American History Midterm Exam - Boys

BOYS’ MIDTERM EXAM
Your name:_________________________
Instructions:

• Closed book.
• No penalty for wrong answers.
• 35 minutes.

1. George Washington was an effective leader because:

(a) he voluntarily let go of power after two terms in office.
(b) he personally led the army, while he was President, to suppress a rebellion.
(c) he picked and used very capable advisors like Alexander Hamilton.
(d) he treated even his enemies with compassion in pardoning them.
(e) all of the above.

2. Where do you think the name for the “Know-Nothing Party” came from?

(a) in opposing slavery, it wanted to keep its goals a secret.
(b) in opposing immigration, it wanted to keep its goals a secret.
(c) in opposing Abraham Lincoln, it wanted to keep its goals a secret.
(d) it wanted to gain support among fans of Andrew Jackson.
(e) it was being honest; its members really knew nothing.

3. Which Amendment abolished slavery?

(a) First
(b) Second
(c) Thirteenth
(d) Fourteenth
(e) Fifteenth

4. A student was overheard saying the following: “The Puritans, like the Quakers, believed in religious freedom for all.” What should the teacher say to the student?

(a) That shows a good understanding the basic similarity between Puritans and Quakers.
(b) That’s right about their common belief in religious freedom, but the two groups did not get along with each other.
(c) That’s not quite right because both groups were opposed to Mormons.
(d) It’s impossible to compare the two religions, because all religions are right in their own way.
(e) The student is wrong and lacks a basic understanding of the Puritan religion.

5. A cartoonist claimed that Stephen Douglas really deserved an “over the knee” spanking by all American for which of the following reasons?

(a) For opposing slavery.
(b) For supporting slavery.
(c) For supporting the Compromise of 1850.
(d) For running against Abraham Lincoln for Senate in 1858.
(e) For pushing through Congress the Kansas-Nebraska Bill.

6. “It is America's right to stretch from sea to shining sea. Not only do we have a responsibility to our citizens to gain valuable natural resources we also have a responsibility to civilize this beautiful land." This quote describes which of the following viewpoints:

(a) Manifest Destiny
(b) Abolitionism
(c) Prohibition
(d) Taxation Without Representation
(e) Environmentalism

7. “Government by kings was first introduced into the world by the Heathens, from whom the children of Israel copied the custom. It was the most prosperous invention the Devil ever set on foot for the promotion of idolatry. The Heathens paid divine honors to their deceased kings, and the Christian world hath improved on the plan by doing the same to their living ones. How impious is the title of sacred majesty applied to a worm, who in the midst of his splendor is crumbling into dust!” Who wrote the influential work containing those words?

(a) Abraham Lincoln
(b) Thomas Paine
(c) Andrew Jackson
(d) Andrew Johnson
(e) John Quincy Adams

8. I was a "dark horse" nominee for president who then won by supporting annexation of Texas. Who am I?

(a) William Henry Harrison
(b) John Tyler
(c) James Polk
(d) Zachary Taylor
(e) Millard Fillmore

9. The Marshall Court is best known for doing which of the following:

(a) greatly expanding the power of the federal courts
(b) issuing the Dred Scott decision
(c) invalidating the Alien & Sedition Acts
(d) issuing a ruling that was overturned by the 11th Amendment
(e) presiding over the impeachment of Andrew Johnson

10. President Andrew Jackson was hated by everyone EXCEPT:

(a) the British
(b) the Indians
(c) the Whigs
(d) the bankers
(e) the common man

11. Harriet Beecher Stowe is credited by some with which of the following?

(a) inventing the cotton gin
(b) helping cause the Civil War
(c) writing the Emancipation Proclamation
(d) writing the Dred Scott decision
(e) drafting the Battle Hymn of the Republic

12. “He who has gold makes and accomplishes whatever he wishes in the world and finally uses it to send souls to paradise.” Who said that about his mission?

(a) King Henry VIII
(b) Ralph Waldo Emerson
(c) John Adams
(d) Christopher Columbus
(e) Aaron Burr

13. Who was a leading abolitionist in the early 1840s?

(a) Abraham Lincoln
(b) John Quincy Adams
(c) Henry Clay
(d) John Calhoun
(e) James Polk

14. The following is Section 8 from an Act passed by Congress: “And be it further enacted. That in all that territory ceded by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude, not included within the limits of the state, contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted, shall be, and is hereby, forever prohibited: Provided always, That any person escaping into the same, from whom labour or service is lawfully claimed, in any state or territory of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labour or service as aforesaid.” From which law is this passage?

(a) Missouri Compromise
(b) Compromise of 1850
(c) Kansas-Nebraska Act
(d) Emancipation Proclamation
(e) Louisiana Purchase

15. The Whig Party held which of the following positions:

I. Favored establishing a national bank
II. Favored protective tariffs
III. Favored abolishing slavery in the South

(a) I, II and III.
(b) I and III.
(c) I and II.
(d) II and III.
(e) only III.

16. “Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports.” Who said that?

(a) the founders of the Jamestown settlement
(b) Thomas Jefferson when participating at the Constitutional Convention
(c) George Washington in his Farewell Address
(d) Abraham Lincoln as a young man
(e) Abraham Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address

17. President John Adams had an undeclared naval war against which nation?

(a) the Confederacy
(b) England
(c) Spain
(d) France
(e) Tripoli

18. Which of the following are true about the Northwest Ordinance of 1787?

I. It was the major accomplishment of Congress under the Articles of Confederation.
II. It established a way to create between 3 and 5 new states
III. It established new federal courts that heard cases in the territories
IV. It protected private property rights against seizure by government

(a) I only
(b) I, III and IV
(c) I, II and IV
(d) II, III and IV
(e) I, II, III and IV

19. The “Era of Good Feelings” was a mood where, and when?

(a) In the United States during the presidency of James Monroe.
(b) In Jamestown after the settlers first arrived.
(c) In the Alamo after a stand-off with Mexico.
(d) During the presidency of James Madison after he fled D.C.
(e) In the latter part of the Jefferson Administration as trade flourished with Europe.

20. The U.S. Constitution establishes which branches of government?

(a) Congress, Executive, and Federal and State Courts
(b) Congress, President, State Governors, and the Judiciary
(c) President and Judiciary
(d) Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary
(e) Congress and the Judiciary

21. The President who had the most difficult time handling criticism was probably:

(a) George Washington
(b) John Adams
(c) Thomas Jefferson
(d) James Madison
(e) James Monroe

22. Jonathan Edwards played a key role in which of the following:

(a) the Salem Witch Trials
(b) the Boston Tea Party
(c) the Boston Massacre
(d) the Great Awakening
(e) the ratification of the Constitution

23. The primary objection to the Louisiana Purchase was:

(a) the Constitution
(b) the Articles of Confederation
(c) Thomas Jefferson did not want the new land
(d) Manifest Destiny
(e) George Washington was surprisingly against it

24. Who won the French and Indian War?

(a) the French
(b) the Indians
(c) the United States
(d) Britain and its American colonies
(e) no one won that war, the parties simply stopped fighting

25. The primary difference between Abraham Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address and his Second Inaugural Address was that:

(a) In his first he relied on logic; in his second he relied on God.
(b) In his first he opposed slavery; in his second he accepted it.
(c) In his first he thanked the soldiers; in his second he criticized them.
(d) In his first he prayed to God; in his second he thanked God.
(e) In his first he scolded the South; in his second he thanked the South.

26. The Connecticut Plan resolved a conflict at the Constitutional Convention by:

(a) giving the South credit for 3/5ths of each slave in determining how many people it had for representation in Congress
(b) not allowing Congress to ban the slave trade until 1808
(c) granting women the right to vote
(d) granting people who did not own property the right to vote
(e) establishing the House of Representatives based in proportion to population, and the Senate with equal representation by each State.

27. What incited the South Carolina Exposition and Protest?

(a) Andrew Jackson’s tyrannical rule
(b) the Tariff of Abominations.
(c) popular sovereignty
(d) John Brown
(e) Lincoln’s capture of Fort Sumter.

28. The Trent Affair involved which of the following:

(a) During the Jackson Administration, this scandal caused nearly all of his Cabinet to resign
(b) During the Washington Administration, this led to the Whiskey Rebellion
(c) Trent infiltrated Shays’ Rebellion and allowed it to be suppressed
(d) During the Civil War, the Union seized a British ship and arrested two Confederates
(e) During the Adams Administration, Trent was one of the “XYZ” agents

29. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo did all of the following:

I. ended the Mexican War
II. won independence for Texas
III. set the border with Mexico at the Rio Grande River
IV. acquired for the United States California and much other western property

(a) I, II and IV
(b) I, III and IV
(c) I, II, III and IV
(d) II and IV
(e) IV only

30. This cartoon says, “That’s you, Dad! More ‘FREE SOIL’. We’ll rot ‘em out yet. Long life to Davy Wilmot”

Which of the following is true about this cartoon?

I. It depicts the Barnburners, who were anti-slavery advocates who left the Democratic Party
II. It depicts the Barnburners, who were anti-slavery advocates who left the Whig Party
III. It was written in the mid-1850s.

(a) I only
(b) I and II
(c) I and III
(d) II and III
(e) I, II and III

HONORS (EXTRA CREDIT FOR NON-HONORS)

31. “If the tide of defamation and abuse shall turn, and my administration come to be praised, future vice presidents who may succeed to the presidency may feel some slight encouragement to pursue an independent course." Who said that?

(a) Thomas Jefferson
(b) James Polk
(c) Zachary Taylor
(d) James Buchanan
(e) John Tyler

32. Which of the following is true about the Tenure of Office Act?

I. It passed during the presidency of Andrew Johnson
II. It required Senate approval before a President could fire a Cabinet official
III. It led to the impeachment of Andrew Johnson when he violated it

(a) II only
(b) I and II only
(c) I, II and III
(d) I only
(e) III only

33. What was the position of the presidents elected in the 1850s about slavery, and why?

(a) they were against slavery because it was wrong
(b) they were against slavery and won because the South was losing political power
(c) they were for slavery and won because the Whig Party was split over the issue
(d) they were for slavery and won because they were military heroes
(e) they had no opinion on slavery because there were more important issues

34. In Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842), the Massachusetts Supreme Court held for the first time that

(a) workers could form unions and strike against employers
(b) Chinese immigrants could not work in Massachusetts without a license
(c) the Supreme Clause of the U.S. Constitution trumped state law
(d) the national bank could not operate without a license in Massachusetts
(e) same-sex marriage was a right under the Massachusetts Constitution

35. Please interpret this cartoon by Thomas Nast (the caption at the bottom says, “The Same Old Pirate Afloat Again,” and one plank says, “Democratic Platform”):

(a) Thomas Nast is criticizing the Union’s fighting the Civil War.
(b) Thomas Nast is supporting the Democratic Party.
(c) Thomas Nast is criticizing the attitude of the South and the Democratic Party after the Civil War.
(d) Thomas Nast is urging Congress to be more lenient on the South.
(e) Thomas Nast is not taking a position about Reconstruction.

36. A claim that Alexander Hamilton was the greatest Founding Father (other than George Washington) could cite as evidence all of the following EXCEPT:

(a) Hamilton’s role at the Constitutional Convention
(b) Hamilton’s role in the selection by Congress of Jefferson rather than Aaron Burr as President
(c) Hamilton’s role in the compromise that placed the capital in Washington, D.C.
(d) Hamilton’s role in advising George Washington on key issues
(e) Hamilton’s role in killing Aaron Burr in their duel in New Jersey

37. “That every person who shall hereafter commit the crime of treason against the United States, and shall be adjudged guilty thereof, shall suffer death, and all his slaves, if any, shall be declared and made free ….” What was the first use of that?

(a) The Emancipation Proclamation
(b) The Confiscation Acts
(c) the Civil Rights Act
(d) the Black Codes
(e) the Jim Crow laws

38. Under the concept of mercantilism, the primary role of colonies is to:

(a) import goods from many foreign nations
(b) provide raw materials to the mother country so it can export more than it imports
(c) buy raw materials from the mother country
(d) store gold for the mother country
(e) become self-sufficient so that the colonies can break away from the mother country

39. In the Dred Scott decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that:

(a) slaves have the same rights as white citizens
(b) blacks have no rights, and Congress cannot even free the slaves
(c) blacks have some rights, but Congress cannot end slavery
(d) blacks have a right to sue to determine their legal status
(e) courts cannot decide the issue of slavery

40. What precisely was the Wilmot Proviso?

(a) a proposed ban on slavery on land acquired from Mexico, which never passed
(b) a proposed ban on slavery in land acquired from Mexico, which did pass
(c) a position taken by the Democratic Party
(d) a position taken by the Republican Party
(e) a position taken by Senator John Calhoun

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