d. followed the traditional path of earlier settlers
e. steered toward the Great Lakes region
The two most important leaders of the Great Awakening in colonial America were
__________.
a. Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield
b. John Winthrop and Jonathan Edwards
c. John Locke and Benjamin Franklin
d. Thomas Gordon and John Trenchard
e. Cotton Mather and George Whitefield
At the beginning of the twentieth century, many African Americans __________.
a. found their situation improved substantially
b. received equal opportunities for quality education
c. worked in the South under conditions of peonage
d. had little reason to protest
e. often banded together to start businesses
Why did Massachusetts and Connecticut feel the need to pass sumptuary laws?
a. They weren’t comfortable with the idea that lower-class people were taking on the
trappings of upper classes.
b. They weren’t comfortable with the idea that upper class people were ‘slumming” and
taking on the trappings of lower classes.
c. They wanted to abolish all signs of the British social class system.
d. They wanted to establish a minimum dress code for the lower classes.
e. They wanted to establish a minimum dress code for all colonial classes.
The first president to attempt seriously to alter the historic pattern of racial
discrimination in the United States was __________.
a. Harry Truman
b. Franklin D. Roosevelt
c. Theodore Roosevelt
d. John F. Kennedy
e. Herbert Hoover
The United States dropped its first atom bomb on __________, killing 60,000 people.
a. Osaka
b. Nagasaki
c. Tokyo
d. Hiroshima
e. Fukushima
In the 1830s and 1840s, the main advocate of states’ rights was __________.
a. Daniel Webster
b. Henry Clay
c. John C. Calhoun
d. Martin Van Buren
e. Andrew Jackson
During the Red Scare of 1919-1920, who led the attack on the alien threat?
a. Mitchell Palmer
b. Clarence Darrow
c. Warren G. Harding
d. Alexander Berkman
e. William Jennings Bryan
The Soviet Union approached disarmament discussions after World War II with a plan
to __________.
a. gradually reduce the number of weapons of mass destruction
b. give atomic bombs to all the countries in the United Nations
c. destroy all existing atomic bombs and ban the production of new ones
d. give the United States a military advantage so it could serve as an international
peacekeeping force
e. give Russia the world’s only atomic bombs so it could serve as an international
peacekeeping force
The single greatest factor that caused the destruction of Native Americans after contact
with Europeans was __________.
a. warfare
b. planned genocide
c. disease
d. forced conversions to Christianity
e. forced removal from tribal lands
Which of the following places events in the correct chronological order?
a. Morrill Land Grant Act, Plessy v. Ferguson, establishment of Tuskegee Institute
b. Plessy v. Ferguson, Morrill Land Grant Act, establishment of Tuskegee Institute
c. establishment of Tuskegee Institute, Morrill Land Grant Act, Plessy v. Ferguson
d. Morrill Land Grant Act, establishment of Tuskegee Institute, Plessy v. Ferguson
e. Plessy v. Ferguson, establishment of Tuskegee Institute, Morrill Land Grant Act
Woodrow Wilson’s record on race relations __________.
a. elicited the support of African Americans
b. disappointed African Americans and many progressives
c. won him support in the North
d. showed his consistent opposition to racial discrimination
e. was incredibly liberal
Under the __________ system, manufacturers provided raw materials to people in their
own homes and then picked up the finished products for distribution.
a. finishing-off system
b. mass production system
c. piecework system
d. putting-out system
e. cottage industry system
James Polk went to war with Mexico to __________.
a. retaliate for the harsh Mexican treatment of Texans
b. protect the southern border of the United States
c. annex land in Texas, New Mexico, and California
d. prevent a Mexican attempt to reacquire Texas
e. distract Americans from other domestic issues
In the 1905 Taft-Katsura Agreement, __________.
a. the United States and Japan agreed not to attack each other for at least 50 years
b. the United States exchanged recognition of Japanese control of Korea for a Japanese
pledge not to invade the Philippines
c. Japan agreed to limit emigration to the United States
d. the United States and Japan agreed to a policy of mutual free trade
e. the United States and Japan agreed to uphold the Open Door and support Chinese
independence
How did industrialism change from the nineteenth to the twentieth century?
a. Technology replaced workers, making skilled craftsmanship and unskilled laborers at
once obsolete.
b. Mass production meant mass wealth and prosperity for most Americans, affecting the
global economy.
c. Factories became cleaner, safer, and more effective, improving and increasing
production.
d. The invention of plastic revolutionized the production industry, making household
and industrial products affordable.
e. Businesses grew even larger and more automated, affecting production, workers,
owners, and society as a whole.
During the Cleveland administration, which nation did the United States almost go to
war with over a Latin America boundary dispute?
a. Germany
b. Great Britain
c. Venezuela
d. Mexico
e. Spain
How did Americans respond to the bull market climate on the eve of the great crash in
1929?
a. A general sense of caution about the ability of the market to continue to yield such
fantastic dividends caused the market to falter.
b. Average Americans tended not to invest in the market themselves, instead relying on
professional stockbrokers to invest their savings.
c. Many Americans looked to the government for guidance on how to invest in such a
rapidly growing market.
d. Wild optimism about the continued growth of the stock market led Americans to
engage in speculative investing practices.
e. Wary about the danger of “get rich quick” schemes, many Americans carefully
guarded their life savings.
The sit-down strike __________.
a. was first used against General Motors in 1936
b. was used only by the United Auto Workers
c. proved ineffective against corporations
d. was first used against Ford Motor Company
e. was a time-tested technique from strikes in the 1920s
Why did it take until the 1860s to build a transcontinental railroad?
a. The needed land was designated as Indian territory.
b. There was a shortage of workers.
c. The federal government refused to provide land grants for railroad companies.
d. Bankers were not willing to back such a risky investment.
e. Sectional quarrels developed over the route to be taken.
Which best summarizes the basic philosophy of the Enlightenment?
a. Reason could help humans achieve perfection in this world.
b. Knowledge was of little use when confined to speculation.
c. Faith and tolerance could help humans achieve perfection in this world.
d. Absolutist governments must be replaced by representative governments.
e. People must give up most possessions to achieve true enlightenment.
Why did Great Britain engage in the War of 1812?
a. It feared the vast U.S. military power and wanted to strike first.
b. It wanted to regain control of the United States and its Caribbean territories.
c. It hoped that war with the United States would show France its loyalty.
d. It wanted to occupy New York City as an important northeastern port.
e. It wanted to control U.S. trade in Canada and Europe.
Which of the following individuals favored the annexation of the Philippines?
a. Jane Addams
b. Andrew Carnegie
c. Mark Twain
d. William McKinley
e. Samuel Gompers
John Deere’s steel plow allowed farmers to __________.
a. plow up tough prairie soils
b. purchase the less expensive steel plows
c. plow loose soil in half the time of a cast-iron plow
d. plow by hand without the aid of a farm animal
e. plow more accurately than with a cast-iron plow
The SALT treaties involved __________.
a. the American withdrawal from Vietnam
b. reduction of U.S. and Soviet offensive ballistic missiles
c. removal of Soviet nuclear weapons from Cuba
d. preventing outright war in the Middle East
e. the collapse of the former Soviet Union
In order to better control the leaders of their conquest in the New World, the Spanish
government created __________.
a. the Inquisition
b. the hacienda
c. the encomienda
d. the missions
e. colonial governments
The Truman administration failed to pass any civil rights legislation because
__________.
a. Truman himself secretly worked to defeat its passage
b. most people said the civil rights movement was a communist plot
c. black voters had traditionally backed the Republican Party
d. southern politicians managed to block the legislation
e. controversial social change during the Cold War could be divisive and dangerous
The passage of the National Security Act in 1947 __________.
a. indicated America’s desire to decrease its military strength
b. acted to coordinate and unify America’s military establishment
c. served only to further divide the Defense Department
d. weakened the intelligence-gathering capabilities of the United States
e. added unnecessary bureaucracy to matters of defense