CLEP Exam - US History 1865 to Present with questions and well elaborated answers
1. Which of the following best describes the experiences of most recently freed people
following Reconstruction?
(A) They obtained land from the Freedmen's Bureau.
(B) They were forced back onto the plantations as sharecroppers.
(C) They established large cooperative farms.
(D) They migrated to Northern urban areas and worked as unskilled laborers.
(E) They were forced to migrate to marginally fertile lands in the western territories - correct
answer-B
2. The Reconstruction Acts of 1867 provided for
(A) temporary Union military government in the former Confederacy
(B) federal monetary support for the resettlement of African Americans in Africa
(C) property-holding and voting rights for African Americans
(D) implementation of anti-African American vagrancy laws in the South (E) lenient
readmission of the formerly Confederate states to the Union - correct answer-A
3. The second Sioux war (1876-1877), in which Custer was defeated at the Battle of Little
Bighorn, was caused by all of the following EXCEPT (A) the extension of the route of the
Northern Pacific Railroad
(B) a concentrated effort on the part of the major Protestant denominations to convert the
Sioux to Christianity
(C) the gold rush in the Black Hills
(D) corruption within the Department of the Interior
(E) overland migration of settlers to the Pacific Northwest - correct answer-B
4. "This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth: . . . to consider all surplus
revenues which come to him simply as trust funds, which he is called upon to administer
and strictly bound as a matter of duty to administer in the manner which, in his judgment,
,is best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for the community." The
sentiments expressed above are most characteristic of
(A) transcendentalism
(B) pragmatism
(C) the Gospel of Wealth
(D) the Social Gospel
(E) Social Darwinism - correct answer-C
5. Reformers of the Progressive Era proposed all of the following changes in city
government and politics at the turn of the century EXCEPT
(A) a large city council elected by wards
(B) the establishment of civil service
(C) home rule for cities
(D) city manager and commission governments
(E) nonpartisan elections - correct answer-A
6. The anti-combination laws passed by numerous states in the late 1880s were a
response to which of the following organizational innovations?
(A) The creation and growth of international cartels
(B) The development of industry-wide trade associations
(C) The joining of skilled and unskilled workers in industrial unions
(D) The formation of agricultural marketing cooperatives
(E) The use of stockholding trusts to create business monopolies - correct answer-E
7. Which of the following constituted a significant change in the treatment of American
Indians during the last half of the nineteenth century?
(A) The beginning of negotiations with individual Indian tribal groups
,(B) The start of a removal policy
(C) The abandonment of the reservation system
(D) The admission of American Indians to United States citizenship
(E) The division of lands traditionally owned by Indian tribal groups among individual
members - correct answer-E
8. The late-nineteenth-century photograph shown above was intended to serve which of
the following purposes?
(A) To advocate social reform
(B) To arouse anti-immigrant sentiments
(C) To encourage the purchase of cameras
(D) To document the need for prohibition
(E) To encourage immigration to the cities - correct answer-A
9. Which of the following would have been most likely to vote for William Jennings Bryan in
1896 ?
(A) A Kansas farmer
(B) A Chicago industrial worker
(C) A department store clerk
(D) A university professor of economics
(E) A New York Republican Party member - correct answer-A
10. Unionization efforts in the late-nineteenth century were countered by the
(A) establishment of the eight-hour workday
(B) passage of right-to-work laws
(C) increasing use of skilled labor
(D) use of federal troops to help end strikes
, (E) establishment of factories in foreign countries by United States corporations - correct
answer-D
11. Which of the following best states the goals of the "pure and simple unionism"
advocated by Samuel Gompers?
(A) Labor unions should concentrate on increasing wages and benefits. (B) Labor should
organize industry's skilled and unskilled workers into a single union.
(C) Labor unions should compete directly with large industries in producing and
distributing consumer products.
(D) Industrial workers should form a political party to achieve their goals.
(E) The defective capitalist system should be replaced by labor cooperatives. - correct
answer-A
12. During the late-nineteenth century, urban political machines were organizations that
(A) were created by native-born Americans to combat the political influence of immigrants
(B) were controlled by politicians who dispensed jobs and other patronage in return for
political support
(C) worked for civil service reform to ensure sound municipal government
(D) consisted of reformers working to combat urban poverty by establishing settlement
houses
(E) consisted of conservative elites seeking to maintain control of politics - correct answer-
B
13. In his interpretation of the historical development of the United States, Frederick
Jackson Turner focused on the importance of the
(A) traditions of western European culture
(B) role of women in socializing children to become good citizens
(C) historical consequences of the enslavement of African American people
(D) conflict between capitalists and workers
1. Which of the following best describes the experiences of most recently freed people
following Reconstruction?
(A) They obtained land from the Freedmen's Bureau.
(B) They were forced back onto the plantations as sharecroppers.
(C) They established large cooperative farms.
(D) They migrated to Northern urban areas and worked as unskilled laborers.
(E) They were forced to migrate to marginally fertile lands in the western territories - correct
answer-B
2. The Reconstruction Acts of 1867 provided for
(A) temporary Union military government in the former Confederacy
(B) federal monetary support for the resettlement of African Americans in Africa
(C) property-holding and voting rights for African Americans
(D) implementation of anti-African American vagrancy laws in the South (E) lenient
readmission of the formerly Confederate states to the Union - correct answer-A
3. The second Sioux war (1876-1877), in which Custer was defeated at the Battle of Little
Bighorn, was caused by all of the following EXCEPT (A) the extension of the route of the
Northern Pacific Railroad
(B) a concentrated effort on the part of the major Protestant denominations to convert the
Sioux to Christianity
(C) the gold rush in the Black Hills
(D) corruption within the Department of the Interior
(E) overland migration of settlers to the Pacific Northwest - correct answer-B
4. "This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth: . . . to consider all surplus
revenues which come to him simply as trust funds, which he is called upon to administer
and strictly bound as a matter of duty to administer in the manner which, in his judgment,
,is best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for the community." The
sentiments expressed above are most characteristic of
(A) transcendentalism
(B) pragmatism
(C) the Gospel of Wealth
(D) the Social Gospel
(E) Social Darwinism - correct answer-C
5. Reformers of the Progressive Era proposed all of the following changes in city
government and politics at the turn of the century EXCEPT
(A) a large city council elected by wards
(B) the establishment of civil service
(C) home rule for cities
(D) city manager and commission governments
(E) nonpartisan elections - correct answer-A
6. The anti-combination laws passed by numerous states in the late 1880s were a
response to which of the following organizational innovations?
(A) The creation and growth of international cartels
(B) The development of industry-wide trade associations
(C) The joining of skilled and unskilled workers in industrial unions
(D) The formation of agricultural marketing cooperatives
(E) The use of stockholding trusts to create business monopolies - correct answer-E
7. Which of the following constituted a significant change in the treatment of American
Indians during the last half of the nineteenth century?
(A) The beginning of negotiations with individual Indian tribal groups
,(B) The start of a removal policy
(C) The abandonment of the reservation system
(D) The admission of American Indians to United States citizenship
(E) The division of lands traditionally owned by Indian tribal groups among individual
members - correct answer-E
8. The late-nineteenth-century photograph shown above was intended to serve which of
the following purposes?
(A) To advocate social reform
(B) To arouse anti-immigrant sentiments
(C) To encourage the purchase of cameras
(D) To document the need for prohibition
(E) To encourage immigration to the cities - correct answer-A
9. Which of the following would have been most likely to vote for William Jennings Bryan in
1896 ?
(A) A Kansas farmer
(B) A Chicago industrial worker
(C) A department store clerk
(D) A university professor of economics
(E) A New York Republican Party member - correct answer-A
10. Unionization efforts in the late-nineteenth century were countered by the
(A) establishment of the eight-hour workday
(B) passage of right-to-work laws
(C) increasing use of skilled labor
(D) use of federal troops to help end strikes
, (E) establishment of factories in foreign countries by United States corporations - correct
answer-D
11. Which of the following best states the goals of the "pure and simple unionism"
advocated by Samuel Gompers?
(A) Labor unions should concentrate on increasing wages and benefits. (B) Labor should
organize industry's skilled and unskilled workers into a single union.
(C) Labor unions should compete directly with large industries in producing and
distributing consumer products.
(D) Industrial workers should form a political party to achieve their goals.
(E) The defective capitalist system should be replaced by labor cooperatives. - correct
answer-A
12. During the late-nineteenth century, urban political machines were organizations that
(A) were created by native-born Americans to combat the political influence of immigrants
(B) were controlled by politicians who dispensed jobs and other patronage in return for
political support
(C) worked for civil service reform to ensure sound municipal government
(D) consisted of reformers working to combat urban poverty by establishing settlement
houses
(E) consisted of conservative elites seeking to maintain control of politics - correct answer-
B
13. In his interpretation of the historical development of the United States, Frederick
Jackson Turner focused on the importance of the
(A) traditions of western European culture
(B) role of women in socializing children to become good citizens
(C) historical consequences of the enslavement of African American people
(D) conflict between capitalists and workers
