Constitution & Government
Which statement illustrates the system of checks and balances?
(1) The electoral college cast 435 votes for Woodrow Wilson in 1912.
(2) President Harry Truman decided to remove General Douglas MacArthur as military commander in Korea.
(3) The Senate rejected President Ronald Reagan’s nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court.
(4) Nancy Pelosi was elected as the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2007.
(3) The Senate rejected President Ronald Reagan’s nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court.
Starting in the 1870s, Jim Crow laws were enacted in Southern states as a means to
(1) provide an education for formerly enslaved persons
(2) protect the voting rights of formerly enslaved persons
(3) enforce racial segregation
(4) ensure equal protection under the law
(3) enforce racial segregation
One purpose of the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) was to
(1) speed construction of the western railroads
(2) encourage settlement of the Pacific Coast
(3) expand the civil rights of immigrants
(4) protect the jobs of American workers
(4) protect the jobs of American workers
The Great Migration of African Americans between 1915 and 1930 was mainly a movement from
(1) cities to suburban developments
(2) northern farms to northern cities
(3) southern cities to free land in the West
(4) the rural South to northern cities
(4) the rural South to northern cities
Which development was a direct result of the baby boom that followed World War II?
(1) decrease in school construction
(2) increase in suburbanization
(3) decline in crime rates
(4) rise in immigration
(2) increase in suburbanization
The Three-fifths Compromise was included in the Constitution to resolve a conflict over the
(1) counting of enslaved persons in relation to taxation and representation
(2) reimbursement of plantation owners for runaway slaves
(3) number of votes needed to approve a treaty in the Senate
(4) number of states needed to ratify a proposed amendment
(1) counting of enslaved persons in relation to taxation and representation
Poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses were used in the South after 1890 to
(1) support the goals of the Freedmen’s Bureau
(2) deny suffrage rights to African Americans
(3) undermine the “separate but equal” ruling of the Supreme Court
(4) enforce the amendments enacted during the Civil War and Reconstruction
(2) deny suffrage rights to African Americans
What was one result of the Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)?
(1) Public schools were integrated nationwide.
(2) Civil rights for African Americans were strengthened.
(3) Northern states were forced to segregate public facilities.
(4) The “separate but equal” doctrine was established.
(4) The “separate but equal” doctrine was established.
The relocation of Japanese Americans from the West Coast during World War II occurred because
(1) most of them were not citizens of the United States
(2) they refused to serve in the United States military
(3) they were needed to work at inland defense industries
(4) military authorities considered them a threat to national security
(4) military authorities considered them a threat to national security
Which development was a major result of the 1956 Interstate Highway Act?
(1) revitalization of family farms
(2) migration to the suburbs
(3) population shift to the Northeast
(4) higher unemployment for the nation’s autoworkers
(2) migration to the suburbs
Which statement about the electoral college system is accurate?
(1) The number of electoral votes a state receives is based on its geographic size.
(2) A candidate can be elected president without the majority of the popular vote.
(3) Presidential candidates are forced to campaign equally in every state.
(4) The total number of electoral votes has increased with each census.
(2) A candidate can be elected president without the majority of the popular vote.
Abraham Lincoln’s 1858 warning that “a house divided against itself cannot stand” referred to sectional differences over the
(1) treatment of Native American Indians
(2) issue of slavery
(3) funding for internal improvements
(4) treaties with European nations
(2) issue of slavery
A major result of the Spanish-American War (1898) was that the United States
(1) adopted a policy of isolationism
(2) assumed a more prominent role in world affairs
(3) gave up control of territories outside the Western Hemisphere
(4) increased foreign aid to European allies
(2) assumed a more prominent role in world affairs
Which geographic area was most seriously affected by the Dust Bowl of the 1930s?
(1) Atlantic Coastal Plain
(2) Ohio River valley
(3) Great Plains
(4) Pacific Coast
(3) Great Plains
The terms containment, domino theory, and massive retaliation are most closely associated with United States foreign policy efforts to
(1) maintain neutrality during World War I (1914–1917)
(2) avoid conflict with Germany and Japan in the 1930s
(3) wage the Cold War in the 1950s
(4) increase trade with Latin America in the 1970s
(3) wage the Cold War in the 1950s
(4) establishing the principle of judicial review
What was a common goal of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the United States Constitution?
(1) punishing the South for seceding from the Union
(2) granting basic rights to formerly enslaved persons
(3) allowing the states to veto federal laws
(4) creating a “separate but equal” society
(2) granting basic rights to formerly enslaved persons
The Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 and the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 were passed by Congress to
(1) help regulate the money supply
(2) promote investment in manufacturing
(3) control business practices that limited competition
(4) limit the hours of working women
(3) control business practices that limited competition
Which development most clearly illustrates the nativist attitudes that existed in the United States in the 1920s?
(1) limits on immigration established by the Quota Acts
(2) pro-business policies of the federal government
(3) artistic and literary achievements of the Harlem Renaissance
(4) conflicts between religion and science as shown in the Scopes Trial
(1) limits on immigration established by the Quota Acts
Which action is the best example of the use of civil disobedience?
(1) passing the Voting Rights Act of 1965
(2) lobbying Congress to eliminate the poll tax
(3) attending a political rally in Iowa
(4) conducting sit-ins at restaurants in the South
(4) conducting sit-ins at restaurants in the South
During the debate over the ratification of the Constitution, Antifederalists argued that
(1) the new Constitution left too much political power to state governments
(2) a strong national government would gain respect from European nations
(3) checks and balances were unnecessary in a federal government
(4) the new Constitution would threaten the rights of individual citizens
(4) the new Constitution would threaten the rights of individual citizens
In the Compromise of 1877 that ended Reconstruction, Republicans agreed to
(1) withdraw federal troops from the South
(2) support the Black Codes
(3) award the presidency to Democrat Samuel Tilden
(4) accept the Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott v. Sanford
(1) withdraw federal troops from the South
What do these statements demonstrate about President Wilson during the three years before the United States entered World War I?
(1) He gradually changed his foreign policy goals.
(2) He eagerly became involved in a war.
(3) He abused the principle of separation of powers.
(4) He was consistent in his policy of strict neutrality
(1) He gradually changed his foreign policy goals.
Passage of the Social Security Act (1935) helped American workers by
(1) creating jobs for the unemployed
(2) guaranteeing a minimum wage
(3) legalizing the right to join labor unions
(4) providing financial assistance after retirement
(4) providing financial assistance after retirement
President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957 to
(1) supervise local elections
(2) enforce school integration
(3) end a bus boycott
(4) break up a steel strike
(2) enforce school integration