Deck 20: Commerce at Home and Abroad

Question 1

Which of the following is the most accurate description of the US between 1880 and 1920?

A) The United States became the leading manufacturer in the world in terms of total production and output per worker.
B) The quality of manufactured goods dropped.
C) Americans families bought fewer finished products, and instead saved money by increasingly buying materials and building things at home.
D) No advertising was used because TV and radio had not yet been invented.

Answer 1

The United States became the leading manufacturer in the world in terms of total production and output per worker.

Question 2

What is least accurate about the US experience with the income tax?

A) The federal income tax was not used for an extended period until after 1910.
B) In the late 1800s and early 1900s, people from the South and West were most likely to support an income tax.
C) Increases in the income tax were justified by using the money for more generous army pensions and increased military spending, especially for the US Navy.
D) Provisions for the income tax were stated in the US Constitution

Answer 2

Provisions for the income tax were stated in the US Constitution

Question 3

What most accurately describes the US tariff policy between 1850 and 1910?

A) The US was strongly committed to free trade throughout the period.
B) The US became more protectionist during the Civil War and the level of tariffs remained high through 1910.
C) The US had very high tariff barriers at the beginning of this period, but lowered them consistently throughout this period.

Answer 3

The US became more protectionist during the Civil War and the level of tariffs remained high through 1910.

Question 4

According to Martha Olney why did blacks buy on installment at almost twice the rate of whites?

A) Installment contracts were formal and could be used legally for repossession while credit agreements could not.
B) Blacks did not like to buy things on credit.
C) Blacks were more likely than whites to purchase goods that required installment purchases.
D) It was easier for blacks, who tended to have lower income than whites, to pay off their debts on a regular schedule that the installment plans offered.

Question 5

What is the most accurate statement about the fraction of the US population that lived in urban areas between 1800 and 1910?

A) The fraction of the US population that lived in urban areas grew steadily throughout the period.
B) The fraction of the US population that lived in urban areas decreased steadily throughout the period.
C) In 1910, about 85% of the US population lived in cities over 100,000 people.
D) In 1800, more than half of the US population lived in towns over 2,500 people.

Question 6

Advertising to differentiate your product most often occurs in what type of industry?

A) Industries that produce agricultural crops.
B) Industries with monopolies.
C) Industries with monopolistic competition.
D) Perfectly competitive industries.

Question 7

What is least accurate about marketing and selling in the US after the Civil War?

A) Advertising on a national scale became a widely accepted practice.
B) There was a large increase in firms with brand names.
C) There was a decrease in product differentiation-goods became more alike
D) The quality of non-durable goods improved significantly.

Question 8

What most accurately describes the U.S. compared to other nations in the early 1900s?

A) The U.S., which was still quite young, was one of the least productive nations in the world in both the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
B) The U.S., Great Britain and Germany were the three most industrialized nations.
C) The industrial output in the U.S. was about average compared the rest of the nations in the world.
D) The U.S., which had large supplies of land, had a highly productive agricultural sector, but its industrial productivity was quite low relative to that of other nations.

Question 9

What most accurately describes the U.S. balance of payments?

A) From 1850-1873 the U.S. had an unfavorable balance of payments, but exports exceeded imports from 1873-1919.
B) The U.S. had an unfavorable balance of payments from 1850-1919.
C) Exports exceeded imports from 1850-1919.
D) The U.S. had a favorable balance of payments from 1874 until World War I. During the war U.S. imports exceeded imports.

Question 10

Between 1800 and 1910, the percentage of the U.S. population living in cities of 100,000 residents or larger went from ____ percent to roughly ___ percent.

A) 15; 20
B) 10; 20
C) 5; 20
D) 0; 20

Question 11

Which is least accurate about foreign trade?

A) In the early 1900s, the most industrialized nations exported foodstuffs and raw materials to the least developed countries.
B) After the Civil War, rapid improvements in communications, like the first successful transatlantic cable, lowered the price of trade.
C) After the Civil War, rapid improvements in transportation, like the opening of the Suez Canal and developments of railroads, reduced the price of shipping.
D) In the late 1800s and early 1900s the network of international trade assumed many of its modern characteristics.

Question 12

Which of the following is least accurate in characterizing changes in retailing in the second half of the 19^th century?

A) Large growth in the number of department stores.
B) Large growth in the number of chain stores.
C) Large growth in the number of "general stores."
D) Large growth in the number of mail-order houses.

Question 13

What is most accurate about the United States' trading patterns between 1850 and 1900?

A) The US exported more finished manufacturers in 1850 than it did in 1900.
B) Raw materials accounted for a greater share of US imports in 1850 than they did in 1900.
C) Manufactured and raw foodstuffs accounted for about 75% of exports in both 1850 and 1900.
D) In 1850, the US's largest export was raw materials and its larges import was finished manufacturers.

Question 14

Which of the following is least accurate about the meat packing industry about 1900?

A) The 1898 "embalmed beef" scandal documented how adulterated beef was provided to the American Army during the Spanish-American War.
B) Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel The Jungle raised national concern about the unsanitary conditions involved in meat processing.
C) Meat packing firms welcomed government regulation of the industry because it gave firms clear and accurate public information about the shipments of every other firm, which helped firms to engage in cartel behavior.
D) Federal regulations helped level the playing field so that small firms could compete more easily against large firms.

Question 15

The decline of the full-service wholesale houses can be traced to

A) competition from the marketing departments of small manufacturers.
B) many industries adopting the "continuous process" manufacturing.
C) the demise of brand identity.
D) All of the above are correct.
E) Only a and c are correct.

Question 16

A monopolistically competitive industry may feature

A) excess capacity.
B) extraordinary profits.
C) product differentiation.
D) All of the above are correct
E) Only b and c are correct.

Question 17

What most accurately describes imperialism between 1870 and 1917?

A) The US was the leading imperialist nation in the late 19^th century.
B) The US was primarily concerned about expanding freedom in relatively poor nations in Africa.
C) The "Roosevelt Corollary" and the Monroe Doctrine were the primary documents that outline the US foreign policy.
D) European nations like England and France oriented their annexation efforts toward Latin America.

Question 18

What is least accurate about marketing and selling in the US prior to the Civil War?

A) Attracting customers was not a main objective of advertising.
B) Installment buying was known, but was uncommon until about 1900.
C) Most companies eliminated wholesalers to market products directly to their customers and save money.
D) Advertising was typically limited to magazines and some occasional outdoor ads in big cities.

Question 19

Which of the following is true?

A) Advertising on a national scale became a widely accepted practice, but only after the Civil War.
B) The first attempts at advertising on more than the local level were directed at consumers rather than retailers.
C) By 1910, advertising was a billion-dollar industry.
D) Only a and b are correct.
E) Only a and c are correct.