Deck 2: Critical Junctures Early California

Question 1

Presidios were built for the primary purpose of

A)religious instruction
B)social interaction
C)economic development
D)military protection

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Who was California's most famous Progressive governor?

A)Leland Stanford
B)Hiram Johnson
C)Jess Unruh
D)Artie Samish

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The first European explorers to arrive in what is known as California were:

A)English
B)French
C)Spanish
D)Dutch

Answer 3

C

Question 4

What did the U.S.government do to encourage the settlement of the West?

A)It gave away millions of acres of land to railroad companies to encourage the development of the West.
B)It fully funded the building of railroads to connect the coasts.
C)It funded the building of more missions.
D)It opened gold mines and put people to work.

Question 5

When was gold discovered in California?

A)at the end of the Mexican-American War around 1848
B)about one hundred years before California became a state, when the Spanish ruled California
C)about fifty years after California gained statehood
D)around 1821, when Mexico gained independence from Spain

Question 6

Mission complexes functioned primarily as:

A)spiritual and religious centers
B)ranches, or rancheros, that served as centers for religious, social, political, and economic activities
C)military establishments
D)hospitals and education centers for Native populations

Question 7

The "Third House" refers to a group of people possessing great political power, functioning like a third chamber of the state legislature.Historically, which group has held this title?

A)lobbyists for special interest groups
B)the Big Four
C)the Democratic party
D)retired and former legislators

Question 8

Which group of laborers were recruited and employed by the railroad companies to lay thousands of miles of track over the West's rugged terrain?

A)Hispanics/Latinos
B)Chinese
C)ethnic Americans from the Midwest and East
D)Africans

Question 9

What political movement in the early 1900s finally loosened the Southern Pacific's grip over state politics?

A)Socialist
B)Communist
C)Liberal
D)Progressive

Question 10

Alien Land Laws were in effect until what decade in California?

A)the 1880s
B)the 1900s
C)the 1920s
D)the 1950s

Question 11

How many missions were established in what is now the state of California?

A)about 10, but most have been destroyed
B)12: one for each of Jesus's disciples
C)21, and most are named for saints
D)50: one for each large Spanish presidio

Question 12

Two Progressive reforms that aimed to weaken political parties were ________ and ________.

A)women's suffrage; Alien Land Laws
B)municipal ownership of utilities; Alien Land Laws
C)universal education; women's suffrage
D)direct primaries; cross-filing

Question 13

What replaced the major Native American tribal settlements along a road that came to be known as "El Camino Real," the King's Highway?

A)small white castles, each dedicated to European monarchs
B)missions
C)presidios only
D)tribal governments

Question 14

The first large wave of settlers arrived in California in 1848 as a result of:

A)ending the war with Mexico
B)the discovery of gold
C)the opening of the transcontinental railroad
D)statehood

Question 15

The Alien Land Laws instituted during the Progressive era were:

A)designed to prevent Asian-born or persons of Asian descent from owning land
B)a form of legal discrimination that reflected whites' racial hostility
C)were in place even into the 1950s
D)all of the above

Question 16

The treaty that ended the two-year Mexican-American War in 1848 and transferred California to U.S.power was:

A)Treaty with Spain
B)Treaty of Ghent
C)Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
D)Treaty of Los Angeles

Question 17

Direct democracy enabled Californians to

A)participate in nominating candidates for office by voting in party primary elections
B)propose laws and vote on them
C)put party bosses in prison
D)guarantee the public employment of qualified individuals rather than party loyalists

Question 18

Until 1821, what country governed the Western lands containing California?

A)England
B)Portugal
C)Mexico
D)Spain

Question 19

When was the first mission built?

A)1542
B)1648
C)1769
D)1830

Question 20

Between 1821 and 1848, the lands containing California became part of which country?

A)Mexico
B)Spain
C)United States
D)Canada

Question 21

By cross-filing, any person could:

A)run as a candidate in any political party's primary election
B)run as a write-in candidate
C)apply to the legislature to fill a vacancy
D)run in the general election

Question 22

Who can be credited with creating California's "hybrid democracy"?

A)the "Big Four"
B)the Populists
C)Artie Samish
D)the Progressives

Question 23

Jerry Brown has been allowed to serve a record four terms as governor of California because:

A)he served his first two terms before term limits were enacted
B)the term limits law was changed recently to allow governors to serve four terms
C)term limits don't apply to the governor's office
D)he switched political parties

Question 24

One consequence of the "top-two" primary has been:

A)more ideological conservatives are being elected to office
B)the disappearance of party polarization in the legislature
C)candidates from the same party are competing against each other in many November general election races
D)incumbents are losing at higher rates

Question 25

Population increases during the latter half of the twentieth century reflected migration from the Rust Belt to the Sun Belt, as well as immigration from:

A)Mexico, Central America, and Vietnam
B)Mexico and Europe
C)Mexico and China
D)Europe and China

Question 26

To what does the term "Third House" refer?

A)retired and former legislators who advise current legislators
B)the fact that the governor is usually given a state-owned residence in which to live
C)a group that possesses great political power and functions like a third chamber of the state legislature
D)the initiative industry, which employs paid signature gatherers in order to qualify many initiative measures for the ballot

Question 27

Prior to the 1960s, cozy relationships developed between legislators and lobbyists because:

A)they had weak loyalty to political parties; lobbyists helped them get elected
B)they sought to supplement their low wages
C)lobbyists supplied needed information about bills, and legislators lacked staff
D)all of the above

Question 28

The nation's first law regulating greenhouse gas emissions was signed into law by Gov.Schwarzenegger, and is titled:

A)AB 32
B)Proposition 11
C)the DREAM Act
D)the Clean Air Act

Question 29

California's experimentation with primary elections began with _____ and is currently being tested again with the _____ primary.

A)open primary; closed primary
B)merit-based elections; automatic
C)"select and elect" method; civil service
D)cross-filing; top-two

Question 30

Which is the anti-tax initiative that succeeded in 1978, essentially limiting property taxes to one percent of a building's sale price?

A)Proposition 1
B)Proposition 13
C)the DREAM Act
D)the Civil Rights Act

Question 31

How did California redesign its legislature as a result of a Supreme Court ruling in 1965 (Reynolds v.Sims)?

A)Representation in the upper house (the Senate)could only be based on county lines
B)Representation in the lower house (the Assembly)could only be based on county lines
C)Representation in both houses had to be based on population
D)none of the above

Question 32

As a result of redistricting after 1965, political influence in the legislature passed from:

A)the south to the north
B)rural to urban interests
C)senior legislators to junior members
D)the legislature to the governor's office

Question 33

Which private company was likened to an octopus in a famous cartoon, due to its monopolistic control over all major aspects of economic life in early California including banking, overland and overseas shipping, postal services, lumber, telegraph services, other wholesale industries, and of course, politics?

A)Chevron Corporation
B)DuPont
C)Ford Motor Company
D)The Southern Pacific Railroad

Question 34

Demographic change can be seen in public schools, where non-Hispanic Whites constituted _______ of all children enrolled in K-12 schools in 2013-14.

A)10 percent
B)25 percent
C)50 percent
D)75 percent

Question 35

Socialist writer Upton Sinclair won statewide nomination for California governor by representing which party?

A)Republican
B)Democratic
C)Progressives
D)None of the above

Question 36

California's population significantly increased during the Great Depression, when approximately 350,000 migrants from ________ arrived in search of work.

A)Mexico
B)China, Japan and Vietnam
C)the Dust Bowl states such as Oklahoma
D)the East Coast

Question 37

The state legislature was transformed in 1966 by Proposition 1A, a measure that professionalized the lawmaking body by:

A)granting higher salary, more staff, and longer sessions
B)requiring both chambers to be based on population
C)equalizing the number of committees in each chamber
D)imposing term limits on every legislator

Question 38

Being awarded a government job based on one's loyalty to a political party is called:

A)patronage
B)civil service
C)indirect democracy
D)nonpartisanship

Question 39

Approximately when are (or were)Latinos projected to become an absolute majority (over 50 percent)?

A)in 2010 - they've already reached that threshold
B)around 2020
C)around 2050
D)never, because their numbers are declining after hitting a high in 2015

Question 40

In the post-war "boom" of the 1950s, what U.S.government program was created to help ease labor shortages?

A)Oakie Program
B)Bracero Program
C)Cross-filing Program
D)Infrastructure Program

Question 41

Today, some public employees have to take a civil service exam to show that they are qualified for the position, a process that was established by Progressives over 100 years ago.

Question 42

Democrats in the legislature have made life difficult for Governor Jerry Brown, because they have overridden most of his vetoes.

Question 43

Despite being the minority party in the state legislature, Republicans dominate the statewide, constitutional executive offices.

Question 44

Despite an improving national economy, California's annual state budget continues to run deficits that range into the billions of dollars.

Question 45

Women were granted the right to vote in California state elections about ten years before they were guaranteed the right to vote by the 19^th Amendment to the U.S.Constitution.

Question 46

Unless the term limits law is changed again, Jerry Brown will be the only person in state history to have served four terms as governor.

Question 47

Thanks to the Progressives, candidates for local city councils and school boards run in nonpartisan elections, meaning their party affiliation is not printed next to their names on the ballot.

Question 48

Democrats are the majority in the legislature, and now occupy almost every statewide, constitutional executive office.

Question 49

A "nonpartisan" election means that only independents can run for certain elective offices.

Question 50

Democrats attained supermajority status in both chambers of the legislature in 2012, something they hadn't been able to do since 1883.

Question 51

The political movement that brought direct democracy to California stayed within the state's borders, and to this day, no other states have direct democracy.

Question 52

Until 1821, _________ governed the Western lands containing California, and _________ ruled California for the next twenty years (until independence was won and California became a U.S.state).

A)Mexico; Spain
B)Mexico; no one
C)Spain; Mexico
D)Mexico; Native Americans

Question 53

____________ who came seeking gold or were recruited by the railroad companies to lay railroad track over the West's rugged terrain endured decades of legal discrimination in California.

A)Mexican
B)European
C)Native American
D)Chinese