Monday, August 29, 2011

Which of the following statements most accurately characterizes Andrew Jackson's intentions toward Native Americans?

  • He planned to encourage missionaries to convert the tribes east of the Mississippi River to Christianity and white culture.
  • He intended to force Native Americans to comply with federal treaties.
  • He sought better relations with the “civilized” Indians of the Old Southwest, encouraging them to continue their adaptation to white ways.
  • He meant to remove all Native Americans east of the Mississippi, even those who had adapted to white society. 

ANSWER: He meant to remove all Native Americans east of the Mississippi, even those who had adapted to white society. 

The Tariff of 1828...

  • reduced the rates levied on imported raw materials such as flax, hemp, iron, lead, molasses, and wool.
  • was a significant legislative victory for Adams's administration.
  • primarily harmed New England cloth manufacturers and benefited southern agricultural producers.
  • cost southern plantation owners about $100 million a year because it raised the price of British-manufactured goods. 

ANSWER: The Tariff of 1828 cost southern plantation owners about $100 million a year because it raised the price of British-manufactured goods.

The Missouri Compromise of 1820...

  • resulted from the conciliatory efforts of Congressman James Tallmadge of New York.
  • provided for Maine to enter the Union as a free state in 1820, and Missouri to enter as a slave state the following year.
  • prohibited slavery in the Louisiana Territory south of latitude 36°30´.
  • convinced the aged and retired Thomas Jefferson that the peaceful extinction of slavery by mutual agreement was now in sight. 

ANSWER: The Missouri Compromise of 1820 provided for Maine to enter the Union as a free state in 1820, and Missouri to enter as a slave state the following year.

Which of the following statements most accurately characterizes the American political system before the 1820s?

  • It was democratic.
  • Local notables dominated it by managing local elections through devices such as loaning money and treating workers or tenants to drinks.
  • Political parties, although not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, were legalized and regulated by the provisions of most state constitutions.
  • Pressure to make politics more responsive to popular interests arose first in New England and New York State. 
ANSWER: Local notables dominated it by managing local elections through devices such as loaning money and treating workers or tenants to drinks.

Which of the following statements most accurately characterizes the social philosophy of the Shakers?

  • Because they believed men were spiritually weaker than women, the Shakers segregated the sexes to protect men from temptation.
  • Shaker communities excluded African Americans in order to maintain racial purity.
  • Shaker men seeking refuge from the world of capitalism outnumbered Shaker women two to one.
  • Both men and women shared governance of the community.
ANSWER: Both men and women shared governance of the community.

A more unified African American culture began to emerge in the early decades of the nineteenth century because...

  • the Gullah dialect spread to the new slave territories in the Old Southwest.
  • the rapid transfer of slaves from other regions into the Lower Mississippi Valley significantly minimized cultural differences.
  • blacks rejuvenated African customs as the transatlantic slave trade ceased.
  • most slaves were united by their traditional religion, which persisted despite the efforts of white Christians to convert them. 
ANSWER: A more unified African American culture began to emerge in the early decades of the nineteenth century because the rapid transfer of slaves from other regions into the Lower Mississippi Valley significantly minimized cultural differences.

The domestic slave trade affected the African American family unit before 1865 by...

  • destroying the sense of family.
  • separating adults but not children from their families.
  • destroying seventy-five percent of black marriages.
  • separating family members through sale and trade. 
ANSWER: The domestic slave trade affected the African American family unit before 1865 by separating family members through sale and trade.

By the 1830s, most laborers in the urban northeast lived in...

  • barracks provided by factory owners.
  • rural areas and rode trains to their jobs in the cities.
  • church-sponsored charity houses.
  • crowded boardinghouses and tiny apartments. 
ANSWER: By the 1830s, most laborers in the urban northeast lived in crowded boardinghouses and tiny apartments.

In her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe...

  • promoted African colonization as the best solution to the evils of slavery.
  • urged women to leave any church that did not preach against slavery.
  • urged women to join abolitionist societies.
  • depicted slavery as a destroyer of slave families and a degrader of slave women. 

ANSWER: In her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe depicted slavery as a destroyer of slave families and a degrader of slave women.

By the 1820s, more women were becoming teachers because...

  • they were demonstrably more intelligent than male candidates.
  • men scorned teaching as “women's work.”
  • state legislatures were pressured by women's rights advocates into broadening women's employment opportunities.
  • school authorities could pay women less than they paid men. 
ANSWER: By the 1820s, more women were becoming teachers because school authorities could pay women less than they paid men. 

When the Bank of the United States' charter expired in 1811...

  • Congress chartered the Second Bank of the United States later that same year.
  • Federalists urged that the bank be dissolved on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.
  • President James Madison began to invest his own funds in the Bank of the United States.
  • it was not renewed. 
ANSWER: When the Bank of the United States' charter expired in 1811 it was not renewed.

Noah Webster...

  • created a spelling book purposefully for African Americans.
  • published dictionaries and spelling books to conform American spelling and grammar.
  • fought a losing battle to keep Americans spelling words in the same manner as the English.
  • was the author of Diedrich Knickerbocker's History of New York.
ANSWER: Noah Webster published dictionaries and spelling books to conform American spelling and grammar. 

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Why did the Irish immigrate to the United States during the 1840s and 1850s?

  • England invaded Ireland during the mid-1840s, displacing the Irish population.
  • They fled a famine caused by severe overpopulation and a devastating blight on the potato crop. 
  • The expansion of the industrial revolution displaced Irish workers. 
  • Anti-Catholic violence forced the Irish to flee their homeland.
ANSWER: They fled a famine caused by severe overpopulation and a devastating blight on the potato crop.

Which of the following statements most accurately characterizes the new urban culture of large U.S. cities such as New York during the early 1800s?

  • Thousands of young men and women who migrated from urban areas created the new urban culture.
  • Sex and dress were marginal to the new urban culture.
  • Young men and women easily found high-paying jobs in cities.
  • Popular entertainment, in particularly minstrelsy, was an important aspect of new urban culture.
ANSWER: Popular entertainment, in particularly minstrelsy, was an important aspect of new urban culture.

One social change resulting from the Industrial Revolution in early nineteenth-century America was that members of the upper class...

  • came to hold the same cultural and religious values as wage earners in contrast to the elitism that in the eighteenth century had kept the gentry and the “common people” apart.
  • openly distanced themselves by values and lifestyle from wage earners in contrast to the shared cultural and religious values that had united the gentry and ordinary folk in the eighteenth century.
  • became more hypocritical, pretending to share cultural and religious values with wage earners, but actually behaving very differently.
  • tended to claim that they had risen “from rags to riches” and to flaunt their crude tastes and rough manners in contrast to the “gentlemanly” values of the eighteenth-century elites.
ANSWER: One social change resulting from the Industrial Revolution in early nineteenth-century America was that members of the upper class openly distanced themselves by values and lifestyle from wage earners in contrast to the shared cultural and religious values that had united the gentry and ordinary folk in the eighteenth century.

Free blacks in the South...

  • lived mostly in the Lower South.
  • generally acknowledged unity with the enslaved population.
  • won the right to trial by jury in criminal cases.
  • were able to travel fairly widely without identification papers.
ANSWER: Free blacks in the South generally acknowledged unity with the enslaved population.

Planters failed to politically dominate the South because...

  • they lived in a republican society with democratic institutions such as the secret ballot.
  • they did not enfranchise the entire white population of voters. 
  • they did not foster party competition. 
  • they did not create apportionment based on population.
ANSWER: Planters failed to politically dominate the South because they lived in a republican society with democratic institutions such as the secret ballot.

During and after the Revolution, why did the emancipation of slaves proceed very slowly in the northern states?

  • The northern states gave priority to slaveholders' property rights so that emancipation often was spaced out over several slave generations.
  • Very few northerners saw any contradiction between freedom for themselves and slavery for African Americans. 
  • Slaves were threatening violence in the northern states, causing many whites to retreat from their earlier willingness to support rapid emancipation.
  • Economically, slavery was becoming more viable and profitable in the North in the 1770s and early 1780s.
ANSWER: During and after the Revolution, The northern states gave priority to slaveholders' property rights so that emancipation often was spaced out over several slave generations.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

In New York in 1860, the efforts of feminists such as Susan B. Anthony resulted in a law that gave women all of the following rights except...

  • sole guardianship of their children if they became widowed.
  • the right to collect their own wages.
  • the right to vote in local and state elections.
  • the right to own property acquired by trade, business, labors, or services. 

ANSWER: In New York in 1860, the efforts of feminists such as Susan B. Anthony resulted in a law that gave women all of the following rights except the right to vote in local and state elections.

Employers sued many unions in the 1830s, charging the illegality of which of the following practices?

  • Workday limitation agreements.
  • Closed-shop agreements.
  • Sabotage and slowdown.
  • Price-fixing agreements. 

ANSWER: Employers sued many unions in the 1830s, charging the illegality of closed-shop agreements.

The most important function of the Second Bank of the United States was to...

  • make a profit for the federal government through judicious loans to entrepreneurs.
  • keep the economy in equilibrium by raising or lowering interest rates in response to changes in the capitalist business cycle.
  • stabilize the nation's money supply by forcing state banks to periodically convert their paper money into gold and silver coin.
  • serve as a clearinghouse for foreign investments and currency. 

ANSWER: The most important function of the Second Bank of the United States was to stabilize the nation's money supply by forcing state banks to periodically convert their paper money into gold and silver coin.

As president, John Quincy Adams supported...

  • a national bank to promote a uniform currency and to control credit.
  • a strict limit on the powers of the federal government. 
  • halting further “internal improvements” by the federal government. 
  • lower tariffs.

ANSWER: As president, John Quincy Adams supported a national bank to promote a uniform currency and to control credit. 

One reason women took charge of religious and charitable enterprises during and after the Second Great Awakening was because...

  • their husbands ordered them to do so. 
  • they were excluded from other public roles. 
  • they had more talent for church administration than men. 
  • they were naturally more pious and spiritual than men. 
ANSWER: One reason women took charge of religious and charitable enterprises during and after the Second Great Awakening was because they were excluded from other public roles. 

The most outstanding contribution of American mechanics to the Industrial Revolution was the development of...

  • machines capable of making parts for other machines. 
  • the steam engine. 
  • cotton-spinning machines. 
  • the flying shuttle loom. 
ANSWER: The most outstanding contribution of American mechanics to the Industrial Revolution was the development of machines capable of making parts for other machines.