Deck 21: The Political System Under Strain at Home and Abroad

Question 1

The chapter introduction relates the story of the "World's Columbian Exposition" to make the point that

A) the 1890s marked a return to a more stable political and social order after the upheavals of the previous two decades.
B) a political revolution in the 1890s undermined the longstanding power of the Republican party.
C) American society and the world had been transformed by the industrial revolution.
D) by the 1890s, politicians from the South and the West were winning national office more regularly than easterners.

Answer 1

American society and the world had been transformed by the industrial revolution.

Question 2

Evidence justifying the use of the label "politics of paralysis" to describe the American political system during the late nineteenth century includes all of the following EXCEPT that

A) the period was marked by relatively low voter turnout.
B) much energy in Congress was expended on political patronage.
C) parties used such devices as ethnic and religious appeals and entertaining campaign rallies to try to get voters to the polls.
D) a majority of presidential candidates came from Ohio or New York.

Answer 2

the period was marked by relatively low voter turnout.

Question 3

The pattern of late nineteenth-century politics included all of the following features EXCEPT

A) surface similarities between the two major parties.
B) large swings with large margins of victory in the national contests between the two parties.
C) high voter participation.
D) strong party loyalty.

Answer 3

large swings with large margins of victory in the national contests between the two parties.

Question 4

All of the following were reform-minded third-party movements EXCEPT a party that sought to

A) ban alcohol.
B) redress the grievances of western and southern farmers.
C) win the right to vote for women.
D) inflate the currency by printing paper money.

Question 5

Which statement is NOT true of Chester A. Arthur?

A) won the presidency by a razor-thin margin
B) endorsed the new Civil Service
C) sought to lower the tariff
D) known as the "spoilsman's spoilsman"

Question 6

Starting in 1869, Massachusetts established commissions to investigate and regulate industry. The focus of many of these commissions was which industry?

A) textiles
B) steel
C) railroads
D) consumer goods

Question 7

What is the best explanation of "free silver"?

A) The U.S. government would promote prosperity by inflating the money supply through minting all the silver offered to it.
B) The U.S. government would promote prosperity by distributing cash subsidies to the unemployed, paid . for by recent mining bonanzas on public lands.
C) The U.S. government would support farmers by buying up surplus crops with silver coin ("lard money").
D) The U.S. government would support investors by allowing the purchase of silver on the open market.

Question 8

The "little green ballot" that Booker T. Washington, founder of the Tuskegee Institute, referred to was

A) a degree.
B) the Populist ballot.
C) earnings.
D) a railroad pass.

Question 9

Many Americans were able to justify joining the race for empire for all the following reasons EXCEPT that they believed themselves responsible for

A) extending the benefits of free enterprise.
B) spreading Christianity.
C) defending other people against European imperialism.
D) promoting democracy abroad.

Question 10

Which of the following was NOT a concern of President Cleveland regarding the Cuban revolt?

A) a refugee crisis
B) local population not capable of self rule
C) social chaos
D) destruction of American-owned property

Question 11

The navel battle for the Philippines took place

A) on the open sea.
B) in and around Manila bay.
C) under the cover of darkness.
D) in Santiago harbor.

Question 12

In the 1890s, the U.S. acquired all of the following EXCEPT

A) the Philippine Islands.
B) the Hawaiian Islands.
C) the Virgin Islands.
D) Puerto Rico.

Question 13

Compare and contrast the Democratic and Republican parties in the last third of the nineteenth century.

Question 14

What were the major issues that consumed congressional politics?

Question 15

What was "free silver"? Discuss the two most important ways it would benefit indebted farmers and other debtor classes.

Question 16

What were "Granger laws,"
and how did they work?

Question 17

What was the "Alliance Movement"? Populism? The People's party?

Question 18

What was the "battle of the standards"
and why was it important?

Question 19

List and defend three ways in which the election of 1896 foreshadowed modern presidential campaigns.

Question 20

Explain two ways William McKinley affected the presidency

Question 21

Discuss the major motives Americans had for expanding overseas. Describe the methods they had available for expanding.

Question 22

Explain several reasons anti-imperialists opposed the acquisition of the Philippines.

Question 23

Why was politics grinding into a dangerous paralysis in the last third of the nineteenth century?

Question 24

Explain the absence of strong presidential leadership in the late nineteenth century.

Question 25

Discuss the three most important reasons for the rise and fall of Populism. What role did the election of 1896 play in its demise?

Question 26

Why did the Republicans emerge as the dominant political party in 1896?

Question 27

Explain the rise of "Jim Crow"
politics.

Question 28

Discuss the role of popular opinion in America's emergence as a great power.

Question 29

Explain and defend the position you would have taken in the debate over annexation of the Philippines.

Question 30

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of John Hay's policy toward China.
ch21 Key