Pre-American History II Test

1.

1 point

How did some families benefit from the Homestead Act of 1862?

B It provided tax-free land for families to settle in the Northwest Territory.

D It provided each settler with 160 acres of land.

A It allowed families to move to Alaska to mine for gold.

C It gave each settler that moved west thirty acres of farmland, a mule, and a plow.

2.

1 point

Provided that, as an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any territory from the Republic of Mexico by the United States, by virtue of any treaty which may be negotiated between them, and to the use by the Executive of the moneys herein appropriated, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted.
Wilmot Proviso, 1846
Why would Southern planters oppose the Wilmot Proviso?

A It would prevent plantation owners from moving slaves to land acquired in the Louisiana Purchase.

C It would abolish slavery in territory acquired during the Mexican War.

B It would legalize slavery everywhere except in the Mexican Cession Territory.

D It would only allow slavery below the Missouri Compromise line.

3.

1 point

How did the War of 1812 affect the United States domestically?

B It weakened citizens’ respect for American naval forces.

D It decreased the threat from American Indians west of the Mississippi River.

A It created a greater dependence on foreign exports.

C It increased manufacturing and economic independence.

4.

1 point

Section 1.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Fourteenth Amendment, 1868 How did the Fourteenth Amendment affect the American legal system?

A It required that laws be applied equally to all citizens.

C It ensured that a state could not take a citizen′s personal property.

B It granted citizenship to all residents of the United States.

D It extended the concept of community standards to state laws.

5.

1 point

How was Abraham Lincoln’s victory in the 1860 presidential election a turning point in American history?

A Lincoln won the majority of electoral votes but not a majority of the popular vote.B A coalition of Whigs, Know-Nothings, and Democrats ran a strong third-party candidate.

A coalition of Whigs, Know-Nothings, and Democrats ran a strong third-party candidate

C The Crittenden Compromise attempted to resolve tensions aroused by the election.

D Lincoln’s victory prompted Southern secession and the Civil War that followed.

6.

1 point

How were the lives of many Chinese immigrants affected by the transcontinental railroad?

D They used the transcontinental railroad to travel west to search for gold, but they had to leave their families behind.

C They used factories to manufacture railroad tracks and ties, and they became economically and politically powerful.

A They were given jobs to plan the transcontinental railroad, but they were underpaid.

B They were employed to build the railroad tracks, but they also suffered from discrimination.

7.

1 point

Now, in view of this entire disfranchisement of one-half the people of this country, their social and religious degradation, in view of the unjust laws above mentioned, and because women do feel themselves aggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulently deprived of their most sacred rights, we insist that they have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United States.
Declaration of Sentiments, 1848 Which principle can be generalized from this quote from the Declaration of
Sentiments?

.

C Women should have the same rights as men.

B Women should have the right to religious freedom.

D Women should have special protection in the judicial system

A Women should have free public education.

8.

1 point

Education, then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men—the balance-wheel of the social machinery. . . . But I mean that it gives each man the independence and the means by which he can resist the selfishness of other men.
Twelfth Annual Report of Horace Mann as Secretary of Massachusetts State Board of Education, 1848
According to Horace Mann, why was education an important institution for Americans?

It inspired citizens to actively participate in government

It encouraged equality of opportunity within society

It supported equity in the workplace

It created a spirit of nationalism

9.

1 point

How did the Lewis and Clark expedition influence patterns of settlement?

D It provided maps and routes of the Louisiana Territory for further migration.

C It increased the French presence and control in the Louisiana Territory.

B It destroyed the power of American Indians to establish villages along the Missouri River.

A It opened the Rio Grande River as a means for the United States to navigate to new land.

10.

1 point

And, for extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republicans, their laws and constitutions are erected; to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said territory: to provide also for the establishment of States, and permanent government therein, and for their admission to a share in the federal council on an equal footing with the original States, at as early periods as may be consistent with the general interest.
Sec. 13 of the Northwest Ordinance, 1787 How did the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 influence settlement patterns?

.

A It established a plan for surveying land west of the Appalachians.

C It settled the conflict over colonial land claims to the west.

D It established reservations for American Indians who lived on public lands

B It provided a procedure for admitting new states into the Union.

11.

1 point

How did the end of the U.S. Civil War affect American politics?

A Legislation passed that supported property rights and due process for women.

C Legislation passed that provided citizenship and legal protections for freed slaves.

B Legislation passed that established voting rights for American Indians.

D Legislation passed that enhanced individual states’ rights.

12.

1 point

[L]ive peaceable under the civil government, . . . nor shall he or she at any time be compelled to frequent or maintain any religious worship place or ministry whatever . . . that so we may live friendly together. . . . That the Indians shall have liberty to do all things to the improvement of their ground.
William Penn, 1682
How did William Penn’s principles regarding his “holy experiment” colony affect those who chose to settle in Pennsylvania?

A Many citizens left the colony to find education for their children.

C American Indians and colonists often worshiped together.

B The colony experienced minimal growth due to the religious intolerance of its leaders.

D Penn′s approach made the colony diverse by attracting many types of people and religions.

13.

1 point

How did the outcome of the Civil War change the distribution of power and authority between the United States and the state governments?

C The Union agreed to allow nullification as a precondition to ending the war.

A The Southern states redefined the doctrine of states′ rights despite the outcome of the war.

B The Southern states separated from the Union, thereby confirming their right to do so.

D The Union victory reinforced the supremacy of the federal government over the states.

14.

1 point

Why did President Polk ask for a declaration of war against Mexico in 1846?

A Mexico made an alliance with Germany with a promise of returning Texas to Mexico.

D Mexican troops killed sixteen American soldiers in the Texas border dispute.

C The Mexican dictator overthrew the democratic government established in the 1830s.

B Rebel forces in Mexico took the U.S. Secretary of State hostage.

15.

1 point

Whiskey Rebellion Timeline of Events
March 1791: Federalists in Congress succeed in passing an excise tax on
domestically distilled liquor.
September 1792: The excise tax provokes opposition in frontier areas.
July 1794: Following unsuccessful petitions against the excise tax, an armed group in western Pennsylvania attacks a federal marshal.
August 7, 1794: Washington as commander in chief calls up the militia in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia to assemble a force of nearly 13,000 men.
September 25, 1794: Washington as commander in chief issues a proclamation ordering the militia to assemble and march against the insurgents.
November 17, 1794: Hamilton writes to Washington from western Pennsylvania that “the list of prisoners has been very considerably increased, that there is no regular assemblage of the fugitives . . . only small vagrant parties . . . affording no point of attack.”
To what extent did the Whiskey Rebellion have a lasting impact on the power of the federal government?

B President Washington′s use of federal troops asserted the supremacy of the national government over state governments.

A The power of the federal government to regulate commerce was increased when President Washington placed a tax on distillers.

D Federal troops used to stop the rebellion became the nation′s permanent military force.

C The power of the Treasury Department was increased by charging a license fee for distillers.