Examination United States History, 1877-1914
The best answer is marked by an asterisk *
1. Laissez faire theory argued that neither the economy nor society needed regulating because:
(1) monopoly and poverty were natural. (2) both were self-regulating * (3) the fair were lazy.
2. The most important force drawing individuals from the country to the city was:
(1) electric lights and trolleys. (2) higher-paying jobs.* (3) more access to education.
3. The main reason the poor usually supported urban bosses was that:
(1) the bosses provided them with real benefits* (2) they were inferior (3) most bosses were Republicans.
4. By the 1890s, most immigrants were coming from:
(1) northeastern Europe (2) Asia (3) southern and eastern Europe*
5. Generally, farmers of the late 19th century blamed their economic problems on:
(1) railroads, banks, speculators, and big business* (2) poor farming practices by farmers (3) rising costs created by mechanization.
6. The farmers' alliances had their greatest strength in the:
(1) Northeast and. Middle West. (2) South and Plains states*. (3) Pacific Coast and Middle West
7. Generally, the Populist movement succeeded best in:
(1) convincing white Southerners to cooperate politically with blacks.
(2) capturing the support of organized labor
(3) expressing the resentment of discontented wheat and cotton farmers*
8. The Interstate Commerce Act (1887) and the Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)
had in common the fact that they:
(1) convinced the Populists to give up
(2) had little impact on the nation's economy for several years after they were passed*
(3) were intended to do away with the spoils system in politics.
9. The new manifest destiny of the 1890s differed from the traditional American expansionism in that it:
(1) favored acquiring territories not intended for statehood*
(2) favored statehood for the Philippines. (3) was unconcerned with territorial expansion.
10. The terms of the peace treaty ending the Spanish American War prove that the United States:
(1) wanted to acquire an overseas empire* (2) fought only for Cuban independence.
(3) wanted to leave Spain powerful in the Western Hemisphere.
11. The Populist program:
(1) were so impractical that none of it has ever been achieved.
(2) involved curtailing government intervention in the economy.
(3) involved expanding the power of the government to aid the "common people."*
12. The Progressive movement is best defined as a:
(1) tightly knit political party with a clear cut set of goals.
(2) a general political tendency to favor governmental reform and increased democracy*
(3) subdivision of the conservative side of American politics.
13. The Compromise of 1877
(1) secured political rights for the freedmen. (2) compensated Tilden with a Cabinet post.
(3) secured withdrawal of troops from the South*
14. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Americans began to abandon laissez-faire (free enterprise)
arguments because they
(1) had become socialists (2) figured out it didn't work.* (3) fell under the spell of Communism.
15. One reason the various farmer's political movements of the late 19th century have gotten so much attention is because:
(1) many Americans believe that farmers are especially virtuous* (2) most American income came from agriculture. (3) Theodore Roosevelt championed their cause.
16. Populists wanted the "free coinage of silver" because it would:
(1) inflate the national currency* (2) lower their prices. (3) make excellent jewelry.
17. Farmers began arguing in favor of welfare and socialist measures because they:
(1) were fiercely independent. (2) suffering from the effects of favoritism shown to business and industry*
(3) loved railroad corporations.
18. The basic political difference between Grover Cleveland and Republican presidents was that
Cleveland believed in:
(1) low tariffs* (2) the gold standard. (3) laissez faire.
19. Under the Republican governments of the late 19th century, the U.S. government gave welfare to:
(1) immigrants. (2) big business* (3) the poor.
20. In the election of 1896, some American conservative's feared that
William Jennings Bryan's election would mean revolution because he advocated:
(1) the violent overthrow of the U.S. government.
(2) low tariffs, aid to farmers, and the free coinage of silver*
(3) he got more votes than any presidential candidate had ever gotten before.
21. Bryan lost the election of 1896 because:
(1) the Republican political machine was better organized* (2) farm prices fell before the election.
(3 he was a poor orator.
22. Presidential candidates between 1868 and 1892 tended to be colorless because:
(1) they stayed out of the sun. (2) the major parties wanted to avoid the real political issues*
(3) no one wanted to be president.
23. Presidential elections in the second half of the 19th century were usually:
(1) decided by a few thousand votes* (2) Republican landslides. (3) referendums on major issues.
25. Tariff rates between 1865 and 1913 generally were:
(1) low. (2) high* (3) designed to aid agriculture.
25. The Underwood Tariff of 1913 did which of the following to the general tariff schedule?
(1) raised tariffs. (2) kept them the same. (3) lowered tariffs*
26. Between 1865 and 1901, the bulk of political power in the United States government resided in the:
(1) Presidency. (2) Congress* (3) Supreme Court.
27. Which group pressed hardest for the creation of a civil service system?
(1) immigrants. (2) middle class* (3) party bosses.
28. Between 1865 and 1920, living standards for the average person
(1) stayed the same. (2) improved* (3) went down.
29. Americans could ignore European events in the 19th century because:
(1) they were God's chosen people. (2) the nation had a huge standing army.
(3) the European balance of power preoccupied Europeans*
30. "The United States stayed entirely out of foreign affairs in the 19th century."
This statement is: (1) true. (2) false* (3) a definite maybe.
31. In the Teller Resolution of 1898, Congress promised:
(1) not to annex Cuba*
(2) free the Philippines from Ferdinand Marcos. (3) liberate Puerto Rico.
32. The U.S.S. Maine was blown up by the:
(1) Spanish. (2) Pulitzer newspaper chain. (3) neither of the preceding*
33. The United States acquired the right to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama by:
(1) buying it from Colombia. (2) preventing Colombia from defending its territory from revolutionaries*
(3) direct conquest.
34. Between 1903 and 1930, in which of these nations did the United States not intervene in militarily?
(1) Nicaragua, (2) Canada* (3) Haiti.
35. Under Presidents T. Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson, one goal of U.S. foreign policy was to:
(1) make the U.S. the major power in Europe. (2) turn the Caribbean into an "American lake."*
(3) reduce the use of the U.S. military.
36. At the turn of the 20th century, many reformers believed that the entry of
larger numbers of women into the labor force, the rising divorce rate, and the shift of political power
to giant corporations and urban political machines meant:
(1) that society was getting better. (2) masculinity was being threatened*
(3) a Communist conspiracy was threatening the nation.
37. The basic difference on the monopoly/trust issue between Woodrow Wilson and
Theodore Roosevelt in the 1912 presidential campaign was that Wilson argued in favor of:
(1) maintaining the status quo. (2) breaking up the monopolies*
(3) regulating but not busting, the trusts.
38. Judging by the campaign ideas of the four presidential candidates in 1912, most voters voted:
(1) against free enterprise (2) in favor of socialism. (3) for the status quo.
39. In reaction to the perceived crisis in masculinity, middle class reformers:
(1) sought to keep women in the home (2) fostered the Boy Scout movement (3)both of the preceding.*
40. Under Woodrow Wilson, which of these did not become law?
(1) direct election of U.S. senators. (2) gold standard for the currency*
(3) creation of the Federal Reserve System.
41. Creation of the Federal Reserve System during the Wilson administration:
(1) represented the first reorganization of the banking system since the Civil War*
(2) provided for the insurance of bank deposits by the federal government.
(3) ended the power of the large eastern banks over the nation's money supply.
42. Progressive reformers at the state level:
(1) promoted efficiency in government to the exclusion of concern for social justice. (2) rejected most populist ideas.
(3 supported laws regulating railroad and utility companies*
43. In general, social justice progressives:
(1) believed most vice was determined by genetics. (2) showed little concern for urban housing problems.
(3) stressed the environmental causes of vice*
44. The reform movements of the late nineteenth century were concerned with all of the following
(1) urban poverty (2) racial integration* (3) political corruption
45. The city bosses were strongly opposed, usually, by:
(1) the mass of voters (2) the rich citizens (3) middle-class reformers*
46. Of the following, which managed to last beyond the nineteenth century?
(1) Knights of Labor (2) American Federation of Labor * (3) National Labor Union
47. The Knights of Labor and the National labor union were similar in that both advocated:
(1) the use of mass violence (2) social reform goals* (3) government ownership of all property
48. The Homestead Strike and the Pullman strike were similar in that in both:
(1) public opinion remained steadfastly on the side of the striking workers
(2) the unions won the strike and were granted their demands
(3) government officials interfered to help management*
