American Foundations Final Exam Review
American Foundations Final Exam Review
American Policies
1. The speakers below are discussing foreign policies that the United States has followed at various times. Base your answers on their statements and on your knowledge of social studies.
Speaker A: Steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.
Speaker B: The United States will give economic aid to needy countries anywhere in the world, but will not provide military aid.
Speaker C: The United States must prevent the growth of communism.
Speaker D: The United States can take over other countries to help them become more like us.
Which speaker states a policy most similar to the foreign policy advice given by President George Washington in his Farewell Address?
Speaker A
2. When John Marshall was ChiefJustice, United States Supreme Court decisions tended to strengthen the power of
the Federal Government.
3. "All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and well born, the other the mass of the people. . . . The people are turbulent and changing. . . . Give therefore to the first class a distinct permanent share in the government. They will check the unsteadiness of the second."
-Alexander Hamilton
The author of this quotation suggests that:
The common people cannot be trusted to run a stable government.
4. “It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is. . . .” —Marbury v. Madison, 1803. This statement expresses the Supreme Court’s claim that
the power of judicial review belongs to the Supreme Court.
5. One factor that led to the formation of the first two political parties in the United States in the 1790s was the conflict over the
powers of the State and Federal Governments.
6. The purpose of the Homestead Act of 1862, which provided free federal land, was to
encourage settlement in the West.
7. A major reason for the issuance of the Monroe Doctrine (1823) was to
prevent further European colonization in the Western Hemisphere.
8. During the presidency of Andrew Jackson, the spoils system resulted in
elected officials rewarding their supporters with government jobs.
9. The legal basis for the United States purchase of the LouisianaTerritory was the
power granted to the President to make treaties.
10. During the early 1800s, the United States placed few restrictions on immigration
because:
The industrial economy was creating new jobs.
11. The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 was mainly concerned with
expanding women’s rights.
12. Which statement about immigration to the United States is most accurate?
The desire for economic advancement has been a major reason for immigration to the U.S.
13. Which expression most accurately illustrates the concept of nativism?
A)“Help Wanted — Irish Need Not Apply”
B)“Go West, young man.”
C)“America — first in war and peace”
D)“The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.”
14. In the late 19th century, the major argument used by labor union leaders against immigrants was that immigrants
were taking the jobs of U.S. citizens.
15. Read each of the following excerpts and answer the question below:
Speaker A:“Our nation has grown and prospered from the ideas and labor of immigrants. The nation has been enriched by immigrants from different nations who brought new
ideas and lifestyles, which have become part of American culture.”
Speaker B:“United States industries are competing with established European manufacturers. To prosper, American industries need the vast supply of unskilled labor that is
provided by immigrants.”
Speaker C:“Immigrants are taking jobs at low wages without regard for long hours and workers’ safety. American workers must unite to
end this unfair competition.”
Speaker D:“Immigrants arrive in American cities poor and frightened. They are helped to find jobs or housing. These newcomers should show their gratitude at voting time.”
Which speaker is most clearly expressing the melting pot theory?
Speaker A
Immigration
16. According to the cartoonist, the United States has
A)an ethnically diverse population
B)an overly restrictive immigration policy
C)a national requirement that high school students learn foreign languages
D)a census report printed in languages that are spoken in the United States
17. Read each of the following excerpts and answer the question below:
Speaker A:“Our nation has grown and prospered from the ideas and labor of immigrants. The nation has been enriched by immigrants from different nations who brought new
ideas and lifestyles, which have become part of American culture.”
Speaker B:“United States industries are competing with established European manufacturers. To prosper, American industries need the vast supply of unskilled labor that is
provided by immigrants.”
Speaker C:“Immigrants are taking jobs at low wages
without regard for long hours and workers’ safety. American workers must unite to
end this unfair competition.”
Speaker D:“Immigrants arrive in American cities poor and frightened. They are helped to find jobs or housing. These newcomers should show their gratitude at voting time.”
Which speaker is most clearly expressing the melting pot theory?
Speaker A
Manifest Destiny
18. "Compromise Enables Maine and Missouri To Enter Union" (1820)
"California Admitted to Union as Free State" (1850)
"Kansas-Nebraska Act Sets Up Popular Sovereignty" (1854)
Which issue is reflected in these headlines?
The extension of slavery
19. The Louisiana Purchase had great geographic significance for the United States because it
focused the U.S. on Westward expansion
20. The phrase “by military conquest, treaty, and purchase” best describes the
methods used to expand the territory of the United States.
21. Before the Civil War, the principle of popular sovereignty was proposed as a means
of
deciding the legalization of slavery in a new state.
22. Which geographic advantage did the United States gain by purchasing the LouisianaTerritory from France in 1803?
Full control of the Mississippi River and the port of New Orleans
Events Leading to the Civil War
23. Which of the following was a result of the Missouri Compromise?
A)Missouri and Maine became slave states
B)Missouri and Maine became free states
C)Missouri became a slave state and Maine a free state
D)Missouri became a free state and Maine a slave state
- Who proposed the Missouri Compromise?
Henry Clay
- What was the result of the Missouri Compromise Line?
Slavery would be closed to territories north of the line and open to territories south of the line.
- What main idea/argument did the Wilmot Proviso introduce?
The federal government had the power over slavery.
27. List the impacts of the Compromise of 1850?
California was admitted as a free state.
The slave trade in WashingtonD.C. was banned.
Settled the border dispute between Texas and New Mexico
Passed the fugitive slave Act
28.List three impacts of the Fugitive Slave Act?
Northerners were forced to help catch slaves
Judges were given extra money to send slaves back south
Some free African Americans were ruled as escaped slaves and sent south
29. The Kansas-Nebraska Act led to:
Violence in the Kansas and Nebraska territories.
Pro and Anti slavery settlers moving into Kansas and Nebraska.
Increased tensions/fighting over the issue of slavery.
30. What law did the Kansas-Nebraska Act violate?
The Missouri Compromise
31. Why did the Supreme Court rule that Dred Scott was not allowed to file a lawsuit?
A) He was a criminal.
B) He was not born in America.
C) His owner did not give him permission
D) He was considered property
32. What was one reason that the result of the Supreme Court decision in the Dred Scott
case was controversial?
It raised the issue of who had the power to control slavery.
- The Dred Scott decision repealed what law?
The Missouri Compromise.
34. Why did John Brown raid a federal arsenal?
He wanted to lead a slave revolt to end slavery.
35. What main issue was the common source of tension, arguments and
violence throughout the nation during his time period?
The struggle for power between federal and state governments.
Civil War
36.What was President Abraham Lincoln’s justification for the Civil War?
As President, he was required to preserve the Union.
37. A major result of the Civil War was that it strengthened the power of:
The Federal Government.
38. Sectional differences developed in the United States largely because
Economic conditions and interests varied in each region.
39. The rulings of the Supreme Court in Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857), Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), and Korematsu v. United States (1944) all demonstrate that the Supreme Court has
Failed to protect the rights of minorities.
40. Before the Civil War, slavery expanded in the South rather than in the North because
The geographic conditions encouraged the growth of plantations in the south.
41. Which phrase best completes the title for the partial outline shown below?
I. Reasons for the ______
A. Increasing sectionalism
B. Disagreements over states’ rights issues
C. Breakdown of compromise
D. Election of 1860
Secession of the southern states.
42. "A house divided against itself cannot stand. . . . I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. . . .” -Abraham Lincoln, 1858 The “divided house” referred to in this speech was caused primarily by
Slavery.
43. The North’s rapid economic growth during the Civil War was stimulated by
Increased government demand for many products.
44. The election results shown on this map most clearly reflect the influence of
A)nationalist motives
B)sectional differences
C)political stability
D)ethnic conflicts
45. Which statement is best supported by the data in the table?
More soldiers died from disease than from wounds.
Reconstruction Era
46. "Although important strides were made, Reconstruction failed to provide lasting guarantees of the civil rights of the freedmen.” Which evidence best supports this statement:
Jim Crow laws were passed.
47. The Jim Crow laws of the post-Civil War Era were attempts by state and local governments to:
Restrict the rights and freedoms of African-Americans.
48. The 14th amendment provides that no "state [shall] deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." A direct result of this amendment was that the guarantees in the Bill of Rights applied to:
All states (laws).
49. Poll taxes and grandfather clauses were devices used to
Prevent African-Americans from voting.
50. During Reconstruction, the Black Codes passed by Southern states were attempts to
Deny equal rights to African-Americans.
51. The institution of slavery was formally abolished in the United States by the
The 13th Amendment.
52. In the ten years following the Civil War, a large numbers of former slaves earned a
living by becoming:
Sharecroppers
53. Constitutional amendments adopted during Reconstruction were intended to
Provide legal and political rights to African-Americans.