AP US History-Gilded Age Exam
1. In an attempt to avoid prosecution for their corrupt dealings, the owners of Credit Mobilizer a. left the country c. sold controlling interest in the company to others b. belatedly started to follow honest business practices d. tried to gain immunity by testifying before Congress e. distributed shares of the company’s valuable stock to key congressmen
2. One weapon that was used to put Boss Tweed, leader of New York City’s infamous Tweed Ring, in jail was a. the cartoons of political satirist Thomas Nast b. federal income tax evasion charges c. the RICO racketeering act e. granting immunity to Tweed’s cronies in exchange for testimony
3. The major problem in the 1876 presidential election centered on d. New York City’s ethics laws a. who would be the Speaker of the House b. the two sets of election returns submitted by Florida, South Carolina, and Louisiana c. Samuel Tilden’s association with corrupt politicians d. President Grant’s campaign for a third term e. failure to use the secret “Australian ballot” in some places
4. One reason for the extremely high voter turnouts and partisan favor of the Gilded Age was a. the parties’ differences over economic issues c. battles between Catholics and Lutherans b. sharp ethnic and cultural differences in the membership of the two parties d. differences over the issue of the civil service e. sectional tensions between the Northeast and Midwest
5. After the Civil War, the plentiful supply of unskilled labor in the United States a. helped to build the nation into an industrial giant. b. was unable to find employment in technologically demanding industries. c. came almost exclusively from rural America. d. increasingly found work in agriculture. e. was almost entirely native born.
6. The first major product of the oil industry was a. kerosene. b. gasoline. c. lighter fluid.. d. natural gas. e. heating oil.
7. Despite generally rising wages in the late nineteenth century, industrial workers were extremely vulnerable to all of the following
EXCEPT a. economic swings and depressions. b. employers' whims. c. new educational requirements for jobs. d. sudden unemployment. e. illness and accident.
8. The image of the "Gibson Girl" represented c. an exploitative image of the woman as a sex object. e. a sentimental image of a woman as mother. a. a revival of the early American feminine ideal of republican motherhood. b. a portrayal of the modem corporate business woman. d. a romantic ideal of the independent and athletic "new woman."
9. The people who found fault with the "captains of industry" mostly argued that these men a. had no real business ability. c. tried to take the United States back to an earlier age of aristocracy. e. retarded technological advances. b. built their corporate wealth and power by exploiting workers. d. were environmentally insensitive.
10. To help corporations, the courts ingeniously interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment, which was designed to protect the rights of ex-slaves, so as a. help freedmen to work in factories. b. incorporate big businesses. c. allow the captains of industry to avoid paying taxes. d. avoid corporate regulation by the states. e. protect the civil rights of business people.
11. Edward Bellamy’s book Looking Backward was a. a fictional expose of the meatpacking industry b. a detailed program of social reform c. the catalyst of the Social Gospel movement d. a denunciation of machine politics in big city government e. a futuristic utopian fantasy
12. The Knights of Labor a. excluded women and blacks b. organized workers by craft d. admitted both skilled and unskilled workers into membership c. were concerned only with wages, hours and working conditions e. advocated destruction of the federal government
13. After 1890 most immigrants to America came from a. Northern and Western Europe b. Southern and Eastern Europe c. Great Britain and Ireland
14. The most important factor in the destruction of the Plains Indians’ societies by whites in the late 19 th century d. Asia e. Mexico a. the use of modern weapons by white soldiers and cavalrymen b. the destruction of the buffalo herds by whites c. the introduction of alcohol by whites to Indian society d. the encroachment of railroads onto Indian lands e. the use of reservations by whites to limit the movement by Indians
15. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act prohibited a. verbal contracts d. immigrants from becoming citizens b. monopolies found to be restraining trade c. strikes by labor unions e. the circulation of paper money
16. Who supported the free coinage of silver in the 1890s? a. large corporations b. bankers c. Populists d. Republicans e. international traders

17. “You shall not crucify mankind on a cross of gold” was what candidate’s rallying cry in the election of 1896? a. William McKinley b. Eugene V. Debs c. William Jennings Bryan d. William Howard Taft
18. The Populist party was an outgrowth of a. resentment over government farm policies d. a “single tax” on land b. the end of Reconstruction in the South c. the union movement in Eastern industrial centers e. the second Great Awakening e. Theodore Roosevelt
19. All of the following Populist platform issues were later accepted by Americans EXCEPT a. the graduated income tax b. direct election of senators c. the use of the Australian ballot d. the eight-hour day of labor e. government ownership of the telegraph and telephone industries
20. Which of the following was NOT a characteristic of American industry in the post-Civil War period? a. government successfully broke up large business concentrations b. the corporation became increasingly popular form of organization c. trusts and holding companies emerged e. monopolies were formed both horizontally and vertically d. trade names began appearing for the first time
21. Who was the only Democrat to serve as president between 1861 and 1913? a. Benjamin Harrison b. Grover Cleveland c. Chester A. Arthur d. James A. Garfield e. Rutherford B. Hayes
22. Which of the following correctly describes American railroads in the late 19 th century? a. All shippers received rebates on their freight charges d. After 1886 the states had the power to regulate railroads
23. The Haymarket Incident involved b. Railroads had a little influence in Congress c. Railroads received public land e. Railroads were built only to serve population centers a. a riot between striking workers and police b. a scandal involving corruption within the Grant administration c. allegations of corruption on the part of Republican presidential candidate James G. Blaine d. a disastrous fire that pointed out the hazardous working conditions in some factories e. an early challenge to the authority of states to regulate railroad industry
24. The settlement-house movement drew its workers primarily from which of the following groups? a. young, affluent, college-educated women b. poor Eastern European immigrants d. idealistic young men who came to the city largely from rural areas
c. disabled veterans of the Spanish-American War e. often illiterate members of the urban working class
25. The “yellow journalism of the late 19 th century might be best described as a. focusing on the influx of Chinese immigrants to the West Coast and calling for restrictions on such immigration b. attempting to alarm the public about the supposed “yellow Peril” of Japan’s growing naval and industrial might c. focusing exclusively on corruptions and abuses in government and big business d. reporting the news in exaggerated, distorted, and sensationalized manner e. dominated by funding of large corporations so as to take a stance consistently favorable to big business
26. The Morrill Land Grant Act provided a. 160 acres of free land within the public domain to any head of household who would settle on it and improve it over a period of 5 years b. large amounts of federal government land to states that would establish agricultural and mechanical colleges c. 40 acres of land to former slaves d. that the land of former Confederates should not be confiscated e. large reservations for the Indians of the Great plains
27. All of the following were characteristics of life on a pioneer farm on the Great Plains during the late 19 th century EXCEPT a. living in a sod house b. burning buffalo chips for heating and cooking c. splitting rails to make fences d. practicing new dry-land farming techniques e. growing large crops of wheat or corn
28. Which of the following groups was the first target of congressional legislation restricting immigration? a. Northern and Western Europeans b. Southern and Eastern Europeans c. Asians d. Africans e. Central and South Americans
29. During the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries, Republicans generally favored a. high protective tariffs b. low, revenue-only tariffs d. high tariffs of farm produce but none on manufactured goods e. only such tariffs as would be beneficial to agriculture c. completely free trade
30. Which of the following gave the greatest impetus to the national civil service reform? a. President Hayes’s halt to Southern Reconstruction c. the continued Stalwart-Half Breed battles of the Republican Party b. the renomination of President Arthur in 1884 d. the assassination of President Garfield e. the prosecution and eventual conviction of Boss Tweed
31. All of the following were major problems with turn-of-the-century American cities EXCEPT a. poverty b. pollution c. lack of adequate housing d. crime e. unemployment
32. US presidents between 1876 and 1900 were considered among the weakest in American history. A major reason for this was that a. none of them served more than one term in office b. they considered themselves caretakers, not dynamic initiators of new legislation c. Congress enacted several new laws restricting presidential power during this period d. they were products of machine politics, political followers who were typically incompetent leaders e. they were limited in their actions by the overwhelming Populist sentiment of their time

33. The sharecropping system in the South following Reconstruction had the effect of a. allowing many former slaves and poor white tenant farmers, who could have never otherwise owned land, to buy their own farms b. moving many former slaves and poor white tenant farmers into the middle class c. pushing tenant farmers and poor independent farmers into deep levels of debt to large landowners and merchants d. helping to limit the power of former plantation owners and Northern business interests e. changing the basic attitudes of whites and blacks who were now forced to work side-by-side farming on the same land
34. Education in turn-of-the century schools was primarily aimed at a. giving students an opportunity for personal growth and development b. teaching children basic religious values c. developing individualism so that each student would have the personal character necessary to survive in a capitalistic society d. teaching children management skills necessary to run their own business e. teaching children punctuality and discipline necessary for factory work
35. In the 19 th century, American farmers supported an economic policy of inflation because inflation generally favors a. debtor groups b. creditor groups c. high food costs d. a dynamic monetary system e. a barter system
36. In 1890 the most important source of revenue of the federal government was a. income taxes b. inheritance taxes c. sales taxes d. liquor taxes e. customs duties (tariffs)
37. Jacob Riis’s How the Other Half Lives is a study of a. Jim Crow segregation and its effect on African Americans b. the plight of Great Plains Farmers in the 1890s c. immigrant urban poverty and despair in the 1890s e. the rise of industrial capitalists in late 19 th century d. the corruption in city political machines in the 1890s
38. From the 1880s to the beginning of the New Deal, the dominant American Indian policy of the United States government sought to a. strengthen traditional tribal authority b. relocate all American Indians to the Oklahoma territory c. encourage American Indian emigration to Canada d. encourage American Indians to preserve their languages and religions e. break up tribal landholdings
39. The precipitating factor in the 1894 Pullman strike was Pullman’s a. dismissal of union workers c. retraction of its promise to provide an employee insurance and retirement plan d. employment of immigrant labor at less than a living wage b. introduction of scrip in part payments of wages e. cutting wages without proportionate cuts in company housing rents
40. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, American agriculture was characterized by a. a decline in the number of tenant farmers c. a decline in the number of farm cooperatives b. a decline in foreclosures on Midwestern farms d. an increase in wholesale prices for farm products e. an increase in acres under cultivation
41. One of the most important innovations for counteracting the loneliness and isolation of farm life on the Great Plains in the 1870s and 1880s was the introduction of a. branches of state universities b. radio programs c. mail order houses, such as Sears, Roebuck and Co. d. scientific expositions e. highways
42. The “Gospel of Wealth,” an idea proclaimed by Andrew Carnegie, was based on the assumption that a. the government should institute a 100% inheritance tax b. wealth could be found in the backyard of every American c. God intended Americans to be wealthy d. successful industrialists were trustees for society’s wealth e. the government should establish a single tax on unearned wealth
43. Which of the following was primarily responsible for the declining death rate in American cities at the end of the 19 th century? a. fewer poor people moved to the cities in the late 19 th century b. cities began to provide free medical care to those who needed it c. doctors began to provide free medical care to poor people d. better transportation enabled more people to seek medical care e. cities built sewers and supplied purified water
44. The last Indian uprising took place in a. 1890 b. 1876 c. 1864 d. 1862 e. 1871
45. Which of the following is a correct statement about national politics in the Gilded Age? a. Congress focused on the problems of industrialization and urbanization b. The presidents of the era expanded executive powers c. The two major parties avoided taking strong positions on the issues d. Republicans held firm control of both Congress and presidency e. lack of interest in national politics resulted in low voter turnout.
46. Which of the following worked for women’s suffrage in the latter part of the 19 th century? a. Abigail Adams b. Margaret Fuller c. Dorothea Dix d. Lucy Stone e. Germaine Greer
47. Frederick Jackson Turner’s “frontier Thesis” included all of the following EXCEPT a. American democracy developed out of the frontier experience b. a frontier acted as a safety-valve for social ferment c. the frontier moved throughout American history d. the frontier had disappeared by 1890 e. the frontier contributed to higher levels of civilization
48. Which of the following states first gave women the right to vote? a. Colorado b. Wyoming c. New York d. Illinois e. Idaho

49. William Randolph Hearst achieved fame and wealth as a a. radio commentator b. newspaper publisher c. photographer d. film producer
50. Social Darwinists would most likely support which of the following? a. enforcement of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act b. relief for the unemployed d. guarantee of a living wage for workers e. subsidies for farmers
BONUS-Answer 3 correctly and receive additional 3 points (no partial credit issued-all 3 must be correct!) e. political cartoonist c. nonregulation of business
EX1. The most effective and enduring labor union in the post-Civil War era a. championed worker cooperatives b. supported broad program of social reforms d. adopted both skilled and unskilled workers as members c. adopted socialist and anarchist ideas about government e. focused on such goals as higher wages and shorter hours for skilled workers
EX2. The cartoon below is a commentary on late 19 th century a. municipal corruption b. imperialism c. labor unrest d. business monopolies e. civil-rights campaigns
EX3. The decline of “open range” ranching in the West resulted primarily from a. overgrazing and intense competition for use of the land between ranchers and farmers b. low beef prices, which made “open range” ranching unprofitable c. government policies giving priority use of the range to sheepherders, thus denying cattlemen equal access to open range d. the increased use of sharecropping techniques by cattle ranchers, which lessened their need for open-range policies e. the high cost of replacing cattle, which constantly wandered off in the open range