Deck 9: Becoming a Modern Military

Question 1

Why did the Indian Bureau encourage railroads and white hunters to destroy buffalo herds on the Plains?

A) Native Americans relied on the herds for their survival.
B) The buffalos were destroying the local ecology
C) Buffalos dug up rail ties and occasionally tipped settlers' wagons.
D) Eastern entrepreneurs paid large sums of money for their horns.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Why did the Modoc War of 1872-73 begin?

A) The Modoc left their reservation in Oregon to return to their homeland in California.
B) The Sioux created an alliance with the U.S. Federal Government.
C) The Modoc accidentally killed General Edward Canby while fighting the Cheyenne.
D) The Modoc killed General Edward Canby and Reverend Eleaser Thomas during a peaceful business transaction.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Why did General George Crook ask to be released from his military command?

A) He had lost the trust of the Apache.
B) Red Cloud had defeated him on the open Plains.
C) Cochise had decimated his troops in Arizona.
D) He failed to capture or kill Geronimo.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which act officially established the National Guard system?

A) Militia Act
B) National Guard Act
C) General Service Act
D) Naval Personnel Act

Question 5

Why did President Grover Cleveland resort to using regular Army soldiers to break the Pullman strike?

A) Governor John Peter Altgeld refused to call out the Illinois National Guard.
B) Many members of the National Guard were busy fighting the Indians on the plains.
C) Federal law mandated that the U.S. Army be used in labor disputes.
D) The Pullman strike offered a rare opportunity to train Army soldiers in a violent scenario.

Question 6

What was formed in 1903 to serve as the senior service school for the U.S. Army?

A) Army War College
B) Fort Leavenworth
C) West Point
D) Quantico

Question 7

What removed the General of the Army position and replaced it with the office of Army Chief of Staff?

A) General Staff Act
B) Militia Act
C) Army Reform Act
D) National Guard Act

Question 8

In 1903, why did the Colt .45 caliber pistol become the Army's sidearm of choice?

A) The Colt .45 was more powerful than previous caliber pistols.
B) Krag-Jorgensen was labeled as an inferior foreign manufacturer.
C) The Springfield often misfired and was not reliable in combat.
D) The Browning was synonymous with battles lost on the Plains.

Question 9

What history of naval development profoundly affected the strategic conception of the importance of surface fleets?

A) The Influence of Sea Power Upon History
B) The Military Policy of the United States
C) Fleet Tactics
D) Great Naval Battles

Question 10

How did Alfred Mahan suggest the United States move beyond a continental power and create an empire?

A) annex Hawaii and build a U.S.-controlled canal in Central America
B) rely solely on fast-moving merchant ships which could avoid the enemy
C) wrest Cuba from Spain and go to war with France
D) a new four-step education program for new midshipmen

Question 11

Which of the following best describes America's efforts to become a naval power from the 1890s to the 1920s?

A) Although much progress was made the United States barely kept pace with other world powers.
B) With the assistance of Congress the United States manufactured more naval vessels than any other country.
C) Despite the assistance of many politicians the Navy did not grow during this era.
D) Although the American Navy grew it failed to be an effective force against the Spanish.

Question 12

Who was the first president of the Naval War College?

A) Stephen B. Luce
B) Alfred Thayer Mahan
C) William Chandler
D) George Dewey

Question 13

In hindsight, what probably caused the USS Maine to sink?

A) an internal explosion from a faulty coal chamber
B) a Spanish torpedo struck the exterior wall
C) a secret Spanish agent planted an explosive device
D) a Cuban guerilla detonated a bomb to bring the U.S. into the war

Question 14

Who led the Philippine insurgents in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War?

A) Emilio Aguinaldo
B) Joseph Wheeler
C) Antonio Santa Anna
D) Jack Pershing

Question 15

According to the Chinese rebels, what triggered the Boxer Rebellion?

A) Western interference and forced assimilation
B) a weak Chinese federal government
C) many traditionalists were stubborn and refused to change
D) the United States removed financial aid from China

Question 16

What were the major changes in Naval affairs in the period between the end of the Civil War and the U.S. entrance into World War I?

Question 17

How did the Army's missions and force structure shift in the aftermath of the American Civil War?

Question 18

Describe Indian resistance in the last third of the nineteenth century. How was this similar to previous campaigns against white encroachment? Were there any innovations? If so, what were they?

Question 19

What factors led to a renewed push for professionalism in the Army in the 1870s and 1880s? What role did the writings of Emory Upton play in this process? Were there any concrete reforms made? If so, what were they?

Question 20

What factors drove naval modernization in the late nineteenth century? What was the significance of the ABCD shipbuilding program?

Question 21

What were the causes of the war with Spain?

Question 22

What shortcomings did the mobilization in preparation for the Spanish War reveal about American military organization?

Question 23

Why was the Philippine insurgency so difficult to defeat?

Question 24

What lessons could have been learned from the fighting in the Philippines against the insurgents? Why were these neglected?

Question 25

Compare the works of Emory Upton and Alfred Thayer Mahan. Did they have any ideas in common regarding the organization of American military institutions? If so, what were they? If not, why not?