Period Four: 1800 thru 1848


The following multiple-choice questions are academically synonymous to those which appeared on the College Board Advanced Placement National Examination in United States History prior to 2015. They have been adapted from past National Exams, various College Board matter offering sample questions, and assorted APUSH review manuals widely available through common retail outlets. No item is an exact copy of any material previously published. The questions address political, social, economic, intellectual, and diplomatic history. While the multiple-choice format currently used by the College Board deviates from the conventional style, the items included here can nevertheless serve as effective learning support. This review set is intended for private use and educational purpose only and may not be sold or marketed in any manner.



DIRECTIONS: Using knowledge obtained through class lecture and assigned reading, coupled with the ability to reason logically, select the best response from among the four suggested completions for each statement.


  1. The presidential election of 1800 has been referred to as constituting "another revolution" because:

    1. the House of Representatives decided the election
    2. voter turnout increased dramatically
    3. the once dominant party was replaced by a newly formed opposition party
    4. Supreme Court action was required to dislodge the Federalists


  2. Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Daniel Webster more most alike in that they:

    1. opposed the War of 1812
    2. favored gradual emancipation of slaves with financial compensation to southern slaveowners
    3. were anti-Jackson
    4. advocated strong government support of manufacturing and industrial interests


  3. The 1848 women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, was a protest against:

    1. using female workers in textile factories
    2. abuses of slave women on southern plantations
    3. failure of the Whig Party to endorse national suffrage for women
    4. customs and laws that gave women status inferior to that of men


  4. The Louisiana Purchase was significant because it:

    1. virtually eliminated Spain from the North American continent
    2. gave the United States control of the Mississippi River
    3. forced the British to evacuate their posts in the Northwest
    4. eased tensions between western settlers and Indians


  5. The principal issue on which the United States sought settlement with Great Britain at the outset of the War of 1812 was:

    1. guarantee of New England fishing rights off Newfoundland
    2. unrestricted navigation of the Mississippi River
    3. end to impressment
    4. cancellation of pre-Revolutionary War debts


  6. When President Thomas Jefferson stated in 1801, "We are all republicans; we are all democrats," he was referring to the:

    1. hope that principles of good government would transcend party politics
    2. exaggerated differences between his political theory and that of Alexander Hamilton
    3. array of political and social backgrounds present among his Cabinet appointees
    4. existing similarities between platforms of the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans


  7. All of the following statements are consistent with the beliefs of Thomas Jefferson except:

    1. "the farmer is the backbone of American society"
    2. "freedom of speech is crucial in a republic"
    3. "the government is best that governs least"
    4. "an essential element to maintain orderly society is a strong national army"


  8. The Embargo Act of 1807:

    1. improved the balance of trade
    2. enriched many cotton plantation owners
    3. ruined American shipping
    4. virtually destroyed subsistence farming


  9. In the case of Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court established that:

    1. states may not interfere with interstate commerce
    2. according to the implied powers clause, the issue of disputed electoral votes is a function of the Senate
    3. the Court has the authority to determine constitionality of congressional acts
    4. under certain circumstances, states have the authority to nullify laws of Congress


  10. The Hartford Convention was a manifestation of:

    1. opposition of New England Federalists to the War of 1812
    2. the War Hawks' discontent with President James Madison's foreign policy
    3. northern gratitude to General Andrew Jackson for his great victory at New Orleans
    4. westerners' outrage against Britain for backing Indian attacks on frontier settlements


  11. At the time of its completion, the Erie Canal was:

    1. the greatest construction project yet undertaken by Americans
    2. already obsolete due to the completion, in the meantime, of the Cumberland Road and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
    3. too poorly engineered to handle the current traffic flow
    4. long overdue as a replacement for slow and expensive railroads as the major means of shipment and passenger transportation in America


  12. President Thomas Jefferson superceded his doubts about the constitutionality of purchasing Louisiana from France because:

    1. timely Supreme Court decisions allowed him to proceed with actions that were originally denied to the President by the Constitution
    2. he decided that the guarantee of vast western land for American farmers outweighed constitutional principle
    3. his survey of the political landscape indicated that the action was crucial to his re-election hopes in 1804
    4. certain key provisions in the Pinckney Treaty were more broadly interpreted by Secretary of State James Madison, thus opening the door for the land acquisition



        

  13. In the cartoon above, the snapping turtle represents the:

    1. refusal of Great Britain to conduct trade with the United States after the War of 1812
    2. general European reaction to the Treaty of Ghent
    3. adversarial relationship between America and Europe as a result of the Monroe Doctrine
    4. harmful effects of the 1807 Embargo Act


  14. In the years prior to the War of 1812, both Great Britain and France violated American maritime neutral rights. The prime consideration causing the United States to declare war against Great Britain rather than France was:

    1. Canada, being adjacent to America, not only served as an avenue for attacking the British, but also as a potential prize of war (the only way to attack the French was to attack France itself; no French territory existed in North America worth the price of war for the United States)
    2. the Federalist Party, which controlled Congress, tended to be anti-British
    3. recent British transgressions had caused loss of American lives, whereas offenses committed by the French only resulted in property damages
    4. attacking France would almost certainly agitate Spain, as well (the United States stood a difficult challenge enough defeating one European nation; simultaneous war against both France and Spain would have been disastrous)


  15. The Monroe Doctrine:

    1. was announced by the President over the objections of Secretary of State John Quincy Adams
    2. marked the beginning of a new military era for the United States
    3. was issued simultaneously with a British policy statement on Latin America
    4. stressed that Europe and the Western Hemisphere had essentially different political systems


  16. The major reason why President Thomas Jefferson was interested in purchasing Louisiana from France was that he:

    1. wanted to establish a precedent for the expansion of presidential authority
    2. desired an area beyond the Mississippi River to relocate many eastern Indians
    3. had learned from Lewis and Clark of the untapped mineral resources in western areas
    4. hoped to preserve an agricultural society by making abundant lands available to future generations


  17. The prime impetus behind the outburst of organized reform movements in the United States from the 1820s to the 1850s was:

    1. territorial expansion
    2. religious fervor
    3. urban growth
    4. economic vigor


  18. A distinguishing feature of American society in the early nineteenth century was the:

    1. lack of enthusiasm for religious reform
    2. increasing readership of newspapers
    3. creation of original forms of art and architecture
    4. disdain for voluntary civic associations


  19. Henry Clay's "American System" called for all of the following except:

    1. internal improvements at national government expense
    2. sale of federal lands to finance higher education
    3. increased trade among the sections of the nation
    4. tariff for the protection of industry


  20. The American Colonization Society was established during the early 1800s with the goal of:

    1. encouraging immigration of laborers from Europe
    2. supporting the movement of Manifest Destiny
    3. transporting blacks to Africa
    4. managing Indian reservations to assure humane treatment


  21. The call for the "immediate and uncompensated emancipation of the slaves" is associated with the position of:

    1. the Free Soil Party
    2. Senator Robert Hayne in his famous 1830 debate with Senator Daniel Webster
    3. evangelical churches throughout both the North and the South
    4. William Lloyd Garrison in The Liberator


  22. In addition to the cotton gin, Eli Whitney's major contribution to American technology was his:

    1. perfection of assembly-line manufacturing
    2. introduction of interchangeable parts
    3. development of the first practical locomotive
    4. invention of the mechanical reaper


  23. The development of the concept of "separate spheres" for the sexes during the early nineteenth century encouraged all of the following except:

    1. designation of the home as the appropriate place for women
    2. acceptance of males and females as intellectual equals
    3. idealization of the "lady"
    4. emphasis on child care as one of the prime duties of females


  24. During the presidential administration of Andrew Jackson:

    1. the economy flourished as a result of Jackson's ingenious fiscal policies
    2. several Supreme Court rulings laid to rest the problematic issue of states' rights
    3. the number of banks, each printing its own currency, increased
    4. Congress passed the first of many measures providing for Indian Removal


  25. The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 was significant because it:

    1. established the role of the federal government in internal improvements
    2. spurred innovation in the railroad industry
    3. made the invention of the steamboat economically viable
    4. strengthened the ties between the eastern manufacturing and western agricultural regions


  26. An important consequence of the "Tariff of Abominations" is that it led to:

    1. heavy taxation of consumer items
    2. another presidential term for Andrew Jackson
    3. enunciation of the doctrine of nullification
    4. alliance of southern planters and western farmers


  27. Most of the Irish immigrants who came to the United States after the potato famine of the 1840s settled in:

    1. urban areas throughout the North
    2. Appalachia and some western frontier regions
    3. rural sections of the Old Northwest
    4. coastal cities across the South


  28. The basic thrust of John Quincy Adams’s foreign policy, as Secretary of State and later President, was to:

    1. secure American borders and strengthen the peace with Great Britain
    2. militarize the Great Lakes and Gulf of Mexico in the name of national security
    3. shed all remnants of dependence on European products by economically isolating America
    4. conquer global commercial rivals through shrewd economic measures


  29. The Second Great Awakening differed most from the First Great Awakening in that:

    1. the First valued both reason and emotion as ways to understand God’s messages whereas the Second downplayed the role of logic, common sense, and direct observation as necessary tools of Christian faith
    2. the Second stressed the omnipotent power of God to determine salvation or damnation, whereas the First held that God was the ultimate Creator but did not typically meddle in day-to-day events of Earth
    3. the First stressed that reason alone allowed an individual to communicate with God, whereas the Second advocated prayer and divine revelation as the primary means of communication between God and Christians
    4. the Second believed that each person contained the capacity for redemption through good works and acceptance of God as the Savior, whereas the First, although it moved away from Puritan predestination, nevertheless placed a significant emphasis on an all-powerful God as the determiner of one’s salvation


  30. The National Road, the only significant federal internal project undertaken prior to 1820, was constructed primarily for the purpose of:

    1. assisting the movement of settlers to the Oregon Country
    2. promoting trade and communication with the Old Northwest
    3. demarcating the southwestern boundary of the Louisiana Purchase
    4. relieving overpopulation and crowding in the New England states


  31. In the early 1800s, Cherokee efforts to retain their tribal lands in Georgia received direct support from:

    1. President Andrew Jackson
    2. reform-minded white residents of Oklahoma
    3. the Supreme Court
    4. Congress


  32. The historical reference to "spot resolutions" is in regard to:

    1. individual tribes within the general policy of Indian Removal
    2. the wave of social reform during the mid-1800s
    3. hostile action between Mexican and American forces resulting in war
    4. the question of funding for internal improvements


  33. Reform movements in America during the early 1800s were distinctive because:

    1. women played a major role as both members and leaders of various movements
    2. many of the reforms were funded by the federal government
    3. reformers came exclusively from the ranks of white America
    4. most spokesmen maintained narrow identification with one movement and ignored other areas of needed reform


  34. The largest number of immigrants to the United States during the first half of the nineteenth century came from:

    1. France
    2. Ireland
    3. Germany
    4. England


  35. The idea of Manifest Destiny included all of the following except the belief that:

    1. commerce and industry would decline as the nation expanded its agricultural base
    2. westward continental expansion was both inevitable and beneficial
    3. use of land for settled agriculture was preferable to its use for nomadic hunting
    4. God designated America as a chosen land and people


  36. American wit and culture meshed well during the Jacksonian Era because the humor:

    1. often reflected the absurdity of a country attempting to combine democracy and culture
    2. provided an outlet for people of all sorts to release their fears and anxieties about the rapidly changing American society
    3. allowed the poor and powerless to vent their anger at the wealthy and powerful
    4. expressed displeasure at the rampant political corruption which had infiltrated the American presidency


  37. The emphasis on educational reform in the early 1800s paralleled the spirit of the age because it:

    1. focused on unleashing individuals’ talents
    2. opposed religious intrusion
    3. advocated a system of education based on socio-economic status
    4. stressed gender equality


  38. The statement describing best the policy of Mexico's government toward Texas during the first half of the nineteenth century is:

    1. "Mexico tried to sell Texas to the United States at the time of the Louisiana Purchase"
    2. "during the mid-1830s Mexico stressed the importance of establishing strong local government in Texas"
    3. "American settlement in Texas was encouraged by Mexico during the 1820s and early 1830s"
    4. "Texas was governed by Mexico under stringent regulations in the 1820s"


  39. The main issue in James K. Polk's 1844 presidential campaign was his solid commitment to:

    1. territorial acquisition and westward expansion
    2. compromise between North and South regarding the increasingly volatile issue of slavery
    3. various social reform movements
    4. economic prosperity through increased development of foreign trade


  40. A man who had visited the United States in the 1830s wrote that "unmarried women in America were unusually emancipated." You would probably give the most credence to his judgment about American women if you also found that:

    1. other travelers in the 1830s who came from the same country as the author had arrived at the same conclusion
    2. modern social psychologists contend that America is a "feminine" culture
    3. other travelers during that time from many different nations had come to the same conclusion as the author
    4. women of the middle class during the 1830s were increasingly attracted to the "cult of true womanhood"


  41. During the first half of the nineteenth century, the central and western areas of New York were known as the "burned-over district" due to:

    1. intense religious zeal created during the Second Great Awakening
    2. savage Indian raids aimed at regaining land lost to white settlers in previous decades
    3. continued crop failures perpetuated by a series of especially harsh winters
    4. severe economic woes lingering from the Embargo Act of 1807


  42. The statement which best sums the political philosophy of President Andrew Jackson is:

    1. "believing that government could be a force for good in society, Jackson favored wholesale implementation of reform measures and humanitarian movements"
    2. "advocating that a true democracy meant limited executive power, Jackson typically deferred to Congress and the Supreme Court for crucial policy-making decisions"
    3. "viewing the proper role of government in a negative way, Jackson used the power of veto more extensively than all previous Presidents combined"
    4. "realizing the strengths of Martin Van Buren’s presidency, Jackson attempted to maintain, as much as possible, the direction of the previous administration"


  43. In the first few years of their existence, the textile mills at Lowell, Massachusetts, were best known for their:

    1. humanitarian refusal to hire women and children as factory operatives
    2. brutal treatment of their work forces
    3. idealistic endeavors to avoid the worst evils of British industrialization
    4. pioneering efforts to establish labor unions


  44. The conjoined themes of self-reliance/individual inspiration and dissent/nonconformity were most evident in the:

    1. policies of President John Tyler
    2. writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson
    3. songs of Stephen Foster
    4. paintings of John Singleton Copley


  45. The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, the Hartford Convention, and the South Carolina Exposition and Protest were similar in that all presented defense of:

    1. the institution of slavery as an economic necessity in the South
    2. maintaining a powerful national military force to deter foreign attack
    3. the concept of states' rights
    4. high protective tariffs to encourage home industry


  46. The rapid expansion of American population and geographic area in the early 1800s had somewhat of a paradoxical result in that it:

    1. made America more vulnerable to European military attack and political control
    2. produced an acute sense of insecurity and lack of confidence among the general American public
    3. halted all American desires for territorial expansion and inhabitation
    4. endangered national unity by creating new differences among Americans, often tied to geographic sections



        

  47. The general theme conveyed by the drawing above would have been supported most enthusiastically by:

    1. Whig Party members
    2. advocates of aggressive territorial expansion
    3. states' righters and Indian sympathizers
    4. opponents of the National Bank


  48. The failure of various experimental utopian societies during the early nineteenth century can be universally attributed to:

    1. problems arising as a direct result of locations poorly selected for communes such as Indian massacres, especially infertile soil, or extremely harsh weather
    2. stiff government regulations, including taxation
    3. lack of agreement among members concerning societal philosophies and operating methods
    4. atypical practices regarding sexual conduct, such as polygamy


  49. The principle trend in Supreme Court rulings while John Marshall presided as Chief Justice was to:

    1. make the southern and western states somewhat subordinate to New England
    2. weaken the sovereignty of the national government by limiting the position of the federal courts
    3. strengthen the power of the states at the expense of the federal government
    4. widely expand the federal government's powers, especially those of the Supreme Court


  50. The presidential election of 1840 is often considered the first "modern" election because:

    1. the major candidates participated in a series of scheduled public debates
    2. it was the first real test of America's developing two-party political system
    3. the candidates made clear their positions on most of the major issues
    4. both parties for the first time widely campaigned among all the eligible voters


  51. The correct statement below describing crop and land use patterns in the United States by the 1830s is:

    1. "the Old Northwest boomed with land development and production of corn and wheat"
    2. "industry in New England languished following the War of 1812, causing a revival of New England agriculture"
    3. "cotton growing skyrocketed in the Southwest while land prices plummeted"
    4. "small farmers began to invade the South while large southern planters moved in significant numbers to the West"


  52. According to Alexis de Tocqueville in Democracy in America, American individualism arose as a result of:

    1. uneven distribution of wealth
    2. absence of an aristocracy
    3. limited geographic mobility
    4. vast urbanization


  53. During the early 1820s and 1830s, the American political system:

    1. grew more democratic
    2. fragmented into a multi-party system
    3. became mired in dishonesty and inefficiency
    4. fell under control of the business elite


  54. Of the following, the group most likely to have expressed opposition to the policy of Manifest Destiny was:

    1. settlers in western Kentucky
    2. voters for James K. Polk in the presidential election of 1844
    3. supporters of the Ostend Manifesto
    4. members of the Whig Party in Congress during the Mexican War



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