CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK
UNITED STATES HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT
MIDTERM EXAMINATION
January 2002
BOOKLET A
This exam contains three parts. Part I is contained in this booklet, Booklet A. Parts II and III are contained in another booklet, Booklet B.
Be sure you have both booklets, A and B, a machine-scored answer sheet and scrap paper. Complete the heading on your answer sheet and on Booklet B.
DO NOT OPEN THIS EXAMINATION BOOKLET UNTIL TOLD TO DO SO.
Name ______________________________________________________
SSE-88 (10/24/03) Page 1
U.S. History and Government
Midterm Examination—January 2002
Part I: Multiple-Choice
Directions: Answer all items in this part. For each statement or each question, use the separate answer sheet to bubble in the letter of the best answer or use the enclosed answer sheet.
1. Which city is paired with the geographical feature that directly contributed to its growth?
A. San Francisco – Rocky Mountains
B. New Orleans – Mississippi River
C. Pittsburgh – Hudson River
D. Cleveland – Atlantic Coastal Plain
2. The physical features of a place include
A. human life, artifacts, economics, government and history.
B. seasons, weather, rainfall and plains.
C. soil, plant life, mountains and bodies of water.
D. language, religion, planets, politics and culture.
3. In the Colonial Era, developments such as the New England town meetings and the establishment of the Virginia House of Burgesses represented
A. colonial attempts to build a strong national government.
B. efforts by the British to strengthen their control over the colonies.
C. steps in the growth of representative democracy.
D. early social reform movements.
4. “The only representatives of the people of these colonies are persons chosen therein by themselves; and that no taxes ever have been, or can be constitutionally imposed on them but by their respective legislatures.” —Statement by the Stamp Act Congress, 1765
What is a valid conclusion that can be drawn from this quotation?
A. The colonial legislatures should be appointed by the English King with the
consent of Parliament.
B. Only the colonists’ elected representatives should have the power to levy taxes.
C. The English King should have the right to tax the colonists.
D. The colonists should be opposed to all taxation.
5. Which would be an example of a primary source of information about life in the 18th century American colonies?
A. a diary of a colonial shopkeeper
B. a painting of the colonial period by a 20th century artist
C. a novel about the American Revolutionary War
D. a reproduction of furniture used during the colonial period
6. Which is an important reason that the American colonists rebelled against England in the 1770s?
A. The colonists desired the right to control the basic aspects of their economy.
B. An overwhelming majority of the colonists favored rebellion.
C. England did not adequately protect America from attack by other European
nations.
D. England had reduced the number of colonial representatives in Parliament.
7. The ideals of the Roman and Greek Law contributed most significantly to the growth of the principle of
A. separation of power. C. religious freedom.
B. consent of the govern. D. three branches of government.
8. The status of women in colonial times best reflected
A. a continuation of traditional European attitudes.
B. the lack of work opportunities for women in an agricultural society.
C. the participation of women in political elections.
D. the surplus of women in frontier societies.
9. According to the Declaration of Independence, the people have the right to alter or abolish a government if that government
A. is a limited monarchy.
B. violates natural rights.
C. becomes involved in entangling alliances.
D. favors one religion over another.
10. The authors of the Articles of Confederation established a decentralized political system mainly to
A. cancel state debts incurred during the Revolutionary War.
B. assist the southern states in their efforts to gain a manufacturing base.
C. promote the common goal of national sovereignty.
D. prevent the abuses of power that had existed under British rule.
11. The principle of federalism as established by the United States Constitution provides for the
A. separation of powers of three branches of government.
B. placement of ultimate sovereignty in the hands of the state governments.
C. division of power between the state and the national government.
D. creation of a republican form of government within each state and city.
12. “The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in extending our commercial relation’s, to have with them as little political connection as possible.”
This quotation supports a foreign policy of
A. imperialism. C. neutrality.
B. appeasement. D. economic sanctions.
13. The legal basis for the United States purchase of the Louisiana Territory was the
A. power granted to the President to make treaties.
B. President’s power as Commander in Chief.
C. authority of Congress to declare war.
D. Senate’s duty to approve the appointment of ambassadors.
14. Flexibility is provided in the United States Constitution mainly by the
A. Preamble and Bill of Rights.
B. amending process and the elastic clause.
C. provisions for separation of powers.
D. system of checks and balances.
15. Which situation most clearly illustrates the constitutional principle of checks and balances?
A. A joint session of Congress hears the President’s State of the Union address.
B. A Congressional committee effectively kills a bill by a majority vote.
C. The House of Representatives votes to bring impeachment charges against
a Federal judge.
D. A congressional conference committee revises the language of a bill.
16. During the debates over the ratification of the United States Constitution, Federalists and Anti-Federalists disagreed most strongly over the
A. division of powers between the national and state governments.
B. provision for admitting new states to the Union.
C. distribution of power between the Senate and the House of Representatives.
D. method of amending the Constitution.
17. The fundamental reason for the addition of the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution was to
A. establish a federal system.
B. create a system of checks and balances.
C. protect individual liberties.
D. provide for an electoral college.
18. The work of a lobbyist would most properly involve
A. managing the election campaign of a legislator.
B. speaking on the floor of a legislature of certain bills.
C. talking with legislators about proposed bills.
D. paying the salaries of secretaries of legislators.
19. The significance of the Supreme Court case of Marbury v. Madison is that
A. a Federal law was declared unconstitutional.
B. the principle of States rights was greatly strengthened.
C. the separate but equal principle was established.
D. the constitutionality of the National Bank was upheld.
20. “The individual can be free only when the power of one governmental branch is balanced by the other two.” —Baron de Montesquieu, 1735 (adapted)
The idea expressed in this quotation is best illustrated by which aspect of the United States Government?
A. existence of a Cabinet C. elastic clause
B. separation of powers D. executive privilege
21. The Monroe Doctrine declared that the United States would
A. prevent the establishment of new European colonies anywhere in the world.
B. help colonies in North and South America adopt a democratic form of
government.
C. view European interference in the Americas as a threat to the national interest
of the United States.
D. prevent other nations from trading with South American nations.
22. “No man has a right to fix the boundary of the march of a nation; no man has right to say to his country: this far you should go and no further.”
The author of this statement would most likely have supported the U.S. policy of
A. containment. C. sectionalism.
B. manifest destiny. D. isolationism.
23. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucrieta Mott, Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison are most closely associated with
A. equal rights movements. C. national leadership during wartime.
B. the process of industrialization. D. advancements in medicine.
24. In the United States, the widespread disregard of the fugitive slave laws and of the Prohibition laws most clearly indicated that
A. strongly held values are difficult to regulate.
B. the Federal Government is generally unable to enforce its own laws.
C. little respect is given to the legal system.
D. the judicial system is too lenient in its treatment of offenders.
25. Which event was the immediate cause of the secession of several Southern states from the union in 1860?
A. The Dred Scott decision, which declared that all prior compromises on the
extension of slavery into the territories were unconstitutional.
B. The Missouri Compromise, which kept an even balance between the number of
free and slave states.
C. The raid on the Federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, which was led by the militant
abolitionist John Brown.
D. the election of President Abraham Lincoln, who opposed the spread of slavery
into the territories.
26. A major result of the Reconstruction period was that
A. the former Confederate states were restored to full membership in the Union.
B. most African Americans were able to take advantage of education at colleges
and universities.
C. the two-party system became stronger in the south.
D. sectional differences and the idea of States rights disappeared.
27. The 14th amendment provides that no “state [shall] deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” A direct result of this amendment was that
A. the process of amending the Constitution became slower and more complex.
B. the guarantees in the Bill of Rights were applied to state actions.
C. every citizen gained an absolute right to freedom of speech and assembly.
D. the power of the Federal government was sharply reduced.
28. In the United States, television has helped to increase the power of the Presidency mainly because
A. citizens have been more strongly encouraged to vote in Presidential elections.
B. the President has been able to reach the people more easily and frequently.
C. wrongdoing in the Presidency has been exposed and corrected more easily.
D. the people have been made aware of crises in the operation of the Presidency.
29. Which is a criticism of the electoral college system as used in the United States?
A. A presidential candidate receiving a minority of the popular vote may be elected.
B. Members of the electoral college are also members of Congress.
C. There has been no reapportionment of electors among the states since 1900.
D. Presidential elections have been frequently decided in the House of
Representatives.
30. In the United States, economic opportunities for women expanded during the last quarter of the 19th century because of the growth of
A. opportunities to buy farms in the West.
B. industry and technology.
C. big-city political machines.
D. organized labor.
31. The basic constitutional issue resolved by the Civil War was the
A. expansion of the President’s war powers.
B. extension of the right to vote to all adults.
C. supremacy of Federal authority over the states.
D. civil liberties of citizens during wartime.
32. In the case Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the United States Supreme Court held that racial segregation was constitution if
A. it was approved by a special vote of a state’s citizens.
B. blacks were only a small minority group within the state.
C. the facilities provided to blacks and whites were equal.
D. it was approved by the President and the Congress.
Exam continues on the next page.
This discussion of constitutional amendments took place just after the Civil War. Base your answers to questions 33 and 34 on this discussion and yon your knowledge of social studies.
Speaker A: Some slaves were freed after the Emancipation Proclamation; others were freed
by an amendment to the Constitution. We all know that free men may vote, and
we do not need further amendments to tell us that.
Speaker B: If we pass these amendments, we still do not ensure the rights of the freed people.
In states where white people traditionally have run the government, freed people
will find it difficult to exercise their rights.
Speaker C: As a member of the Republican Party, I want to see these amendments adopted to
ensure the voting strength of our party in the South.
Speaker D: These amendments must be passed. The passage of these amendments will
guarantee equal rights with no further governmental action required.
33. The constitutional amendments under the discussion are the
A. first and second. C. fourteenth and fifteenth.
B. fifth and tenth. D. twenty-first and twenty-second.
34. Which speaker describes most clearly the political situation that actually occurred after Reconstruction?
A. A B. B C. C D. D
35. The work of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott and Susan B. Anthony led most directly to the
A. passage of the women’s suffrage amendment.
B. elimination of child labor in coal mines.
C. increase in adult literacy rates.
D. development of better ways to treat mentally ill people.
36. In the late 19th century, poll taxes, grandfather clauses and literacy tests were used to
A. restore legal slavery.
B. encourage the growth of the Republican Party in the South.
C. prevent former slaves from voting.
D. prevent labor unions from becoming too powerful.
37. Which statement is an opinion about the Reconstruction period?
A. The 13th amendment abolished slavery.
B. Military occupation of the South ended in 1877.
C. Sharecropping replaced plantation slavery as a way of life.
D. Congress should have provided more protection to the freed slaves.
38. Collective bargaining, mediation and arbitration are best described as
A. methods used to resolve labor-management disputes.
B. means the government uses to enforce safety standards in factories.
C. efforts by lobbyists to bring about passage of consumer-protection laws.
D. weapons used mainly by employers in labor disputes.
39. Which was the major reason for the slow growth of labor unions in the United States during the 19th century?
A. presence of language and cultural barriers among workers
B. lack of public and legal support for union activities