Deck 4: Civil Rights

Question 1

The recent controversy over state policy on immigration which originated in Arizona ______.

A) raises important questions about what civil rights, if any, illegal immigrants are entitled to as well as raising questions about how law enforcement could implement the law without engaging in racial profiling
B) demonstrates that the federal courts have granted the states wide latitude to enforce the laws on the books even if it creates violations of civil rights
C) illustrates that the states are responsible for protecting their borders and enforcing immigration laws in the United States
D) highlights the fact that the Supreme Court takes a strong position favoring the federal government and struck down all elements of Arizona's law because federal law preempted it

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Enlisting race or ethnicity as the primary criterion for identifying a suspect is practice known as ______.

A) behavior modification
B) racial profiling
C) affirmative action
D) racial subjugation

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Modern-day civil rights struggles tend to be focused on ______.

A) political expression and participation
B) guaranteeing freedom from slavery
C) making sure everyone earns a sufficient salary
D) preventing majorities from subjugating minority groups

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The Dred Scott decision ______.

A) freed thousands of slaves
B) required the northern states to follow the Fugitive Slave Law
C) imposed abolition on the southern states
D) forbid the federal government from regulating slavery in the territories

Question 5

In the 5-year period from 1865 to 1870, slaves were emancipated, granted citizenship, and guaranteed the right to vote. However, which of the following was also true?

A) Many plantations covertly practiced slavery.
B) Only a handful of Union states gave African American citizens equal access to the ballot box.
C) The newly emancipated population relocated out of the South and moved to the North.
D) Most of the newly emancipated slaves were given land as reparations for slavery.

Question 6

The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 forced law enforcement authorities ______.

A) in both the North and the South to act as slaveholders' agents in seizing and returning their "property"
B) in the North but NOT in the South to act as slaveholders' agents in seizing and returning their "property"
C) in the South but NOT in the North to act as slaveholders' agents in seizing and returning their "property"
D) in the South to recognize that any slave who became a fugitive but then successfully entered a free state became free

Question 7

Although the two concepts are often used interchangeably, the difference between civil liberties and civil rights is which of the following?

A) Civil liberties are the rights afforded all Americans civil rights are those special rights given to minorities.
B) Civil liberties are the Constitution's protections "from" government power civil rights are the Constitution's protections provided "by" government power.
C) Civil liberties are those rights protected by the Constitution civil rights are those rights only protected by state constitutions.
D) Civil liberties are those rights protected by state constitutions civil rights are those rights only protected by the U.S. Constitution.

Question 8

The reaction to September 11 ______.

A) was nonchalant as the country has been used to foreign threats
B) was unprecedented in the history of the United States as the country was forced to respond to a new threat
C) recalled the internment of Japanese Americans following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941
D) was the adoption of mandatory racial profiling in the United States to prevent another terrorist attack

Question 9

Between 1807 and 1819, slavery was a side issue in politics because of which of the following?

A) All of the states relied heavily on slavery for their economic well-being and general prosperity.
B) The slave importation ban effectively ended slavery as an institution and a political issue.
C) The matched entry of slave and free states into the Union maintained the balance in the senate.
D) It simply was not an issue that any of the political leaders of the time disputed.

Question 10

What were the two major obstacles African Americans faced in securing their rights?

A) The structure of government made it hard to change policy and politicians would not engage in costly behavior without an expected return.
B) The constitutional guarantee of slavery and the unwillingness of politicians to take tough action.
C) The unwillingness of the British government to use its emancipation powers in the states and the constitutional guarantee of slavery.
D) The inability to raise the taxes necessary to compensate slave-owners and the fact that politicians would not engage in costly behavior without an expected return.

Question 11

Which of the Framers convened an abolitionist society meeting in his home and invited delegates to the Constitutional Convention to attend?

A) John Adams
B) George Washington
C) Benjamin Franklin
D) James Madison

Question 12

Which political party was committed to the abolition of slavery and attracted a former president to serve as its candidate when it won 10% of the popular vote?

A) "Know-Nothing" Party
B) Liberty Party
C) Constitutional Union Party
D) Free Soil Party

Question 13

Madison, who recognized that people act most forcefully when they have a stake in the outcome, believed tyranny could best be avoided by which of the following?

A) empowering every faction to look out for its own interests
B) suppressing the diversity of factions, thereby suppressing conflict
C) ensuring all Americans held similar beliefs and values to minimize the existence of factions
D) allowing only the political elites to make policy decisions, thereby eliminating the role of factions in government

Question 14

Which of the following had occurred by June 1861?

A) The Civil War was over.
B) Lincoln's short presidency had ended with his assassination.
C) Eleven states had left the Union and formed a new confederation government.
D) Great Britain had again invaded the Union and sided with the Confederacy.

Question 15

Shortly after the Civil War, southern legislators enacted laws to keep former slaves from voting. These laws were called which of the following?

A) Forbidding Acts
B) Heinous Acts
C) Jim Crow Laws
D) Black Codes

Question 16

After Lincoln was elected, for the first time in American history which of the following was true?

A) The President and the Supreme Court were aligned against the extension of slavery.
B) The President and a majority of both houses of Congress were aligned against slavery's extension.
C) The Supreme Court and a majority of both houses of Congress were aligned against the President over slavery.
D) An abolitionist who also owned slaves was President.

Question 17

Which of the following was the rationale behind the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which matched Missouri's entry into the Union as a slave state with Maine's entry into the Union as a free state?

A) The parties compromised so the balance in the executive's cabinet between free and slave states would be maintained.
B) The parties compromised so the balance in the House of Representatives between free and slave states would be maintained.
C) The parties compromised so the balance in the Senate between free and slave states would be maintained.
D) The parties compromised so the balance on the Supreme Court between free and slave states would be maintained.

Question 18

In 1846, David Wilmot, a Democratic representative from Pennsylvania, sought to ban slavery in the newly acquired territories for which of the following reasons?

A) because his mother was a freed slave
B) because he was Lutheran and morally opposed to slavery
C) because he hoped to use the issue as his main campaign promise when he ran for President
D) because the presence of slaves as free labor depressed wages for White workers

Question 19

The effort to secure civil rights for African Americans rested on which of the following?

A) government creating the right set of rules
B) the national veto of state laws
C) the simple ideas set forth by the Antifederalists
D) configuring politics to allow society's competing interests to check one another

Question 20

The term civil rights ______.

A) refers only to the struggle of African Americans and their struggle to achieve freedom
B) was defined in Article VI of the Constitution and commits the federal government to avoiding discrimination
C) describes the protections of individuals against arbitrary and abusive government action
D) reminds us that once rights are established for one group, they apply to everyone

Question 21

President Harry Truman's failure to pass a civil rights law was similar to the failure of the Wilmot Proviso because ______.

A) it provided a political rationale for northern politicians to attack southern tyranny because the benefits of attracting new voters offset the cost of losing existing supporters
B) it demonstrated that southerners were willing to use their institutional positions to fight any efforts at segregation
C) it resulted in the destruction of the existing party system and generated significant political conflicts
D) it highlighted the fact that the only way to end segregation and discrimination was with overwhelming majorities in both chambers of Congress

Question 22

It is evident that Reconstruction was driven by narrow partisan purposes for which of the following reasons?

A) Land reform was the centerpiece of the policy.
B) Federal largesse to the slaves themselves was limited to the right of suffrage
C) The Fifteenth Amendment repealed the Fourteenth Amendment.
D) Readmission to the Union was contingent on establishing economic independence for the freed slaves.

Question 23

"Jim Crow laws" were which of the following?

A) laws adopted throughout the South to disfranchise Black citizens and to institutionalize segregation
B) laws adopted to end the segregation that was instituted during Reconstruction
C) laws that integrated public accommodations like water fountains and schools
D) laws that created separate but clearly equal facilities for different races

Question 24

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution provides in part that no state shall "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without the due process of law," nor ______.

A) "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws"
B) "establish a religion"
C) "deprive any citizen of the right to free speech on account of that citizen's former status as a slave"
D) "remove any citizen from the armed forces based on that citizen's race or religion"

Question 25

Which Supreme Court decision established the doctrine of "separate but equal?"

A) Brown v. Board of Education
B) Plessy v. Ferguson
C) Shelley v. Kraemer
D) Dred Scott v. Sandford

Question 26

The Fourteenth Amendment, as an integral part of Reconstruction, was intended to serve two constituencies-first, African Americans in the South, and second ______.

A) southern capitalists, including plantation owners
B) abolitionists in the North
C) the Republican majority in Washington, D.C.
D) the state legislatures that constructed Jim Crow laws

Question 27

The White primary, which excluded African Americans from voting in the primary, effectively disfranchised African Americans because of which of the following reasons?

A) Rules prohibited anyone who had not voted in the primary from voting in the general election.
B) The South was solidly Democratic, so winning the Democratic primary was tantamount to election.
C) The South was known for its political corruption.
D) Citizens who did not vote in the primary were forced to pay a large fine to vote in the general election.

Question 28

The transition in the political loyalties of African Americans occurred ______.

A) because the Democratic Party pushed extensive voting rights legislation through Congress during the New Deal
B) because Republicans blocked persistent Democratic efforts to restrict the voting rights of African Americans
C) very slowly and with very little effect because most African Americans lived in the South where they were disfranchised
D) through migration as African Americans moved north, and Democratic organizations registered them and ushered them to the polls

Question 29

Between 1882 and 1950, 4,729 lynchings were reported in the United States. African Americans were the victims of these lynchings in which portion of these cases?

A) about three-quarters of the cases
B) well over 85% of the cases
C) fewer than half of the cases
D) about one-quarter of the cases

Question 30

The reaction to Brown v. Board of Education was ______.

A) violent and many governors called out state militias to prevent rioting in the streets
B) met with massive resistance in the South as states refused to comply
C) quiet acceptance in most of the South since the Supreme Court decision was unanimous and clear
D) uncertain as none of the major political actors knew what to expect

Question 31

Which amendment provided that the right to vote should not be denied on account of race?

A) Thirteenth
B) Fourteenth
C) Fifteenth
D) Sixteenth

Question 32

After Brown v. Board of Topeka was decided in 1954, Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, was integrated in 1957 with the help of which of the following?

A) U.S. Army troops sent by President Dwight Eisenhower
B) national guard troops sent by Gov. Orval Faubus
C) a large protest march organized by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
D) a large protest organized by the AFL-CIO

Question 33

The First Reconstruction Act of 1867 disbanded the governments of the southern states and replaced them with which of the following?

A) a council of religious leaders from several denominations
B) five separate councils comprising former slaves and administered by the National Guard
C) five military districts headed by generals and administered by more than 20,000 troops
D) a blue-ribbon panel comprising former presidents and sitting senators, administered through the bureaucracy of the former Confederate army

Question 34

Which of the following statements about the partisanship of African Americans in the pre-World War I period is most accurate?

A) African Americans remained loyal to the Democratic Party even though the party was not committed to civil rights.
B) African Americans were equally divided between the parties depending on their income and where they lived.
C) African Americans were loyal to the Republican Party because of Emancipation and Reconstruction.
D) The inability of African Americans to vote meant that they had no existing partisan attachments.

Question 35

The purpose of Reconstruction can best be characterized as which of the following?

A) a massive and successful social and economic rebuilding of the South
B) a partisan effort by the Republican Party
C) a philanthropic endeavor
D) a land reform program designed to provide economic independence for former slaves

Question 36

Southern states were successful in stripping away the civil rights of Blacks because ______.

A) Southern senators successfully used the filibuster to block any legislative action
B) the election of a string of southern presidents allowed aggressive use of the veto to block federal action
C) the Supreme Court narrowly interpreted the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to overturn federal laws
D) following economic depressions in the 1880s, many African Americans left the South and moved North, seeking more steady work

Question 37

The commitment of northern Republicans to Reconstruction in the South waned after which of the following?

A) an economic recession led to many Republican losses in the 1874 election
B) the rise of the Ku Klux Klan
C) African Americans began voting overwhelmingly for Democrats starting with the 1890 election
D) the outbreak of World War I

Question 38

The Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka is most notable for which of the following reasons?

A) It sparked the immediate desegregation of public facilities across the South.
B) It was completely ignored by the executive and legislative branches.
C) It struck down the separate but equal doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson.
D) It marked the Supreme Court's first acceptance of the Tenth Amendment.

Question 39

The New Deal ______.

A) provided African Americans government assistance for the first time since Reconstruction and treated African Americans in an evenhanded fashion
B) explicitly called for providing greater civil rights protections to African Americans to foster greater economic equality in the United States
C) did little to advance the interests of African Americans because President Roosevelt was beholden to the South for political support
D) reinforced the existing doctrines of separate but equal by expanding them to the northern states

Question 40

The poll tax, literacy tests, and grandfather clause were all mechanisms by which ______.

A) the North imposed its will on the South during Reconstruction
B) Republicans won most of the elections in the South
C) African Americans were able to win elected office during the Jim Crow era
D) African Americans were deprived of the right to vote

Question 41

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spearheaded demonstrations throughout the South through his organization, which was called ______.

A) the Association of Baptist Ministers
B) People for the Ethical Treatment of Others
C) United We Stand
D) the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Question 42

Rosa Parks launched the Montgomery bus boycott in December 1955 by doing which of the following?

A) refusing to move to the back of a city bus as required by law
B) refusing to move from a bus-stop bench designated "white only"
C) refusing to ride the bus unless the bus driver was African American
D) refusing to ride the bus so long as the drivers were not allowed to unionize

Question 43

The difference between de facto segregation and de jure segregation is which of the following?

A) De facto segregation comes about as a result of racial differences de jure segregation comes about as a result of cultural differences.
B) De facto segregation and de jure segregation are basically the same thing: Both are segregations imposed by law.
C) De facto segregation is not mandated by law de jure segregation is mandated by law.
D) De facto segregation is mandated by law de jure segregation is not mandated by law.

Question 44

One of the major consequences of the 1964 Civil Rights Act was ______.

A) the dramatic increase in the number of African American students attending integrated schools
B) the construction of numerous new schools in predominantly African American communities
C) the election of more African Americans to state and federal offices
D) the dramatic increase in the number of African Americans attending integrated colleges and universities

Question 45

The 1965 Voting Rights Act authorized the Justice Department, under certain circumstances, to send federal officers into communities to directly register voters. This policy is which of the following?

A) perfectly consistent with the Antifederalist policies as espoused by Patrick Henry
B) inconsistent with Jefferson's conception of ordered liberty
C) unconstitutional as held by the Supreme Court in Johnson v. Texas
D) consistent with Madison's proposed national veto over objectionable state laws

Question 46

The 1964 Civil Rights Act ______.

A) established the Department of Justice and authorized it to investigate civil rights violation across the country
B) authorized the federal government to end segregation in public education and public accommodations
C) authorized the federal government to intervene in southern states where African Americans were denied the right to vote
D) was another symbolic piece of legislation that provided few real gains for African Americans while giving the appearance of government action

Question 47

The 1957 Civil Rights Act ______.

A) provided clear protections for the African Americans' rights throughout the country
B) was filibustered in the Senate as southern senators realized that this was their last chance to maintain segregation
C) was overturned by the Supreme Court in Sweatt v. Painter as an unconstitutional extension of federal power
D) allowed African Americans to sue their states in federal court if they were denied the vote

Question 48

As a result of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which of the following happened?

A) Both voter registration and election to office increased dramatically for African Americans.
B) Even though voter registration increased dramatically for African Americans, election to office remained a functional impossibility.
C) Neither voter registration nor election to office increased dramatically for African Americans.
D) While voter registration of African Americans did not substantially increase, African Americans were elected to office in unprecedented numbers.

Question 49

The Supreme Court, in a 5 to 4 vote, ruled that marriage choice is a fundamental, right provided for by the ______ Amendment.

A) Thirteenth
B) Fourteenth
C) Fifteenth
D) Nineteenth

Question 50

Early feminists called themselves "suffragists" because of which of the following?

A) They claimed to be suffering because of legal inequality.
B) One important issue for them was campaigning for the vote.
C) They were also active in the abolition movement and argued that alcohol caused a great deal of suffering in society.
D) One important issue for them was the suffering caused by slavery.

Question 51

The 1964 election ______.

A) created a dominant governing coalition in Washington that could address civil rights
B) demonstrated that Democratic presidential candidates could not win without the support of the South
C) demonstrated that Republican presidential candidates could only win if they were committed to civil rights
D) reinforced the fact that a divided majority cannot overcome a committed political minority

Question 52

Civil rights protests in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963 ______.

A) reinforced President Kennedy's desire to move less controversial legislation tackling social issues before addressing segregation
B) illustrated that many southern states would respond peacefully to the protests without necessarily agreeing to the political demands
C) helped move public opinion on the matter and convinced President Kennedy that inaction might have significant costs in the upcoming 1964 election
D) represented a major breakthrough as the State of Alabama decided to protect civil rights to end the protests peacefully

Question 53

Which of the following statements about the shift from litigation to mass demonstrations to secure civil rights is most accurate?

A) The NAACP played a major role in developing strategies because its leaders already had experience trying to influence judges.
B) Segregation produced a large crop of African American political leaders who had experience working together on city and county governments.
C) The lack of organizational capacity opened the door for outside groups to play a major role organizing demonstrations.
D) Black southern preachers played a major role planning and coordinating protests because they were skilled in organizing and developed trust with their congregations while free from white reprisals.

Question 54

The reality that successful demonstrations require many people to expose themselves to dangers and other sanctions raised the possibility of what collective action problem?

A) free riding
B) tragedy of the commons
C) agency loss
D) prisoner's dilemma

Question 55

The 1970 extension of the Voting Rights Act required which of the following with regard to ballots?

A) ballots be available in Mandarin Chinese where at least 5% of the population is Chinese
B) ballots be optically scanned to ensure a proper count
C) ballots be printed in English only, the official language of the United States
D) ballots be available in Spanish where at least 5% of the population is Hispanic

Question 56

Federal hate crime protections concern ______.

A) enhanced penalties for violence because of race, gender, national origin, or sexual orientation
B) federal prohibitions against states' efforts legally to deny marriage rights to same-sex couples
C) the Supreme Court ruling in Romer v. Evans
D) the rights of incarcerers to avoid cruel and unusual punishment

Question 57

All of the following statements regarding the Hispanic population are true except for ______.

A) the long-term prognosis for this group's civic gains is bright
B) while the population is growing rapidly, the naturalization rates are declining
C) the groups electoral power is bound to surge
D) the population is distributed geographically in a matter that promises it political influence

Question 58

The Equal Rights Amendment ______.

A) pitted the interests of men against women so there were not enough votes for ratification
B) pitted the interests of urban, upper-class women against working-class women, so the movement was divided
C) pitted African American women against White women over fears that the ERA would erase the gains of the civil rights movement
D) pitted feminists against antiabortion groups that produced a contentious debate, and the time for ratification expired

Question 59

Growing numbers and a concentrated residential pattern for Hispanics mean which of the following?

A) Hispanic politicians are now the largest subgroup in the House of Representatives.
B) More U.S. citizens speak Spanish than English.
C) Politicians can ill afford to ignore this constituency.
D) Bilingual education for junior high school students is now required in most states.

Question 60

Affirmative action refers to a policy that does which of the following?

A) hires minorities without regard to their skills
B) gives special consideration to minorities in their selection for employment and education
C) promotes minorities in areas of previous discrimination without the use of quotas
D) relies exclusively on racial and ethnic quotas to accomplish its goals

Question 61

President Abraham Lincoln did not endorse the idea of emancipation until the 1864 presidential campaign.

Question 62

Explain the challenges women faced in securing the right to vote in the United States.

Question 63

Smith v. Allwright ended the use of the white primary.

Question 64

What was the ruling in the 1857 Supreme Court case Dred Scott v. Sandford?

Question 65

Discuss the assertion that "to secure segregation, the southern states had to prevent black citizens from voting" and identify some of the methods used to prevent African Americans from voting.

Question 66

Hispanics face dual challenges of language and citizenship to gain civil rights.

Question 67

The Missouri Compromise settled the issue of slavery permanently in the United States.

Question 68

What bargain was struck under the Missouri Compromise? What impact did it have on the balance of power in the Senate?

Question 69

DOMA protected same-sex marriages and required the states to recognize civil unions from other states.

Question 70

The U.S. Constitution does not address the issue of slavery.

Question 71

Women received the right to vote with the Nineteenth Amendment.

Question 72

The struggle for civil rights has tested the politics of self-interest.

Question 73

What amendments were passed following the Civil War and how did they affect the civil rights of African Americans?

Question 74

Discuss the change over time in the civil rights movement strategy from one of litigation to peaceful protest and then one of confrontational demonstrations. Be sure to give concrete examples of activity from each era.

Question 75

Discuss the challenges Hispanics face in securing civil rights in the United States.

Question 76

What is the difference between civil rights and civil liberties?

Question 77

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt aggressively pushed for antilynching legislation to protect African Americans.

Question 78

Lincoln has been accused of failing to free the slaves where he could and freeing them where he could not. Explain and assess this criticism.

Question 79

Freeing slaves and granting them citizenship were two separate things.

Question 80

Why was Birmingham chosen as a venue to protest segregation in 1963?