Why was “America” named after Amerigo Vespucci?
A) Vespucci published a falsified travel account that convinced mapmakers that he had
been the first European to reach the continent.
B) Vespucci had been on Columbus’s last voyage, but unlike Columbus realized that
they had found a new continent.
C) Vespucci’s travels to the Americas brought great wealth to Spain, and he was
rewarded with a continent named for him.
D) Vespucci was the first person to make contact with what is now the Bahamas, and
the continent he reached was named after him.
E) Vespucci convinced the king and queen of Spain that Columbus had falsified reports
of his travels, and proved that it was he who had been the first to reach the Americas.
Which is the best interpretation of historian Davis Eltis’s statement: “In terms of
immigration alone… America was an extension of Africa rather than Europe until the
late nineteenth century.”
A) The colonists set up communities in the New World that were much closer to the
communities of Africa than those of Europe.
B) Many European colonists gave up the traditional ways of their homelands, while
people brought to America from Africa retained most of their traditions.
C) The new colonies were governed in ways that were unlike any kind of European
government and more like African governments.
D) Africans were not the largest group to immigrate to America, but they had the
greatest influence on the new colonies.
E) More Africans than Europeans came to North America in the early years of
colonization.
What was the cause of the great decrease in the number of Chinese immigrants in the
late nineteenth century?
A) Chinese laborers were treated so poorly in the West that fewer immigrants wanted to
come to the United States.
B) China severely restricted immigration to the United States beginning in the 1880s.
C) The Homestead Act did not apply to Chinese immigrants and thus there was no land
available for them.
D) Many Chinese laborers found better work in Europe than in the United States.
E) The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 suspended immigration of Chinese laborers.
The Ku Klux Klan went into decline soon after _____.
A) Klan leaders were found to be involved in sexual and financial scandals
B) the organization was unmasked as a secret communist conspiracy
C) new federal laws made membership a crime in 1927
D) evangelist Billy Sunday denounced it in a widely-reprinted sermon
E) it blocked a resolution of censure at the Democratic national convention
Which of the following was NOT an important stimulus to American economic growth
in the late 1940s and early 1950s?
A) government relief aid
B) pent-up demand for consumer goods
C) heavy government spending during the Cold War
D) $37 billion in American savings
E) government spending during the Korean War
Which was an organization of farmers that formed during the late 1880s?
A) the Colored Farmers’ Alliance
B) the Northern Alliance
C) the Western Alliance
D) the Grange
E) the Farm Workers’ Association
Why did Roosevelt announce the Roosevelt Corollary?
A) to gain power in the Pacific region
B) to keep European powers out of Latin America
C) to reshape the Monroe Doctrine completely
D) to forgive Latin American national debts
E) to gain access to Panama for canal construction
What was the main focus of the Nixon presidency?
A) foreign policy
B) civil rights
C) economics
D) education
E) the armed forces
The first bill ever passed over a presidential veto was the _______.
A) Wade-Davis Bill
B) Freedmen’s Bureau extension bill
C) Civil Rights Act of 1866
D) Tenure of Office Act
E) First Reconstruction Act
Which of the following forms of transportation predominated before the 1820s and
1830s?
A) national road systems
B) canal systems
C) steamboats
D) flatboats
E) railroads
By 1880, about how many Native Americans lived in California?
A) 20,000
B) 30,000
C) 40,000
D) 50,000
E) 60,000
Taft’s policy of “dollar diplomacy” _____.
A) used economic means to increase American influence worldwide
B) was primarily aimed at helping underdeveloped countries
C) resulted in decreased U.S. influence in Latin America
D) had little impact on American national security interests
E) helped establish the prestige of the United States in Asia
What was a result of the Supreme Court’s Plessy v. Ferguson decision?
A) Segregation of schools and public transportation was deemed legal.
B) Integration of schools was to occur with deliberate speed.
C) Illiteracy among school-aged children would be eradicated.
D) De facto segregation could no longer occur.
E) Teachers at black schools were paid the same as their white counterparts.
How were families affected by the changes sweeping American society in the 1920s?
A) Generally, childhood and adolescence became shorter periods because families
needed to send children to work at a younger age.
B) Fewer married women took jobs outside of the home as traditional values were
restored across the country.
C) The “youth movement” of the 1920s championed traditional family values, such as
respect for one’s parents.
D) Church attendance in urban areas decreased due to a drop in population and in the
construction of houses of worship in the countryside.
E) The average American family decreased in size due to the availability of more
effective birth control methods.
In contrast to the North, revivalism in southern states did not ________.
A) seek to improve the morals of society
B) push for social reform
C) encourage temperance
D) discourage dueling
E) have an impact on religious life
Why was James Madison described as a political genius?
A) He wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation.
B) He helped Americans think of republican government in radical new ways.
C) He used the teachings of Montesquieu to advocate for strong state governments.
D) He had fought bravely in the revolutionary war, leading his men with wisdom and
courage.
E) He successfully governed his home state of Virginia in a socialist manner, giving all
power to the people.
Which of the following identifies a key reason why society began focusing on
childhood in the nineteenth century?
A) Children were becoming a larger part of the national economy.
B) Urban couples saw large families as an economic asset.
C) Religious revivalism made birth control and abortions impossible.
D) Families were getting larger and individual children became more highly valued.
E) Families got smaller.
Creation of the Bank of the United States was based on the doctrine of ________.
A) strict construction
B) states’ rights
C) implied powers
D) judicial review
E) checks and balances
A major difference between the goals of the American Federation of Labor and the
Industrial Workers of the World was ________.
A) whether to get better pay for their members
B) a concentration on working conditions
C) whether business owners should be allowed into the union
D) whether to represent skilled workers or all workers
E) working collaboratively with corporate leaders
Ranching was changing in each of the following ways by the late 1800s EXCEPT
________.
A) ranchers were fencing off their lands and reducing the size of their herds
B) ranchers were crossbreeding the longhorns with Hereford and Angus bulls
C) ranches were getting larger
D) some ranchers were abandoning cattle in favor of raising sheep
E) ranchers were growing hay for winter fodder
In their approaches to the Cuban rebellion against Spain, ________.
A) President Cleveland was neutral while President McKinley favored the insurgents
B) President Cleveland wanted to intervene for the insurgents, but McKinley was
neutral
C) both Presidents Cleveland and McKinley wanted war with Spain
D) both Presidents Cleveland and McKinley were totally neutral
E) both Presidents Cleveland and McKinley opposed involvement with Spain or Cuba
Why was Lincoln angry with General McClellan after the battle at Antietam?
A) McClellan retreated while he still had a chance to win the battle.
B) McClellan killed Robert E. Lee rather than taking him prisoner.
C) McClellan lost the battle, despite having a clear advantage in the field.
D) McClellan lost too many men in the battle, which weakened the Union army.
E) McClellan was slow to pursue Robert E. Lee after the battle and let Lee escape.
Most new state constitutions after the American Revolution ________.
A) strengthened the power of the governors
B) weakened the power of the legislature
C) avoided written constitutions
D) included Declarations of Rights
E) affirmed the freedom of speech and press but not of religion
What do we know about the sources of the witchcraft hysteria in Salem?
A) They are known to have been primarily economic.
B) They reflected the community’s underlying resistance to the teachings of Calvinism.
C) They lay in the community’s dislike of English authority.
D) They are likely the result of preexisting conflict.
E) They may have been related to the presence of real witches.
By 1932, what percentage of American workers were unemployed?
A) 10%
B) 12%
C) 25%
D) 33%
E) 50%
King Charles I disbanded Parliament in 1629 because he could not deal with intense
criticism from the ________.
A) Puritans
B) Baptists
C) Catholics
D) Anglicans
E) Presbyterians
Jane Addams was the founder of ________.
A) the South End House in Boston
B) the Henry Street Settlement in New York
C) Golden Home in San Francisco
D) Hull House in Chicago
E) the Neighborhood Guild in New York
As a result of the Battle of Fallen Timbers, ________.
A) Great Britain continued to dominate the western frontier
B) the United States withdrew from the western frontier
C) the Indians scored a decisive victory
D) the inadequacy of the American army was made evident
E) the British encouraged Native Americans to give up their land
How did U.S. intervention in China differ from its intervention in Korea?
A) The United States could only respond with diplomacy in the Chinese conflict, but
gave supplies and funds to North Korea.
B) The United States responded with all-out war in China, but refused to get involved in
the Korean conflict.
C) The United States extracted itself from the conflict when civil war broke out in
China but sent troops to aid South Korea.
D) The United States sent troops to China when civil war broke out, but only sent
money to South Korea when the violence began.
E) The United States intervened with diplomatic efforts and supplies in North Korea,
but did not intervene in any way in China’s civil war.
Why were people in Italy and France voting for communist parties in 1947?
A) They were drawn to the irresistibly charismatic communist leaders.
B) They felt discontent due to economic problems and food shortages.
C) They were responding to pressure and threats from the Soviet Union.
D) They wanted to defy the American anti-communist attitude.
E) There were few other organized political parties in postwar Europe.
What was the consequence of the formation of the Standard Oil Trust?
A) The federal government passed legislation to stop further trusts from forming.
B) Other industries followed its lead and trusts became common in America.
C) John D. Rockefeller lost control of his company.
D) Other oil companies began to compete with Standard Oil over prices.
E) It became famous as the only trust ever formed in the United States.
Who helped form the Progressive, or Bull Moose, Party?
A) William Howard Taft
B) Theodore Roosevelt
C) Woodrow Wilson
D) Herbert Hoover
E) William Jennings Bryan