Practice Test 2
1. In 1500, the civilizations of Mexico and Central America differed from the civilizations of the North American Plains Indians in that the Plains Indians
(A) were nomadic, while the civilizations of Mexico and Central America were more stable.
(B) lived in adobe houses, while the natives of Mexico and Central America lived in tents.
(C) were united, while the natives of Mexico and Central America were scattered.
(D) were ravaged by European diseases, while the inhabitants of Mexico and Central America were not.
(E) assimilated into European culture, while the inhabitants of Mexico and Central America did not.
2. Which of the following statements concerning the New England colonies in the 17th century is true?
(A) The New England colonies grew faster than the Southern colonies through natural reproduction.
(B) The New England colonies were more dependent on Great Britain than the Southern and Middle colonies.
(C) The New England colonies were open societies with a high tolerance for those who were different.
(D) The New England colonies had larger farms than the Middle and Southern colonies.
(E) The New England colonies lacked strong leadership.
3. Which of the following was NOT a presidential action of Andrew Jackson?
(A) He opposed the Nullification Ordinance of South Carolina.
(B) He advocated the removal of the Cherokees to territory west of the Mississippi River.
(C) He defeated the English in the Battle of New Orleans after the War of 1812 was over.
(D) He vetoed for the recharter of the Second Bank of the United States.
(E) He appointed government workers based on party loyalty.
4. The mechanical reaper, invented by Cyrus McCormick in the 1830s, was most significant because it
(A) turned over the hard prairie soil.
(B) planted seeds four times as fast as a man could do by hand.
(C) aided irrigation of the arid Midwest.
(D) increased cotton production.
(E) cut wheat at a greater rate than the scythe.
5. The phrase “With malice toward none, with charity toward all” refers to Lincoln’s attitude toward
(A) Southern state legislatures, which had passed Black Codes.
(B) radical Republicans in the House of Representatives after Reconstruction.
(C) congressmen after they impeached Andrew Johnson.
(D) the rebellious South near the end of the Civil War.
(E) Senators Stephen Douglas, John C. Breckenridge, and John Bell, who had run against him in 1860.
6. The social gospel is a term usually associated with the
(A) Second Great Awakening of the 1820s and 1830s.
(B) abolitionist movement of the 1840s and 1850s.
(C) urban reform movement of the 1890s and 1900s.
(D) fundamentalist Christian movement of the 1920s.
(E) political movement of the religious right during the 1980s.
7. Which of the following is the best description of the cartoon above?
(A) The Senate’s objection to U.S. membership in the League of Nations
(B) The debate involving the membership of the United States in the United Nations
(C) The marriage of Woodrow Wilson
(D) The problems of establishing economic alliances
(E) Wilson’s violation of the Constitution by his support of the League of Nations
8. One reason President Franklin D. Roosevelt was not a strong advocate of civil rights for African Americans was that he
(A) believed that the separation of the races was in the best interests of all concerned.
(B) resented the fact that African Americans voted for the Republican Party in 1936.
(C) believed the role of the federal government in society should be minimal.
(D) believed that Progressive-era reformers had successfully addressed the problem of segregation.
(E) feared losing the support of the Southern Democrats in Congress.
9. Which of the following cases declared that prayer in the public school was unconstitutional?
(A) Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
(B) Engel v. Vitale
(C) Baker v. Carr
(D) Miranda v. Arizona
(E) Roe v. Wade
10. When Stokely Carmichael became the leader of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee in 1966, its key slogan changed from
(A) “Freedom Now” to “Black Power.”
(B) “Self-Defense” to “Pick up the Gun.”
(C) “We Shall Overcome” to “Dare to Struggle Dare to Win.”
(D) “Tune In” to “Drop Out.”
(E) “Back to Africa” to “By Any Means Necessary.”
11. Which of the following statements about 18th-century America is true?
(A) By 1750, half of all American colonists lived in cities.
(B) By 1750, the New England colonists were exporting more than they were importing.
(C) After 1763, the colonists were prohibited from settling beyond the Appalachian Mountains.
(D) By 1750, slaves outnumbered whites in the colonies by two to one.
(E) By 1740, the colonists recognized Jonathan Edwards as a leader of the Old Lights.
12. The War Hawks demanded war against Britain in 1812 to
(A) eliminate the Native American threat in the Northwest.
(B) appease the New England states.
(C) assimilate the Native Americans into U.S. society.
(D) gain control of New Orleans.
(E) make the United States less dependent on imports.
13. In explaining why the nullification of the 1828 Tariff of Abominations was justified, John C. Calhoun contended that
(A) the people had ratified the Constitution and, therefore, could decide on the constitutionality of a federal law.
(B) the states were sovereign because they had formed a compact called the Constitution.
(C) the Supreme Court had declared the Tariff of Abominations unconstitutional.
(D) Congress was sovereign and could decide all major questions, including slavery.
(E) President Andrew Jackson had been elected by the whole people and agreed with his position.
14. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, representative of the American Renaissance of the 1840s, is significant in that it
(A) changed the attitude of the people of the United States toward the Native Americans.
(B) portrayed life in a utopian community.
(C) was an antislavery novel that galvanized Northern opinion against the Fugitive Slave Law.
(D) opposed the narrow Puritan point of view of 17th-century New England.
(E) used a predominately American occupation to explore man’s struggles with the natural world and good and evil.
15. In the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, the Supreme Court
(A) declared that poll taxes and literacy tests were unconstitutional.
(B) declared that segregation of the races was acceptable.
(C) struck down many aspects of Congressional Reconstruction.
(D) ended segregation in public schools on the grounds that it was inherently unfair.
(E) ruled that slaves were still considered property, even if they resided in a free state or territory.
16. Jacob Riis’s book, How the Other Half Lives, was significant in that it
(A) drew the public’s attention to the harsh conditions slaves lived under in the 1850s.
(B) demonstrated the double standards applied to women in American society at the turn of the 20th century.
(C) criticized the lifestyles of the upper class in the 1920s.
(D) exposed the living conditions of the urban poor at the turn of the 20th century.
(E) chronicled the lives of poor immigrants from Asia and Africa in the 1960s.
17. The American reaction to Germany’s announced intention of resuming unrestricted submarine warfare, violating the Sussex Pledge, was to
(A) implement the policy of appeasement.
(B) declare war on Germany.
(C) negotiate another treaty with Germany.
(D) send the Zimmermann Note to Germany.
(E) intern German immigrants in the United States.
18. Which of the following statements about American cities in the post–World War II period (1945–1970) is NOT true?
(A) “White flight” led to a decline in property taxes and income taxes collected by municipal governments.
(B) Large numbers of African Americans moved from the rural South to the urban North.
(C) The Urban Renewal program was a huge success in eliminating slums and poverty in American cities.
(D) Black neighborhoods in many Northern cities experienced a series of riots in which the frustration of Black America was expressed.
(E) The development of shopping malls and highways had a detrimental effect on shopping districts in the centers of U.S. cities.
19. The primary goal of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference was to
(A) defend black neighborhoods against police brutality.
(B) challenge segregation in the Supreme Court.
(C) use nonviolent resistance to achieve desegregation.
(D) create equal racial representation in the Democratic Party.
(E) reinvigorate the back-to-Africa movement.
20. President Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives because there was evidence that he had
(A) mishandled funds in the Whitewater land development scheme.
(B) used his influence to arrange for a job for Paula Jones.
(C) misused the White House for raising funds for his presidential campaign in 1996.
(D) conducted himself in a manner that demeaned the office of the presidency.
(E) committed perjury when testifying about the Monica Lewinsky affair.
21. Taverns of the 1700s were important because they
(A) provided a place for an exchange of information among the colonists.
(B) served as one-room schoolhouses.
(C) served as targets for the Temperance Movement during the Second Great Awakening.
(D) were halfway houses for the poor.
(E) were places where New England town meetings were held.
22. The Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s was important because
(A) it caused people to question established authority.
(B) it provided the spiritual rationale for the abolition movement.
(C) religious unification caused a reduction in the number of religious sects.
(D) religious revivalism lessened in the colonies.
(E) it led to the Salem witch trials.
23. To correct the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, the writers of the Constitution in 1787 included
(A) a method of amending the Constitution that required the approval of all states.
(B) the addition of a Bill of Rights to protect individual citizens.
(C) the establishment of a cabinet to advise the president.
(D) provisions for an executive and a judicial branch of government.
(E) a reserved powers clause to protect states’ rights.
24. The Second Bank of the United States was important in that it
(A) became a part of the Federal Reserve System of 1913.
(B) was the central component of the American System supported by the Whigs.
(C) was the forerunner of the pet banks of the 1830s.
(D) was the substitute bank supported by Alexander Hamilton after the first Bank of the United States was rejected by Congress.
(E) was struck down by the Supreme Court in the Gibbons v. Ogden decision.
25. The acquisition of territory from Mexico as a result of the Mexican War was most significant in that it
(A) settled conflicts between Native Americans and the U.S. government.
(B) led to the acquisition of Oregon.
(C) led to Bleeding Kansas.
(D) provided the United States with territory to build the Panama Canal.
(E) heightened sectional tensions over the issue of slavery.
Resources of the North and South in the Civil War
(Represented as a ratio)
|
North |
South |
|
|
Total Population |
2.4 |
1 |
|
Male Population Ages 18–60 |
4.4 |
1 |
|
Free Men in Military Service |
1.8 |
1 |
|
Railroad Miles |
2.4 |
1 |
|
Naval Shipping |
25 |
1 |
|
Factory Production |
10 |
1 |
|
Textile Goods |
14 |
1 |
|
Firearms |
32 |
1 |
|
Farm Acres |
3 |
1 |
|
Draft Animals |
1.8 |
1 |
|
Wheat Production |
4.2 |
1 |
|
Corn Production |
2 |
1 |
|
Cotton Production |
1 |
24 |
26. Which statistic best explains why the North won the Civil War?
(A) Cotton Production
(B) Naval Shipping
(C) Corn Production
(D) Draft Animals
(E) Male Population Ages 18–60
27. Passage of the Reconstruction Act of 1867 signaled the
(A) end of Jim Crow laws.
(B) beginning of Presidential Reconstruction.
(C) abolition of slavery.
(D) fulfillment of Abraham Lincoln’s vision for the post–Civil War South.
(E) beginning of Congressional Reconstruction.
28. Which of the following statements is true of the Populist movement?
(A) Although it began in agricultural states, it soon became a national movement of farmers and urban workers.
(B) It endorsed the concept of the gold standard.
(C) It rejected both the Republican and Democratic candidates for president in 1896.
(D) Its platform in 1892 called for government ownership of banks and railroads.
(E) It fought against inflationary policies so that consumers would not suffer economically.
29. One of the first actions taken by President Franklin D. Roosevelt after his inauguration in 1933 was to
(A) declare a bank holiday.
(B) establish the Reconstruction Finance Corporation.
(C) establish Social Security.
(D) establish the National Recovery Administration.
(E) pack the Supreme Court.
30. One of President Nixon’s most important diplomatic initiatives was to
(A) reunite Vietnam.
(B) open diplomatic relations between China and the United States.
(C) establish a forum for discussions of human rights.
(D) pressure China to recognize Taiwan.
(E) end the Cold War.
31. European exploration of the Americas resulted in all of the following EXCEPT the
(A) introduction of new products to the Americas.
(B) spread of European diseases, such as smallpox, to the Native Americans.
(C) introduction of new products to Europe.
(D) development of unified resistance by the Native Americans to European settlement.
(E) mixed-race peoples in Mexico and Central America.
32. The Maryland Act of Toleration, passed in 1649, was significant in that it
(A) provided religious freedom to Christians.
(B) provided religious freedom to Catholics only.
(C) provided for the just treatment of Native Americans.
(D) provided religious freedom for Catholics, Jews, and Quakers.
(E) allowed atheists to deny the existence of God.
33. The Battle of Saratoga was considered the turning point of the American Revolution because it
(A) demonstrated America’s naval superiority.
(B) signaled the end of loyalist support for Great Britain.
(C) led to an alliance between Spain and the colonies.
(D) prompted France to enter the war in support of the colonies.
(E) resulted in the defeat of General Howe.
34. “We demand that all immigrants to the United States reside here at least 14 years before they may apply for citizenship.”
Which party advocated the above idea as its main political position?
(A) The Know-Nothing Party
(B) The Whig Party
(C) The Free Soil Party
(D) The Democratic Party
(E) The National Republican Party
35. Lincoln fired General George McClellan because he
(A) marched through Georgia destroying crops and homes.
(B) would not cross the Mississippi into Vicksburg.
(C) was too timid to engage the enemy.
(D) did not train the troops properly.
(E) refused to charge up Little Roundtop at Gettysburg.
36. “Sod busters” was a nickname given to
(A) New England settlers in the 1600s.
(B) cotton growers in Texas in the 1840s and 1850s.
(C) frontier farmers on the Great Plains in the 1860s and 1870s.
(D) Dust Bowl farmers in the 1930s.
(E) Eastern farmers who were displaced by suburban development in the 1950s.
37. The phrase “Speak softly and carry a big stick,” originally referred to
(A) President Theodore Roosevelt’s policy in regard to Latin America.
(B) President John F. Kennedy’s policy in regard to Vietnam.
(C) President Andrew Jackson’s policy in regard to Native American nations.
(D) President George H. W. Bush’s policy in regard to Saudi Arabia.
(E) President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s policy in regard to the Soviet Union.
38. Rosie the Riveter was a symbol of the
(A) participation of women in the war effort during World War II.
(B) Women’s Liberation Movement of the 1960s.
(C) new fashions for women that became popular in the 1950s.
(D) participation of women in the Industrial Revolution of the late 1800s.
(E) change that had occurred as a result of women’s suffrage.
39. The “War on Poverty” was an attempt by
(A) President Richard Nixon to aid Latin American nations.
(B) President Lyndon Johnson to end hunger and economic hardship in the United States.
(C) President John F. Kennedy to aid the developing world by organizing the Peace Corps.
(D) George Marshall to feed the people of Europe after World War II.
(E) President Dwight Eisenhower to reduce the number of people on welfare.
40. George W. Bush defined the “axis of evil” as
(A) Iran, Iraq, and China.
(B) Iraq, Afghanistan, and Russia.
(C) Iraq, Russia, and China.
(D) North Korea, China, and Iraq.
(E) Iran, Iraq, and North Korea.
41. Which events are correctly paired to reflect cause and effect?
(A) The influx of Quakers to Maryland—the passage of the Maryland Act of Toleration
(B) The expulsion of Roger Williams from Massachusetts Bay Colony—the founding of Connecticut
(C) The development of the head-right system for acquiring land and workers—the development of slavery in South Carolina
(D) William and Mary’s ascension to the throne in England—the overthrow of the Dominion of New England
(E) Massachusetts Governor John Winthrop’s Indian Policies—the breakout of Bacon’s Rebellion
42. The War of 1812 has often been called the “Second War of Independence” because it
(A) ended the British presence in North America.
(B) resulted in the adoption of a national anthem.
(C) marked the development of the U. S. Navy.
(D) marked the last major conflict between England and the United States.
(E) resulted in the acquisition of new lands to further United States expansion.
43. The Whig Party, which existed 1833–1854, supported all of the following EXCEPT
(A) rechartering the Second Bank of the United States.
(B) raising tariffs to protect U.S. industry.
(C) admitting Texas to the United States in 1844.
(D) funding internal improvements, such as canals and roads.
(E) Henry Clay for president in 1844.
44. What word or words would a social historian find most useful in analyzing the above runaway advertisement?
(A) “instant”
(B) “Abram”
(C) “long hair”
(D) “shrewd”
(E) “free state”
45. Mechanization of agriculture in the late 1800s
(A) brought unparalleled prosperity to U.S. farmers.
(B) drove down prices of agricultural goods.
(C) was ineffective at raising the output of farms.
(D) was confined largely to New England.
(E) was funded primarily by the federal government.
46. The Progressive movement’s most significant impact on American society was
(A) eliminating corruption in the political system.
(B) convincing large segments of the working class to support socialist ideas.
(C) establishing that federal legislation can be used to regulate business.
(D) putting the issue of civil rights for African Americans on the national agenda.
(E) setting the United States on an isolationist course.
47. Frank Capra was a Depression-era film director whose artistic response to the Great Depression could best be described as
(A) elaborate musicals, such as Gold Diggers of 1933, with lavish dance numbers and opulent sets, which suggested that better times were just around the corner.
(B) earnest films, such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, which suggested that the problems of the era could be solved by old-fashioned values rather than sweeping political or economic change.
(C) bright, animated films, such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which offered Americans an escape from the drudgery of daily life.
(D) zany comedies, such as Duck Soup, which created an anarchic world that mocked authority at a time when traditional authorities seemed to be unable to provide answers to the day’s problems.
(E) gritty gangster movies, such as The Public Enemy, which presented a lonely, often cruel world of urban decay and violence.
48. Herbert Hoover reacted to the Depression of 1929 by
(A) doing nothing.
(B) encouraging unions to organize.
(C) establishing extensive federal relief programs to meet the emergency.
(D) building Hoovervilles to shelter the homeless in all the large cities.
(E) providing loans to industry to restart production.
49. The shaded area in the map above shows
(A) the Axis Powers.
(B) the Warsaw Pact.
(C) the League of Nations.
(D) the Allied Powers in World War II.
(E) NATO.
50. The midterm congressional elections of 1994 were significant because
(A) the Democratic Party gained control of Congress.
(B) the Republican Party gained control of Congress.
(C) the same political party gained control of the executive and legislative branch.
(D) it led to bipartisan support for the Contract With America.
(E) 18-year-olds were given the right to vote in federal elections.
51. Which of the following statements is true of the encomienda system, established by the Spanish in the New World?
(A) Settlers were given 50 acres of land, as well as 50 acres for every person whose passage they paid to the New World.
(B) Colonies existed for the good of the mother country.
(C) African slaves were brought to the New World to labor on plantations.
(D) The system resulted in the exploitation of the Native American population by the Spanish.
(E) The mother country exported more than it imported, creating a favorable balance of trade.
52. The Great Compromise, agreed upon during the Constitutional Convention,
(A) established the executive branch of government.
(B) established a two-house legislative branch of government.
(C) established the judicial branch of government.
(D) provided for the direct election of Senators by the voters.
(E) stipulated that slaves would be counted as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of taxation and representation.
53. “Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came.”
—Abraham Lincoln,
Second Inaugural Address, 1865
Which of the following statements is an accurate interpretation of the above quote?
(A) The North was to blame for the war.
(B) The South wanted to fight a war more than it wanted to preserve slavery.
(C) The North wanted the South to perish.
(D) The war started due to the actions of both sides.
(E) Both sides wanted to preserve the union.
54. In the second half of the 19th century, mining went from being an endeavor dominated by individual prospectors to one dominated by a few large corporations because
(A) the children of prospectors lost interest in mining and sold their operations to corporations.
(B) insurance and licensing fees were beyond the reach of most individuals.
(C) the machinery required for extracting ore cost more than most prospectors could afford.
(D) the transportation costs of shipping ore became too great for individual prospectors.
(E) most of the prospectors were drafted into the Union army during the Civil War.
55. The temperance movement of the 19th century
(A) attracted little popular support.
(B) found a strong ally in the Democratic Party.
(C) rejected appeals to people’s sense of morality.
(D) achieved its ultimate goal by the turn of the 20th century.
(E) had a strong appeal among women.
56. The Harlem Renaissance can best be described as
(A) a movement to gain equal access to public accommodations.
(B) an urban renewal project in northern Manhattan.
(C) a project to preserve 19th-century buildings and artifacts made by free African Americans.
(D) a self-conscious effort by African Americans to promote their literature, music, and art.
(E) a movement for racial integration in northern Manhattan.
57. Sarge, I’m only eighteen,
I got a ruptured spleen
and I always carry a purse.
I got eyes like a bat,
my feet are flat,
and my asthma’s getting worse.
Which of the following is an accurate statement about this 1964 song by Phil Ochs, “Draft Dodger Rag”?
(A) It encouraged young men to burn their draft cards.
(B) It encouraged young men to evade the draft by fleeing to Canada.
(C) It was a humorous song lacking any serious content.
(D) It encouraged an antimilitary attitude.
(E) It encouraged organized protest.
58. C. Everett Koop, President Reagan’s Surgeon General, made headlines when he
(A) called for an end to the war on drugs.
(B) resigned in protest of Ronald Reagan’s environmental policies.
(C) changed the labeling on foods to show daily requirements.
(D) launched a major campaign to prevent smoking.
(E) called for new meat-inspection laws to prevent outbreaks of E. coli.
59. When President George H. W. Bush spoke of a New World Order, he was referring to
(A) the results of the “war to end all wars.”
(B) agreements among China, the Soviet Union, and the United States.
(C) the defeat of Iraq in the Gulf War.
(D) the signing of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and among improved relations among Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
(E) the importance of the United Nations as a force to settle international disputes after the fall of the Soviet Union.
60. Which of the following statements is an accurate description of differences between immigration patterns in the late 19th century and late 20th century?
(A) A backlash developed against the more recent immigrants, while the older immigrants were universally welcomed.
(B) The more recent immigrants were primarily from Asia and Latin America, while the older immigrants were primarily from Europe.
(C) The older immigrants were less educated than the more recent immigrants.
(D) The more recent immigrants were taking jobs away from people in the United States, while the older immigrants did not.
(E) The more recent immigrants flocked to cities, while the older immigrants flocked to rural areas.
61. The Virginia House of Burgesses and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut were similar in that both
(A) provided for direct democracy.
(B) provided for representative democracy.
(C) symbolized the independent spirit that existed in the American colonies.
(D) provided for universal male suffrage.
(E) were independent of the British government.
62. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were similar in that they both
(A) advocated a balance between states’ rights and a strong central government.
(B) supported the Bank of the United States.
(C) believed in rotation of public offices.
(D) used the elastic clause to justify actions they had taken.
(E) believed that the people were capable of making a decision if they were educated and informed.
63. “We are opposed to the extension of slavery because it diminishes the productive powers of its population…. It is an obstacle to compact settlements and to every general system of public institution. [If slavery goes into the territories] the free labor of all the states will not…. [I]f the free labor of all the states goes there, the slave labor of the southern states will not, and in a few years the country will teem with an active and energetic population.”
—Editorial, New York Evening Post, 1847
Why will free labor not go where there is slavery, according to the above excerpt?
(A) African Americans are inferior.
(B) Free laborers are morally opposed to slavery.
(C) Slaves work too hard and would force out free laborers.
(D) Slaves prevent the growth of productive communities.
(E) Free laborers do not want to work next to slaves.
64. Helen Hunt Jackson’s 1881 book, A Century of Dishonor, chronicled the
(A) mistreatment of Chinese laborers working on the transcontinental railroad.
(B) government’s record of broken treaties and promises in regard to Native Americans.
(C) destruction of the ecology of the West by settlers and big business.
(D) conditions on cotton plantations before the Civil War.
(E) history of Spanish misdeeds in Cuba before the Spanish-American War.
65. The 17th Amendment (direct election of U.S. Senators), the initiative, and the recall were all intended to
(A) break up the power of municipal political machines, such as Tammany Hall.
(B) empower the government to challenge big business.
(C) extend civil rights to African Americans.
(D) give the people more power in the democratic process.
(E) relieve the suffering of the poor.
66. Eugene V. Debs and Robert M. La Follette were similar in that both
(A) opposed U.S. involvement in World War II.
(B) ran for president on third-party tickets.
(C) rejected sweeping challenges to the status quo.
(D) were arrested under the Espionage Act during World War I.
(E) served in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s cabinet.
67. As part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s plan to fight the Great Depression, the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was passed to
(A) replace the New Deal farm price supports, which had been declared unconstitutional.
(B) help raise the prices of farm goods so that farmers could survive the Depression.
(C) provide new equipment so farmers could grow more crops.
(D) give loans to farmers who planted crops that were needed in cities.
(E) ensure that all farmers who wanted to relocate to more fertile land could move without difficulty.
68. The Smith Act of 1940 and the McCarran Act of 1950 are similar in that they both
(A) were used to hamper the activities of the Communist Party.
(B) aided the development of suburbs.
(C) checked the power of large corporations.
(D) were milestones in the struggle for civil rights for African Americans.
(E) expanded the rights of people accused of crimes.
69. When Gerald Ford said “the long national nightmare is over,” he was referring to the end of the
(A) Vietnam War.
(B) Cold War.
(C) Iran Hostage Crisis.
(D) Watergate Scandal.
(E) Savings and Loan Crisis.
70. In his first year in office, President Ronald Reagan
(A) initiated a famous 100 days of intense legislative activity.
(B) began his program of trading arms for hostages.
(C) fired air traffic controllers who refused to end their strike for shorter hours and higher pay.
(D) invaded Iran to force the return of American hostages.
(E) launched an invasion of Cuba.
71. The Mayflower Compact can best be characterized as
(A) the first written constitution in the New World.
(B) a peace accord that settled competing territorial claims between the Puritans and Native Americans.
(C) the colonial government in Massachusetts Bay Colony.
(D) a statement of religious principles.
(E) a formal agreement signed by the Puritans that created a democratic process.
72. Many historians believe that Stephen A. Douglas wrote the Kansas-Nebraska Act because he
(A) wanted a railroad to the West that would start in Chicago.
(B) wanted votes from Easterners for a future presidential run.
(C) wanted to expand farming because he was for the Homestead Act.
(D) wanted to please the South by opening up more land for cotton farming.
(E) opposed slavery.
73. “Our government’s foundations are laid; its cornerstone rests upon the great truth that the Negro is not equal to the white man, that slavery and subordination to the superior race is his natural and moral condition. This, our new government, is the first in the history of the world based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth…. Our Confederacy is founded upon principles in strict conformity with these laws. This stone, which was rejected by the first builders, has become the chief stone of the new corner in our edifice.”
—Alexander Stephens,
Vice President of the Confederacy,
March 21, 1861
Which of the following is an accurate interpretation of Alexander Stephens’s statement?
(A) Slavery would gradually end without interference from the North.
(B) Ancient Greece and Rome were wrong to have supported slavery.
(C) The Founding Fathers were correct on all substantive issues.
(D) Slavery was the proper philosophical basis for the Confederacy.
(E) Southerners seceded for primarily economic reasons.
74. A major factor leading to U.S. imperialism in the 1890s was
(A) a political shift as the Democratic Party gained power at the expense of the Republican Party.
(B) the opportunity created for the United States as European powers began to move away from imperialist expansion and focus on internal development.
(C) the desire for new markets as industrial production outpaced domestic consumption.
(D) the need to find new lands to absorb the expanding population of the United States.
(E) a desire for fertile land, as farmland on the American mainland was becoming depleted.
75. Which of the following did not reinforce white supremacist notions of race relations in the United States?
(A) The Plessy v. Ferguson decision
(B) The D. W. Griffith film, Birth of a Nation
(C) The Dred Scott v. Sanford decision
(D) The Niagara Movement
(E) The Dixiecrat Party
76. A major function of the Federal Reserve System, established in 1913, was to
(A) regulate the money supply.
(B) balance the budget.
(C) encourage industrial development.
(D) regulate the stock market.
(E) regulate foreign trade.
77. Franklin D. Roosevelt attempted to pack the Supreme Court in 1937 because
(A) the justices were too inexperienced to deal with the Great Depression.
(B) the court had declared some New Deal legislation unconstitutional.
(C) Roosevelt felt that Congress had become more powerful than the president.
(D) the court refused to allow the president to implement the Lend-Lease Act.
(E) the court had demonstrated liberal tendencies in interpreting the New Deal legislation.
78. The Senate passed a censure motion against Senator Joseph McCarthy in the wake of
(A) accusations of financial impropriety.
(B) hearings that implicated high-ranking members of the military.
(C) the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
(D) the Supreme Court’s opinion on the constitutionality of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).
(E) the U.S. entry into the Korean War.
79. The Immigration Act of 1965 was significant in that it
(A) opened the door to many non-European immigrants.
(B) used racial criteria for the first time as a basis for admission to the United States.
(C) favored Northern and Western Europeans.
(D) excluded unskilled workers.
(E) used IQ tests as a criterion for admission to the United States.
80. U.S. forces in Vietnam used Agent Orange primarily to
(A) counteract the effects of poisons used by the Vietcong.
(B) camouflage movement in the jungle.
(C) interrogate Vietcong prisoners.
(D) destroy the natural cover used by the Vietcong guerrillas.
(E) prevent the diseases carried by the insects of Vietnam.
81. One of the major reasons for the development of political parties in the 1790s was that
(A) Jefferson and Madison had developed a personal dislike for one another.
(B) support for the French Revolution eroded Washington’s power.
(C) the Alien and Sedition Acts had reduced the number of immigrants entering the United States.
(D) differences had developed concerning the interpretation of the Constitution.
(E) The Articles of Confederation had created a weak central government.
82. Key components of Henry Clay’s American system included
(A) a strict interpretation of the Constitution and rapid western expansion.
(B) high protective tariffs and internal improvements.
(C) the development of Southern industry and Northern agriculture.
(D) the elimination of export taxes and of the slave trade.
(E) government ownership of railroads and canals.
83. Scalawag was a derogatory term used by
(A) abolitionists to describe slave catchers in the 1850s.
(B) whites in the South to describe other Southerners who cooperated with Reconstruction.
(C) Republicans to describe Federalists who cooperated with the British during the War of 1812.
(D) Westerners to describe white settlers who argued for fair treatment of Native Americans in the 1870s.
(E) union members to describe workers who crossed a picket line during the labor conflicts of the Gilded Age.
84. José Marti and Emilio Aguinaldo are similar in that both
(A) fought against U.S. forces in their respective countries.
(B) served as governors of U.S. protectorates.
(C) led nationalist movements in their respective countries.
(D) signed treaties allowing the United States to have a military presence in their respective countries.
(E) were leaders of the Organization of American States.
85. In the 1908 Muller v. Oregon decision, the Supreme Court
(A) upheld the use of the Sherman Antitrust Act to break up trusts.
(B) forbade states from regulating railroad rates for routes between states.
(C) held that worker-protection laws do not violate the constitutional rights of employers.
(D) upheld segregation laws, if both sets of facilities are equal to one another.
(E) ruled that the government has the right to limit speech if a clear and present danger exists.
86. The passage of the Emergency Quota Act in 1921 and the movement to prevent the teaching of evolution in public schools in the 1920s could best be seen as
(A) conservative responses to social change.
(B) Marxist responses to economic dislocation.
(C) liberal responses to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan.
(D) Democratic responses to the success of the Republican Party.
(E) feminist responses to Victorian morality.
87. As the Civil Rights Movement shifted its focus to the North and issues of de facto segregation, which of the following became a central issue?
(A) Separate lunch counters for African Americans and whites
(B) Segregation in department store fitting rooms
(C) Blacks and whites living in separate neighborhoods
(D) Discrimination in waiting rooms in interstate bus stations
(E) Requiring blacks and whites to use separate water fountains
88. The Supreme Court decisions Gideon v. Wainwright and Miranda v. Arizona are significant in that they
(A) expanded the rights of people accused of crimes.
(B) made participation in the political system easier for African Americans.
(C) strengthened the separation of church and state.
(D) established the principle of equal pay for equal work.
(E) ensured free speech during wartime.
89. President Jimmy Carter broke from previous U.S. administrations in foreign policy by
(A) promising to “walk softly and carry a big stick” in his dealings with Latin American nations.
(B) vowing to halt communist expansion in Asia.
(C) pursuing a policy of détente with the Soviet Union.
(D) linking U.S. aid to foreign nations to improvements in human rights.
(E) signing a new treaty with Panama extending U.S. control of the Canal Zone.
90. All of the following were initiatives of Clinton administration except the
(A) Brady Gun Control Bill, which regulated handgun ownership.
(B) Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, which reformed the welfare system.
(C) Camp David Accords for peace between Israel and Egypt.
(D) commitment of 20,000 troops to Haiti to support President Bertrande Aristide.
(E) Dayton Accords for a peace settlement in Serbia.
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