Deck 2: Critical Junctures

Question 1

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

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

Answer 1

A

Question 2

______ 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)Mexicans
B)Europeans
C)Native Americans
D)Chinese

Answer 2

D

Question 3

When was gold discovered in California?

A)at the end of the Mexican-American War around 1848
B)about 100 years before California became a state,when the Spanish ruled California
C)about 50 years after California gained statehood
D)around 1821,when Mexico gained independence from Spain

Answer 3

A

Question 4

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

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

Question 5

Until 1821,______ governed the Western lands containing California,and ______ ruled California for the next 20 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 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

Presidios were built for the primary purpose of ______.

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

Question 8

When was the first mission built?

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

Question 9

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 10

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 11

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 12

Which of these was famously called the "Octopus" because its influence over virtually every industry in the state was nearly complete?

A)the Southern Pacific
B)the alcohol industry
C)Arnold Schwarzenegger
D)socialism

Question 13

In what year did California officially become a state?

A)1769
B)1850
C)1880
D)1912

Question 14

The Big Four (Stanford,Huntington,Crocker,and Hopkins)became powerful due to their ownership of ______.

A)the state's university system and most supply stores
B)the largest bank in the United States
C)the Western Rail Company
D)the Southern Pacific Railroad

Question 15

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 16

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

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

Question 17

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 18

The treaty that ended the 2-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 19

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 20

How long has California been a state?

A)about 100 years
B)just over 150 years
C)more than 200 years
D)about 250 years

Question 21

In the postwar "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 22

In the era prior to the institution of direct primaries,______.

A)only self-funded candidates could win elections
B)only nonpartisan candidates could get elected
C)political party bosses controlled elections by selecting candidates and getting them elected
D)none of these

Question 23

One of the most powerful lobbyists in California history was ______,head of the liquor and racetrack lobbies who called himself "the governor of the legislature" in the 1940s.

A)Hiram Johnson
B)Artie Samish
C)Jesse Unruh
D)Leland Crocker

Question 24

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 25

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

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

Question 26

Civil service replaced what popular political practice?

A)giving government jobs to political party loyalists (patronage)
B)White male suffrage
C)hiring people based on their expertise
D)funding services for the poor through government programs

Question 27

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

A)lobbyists helped legislators get elected,and legislators had weak loyalty to political parties
B)legislators wanted to supplement their low wages with gifts of food,drink,and more
C)lobbyists supplied needed information about bills,and legislators lacked staff
D)any of these

Question 28

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 29

Who was California's most famous Progressive governor?

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

Question 30

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 31

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 32

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

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

Question 33

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 34

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 35

Alien Land Laws were designed to prevent ______ from becoming citizens or owning property,and were in effect until ______ in California.

A)persons of Mexican or Spanish descent;the 1880s
B)persons of Asian descent;the 1900s
C)all noncitizen Americans;the 1920s
D)persons of Asian descent;the 1950s

Question 36

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 37

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)any of these

Question 38

One of the ways that political party bosses were able to control elections was through ______.

A)nonpartisanship
B)civil service
C)charging fees to run for office
D)voting that wasn't secret

Question 39

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

A)Republican
B)Democratic
C)Progressives
D)none of these

Question 40

To what does the term "Third House" refer?

A)retired and former legislators who advise current legislators
B)the state-owned residence in which the governor lives
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 41

Presidios and missions were built for and served the same purposes.

Question 42

In the election to recall Gray Davis in 2003,a total of ______ candidates were listed on the ballot to replace him.

A)two (2)
B)twenty (20)
C)seventy-eight (78)
D)one hundred thirty-five (135)

Question 43

"Professionalization" is a term referring to the transformation of ______ into ______.

A)the redistricting process;a citizen-driven process
B)the legislature;a full-time,well-paid,well-staffed operation
C)the worst-off neighborhoods;gentrified,desirable places to live
D)undocumented persons;assimilated neighborhoods

Question 44

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

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

Question 45

Demographic change can be seen in public schools,where Hispanics/Latinos constituted ______ of all children enrolled in K-12 schools in 2016-2017.

A)12%
B)27%
C)54%
D)78%

Question 46

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)junior to senior legislators
D)the legislature to the governor's office

Question 47

Demographic change can be seen in public schools,where non-Hispanic Whites constituted approximately ______ of all children enrolled in K-12 schools in 2016-2017.

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

Question 48

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 49

Rebuking the Trump administration,Governor ______ has tried to be an environmental policy leader by establishing agreements with foreign heads of state and advancing California's greenhouse gas emission reduction efforts.

A)Arnold Schwarzenegger
B)Hiram Johnson
C)Jerry Brown
D)Kamala Harris

Question 50

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 51

The process of shifting state prison inmates (those who have not committed sexual,violent,or serious crimes)to county jails and parole to reduce state prison overcrowding has been labeled ______.

A)realignment
B)recidivism
C)sanctuary
D)rollback

Question 52

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 53

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

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 these

Question 54

After cross-filing was eliminated in the 1950s,which party became dominant?

A)Republican Party
B)Democratic Party
C)Socialist Party
D)Progressive Party

Question 55

Which is the anti-tax initiative that succeeded in 1978,essentially limiting taxes to 1% of a property's sale price?

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

Question 56

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 57

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

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 58

Population increases during the latter half of the 20th 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 Africa
D)Europe and China

Question 59

As run-down,aging California neighborhoods are revitalized and become thriving,trendy areas that attract higher-income residents,the lower-income residents who previously lived in the area are displaced--a phenomenon known as ______.

A)supermajority status
B)professionalization
C)sanctuary
D)gentrification

Question 60

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 61

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 62

Four men became extremely wealthy and powerful as a result of their ownership of the Southern Pacific,and were known as the "Big Four." Name two of them.

Question 63

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 64

Republicans in the legislature have made life difficult for Governor Jerry Brown,because they have been able to stop or delay the passage of the annual state budget until their demands have been met.

Question 65

Democrats attained supermajority status in both chambers of the legislature in 2012 (and again in 2016),something they hadn't been able to do since 1883.

Question 66

Theoretically,if enough candidates had emerged as "favorites" in the race for governor to replace Gray Davis (2003),Arnold Schwarzenegger could have won by securing less than 10% of the vote--as long as he won the highest percentage of votes among all the candidates.

Question 67

Explain how Progressives helped to trigger California's first "giant political earthquake."

Question 68

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

Question 69

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 70

Why was the opening of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869 so significant?

Question 71

Describe the political reforms established by the Progressives who dominated state government from 1911 to 1917.

Question 72

Why was the Southern Pacific Railroad compared to an octopus?

Question 73

Name four Progressive era reforms that were designed to disable political parties.

Question 74

Laws that prevented persons of Asian descent from becoming citizens or owning property were known as ______.

Question 75

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

Question 76

Women were granted the right to vote in California state elections about 10 years before they were guaranteed the right to vote by the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S.Constitution.

Question 77

The recall of Governor Gray Davis in 2003 was the first successful recall of a governor in the state's history.

Question 78

What is a presidio?

Question 79

The fastest-growing ethnic group in California (in 2017)is ______.

Question 80

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