Deck 12: Culture and Anarchy

Question 1

Journalism flourished in the free atmosphere of Virginia City,Nevada,during the era of the Comstock lode.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

According to the textbook,the greatest "literary product" of the American west was Mark Twain.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

John Rollin Ridge's main literary achievement was

A)Life on the Plains and among the Diggings.
B)"The Luck of Roaring Camp".
C)The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta.
D)"The Outcasts of Poker Flat".

Answer 3

The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta.

Question 4

The first California daily newspaper was the

A)California Star.
B)San Francisco Bulletin.
C)San Francisco Golden Era.
D)Alta California.

Question 5

John Swett was a state

A)Superintendent of Public Instruction and advocate for laws expanding educational opportunity.
B)supervisor of "colored schools" in Nevada and Arizona.
C)Administrator of Land Grant Colleges and Universities.
D)Director of Financial Aid for Higher Education.

Question 6

State provision for public schools in California

A)was strongly advocated by Governor Burnett.
B)was grossly inadequate during the 1850s and 1860s.
C)always surpassed state support for prisons in the 1850s.
D)was generous for all of the 1850s.

Question 7

During Mark Twain's stay in the far west he

A)amassed a fortune from silver mining in the Comstock.
B)worked as a newspaper reporter.
C)served in the United States Army.
D)was secretary to the Oregon territorial governor.

Question 8

John Rollin Ridge's The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta,Celebrated California Bandit was based on solid factual information the author was able to uncover.

Question 9

The Golden Era,published during the 1850s,was a

A)daily newspaper in San Francisco.
B)literary magazine.
C)collection of gold rush photographs.
D)weekly newspaper in Nevada City.

Question 10

During the gold rush years California spawned literally hundreds of newspapers.

Question 11

Bret Harte's poem,"The Heathen Chinee",actually created positive attitudes among whites toward the California Chinese population.

Question 12

Ina Coolbirth

A)was the first California poet laureate.
B)was for more than 20 years an Oakland librarian.
C)met Jack London when he was a boy.
D)all of the above.

Question 13

The "Shirley Letters" were written by

A)Ina Coolbirth.
B)Mark Twain.
C)Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe.
D)Joaquin Miller.

Question 14

The cultural level in gold rush California was remarkably low.

Question 15

Nineteenth-century Jewish Californians included

A)Levi Strauss.
B)Anthony Zellerbach.
C)Aaron Fleishhacker.
D)all of the above

Question 16

Bret Harte's most significant stories on the gold rush first appeared in The Overland Monthly.

Question 17

Most of Mark Twain's famous literary works were published in

A)England.
B)New York.
C)the San Francisco Golden Era.
D)the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise.

Question 18

Much of the success of the Golden Era was due to its informal tone and popular appeal.

Question 19

Bret Harte's famous poem,"The Heathen Chinee",

A)made an unintentional contribution to anti-Chinese sentiment.
B)was actually written by a Chinese miner named Ah Sin.
C)revealed the racist attitude of the author.
D)was not well-received in California.

Question 20

The author of the Miner's Ten Commandments was

A)James M.Hutchings.
B)Mark Twain.
C)Bret Harte
D)Agust'n V.Zamorano.

Question 21

The wealth generated by the gold rush prompted the early creation of a well-financed public education system in frontier California.

Question 22

Explain the early development of public and private education in California during the 1850s and 1860s.

Question 23

Assess the impact of the gold rush on churches and other religious institutions in California.Would you judge the impact to be more positive or negative? Why?

Question 24

As a result of the gold rush,the Roman Catholic Church virtually disappeared from California for two decades.

Question 25

Briefly characterize the works of the following writers of early American California: Dame Shirley,Bret Harte,Mark Twain,Joaquin Miller,and Ina Coolbrith.

Question 26

What was the relationship between California's peculiar gold rush society and the flowering of journalism and literature during the 1850s and the 1860s?