As the nation’s productivity increased __________.
A) wages were not proportionately raised
B) a high percentage of workers experienced a decent standard of living
C) corporate taxes were raised by Republican administrations
D) unemployment dropped significantly
In what year were poverty rates the highest?
A) 1960
B) 1970
C) 1980
D) 1990
Before the Spanish-American War, the yellow press __________.
A) endorsed a policy of isolationism
B) wrote editorials that criticized American imperialism
C) refused to write about foreign affairs
D) used sensationalism to stir up war fever
The main reason for low cotton prices in the 1890s was __________.
A) major wars in Europe that reduced foreign demand
B) overproduction
C) high export taxes enacted by Congress
D) too few farmers growing cotton
Security adviser Henry Kissinger arranged Richard Nixon’s surprising diplomatic trip to
__________.
A) North Vietnam
B) North Korea
C) England
D) China
What was the effect of President Wilson’s order for American ships to shoot submarines
on sight?
A) the public’s belief that he was not sincere in his efforts for preparedness
B) Germany’s sudden decision to sign the Sussex Pledge
C) Eugene Debs’s endorsement of American military involvement
D) the emergence of huge antiwar rallies in the United States
What is a yellow dog contract?
A) a collective bargaining agreement between workers and management
B) a signed promise by the owners to recognize a union
C) a signed promise by the workers not to unionize
D) a contract between industry and the government to outlining fair labor practices
Between 1870 and 1910, the percentage of people working in __________ shrank.
A) agriculture
B) mining
C) manufacturing and construction
D) commerce
The majority of rural southern blacks worked as __________.
A) foremen
B) merchants
C) carriage drivers
D) unskilled laborers
In the late nineteenth century, congressional power was centralized in the __________.
A) Senate President
B) Speaker of the House
C) Majority Whip
D) President Pro Tempore
Overall, regarding Reconstruction constitutional amendments and laws, the Supreme
Court in the latter part of the nineteenth century __________.
A) upheld them to the letter
B) gave them strong support
C) refused to rule on them
D) interpreted them in ways detrimental to blacks
SALT II was technically killed when the Soviet Union invaded __________ in 1979.
A) Afghanistan
B) Iran
C) Hungary
D) Czechoslovakia
Which of the following cities was one of the first to have a comparatively large openly
gay subculture in the 1970s?
A) Washington, D.C.
B) San Francisco
C) St. Louis
D) Houston
What was the “Black Cabinet”?
A) a group of activists who met at the home of Mary McLeod Bethune to discuss civil
rights strategies
B) a group of business leaders led by Harry Hopkins and Harold Ickes who resisted
New Deal reforms
C) Supreme Court members who ruled that New Deal reforms were unconstitutional
D) a group of labor leaders who sought the attention of Eleanor Roosevelt
What was the purpose of the Bland-Allison Act?
A) to increase the value of silver
B) to establish the dollar as a silver-backed currency
C) to increase the value of gold
D) to establish the dollar as a gold-backed currency
Supporters of the North American Free Trade Agreement include __________.
A) the leaders of organized labor
B) environmentalists worried about lax regulations in Mexico
C) professional businesses that want foreign customers
D) communities already hit by industrial shutdowns
In the 1970s, official investigations labeled Bureau of Indian Affairs attempts to force
Indians to adopt white culture a(n) __________.
A) “near-total success”
B) “qualified success”
C) “endeavor with mixed results”
D) “near total failure”
Ronald Reagan, like many Americans, believed that the country would thrive if
__________.
A) free enterprise was encouraged and supported
B) the government would more actively regulate the economy
C) nuclear weapons were used against eastern Europe
D) the president extended New Deal reforms
The Irreconcilables opposed participation in the League of Nations because they
__________.
A) wanted to continue a system of secret alliances
B) would not join any organization that included Germany
C) wanted no interference with American immigration laws
D) felt it would strengthen the power of imperialist nations
How should President George W. Bush’s domestic policies after the 2000 election be
characterized?
A) a moderate course
B) a strong shift to the right
C) a slight shift to the right
D) a slight shift to the left
Which of the following cities is located in the American Sunbelt?
A) San Francisco
B) Charlotte
C) Cleveland
D) Atlanta
The Taft-Hartley Act __________.
A) represented the most progressive labor reforms since the Wilson administration
B) was an attempt by big business to reverse gains made by organized labor
C) limited the immigration of Asians and eastern Europeans
D) was successful because it was supported by John L. Lewis
Methods used by blacks in winning the Montgomery bus strike included __________.
A) riots in certain sections of Montgomery
B) the use of car pools despite police harassment
C) hunger strikes
D) asking federal troops to take control of the city
Why did the United States initiate a series of defense pacts with other nations in the
1960s?
A) to prevent another world war
B) to control nuclear development
C) to strengthen the American economy
D) to stop the spread of communism
The Pendleton Civil Service Act began the move toward __________.
A) attaining the right to a secret ballot
B) separating partisan politics from attaining government jobs
C) regulating government jobs under the jurisdiction of congressional leaders
D) deemphasizing skill as a qualification for government jobs
The Colored Farmers’ Alliance staged a strike in their effort to __________.
A) gain equal status within the Democratic Party
B) boycott unfair prices set by manufacturers of jute
C) bring labor unions to factories in the industrial South
D) establish higher wages for cotton pickers
What effect did the war on drugs have on the prison system?
A) It created a boom in the prison population in the 1980s and 1990s.
B) It led to fewer incarcerations.
C) It increased the number of inmates on Death Row.
D) It penalized drug crimes by fines instead of jail time.
Railway companies encouraged settlers to come to the West __________.
A) because they could not find laborers to build rail lines
B) so they would grow food that could be transported on rail lines
C) because they wanted to distribute free land to new settlers
D) so that Christianity could become the official religion in state constitutions
American imperialists often rationalized these kinds of actions by __________.
A) pointing out that the United States had to overcome a heritage of a weak military
B) asserting that people of Anglo-Saxon descent were from a superior culture
C) claiming that western European nations were weak because they did not annex
territory
D) refusing to admit to the economic benefits that could be gained from imperial
colonies
Suffragists won their first victories in the __________.
A) Northeast
B) Midwest
C) South
D) West