Deck 19: Toward an Urban Society, 1877-1900

Question 1

The rise of cities and industry________ .

A) had little effect on American life
B) provided opportunities for all Americans
C) sustained the foundations of pre-Civil War society
D) caused changes in all segments of American society
E) was steady throughout the nineteenth century

Answer 1

caused changes in all segments of American society

Question 2

Building the new skyscrapers depended on the invention of________ .

A) concrete reinforced pilings
B) electric elevators
C) automatic window cleaners
D) indoor plumbing
E) vulcanization

Answer 2

electric elevators

Question 3

In 1894, the Immigration Restriction League demanded a literacy test for immigrants from which part of the world?

A) China
B) Ireland
C) southern and eastern Europe
D) Mexico
E) northern Europe

Answer 3

southern and eastern Europe

Question 4

As the new immigrants entered American society, they________ .

A) were well prepared to make the adjustment
B) clung to the customs of their native countries
C) quickly assimilated into the society
D) never were able to adjust to new living conditions
E) gave up their native languages

Question 5

What was the most famous political machine of the late nineteenth century?

A) the Fifth Street Gang
B) Tammany Hall
C) the Irish Mafia
D) the Lamar Circle
E) the Coughlin Gang

Question 6

Tenements were________ .

A) saloons where working-class men gathered to socialize
B) urban apartment buildings that tended to be overcrowded
C) neighborhood ghettos of unassimilated East European immigrants
D) heavily developed industrial districts notorious for air and water pollution
E) pool halls frequented by members of violent street gangs

Question 7

In the Victorian code of morality,________ .

A) children were active participants in family life
B) wives were to be acknowledged as equal partners to their husbands
C) moral values were less important than economic values
D) strict standards of behavior should be followed
E) young women could finally go out without a chaperone

Question 8

If an American became ill in the 1870s,________ .

A) hospital insurance would cover the cost of the illness
B) home care would be the common form of treatment
C) there was little help from the medical profession
D) recent medical discoveries would guarantee recovery
E) he or she would probably die

Question 9

Most Americans in the 1880s________ .

A) no longer held religious beliefs
B) believed the school was the center of life
C) were church-attending Protestants
D) had few private moral standards
E) were Roman Catholic parishioners

Question 10

After the Civil War,________ .

A) there was little need for reform movements
B) women were excluded from reform movements
C) reform movements remained active in American life
D) the national government was the major agent for change
E) reformers focused exclusively on temperance

Question 11

Which of the following was true of middle-class American families in the late nineteenth century?

A) They found their status had remained unchanged.
B) They became more isolated from the world of labor.
C) They had greater economic function.
D) They tended to deteriorate under the impact of industrialization.
E) They had more children.

Question 12

The "new woman"________ .

A) won respect from American society
B) developed from the economic changes of the times
C) quickly won political and civil rights
D) was usually married, working out of choice
E) still could not get a divorce

Question 13

In the late nineteenth century,________ .

A) few women entered the workforce
B) most women took advantage of economic changes
C) few women challenged the system
D) the role of women in society was changing
E) womanly "innocence" was never questioned

Question 14

The common law doctrine of femme couverte________ .

A) was revised to adapt to the changes of the period
B) provided women with freedom in their marriages
C) brought women new political rights
D) was strongly supported by women
E) was central to the idea of the "new woman"

Question 15

Which of the following was a founder of the National American Woman Suffrage Association?

A) Rheta Childe Dorr
B) John H. Kellogg
C) Susan B. Anthony
D) Charlotte Gilman
E) Rebecca Ablowitz

Question 16

Public schools in the 1870s and 1880s________ .

A) placed greater value on educating females
B) vigorously stressed discipline and routine
C) ignored moral, religious education
D) emphasized egalitarianism between students and teachers
E) were considered better than factories by most students

Question 17

What was a major difference between northern and southern schools?

A) More students attended school in the South.
B) All southern states had compulsory school attendance laws.
C) Few southern states had compulsory school attendance laws.
D) Northern states provided segregated school systems.
E) Southern schools provided better curricula.

Question 18

A major change in the college curriculum of the late nineteenth century was to________ .

A) train students for the ministry
B) emphasize classical curriculum
C) have students follow a rigorous, prescribed curriculum
D) stress the practical application of education
E) eliminate electives from the curriculum

Question 19

Booker T. Washington________ .

A) believed African Americans should fight for equal rights
B) had little hope for the future of African Americans in American society
C) believed that self-help was the best plan for African Americans
D) emphasized the importance of higher education for African Americans
E) founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Question 20

W. E. B. Du Bois________ .

A) supported the views of Booker T. Washington
B) advocated revolutionary tactics for African Americans
C) was popular with African American and white society
D) believed educational advancement was the key to success
E) was the author of the Atlanta Compromise

Question 21

The social Darwinists________ .

A) believed the laws of nature applied to society
B) were active reformers in the late nineteenth century
C) had an overwhelming influence on American society
D) raised important questions about the conditions of society
E) stressed society's responsibility to aid the poor

Question 22

According to Henry George,________ .

A) modern society was perfect
B) there was a wide gulf between rich and poor
C) little could be done to alleviate the problems of the poor
D) a graduated income tax would solve the nation's problems
E) the poor in America were making real progress

Question 23

As a young lawyer, what did Clarence Darrow believe?

A) Aiding the poor would interfere with the evolutionary process.
B) Capitalism must be overthrown.
C) Without poverty, there would be no crime.
D) Capital punishment is essential to the maintenance of civil order.
E) A "single tax" on corporate profits would solve all social problems.

Question 24

________ wrote the book Looking Backward, which described a future of socialism in America.

A) Walter Rauschenbusch
B) Edward Bellamy
C) Richard Frick
D) Jane Addams
E) Henry George

Question 25

Jane Addams was the founder of________ .

A) the South End House in Boston
B) the Henry Street Settlement in New York
C) Golden Home in San Francisco
D) Hull House in Chicago
E) the Neighborhood Guild in New York

Question 26

Late-nineteenth-century immigrants predominantly________ .

A) came seeking religious freedom
B) were highly skilled craftsmen
C) were older males
D) settled in the Midwestern region
E) already knew someone in the United States

Question 27

Why were those in mainstream society troubled by the influx of new immigrants in the 1880s?

A) They feared that immigrants would try to assimilate into American society.
B) They worried that they would not be able to do their jobs as well anymore.
C) They feared that the government would give immigrants equal rights.
D) They felt that too many immigrants would take up land in the West.
E) They worried that the new immigrants could not be assimilated.

Question 28

How did immigrants and native-born people compare in terms of family in the late nineteenth century?

A) Immigrants married earlier than native-born people and, as a result, had more children.
B) Immigrant families had fewer children than native-born families, mostly because they lived in cramped tenements that could not support large families.
C) Immigrants tended to marry later and have more children than native-born people.
D) Immigrant families were usually headed by single women, whereas native-born families tended to be nuclear families.
E) Immigrants married much earlier than native-born people, and also tended to die at much earlier ages.

Question 29

What was one consequence of the urban growth of the late nineteenth century?

A) urban renewal of neighborhoods
B) growth of middle-class neighborhoods
C) white flight
D) powerful city political machines
E) construction of better housing

Question 30

Urban political machines stayed in power because________ .

A) the federal government supported them with grants
B) they understood how to use the political system for their own good
C) they performed social services for African Americans
D) there was little regard for the political system
E) they took over services from the cities

Question 31

American life in the late nineteenth century included________ .

A) a movement toward healthier diets and lifestyles
B) hopelessly primitive medical science
C) a majority of the population living in urban areas
D) a life expectancy of about 60 years
E) food prices that were constantly getting lower

Question 32

Significant medical developments in Victorian America________ .

A) prevented tuberculosis, typhoid, and diphtheria
B) included the discovery that germs cause infection and disease
C) led to an increase in the number of hospitals and their use for medical care
D) could not stop the increasing infant mortality rate between 1877 and 1900
E) allowed psychologists to investigate the importance of genetics on human development

Question 33

Why did reformers turn their attention to prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages in the nineteenth century?

A) They believed that high tariffs on alcohol were leading more people into poverty.
B) They thought that large producers of alcoholic beverages were driving smaller companies out of business.
C) They did not want Americans to import alcoholic beverages from other countries.
D) They believed that drunkenness brought many social evils into society.
E) They were worried that people were buying harmful liquor because alcoholic beverages were not regulated.

Question 34

What did the popularity of sports in the United States indicate?

A) the influence of European culture
B) the increased amount of leisure time
C) the breakdown of sexual barriers
D) increased freedom for children
E) the boredom of industrial workers

Question 35

What was the significance of the decline in fertility rates in America between 1800 and 1939?

A) It reflected a higher death rate among immigrant families.
B) It reflected a higher infant mortality rate due to primitive medical practices.
C) It reflected a conscious decision of many Americans to postpone or limit their families.
D) It showed that more Americans were remaining single rather than marrying and having children.
E) It showed that fewer Americans were dying of disease now that vaccines had come into popular use.

Question 36

Which of the following authors argued that the American ideal of women's "innocence" really meant their ignorance?

A) Charlotte Perkins Gilman in Women and Economics
B) Edward Bliss Foote in Plain Home Talk of Love, Marriage, and Parentage
C) Bessie and Marie Von Vorst in The Woman Who Toils
D) Helen Campbell in Women Wage Earners
E) Jane Addams in Twenty Years at Hull House

Question 37

What was a result of the Supreme Court's Plessy v. Ferguson decision?

A) Public education became more expensive for southern states.
B) Integration of schools was to occur with deliberate speed.
C) Illiteracy among school-aged children would be eradicated.
D) De facto segregation could no longer occur.
E) Black teachers were paid the same as their white counterparts.

Question 38

Educational changes in the years 1877 to 1900 included________ .

A) an increase in illiteracy
B) "classical" courses in Latin and literature for older children
C) development of the kindergarten
D) compulsory school attendance in all states
E) integrated schools for African Americans in the North and South

Question 39

Changes in higher education included________ .

A) a loosening of admission standards for professional training
B) the first separate graduate schools
C) an increased emphasis on a classical curriculum
D) a focus on training young men for the ministry
E) more educational opportunities for women

Question 40

Which of the following places events in the correct chronological order?

A) Morrill Land Grant Act, Plessy v. Ferguson, establishment of Tuskegee Institute
B) Plessy v. Ferguson, Morrill Land Grant Act, establishment of Tuskegee Institute
C) establishment of Tuskegee Institute, Morrill Land Grant Act, Plessy v. Ferguson
D) Morrill Land Grant Act, establishment of Tuskegee Institute, Plessy v. Ferguson
E) Plessy v. Ferguson, establishment of Tuskegee Institute, Morrill Land Grant Act

Question 41

Why did many whites support Booker T. Washington's Atlanta Compromise?

A) It called for blacks to gain rights slowly through self-improvement, and not through activism.
B) It rejected the idea that blacks needed equal rights in American society.
C) It called for blacks to get a college education and to fight actively for their rights.
D) It called for the integration of schools and an end to "separate but equal."
E) It promoted the idea of professional careers for blacks.

Question 42

Why did W. E. B. Du Bois attack the Atlanta Compromise?

A) He believed that blacks should not take such an aggressive strategy in attaining equal rights.
B) He felt that it discouraged blacks from working hard in school and in their professions.
C) He thought that the integration of schools would be disadvantageous for blacks.
D) He believed that blacks should focus on economic gains, and not on political activism.
E) He believed that blacks should actively fight for civil rights.

Question 43

Why did many northerners lose interest in fighting for equal rights for blacks by the 1870s?

A) They believed that blacks already had achieved equal rights in much of the country.
B) They felt that their support was only hurting and not helping blacks gain rights.
C) They were intimidated by blacks in the South and did not want to encourage rebellion.
D) They felt that southern whites should be active in the cause instead.
E) They had grown tired of the issue, and many believed in white superiority.

Question 44

How did the federal government react to the spread of Jim Crow laws in the late nineteenth century?

A) The federal government sent in additional troops to enforce the Reconstruction amendments.
B) Congress passed legislation to prevent political discrimination, but allowed social discrimination to continue.
C) The federal government did not interfere because it was a states' rights issue.
D) The laissez-faire attitude of the Republican presidents of the era prevented any action.
E) The Supreme Court rulings supported a reduction in civil rights for blacks.

Question 45

What did Henry George propose as a solution to poverty in modern society?

A) to let nature take its evolutionary course
B) to replace all taxes with a "single tax" on land
C) a socialist utopia in which the government owns the means of production
D) to establish worker and farmer "cooperatives" to own the means of production
E) to make churches the center of social reform instead of the government

Question 46

Why were many women part of the settlement house reform movement?

A) They believed that poverty was the worst problem in society and must be prevented.
B) Men were not interested in urban poverty, and women were the only ones left to tackle the problem.
C) The women who helped start settlement houses could bring their children there, which made it easier for them.
D) It was one of the few places in American society to which they could bring their talents.
E) Women believed that education was the only way to eradicate poverty in the United States.

Question 47

Why did some immigrants resist the settlement house movement?

A) They did not trust organizations that were headed by women.
B) They felt that settlement houses kept them segregated from the rest of society.
C) They did not want their children educated by Americans.
D) They did not want other people to tell them how to live and act.
E) They believed that living in a settlement house would never get them out of poverty.

Question 48

How did working-class families and middle-class families experience urbanization and industrialization differently?

A) Working-class families tended to have strong family ties as a result of their urban lives and work, whereas women and children in middle-class families tended not to participate in the work that men did.
B) Working-class families often did not spend much time together due to everyone working at different times, whereas middle-class women tended to spend more time with their children.
C) In working-class families, only the men earned money, but in middle-class families, some women did work out of the home.
D) In working-class families, more children lived with their parents into their twenties, whereas in middle- class families, children tended to leave home as soon as they got work.
E) Working-class families tended to have fewer members of the household engaged in work, which is what kept them in a permanent state of poverty.

Question 49

How did the role of children in society change in the late nineteenth century?

A) Children were valued more as people who could contribute to the family, and not just as people to be left alone for many years.
B) Children were viewed less as "little adults" who should contribute to the family as soon as possible, and viewed more as young people who needed years to grow up.
C) People began to think of children as less in need of general education and more in need of specific education tailored to the jobs they would eventually get.
D) Children were no longer thought of as "free help" and were instead paid for many of the chores they did at home.
E) People began to understand the necessity for children to learn important skills as apprentices and not just at home with their families.

Question 50

What does the following quotation mean: "The United States was born in the country and moved to the city"?

A) The United States started out as a small country, but became extremely populated over time.
B) Most Americans were uncomfortable with living in large cities until the nineteenth century.
C) The size of the country grew exponentially larger once people started living in cities.
D) Most Americans preferred living in rural areas, but were forced to move to cities because that is where most jobs were located.
E) The United States was at first a rural country and then became much more urban over time.

Question 51

How did technology affect patterns of urban life in late-nineteenth-century America? Under what conditions did the urban poor live? Why did technology fail to help these people?

Question 52

Compare the role of the political machines and the social reformers in dealing with the new urban environment of the late nineteenth century. Which group seems to have been more successful?

Question 53

How did economic change and urbanization affect family life?

Question 54

How did education change in the late nineteenth century? Explain the controversy over education for blacks. Why did new educational opportunities open up for women? What was the main goal of primary education? Why?