Deck 10: Americas Economic Revolution

Question 1

Before the 1830s, American corporations could be chartered only by

A)an act of Congress.
B)presidential executive order.
C)state legislatures.
D)a public vote.
E)a state governor.

Answer 1

state legislatures.

Question 2

Which of the following statements regarding American railroads in the 1850s is FALSE?

A)Railroads helped weaken the connection between the Northwest and the South.
B)Most railroad "trunk lines" were reduced or eliminated.
C)Long distance rail lines weakened the dependence of the West on the Mississippi River.
D)Chicago was the railroad center of the West.
E)Private investors provided nearly all the capital for rail development.

Answer 2

Private investors provided nearly all the capital for rail development.

Question 3

Which city did NOT owe its growth to the Great Lakes?

A)Milwaukee
B)Chicago
C)Cleveland
D)Cincinnati
E)Buffalo

Answer 3

Cincinnati

Question 4

Prior to 1860, hostility among native-born Americans toward immigrants was spurred, in part, by

A)the refusal by immigrants to adopt to American culture.
B)fears of political radicalism.
C)the ability of immigrants to command high wages.
D)concerns that immigrants generally did not participate in politics.
E)the effect they had on the falling price of African slaves.

Question 5

In 1860, the percentage of the population in the South living in towns (2,500+ people) was

A)five percent.
B)ten percent.
C)fifteen percent.
D)twenty percent.
E)thirty-three percent.

Question 6

The Erie Canal was

A)limited to flat land.
B)built entirely by private investors.
C)built without either locks or gates.
D)a tremendous financial success.
E)a great boon to the growth of Philadelphia.

Question 7

The Morse code used electrical current to create

A)a series of alternating electrical bursts which represented individual letters.
B)a numerical code in which each number represented a word on a list.
C)the first electrical reproduction of the human voice.
D)the first practical electric engine.
E)a series of alternating electrical bursts which represented words on a list.

Question 8

The "Know-Nothing" movement was partially directed at reducing the influence of

A)Catholics.
B)abolitionists.
C)Democrats.
D)Jews.
E)free blacks.

Question 9

Between 1800 and 1830, immigration to the United States

A)was the most significant factor in the nation's population growth.
B)consisted mostly of people from southern Europe.
C)was at its peak for the century.
D)consisted mostly of people from Germany and Russia.
E)was not a significant contributor to the national population.

Question 10

By 1866, telegraphic communication

A)existed between the United States and Europe.
B)had become a popular device in many American households.
C)was controlled by companies that operated within each time zone.
D)All the answers are correct.
E)None of the answers are correct.

Question 11

After 1852, the "Know-Nothings" created a new political organization called the

A)Copperheads.
B)Republican Party.
C)Nativist Party.
D)Libertarian Party.
E)American Party.

Question 12

Before 1860, compared to Irish immigrants to the United States, German immigrants

A)generally arrived with more money.
B)were less likely to migrate as entire families.
C)were more likely to remain in Eastern cities.
D)came in greater numbers.
E)generally moved on to the Southeast.

Question 13

Before 1860, the largest single group of arriving Irish immigrants was

A)young, single men.
B)families.
C)children.
D)skilled laborers.
E)young, single women.

Question 14

In comparing turnpike transportation to canal transportation,

A)canal transportation was generally developed before turnpike transportation.
B)canal construction was less expensive than turnpike construction.
C)canal boats could haul vastly larger loads than could road transports.
D)state governments gave little financial support to canal transportation.
E)New York was the first to finance turnpike construction.

Question 15

In the 1820s and 1830s, railroads

A)played a relatively small role in the nation's transportation system.
B)standardized both the gauge of tracks and timetables.
C)saw its greatest development in the southern slave states.
D)became the dominant form of transportation in the nation.
E)had not yet been constructed in America.

Question 16

During the 1840s, advances in journalism included all of the following EXCEPT

A)the creation of a national cooperative news-gathering organization.
B)the technological means to reproduce photographs in newsprint.
C)the invention of the steam cylinder rotary press.
D)the introduction of the telegraph system.
E)the dramatic growth of mass-circulation newspapers.

Question 17

Between 1840 and 1860, the overwhelming majority of immigrants who arrived in the United States came from

A)Italy and Russia.
B)Ireland and Germany.
C)England and Russia.
D)England and Ireland.
E)Ireland and Italy.

Question 18

In 1860, the percentage of the population in free states living in towns (2,500+ people) was

A)seven percent.
B)thirteen percent.
C)twenty-six percent.
D)thirty-nine percent.
E)forty-two percent.

Question 19

In the 1830s, limited liability laws were developed in the United States that

A)protected the stockholders' full investment in a company.
B)restricted the amount of capital a corporation could possess.
C)prevented a corporation from being dominated by a small group of stockholders.
D)protected corporations from liability lawsuits.
E)meant stockholders could not be charged with losses greater than their investment.

Question 20

Between 1820 and 1840, the population of the United States

A)rapidly grew, in part, due to improved public health.
B)saw the proportion of enslaved blacks to free whites increase.
C)increased at a slower rate than in Europe.
D)remained relatively constant.
E)grew in spite of a very low birth rate in America.

Question 21

By 1860, factories in the United States

A)were concentrated in the Northeast.
B)produced goods whose total value greatly exceeded the nation's agricultural output.
C)employed one-third of the nation's manufacturing labor force.
D)All the answers are correct.
E)None of the answers are correct.

Question 22

Prior to 1860, class conflict in the United States

A)increased as most of the working class dropped down the economic ladder.
B)increased as the gap between the wealthy and the poor widened.
C)was limited by a high degree of mobility within the working class.
D)decreased as immigration diversified society.
E)increased as a result of geographical mobility.

Question 23

By 1860, the energy for industrialization in the United States increasingly came from

A)water.
B)kerosene.
C)coal.
D)gasoline.
E)wood.

Question 24

Before 1860, the development of machine tools by the United States government resulted in the

A)turret lathe.
B)universal milling machine.
C)precision grinder.
D)All the answers are correct.
E)None of the answers are correct.

Question 25

In the 1820s and 1830s, the labor force for factory work in the United States

A)saw many skilled urban artisans move into factory jobs.
B)consisted mostly of European immigrants.
C)was reduced by dramatic improvements in agricultural production.
D)All the answers are correct.
E)None of the answers are correct.

Question 26

The commercial and industrial growth in the United States prior to 1860 resulted in

A)increasing disparities in income between the rich and poor.
B)a significant rise in income for nearly all Americans.
C)decreasing disparities in income between the rich and poor.
D)a significant decrease in income for nearly all Americans.
E)None of the answers are correct.

Question 27

By the middle of the nineteenth century, merchant capitalists in the United States

A)were an increasingly important economic force.
B)were shifting from trade to manufacturing.
C)had combined with British competitors.
D)were shifting their operations to the Western states.
E)had put most of their British competitors out of business.

Question 28

The republican tradition in the United States included the tradition of

A)the skilled artisan.
B)the yeoman farmer.
C)the industrial entrepreneur.
D)the skilled artisan and the yeoman farmer.
E)the yeoman farmer and the industrial entrepreneur.

Question 29

Prior to 1860, the fastest-growing segment in American society was the

A)slaves.
B)very poor.
C)middle class.
D)well-to-do.
E)very rich.

Question 30

Prior to 1860, American urban society

A)considered the conspicuous display of wealth to be poor social behavior.
B)saw the wealthy people move toward the outer edges of cities.
C)included a substantial number of destitute poor who starved to death.
D)saw the Irish immigrants have less rights than free blacks.
E)None of the answers are correct.

Question 31

As the Lowell factory system progressed into the 1840s,

A)wages rose while working hours increased to ten hours.
B)female workers staged a successful strike for better living conditions.
C)the owners increasingly used immigrants as their labor force.
D)a paternalist management system was developed.
E)many mill girls moved into management roles in the factory system.

Question 32

The early union movement among skilled artisans

A)was weakened by the Panic of 1837.
B)was generally supported by state governments.
C)attempted to create one collective national trade union.
D)welcomed working women as members.
E)was strengthened by the influx of immigrant laborers.

Question 33

In the 1840s, the dominant immigrant group in New England textile mills was the

A)Irish.
B)Germans.
C)English.
D)Italians.
E)Chinese.

Question 34

The rise of the American factory system

A)complemented the nation's traditional republican ideals.
B)resulted in a rise in the status of skilled artisans among consumers.
C)saw the government act to maintain the trade of skilled artisans.
D)led some Northerners to advocate repealing abolition.
E)led to the creation of skilled workingmen's craft societies.

Question 35

The Massachusetts court case of Commonwealth v.Hunt (1842) declared that

A)labor unions were lawful organizations.
B)labor strikes were illegal.
C)child labor laws were unconstitutional.
D)minimum wage laws were a restraint on trade.
E)unions must admit working women as members.

Question 36

In most parts of the North, before the Civil War, free blacks could

A)vote.
B)attend public schools.
C)use public services available to whites.
D)compete for menial jobs.
E)All the answers are correct.

Question 37

When the Lowell factory system began

A)craftsmen were part of the production system.
B)workers were fairly well paid and lived in supervised dormitories.
C)workers had few benefits outside of a set wage scale.
D)the work day ended when production quotas were met.
E)workers rarely stopped working in the mills until retirement.

Question 38

As the immigrant labor force in New England textile mills grew in the 1840s,

A)the workday grew shorter and wages declined.
B)payment by piece rate replaced a daily wage.
C)women and children were more likely to earn more than men.
D)safety conditions began to improve.
E)the workday grew longer and wages increased.

Question 39

American factory workers in early nineteenth-century textile mills largely consisted of

A)families and rural, single women.
B)single men.
C)unskilled urban workers.
D)young immigrants.
E)slaves.

Question 40

All of the following factors inhibited the growth of labor unions EXCEPT

A)the large number of immigrant workers.
B)the political strength of industrial capitalists.
C)ethnic divisions among workers.
D)the question of whether to include women members.
E)hostile laws and hostile courts.

Question 41

The growth of commerce and industry allowed more Americans the chance to become prosperous without

A)a professional education.
B)producing a product or service.
C)owning land.
D)capital.
E)marrying.

Question 42

In 1860, the typical white male American of the Old Northwest (today's Midwest) was

A)the owner of a family farm.
B)a marginal farmer.
C)a farmhand who did not own his own land.
D)an industrial worker.
E)an urban artisan.

Question 43

The main staple crop of the Old Northwest (today's Midwest) was

A)barley.
B)soy.
C)corn.
D)wheat.
E)cotton.

Question 44

By 1860, as a result of the social expectations expressed in the "cult of domesticity,"

A)unmarried women were generally excluded from all income-earning activities.
B)women became increasingly isolated from the public world.
C)middle-class wives were given no special role in the family.
D)women who read books or magazines were likely to be criticized.
E)women increasingly became seen as contributors to the family economy.

Question 45

For most American farmers, the 1840s and 1850s was a period of

A)economic decline as more people moved to urban centers.
B)rising prosperity due to increased world demand for farm products.
C)extreme economic highs and lows brought on by volatile changes in demand.
D)economic growth in the West but decline in the East.
E)increasing economic connection between the North and South.

Question 46

Much of the new pre-Civil War immigration went into the growing cities of the northeastern part of the United States.

Question 47

Before 1860, American middle-class families

A)were typically renters.
B)rarely employed servants.
C)usually saw women holding part-time employment outside of the home.
D)became the most influential cultural form of urban America.
E)had to cook their meals over an open hearth.

Question 48

Immigration contributed little to the American population in the first three decades of the nineteenth century.

Question 49

Prior to 1860, the most significant invention for middle-class American homes was the

A)cast-iron stove.
B)air conditioner.
C)icebox.
D)electric iron.
E)telegraph.

Question 50

In the 1840s, P.T.Barnum's American Museum in New York showcased

A)nature and natural history.
B)American artists.
C)human oddities.
D)past American leaders and heroes.
E)European artists.

Question 51

All of the following statements regarding American leisure activities prior to 1860 are true EXCEPT

A)Shakespeare was the nation's most popular playwright.
B)reading was a principle leisure activity among affluent Americans.
C)minstrel shows were increasingly popular.
D)popular tastes in public spectacle tended toward the bizarre and fantastic.
E)unpaid vacations were becoming common among the middle class.

Question 52

Compared to 1800, in 1860 urban American families

A)had a declining birth rate.
B)were more likely to see their children leave home in search of work.
C)were more likely to see income earners work outside the home.
D)All the answers are correct.
E)None of the answers are correct.

Question 53

The great majority of pre-Civil War immigrants came from Ireland and England.

Question 54

In the 1830s, Cyrus McCormick improved grain farming when he patented his

A)tractor.
B)thresher.
C)plow.
D)reaper.
E)mower.

Question 55

Between 1840 and 1860, the South experienced a decline in its percentage of urban residents.

Question 56

After 1808, when the importation of slaves became illegal, the proportion of blacks to whites in the United States steadily declined.

Question 57

Prior to 1860, the social institution which most bound together rural Americans was the

A)church.
B)tavern.
C)town hall.
D)grocery store.
E)schoolhouse.

Question 58

Early American Victorian homes were characterized by

A)spare and simple designs which emphasized natural light.
B)dark colors and rooms crowded with heavy furniture.
C)small rooms and a reduction in total living space.
D)all members of a family sharing one bedroom.
E)a lack of parlors and dining rooms.

Question 59

Most of the pre-Civil War Irish and German immigrants who came to the United States did so as families, as opposed to single men and women.

Question 60

In the 1840s, John Deere introduced significant improvements to the

A)tractor.
B)thresher.
C)cotton gin.
D)reaper.
E)plow.

Question 61

The paternalistic nature of the Lowell factory system lasted through the Civil War.

Question 62

Virtually all of the early craft unions excluded women, even though female workers were numerous in almost every industry.

Question 63

By the middle of the nineteenth century, merchant capitalism was a declining force in the American economy.

Question 64

In the pre-Civil War period, turnpikes were regarded as an improvement over canals as a means of transportation.

Question 65

Railroads played a relatively minor role in American transportation during the 1820s and 1830s.

Question 66

The development of a railroad system weakened connections between the Northwest and the South.

Question 67

The transition from farm life to factory life in pre-Civil War America was difficult at best and traumatic at worst.

Question 68

In the 1830s, the most widely circulated paper in the nation was the New York Times.

Question 69

In most cities of the East prior to the Civil War, the income gap between rich and poor was gradually narrowed.

Question 70

Until the Civil War, newspapers relied on mail transported by train for the exchange of news.

Question 71

By 1860, over half of the manufacturing establishments in the United States were located west of the Mississippi River.

Question 72

The United States military was a center for innovations in new machine tools and industry.

Question 73

By 1860, the number of American inventions to receive patents was nearly 2,000.

Question 74

Skilled craftsmen organized trade unions due to the rise of the "factory system."

Question 75

One of the first businesses to benefit from the telegraph was the railroads.

Question 76

Commonwealth v.Hunt was a Massachusetts Supreme Court case which declared that labor unions were lawful organizations.

Question 77

Given the rapid increase in population, recruiting a labor force was a fairly easy task in the early years of the American factory system.

Question 78

The Erie Canal was the greatest construction project Americans had ever undertaken.

Question 79

In 1844, Samuel Morse showed off his invention by telegraphing news of Zachary Taylor's nomination for the presidency over the wires from Baltimore to Washington.

Question 80

Despite contrasts between great wealth and great poverty, there was very little overt class conflict in pre-Civil War America.