Deck 19: From Crisis to Empire

Question 1

An examination of American voters in the late nineteenth century reveals

A) voter turnout for both presidential and nonpresidential elections was very high.
B) there was greater voter interest in local elections than in national elections.
C) southern white males voted Republican as a matter of unquestioned faith.
D) voters did not strongly identify with either the Republican or Democratic Party.
E) voter turnout was lower than it has been in recent decades.

Answer 1

voter turnout for both presidential and nonpresidential elections was very high.

Question 2

What statement regarding the national Grange movement is FALSE?

A) At their peak, Grange supporters controlled the legislatures of most Midwest states.
B) It attempted to teach new scientific farming techniques to its members.
C) It sought to regulate the power and practices of railroads and warehouses.
D) It was greatly strengthened by the end of the economic depression in the late 1870s.
E) The political inexperience of many Grange leaders hurt the movement.

Answer 2

It was greatly strengthened by the end of the economic depression in the late 1870s.

Question 3

In the late nineteenth century,the most striking feature of the American party system was its

A) ideological divisions.
B) general activism.
C) lack of corruption.
D) remarkable stability.
E) multiple parties.

Answer 3

remarkable stability.

Question 4

The Interstate Commerce Act of 1887

A) put in place a series of regulations for railroad companies.
B) had little practical effect for decades.
C) created a five-person commission to oversee the act.
D) both created a five-person commission to oversee the act, and had little practical effect for decades.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 5

The election of 1888

A) involved clear differences on tariff issues between the major parties.
B) was one of the few elections during this era to escape charges of corruption.
C) produced a clear mandate from the voters for political reform.
D) was decided by Congress.
E) saw the Democrats take back the White House.

Question 6

In 1892,the People's Party called for

A) government subsidies of water for agricultural use.
B) the federal government to purchase surplus crops.
C) a flat income tax for all rural businesses.
D) a government network of crop warehouses.
E) government subsidies of wheat, corn, and cotton.

Question 7

The political battles between Stalwarts and Half-Breeds constituted a fight

A) within the Democratic Party.
B) that ultimately redefined national political practices.
C) between Republican traditionalists and reformers.
D) that revolved around the temperance movement.
E) over the legacy of Reconstruction.

Question 8

In his second term,President Grover Cleveland

A) grew more active in social reform.
B) followed policies similar to those of his first term.
C) faced a Republican-controlled Congress.
D) changed his position on tariffs.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 9

The election of 1892

A) saw Populism do well at the local level but fail to elect anyone to Congress.
B) exposed the declining political power of farmers.
C) saw the Republicans sweep into dominant power.
D) saw few Populist-backed candidates get elected.
E) saw the debut of the People's Party.

Question 10

In the 1888 election,the position of primary importance to the Republican Party was

A) restrictions on immigration.
B) reductions in taxation.
C) a prohibition on alcohol.
D) support for public education.
E) support for high tariffs.

Question 11

Throughout the late nineteenth century,the federal government

A) developed a prominent role in international relations.
B) shrank in size in terms of employees and budget expenditures.
C) had no meaningful responsibilities.
D) funded large public-works projects to alleviate unemployment.
E) was relatively inactive.

Question 12

In the late nineteenth century,Democrats tended to attract greater numbers of

A) Catholics.
B) citizens of old American stock.
C) the middle class.
D) Protestants.
E) northern blacks.

Question 13

The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890

A) was strongly opposed by congressional Republicans.
B) signified that the era of trusts was ending.
C) was indifferently enforced and weakened by the courts.
D) was strengthened by the courts over the next decade.
E) mirrored legislation passed earlier in New Jersey and Delaware.

Question 14

In the late nineteenth century,as veterans of the Civil War retired,

A) the federal government created a pension system for all retired Americans.
B) they were paid pensions by individual states, but not by the federal government.
C) the federal government gave pensions to both Union and Confederate veterans.
D) a majority of the black and white male population in the North received federal pensions.
E) they were forced to do without military pensions of any kind.

Question 15

Samuel Burchard's "rum,Romanism,and rebellion" speech during the election of 1884 most hurt

A) Grover Cleveland.
B) Benjamin Harrison.
C) ChesterA. Arthur.
D) Roscoe Conkling.
E) James G. Blaine.

Question 16

The Farmers' Alliances

A) were far more widespread than the Grange movement.
B) were created to replace Grange associations.
C) had more effective and better-managed cooperatives than the Grange movement.
D) sought a closer working relationship with banks than had the Grange movement.
E) shunned the political system, emphasizing instead education and organization.

Question 17

ChesterA.Arthur

A) supported the Pendleton Act as part of civil service reform.
B) upset reformers by supporting the political "spoils system."
C) quickly replaced most of James Garfield's appointees.
D) was a political novice when he assumed the presidency.
E) had long been a fierce opponent of Roscoe Conkling.

Question 18

The Panic of 1893

A) grew out of a political scandal in the Cleveland administration.
B) triggered the nation's most severe depression up to that point.
C) began with a drought in the Midwest.
D) was blamed largely on Populist politics.
E) grew out of the Cleveland administration's attempts at monetary reform.

Question 19

In 1894,Jacob Coxey and his supporters

A) demanded that Congress establish a program of unemployment insurance.
B) called for a public works program for the unemployed.
C) organized a march on Washington as part of plans to overthrow the government.
D) were arrested by police, with many later deported as anarchists.
E) demanded that Congress nationalize the railroads.

Question 20

To many middle-class Americans,the major labor upheavals of the late nineteenth century

A) were evidence that the inequalities of capitalism needed to be addressed.
B) drew little interest outside of large urban cities.
C) were clear indications of the excessive power of monopolies.
D) suggested that a Labor Party, if founded, might eventually capture the presidency.
E) were dangerous signs of social instability.

Question 21

In the early stage of the Spanish-American War,Commodore George Dewey destroyed the Spanish fleet in

A) Puerto Rico.
B) Havana Harbor.
C) Manila Harbor.
D) Port-au-Prince.
E) the Gulf of Mexico.

Question 22

The congressional law of 1873 that officially discontinued silver coinage

A) was passed to benefit international trade merchants.
B) was passed over the strong objections of farmers.
C) became known to critics as the "Crime of '73."
D) was hotly debated at the time.
E) was passed because the value of silver had fallen to an all-time low.

Question 23

As the Republican Party approached the 1896 election,they were

A) deeply divided over their candidate.
B) confident of victory.
C) in agreement that unemployment would be the major issue.
D) deeply divided over their candidate, but confident of victory.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 24

The leader of Hawaii who was forced to yield authority to the American government upon annexation was

A) King Kamehameha I.
B)G. P. Judd.
C) William Hooper.
D) Queen Liliuokalani.
E) King Kamehameha III.

Question 25

The American politician who referred to the Spanish-American conflict as "a splendid little war" was

A) William McKinley.
B) Elihu Root.
C) Theodore Roosevelt.
D) William Jennings Bryan.
E) John Hay.

Question 26

Which of the following statements regarding the Spanish-American War is FALSE?

A) The war lasted only a few months, with fewer than 500 American battle casualties.
B) U.S. Army soldiers were well-equipped and supplied.
C) More than 5,000 U.S. soldiers died from disease during the war.
D) Cuban rebels did most of the fighting even after the Americans joined in the war.
E) Most Americans shared the opinion that it was a "splendid little war."

Question 27

The Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 called for the federal government to

A) purchase and coin silver.
B) expand the nation's currency supply.
C) change the ratio of silver to gold to 20:1.
D) abandon the gold standard.
E) purchase silver but not coin it.

Question 28

American agriculture at the turn of the century benefited from

A) foreign crop failures.
B) new discoveries of silver.
C) a new silver agreement with Great Britain and France.
D) new federal crop subsidies.
E) free trade agreements negotiated by William McKinley.

Question 29

The letter stolen in 1898 from Dupuy de Lôme,Spain's minister to Washington,was controversial because it

A) included praise for the destruction of the battleship Maine.
B) discussed the use of Spanish spies in Washington,D.C.
C) described William McKinley as a weak president.
D) mocked the military capabilities of the United States.
E) argued that Mexico should attack the U.S. to regain California and Texas.

Question 30

In 1896,the major economic issue for William McKinley's administration was

A) the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act.
B) the restoration of "bimetallism."
C) the need for higher tariff rates.
D) labor unrest.
E) the repeal of the Specie Resumption Act.

Question 31

The author of The Influence of Sea Power upon History believed the United States

A) should take possession of the Hawaiian Islands.
B) should go to war with England to destroy its navy.
C) had too cumbersome a navy and should streamline it by decommissioning capital ships.
D) should both take possession of the Hawaiian Islands and go to war with England to destroy its navy.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 32

In the campaign of 1896,William McKinley

A) alienated Protestants by reaching out to Catholics.
B) campaigned largely from his house.
C) was significantly outspent by his opponent.
D) appealed to the interests of urban industrial workers.
E) embarked on an unprecedented public-speaking tour.

Question 33

William Jennings Bryan was nominated for president in the 1896 election by the

A) Farmers' Alliance.
B) Democrats.
C) Populists.
D) Republicans.
E) Grangers.

Question 34

Arguments used by Social Darwinists in the United States to justify expansionism

A) included the belief that weak nations should be left room to develop.
B) contended that all nations were engaged in a constant struggle to survive.
C) were created and first promoted by Charles Darwin himself.
D) differed sharply from arguments used for domestic economic affairs.
E) suggested that harmony among "races" depended on open markets and free trade.

Question 35

The Spanish-American War began primarily because of events in

A) Cuba.
B) the Philippines.
C) Puerto Rico.
D) Mexico.
E) Guatemala.

Question 36

The "Cross of Gold" speech was given in 1896 by

A) William McKinley.
B) Grover Cleveland.
C) Mark Hanna.
D) William Jennings Bryan.
E) James Weaver.

Question 37

Prior to its annexation by the United States in 1898,Hawaii

A) did not have a sugar industry.
B) was largely governed by a representative assembly.
C) had a native population of under ten thousand inhabitants.
D) had little contact with the United States.
E) had witnessed a revolution staged by American planters.

Question 38

In the late nineteenth century,the United States' interest in Samoa saw competition from

A) Russia.
B) Germany.
C) Japan.
D) Australia.
E) Spain.

Question 39

The bulk of U.S.soldiers in the Spanish-American War came from

A) National Guard units.
B) volunteers.
C) a draft.
D) the federal professional army.
E) hired mercenaries.

Question 40

The author who called on the United States to increase its naval forces in his book,The Influence of Sea Power upon History,was

A) William McKinley.
B) Richard Olney.
C) JamesG. Blaine.
D) Alfred T. Mahan.
E) Leonard Wood.

Question 41

The Spanish-American War revealed to American military planners

A) the need to improve glaring deficiencies in the army.
B) that they should never fight another war in the malaria-infested Caribbean.
C) the necessity of maintaining a military draft.
D) that National Guard troops were less reliable than federal troops.
E) the need to desegregate the armed forces.

Question 42

The Treaty of Paris concluding the Spanish-American War

A) required Spain to pay the United States $20 million for its military costs.
B) was quickly ratified by the United States Senate.
C) transferred the Philippines and Puerto Rico to the United States.
D) was rejected by Spain and was never implemented.
E) rejected most of the terms of the earlier armistice.

Question 43

In 1899,supporters of the annexation of the Philippines argued the United States had set a precedent for taking land while treating its inhabitants as dependents with the case of the

A) North's occupation of the South following the Civil War.
B) federal government's treatment of American Indians.
C) nation's claiming of Florida from Spain in 1819.
D) United States' taking of Hawaii in 1898.
E) United States' claiming of California and Texas after the Mexican War.

Question 44

The first civilian governor of the Philippines,who gave Filipinos broad local autonomy,was

A) Emilio Aguinaldo.
B) Arthur MacArthur.
C) Elihu Root.
D) Theodore Roosevelt.
E) William Howard Taft.

Question 45

The Republican Party of the late nineteenth century appealed primarily to Protestants,in both the North and the South.

Question 46

In the early 1900s,which American dependency did NOT receive territorial status?

A) Cuba
B) Alaska
C) Puerto Rico
D) Hawaii
E) None of these answers is correct, as all received territorial status.

Question 47

The Foraker Act of 1900

A) made all Puerto Ricans citizens of the United States.
B) established an American colonial government over Puerto Rico.
C) put Puerto Rico under American military rule.
D) called for Puerto Rico to be considered for statehood.
E) abolished slavery in Puerto Rico.

Question 48

The man appointed to supervise a major overhaul of the armed forces was

A) William Howard Taft.
B) Leonard Wood.
C) William Shafter.
D) Arthur MacArthur.
E) Elihu Root.

Question 49

The Chinese Boxer Rebellion of 1900 was directed at

A) the Chinese government.
B) all foreigners in China.
C) Americans in China.
D) Japanese in China.
E) the growing Chinese communist movement.

Question 50

In the early twentieth century,Cuba

A) attracted little investment by American businesses.
B) won a large measure of political independence from the United States.
C) developed a stable economy through its sugar industry.
D) was occupied by troops from the United States for years at a time.
E) saw intermittent resistance against "Yankee imperialism."

Question 51

Beginning in 1898,the American war in the Philippines

A) lasted for years and resulted in thousands of American deaths.
B) saw close to 10,000 Filipinos die in the conflict.
C) was led by General George Pershing.
D) saw the United States withdraw its military and negotiate a diplomatic end to the conflict.
E) went much more smoothly than the recent Spanish-American War.

Question 52

Theodore Roosevelt's famous charge in the battle of San Juan Hill,in the Spanish-American War,

A) has been considered bold and reckless.
B) was a minor part of the battle.
C) actually took place on Kettle Hill.
D) resulted in nearly a hundred American dead or wounded.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 53

The "Open Door notes"

A) sought to give the United States a monopoly on trade with China.
B) gave the United States a reason to be militarily involved in China.
C) were directed to imperial powers in Europe and Asia.
D) were written by Theodore Roosevelt.
E) argued that Japan should open its borders to free trade.

Question 54

Voter turnout for presidential elections in the late nineteenth century was much higher in terms of percentages than is the case today.

Question 55

Criticisms within the United States regarding American colonialism included all the following major arguments EXCEPT that

A) the financial costs of administering colonies would require burdensome taxes.
B) imperialism was immoral and contrary to the nation's commitment to human freedom.
C) foreign obligations and entangling alliances would threaten American liberties.
D) the nation's population would be "polluted" by "inferior" races.
E) imperialism would mean a flood of cheap laborers and unwelcome competition.

Question 56

President Cleveland generally questioned the wisdom of protective tariffs.

Question 57

The two-party system of the late nineteenth century was remarkably stable.

Question 58

Party identification in the late nineteenth century was usually a reflection more of cultural and geographic identity than of economic calculation.

Question 59

The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was used largely against labor unions.

Question 60

According to the terms of the 1901 Platt Amendment,

A) Cuba could only form treaties with nations that were allied with the United States.
B) the United States had the right to intervene in Cuba to protect life and property.
C) Cuba was to be made a demilitarized region.
D) the U.S. Congress had to approve each member of the Cuban legislature.
E) Cuba was to be granted full political independence.

Question 61

During the late nineteenth century,the supply of money did not keep pace with economic progress.

Question 62

In 1896,the Populists refused to join with the Democrats.

Question 63

American interest in a war with Cuba was spurred by the 1895 death of Valeriano Weyler,head of the Cuban Revolutionary Party.

Question 64

A naval court of inquiry reported that the Maine had been blown up by an external explosion.

Question 65

The American annexation of Puerto Rico produced a storm of protest in the United States.

Question 66

Like the Granges,the Farmers' Alliances formed cooperatives and other marketing mechanisms.

Question 67

The new People's Party sought to build a broad coalition but appealed mostly to farmers.

Question 68

President Cleveland damaged the Democratic Party when he moved to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act.

Question 69

The economic collapse triggered by the Panic of 1893 was the worst to that point in American history.

Question 70

In the last few months leading up to war with Spain,President McKinley sought to involve the United States in the conflict in Cuba.

Question 71

The fact that black Cuban soldiers fought alongside whites as equals gave black American soldiers a stronger sense of the injustices they faced.

Question 72

Democratic President Grover Cleveland was fairly consistent in his belief in and commitment to minimal government.

Question 73

Bigotry was the dominant force behind the Populist movement.

Question 74

Some American sugar growers in Hawaii deliberately sought to create a mixed-race workforce.

Question 75

Early in the Spanish-American War,Commodore George Dewey managed to completely destroy the Spanish fleet in the Pacific at Manila Bay.

Question 76

The United States was forced to rely on the regular army and a military draft in fighting the Spanish-American War.

Question 77

The Democratic National Convention of 1896 saw the party attempt to incorporate some Populist demands into its platform.

Question 78

The United States led Europe in establishing an empire in the late nineteenth century.

Question 79

During its short life,Populism was able to attract significant industrial labor support.

Question 80

For the ten years before 1899,America jockeyed over dominance of Samoa with Spain and France.