Part 2 — Answer key

Compare your answers after you have finished Part 1.

1. You are sketching a basic timeline to warm up for your US history final. Which event has to go first on your line?
   The American Revolution
2. The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery throughout the United States.
   True
3. The Statue of Liberty became a symbol for immigrants arriving through New York Harbor in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
   True
4. The Homestead Act offered free or cheap land to settlers willing to farm in the West.
   True
5. A warm-up question on your history final asks which branch of the federal government is primarily responsible for making laws. What should you select?
   Legislative branch
6. The Mayflower Compact was written mainly to create a form of self-government among the Pilgrims.
   True
7. On a practice history final, you see a question asking what changed for Britain and its colonies after the French and Indian War. Which answer focuses on the key change that helped cause the American Revolution?
   Britain tried to tax the colonies to help pay war debts.
8. The Declaration of Independence created a new national government for the United States that immediately replaced British rule.
   False
9. The Monroe Doctrine warned European powers against establishing new colonies in the Western Hemisphere.
   True
10. While cramming for your US history final, you get stuck on what came directly after the Civil War. Which period follows immediately in the usual timeline?
    Reconstruction
11. A student sees the term "Great Migration" on a history final. What is it referring to?
    The movement of African Americans from the rural South to Northern cities in the early 1900s
12. The U.S. Cold War policy of containment aimed to stop the spread of communism into new areas rather than roll it back where it already existed.
    True
13. Your history final asks which pair of events is listed in correct chronological order, from earlier to later. Which option should you choose?
    The War of 1812, then the Mexican-American War
14. A multiple-choice item on your final asks what the Nineteenth Amendment did. Which brief summary is correct?
    Gave women the right to vote nationwide
15. On a map question about U.S. expansion, your exam highlights a huge central region added in the early 1800s. What was a major effect of the Louisiana Purchase?
    It roughly doubled the size of U.S. territory west of the Mississippi River
16. A literature passage on your exam features jazz clubs, poets, and painters in New York's Harlem neighborhood in the 1920s. Which movement does this describe?
    A movement of African American artistic and literary creativity centered in New York
17. A Civil War question on your history final asks what the Emancipation Proclamation actually did when it was issued. Which description is most accurate?
    It declared freedom for enslaved people in areas still in rebellion against the Union
18. Your teacher says, "If you understand why Shays' Rebellion scared leaders, you will understand why the Constitution was written." What problem did Shays' Rebellion most clearly reveal?
    Concern that the national government under the Articles was too weak
19. A classmate says the Seneca Falls Convention was mostly about abolishing slavery. To correct them on the final, which focus should you highlight instead?
    Women's rights and equality
20. A farmer in 1890 complains in a letter about high railroad rates and the "gold bugs" in the cities squeezing rural America. Which political movement would most likely match his views?
    Join the Populist movement calling for free silver and railroad regulation
21. A political cartoon on your exam shows newspapers shouting "Remember the Maine!" What event is this slogan pushing the United States toward?
    The explosion of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor
22. Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle was intended primarily to expose the exploitation of workers in meatpacking plants rather than to launch a food safety campaign.
    True
23. New Deal programs completely eliminated mass unemployment from the Great Depression before World War II began.
    False
24. A Japanese American family on the West Coast in 1942 receives orders to report to an "assembly center" with only what they can carry. Which government action authorized this?
    Executive Order 9066
25. Your exam asks why the United States poured billions of dollars into Western Europe right after World War II. Which goal best captures the purpose of the Marshall Plan?
    Rebuild Western European economies to resist communism
26. Brown v. Board of Education ruled that racially segregated public schools were constitutional as long as facilities were equal in quality.
    False
27. A photo on your exam shows African American students calmly sitting at a whites-only lunch counter while hostile crowds surround them. Which strategy are these protesters using?
    Civil disobedience and nonviolent direct action
28. The Watergate scandal mainly revolved around disagreements over how to handle the Vietnam War.
    False
29. A practice test mentions "stagflation" as a headache for 1970s presidents. What combination of economic problems does this term describe?
    High inflation and high unemployment at the same time
30. A student comparing World War I and World War II reads that both were "total wars" on the home front. Which example best shows that similarity?
    Rationing goods and selling war bonds to civilians
31. After learning about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911, your teacher asks how it affected government policy. Which broader trend did the response to this tragedy support?
    Progressive reforms to improve workplace safety and conditions
32. During the 1920s, U.S. immigration laws became more open and encouraged mass immigration from Asia.
    False
33. You see a Supreme Court question on your final: it describes a ruling that said racial segregation was legal if facilities were "separate but equal." Which case is being referenced?
    Plessy v. Ferguson
34. A history final shows a 1950s advertisement of a smiling family in a new house with a car in the driveway and asks what larger pattern it represents. Which trend best fits that image?
    The growth of postwar suburbs and a larger middle class
35. On your US history final, you see a question asking which law most directly ended literacy tests and other barriers that kept many African Americans from voting in the South. Which choice should you bubble in?
    Voting Rights Act of 1965
36. A test scenario describes a suspect being questioned by police without being told they have the right to remain silent or to an attorney. Which Supreme Court case would your exam most likely connect to this situation?
    Miranda v. Arizona
37. Your textbook notes that the Tet Offensive was a military setback for North Vietnam but a turning point in U.S. opinion. On a final, what effect should you connect to this offensive?
    It convinced many Americans that victory in Vietnam would be harder than officials had claimed
38. Your final includes a chart showing U.S. gas prices spiking in the 1970s and photos of cars waiting in long lines at gas stations. Which event most directly caused this situation?
    Long lines at gas stations and new interest in fuel-efficient cars
39. A classmate argues that the United States mostly fought the Cold War through big declared wars. You counter with examples like CIA-backed actions in Iran and Guatemala. Which Cold War approach best matches those examples?
    Containment using covert intervention
40. A classmate argues that the United States mostly fought the Cold War through big declared wars. You counter with examples like CIA-backed actions in Iran and Guatemala. Which Cold War approach best matches those examples?
    Containment using covert intervention
41. Your final asks you to match foreign policy doctrines with their goals. Which pairing gets the Truman Doctrine right?
    Truman Doctrine: offer economic and military aid to resist the spread of communism