What was the most important cause of prosperity during the “new era”?
A) curtailment of federal spending and reduction of the deficit
B) improved efficiency among American manufacturers
C) sound federal regulation of the economy
D) federal subsidies for basic research
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, __________, brought home the evils of slavery to many
in the North.
A) Uncle Tom’s Cabin
B) The Impending Crisis
C) Twelve Years a Slave
D) Below the Mason-Dixon Line
Evangelist Charles Grandison Finney’s success depended upon which of the following?
A) his defense of Catholicism
B) a rational approach to religion based on college-educated ministers
C) his defense of Calvinism
D) emotional release through personal testimony of salvation
How did the British hope to force the United States to surrender and declare defeat?
A) with a naval blockade
B) with an amphibious attack on Boston
C) with a major offensive by Native Americans from west of the Mississippi
D) with a coordinated attack on the Mississippi River Valley from Canada and New
Orleans
During the 1920s, young men and women __________.
A) replaced “dating” with “paying a call”
B) were actually more old-fashioned in their sexual behavior than their grandparents
C) glorified respect for social and parental authority
D) related in an increasingly relaxed and uninhibited fashion
In 1988, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis was nominated by the Democrats
for president based on which of the following?
A) his time as Jimmy Carter’s vice president
B) his successful introduction of universal health insurance in his home state
C) his record as an efficient manager
D) his appeal to women and minorities
During FDR’s first two terms, __________ dramatically shifted their support from the
Republicans to the Democrats.
A) small businessmen
B) women
C) Catholics
D) African Americans
How did Roosevelt react to the creation of the Northern Securities Company?
A) by suing to have it dissolved under the Sherman Antitrust Act
B) by summoning J. P. Morgan and James J. Hill to the White House for a
tongue-lashing
C) by threatening to nationalize the railroads involved unless they voluntarily dissolved
their merger
D) by hailing it as an example of responsible behavior by big business
What was the response of President George W. Bush to same-sex marriage?
A) He was generally opposed, but steered away from the topic.
B) He supported civil unions but not marriage of same-sex couples.
C) He opposed it and even proposed a constitutional amendment to prohibit it.
D) He generally supported it, but refused to assist the cause in any way.
Why did American colonists object to the Sugar Act of 1764?
A) The act could be used to stop colonial trade altogether.
B) It deprived them of their right to participate in the sugar trade.
C) The law opened up colonial trade in sugar to the vessels of France and Spain.
D) The new measure asserted Parliament’s right to tax Americans for revenue purposes.
What game did James Naismith invent in 1891?
A) basketball
B) monopoly
C) water polo
D) baseball
When and where did the last terrorist attack on American soil take place?
A) in 2013 in Boston
B) in 2001 in New York City
C) in 1998 in Waco, Texas
D) in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia
The Populist movement emerged from which earlier group?
A) Farmers Union
B) Farm Bureau
C) Knights of Labor
D) Farmers’ Alliance
The 1970s recession helped bring about which of the following?
A) the demise of the Equal Rights Amendment
B) a surge in affirmative action policies
C) the creation of the Equal Opportunity Commission
D) a drop in religious affiliation among Americans
What made William H. Seward unpopular with parts of the Republican Party?
A) He urged Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.
B) He independently tried to negotiate a peace with the Confederacy.
C) His compassion for slaves and commitment to racial equality went too far for them.
D) He believed it was important to be conciliatory toward the South.
What was the main reason James Buchanan received the Democratic presidential
nomination in 1856?
A) He took a strong stand for the extension of slavery.
B) He had a moderate stand on slavery, even though he was a Southerner.
C) He was overseas during the bitter debate over Kansas.
D) He had almost no political experience and therefore no political baggage.
Who was the principle architect of America’s Open Door policy?
A) John Hay
B) Alfred Thayer Mahan
C) Richard Olney
D) Theodore Roosevelt
Who was the author of The Great Gatsby?
A) Ezra Pound
B) Carl Sandburg
C) F. Scott Fitzgerald
D) Ernest Hemingway
It would be accurate to say that Henry Ford __________.
A) realized mass production could make a car cheap enough for the average consumer
B) was one of America’s greatest inventors
C) campaigned against ignorance and anti-Semitism
D) was highly popular with most Americans because of his sophistication and devotion
to art
The late-nineteenth-century theory of the Teutonic origins of democracy __________.
A) argued that the roots of democracy and the rule of law were found in the ancient
tribes of northern Europe
B) was violently opposed by Americans of British descent because it portrayed their
ancestors so negatively
C) was initially rejected but has been subsequently validated by extensive research by
historians and archaeologists
D) argued that the roots of democracy and the rule of law were found in the ancient
peoples of the Middle East
Enraged by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1980, Democratic congressman from
Texas Charles Wilson did which of the following?
A) He called for the impeachment of Ronald Reagan.
B) He convinced Carter to boycott the U.S. Olympics.
C) He organized funding for the mujahideen.
D) He pushed the Reagan Administration to build an alliance with Pakistan.
What made The Jazz Singer an important movie?
A) It was the first movie that offered leading roles to African Americans.
B) It was the first movie that handled questions of gender equality with post-Victorian
sensitivity.
C) It first exposed a national audience to a new form of music.
D) It was the first movie with sound, marking the beginning of a new era in movie
technology.
“Tippecanoe and Tyler too!” was the campaign slogan for General William Henry
Harrison, who was the nominee of what political party?
A) the Democrats
B) the Republicans
C) the Jacksonians
D) the Whigs
In wooing the progressives in the election of 1916, Wilson did which of the following?
A) put into effect almost every important plank of the 1912 Progressive platform
B) chose Theodore Roosevelt as his running mate
C) appointed well-known progressive Felix Frankfurter to the Supreme Court
D) continued to oppose “class legislation” which favored ‘special interests”
Why were American protests against the Stamp Act so vehement?
A) The law introduced a new form of taxation, having no precedent in England.
B) The measure greatly increased the cost of all articles imported into America.
C) The tax affected influential and articulate groups such as lawyers and newspaper
editors.
D) The act prohibited the hiring of colonists responsible for printing and distributing the
stamps.
What happened to the American population in the five years following the Great
Depression?
A) It rose by 6.5 million.
B) It rose by 3 million.
C) It declined by 3 million.
D) It declined by 6.5 million.
How was the Immigration Act of 1965 different from the previous quota-based
immigration system?
A) It allowed immigration based on the nation’s existing ethnic patterns.
B) It gave amnesty to illegal immigrants who had lived in the United States for a long
time.
C) It gave preference to Asian and Latin American immigrants.
D) It favored those with specialized job skills and education.
Which politician called his program of being flexible without compromising his basic
values “dynamic conservatism” or “progressive moderation”?
A) Henry A. Wallace
B) Dwight D. Eisenhower
C) Adlai E. Stevenson
D) Harry S. Truman
Transcontinental railroads used their zone of “indemnity” lands to prevent which of the
following?
A) military confiscation of lands for forts
B) state taxation of railroad property
C) sale of federal land along the right-of-way
D) homesteading along the railroad
The restrictions of English mercantilism on the colonial economies __________.
A) destroyed the thriving indigo and cotton plantations
B) bankrupted New England shipbuilders
C) were greatly lessened by governmental inefficiency
D) prohibited the importation of slaves
Who was the Democratic candidate for president in 2004?
A) John Kerry
B) John Edwards
C) Al Gore
D) Howard Dean
How did McKinley and Bryan differ in the election of 1896?
A) Bryan was pragmatic, whereas McKinley was an uncompromising idealist.
B) McKinley looked toward the past, whereas Bryan welcomed a revolutionary new
century.
C) Bryan’s approach was parochial, whereas McKinley’s was national.
D) Bryan’s approach was rational, whereas McKinley’s was patriotic.
The Auburn system was a pioneering experiment in which of the following?
A) education for the blind
B) prison reform
C) communal living
D) education for the deaf