Practice test

Question 1

Which city is paired with the geographical feature that directly contributed to its growth?

 1. San Francisco – Rocky Mountains 
 2. New Orleans – Mississippi River 
 3. Pittsburgh – Hudson River 
 4. Cleveland – Atlantic Coastal Plain

Answer 1

2. New Orleans – Mississippi River

Question 2

In the early 1800’s, the need for a water route to help farmers ship their products to market was one reason for the

 1. Gadsden Purchase 
 2. Louisiana Purchase 
 3. Mexican Cession 
 4. Missouri Compromise

Answer 2

2. Louisiana Purchase

Question 3

Because of fertile land and a long growing season, plantations in the thirteen colonies developed in

 1. New England 
 2. the Middle Atlantic region 
 3. the South 
 4. the upper Mississippi River valley

Answer 3

3. the South

Question 4

According to the Declaration of Independence, the people have the right to alter or abolish a government if that government

 1. is a limited monarchy 
 2. violates natural rights 
 3. becomes involved in entangling alliances 
 4. favors one religion over another

Answer 4

2. violates natural rights

Question 5

During the Revolutionary War period, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was important because it

 1. described a military plan for the defeat of England 
 2. convinced many Americans who had been undecided to support independence 
 3. contained a detailed outline for a new form of government 
 4. argued for the addition of a bill of rights to the Constitution

Answer 5

2. convinced many Americans who had been undecided to support independence

Question 6

“It is not the cause of one poor printer, nor of New York alone, which you are now trying. No! It may in its consequence affect every free man that lives under a British government on the main [continent] of America. It is the best cause. It is the cause of liberty. . . . Nature and the laws of our country have given us a right to liberty of both exposing and opposing arbitrary power (in these parts of the world at least) by speaking and writing the truth.” — Andrew Hamilton, 1735 This courtroom summation helped establish which democratic principle in colonial America?

 1. trial by jury 
 2. equal voting rights 
 3. protection of private property 
 4. freedom of the press

Answer 6

freedom of the press

Question 7

Which heading best completes the partial outline below? I. ____________________________________ A. Committees of Correspondence B. Nonimportation Agreements C. Boston Tea Party D. First Continental Congress

 1. Protests Against Slavery in the American Colonies 
 2. British Parliamentary Actions to Punish Colonial Americans 
 3. Colonial Responses to British Mercantile Policies 
 4. Colonial Attempts to End the British Policy of Salutary Neglect 

Check Your Answer

Answer 7

3. Colonial Responses to British Mercantile Policies

Question 8

In the 1780’s, mqany Americans distrusted a strong central government. This distrust is best shown by the

1) lack of debate over the ratification of the United States Constitution
2) plan of government set up by the Articles of Confederation
3) development of a Federal court system
4) constitutional provision for a strong President

Answer 8

2)plan of government set up by the Articles of Confederation

Question 9

The system of checks and balances is best illustrated by the power of

 1. the President to veto a bill passed by Congress 
 2. Congress to censure one of its members 
 3. a governor to send the National Guard to stop a riot 
 4. state and Federal gov-ernments to levy and collect taxes

Answer 9

1. the President to veto a bill passed by Congress

Question 10

The United States Constitution requires that a census be taken every ten years to reapportion

 1. membership in the House of Representatives 
 2. the number of delegates to national nominating coventions 
 3. Federal aid to localities 
 4. agricultural subsidies

Answer 10

1. membership in the House of Representatives

Question 11

At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the Great Compromise resolved the issue of

 1. representation 
 2. taxation 
 3. slavery 
 4. control of trade

Answer 11

1. representation

Question 12

The main criticism of the Articles of Confederation was that they failed to

 1. allow for the admission of new states 
 2. limit the powers of the president 
 3. provide adequate powers for the central government 
 4. prevent the development of military rule

Answer 12

3. provide adequate powers for the central government

Question 13

The significance of the Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison is that the decision

 1. advanced civil rights for minorities 
 2. upheld the constitutionality of a national bank 
 3. limited Presidential control of foreign policy 
 4. established the power of judicial review

Answer 13

4. established the power of judicial review

Question 14

A major reason the Antifederalists opposed the ratification of the United States Constitution was because the Constitution

 1. created a national bank 
 2. lacked a provision for a federal court system 
 3. failed to provide for the direct election of members of the House of Representatives 
 4. changed the balance of power between the state and national governments

Answer 14

4. changed the balance of power between the state and national governments

Question 15

A major reason for the issuance of the Monroe Doctrine (1823) was to

 1. discourage United States trade with Latin America 
 2. defend the Panama Canal from Great Britain 
 3. prevent further European colonization in the Caribbean region 
 4. provide economic aid to Latin American nations

Answer 15

3. prevent further European colonization in the Caribbean region

Question 16

The rulings of the Supreme Court in Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857), Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), and Korematsu v. United States (1944) all demonstrate that the Supreme Court has

 1. continued to extend voting rights to minorities 
 2. protected itself from internal dissent 
 3. sometimes failed to protect the rights of minorities 
 4. often imposed restrictions on free speech during wartime

Answer 16

sometimes failed to protect the rights of minorities

Question 17

A major result of the Civil War was that the

 1. economic system of the South came to dominate the United States economy 
 2. Federal Government’s power over the States was strengthened 
 3. members of Congress from Southern States gained control of the legislative branch
 4. nation’s industrial development came to a standstill

Answer 17

Federal Government’s power over the States was strengthened

Question 18

“Although important strides were made, Reconstruction failed to provide lasting guarantees of the civil rights of the freedmen.” Which evidence best supports this statement

 1. passage of Jim Crow laws in the latter part of the 19th century 
 2. ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments 
 3. refusal of Southern States to allow sharecropping 
 4. passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1866

Answer 18

1. passage of Jim Crow laws in the latter part of the 19th century

Question 19

The poll tax, the literacy test, and the actions of the Ku Klux Klan were all attempts to limit the effectiveness of

 1. the 14th and 15th amendments 
 2. the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education 
 3. civil rights legislation passed in all states after the Civil War 
 4. immigration laws such as the Gentleman’s Agreement and the Chinese Exclusion act

Answer 19

1. the 14th and 15th amendments

Question 20

From 1865 to 1900, how did the growth of industry affect American society?

 1. The United States experienced the disappearance of the traditional 
 2. Population centers shifted from the Northeast to the South 
 3. Restrictions on immigration created a more homogeneous culture. 
 4. The percentage of Americans living in urban areas increased.

Answer 20

The percentage of Americans living in urban areas increased.

Question 21

Many wealthy American industralists of the late 19th century used the theory of Social Darwinism to

 1. support the labor union movement 
 2. justify monopolistic actions 
 3. promote legislation establishing a minimum wage 
 4. encourage charitable orga-nizations to help the poor

Answer 21

2. justify monopolistic actions

Question 22

A main purpose of President Theodore Roosevelt’s trustbusting policies was to

1) reduce corruption in government
2) save the nation’s banks
3) encourage competition in business
4) end strikes by labor unions

Answer 22

3)encourage competition in business

Question 23

Speaker A: “The business of America is business, and we would be wise to remember that.”
Speaker B:”Government ownership of business is superior to private enterprise.”
Speaker C:”Strict government regulation of business practices is a means to insure the public good.”
Speaker D:”Only through personal effort can wealth and success be achieved.”

Which speaker would most likely have supported the ideas of the Progressive movement?

1) Speaker A
2) Speaker B
3) Speaker C
4) Speaker D

Answer 23

3)Speaker C

Question 24

Which event of the early 1900’s is evidence that Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle had an important impact on the United States?

1) adoption of reforms in public education
2) passage of legislation limiting immigration
3) adoption of the 18th amendment establishing Prohibition
4) passage of legislation requiring Federal inspection of meat

Answer 24

4)passage of legislation requiring Federal inspection of meat

Question 25

A significant cause of the Great Depression of the 1930’s was that

1) some banking policies were unsound and had led to the overexpansion of credit
2) a decrease in protective tariffs had opened American business to competition from abroad
3) a wave of violent strikes had paralyzed the major industries
4) consumer goods were relatively inexpensive

Answer 25

1)some banking policies were unsound and had led to the overexpansion of credit