All SAT II US History Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #41 : U.S. Political History From 1790 To 1898
The seven articles of the Constitution, as written by the Constitution Convention, include which three aspects found below?
A Supreme Court, two houses within a legislative branch, the inclusion of Native Americans in the population.
The electoral college, the abolition of slavery, an amendment process.
A Supreme court, a system of checks and balances, rights of the states.
An Amendment process, a religious test as a qualification for office, a system of checks and balances.
Rights of the states, an amendment process, acceptance of a state religion.
A Supreme court, a system of checks and balances, rights of the states.
The following aspects are not found in the original seven articles: the inclusion of Native Americans; a state religion; a religious test to qualify for office; and the abolition of slavery.
Example Question #42 : U.S. Political History From 1790 To 1898
Henry Clay is best remembered for his important contribution to .
The Compromise of 1850
The opposition to the war of 1812 and the demise of the Federalist Party
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Paris
The admission of Missouri as a free state
The Compromise of 1850
Henry Clay is most famously remembered as the “Great Compromiser”. In his time as a United States Congressman he helped broker both the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850—which helped, temporarily, prevent the Union from fracturing. The Compromise of 1850 settled a number of territorial disputes and for half a decade diminished the importance of the slavery issue in the national political arena. Clay’s work on the Missouri Compromise admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state so that answer is incorrect. Clay also argued in favor of war and was considered a “war-hawk”.
Example Question #43 : U.S. Political History From 1790 To 1898
Which of the following was not enacted by the Compromise of 1850?
Utah was admitted to the Union with popular sovereignty to be used to settle the issue of slavery
New Mexico was admitted to the Union as a slave state
The abolition of slave trade in the District of Columbia
The admittance of California as a free state
A new Fugitive Slave Act
New Mexico was admitted to the Union as a slave state
The Compromise of 1850 was actually a collection of several bills that managed to pass Congress, narrowly, by co-opting the votes of those in favor and those moderates in the middle who desired preservation of the Union over all else. As part of the Compromise; California was admitted as a free state; The slave trade was abolished in the District of Columbia; a new Fugitive Slave Act was passed; Texas lost control over the territory of New Mexico; Utah and New Mexico were admitted into the Union and popular sovereignty was to be used in both territories to settle the issue of slavery. The incorrect answer is therefore that New Mexico was admitted to the Union as a slave state. Neither the North nor the South was entirely satisfied with the Compromise. In particular, the North found the new Fugitive Slave Acts abhorrent and the passage of that bill made compromise much harder to reach in the years that followed. The Compromise of 1850 is important for temporarily staving off Civil War, but as war broke out a decade later it must ultimately be viewed as only a fleeting success.
Example Question #43 : U.S. Political History From 1790 To 1898
Which of the following is not protected by the Bill of Rights?
Equal protection under the law
Freedom of press
Freedom of speech
Freedom of religion
Civil trial by jury of peers
Equal protection under the law
The Bill of Rights is the name given to the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. The Bill of Rights had been a necessary addition to the Constitution in order to ensure the unanimous support of all the States. They came into effect in 1791. The Freedom of speech, religion, and press are all established in the First Amendment. The right to a civil trial by a jury of one’s peers was established in the Seventh Amendment. The right to equal protection under the law, regardless of race, was not, however, established until after the Civil War—in the Fourteenth Amendment.
Example Question #45 : U.S. Political History From 1790 To 1898
The direct election of state senators by a popular vote was established through the passage of which amendment?
Thirteenth
Seventeenth
Fourteenth
Fifteenth
Nineteenth
Seventeenth
The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments were all passed during the Reconstruction period, immediately following the Civil War, and were concerned with the inclusion and protection of freed slaves in the Union. The Nineteenth Amendment granted the right to vote to women. The Seventeenth Amendment is correct—it mandated that state senators were to be elected by a popular vote. Previously state senators had been elected by the State Legislature, but fear of corruption and political unaccountability lead to a campaign for reform in the latter half of the Nineteenth Century.
Example Question #46 : U.S. Political History From 1790 To 1898
In which conflict did the United States acquire the territory of California?
The French-Indian Wars
The War of 1812
The Mexican War
The United States acquired California peacefully in the Louisiana Purchase
The Spanish-American War
The Mexican War
The Mexican War, which ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, ceded the territory of California to the United States. Due to the California Gold Rush and rapid settlement it was admitted to the Union very shortly after. The Spanish-American War was a half century after the acquisition of California. Likewise, the War of 1812, the Louisiana Purchase and the French-Indian Wars were much too early.
Example Question #47 : U.S. Political History From 1790 To 1898
What is the name given to the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States that guarantee the rights of property and liberty, secure several personal freedoms, constrain the power of the government in certain matters, and reserve certain powers to the states?
The Rights of Man
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union
The Articles of Confederation
The Federalist Papers
The Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights
Ratified on December 15th, 1791, the Bill of Rights is the name given to the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States that guarantee the rights of property and liberty, secure several personal freedoms, constrain the power of the government in certain matters, and reserve certain powers to the states.
Example Question #48 : U.S. Political History From 1790 To 1898
On April 14th, 1865, this famous stage actor assassinated President Lincoln while the President was watching a performance at Ford's Theatre.
John Wilkes Booth
Joseph E. Johnston
William H. Seward
Lee Harvey Oswald
Leon Czolgolsz
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer and a member of the famous Booth acting family, assassinated President Lincoln. He was later shot by a Union soldier in rural northern Virginia.
Example Question #49 : U.S. Political History From 1790 To 1898
What 1862 Act, signed into law by President Lincoln, granted land in the West to people who would cultivate it?
The Homestead Act
The Southern Homestead Act
The Timber Culture Act
The West Land Act
The Stock-Raising Homestead Act
The Homestead Act
The Homestead Act of 1862 granted land in the West to people who would cultivate it. It was the first of the Homestead Acts.
Example Question #50 : U.S. Political History From 1790 To 1898
The Alien Act, passed during the Presidency of John Adams, gave the Executive branch the authority to .
Prosecute those found speaking out against the United States government
Extend the number of years required before a foreign born individual could gain citizenship
Expel from the United States any foreign born individual believed to be dangerous
Remove Native American peoples from lands owned by the Federal government
Set a limit on the number of immigrants that could arrive from certain parts of Europe and Asia
Expel from the United States any foreign born individual believed to be dangerous
During the Presidency of John Adams two major strains of American political ideology were separating and solidifying. Adams belonged to the Federalist Party and was generally opposed, on most issues, by the Republican Party. The growing enmity between the two parties lead to the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts by the Federalist controlled Congress. The Alien Act stated that the United States government had the authority to expel any foreign-born individual believed to be dangerous to the preservation of the Union or to the American war effort. The Sedition Act stated that any individual found making slanderous or libelous comments regarding the government was subject to prosecution. Both laws were seemingly implicitly aimed at negating government criticism and expelling foreign nationals born in France. The Alien and Sedition Acts were heavily protested against, most notably by Thomas Jefferson who argued that States had the right to nullify Federal laws that were unconstitutional.
Certified Tutor
Certified Tutor