American History I - Part B - Review

The image is a diagram of the USS Maine.

To investigate the sinking of this ship, a historian could use this image to

• create a design for a new version of the ship.

• compare American ships to Spanish ships.

• learn more about how the USS Maine was built.

• figure out how to build a ship that would not sink.

Which are the most likely reasons an interpretation of a historical event could change? Check all that apply.

• New evidence is discovered.

• New opinions are considered.

• Pieces of evidence are lost or stolen.

• Oversights and errors are corrected.

• New technology is applied to evidence.

Which two developments caused industrialization and the economy to grow during the Gilded Age?

• new technology and workers’ unemployment benefits

• new technology and a system of railroads

• a system of railroads and social change

• unemployment benefits and social change

Which change in the West was brought about by railroad expansion?

• The Western economy went into a recession.

• The mining and cattle ranching industries increased in the West.

• The Eastern economy went into recession.

• The wild buffalo population of the West increased.

Which of the following best describes the aim of the Dawes Act?

• to strongly encourage American Indians to sell their land

• to strongly encourage American Indians to speak English

• to strongly encourage American Indians to change religions

• to strongly encourage American Indians to become farmers

The Plains Indians embraced the Ghost Dance movement because they were

• trying to unite all American Indians.

• rallying against life on reservations.

• looking for a reservation to call home.

• creating a new buffalo-hunting ritual.

Which factor most contributed to delays in construction for the Central Pacific Railroad?

• a shortage of supplies

• intense summer heat

• long stretches of desolate landscape

• conflicts with American Indians

The Homestead Act greatly impacted the American Indians of the Great Plains by

• encouraging homesteaders to take over the American Indians’ farms.

• creating a drain on the food, clothing, and shelter of American Indians.

• making new technologies available to American Indians.

• bringing new schools to American Indian settlements.

I was enclosing my letter in its envelope when the explosion came. It was a bursting, rending, and crashing sound or roar of immense volume, largely metallic in character. . . . The electric lights, of which there were eight in the cabin where I was sitting, went out. Then there was intense blackness and smoke.

Read Captain Charles D. Sigsbee’s account of the sinking of the USS Maine, given in 1899.

This is a reliable source mainly because

• it is dated 1899, which was only a year after the ship’s sinking.

• it is based on secondhand information about the Maine sinking.

• it appeared in a fictional story about the sinking of the Maine.

• it was written by a person who was on board during the sinking.

Look at the chart below, which shows railroad growth in different areas of the country.

An increase in railroad mileage in an area led to great economic growth in that area. Between 1870 and 1890, which area had the greatest increase in railroads and, as a result, the most significant economic growth?

• New England

• the South

• Western states and territories

• the middle states