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UNITED STATES HISTORY
SECTION I
Time – 55 minutes
80 Questions
Directions: Each of the questions or incomplete statements below is followed by five suggested answers or
completions. Select the one that is best in each case and then fill in the corresponding oval on the answer sheet.
1.
The Separatists migrated from England to
Holland to the New World in order to
a. avoid the coming war with France.
b. gain wealth.
c. establish a new nation.
d. practice their purified Protestantism.
e. allying themselves with the Dutch.
2.
In the peace arrangements that ended the
French and Indian War,
a. France surrendered all of its territorial
claims to North America.
b. England turned Florida over to Spain.
c. Spain ceded all of Louisiana, including
New Orleans, to Britain.
d. France lost all its valuable sugar islands
in the West Indies.
e. the British got all of Canada except
Nova Scotia.
3.
4.
Alexander Hamilton believed that a limited
national debt
a. would do great harm to the nation’s
economy.
b. might lead to military weakness.
c. could persuade individuals and nations
not to lend money to the United States.
d. was beneficial, because people to whom
the government owed money would
work hard to make the nation a success.
e. could help his economic plans but not
his political plans.
The purpose behind the spoils system was
a. to press those with experience into
governmental service.
b. to make politics a sideline and not a
full-time business.
c. to reward political supporters with
public office.
d. to reverse the trend of rotation in office.
e. the widespread encouragement of a
bureaucratic office-holding class.
5.
In his Seventh of March speech, Daniel Webster
a. attacked Henry Clay’s compromise
proposals.
b. called for a new, more stringent
fugitive-slave law.
c. advocated a congressional ban on
slavery in the territories.
d. proposed a scheme for electing two
presidents, one from the North and one
from the South, each having veto
power.
e. became a hated figure in the South.
6.
In the presidential election of 1868, Ulysses
S. Grant
a. transformed his personal popularity into
a large majority in the popular vote.
b. owed his victory to the votes of former
slaves.
c. gained his victory by winning the votes
of the majority of whites.
d. demonstrated his political skill.
e. all of the above.
7.
In 1899, an insurrection began in the
Philippines because
a. Spanish citizens living there tried to
regain political
b. the United States refused to give the
Filipino people their freedom.
c. Communist insurgents attempted to
seize control of the islands.
d. the United States refused to promote the
economic and social development of the
Filipino people.
e. American missionaries tried to convert
Catholic Filipinos to Protestantism.
8.
The Supreme Court cases of Muller and
Adkins centered on
a. racial differences.
b. affirmative action.
c. “right to work” laws from several states.
d. the question of whether women merited
special legal and social treatment.
e. antitrust legislation.
9.
During the 1952 presidential campaign,
Republican candidate Dwight Eisenhower
declared that he would
to help to end the Korean War.
a. use atomic weapons
b. blockade the China coast and bomb
Manchuria
c. open negotiations with Mao Zedong
d. order United Nations troops to invade
North Korea
e. personally go to Korea
10. Edward Kennedy’s campaign to take the
presidential nomination away from Jimmy
Carter in 1980 was handicapped by
a. his poor performance as a senator.
b. a growing dislike for the Kennedys.
c. Carter’s popularity.
d. lingering suspicions about his
involvement in an automobile accident
in which a young woman was killed.
e. his inability to reach beyond New
England.
11. Bacon’s Rebellion was supported mainly by
a. young men frustrated by their inability
to acquire land.
b. the planter class of Virginia.
c. those protesting the increased
importation of African slaves.
d. people from Jamestown only.
e. the local Indians.
12. Match each act below with the correct
description.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
A-3, B-2, C-l
A-1, B-4, C-3
A-1, B-4, C-2
A-4, B-1, C-2
A-2, B-1, C-4
13. The Federalist-dominated Congress’s Alien
Act was aimed at
, whereas the Sedition
Act was primarily aimed at
.
a. rebellious slaves, newspapers
b. recent immigrants, newspapers
c. recent immigrants, merchants
d.
e.
merchant smuggling, rebellious slaves
indians, farmers
14. The “cement” that held the Whig party
together in its formative days was
a. hatred of Andrew Jackson.
b. support of the American System.
c. opposition to the Anti-Masonic party.
d. the desire for a strong president.
e. opposition to the tariff.
15. In the Compromise of 1850, Congress
determined that slavery in the New Mexico
and Utah territories was
a. to be banned.
b. protected by federal law.
c. to be decided by popular sovereignty.
d. to be ignored until either territory
applied for admission to statehood.
e. to be decided by the Mormon Church.
16. The Crédit Mobilier scandal involved
a. public utility company bribes.
b. Bureau of Indian Affairs payoffs.
c. railroad construction kickbacks.
d. evasion of excise taxes on distilled
liquor.
e. manipulating the Wall Street stock
market.
17. Theodore Roosevelt defended his building
of the Panama Canal by claiming that
a. other Latin American nations had
requested his help.
b. he had received a “mandate from civilization.”
c. the canal would strengthen ties with
Latin America.
d. Britain would have built the canal had the
United States not taken the initiative.
e. it would enhance economic
development on the West Coast.
18. America’s major foreign-policy problem in
the 1920s was addressed by the Dawes Plan,
which
a. ended the big-stick policy of armed
intervention in Central America and the
Caribbean.
b. established a ratio of allowable naval
strength between the United States,
Britain, and Japan.
c. condemned the Japanese aggression
against Manchuria.
d. aimed to prevent German re-armament.
e. tried to solve the tangle of war-debt and
war-reparations payments.
19. In the epochal 1954 decision in Brown v.
Board of Education of Topeka, the Supreme
Court
a. declared that the concept of “separate
but equal” facilities for blacks and
whites was unconstitutional.
b. upheld its earlier decision in Plessy v.
Ferguson.
c. rejected desegregation.
d. supported the “Declaration of
Constitutional Principles” issued by
Congress.
e. ordered immediate and total integration
of all American schools.
20. Many “new right” activists were most
concerned about
a. cultural or social issues.
b. economic questions.
c. foreign policy.
d. Medicare and Medicaid programs.
e. separation of church and state.
21. The Great Awakening
a. undermined the prestige of the learned
clergy in the colonies.
b. split colonial churches into several
competing denominations.
c. led to the founding of Princeton,
Dartmouth, and Rutgers colleges.
d. was the first spontaneous mass
movement of the American people.
e. all of the above.
22. As a result of American opposition to the
Townshend Acts,
a. British officials sent regiments of troops
to Boston to restore law and order.
b. the port of Boston was closed.
c. Americans killed several British
soldiers in the Boston Massacre.
d. Parliament repealed all of the taxes
levied under this legislation.
e. Prime Minister Townshend was forced
to resign.
23. Thomas Jefferson argued that a landless
class of voters could be avoided in part by
a. a redistribution of land.
b. a reduced property tax.
c. abolishing the property qualification to
vote.
d. continuing slavery.
e. restricting the amount of property
owned by each citizen.
24. The American phase of the industrial
revolution first blossomed
a. on southern plantations.
b. with textile mills.
c. in rapidly growing Chicago.
d. with shipbuilding.
e. in coal-mining regions.
25. The panic of 1857 resulted in
a. a demand to end the government policy
of giving away farmland.
b. the extension of slavery to the
territories.
c. price supports for farmers.
d. calls for restrictions on land and stock
speculation.
e. clamor for a higher tariff.
26. The United States changed to standard time
zones when
a. Congress passed a law establishing this
system.
b. the major rail lines decreed the division
of the continent into four time zones so
that they could keep schedules and
avoid wrecks.
c. factories demanded standard time
schedules.
d. long-distance telephones required
standard time coordination.
e. all of the above.
27. Match each early-twentieth-century
muckraker below with the target of his or
her exposé.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4
A-4, B-2, C-3, D-1
A-3, B-1, C-2, D-4
A-3, B-2, C-4, D-1
A-1, B-4, C-2, D-3
28. Senator Huey P. Long of Louisiana gained
national popularity by
a. advocating social justice for all.
b. blaming Jews for the Depression.
c. making Louisiana a model for ordinary
citizens.
d. supporting a $200-a-month old-age
pension.
e. promising to give every family $5,000.
29. The leader of the nationalist movement in
Vietnam since World War I was
a. Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung).
b. Ngo Dinh Diem.
c. Dienbienphu.
d. Ho Chi Minh.
e. Nguyen Cao Ky.
30. Conservative Democrats who helped Ronald
Reagan to pass his budget and tax-cutting
legislation were called
a. blue dogs.
b. sagebrush rebels.
c. scalawags.
d. neoconservatives.
e. boll weevils.
31. The First Continental Congress was called in
order to
a. consider ways of redressing colonial
grievances.
b. become a legislative body.
c. write the Declaration of Independence.
d. decide which of Parliament’s taxes the
colonies would and would not pay.
e. help implement provisions of the
Quebec Act.
32. As chief justice of the United States, John
Marshall helped to ensure that
a. states’ rights were protected.
b. the programs of Alexander Hamilton
were overturned.
c. the political and economic systems were
based on a strong central government.
d. both the Supreme Court and the
president could rule a law
unconstitutional.
e. Aaron Burr was convicted of treason.
33. The “cult of domesticity”
a. gave women more opportunity to seek
employment outside the home.
b. resulted in more pregnancies for women.
c. restricted women’s moral influence on
the family.
d. glorified the traditional role of women
as homemakers.
e. was especially strong among rural women.
34. President James Buchanan declined to use
force to keep the South in the Union for all
of the following reasons except that
a. northern public opinion would not
support it.
b. the army was needed to control Indians
c.
d.
e.
in the West.
he believed that the Constitution
allowed secession.
a slim chance of reconciliation
remained.
he was surrounded by pro-southern
advisers.
35. The first major product of the oil industry
was
a. kerosene.
b. gasoline.
c. lighter fluid.
d. natural gas.
e. heating oil.
36. To regain the power that the people had lost
to the “interests,” progressives advocated all
of the following except
a. initiative.
b. referendum.
c. recall.
d. socialism.
e. direct election of U.S. senators.
37. The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934
attempted to
a. reverse the forced assimilation of
Native Americans into white society.
b. encourage Native Americans to give up
their land claims.
c. reinforce the Dawes Act of 1887.
d. pressure Native Americans to renounce
self-government.
e. define clearly which tribes were
federally recognized.
38. In a speech at American University in 1963,
President Kennedy recommended the
adoption of a policy toward the Soviet
Union based on
a. flexible response.
b. massive retaliation.
c. peaceful coexistence.
d. gradual escalation.
e. containment.
39. The Olive Branch Petition
a. was passed by Parliament.
b. was an expression of King George III’s
desire for peace.
c. promised no treason charges if colonists
stopped fighting.
d. was an attempt by the colonists to gain
support of Native Americans.
e. professed American loyalty to the crown.
40. Thomas Jefferson was conscience-stricken
about the purchase of the Louisiana
Territory from France because
a. the Federalists supported his action.
b. he believed that the purchase was
unconstitutional.
c. he felt that the purchase was not a fair
deal for France.
d. war with Spain might occur.
e. he feared the British might use it as an
exercise to declare war on the United
States.
41. A major economic consequence of the
transportation and marketing revolutions
was
a. a lessening of the gap between great
wealth and poverty.
b. a stabilization of the work force in
industrial cities.
c. the declining significance of American
agriculture.
d. a steady improvement in average wages
and standards of living.
e. the growing realization of the “rags-toriches” American dream.
42. A supposed asset for the South at the
beginning of the Civil War that never
materialized to its real advantage was
a. effective military leadership.
b. intervention from Britain and France.
c. the fighting skill of Southern males.
d. its ability to fight on its own soil.
e. its belief that it was defending its way
of life.
43. A “bird of passage” was an immigrant who
a. came to the United States to live
permanently.
b. only passed through America on his or
her way to Canada.
c. was unmarried.
d. came to America to work for a short
time and then returned to Europe.
e. flew from job to job.
44. As governor of New Jersey, Woodrow
Wilson established a record as a
a. mild conservative.
b. reactionary.
c. man who would work with the party
bosses.
d. moderate liberal.
e. passionate reformer.
45. The Republican presidential nominee in
1940 was
a. Wendell L. Willkie.
b. Robert A. Taft.
c. Thomas E. Dewey.
d. Alfred E. Landon.
e. Charles A. Lindbergh.
46. President Kennedy’s alleged assassin was
a. Jack Ruby.
b. Lee Harvey Oswald.
c. Medgar Evers.
d. James Earl Ray.
e. an agent of Fidel Castro.
47. Immediately after the Revolution, the new
American nation’s greatest strength lay in its
a. ingrained respect for authority.
b. excellent political leadership.
c. lack of inhibiting political heritage.
d. sound economic structure.
e. economic ties to France.
48. By 1810, the most insistent demand for a
declaration of war against Britain came from
a. New England merchants.
b. the West and South.
c. Federalists.
d. the middle Atlantic states.
e. southern states.
49. The Second Great Awakening tended to
a. widen the lines between classes and
regions.
b. open Episcopal and Presbyterian
churches to the poor.
c. unite southern Baptists and southern
Methodists against slavery.
d. bring the more prosperous and
conservative eastern churches into the
revivalist camps.
e. increase the influence of educated
clergy.
50. The Southern cause was weakened by
a. the concept of states’ rights that the
Confederacy professed.
b. a president, Jefferson Davis, who
catered to public opinion and did not
work hard at his job.
c. the failure of the Southern people to
commit to the ideal of Southern
independence.
d. a lack of sound military leadership.
e. the constant threat of slave rebellion.
51. The early settlement house workers, such as
Jane Addams and Florence Kelley, helped to
blaze the professional trail for
a. language specialists.
b. social workers.
c. day-care workers.
d. criminal psychologists.
e. female politicians.
52. The Sixteenth Amendment provided for
a. a personal income tax.
b. direct election of senators.
c. prohibition.
d. woman suffrage.
e. abolition of child labor.
53. The Atlantic Charter, developed by the
United States and Britain, was also endorsed
by
a. Canada.
b. France.
c. Spain.
d. China.
e. the Soviet Union.
54. The
Amendment
the
voting age to
.
a. Twenty-sixth; raised; twenty-one
b. Twenty-fourth; lowered; eighteen
c. Twenty-fifth; raised; nineteen
d. Twenty-sixth; lowered; eighteen
e. Twenty-sixth; lowered; sixteen
55. Shays’s Rebellion was provoked by
a. fear that the Articles of Confederation
had created too strong a national
government for the United States.
b. efforts by wealthy merchants to replace
the Articles of Confederation with a
new constitution.
c. a quarrel over the boundary between
Massachusetts and Vermont.
d. foreclosures on the mortgages of
backcountry farmers.
e. the government’s failure to pay bonuses
to Revolutionary War veterans.
56. The resolutions from the Hartford
Convention
a. helped to cause the death of the
Federalist party.
b. resulted in the resurgence of states’ rights.
c. called for southern secession from the
union.
d. supported use of militias against the British.
e. called for the West to join the War of 1812.
57. Sexual differences were strongly
emphasized in nineteenth-century America
because
a. frontier life necessitated these
distinctions.
b. men were regarded as morally superior
beings.
c. it was the duty of men to teach the
young how to be good, productive
citizens
d. the market economy increasingly
separated men and women into distinct
economic roles.
e. women believed this emphasis brought
them greater respect.
58. During the Civil War
a. blacks were enlisted by the Union army
only after the Emancipation
b. Proclamation was issued.
c. Southern armies found no way of
utilizing slave labor.
d. thousands of slaves rose in armed
rebellion behind Southern lines.
e. about one out of every four Union
troops was black.
f. captured black soldiers were treated
well by Confederates.
59. In post-Civil War America, Indians
surrendered their lands only when they
a. chose to migrate farther west.
b. received solemn promises from the
government that they would be left
alone and provided with supplies.
c. lost their mobility as the whites killed
their horses.
d. were allowed to control the supply of
food and other staples to the
reservations.
e. traded land for rifles and blankets.
60. President Woodrow Wilson persuaded the
American people to enter World War I by
a. appealing to America’s tradition of
intervention in Europe.
b. convincing the public of the need to
make the world safe from the German
submarine.
c. pledging to make the war “a war to end
all wars” and to make the world safe for
democracy.
d. promising territorial gains.
e. declaring that only the navy would be
involved in combat.
61. Franklin Roosevelt won the election in 1944
primarily because
a. Republican Thomas E. Dewey favored
an international organization for world
peace.
b. labor unions turned out for Roosevelt.
c. Harry Truman was his running mate.
d. questions arose regarding Thomas E.
Dewey’s honesty.
e. the war was going well.
62. The decisions of the Supreme Court under
Chief Justice Earl Warren reflected its
a. desire for legalized abortions.
b. support for states’ rights.
c. support for expanding federal power.
d. deep concern for the individual.
e. hostility to religion.
63. All of the following were results of the
Missouri Compromise except that
a. extremists in both the North and South
were not satisfied.
b. Missouri entered the Union as a slave
state.
c. Maine entered the Union as a free state.
d. sectionalism was reduced.
e. the balance between the North and
South was kept even.
64. The profitable southern slave system
a. hobbled the economic development of
the region as a whole.
b. saw many slaves moving to the upper
South.
c. led to the textile industry’s development
in the South first.
d. relied almost totally on importing slaves
to meet the unquenchable demand for
labor.
e. enabled the South to afford economic
and educational progress.
65. The Battle of Antietam was particularly
critical because it
a. inflated an already dangerous
overconfidence among Southerners.
b. ended Lee’s plan of invading the North.
c. delayed Lincoln’s plan to announce the
Emancipation Proclamation.
d. ensured the reelection of President
Lincoln.
e. probably prevented intervention by
Britain and France on behalf of the
Confederacy.
66. A Century of Dishonor (1881), which
chronicled the dismal history of Indianwhite relations, was authored by
a. Harriet Beecher Stowe.
b. Helen Hunt Jackson.
c. Chief Joseph.
d. Joseph F. Glidden.
e. William F. Cody.
67. In an effort to make economic mobilization
more efficient during World War I, the
federal government took over and operated
a. the railroads.
b. the merchant marine
c. heavy industry.
d. American agriculture.
e. the steel mills.
68. The Potsdam conference
a. determined the fate of Eastern Europe.
b. brought France and China in as part of
the “Big Five.
c. concluded that the Soviet Union would
enter the war in the Pacific.
d. was Franklin Roosevelt’s last meeting
with Churchill and Stalin.
e. issued an ultimatum to Japan to
surrender or be destroyed.
69. The Monroe Doctrine was
a. a striking new departure in American
foreign policy.
b. quickly codified into international law.
c. a binding pledge on each subsequent
presidential administration.
d. an expression of the illusion of
deepening American isolationism from
world affairs.
e. a commitment by the United States to
internationalism.
70. One argument against annexing Texas to the
United States was that the annexation
a. could involve the country in a series of
ruinous wars in America and Europe.
b. might give more power to the
supporters of slavery.
c. was not supported by the people of
Texas.
d. offered little of value to America.
e. would lead to tensions and possible war
with Mexico.
71. The controversy surrounding the Wade-Davis
Bill and the readmission of the Confederate
states to the Union demonstrated
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
the deep differences between President
Lincoln and Congress.
the close ties that were developing
between President Lincoln and the
Democrats.
President Lincoln’s desire for a harsh
reconstruction plan.
that a Congressional majority believed
that the South had never legally left the
Union.
the Republicans’ fear of re-admitting
Confederate leaders to Congress.
72. In his book Our Country: Its Possible
Future and Its Present Crisis, the Reverend
Josiah Strong advocated American
expansion
a. based on a powerful new navy.
b. to open up new markets for industrial
goods.
c. to spread American religion and values.
d. to ease labor violence at home.
e. to maintain white racial superiority.
73. The most spectacular example of
lawlessness in the 1920s was
a. New York City.
b. New Orleans.
c. Brooklyn.
d. Chicago.
e. Las Vegas.
74. The post-World War II prosperity in the
United States was most beneficial to
a. African-Americans.
b. labor unions.
c. women.
d. Hispanics.
e. farmers.
75. Perhaps the key battle of the War of 1812,
because it protected the United States from
full-scale invasion and possible dissolution,
was the Battle of
a. Mackinac.
b. Plattsburgh.
c. the Thames.
d. Horseshoe Bend.
e. Fallen Timbers.
76. The Wilmot Proviso
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
symbolized the burning issue of slavery
in the territories.
gained House and Senate approval in
1846.
settled once and for all the issue of
slavery in California.
allowed slavery in the territory taken
from Mexico in 1848.
left open the issue of slavery in New
Mexico and Utah.
77. For congressional Republicans, one of the
most troubling aspects of the Southern
states’ restoration to the Union was that
a. the South would be stronger than ever
in national politics.
b. inexperienced Southern politicians
would be elected.
c. blacks might actually gain election to
the U.S. Congress.
d. a high tariff might be reinstituted.
e. slavery might be re-established.
78. The numerous near-wars and diplomatic
crises of the United States in the late 1880s
and 1890s demonstrated
a. the hostile reaction to American
expansionism.
b. that other nations were jealous of
American power.
c. how weak America seemed to the rest
of the world.
d. the failure of the Monroe Doctrine.
e. the aggressive new national mood.
79. Margaret Sanger was most noted for her
advocacy of
a. abortion rights.
b. woman suffrage.
c. birth control.
d. free love.
e. the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
80. Soviet specialist George F. Kennan framed a
coherent approach for America in the Cold
War by advising a policy of
a. détente.
b. appeasement.
c. containment.
d. limited war.
e. negotiation.
END OF SECTION I
UNITED STATES HISTORY
SECTION II
Part A
(Suggested writing time – 45 minutes)
Percent of Section II score – 45
Directions: The following question requires you to construct a coherent essay that integrates your interpretation of
Documents A-H and your knowledge of the period referred to in the question. High scores will be earned only by
essays that both cite key pieces of evidence from the documents and draw on outside knowledge of the period.
1.
During the 1950s, society in the United States could be described as conservative, complacent, and content.
Evaluate the accuracy of this statement by using the following documents from 1945 to 1960 and your
own knowledge concerning society during this time period.
Document A
Source: Number of babies born from 1945-1960, http://www.bbhq.com/bomrstat.htm
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
2,858,000
3,411,000
3,817,000
3,637,000
3,649,000
3,632,000
3,823,000
3,913,000
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
3,965,000
4,078,000
4,097,000
4,218,000
4,300,000
4,255,000
4,245,000
4,258,000
Document B
Source: Advertisement for Whitman’s chocolate, March 19, 1951
Document C
Source: Plan for a Levittown Ranch house, 1949-1950
Document D
Source: Dr. Benjamin Spock, 1945
“Every child senses, with all the horse sense that's in him, that
any parent is angry inside when children misbehave and they
dread more the anger that is rarely or never expressed openly,
wondering how awful it might be.”
Document E
Source: Leave It to Beaver, 1957
Document F
Source: Levittown, 1950
Document G
Source: Plans for Broadway-Crenshaw shopping center, 1948
Document H
Source: President Eisenhower on the Interstate Highway Act, 1963
“More than any single action by the government since the end of the war,
this one would change the face of America with straightaways, cloverleaf
turns, bridges, and elongated parkways. Its impact on the American
economy—the jobs it would produce in manufacturing and construction, the
rural areas it would open up—was beyond calculation.”
END OF DOCUMENTS FOR QUESTION 1
UNITED STATES HISTORY
SECTION II
Part B and Part C
(Suggested total planning and writing time – 70 minutes)
Percent of Section II score – 55
Part B
Directions: Choose ONE question from this part. You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 30 minutes
writing your answer. Cite relevant historical evidence in support of your generalizations and present your arguments
clearly and logically.
2.
Why did the American colonies decide to go to war with Britain?
3.
Why did the Antebellum South fail to modernize?
Part C
Directions: Choose ONE question from this part. You are advised to spend 5 minutes planning and 30 minutes
writing your answer. Cite relevant historical evidence in support of your generalizations and present your arguments
clearly and logically.
4.
How did President Theodore Roosevelt reform America?
5.
How did the Baby Boom effect American society?
END OF EXAMINATION