SAT II US History : Representative Viewpoints in U.S. Social History from 1790 to 1898

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT II US History

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Representative Viewpoints In U.S. Social History From 1790 To 1898

Which of the following groups was NOT generally a member of the abolitionist movement?

Possible Answers:
Irish Immigrants
Social Reformers
Free Blacks
Northern Evangelical Actiivists
Runaway Slaves
Correct answer: Irish Immigrants
Explanation:

Abolitionism, the political movement to end slavery before the Civil War, gathered supporters from many different groups in the North.  Irish immigrants, who generally worked the lowest wage jobs and fought free blacks for them, feared that newly freed slaves would hurt their employment opportunities and housing options.  The other groups listed as answer choices all supported abolition.

Example Question #1 : Representative Viewpoints In U.S. Social History From 1790 To 1898

What was the popular name given to Northerners who moved to the South and supported the Republican agenda?

Possible Answers:

Johnson's Boys

Lincolnites

Scalawags

Carpetbaggers

Sharecroppers

Correct answer:

Carpetbaggers

Explanation:

The term Carpetbagger was used derisively by many Southerners during the Reconstruction period to refer to those Northerners who begun moving south to take advantage of opportunities there, and to push through a political Republican agenda. Scalawags was the name given to white Republicans who already lived in the South. Sharecropping was a way for freedman to work on the land and be paid for it. It was a system where landowners granted a percentage of their land to tenants in return for a percentage of the crops produced. In practice in the Reconstruction Era South, it was a means to effectively enslave poor whites and blacks into perpetual debt. The other two terms, to our knowledge, are totally made up. 

Example Question #2 : Representative Viewpoints In U.S. Social History From 1790 To 1898

All of the following were objectives of the Lewis and Clark Expedition EXCEPT:

Possible Answers:

The search for a reasonable passage through the West.

The establishment of trade with the indigenous nations

The exploration and mapping of the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase.

The quest for the Northwest Passage

The establishment of an American presence in the West before the Europeans.

Correct answer:

The quest for the Northwest Passage

Explanation:

As the name implies, the Northwest Passage was a passage through the northwest of North America sought for centuries as a new, quicker route to the Asian nations.  It was not an objective of the Lewis and Clark Expedition who ventured farther south.

Example Question #2 : Representative Viewpoints In U.S. Social History From 1790 To 1898

The Fugitive Slave Law, passed during the Compromise of 1850,                    .

Possible Answers:

greatly reduced the number of slaves who were able to escape to the North

caused many Southerners to join the anti-slavery movement

was widely upheld in the North due to desire to maintain peace and respect the Compromise

dictated that any Northerner helping a fugitive slave escape was subject to lengthy imprisonment

angered many Northerners and encouraged them to pass personal liberty laws 

Correct answer:

angered many Northerners and encouraged them to pass personal liberty laws 

Explanation:

The application of the Fugitive Slave Law caused a great deal of anger and resentment in the North. Many Northerners bulked at the violation of human rights and felt that Southerners coming into the North to capture fugitive slaves was a dangerous precedent. It encouraged many Northerners to join the anti-slavery movement and to pass personal liberty laws designed to limit the legality of the Fugitive Slave Law. The South responded that the North was plainly violating the Compromise of 1850, and tensions grew significantly worse, as each side became further entrenched in regional ideologies of personal and property rights.

Example Question #3 : Representative Viewpoints In U.S. Social History From 1790 To 1898

The Seneca Falls Convention                    .

Possible Answers:

hoped to reform and improve women’s rights in the United States 

called for the implementation of a graduated income tax

provided electoral support for James Buchanan 

desired an end to segregation in the South

advocated for immediate abolition of all slaves

Correct answer:

hoped to reform and improve women’s rights in the United States 

Explanation:

The Seneca Falls Convention was convened in 1848 in Seneca, New York. The meeting was organized primarily by several influential female Quakers. The intention was to provide a series of meetings and lectures in which speakers could argue for the advancement of women’s rights in the United States. Many historians refer to the Seneca Falls Convention as the birth place of the female suffrage movement; others contend that it was simply a noteworthy example of a trend that had already received some support and would continue to gain momentum for the next century. Numerous prominent members of the female suffrage movement were in attendance, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. The Convention adopted the Declaration of Sentiments, which reads very much like the Declaration of Independence, but is inclusive of women. 

Example Question #4 : Representative Viewpoints In U.S. Social History From 1790 To 1898

What affect did the Presidency of John Quincy Adams have on relations between the North and the South?

Possible Answers:

It helped mend political tensions.

It pushed the two regions further apart economically and ideologically.

It assuaged Southern concerns of Northern over-representation in government.

The internal infrastructure began to homogenize the economy.

It pushed the two regions further apart ideologically, but not economically.

Correct answer:

It pushed the two regions further apart economically and ideologically.

Explanation:

The Presidency of John Quincy Adams was a crucial administration for the solidification of Northern and Southern economic and ideological differences. Adams favored Northern merchants and bankers over Southern plantation owners, enacting policies to that effect. The so-called Tariff of Abominations was designed to favor Northern industry over European industry, but it had the opposite effect in the South where it led to economic stagnation and poverty for some. Adams lost a great deal of credibility in the South and helped encourage ideological notions of a separate Southern and Northern identity. 

Example Question #5 : Representative Viewpoints In U.S. Social History From 1790 To 1898

“Why should the wealth of the country be stored in banks and elevators while the idle workman wanders homeless about the streets and the idle loafers who hoard the gold only to spend it on riotous living are rolling about in fine carriages from which they look out on peaceful meetings and call them riots?”

The above quote could most likely be attributed to __________.

Possible Answers:

Marcus Garvey 

Samuel Gompers

Warren G. Harding

Calvin Coolidge

Andrew Carnegie 

Correct answer:

Samuel Gompers

Explanation:

The above quote was spoken by trade unionist Samuel Gompers, in a speech to an assembly of some twenty thousand workers in 1893. In the early 1890s there was a severe economic recession and tensions between the wealthy and the working classes were growing. Samuel Gompers worked with this feeling—creating the American Federation of Labor and working tirelessly to improve the conditions of the working class. 

Example Question #6 : Representative Viewpoints In U.S. Social History From 1790 To 1898

The term "bushwhacker" in American history generally refers to __________.

Possible Answers:

guerillas in the Civil War that carried out sporadic raids against targets

outlaws in the West that would hide in the wilderness to avoid capture

slave hunters in border states that enforced the Fugitive Slave Act

John Brown's raiding party at Harper's Ferry, Virginia

early settlers in the Great Plains that had to clear wilderness to plant farms

Correct answer:

guerillas in the Civil War that carried out sporadic raids against targets

Explanation:

"Bushwhacker" was a general term used during the Civil War to refer to any guerrilla groups that were not directly tied to the command structure of either army. While at first used for both sides, the term in particular began to be used to refer to the pro-Confederate guerillas in Missouri's Ozarks. These "bushwhackers" would commit many atrocities in the latter parts of the War, but also produced a number of outlaws that would gain fame in the late-nineteenth century, including Frank and Jesse James, and Cole Younger.

Example Question #7 : Representative Viewpoints In U.S. Social History From 1790 To 1898

The phrase "separate but equal" generally refers to the practice in American history of __________.

Possible Answers:

the role of states towards the Federal Government

the resources devoted to each branch of the Armed Forces

separate schools for boys and girls

codified racial segregation

the role of the House of Representatives and the Senate in enacting legislation

Correct answer:

codified racial segregation

Explanation:

The phrase "separate but equal" was first used in an 1890 Louisiana law (as "equal but separate"), but found greater currency after the Supreme Court case of Plessy v. Ferguson, in 1896. The Plessy case held that Jim Crow laws, which codified racial segregation, were valid under the Constitution as long as the different institutions were "equal" for both races. The Plessy case dealt specifically with railroad seating, but was applied broadly. The "seperate but equal" idea was regularly espoused, but almost never actually put into practice, as the "colored" schools, services, and seating on transportation was usually inferior by a great amount.

Example Question #8 : Representative Viewpoints In U.S. Social History From 1790 To 1898

The Know-Nothing Party was formed around an ideology of ____________.

Possible Answers:

Anti-immigration and anti-Protestantism

Anti-immigration and anti-Catholicism

Pro-immigration and pro-Protestantism

Pro-immigration and pro-Catholicism

Pro-immigration and anti-secularism

Correct answer:

Anti-immigration and anti-Catholicism

Explanation:

The Know-Nothing Party, also called the American Party, was an offshoot of a Nativist, anti-immigration, anti-Catholicism movement in the 1850s. The party claimed that it would purify American politics by removing the influence of Catholicism from government and strictly limiting the number of people who could immigrate to the United States. The ideology of the party reflected a broad fear among Americans at the time, many of whom believed that the arrival of Irish and German Catholics was undermining the ability of the working class to find work. 

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