Why was the expansion of tobacco cultivation an economic problem in Virginia by the
end of the seventeenth century?
A) It led to a slump in prices.
B) It prompted competition from New England.
C) The availability of land in the Chesapeake was severely limited.
D) The smoking habits of the colonists started to affect their health and productivity.
Why did California’s possible admission as a free state cause such a furor?
A) It forced slavery to be barred in all territories.
B) It repealed the Missouri Compromise.
C) It undermined the idea of “popular sovereignty.”
D) Its admission broke the balance of power in the Senate between slave and free states.
During the Mexican War, what happened in the Southwest?
A) American settlers seized Sonoma and established the Republic of California.
B General Stephen Kearny’s cavalry expedition from Fort Leavenworth was defeated
and captured at the Battle of Santa Fe.
C) A virtual civil war broke out between settlers favoring the United States and those
supporting Mexico.
D) The Mexican army easily defeated the initial efforts of a ragtag army of American
settlers to create an independent California.
Which of the following best summarizes Joseph McCarthy’s bold speech in Wheeling,
West Virginia?
A) Foreigners on distant shores have turned to evil.
B) The fascists we thought defeated have risen again in the Soviet Union.
C) The most dangerous enemy to the United States are those Americans who turned
against us.
D) As long as the anti-Communist resolve of regular Americans proves strong and
steady, the thoughts and actions of dissenters cannot harm the nation’s social fabric.
From 1873 to 1893, the economy was characterized by which of the following?
A) significant government regulation
B) declining productivity
C) intense competition for markets
D) strong inflationary trends
What was thefundamental cause of the South’s lack of railroad construction?
A) competition from already-existing canals
B) the tendency of Southern capitalists to invest in land and slaves rather than
commerce or industry
C) heavy concentration of the southern population in coastal cities
D) the irrational caution of its leaders after their initial heavy investments in commerce
and industry lost millions of dollars
What was one of the problems with pragmatism?
A) It seemed to be against the American ideal of rugged individualism.
B) It was based only on emotional appeal.
C) It originated in Europe.
D) It seemed to suggest that the end justified the means.
Turnpikes in the 1790s and early 1800s were __________.
A) roads built by private companies
B) canals with manually operated locks
C) roads channeling traffic in circular patterns
D) rudimentary railroad tracks operated with horsepower.
Which of the following is true in the analysis of Hurricane Katrina?
A) It was the worst natural disaster in American history.
B) FEMA’s quick and effective response relieved the sufferings of thousands.
C) Warnings from engineers about the levees and canals in New Orleans were ignored.
D) New Orleans officials had an evacuation plan for people who did not own cars.
At the start of the Civil War, Lincoln’s Secretary of State William Seward __________.
A) thought he could dominate Lincoln
B) was the most incompetent member of Lincoln’s cabinet
C) believed Lincoln was far too radical on slavery
D) argued that the North was better off without the slaveholding South
What did President Carter claim was his most important concern in foreign affairs?
A) to contain the international communist conspiracy
B) to eradicate world poverty
C) to eliminate state-sponsored terrorism
D) to defend basic human rights
Between the 1820s and the 1850s, northern society was permeated by which of the
following?
A) widespread indifference to standards of taste and high culture
B) lower-class attempts to unionize factory workers
C) upper-class desire to bring European culture to America
D) middle-class concern for being cultivated and refined
Georges Clemenceau, David Lloyd George, and Vittorio Orlando were __________.
A) the commanding generals of the French, English, and Italian armies
B) jailed for criticizing the war in America
C) members of the so-called Big Four at the Paris Peace Conference
D) the first three presidents of the League of Nations
In general, __________ workers were usually well-off as a result of
late-nineteenth-century industrialization.
A) skilled industrial
B) unskilled
C) traditional craft
D) domestic
Which of the following was a significant aspect of life on the westward trail in the
1840s?
A) It was actually safer for children than remaining at home.
B) It was easier for women than for men.
C) It strongly reinforced the family pattern of ‘separate spheres.”
D) It was especially taxing for women.
The attempt of three French diplomats to secure a bribe in return for agreeing to
negotiations with U.S. diplomats became known as the __________.
A) Lyon-Griswold Tangle
B) Berlin Decree
C) XYZ Affair
D) ABC Affair
The distinction between the Democrats and the Republicans during the late nineteenth
century arose from differences in which areas?
A) religious affiliation, geographic location, and ethnic background
B) civil service reform, foreign policy, and protective legislation
C) civil rights for blacks, Indian policy, and women’s rights
D) tariffs, internal improvements, and currency policy
Robert La Follette was particularly associated with which of the following?
A) muckraking journalism and character assassination of leading businessmen
B) municipal socialism and labor organizing
C) prohibitions on selling alcohol and tobacco
D) promotion of specialized technical knowledge to promote progressive reform
Which statement about progressives is true?
A) They challenged the fundamental principles of capitalism.
B) They were a totally brand-new movement.
C) They were never a single group seeking a single objective.
D) They were united in their vision of how to reform America.
Crucial for the growing divide between owners and workers was the __________.
A) suburbanization of the middle class
B) legal residential segregation of workers from owners
C) expulsion of workers from the inner city
D) physical separation of masters and workers
The colonization of Sierra Leone in the nineteenth century __________.
A) was wildly successful
B) had moderate success due to the support of many important white Southerners
C) was mostly unsuccessful
D) was the springboard for the colonization of several other African nations by
emigrating black Americans
In May 1927, who piloted the first solo nonstop flight from New York to Paris in the
Spirit of St. Louis?
A) Malcolm Lockheed
B) Wilbur Wright
C) John B. Rae
D) Charles Lindbergh
Under the Articles of Confederation there was a failed attempt to raise revenue and
pressure the British by a(n) __________.
A) tariff
B) income tax
C) quitrent
D) foreign property tax
In the 1890s an angry dispute erupted between the United States and Great Britain over
which of the following?
A) the boundary between Venezuela and British Guiana
B) seal hunting in the Bering Sea
C) British occupation of the port of Corinto, Nicaragua
D) the boundary between Argentina and British Guiana
What was the large significance of Hamilton’s death in his duel with Burr?
A) The incident highlighted the deep partisanship that separated Republicans from
Federalists.
B) His death deprived the nation of one of its most enigmatic and important leaders.
C) The deadly duel marked the beginning of the end of the Jefferson administration.
D) His death resulted in the rejection of Hamilton’s political views that previously
dominated Washington.
How did many rural Americans in the 1920s think of the new city-oriented culture?
A) as encouraging people to turn to Christianity
B) as being blighted by sin and materialism
C) as supporting their attempts to preserve traditional values
D) as providing good jobs and economic mobility for their children
Thomas Jefferson prepared the country for democracy by __________.
A) demonstrating that there was almost no difference between the parties
B) introducing legislation to abolish slavery
C) encouraging poor white males to vote
D) proving that a democrat could establish and maintain a stable regime
Amendments to the Articles of Confederation had to be approved by __________.
A) unanimous consent of members of Congress
B) legislatures in three-fourths of the states
C) special electoral colleges in nine of the thirteen states
D) unanimous consent of the states
Scalawags were __________.
A) southern white Republicans
B) northern black Republicans
C) poor white Democrats
D) Northern Republicans in the South
John D. Rockefeller’s success was due primarily to his __________.
A) vast knowledge of petroleum technology
B) refusal to compete unfairly
C) perfection of the modern, moving assembly line
D) talents as an organizer and his meticulous attention to detail
In June 1948, the Soviet Union challenged the policies of the Allies in Western Europe
by closing __________.
A) its own borders to world trade
B) Warsaw to Western visitors
C) off Allied surface access to Berlin
D) East Germany to all Western powers
What was the most basic goal of the common school movement?
A) sexual integration of public schools
B) education for democracy
C) training for industry
D) cultivation of professional skills
Over 100,000 Japanese Americans were __________ the United States during World
War II.
A) relocated and interned in
B) imprisoned and tortured by
C) expelled from
D) put in concentration camps and exterminated in