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Worksheets

Historical Developments in the United States

Total questions: 96

Worksheet time: 48mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 banned slavery north and west of the Ohio River.

a)

True

b)

False

2.

The successful Haitian Revolution of 1803 had little impact on slavery in the Americas.

a)

True

b)

False

3.

One of the major changes in the southern economy subsequent to the enactment of the United States Constitution was the rise of the Cotton industry and the impact of technological change and international markets on southern economic development.

a)

True

b)

False

4.

Following the War of 1812, one emerging threat to the unity of the United States was the emergence of “Sectionalism,” which consisted of policy and political conflicts over the differing interests of the northern, southern, and western states.

a)

True

b)

False

5.

Dueling was considered an acceptable method to settle insults between individuals prior to the 1860’s and was governed by an elaborate set of rules.

a)

True

b)

False

6.

As a result of the “Missouri Compromise,” Missouri was admitted to the union as a “free” state based on a promise that, when Kansas was admitted as a state in the future, it would enter the Union as a Slave state.

a)

True

b)

False

7.

Marriages between slaves in the antebellum south were recognized legally and were often used to prevent familial break-up upon the foreclosure and/or the death of an owner.

a)

True

b)

False

8.

One result of the election of Andrew Jackson was the formation of the modern Democratic Party from a wing of the Democratic-Republicans, creating the first modern American political party.

a)

True

b)

False

9.

One of President Andrew Jackson’s most divisive policies was his support of the (Second) Bank of the United States.

a)

True

b)

False

10.

The Cherokee Nation generally agreed to leave their traditional lands in return for lands in the West.

a)

True

b)

False

11.

The Christian Mission movement succeeded in thwarting President Andrew Jackson’s 1830 Indian Removal Policy.

a)

True

b)

False

12.

The wave of religious revivals that occurred across the United States in the first half of the 19th Century had little lasting impact on Christian worship in the country.

a)

True

b)

False

13.

Women were excluded from participation in religious revivals during the Second Great Awakening.

a)

True

b)

False

14.

New roads, canals, and the introduction of the steamboat provided conduits for settlement in the West.

a)

True

b)

False

15.

Cotton production remained a “Coastal Phenomenon” with cotton production limited to barrier islands and sub-tropical coastal locations within 50 miles of the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico.

a)

True

b)

False

16.

One of the most destructive financial downturns in the antebellum (pre-Civil War) era was the Financial Panic of 1844.

a)

True

b)

False

17.

"Manifest Destiny," the concept of westward settlement by Americans, did not exist prior to 1845.

a)

True

b)

False

18.

Next to the emergence of cotton, the emergence of steam power was critical to the economic progress of the south prior to the Civil War.

a)

True

b)

False

19.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the theologian and philosopher, was a leading proponent of both the "Young America" movement and the concept of Manifest Destiny.

a)

True

b)

False

20.

The emerging anti-slavery movement of the mid-19th Century included religious groups and intellectuals in both Europe and the United States.

a)

True

b)

False

21.

One of the most successful Christian-based social reform movements was the Temperance Movement, which was a movement to ban alcoholic beverages.

a)

True

b)

False

22.

Horace Greeley was famous for his advocacy for westward emigration of Americans with his advice to "Go West, young man."

a)

True

b)

False

23.

Slavery was one of the major drivers of the emerging "Sectional Crisis" between Northern and Southern States.

a)

True

b)

False

24.

The emerging Women's Rights movement had no association with the Abolitionist movement.

a)

True

b)

False

25.

Before the Civil War, northerners perceived the Federal Government to be Anti-Slavery.

a)

True

b)

False

26.

Abraham Lincoln, the Republican Presidential Candidate, received 60% of the popular vote in the 1860 election.

a)

True

b)

False

27.

Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens once stated that the Confederacy's "foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery . . . is his natural and normal condition."

a)

True

b)

False

28.

All Northerners outside of the "Border States" were pro-Union, while all southerners were pro-Confederate.

a)

True

b)

False

29.

Virginia and Tennessee were two of the original seven Seceding States that sent representatives to the Montgomery, Alabama convention that formed the Confederate States of America.

a)

True

b)

False

30.

While the Confederate Army was successful in initially thwarting the Union Army in Virginia, the Union Forces in the Western Theater were more successful during the first two years of the Civil War.

a)

True

b)

False

31.

The South was economically devastated at the end of the Civil War, and would not recover economically until after the "Great Depression" of the 1930s.

a)

True

b)

False

32.

During the Reconstruction Era, Florida was in Military District 3, and was readmitted to the Union in 1868 and the State Government was taken over by conservative Democrats in 1877, after serving as a key vote for President Rutherford B. Hayes in the 1876 election.

a)

True

b)

False

33.

The Ku Klux Klan was the only anti-black and anti-Republican militia operating in the former Confederacy during the Reconstruction era.

a)

True

b)

False

34.

No Black leaders held elective or appointed political office during the Reconstruction era.

a)

True

b)

False

35.

One of the enduring accomplishments of the Reconstruction era was the widespread establishment of public school systems in the South.

a)

True

b)

False

36.

Prior to the advance of white settlement westward, Native Americans related to the natural environment by:

a)

Passively living in harmony with it.

b)

Adapting to it in order to make their lives easier without depleting resources.

c)

Adapting to it and changing it in a variety of ways that served their own interests.

d)

Deliberately and continually depleting resources and migrating to new areas.

37.

While setting the stage for further westward expansion, President Thomas Jefferson was conscience-stricken about the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France because:

a)

Jefferson’s political opponents, the Federalists, supported his action.

b)

Jefferson was concerned that the purchase of the Louisiana Territory could be considered unconstitutional.

c)

President Jefferson felt that the purchase was not a fair deal for France.

d)

Due to competing claims between France and Britain, he feared it might give the British an excuse to declare war on the United States.

38.

As a result of Eli Whitney’s invention and development of the cotton gin:

a)

The institution of slavery revived and expanded.

b)

Slavery declined in the importance of the development of the South’s economy.

c)

The Southern Economy diversified away from agriculture.

d)

The textile industry moved to the South.

39.

Masters generally preferred black slaves over white indentured servants and “Free Labor” (aka “Wage Labor”) because slaves ____________.

a)

served for life unless emancipated, could be disciplined freely, and afforded a greater profit.

b)

served for life and were believed to be better workers.

c)

could be disciplined freely and were believed to be better workers.

d)

unless emancipated, slaves served for life and were believed to be smarter.

40.

In addition to their value as a labor source, another critical “value” of slaves was their ____________.

a)

collateral value for bank loans and other forms of monetary capital.

b)

value as settlers for previously uninhabited lands.

c)

use as a market for excess industrial production.

d)

industrial labor force.

41.

Amendments to the Missouri statehood bill in 1819 caused controversy because they proposed ____________.

a)

gradually emancipating all American slaves.

b)

gradually emancipating all slaves in Missouri.

c)

ending the sale of slaves between states.

d)

ending the sale of slaves in the United States.

42.

The 'Missouri Crisis,' which led to the Missouri Compromise of 1820, was caused by _______________.

a)

Opposition by southerners to Maine's entry to the Union as a 'free' state.

b)

Opposition of southern States and slaveholding interests to Missouri's proposed constitution, which banned importation of new slaves and forces the manumission of all existing slaves 25 years from the date of Statehood.

c)

Northern and western opposition to the entry of Missouri to the union as a 'slave' state.

d)

The Secretary of State John Quincy Adams personal opposition and refusal to certify the 1820 census.

43.

In the 1824 Presidential election, Presidential candidate Henry Clay promoted his 'American System,' a set of policies that included _______________.

a)

Governmental noninterference in the economy.

b)

Funding a smaller military and consolidation of War and Navy Departments.

c)

Higher internal taxes/revenues.

d)

Establishment of protective tariffs and Federal expenditures on internal improvements.

44.

One of the reasons Southerners feared the Tariff of 1828 was due to the fact that _______________.

a)

Tariffs would hurt their growing manufacturing sector.

b)

This imposition of federal government authority could potentially be used to suppress slavery.

c)

These actions might hurt Andrew Jackson's political career.

d)

Southerners were convinced that it would destroy the American woolen industry.

45.

John Calhoun's relationship as Vice President with President Andrew Jackson can best be judged by:

a)

Calhoun and his wife's unstinting support of Secretary of War Eaton and his wife during the 'Petticoat Incident'.

b)

Calhoun's support for President Jackson during the Panic of 1837.

c)

President Jackson's threat to hang Calhoun and other conspirators during the South Carolina 'Nullification' crisis.

d)

All answers are correct.

46.

All of the following statements about the Cherokee/Chickasaws exile along the 'Trail of Tears' are accurate EXCEPT _______________.

a)

The Trail of Tears exclusively affected only the Cherokee tribe, with no impact on other Native American groups.

b)

President Martin Van Buren evoked the deeply-flawed New Echota Treaty to forcibly remove long-established Native American populations from their lands.

c)

Roughly one-third (33%) of the Native Americans relocated during this period perished along the route to areas west of the Mississippi River.

d)

Harsh weather, poor planning, poor route selection by State and Federal authorities, and difficult travel conditions led to the death of many Native Americans.

e)

The overwhelming majority of Native Americans forced to the West under the Indian Removal Act and other treaties and legislation all were moved along the Trail of Tears.

47.

A major event in Mexico that would eventually lead to war and the expansion of slavery to the west was _______________.

a)

The war for Texas Independence.

b)

The Mexican defeat of the Rio Grande Republic.

c)

The Mexican Constitution of 1824.

d)

Comanche and Kiowa raids on Mexican territory.

48.

In the decades before the Civil War, between one-fifth and one-third of all slave marriages were broken up via _______________.

a)

Sale or forced migration.

b)

Divorce or separation resulting from familial conflict.

c)

Masters requiring remarriage to different partners.

d)

Murder.

49.

In the mid-19th Century, the Abolition movement, though Christian-based:

a)

Was widely popular in the northern states, while unpopular in the south.

b)

Was widely popular in both the north and the south, where abolition meetings were broken up by mobs, buildings burned, and abolitionists sometimes injured or killed.

c)

Was popular in the north and uneasily tolerated in parts of the upper south.

d)

All answers are correct.

50.

The massive Mid-nineteenth-century influx of Irish immigrants into the United States was accompanied by _______________.

a)

the passage of restrictive immigration laws.

b)

legislation lengthening residency requirements for citizenship.

c)

the growth of anti-Catholic discrimination and sentiment.

d)

a nationwide typhoid fever epidemic.

51.

According to our text, the rise of the “Cotton Kingdom” _______________.

a)

created a socially and economically stable communities.

b)

inhibited the adoption of steam power and other new technology.

c)

was a dynamic and unstable era, in which there was a fierce competition for land, slaves and investment capital.

d)

encouraged the rise of integrated, diverse markets across the south.

52.

The Mexican-American War (1845 – 1848) was caused by which of the following?

a)

The US annexation of Texas and the movement of the US Army into disputed territory.

b)

American settlement of the Oregon Territory and disputed lands in California.

c)

The discovery of gold in California.

d)

American incursions into the disputed areas of New Mexico province.

53.

A movement that was associated with the Democratic party and embraced the concept of Manifest Destiny was the _______________.

a)

Order of Cincinnati

b)

the “Free Soil” movement

c)

the “Young America” movement

d)

the Know-Nothing movement

54.

One notable movement that grew out of both the Temperance Movement and the Abolition Movement in the mid-19th Century was the _______________.

a)

The Prison Reform

b)

The Indian Missions Movement

c)

The American Home Missionary Society

d)

The Women’s Rights Movement

55.

One of the lasting impacts of the Female Education movement was _______________.

a)

the achievement of political equality.

b)

the concept of intellectual equality between men and women.

c)

Religious equality between the sexes.

d)

women’s property and inheritance rights.

56.

Which of these is NOT associated with the rise of the modern women’s rights movement in 1848?

a)

The Declaration of Sentiments

b)

The Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York

c)

The call to boycott traditional marriage as oppressive to women

d)

Women’s increasing involvement in the antislavery movement

57.

The issue that undermined the Compromise of 1850 was _______________.

a)

California statehood.

b)

runaway slaves in New England.

c)

the assumption of Texan debts.

d)

the ending of the slave trade in Washington, D.C.

58.

In California throughout the 1850’s citizens advocated tirelessly for _______________.

a)

increased immigration and emigration.

b)

immigration restrictions.

c)

a return to Mexican rule.

d)

the construction of a transcontinental railroad.

59.

What was the most consequential result of the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision?

a)

Slavery was abolished in Kansas.

b)

The Fugitive Slave Act was repealed.

c)

Ruled that black Americans could not be citizens.

d)

Overturned the Compromise of 1850.

60.

Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephen’s influential “Cornerstone Speech” declared that the cornerstone of the Confederacy rests:

a)

upon the bedrock of Constitutional liberty

b)

upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery… is his natural and normal condition

c)

upon the divine will of a loving and all-powerful god, who promises deliverance and strength to all his faithful children

d)

upon the power and terrifying might of the Confederate Army

61.

The ultimately successful land- and naval strategy developed for the Union by General Winfield Scott to defeat the Confederacy was known as ____________.

a)

The Relief of Fort Sumter

b)

The Anaconda Plan

c)

Sherman’s “March to the Sea”

d)

The Emancipation Proclamation

62.

Which of the following is true of the Emancipation Proclamation?

a)

It freed all slaves in the South immediately.

b)

It freed slaves in the North and the South.

c)

It freed slaves only in the “border states” and the western territories.

d)

It freed slaves only in those areas in which the federal government exercised no control.

63.

Following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, a Unionist Democrat from Tennessee, became President. The effect of Andrew Johnson’s inauguration was ____________.

a)

An advocate for acceleration of Reconstruction policies

b)

Behind an effort to ensure the quick passage of the 1866 Civil Rights Act and the 14th Amendment

c)

In opposition to the 1866 Civil Rights Act and 14th Amendment and the denigration of negro rights

d)

Known for an effort to restore former Confederates to official positions

64.

The first federal attempt to define all native-born Americans (except American Indians) to pass Congress was the ____________.

a)

Civil Rights Act of 1866

b)

The Thirteenth Amendment

c)

The Reconstruction Acts

d)

The Black Codes

65.

According to our text, the practical destruction of the slave system was accomplished:

a)

Through a Constitutional Amendment.

b)

By means of Congressional Legislation.

c)

Through Presidential proclamation.

d)

By the Civil War itself.

66.

Beginning in 1865, the southern States adopted a series of laws known as “Black Codes”, which were intended to ____________.

a)

restrict the rights and freedoms of African Americans

b)

promote equal rights for all citizens

c)

encourage economic growth in the South

d)

abolish racial segregation

67.

The section of the Fourteenth Amendment that had the greatest legal significance in subsequent years was the section that:

a)

guaranteed the war debt of the United States.

b)

conferred citizenship on freedmen and prohibited states from abridging their constitutional rights.

c)

withheld political power from prominent Confederates.

d)

penalized states that did not allow African Americans to vote.

68.

According to the text, Reconstruction ended when the Democrats assumed control of southern State Governments between 1873 and 1877. A driving factor in the Federal Government's abandonment of Reconstruction policies was:

a)

Competing military priorities due to the manpower requirements of the Plains Indian conflicts.

b)

Competing requirements for Federal troops to guard railroad construction efforts in the West.

c)

An economic decision to stabilize southern labor markets.

d)

The displacement of civil rights policies by economic concerns during the 1870s as a primary issue for most voters.

69.

A key organization that greatly assisted southern African-Americans in overcoming the legacies of slavery and served as a nexus for education, organization, and civil rights activism was:

a)

Colleges set up for freed blacks during the Reconstruction era.

b)

Federal aid programs targeted to assist freed slaves.

c)

Black Christian Churches.

d)

National-level Mutual Aid Societies.

70.

The impasse in the 1876 presidential election was broken by the Compromise of 1877, in which Democrats agreed to support Rutherford B. Hayes's inauguration in exchange for the:

a)

appointment of their candidate Samuel J. Tilden as Hayes's Secretary of State.

b)

overturning of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.

c)

Republicans' promise to use force to oppose Democratic electoral violence.

d)

withdrawal of all federal troops from the South.

71.

The Protestant Christian movement that spread through camp meetings, circuit rides, and emphasized a more personalized religious faith, a more direct relationship with God, individual salvation through faith, and tended to encourage the establishment of emergent Christian denominations over established Christian denominations is known as:

a)

The Great Awakening.

b)

The Second Great Awakening.

c)

The Enlightenment Movement.

d)

The Revivalist Movement.

72.

A collective movement of reform societies that proliferated throughout the United States between 1815 and 1861 growing directly out of nineteenth-century Christian revivalism, which melded religion and reform into a powerful force in American culture, was known as the:

a)

Abolitionist Movement.

b)

Temperance Movement.

c)

Benevolent Empire.

d)

Social Gospel Movement.

73.

One of Congress's first attempts to 'solve' the slavery issue was the ____________ Compromise of 1820.

a)

Missouri Compromise

b)

Kansas-Nebraska Compromise

c)

Compromise of 1850

d)

Wilmot Proviso

74.

The extensive rise of the southern 'King Cotton' agricultural economy was enabled by the invention of the:

a)

Cotton Gin.

b)

Steam Engine.

c)

Mechanical Reaper.

d)

Spinning Jenny.

75.

Despite not having franchise, one incident that showed the increasing political influence and impact of women in the mid-19th Century, even at the highest levels of the Federal government, was the ____________, which resulted in the resignation or firing of most of President Andrew Jackson's cabinet.

a)

Petticoat Affair.

b)

Seneca Falls Convention.

c)

Women's Suffrage Movement.

d)

Abolitionist Movement.

76.

The second modern political party in the United States, which was formed by disparate opponents of Andrew Jackson, fringe parties, and other opponents of the newly-reformed 'Democratic' party, were known as the:

a)

Whigs.

b)

Federalists.

c)

Republicans.

d)

Know-Nothings.

77.

Although most of the eight-year presidency of President Jackson resulted in unparalleled prosperity, Jackson's policy of eliminating the Second Bank of the United States and extending credit to state-chartered banks greatly contributed to the ____________, which wiped out much of the prosperity achieved during the Jackson Administration:

a)

Panic of 1837.

b)

Panic of 1819.

c)

Great Depression.

d)

Financial Crisis of 1857.

78.

One of the most notable Slave Revolts was ____________ Rebellion, which occurred in Virginia in 1831.

a)

Nat Turner's.

b)

Gabriel Prosser's.

c)

Denmark Vesey's.

d)

John Brown's.

79.

The US Annexation of ____________ as well as the admission of Florida to the Union in 1845 upended the informal policy of balancing the number of 'Slave' and 'Free' states.

a)

Texas.

b)

California.

c)

Louisiana.

d)

Oregon.

80.

By the middle of the 19th century, what was the most important cash crop supporting the southern agricultural economy?

a)

Cotton

b)

Tobacco

c)

Sugarcane

d)

Wheat

81.

What was the name opponents of President James Polk used to label the 1845–1848 war?

a)

Mr. Polk’s War

b)

The Mexican-American War

c)

The Texas War

d)

The California War

82.

What discovery in California unexpectedly undermined the “Compromise of 1850” and accelerated emigration to California?

a)

Gold

b)

Oil

c)

Silver

d)

Coal

83.

What term was used to describe northern politicians who were seen as “too friendly” to Southern interests?

a)

Slave Oligarchs

b)

Doughfaces

c)

Abolitionists

d)

Free Soilers

84.

Which Supreme Court decision inflamed the controversy over slavery and confirmed the Federal Government’s intent on spreading slavery nationwide?

a)

Dred Scott vs. Sandford

b)

Plessy vs. Ferguson

c)

Brown vs. Board of Education

d)

Marbury vs. Madison

85.

What trail did large numbers of emigrants to the Pacific Northwest travel by before the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad?

a)

Oregon Trail

b)

California Trail

c)

Santa Fe Trail

d)

Conestoga Trail

86.

What crop’s growth led to the expansion of the “King Cotton” economy at the expense of traditional southern cash crops?

a)

Cotton

b)

Tobacco

c)

Sugarcane

d)

Rice

87.

What was the process by which Americans privately financed military expeditions to seize unclaimed, disputed, and foreign lands on behalf of the United States?

a)

Filibustering

b)

Colonization

c)

Annexation

d)

Expansionism

88.

What term was used to describe the violent incidents in Kansas prior to the Civil War?

a)

Bleeding Kansas

b)

Bloody Kansas

c)

Kansas Massacre

d)

Kansas Rebellion

89.

Where were the first shots of the American Civil War fired?

a)

Charleston Harbor

b)

Fort Sumter

c)

Gettysburg

d)

Fort Pickens

90.

What was the bloodiest single day in American Military History during the Civil War?

a)

Battle of Antietam

b)

Battle of Gettysburg

c)

Battle of Fort Sumter

d)

Battle of Shiloh

91.

Which amendment abolished all forms of slavery and forced servitude except as punishment for crime?

a)

13th Amendment

b)

14th Amendment

c)

15th Amendment

d)

12th Amendment

92.

Virginia defined its customs on slavery in 1662 when it declared that children would inherit the status of their mothers.

a)

True

b)

False

93.

No American Civil War battles were fought in the State of Florida.

a)

True

b)

False

94.

Which of the following best describes the Salem witchcraft crisis of 1692?

a)

It occurred in an area where people were especially fearful of potential Indian attacks from the north.

b)

As the poor felt more and more powerless, they tried to take out their frustrations on the wealthy by charging them with practicing witchcraft.

c)

Old-guard Puritans created the crisis to regain their power and restore morality to the community.

d)

The crisis was primarily the result of a power struggle among leading Puritan families.

95.

On the question of whether to count slaves as part of a state's population in determining its representation in the House of Representatives, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention made which of the following decisions?

a)

The slaves would not be counted at all.

b)

One-fifth of the slaves would be counted in the population totals.

c)

Two-fifths of the slaves would be counted in the population totals.

d)

Three-fifths of the slaves would be counted in the population totals.

96.

There are 12 Counties in Florida named for men who served in the Seminole Wars, the American Civil War or were prominent Confederate Officials during the Civil War. Name two of these Florida Counties (worth x 2).

a)

Lee and Jackson

b)

Polk and Osceola

c)

Taylor and Bradford

d)

All of the above