USH C10 Practice Test

1.

1 point

How did Brigham Young’s influence resolve the western dispute over water rights?

Young felt that irrigation was less effective than dams or canals for large-scale agriculture.

Young promoted the idea that the good of the community should outweigh the interests of individuals.

Young felt that addressing individual water use was the key to resolving the problem for the entire community.

Young supported the eastern U.S. tradition regarding equal access to water.

2.

1 point

What lesson might a western traveler have learned from the story of the Donner party?

“Don’t always trust what you read in the papers.”

“Always travel with a friend. Preferably one who is tasty.”

“There are no good shortcuts.”

“Help is on the way.”

3.

1 point

What was the significance of Father Hidalgo y Costilla’s rebellion?

It showed that Christian beliefs could succeed in uniting large groups for political causes.

It pushed American settlers back over Mexico’s northern border, but failed to achieve a ban on slavery.

It succeeded in stopping Spanish agents from giving American Indian and mestizo land to settlers.

It failed to overthrow the Spanish monarch, but inspired the independence movement to grow.

4.

1 point

How did Mexico react to the annexation of Texas?

Mexico sent a diplomat to negotiate with the United States.

Mexico insisted that Texas’ southern border lay along the Rio Grande.

Mexico imposed a tariff on all products from the United States.

Mexico ordered all American settlers to leave California.

5.

1 point

Which of these statements about the consequences of the Gold Rush years is true?

The large amount of gold in circulation in California caused severe deflation, meaning prices dropped.

The vast majority of gold-rush miners left California and took their earnings to their families back east.

Mexicans and South Americans came to make up the largest foreign group in the mining region.

The population of San Francisco grew, by over twenty-five times, to more than 25,000.

6.

1 point

Why did some politicians support James K. Polk’s interest in annexing Oregon?

Merchants would benefit from a Pacific port for trade with China.

Disputes over the U.S. border with Canada would be easier to settle.

Explorers reported spotting gold dust along the banks of the Columbia River.

Free and slave states were out of balance since the annexation of Texas.

7.

1 point

What happened to California’s population as a result of the Gold Rush?

Immigrants and Americans flocked to California to “get rich quick” and stayed to build a stable frontier society.

The population boomed during “gold fever,” but declined just as quickly because of inflation.

Californios and American Indians still outnumbered immigrants and Americans after the Gold Rush.

The population grew, but not as much as it had during the Spanish and Mexican periods of settlement.

8.

1 point

President Jackson refused to annex Texas because doing so would have

upset the balance between free and slave states.

gone against the wishes of Congress.

encouraged wars of independence in other border areas.

admitted to the British that western expansion had ended.

9.

1 point

Who referred to a piece of land as a “stolen province,” and what were they talking about?

The Spanish, about California

The Mexicans, about Texas

The British, about Oregon Country

The American Indians, about Utah

10.

1 point

Americans cried “Fifty-four forty or fight!” in reference to

the line to which they wanted their northern territory to extend.

the number of American fighters whose deaths they wanted to avenge.

the number of prisoners they wanted Santa Anna to release.

the line that marked the northern border of what is now California.

11.

1 point

What happened during the Bear Flag Revolt?

John C. Frémont’s mapping expedition fought off a black bear while crossing the Sierra Nevadas.

A small group of Americans seized the town of Sonoma and declared California’s independence.

A union of Spanish settlers rose up against the Californios in the Mission district of San Francisco.

General Taylor led his troops across the Rio Grande to protect Texas against a Mexican uprising.

12.

1 point

“…I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism, and everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid with all dispatch [speed]…VICTORY OR DEATH.”
--from a letter written by William Travis
Travis wrote those words during the build-up to which important battle of the Texas War for Independence?

the Battle of the Alamo

the Battle of San Jacinto

the Battle of Goliad

the Battle of Gonzales

13.

1 point

After 1824, all of the following created conflicts between the Mexican government and American settlers in Texas except Mexico’s

prohibition on importing slaves.

heavy taxation of settled lands.

strict enforcement of its laws.

requirement of citizenship.

14.

1 point

Which of the following was a result of the mixing of various cultures in the Southwest after the Mexican Cession?

American settlers introduced saddles and other tools to Mexican American ranchers.

American settlers taught Mexican Americans about mining in the mountains.

American Indians inspired the use of adobe as a building material in the Southwest.

American Indians were taught to use money by Spanish settlers in the Southwest.

15.

1 point

How did women generally make money in mining communities?

by running casinos

by manufacturing clothes

by operating boardinghouses

by placer mining

16.

1 point

What caused the American fur trade to move westward in the early 1800s?

Fur trappers called “mountain men” wanted to be the first to map western territory and asked the American Fur Company to sponsor their journey.

The American Fur Company sent mountain men to the West in its effort to beat its competitors from Europe and the East.

Fur companies wiped out the beaver population in the East in their effort to meet European demand for the popular “high hat.”

American Indian trappers from the Pacific Northwest were acclaimed for their skill and eastern companies wanted to know their secrets.

17.

1 point

Which description fits the group of people known as “forty-niners”?

Mexicans and South Americans who immigrated to find gold

middle-aged married men with previous gold-mining experience

gold-seekers from America and abroad who migrated to California

individualistic prospectors of California gold-mining sites

18.

1 point

Which of the following is NOT an example of how Americans made life difficult for Chinese immigrants?

by making Chinese workers targets of violent attacks

by prohibiting Chinese immigrants from opening their own businesses

by placing a high monthly tax on all foreign miners

by favoring Americans over immigrants in courts of law

19.

1 point

Who was Biddy Mason?

An African American woman who settled out West with her husband after they struck gold at Negro Hill.

An African American woman who arrived in California as a slave and gained freedom and wealth.

A pioneer woman who supported moral and social causes like the banning of slavery in the West.

A pioneer woman who published many books about mining life in California that are still popular today.

20.

1 point

How did the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed in 1848, affect the United States?

It drew the border line that divides the U.S. from Mexico to this day.

It increased the size of the U.S. by almost 25 percent.

It gave the U.S. the southern parts of present-day Arizona and New Mexico.

It enabled the U.S. to collect $18 million in property taxes from Mexico.