Deck 20: Politics and Government 1877-1900

Question 1

Which statement about presidential elections in the period 1876-1900 is true?

A) Overall voter turnout was far greater than ever achieved after that period.
B) Many men began to call for women's suffrage so that political activism would increase.
C) New immigrants rarely voted because they felt alienated from the process.
D) Elections received little interest in small towns of the Midwest.

Answer 1

Overall voter turnout was far greater than ever achieved after that period.

Question 2

New York, New Jersey, Ohio, and Indiana were key states in national elections because:

A) those states possessed 75% of the nation's electoral votes.
B) the Republican Party garnered 80% of the votes in those states.
C) those states were evenly contested between the Democrats and Republicans.
D) all members of the Supreme Court came from one of those four states.

Answer 2

those states were evenly contested between the Democrats and Republicans.

Question 3

The Democrats of the late 1800s portrayed themselves as the party of:

A) the industrial Northeast.
B) aggressive national unity.
C) protective tariffs and advocacy of Indian rights.
D) limited government and personal liberties.

Answer 3

limited government and personal liberties.

Question 4

The Greenback Party of the 1870s:

A) called for labor reform and democratization of the economy.
B) represented the laissez-faire philosophy of conservative industrialists.
C) played upon people's dissatisfaction with the Populist Party.
D) failed to attract supporters across regional lines.

Question 5

Which political party expressed ideas that were close to the goals of the Grange?

A) the Populists
B) the Union Labor Party
C) the Republican Party led by William McKinley
D) the Mugwumps

Question 6

The word suffrage is synonymous with the right to:

A) strike.
B) vote.
C) free expression.
D) survive.

Question 7

By the mid-1890s, female reformers had succeeded in:

A) getting the federal government to outlaw child labor.
B) electing several women to the U.S. Senate.
C) gaining the right to vote for women in some western states.
D) convincing the American Federation of Labor to accept women as members.

Question 8

The leader of the Women's Christian Temperance union argued that:

A) school prayer should be a vital aspect of public education.
B) alcohol abuse was a result of poverty and social disorder.
C) violent crime against women was not a serious social problem.
D) the government should control the production of alcohol and tobacco.

Question 9

The presidents in the era 1868-1896 were known for:

A) their weak use of presidential powers.
B) their liberal views regarding social reform.
C) their assertive support of labor.
D) sponsoring many legislative actions.

Question 10

The actions of Congress in the late-1800s were characterized by:

A) a quiet, deferential atmosphere that stifled debate.
B) a return to a simple and honest interpretation of congressional protocol.
C) the aggressive presence of the president in controlling legislative proposals.
D) repeated shifts in party control that impeded effective action.

Question 11

The most accurate description of the spoils system is:

A) using the powers of state government to bypass federal laws.
B) the promotion of third party candidates as voices of reform.
C) creating voting blocs based on ethnic and religious ties.
D) awarding government jobs based on party activism and loyalty.

Question 12

In the late nineteenth century, state governments:

A) did relatively little.
B) began actively regulating industry.
C) did not collect taxes.
D) were more active than they are today.

Question 13

Rutherford B. Hayes showed he had some sympathy for civil service reform when he:

A) created the Civil Service Commission.
B) fired Chester A. Arthur after charges of corruption.
C) embraced the platform of the Mugwumps.
D) refused to appoint people who had aided his campaign.

Question 14

The Pendleton Civil Service Act began the move toward:

A) attaining the right to a secret ballot.
B) separating partisan politics from attaining government jobs.
C) regulating government jobs under the jurisdiction of Congressional leaders.
D) deemphasizing skill as a qualification for government jobs.

Question 15

Advocates of high protective tariffs asserted all of the following ideas EXCEPT:

A) tariffs would protect the domestic market.
B) tariffs were needed as a valuable source of revenue.
C) tariffs would promote industrial growth.
D) tariffs were needed to restrict competition.

Question 16

Advocates of low tariffs proclaimed all of the following, EXCEPT that lower tariffs would:

A) increase foreign trade.
B) decrease consumer prices.
C) increase competition.
D) protect domestic manufacturers.

Question 17

The McKinley Tariff Act:

A) deemphasized the prominence of tariffs in the American economy.
B) sought to ease the grievances expressed by farmers of the West and South.
C) raised tariffs to unprecedented levels.
D) received the support of Grover Cleveland.

Question 18

The rapid growth of great industrial corporations had all of the following effects EXCEPT:

A) disrupting traditional social and economic practices.
B) producing record profits in leading industries.
C) creating poor working conditions for many workers.
D) producing an alliance between industrialists and small farmers.

Question 19

The Greenback Party formed primarily in response to:

A) the rise of the Populist Party.
B) corruption in the federal bureaucracy.
C) congressional laws passed by sound money advocates.
D) the success of the free silver advocates.

Question 20

The Interstate Commerce Commission was:

A) created to give more power to the states in regulating commerce.
B) supported by the big business interests of the Republican Party.
C) a consistent advocate of deregulating federal farming policies.
D) unsuccessful in enforcing the public's call for regulating the railroad industry.

Question 21

The Sherman Antitrust Act:

A) strengthened the collective bargaining rights of labor.
B) broke up the monopoly of the Standard Oil Corporation.
C) failed to stop the unfettered growth of large corporations.
D) was used by Grover Cleveland's attorney general to prosecute industrialists.

Question 22

Bankers' concept of a sound money policy favored:

A) a switch toward a silver-backed currency.
B) implementation of the sub-treasury plan.
C) extending the flow of currency in the South.
D) limiting the money supply to maintain property values.

Question 23

Support for the free silver movement was strongest:

A) among industrialists of the Northeast.
B) in the Republican Party.
C) with farmers in the South and West.
D) with those who favored limiting the flow of currency.

Question 24

At first, the Farmers' Alliance attempted to:

A) break the monopoly of power possessed by the rail companies.
B) establish cooperatives to market crops and purchase supplies.
C) stop individuals from owning more than 200 acres of land.
D) oppose the subtreasury plan proposed by Congress.

Question 25

The speaker of these words was:

A) presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan.
B) Socialist activist, Emma Goldman.
C) machine politician, Richard Croker.
D) Populist leader, Mary E. Lease.

Question 26

The words of this speaker would have been most appealing to:

A) small farmers.
B) leaders of the Republican Party.
C) ethnic immigrants.
D) industrialists in the North.

Question 27

Who, according to the speaker, was to blame for America's problems?

A) communists and socialists who agitated workers and farmers
B) common people who did not work hard enough at improving their economic status
C) wealthy industrialists who dominated the nation's distribution of wealth
D) politicians who were unresponsive to the needs of the working class

Question 28

Early Populist Party victories:

A) often came at the expense of Republicans.
B) occurred primarily in the northeast.
C) did not include winning seats in Congress.
D) were hailed by wealthy industrialists.

Question 29

In response to the 1893 depression, President Cleveland:

A) initiated substantial food distribution programs.
B) provided tax credits for the poor.
C) did essentially nothing to help those suffering the most.
D) increased government spending dramatically in an effort to stimulate the economy.

Question 30

Populists and Coxeyites differed from earlier reform groups by:

A) appealing to the federal government for economic and social reforms.
B) intentionally limiting their appeal along regional lines.
C) refusing to get involved in the intricacies of electoral politics.
D) not addressing the issue of women's suffrage.

Question 31

Throughout the 1890s, Supreme Court decisions tended to:

A) isolate reform groups from their supporters.
B) side with the demands of small farmers.
C) support the powers of big business.
D) contradict the labor policies expressed by William McKinley.

Question 32

The major beneficiary of dissension within the Democratic Party in 1896 was:

A) the Populist Party.
B) the Mugwumps.
C) the Knights of Labor.
D) the Republican Party.

Question 33

As a presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan was appealing to Populists because of his:

A) experience as an organizer of pro-labor rallies.
B) support for free-silver economic policies.
C) close ties with banks and Wall Street.
D) support for government ownership of banks.

Question 34

All of the following statements about William Jennings Bryan are true EXCEPT:

A) his ability as a speaker was a major strength in his campaigning style.
B) his old age diminished his appeal among younger voters.
C) he ran for president in consecutive elections.
D) traditional Republicans spent record amounts of money to defeat him.

Question 35

In 1896, the Populists nominated _____________ for president.

A) William Jennings Bryan
B) William McKinley
C) Eugene Debs
D) Theodore Roosevelt

Question 36

Which party essentially dissolved as a result of the 1896 election?

A) the Democratic Party
B) the Republican Party
C) the People's Party
D) the Prohibition Party

Question 37

Of the following regions in the 1896 election, William Jennings Bryan did the best in:

A) the Midwest.
B) the Northeast.
C) the South.
D) Oregon and Washington.

Question 38

In the election of 1900, William McKinley defeated:

A) James G. Blaine.
B) James B. Weaver.
C) Grover Cleveland.
D) William Jennings Bryan.

Question 39

The beginning of a stronger, more assertive presidency began with:

A) Grover Cleveland.
B) Benjamin Harrison.
C) Theodore Roosevelt.
D) William McKinley.

Question 40

Democrats accused William McKinley of being subservient to:

A) the political ideals of farmers in the South.
B) calls for social justice.
C) the views of his successor, Grover Cleveland.
D) industrialists such as Marcus A. Hanna.

Question 41

Which of the following happened first?

A) passage of Sherman Antitrust Act
B) Coxey's Army marches on Washington
C) Rutherford B. Hayes wins disputed election
D) passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Act

Question 42

Which of the following happened last?

A) Supreme Court invalidates the federal income tax
B) passage of the Interstate Commerce Act
C) James A. Garfield assassinated
D) founding of the Grange

Question 43

In what year was the People's (Populist) Party founded?

A) 1876
B) 1884
C) 1892
D) 1896

Question 44

What factors determined the party affiliation of American voters in the period 1876-1900?

Question 45

What factors limited the powers of the presidency in the last quarter of the nineteenth century?

Question 46

In what ways did the court system support the goals and philosophies of big industry?

Question 47

Compare and contrast the support for sound money policies versus support for the free silver movement.

Question 48

How did the depression of the mid-1890s enhance the political position of the Republican Party?

Question 49

Describe and evaluate the reasons for the rapid rise and fall of the Populist Party. What strengths and weaknesses were exhibited by the party?

Question 50

What were the social and institutional factors that shaped the disorderly nature of elections in the late nineteenth century?

Question 51

What evidence reveals that women were now becoming leaders in many of the nation's most influential reform movements?

Question 52

Analyze the appeal of the Omaha Platform to people who felt that industrialism was too dominant in the economic and social foundation of the United States.

Question 53

Some historians have called the presidential election of 1896 "the nation's first 'modern' election." Evaluate the validity of this statement by analyzing the issues, conflicts, and campaign tactics of that election.