Multiple Choice Questions

How was the mining boom of the late 1800s different from the mid-century California Gold Rush?
  • During the mining boom there was more interest in other metals besides gold and silver
  • By the late 1800s large mining operations dominated the industry
  • The mining boom occurred in many states
  • All of the above
How did railroad companies obtain the majority of the land rights that were needed to build the first transcontinental railroad?
  • The railroad companies purchased the land
  • The land rights were donated by wealthy land owners
  • The land rights were provided with land grants from the federal government
  • The railroad companies took the land from Native Americans without compensating them
What led to the boom in “cow towns” in the 1860s?
  • Improvements in agriculture created southern “cow towns” where the number of cattle outnumbered the human population.
  • Rodeo sports became more popular as entertainment resulting in “cow towns” where businessmen and families would flock to witness the ranching feats.
  • The railroad led to an increase in demand for dairy products which resulted in “cow towns” springing up to create the nation’s first dairy factories.
  • An increased demand for beef in the North and East meant southern cattle ranchers needed to drive their cattle to railroad-connected “cow towns” to make the most profit.
What was the purpose of the Homestead Act of 1862?
  • To prevent the growth of plantation-style agriculture in the South
  • To promote the settlement of the Great Plains by offering free land to those willing to farm it for five years
  • To relocate Native Americans from the Great Plains to the Southwest
  • To prevent boomtowns from falling into ruin
Which of the following best describes the farming conditions for Great Plains farmers in the 1860s?
  • Profitable farming required more land and equipment than most homestead farmers had access to.
  • The Great Plains became one of the most successful agricultural centers of the United States thanks to renewed soil and excellent weather conditions.
  • The Great Plains farmers faired about the same as farmers in the South and East.
  • none of the above
Which of the following was a primary objective of the Dawes Act of 1887?
  • To return large portions of Native American land to the tribes that had once controlled it
  • To assimilate Native Americans into American society
  • To prevent Native Americans from gaining US citizenship
  • To bring more Native American representation into the US government
What was the result of American farmers’ efforts to organize in the 1870s and 1880s?
  • Prices of agricultural goods increased substantially and most farmers became profitable, many for the first time in their lives.
  • A lack of unity and economic strength prevented the farmers’ organization efforts from challenging the railroad and banking industries effectively.
  • Groups like the Grange and Farmers’ Alliances still remain massively influential labor unions to this day.
  • Despite initial stumbles, the cooperative model gave farmers much needed bargaining strength and allowed them to overpower the economic strength of American banks and railroads.
Which of the following could be considered a major impact brought about by William Jennings Bryan’s 1896 campaign for president.
  • Bryan’s campaign for president was the first in history to be funded entirely by public donations; it demonstrated that such an approach could be viable.
  • Bryan’s campaign forced the federal government to reevaluate whether voter suppression laws like the poll tax were constitutional.
  • Bryan’s campaign brought numerous populist ideas into the American mainstream; several of these ideas would eventually become law within the next ten years.
  • all of the above
Despite using questionable business tactics to do so, in what way did the railroad barons’ consolidation of the United States’ railway system benefit the American people?
  • railroad travel for both goods and people became more direct and efficient
  • the costs to ship goods fell to all-time lows
  • transportation for passengers on Pullman sleeping cars became affordable for even the poorest Americans
  • all of the above
How was John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company able to dominate the United States’ oil industry?
  • Rockefeller brought competing oil companies under the control of Standard Oil and was able to use the resulting wealth to control the entire production and distribution process of his products.
  • Rockefeller sold off the majority of Standard Oil’s stock interest to the federal government in exchange for tax breaks.
  • Rockefeller chose to import and resell cheaper oil from foreign countries rather than producing his own in America.
  • Standard Oil developed a secret corporate militia to sabotage and destroy competitors’ refineries.
How was Andrew Carnegie’s Carnegie Steel Company able to dominate the United States’ steel industry?
  • Carnegie took advantage of a new steelmaking process that was both cheaper and more efficient.
  • Carnegie carried out a strategy of vertical integration that gave him control over the companies he needed to produce and distribute his company’s steel.
  • Carnegie secured lucrative contracts with the nation’s largest railroads.
  • all of the above
What was the aim of the Sherman Antitrust Act?
  • to protect large corporations from being harassed and penalized by the federal government
  • to protect American consumers from anti-competitive business activities carried out by large corporations
  • to limit the liability of consumers should they be injured by the actions of a large corporation
  • to encourage the formation of large corporations in an effort to bolster efficiency in the American economy
What made the Knights of Labor different from the labor unions that had predated it?
  • The Knights of Labor actively sought to include marginalized groups like African Americans, immigrants, and women.
  • The Knights of Labor had an active paramilitary organization that organized violent attacks on anti-union corporations.
  • The Knights of Labor was celebrated by leaders of industry and business as a positive force in improving the American economy.
  • The Knights of Labor never actually had any members; the fictitious organization was purely a product of the press.
Which of the following best describes the effectiveness of labor unions in the 1880s and 1890s:
  • Labor unions were able to use well-planned strikes to secure better wages and working conditions across most major United States industries.
  • Labor unions were able to recruit impressive numbers of members, but had little success in challenging the unsafe and unfair practices of the companies and corporations that employed the members.
  • Labor unions struggled to gain enough membership to gain any meaningful attention.
  • Labor unions grew to the point that they represented the majority of American industrial and agricultural workers.
How did American immigration patterns change in the latter half of the 19
  • Immigration largely dried up due to a boom in European industrial jobs in the 1870s.
  • European immigrants were coming primarily from the eastern and southern regions of the continent as opposed to the western and northern regions as they had in previous generations.
  • More so than in previous eras, immigrants arrived with a fluency in the American dialect and a familiarity with American cultural traditions.
  • There were drastically fewer regulations imposed on immigrants seeking entry into the United States.
How did the federal government respond to the growing tide of nativism and racism targeting immigrants in the late 1800s and early 1900s?
  • The federal government passed a series of laws protecting immigrants from unfair treatment and exclusion.
  • The federal government made it easier for immigrants to enter the country and access public services.
  • The federal government passed laws and created agreements with foreign nations limiting immigration.
  • The federal government turned a deaf ear to nativist complaints and refused to adjust American laws or immigration policy in response to what they deemed unsubstantiated fears.
What was the paradox in American society that led Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner to refer to late 1800s America as “The Gilded Age”?
  • All facets of American society were experiencing record levels of wealth and comfort.
  • America was focused on mining gold while neglecting other materials that would have had more industrial value.
  • American society had a powerfully wealthy exterior that was overshadowing a horrendously poverty-stricken lower class.
  • none of the above
Which of the following could be considered a primary objective of the progressive reformers that began to rise in the early 1900s:
  • Put regulations in place to help ensure the American government and the American economy could benefit all and not just the wealthy elite.
  • The nation’s most important resources and industries should be controlled by the government rather than by wealthy businessmen.
  • The federal government should stay out of economic and business affairs.
  • The nation’s most powerful businesses should have more input into how the government should be run.
What was President Theodore Roosevelt’s attitude towards big businesses?
  • Roosevelt used the federal government to support and protect big businesses in an effort to strengthen the American economy.
  • Roosevelt used the Sherman Antitrust Act to break up over two dozen of the nation’s largest trusts.
  • Roosevelt made it a point to keep the federal government out of economic affairs as much as possible.
  • Roosevelt sought to make changes to the federal government to make it run more like the nation’s strongest industries.
How did President Teddy Roosevelt respond to the United Mine Workers’ strike in 1902?
  • Roosevelt sided with the mine owners and threatened to have the mine workers arrested for interfering with the production of a much-needed national resource.
  • Roosevelt refused to get involved with the dispute.
  • Roosevelt agreed to a compromise by granting mineworkers a small ownership stake in the mines they worked.
  • Roosevelt forced the mine owners to negotiate with the workers by threatening to send federal troops to work the mines.
What was the purpose of the Panama Canal?
  • to give America an additional source of revenue by charging a toll for the canal’s use
  • to provide a launching point for a future invasion of Central America
  • to provide a source of hydroelectric power for Central America
  • to provide a sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans that avoided having to travel all the way around the southern tip of South America
Why is Teddy Roosevelt considered by many to be America’s first environmentalist President?
  • Roosevelt fought hard against the use of fossil fuels in an effort to reign in air pollution.
  • Roosevelt instituted conservation efforts to protect American wildlife and natural resources.
  • Roosevelt placed a record number of regulations on the coal and oil industries to try and force industries to look elsewhere for safer, more sustainable fuel sources.
  • all of the above
What did progressives hope would be the result of the Sixteenth Amendment which gave Congress the authority to collect an income tax?
  • The federal government could use the new source of revenue to lower tariffs making goods cheaper for American consumers.
  • The tax revenue would mean the federal government would never again need to take out loans from private banks and foreign nations.
  • The income tax would replace all other federal and state taxes currently being imposed on Americans.
  • The income tax would pay for President Roosevelt’s conservation efforts and, in turn, lay the groundwork for even more environmental regulations.
How was President Woodrow Wilson and the Democratic Congress able to challenge and regulate American big business?
  • The Federal Trade Commission was created as a means of investigating illegal business and trade practices.
  • The Federal Reserve Act created rigid regulations and oversight for American banks.
  • The Clayton-Antitrust Act helped bolster the federal government’s ability to break up trusts.
  • all of the above
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Multiple Choice Questions
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