Deck 14: Forging the National Economy

Question 1

When the Irish flocked to the United States in the 1840s, they mostly stayed in the larger seaboard cities because they

A) preferred urban life.
B) were offered higher-paying jobs.
C) saw greater opportunities for education.
D) were too poor to move west and buy land.
E) had experience in urban politics.

Answer 1

were too poor to move west and buy land.

Question 2

Life on the frontier was

A) fairly comfortable for women but not for men.
B) downright grim for most pioneer families.
C) more highly cultured than often realized.
D) a place where lone heroes battled Indians and outlaws.
E) based on tight-knit communities.

Answer 2

downright grim for most pioneer families.

Question 3

Pioneering Americans marooned by geography

A) never took the time to explore the beauty of the natural landscape.
B) grew to depend on other people for most of their basic needs.
C) abandoned the "rugged individualism" of colonial Americans.
D) never looked for any help beyond their immediate family.
E) were often ill informed, superstitious, provincial, and fiercely individualistic.

Answer 3

were often ill informed, superstitious, provincial, and fiercely individualistic.

Question 4

"Ecological imperialism" can best be described as

A) the efforts of white settlers to take land from Native Americans.
B) the aggressive exploitation of the West's bounty.
C) humans' domination of western animals.
D) the spread of technology and industry.
E) the practice of using spectacular natural settings as symbols of America.

Question 5

The dramatic growth of American cities between 1800 and 1860

A) put an end to the frontier era.
B) contributed to a decline in the birthrate.
C) resulted in unsanitary conditions in many communities.
D) forced the federal government to slow immigration.
E) created sharp political conflict between farmers and urbanites.

Question 6

Native-born Americans especially distrusted and resented the Irish because these immigrants

A) were poor.
B) often drank too much liquor.
C) were almost all Roman Catholics.
D) frequently became police officers.
E) were slow to learn English.

Question 7

German immigrants in the early nineteenth century tended to

A) settle in eastern industrial cities.
B) retain strong ties to Germany.
C) become slave owners.
D) join the temperance movement.
E) support public schools.

Question 8

Those who were frightened by the rapid influx of Irish immigrants organized

A) the Order of the Star-Spangled Banner.
B) the "Molly Maguires."
C) Tammany Hall.
D) the Ancient Order of Hibernians.
E) the Ku Klux Klan.

Question 9

When the "famine Irish" came to America, they

A) tried to move to the western frontier.
B) often took up potato agriculture.
C) moved quickly up the economic ladder.
D) mostly remained in the port cities of the Northeast.
E) formed alliances with Yankees against the Germans.

Question 10

The overwhelming event for Ireland in the 1840s was

A) the rebellion against British rule and potato famine.
B) influx of immigrants from mostly Eastern European countries.
C) the legalization of the Roman Catholic Church.
D) the migration from the countryside to the city.
E) the increasing use of English instead of Gaelic.

Question 11

The influx of immigrants to the United States tripled, then quadrupled, in the

A) 1810s and 1820s.
B) 1820s and 1830s.
C) 1830s and 1840s.
D) 1840s and 1850s.
E) 1860s and 1870s.

Question 12

All of the following were characteristics of the new nation as it went bounding into the nineteenth century in a burst of movement except

A) New England Yankees, Pennsylvania farmers, and southern yeomen all pushed west in search of cheap land.
B) vast number of immigrants moved west in search of prodigious opportunity.
C) better roads, faster steamboats, farther-reaching canals, and tentacle-stretching railroads all helped move people.
D) newly invented machinery quickened the cultivating of crops and the manufacturing of goods.
E) the push forward resulted in a stagnant and slow developing economy.

Question 13

The sentiment of fear and opposition to open immigration was called

A) the cult of domesticity.
B) nativism.
C) Unitarianism.
D) rugged individualism.
E) racism.

Question 14

German immigrants to the United States

A) quickly became a powerful political force.
B) left their homeland to escape economic hardships and autocratic government.
C) were as poor as the Irish.
D) were generally welcomed by native-born Americans.
E) were almost all Catholics.

Question 15

The Irish immigrants to early-nineteenth-century America

A) were almost all Roman Catholics.
B) tended to settle on western farmlands.
C) were warmly welcomed by American workers.
D) identified and sympathized with American free blacks.
E) were often members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

Question 16

Immigrants coming to the United States before 1860

A) depressed the economy due to their poverty.
B) were generally accepted as contributors to the American dream.
C) stayed heavily involved in the politics of their native lands.
D) settled mostly in the South.
E) helped to fuel economic expansion.

Question 17

The painter George Catlin advocated

A) placing Indians on reservations.
B) efforts to protect America's endangered species.
C) continuing the "rendezvous" system of fur trapping.
D) keeping white settlers out of the West.
E) the preservation of nature as a national policy.

Question 18

In early-nineteenth-century America,

A) the annual population growth rate was much higher than in colonial days.
B) the urban population was growing at an unprecedented rate.
C) the birthrate slightly declined.
D) new medicines increased the average age of the population.
E) the center of population moved northward.

Question 19

Native-born Americans feared that Catholic immigrants to the United States would

A) want to attend school with Protestants.
B) bring the pope over to rule America.
C) "establish" the Catholic church at the expense of Protestantism.
D) pass laws forbidding birth control.
E) establish monasteries and convents in the West.

Question 20

When German immigrants came to the United States, they

A) often became Baptist or Methodists.
B) mixed well with other Americans.
C) remained mostly in the Northeast.
D) were often able to prosper.
E) dropped most of their German customs.

Question 21

After the construction of the Lancaster Turnpike and the Cumberland (National) Road, road building slowed somewhat because of

A) corruption in construction contracts.
B) the inability to construct hard-surface highways.
C) eastern states' opposition.
D) the steamboat and canal boom.
E) the reluctance of shippers to move their products by road.

Question 22

The "Father of the Factory System" in the United States was

A) Andrew Carnegie.
B) Samuel F. B. Morse.
C) Eli Whitney.
D) Samuel Slater.
E) Thomas Edison.

Question 23

The major effect of early-nineteenth-century industrialization on the trans-Allegheny West was to encourage

A) specialized, cash-crop agriculture.
B) slavery.
C) self-sufficient farming.
D) more trade between the West and the South.
E) higher tariffs.

Question 24

With the development of cash-crop agriculture in the trans-Allegheny West,

A) farmers became more independent and self-reliant.
B) tenant farming began to spread throughout the Midwest.
C) many farmers faced mounting indebtedness.
D) subsistence farming was largely confined to the South.
E) the issue of farm surpluses came to the fore.

Question 25

One of the goals of the child-centered family of the 1800s was to

A) raise children who were obedient to authority.
B) allow parents to spoil their children.
C) raise independent individuals.
D) overturn the older biblical ideas of child-rearing.
E) preserve childhood innocence.

Question 26

Match each individual below with the correct invention.

A) A-3, B-1, C-4, D-2
B) A-1, B-2, C-4, D-3
C) A-1, B-4, C-2, D-3
D) A-4, B-2, C-3, D-1
E) A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4

Question 27

The underlying basis for modern mass production was the

A) division of labor.
B) musket.
C) system of interchangeable parts.
D) principle of limited liability.
E) assembly line.

Question 28

The early factory system distributed its benefits

A) mostly to the owners.
B) evenly to all.
C) primarily to immigrants.
D) to workers represented by unions.
E) to overseas investors.

Question 29

In the case of Commonwealth v. Hunt, the supreme court of Massachusetts ruled that

A) permanent corporations were constitutional.
B) labor unions were legal.
C) labor strikes were illegal.
D) girls under the age of 16 could not be employed in factories.
E) the state could regulate factory wages and working conditions.

Question 30

One reason that the condition of most adult wage earners gradually improved was

A) the acceptance of unions as legitimate organizations.
B) the passage of minimum wage laws.
C) the great demand for labor in new high-technology industries.
D) the enactment of immigration restrictions.
E) the enfranchisement of the laboring man.

Question 31

The first major transportation project, which ran sixty-two miles from Philadelphia to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was the

A) Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
B) National (Cumberland) Road.
C) Erie Canal.
D) St. Lawrence Seaway.
E) Lancaster Turnpike.

Question 32

The American work force in the early nineteenth century was characterized by

A) substantial employment of women and children in factories.
B) strikes by workers that were few in number but usually effective.
C) a general lengthening of the workday from ten to fourteen hours.
D) extensive political activity among workers.
E) reliance on the system of apprentices and masters.

Question 33

Eli Whitney was instrumental in the invention of both

A) the steamboat and the transatlantic cable.
B) the cotton gin and the system of interchangeable parts.
C) the railroad and the process for making steel.
D) the sewing machine and the telegraph.
E) the repeating revolver and the machine gun.

Question 34

The "canal era" of American history began with the construction of the

A) Mainline Canal in Pennsylvania.
B) Kanasha Canal from Virginia to Ohio.
C) Wabash Canal in Indiana.
D) Suez Canal in Illinois.
E) Erie Canal in New York.

Question 35

The American phase of the industrial revolution first blossomed

A) on southern plantations.
B) in the New England textile industry.
C) in rapidly growing Chicago.
D) in railroads and ship building.
E) in coal and iron-mining regions.

Question 36

As a result of the development of the cotton gin,

A) slavery revived and expanded.
B) there was less need for reliance on slaves to work in the cotton fields.
C) technology assumed a large role in cotton production.
D) the South diversified its economy.
E) the textile industry moved to the South.

Question 37

A great deal of the cotton produced in the American South in the early nineteenth century was

A) produced by free labor.
B) sold to New England textile mills.
C) grown on the Atlantic tidewater plains.
D) consumed by the southern textile industry.
E) combined with wool to make "linsey-woolsey" fabrics.

Question 38

Early-nineteenth-century American families

A) were keeping children at home past the age of twenty.
B) usually included three generations in the same household.
C) taught their children to be unquestioningly obedient.
D) usually insisted that parents choose marriage partners for their children.
E) began to practice birth control despite the public taboo on the topic.

Question 39

The "cult of domesticity"

A) gave women more opportunity to seek employment outside the home.
B) celebrated mothers as moral guardians of their children.
C) restricted women's moral influence on the family.
D) glorified the traditional role of women as homemakers.
E) created unrealistic standards of beauty for American women.

Question 40

The major application for steamboats transporting freight and passengers in the United States was on

A) New England streams.
B) western and southern rivers.
C) the Great Lakes.
D) the Gulf of Mexico.
E) coastal waterways.

Question 41

The concentration of capital for investment in large-scale enterprises in the early nineteenth century was promoted by the

A) wider acceptance of the principle of limited liability.
B) bonuses offered by state governments for factory construction.
C) legalization of labor unions.
D) passage of state free incorporation laws.
E) lowering of the capital gains tax.

Question 42

As a result of the transportation revolution,

A) the division of labor became a thing of the past.
B) New Orleans became an even more important port.
C) each region in the nation specialized in a particular type of economic activity.
D) the conflict between eastern bankers and midwestern farmers intensified.
E) the Midwest became the first industrialized region.

Question 43

The growth of early-nineteenth-century American manufacturing was stimulated by the

A) War of 1812.
B) Peace of Ghent.
C) Louisiana Purchase.
D) Tariff of 1816.
E) rise of the "Know-Nothing" Party.

Question 44

In general, ____ tended to bind the West and South together, while ____ and ____ connected West to East.

A) steamboats, canals, railroads
B) railroads, canals, steamboats
C) canals, steamboats, turnpikes
D) turnpikes, steamboats, canals
E) turnpikes, railroads, steamboats

Question 45

Clipper ships and the Pony Express had in common

A) the use of the most advanced technology.
B) speedy service.
C) a brief existence.
D) low cost.
E) support from the federal government.

Question 46

Factors encouraging the growth of immigration rates in the first half of the nineteenth century included the

A) rapid growth rate of the European population.
B) perception of America as the land of freedom and opportunity.
C) introduction of transoceanic steamships.
D) economic and political turmoil in Europe.
E) religious oppression by European state churches.

Question 47

The growth of industry and the factory system in the United States was slowed by

A) the high price of land.
B) the scarcity of labor.
C) limited investment capital.
D) a small domestic market.
E) the lack of a patent system to protect inventions.

Question 48

Most early railroads in the United States were built in

A) the North.
B) the Upper South.
C) the lower Mississippi Valley.
D) the Far West.
E) New York and New England.

Question 49

By 1850, America's factory system was producing

A) textiles.
B) boots and shoes.
C) firearms.
D) steel.
E) sewing machines.

Question 50

The Northeast became the center of early-nineteenth-century American industry because it had

A) a superior transportation system.
B) abundant water power.
C) investment capital available.
D) a local supply of raw materials used in manufacturing.
E) a relatively large labor supply.

Question 51

The turnpikes, canals, and steamboats as new transportation links generally encouraged

A) lowering of freight rates.
B) economic growth.
C) rising land values.
D) immigration and migration of people to other parts of the country.
E) states' rights.

Question 52

In the new continental economy, each region specialized in a particular economic activity: the South ____ for export; the West grew grains and livestock to feed ____; and the East ____ for the other two regions.

A) raised grain, southern slaves, processed meat
B) grew cotton, southern slaves, made machines and textiles
C) grew cotton, eastern factory workers, made machines and textiles
D) raised grain, eastern factory workers, made furniture and tools
E) processed meat, southern slaves, raised grain

Question 53

Compared with canals, railroads

A) were more expensive to construct.
B) transported freight more slowly.
C) were generally safer.
D) were susceptible to weather delays.
E) could be built almost anywhere.

Question 54

Construction of the Erie Canal

A) created economic boom conditions in upstate New York.
B) hindered the economic growth of New York City.
C) helped farmers so much that industrialization was slowed.
D) showed the importance of federal aid to transportation.
E) made canals a superior transportation alternative to railroads.

Question 55

As the new continental market economy grew

A) individual households became increasingly self-sufficient.
B) the home came to be viewed as a refuge from the workday world.
C) traditional women's work became more highly valued and increasingly important.
D) respect for women as homemakers declined.
E) the home lost most of its importance for family life.

Question 56

A major economic consequence of the transportation and marketing revolutions was

A) a lessening of the gap between great wealth and poverty.
B) a stabilization of the work force in industrial cities.
C) the declining significance of American agriculture.
D) an increased prosperity for all Americans.
E) the growing realization of the "rags-to-riches" American dream.

Question 57

Advances in manufacturing and transportation brought

A) a narrowing of the gap between rich and poor in America.
B) more prosperity and opportunity to most Americans.
C) innumerable cases of "rags-to-riches" economic mobility for ordinary Americans.
D) increased immigration from Europe to the United States.
E) economic reliance on the export of manufactured goods.

Question 58

America's early-nineteenth-century population was notable for its

A) restlessness.
B) wastefulness.
C) youthfulness.
D) aggressiveness.
E) thoughtfulness.