U.S. History Midterm Review 2025

Which event was the catalyst for the secession of the first seven Southern states?

• Passage of a higher protective tariff

• Issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation

• The election of Abraham Lincoln

• The shipment of Union supplies to Ft. Sumter

Why did the Union impose a naval blockade on the South during the Civil War?

• To promote domestic industries in the South.

• To strangle the shipment of supplies to the Confederacy.

• To motivate enslaved African Americans to migrate to the North.

• To encourage Union sympathizers to persuade their states to rejoin the Union.

Which factor led to the Nadir of race relations in the United States during Reconstruction?

• The federal government delayed the removal of troops from the South.

• Local governments encouraged the desegregation of public schools in the South.

• States encouraged the voluntary movement of African Americans to isolated communities.

• The federal government failed to enforce legislation granting African Americans civil rights.

Which of the following was a consequence of sharecropping and the crop lien system in the South?

• A rise in cotton yields compared to antebellum production levels.

• A cycle of debt and depression from Southern tenant farmers.

• A major redistribution of land ownership.

• A diversification (various forms) of crops.

How did the Black Codes affect Southern society after the Civil War?

• By encouraging African Americans to own land

• By protecting African Americans from debt peonage

• By formalizing discrimination against African Americans

• By providing educational opportunities for African Americans

Which practices were introduced in Southern states to circumvent the 15th Amendment?

• African-American freedom increased their participation in the nation's first biracial democracy.

• Poll taxes, literacy tests, and residency requirements were passed, which affected African-Americans more than other citizens.

• White and black children in Southern states were required to attend separate, racially segregated public schools, and to use separate playgrounds.

• "Jim Crow" laws imposed racial segregation in public places, including trains, restaurants, and hotels.

How did the Dawes Act (1887) mark a departure from earlier federal Indian policy?

• It led to conflicts between new settlers and Indian tribes on the Great Plains.

• It moved Indian tribes still on the Great Plains to reservations farther west.

• It permitted Indians to withdraw private plots from the tribal reservation.

• It encouraged the shooting of buffalo herds from new railroad lines.

What did the Morrill Land Grant provide?

• Federal government land to states to establish agricultural and mechanical colleges.

• Free land to any head of household willing to settle and remain on it for five years.

• Large reservations for Plains Indians to secure their buffalo herds.

• Forty acres of land and a mule distributed to former slaves.

The belief that life consists of competitive struggles in which only the fittest survive is known as

• socialism.

• the Social Gospel.

• Social Darwinism.

• jingoism.

What was the significance of the Interstate Commerce Act and the Sherman Antitrust Act?

• They encouraged Big Business to grow by passing protective tariffs.

• They prevented poor quality goods from being shipped across state lines.

• They were both used to break labor unions that interfered with free enterprise.

• They established the principle that Congress could regulate business in certain circumstances.