US History Finale Quizzes

In what year was the first telegraph message transmitted?

1844

Jackson helped to bring an early end to the Bank of the United States by

beginning to deposit government funds in state banks rather than in the Bank of the United States.

How many states seceded from the Union during the Civil War?

eleven

Southern slave states sought to protect their national political interests by

ensuring an equal number of slave states and free states.

In proposing the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Stephen A. Douglas was initially most concerned about

establishing railroads.

"Clermont" was the name given to the large horse-drawn wagons that helped to improve America's transportation system in the early nineteenth century.

false

"Nativism" is defined as hatred of other people on the basis of their skin color.

false

Who invented a mechanical reaper to harvest grain?

Cyrus Hall McCormick

Who was the most successful evangelist in the burned-over district who attracted more-prosperous audiences?

Charles G. Finney

Of the candidates in the 1860 presidential election, the only one who tried to run a national campaign was

Douglas

In the first six months of 1857, President Buchanan dealt with

Dred Scott, the Lecompton Constitution, and an economic panic.

Ann Lee (Mother Ann Lee) was a leading advocate of women's suffrage.

false

As a result of Elizabeth Blackwell excelling in her studies at Geneva Medical College, the school opened its doors to women.

false

At the end of 1862 after the battle of Fredericksburg, the North held a clear military advantage.

false

By 1846, white Americans outnumbered Native Americans in California.

false

By 1860, the vast majority of enslaved adult African Americans had adopted the same Christian beliefs as their owners.

false

Chief Justice John Marshall proved to be a consistent supporter of states' rights over those of the federal government.

false

Copperheads were southerners who sympathized with the North.

false

Daniel Webster's famous quotation, "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable," was made in a speech denouncing Jackson's veto of the Maysville Road.

false

During his 1860 presidential campaign, Lincoln pledged to end slavery and free the slaves.

false

During the 1850s, the slave trade network within the United States dramatically decreased in profitability.

false

During the debate over the Compromise of 1850, Daniel Webster called on "a higher law than the Constitution" to demand the abolition of slavery.

false

During the economic depression following the Panic of 1837, Van Buren supported emergency government aid for the unemployed.

false

Elijah P. Lovejoy was murdered by a mob of pro-abolition zealots.

false

Enemies of the Bank of the United States included Nicholas Biddle.

false

Fighting during the Civil War never reached Kansas or the Indian Territory.

false

Four years after Congressman David Wilmot proposed it, the Wilmot Proviso became law as part of the Compromise of 1850.

false

Harrison's win in the presidential election of 1840 is attributed to his detailed economic plans and enthusiastic support for government spending to boost the economy.

false

In Commonwealth v. Hunt, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled all labor unions illegal.

false

In the South, state laws prohibited free blacks from owning black slaves.

false

Laws in all of the slave states banned the separation of enslaved African American families.

false

Many German immigrants left their homeland because of a potato famine in the 1840s.

false

More of the whites in the Midwest were illiterate than whites in any other part of the country during the years 1800-1860.

false

Most German immigrants in the 1850s were Jewish.

false

Most southern whites owned at least one slave.

false

Native resistance to the Indian Removal Act came largely from northern tribes.

false

Radical Republicans wanted to stop the war and let the South secede.

false

Sam Houston died at the Alamo.

false

Slave women were typically excused from doing work during pregnancy and while caring for infants.

false

In the election of 1864, Lincoln defeated

George B. McClellan

The idea of Manifest Destiny suggested that

God supported the expansion of the United States to the Pacific Ocean.

Which of the following statements accurately describes Andrew Jackson?

He actively campaigned among the people, unlike many candidates before him.

Which of the following is true of Robert Y. Hayne during the Webster-Hayne debate?

He believed that only the states had the right to nullify federal laws they disliked.

In McCullough v. Maryland, John Marshall did which of the following?

He denied that the states could tax a federal institution

Which of the following statements accurately describes James Monroe as president?

He established an important principle of American foreign policy.

Which is true of Jackson during his presidency?

He gave federal positions to friends and supporters.

Which of the following actions did Jackson take in regards to Native American rights?

He refused to enforce a Supreme Court decision in Native Americans' favor.

Which of the following did Zachary Taylor do as president?

He sought immediate admission of California and New Mexico as free states.

In the 1816 vote on the Bank of the United States,

Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun supported it, but Daniel Webster opposed it.

The election of 1824 was decided when

Henry Clay supported John Quincy Adams.

Slaves typically continued to dutifully serve their masters throughout the war, even when opportunities to escape to the Union army presented themselves.

false

Stephen A. Douglas was viciously beaten in response to an anti-slavery speech he gave in the Senate.

false

Stephen Austin sought to prevent Texas from becoming "Americanized" and to end the expansion of slavery.

false

The "burned-over district" was in the southernmost states.

false

The Confederacy's "anaconda" plan called for dividing the Union at the Ohio River.

false

The Eaton affair united Martin Van Buren and John C. Calhoun.

false

The Lowell system depended on a large, urban labor force.

false

The Mexican government immediately accepted American offers to purchase Texas in the 1820s.

false

The Monroe Doctrine was narrowly approved by Congress in 1823 and has remained international law ever since.

false

The Panic of 1819 was successfully halted by the effective actions of the Second Bank of the United States.

false

Which of the following nationalities comprised the largest immigrant groups in America in the two decades before the Civil War?

Irish and German

The Republican party was founded upon a commitment to extending slavery into the territories of the United States.

false

The Supreme Court's decision in the Dred Scott case upheld the concept of popular sovereignty.

false

The Tariff of 1816 benefited the Northeast and the South equally.

false

The Tariff of 1828 was dubbed the "Tariff of Abominations" because it hit northern industries hard and pleased only southerners.

false

The Webster-Ashburton Treaty settled a boundary dispute between the United States and Mexico.

false

The camp meeting was a new institution developed by the transcendentalists.

false

The first third party in presidential politics was the Whig party.

false

There were four Federalist candidates for the presidency in the election of 1824.

false

Transcendentalism was the basis of the Second Great Awakening and other religious revival movements of the pre-Civil War era.

false

Union forces won both battles of Bull Run.

false

While Sojourner Truth was a strong opponent of slavery, she did not support the women's rights movement.

false

Women who survived the long journey west in the 1840s typically enjoyed an easier life once settled than they had before relocation.

false

In the 1820s and 1830s, trade in the Northwest was dominated by

fur

According to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the United States

gained territory that would become the states of New Mexico and California, among others.

The Crittenden Compromise sought to

guarantee slavery where it already existed.

Which of the following statements accurately describes the Missouri Compromise?

It admitted Maine to the union as a free state and Missouri as a slave state.

Which of following accurately describes the federal government's role in regards to transportation improvements in the first half of the nineteenth century?

It bought stock in and gave land grants to some transportation companies.

In Dartmouth College v. Woodward, the Supreme Court did which of the following?

It expanded the definition of contracts and put them beyond state control.

Which of the following statements accurately describes the Donner Party in 1846-1847?

It experienced the death of many of its members from starvation in the snows of the Sierras.

Which of the following statements accurately describes the Emancipation Proclamation?

It freed slaves only in the states controlled by the Confederacy.

"Oregon fever" refers to

mass migration to the Oregon territory following the promise of free land to anyone who settled on and worked it.

The Know-Nothing Party was built on

nativism

The main opposition to the war with Mexico came from

northern Whigs and abolitionists

Which of the following statements accurately describes the practice of using the draft to raise an army during the Civil War?

It included controversial loopholes in both the North and South.

John C. Calhoun believed funding internal improvements, such as a network of roads and canals in the West, would

open trading relationships between the South and West.

To be considered a planter, one had to

own at least twenty slaves and a large amount of land.

The moral code of white southern males in the Old South emphasized

personal honor.

Small-scale southern farmers were often

poorly educated

What issue caused the violence known as "Bleeding Kansas"?

popular sovereignty on the question of slavery

The Wilmot Proviso called for

prohibiting slavery in land gained from war with Mexico.

Horace Mann was a leader in promoting

public schools

Jefferson Davis hoped to win the war by

pushing the Union to negotiate a settlement.

Abraham Lincoln stated that his "paramount object" was to

save the Union

Emigration to the Southwest in the early nineteenth century occurred because of

soil exhaustion

The Free-Soil party attracted members from all of the following groups EXCEPT

southern Democrats

The percentage of Americans who could vote increased between 1790 and 1820 because

states abolished many property and taxpaying requirements.

Jackson's veto of the Maysville Road Bill

struck at both Calhoun and Clay.

Before 1830, public opponents of slavery such as James Madison and Daniel Webster advocated for

the "repatriation" of freed blacks to Africa through the American Colonization Society.

As of 1860, the greatest mass migration in American history was

the California gold rush

Which of the following Native American groups did the U.S. government force to walk 800 miles west on the Trail of Tears?

the Cherokee

What event marked the beginning of the Civil War?

the Confederate shelling of Fort Sumter

Thoreau wrote "Civil Disobedience" in reaction to

the U.S. declaration of war against Mexico

The statement "Cotton is King" was made by

James H. Hammond

Among Americans who fought in the Mexican War were all the following EXCEPT

James K. Polk

In 1828, the idea that a state could nullify an act of Congress was proposed by

John C. Calhoun.

The vice president during Andrew Jackson's first term as president was

John C. Calhoun.

Which was an outcome of the Lincoln-Douglas debates?

Lincoln became a national figure.

Which of the following accurately describes Norwegian immigrants in the mid-nineteenth century?

Many settled in the Upper Midwest, where they established farms and new towns.

By 1860, the Protestant denomination that had the greatest number of churches and had a significant number of African American followers were the

Methodists

The last major battle in the Mexican-American War was an American victory at

Mexico City

In the course of the Civil War, which of the following occurred?

More soldiers died of disease than in battle.

In California, the labor force in the Catholic missions consisted of

Native Americans

The Era of Good Feelings was brought to an end by the

Panic of 1819.

Which of the following characterizes professional work in the first half of the nineteenth century up to the Civil War?

Professional jobs were growing in number, with little formal academic training required for many positions.

Which of the following occurred during the Peninsula Campaign of 1862?

Robert E. Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia

The first organized meeting for women's rights occurred at

Seneca Falls, New York.

Which of the following is true of the temperance movement in America?

Some supporters advocated absolutism in outlawing liquor, while others proposed personal moderation in consumption.

What was a result of Henry Clay's compromise in 1833?

South Carolina rescinded its nullification of the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832.

The Oregon Trail ran from

St. Louis to Oregon.

Leading advocates of popular sovereignty included

Stephen A. Douglas

Which of the following accurately describes Irish immigrants in the mid-nineteenth century?

They often worked in dangerous and/or low-paying jobs and were viewed with contempt by established Americans.

Which of the following statements accurately describes the Whigs?

They supported economic nationalism.

By 1860, which of the following was true of most Protestant churches in the South?

They typically declared that slavery was a divinely ordained social system.

Belief in the benevolence of God, the inherent goodness of mankind, and the primacy of reason and rationalism characterized

Unitarianism.

In the election of 1844, James K. Polk won the nomination as the nation's first "dark horse" candidate because

Van Buren, who had been a leading candidate, opposed the annexation of Texas.

The three great Union victories of 1863 that seemed to turn the tide of the war were at

Vicksburg, Gettysburg, and Chattanooga.

The number of newspapers expanded in the antebellum period primarily because of

advances in printing technology.

To keep the government financially sound after the Panic of 1837, Van Buren proposed

an independent treasury

Which of the following was NOT an agricultural invention made before 1850?

artificial fertilizer

Prior to the Emancipation Proclamation, how were escaped slaves regarded by the Union army?

as contraband

Dorothea Lynde Dix was a leader in reforming the condition of

asylums for the mentally ill.

Which of the following events aided in the passage of the Compromise of 1850?

the death of Zachary Taylor

Which of the following was a result of the proliferation of railroads during the second quarter of the nineteenth century?

the emergence of new western settlements

Before the Civil War, white southerners often attempted to defend slavery on all of the following grounds EXCEPT

the idea that slaves willingly agreed to become enslaved and had sought out slavery.

The United States was able to acquire Florida easily because of

the lack of Spanish control over the area.

The Eaton affair involved

the marriage of a senator to a woman with a scandalous reputation.

The Era of Good Feelings describes

the peaceful beginnings of James Monroe's administration.

All of the following factors made the South distinctive EXCEPT

the presence of many European immigrants.

The massive migration westward during the 1830s and 1840s was driven primarily by

the promises of land and economic prosperity.

Which of the following was the predominant issue surrounding the annexation of Texas, causing Jackson to delay official recognition of the Republic of Texas?

the question of slavery

A collapse in cotton prices set off the panic of 1819

true

After the Mexican War, Congress created the Department of the Interior to manage the western lands and "protection" of the Native Americans.

true

Almost a million slaves were "sold South" before 1860.

true

Andrew Jackson defeated the Seminole Indians in Spanish Florida.

true

Andrew Jackson was the first president from a western state.

true

As president, James K. Polk achieved all of his major objectives, including acquiring California from Mexico.

true

As president, John Quincy Adams was a strong nationalist.

true

At its beginning, most Americans in both the North and the South believed the Civil War would be over quickly.

true

By 1860, the slave states were in the minority

true

By the start of the Civil War, Catholicism was the largest religious denomination in the United States.

true

Civilians gathered to watch the first battle between the Confederate and Union soldiers.

true

Clara Barton was a nurse who oversaw the distribution of medicines to Union troops and founded the Red Cross.

true

During the 1820s and 1830s, a growing number of white men who did not own land were given the right to vote

true

During the political struggle known as the Bank War, Jackson viewed the Bank of the United States as a dangerous monopoly controlled by a few wealthy men.

true

During the years prior to the Civil War, the term "peculiar institution" was a way for southern whites to refer to slavery and its uniqueness to the South without using the charged word "slavery."

true

Following the Emancipation Proclamation, African Americans were recruited to fight in the Union army.

true

For nearly two decades, the American two-party system was dominated by the Democrats and the Whigs.

true

Freed slaves from the United States formed the African nation of the Republic of Liberia.

true

Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin became a huge success, despite being very unpopular in the South.

true

Henry Clay was a nationalist who championed the American System.

true

Henry Clay's Omnibus Bill was the precursor to the Compromise of 1850.

true

Henry David Thoreau was a naturalist, wrote the famous work Walden, and promoted the spontaneity of everyday experiences.

true

Herman Melville's background as a young man working on a whaling ship is clearly reflected in his novels, such as Moby Dick.

true

In 1860, the dollar value of slaves exceeded the value of all of America's banks, railroads, and factories combined.

true

In the Pottawatomie Massacre, John Brown led a raid against pro-slavery settlers in Kansas.

true

In the case of Worcester v. Georgia, the Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokees were a "distinct political community" in which Georgia law had no force.

true

In the election of 1828, Andrew Jackson was more popular with ordinary people and southern planters than was the incumbent president, John Quincy Adams.

true

In the election of 1860, Lincoln received only 39 percent of the popular vote.

true

In the mid-nineteenth century, the North and South competed for political influence in the West.

true

John C. Frémont earned the nickname "the Pathfinder" and published popular stories in newspapers about his explorations.

true

John Quincy Adams's administration was crippled from the beginning because of the "corrupt bargain."

true

John Tyler of Virginia was a Whig who

true

John Tyler was expelled from the Whig party after clashing with Clay over a new national bank and replacing defectors in his cabinet with anti-Jackson Democrats.

true

Lincoln presented the Emancipation Proclamation as a military necessity.

true

Marriage was a common, although not a legal, institution among plantation slaves.

true

Mexico became an independent nation in 1821.

true

Nat Turner's Rebellion terrified southern whites and resulted in the imposition of more restrictions on enslaved African Americans in the South

true

Only some of the slave states joined the Confederacy.

true

Popular sovereignty left the status of slavery up to the people in each territory.

true

President John Tyler succeeded in annexing Texas by using a joint resolution, rather than attempting to pass a treaty through the Senate.

true

Reaction to the Kansas-Nebraska Act directly contributed to the formation of a brand-new political party, the Republican party.

true

Saint-Domingue, in present day Haiti, was the site of an unprecedented slave revolt, where slaves destroyed cane fields and killed white planters and their families.

true

Sarah and Angelina Grimké were the daughters of a slaveholder but became important abolitionist speakers.

true

The Baptists believed that the Bible was to be understood literally.

true

The Confederacy's final defeat occurred at Appomattox.

true

The Distribution Act of 1836 gave surplus funds in the federal treasury to the states.

true

The Fugitive Slave Act widened and deepened the anti-slavery sentiment in the North.

true

The Liberty Party was formed with the goal of electing a president who would abolish slavery.

true

The Mexican dictator, General Antonio López de Santa Anna, personally led the action against the Texan "rebels" at the Alamo.

true

The Monroe Doctrine developed after the monarchs of Europe seemed ready to help Spain regain her old empire in Latin America.

true

The National Road was built to connect the Midwest with the East Coast.

true

The National Trades' Union was one of the first nationwide labor unions in the United States.

true

The Oneida Community was a utopian experiment that practiced "complex marriage."

true

The Thirteenth Amendment freed all slaves in the United States.

true

The development of California attracted many Chinese immigrants who often did heavy construction work on railroads and bridges.

true

The dispute with Britain over the boundary of Oregon was finally settled during Polk's presidency through the Buchanan-Pakenham Treaty.

true

The expansion of white settlement into Oregon resulted in the relocation of Native American tribes living along the Oregon Trail.

true

The extension of voting rights in most states to white men was a factor in Andrew Jackson's election in 1828.

true

The first party in American presidential politics to hold a national convention was the Anti-Masonic party.

true

The national telegraph system was the most important advance in communications in America prior to the Civil War.

true

The perishability of tea leaves spurred the development of fast-sailing ships known as "clippers."

true

The remark, "The Republicans have out-federalized Federalism," refers to Republicans in the late 1810s who supported a national bank and protective tariffs.

true

The steamboat played a significant role in making farming a commercial activity

true

Walt Whitman's work shocked many people because he wrote with an unusual frankness about sexuality.

true

White slaveholders relied on slaves to produce cotton profitably.

true

Yeoman farmers, also known as "plain white folk," did not typically own slaves, but most of them supported the institution of slavery.

true

Nineteenth-century developments in transportation in the United States occurred in which order?

turnpikes, steamboats, canals, railroads

One important advantage the South had over the North was that it

was fighting on its own territory

By 1860, where was the majority of the nation's population located?

west of the Appalachian Mountains

The largest slave insurrection in American history was that of

Charles Deslondes in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1811.

The turning point of the Civil War was the battle of

Antietam

Which of the following statements accurately describes the Mormons during the first half of the nineteenth century?

Brigham Young led them to settle in Utah.

The increase in Southern cotton production in the nineteenth century was mostly generated by

British and French demand for textiles.

Which of the following was an outcome of the Compromise of 1850?

California was admitted to the Union as a free state.

Lee's last significant victory came at

Chancellorsville

The inventor of the detective story was

Edgar Allan Poe

Which of the following accurately describes a difference between factory work and the work of self-employed artisans in the first half of the nineteenth century?

Factory workers did one specific task repetitively, while self-employed artisans completed all tasks involved in the creation of a product.

Which of the following statements accurately describes the members of St. Patrick's Battalion at the end of the Mexican-American War?

They defected to fight on the side of the Mexicans, in part because of the atrocities they saw.

Which of the following statements is true of free blacks between 1800 and 1860?

They had a vulnerable social status and were often mulattoes.

The "Log Cabin and Hard Cider" campaign was in support of

William Henry Harrison

The destructive march across Georgia was led by

William Tecumseh Sherman

Who was the African American abolitionist who escaped slavery and gave thousands of speeches calling for an end to slavery and equality for both blacks and women?

William Wells Brown

In 1862, Congress adopted a protective tariff, approved the Pacific Railway Act, and passed the Homestead Act as a result of

a decisive shift in congressional power to northern influences.

Causes of the Panic of 1837 included

a financial crisis in England

Following the War of 1812, President James Madison embraced a program of economic nationalism that consisted of

a national bank, a protective tariff, and a larger army and navy.

The closing of the African slave trade in 1808 caused

a rise in the price of slaves

The Dred Scott decision of the US Supreme Court involoved

a slave suing for his freedom because his master had taken him into free territory.

The organized movement for women's rights had its origins in

a split in the anti-slavery movement

he Whig party tended to attract members of all of the following groups EXCEPT

catholic immigrants

Along with cotton, staple crops in the South included all the following EXCEPT

coffee

By 1860, freed African Americans were

concentrated in coastal cities if they lived in the South.

The MOST common form of resistance to slavery by the slaves themselves was

cultural practices, such as secret social gatherings and the singing of favorite spirituals.