Test 1 COPY Flashcards
Per capita GDP in the US during the 20th century ___.
was cyclical, but generally trending upward throughout the century.
Which is true about present day Americans who are at the official poverty level?
Their incomes are higher than all but the richest Americans in 1900.
Which is true about present day Americans who are at the official poverty level?
Their incomes are above the world average per capita income.
Which of the following is most accurate about ownership of household goods, such as flush toilets, refrigerators, televisions, clothes dryers and automobiles?
Americans at the poverty level in 2005 own these goods at higher rates than average households in 1950.
_________ established the first American colonies in the early 1500s.
Spain
Which nation made the greatest commitment to establish permanent settlements in its colonization strategy?
England
Which English colony was the first permanent settlement in the New World?
Jamestown.
Of the 6,000 settlers who migrated to Virginia since the founding of the first permanent settlement in 1607, nearly ______ had died by 1623.
4,000
In the early colonies, private landholdings
gradually replaced common ownership.
After reading Governor Bradford’s account, which is the most accurate statement, given his experience?
That assigning private plots of land “made all hands very industrious.”
In colonial America, _______ was/were especially scarce, while the supply of _______ was plentiful.
capital and labor; land
At the end of the 18th century, approximately _______ percent of the American people earned a major portion of their income by farming.
90
Agricultural staples of the colonial South included
-rice, tobacco and indigo.
Colonial production of tobacco satisfied England’s mercantilist interests because
it provided a substitute for imported Spanish tobacco.
The only mineral that was available in any significant quantity in colonial America was:
Iron.
The primary reason for the success of the colonial shipbuilding industry was
the close proximity of raw materials, especially lumber.
Which of the following most accurately describes what the text says about mercantilists?
They confused gold and silver with true wealth.
Under the British Navigation Acts, enumerated goods were a list of colonial ______.
exports that had to be shipped through British middlemen.
In terms of exports from the colonies, ______ and _____ were the top two trading partners.
the West Indies; the United Kingdom
Types of money used by colonists included all of the following except
government-issed fiat currency
A notable and unique feature of the colonial monetary system was
the use of a widely accepted paper currency.
Capital formation in the colonies was mostly due to
savings and investments from the colonist themselves
According to the text, in the century prior to the Revolution _____ were a “strategic factor in the overall economic advance of the colonies.”
advances in shipping
Low-cost fly boats offered an attractive alternative to heavier , more costly ships; however; their use was limited in many areas due to
privateering and piracy
The proliferation of the horse in the 17th century caused Great Plains Indians to
use smaller and more independent hunting groups
In the the 1770s the quality of life in the colonies
was better than the quality of life in developing countries today
Which of the following statements accurately reflects research findings on the distribution of colonial wealth?
The opportunity for income mobility was probably greater in the colonies than in England.
The standard of living (measured by what one can purchase with after-tax income) of free Americans on the eve of the Revolution was ______.
higher than in 18th century England, and higher than for most people in the “Third World” today.
The Navigation Acts
required all colonial trade to be carried on English vessels.
One of the most important reasons for England’s reasserting its authority over the colonial United States prior to the Revolution is
the end of the Seven Years War.
The Tea Act
harmed smugglers of Dutch tea
Which of the following most accurately describes an impact of the Navigation Acts?
Wages of New England sailors increased. The Navigation Acts made it more difficult (raised the price) for foreign sailors and ships to trade with the colonies.
Under the Articles of Confederation,
-the federal government had a difficult time negotiating military and economic treaties with other nations.
Most of the cost of the Revolutionary War was borne by
holders of devalued paper currency that was ultimately repudiated.
The Continental Congress faced several constraints in its effort to finance the Revolutionary War. The largest source of funds for the War was
printing money.
The Constitution
gives the federal government the exclusive power to coin money
What generated the most revenue for the US government in the first 20 years after the Revolution?
Tariffs on goods imported from other nations
Which of the following statements presents accurate information about the Napoleonic Wars?
The Wars led to increased demand for American shipping services.
Which statement best describes the trend in land allocation laws from the Land Ordinance of 1785 to the Homestead Act of 1862?
The changes were more favorable to those who held a liberal belief about land allocation.
Between 1800 and 1840, land laws became increasingly _______, primarily due to ________.
liberal; decreases in the minimum acreage required for purchase
Which of the following statements accurately characterizes the Homestead Act of 1862?
Southerner plantation owners were strongly opposed to the passage of this legislation.
Eli Whitney is most noted for
inventing the cotton gin
Which of the following was the most important factor determining the volume of land sales in the Midwest and South during the antebellum period?
Agricultural prices.
What best describes Thomas Jefferson’s view of how American Indians should be treated?
Indians should have full property rights that should be respected by whites
According to Douglass North’s “market opportunity response” model, surges in land sales in the Old Northwest in the 1810s, 1830s and 1850s were due to
rising prices for corn and wheat
The sharp decline in domestic freight costs during the antebellum period was primarily due to the introduction of
canals and steamboats
Which of the following most accurately describes changes in life expectancy?
Life expectancy was relatively small until 1750, when it increased extremely rapidly.
The majority of funding for 19th century American canal building came from
state government
Which of the following antebellum transportation innovations earned the greatest rate of return?
the Erie Canal
“Antebellum transportation improvements encouraged the South to specialize in cotton, while depending on the West for food and the Northeast for manufactured goods.” This statement
describes North’s interregional growth hypothesis
By 1850, the predominant port in the U.S. was
New York
Which of the following is an example of an activity that creates a positive externality?
the owner of a steamboat company dredges a river in order to improve navigation
The first factories in the US were developed within the __________ industry.
cotton textile
________________, which produced ______________, is commonly cited as the first American factory.
The Almy, Slater, Brown Mill; yarn and thread
By 1860, almost ¾ of the U.S. output of cotton goods was produced in
New England
The most important reason for the increasing prominence of the corporation was
that some businesses required more capital than one person or a few people could provide.
The Connecticut General Incorporation act
was passed in 1837 and made incorporation a right.
What two basic ideas led to American preeminence in nineteenth-century manufacturing?
interchangeable parts and continuous-process manufacturing
The first permanently successful application of standardized interchangeable parts was made in the American _________ industry.
armaments
The first successful application of continuous process manufacturing was in
grain milling
Compared to England, the 19th century American manufacturing labor force was
less likely to unionize.
From 1800-1860 which part of the nation most supported high tariffs?
New England.
Tariffs comprised approximately what percentage of the federal government revenues between 1790 and 1860?
97%
