AMH 2020 MIDTERM - MDC. PT. 2 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH
RATIONALES 100% COMPLETE/GRADE A+ ASSURED
Question 1
During Grant's second term, which of the following was the last major piece of Reconstruction
legislation passed by Congress?
A) The Wade-Davis Bill
B) The Fourteenth Amendment
C) The Civil Rights Act of 1875
D) The Sherman Antitrust Act
E) The Pendleton Civil Service Act
Correct Answer: C) The Civil Rights Act of 1875
Rationale: The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was the final significant piece of federal legislation
enacted during the Reconstruction era, aimed at guaranteeing African Americans equal
treatment in public accommodations and on public transportation.
Question 2
What was the primary vision behind the concept of a "New South" in the late nineteenth
century?
A) A return to the agrarian values of the antebellum period
B) Industrial development and economic diversification
C) The establishment of a society based on racial harmony and equality
D) A political system that broke the power of conservative elites
E) The complete rejection of all northern influence and investment
Correct Answer: B) Industrial development and economic diversification
Rationale: Proponents of the "New South" advocated for a future centered on
industrialization, railroad expansion, and a move away from the South's exclusive reliance on
agriculture, hoping to emulate the North's economic success.
Question 3
Which of the following best describes the purpose of disfranchisement measures like poll taxes
and literacy tests in the late nineteenth-century South?
,A) To ensure only educated and financially stable individuals could vote
B) To prevent Populist reformers from gaining political power
C) To raise revenue for struggling state governments
D) To also target poor whites who might vote against the Democratic party
E) To exclusively bar African Americans from voting without affecting whites
Correct Answer: D) To also target poor whites who might vote against the Democratic party
Rationale: While the primary goal of disfranchisement was to eliminate the African American
vote, these measures were also designed to remove poor white voters who were likely to
support opposition parties like the Populists, thus consolidating the power of the ruling
Democratic elite.
Question 4
During the Wilson administration, a revolutionary situation and American intervention
repeatedly occurred in which country?
A) China
B) The Philippines
C) Cuba
D) Mexico
E) Nicaragua
Correct Answer: D) Mexico
Rationale: The Mexican Revolution created significant instability, leading to multiple U.S.
interventions during Woodrow Wilson's presidency, including the occupation of Veracruz and
the Punitive Expedition.
Question 5
Why did President Abraham Lincoln pocket-veto the Wade-Davis Bill passed by congressional
leaders during the Civil War?
A) It ignored the reality of slavery and did not include emancipation
B) It was too lenient toward the former Confederate states
C) It would have cost the Republican party votes in the North
D) It was considered too stringent and would have made reconciliation more difficult
,E) It shifted primary responsibility for Reconstruction from the President to the military
Correct Answer: D) It was considered too stringent and would have made reconciliation more
difficult
Rationale: Lincoln believed his own Ten Percent Plan, which was more lenient, would
encourage a quicker end to the war and a smoother restoration of the Union. He saw the
Wade-Davis Bill, which required a majority of white male citizens to swear loyalty, as too
harsh and an impediment to his goal of reconciliation.
Question 6
The establishment of "normal schools" in the late nineteenth century reflected a broader trend
toward what?
A) Replacing public-supported education with private colleges
B) The narrowing of educational opportunities for women
C) An emphasis on classical, liberal arts education
D) The impact of the new field of psychology on teaching methods
E) Practical and professional training
Correct Answer: E) Practical and professional training
Rationale: Normal schools were specifically created to provide formal training for teachers,
which was part of a larger movement toward professionalizing various fields, including
education, nursing, and law, by establishing specialized schools.
Question 7
The term "politics of paralysis" is used to describe the Gilded Age because of several factors.
Which of the following is an EXCEPTION to those factors?
A) Political energy in Congress was often spent on patronage rather than policy
B) The period was marked by relatively low voter turnout
C) Presidential candidates were often chosen from a small number of "swing" states like Ohio
and New York
D) Parties used rallies and ethnic appeals to mobilize voters
E) The two major parties were very closely balanced in power, leading to political stalemate
Correct Answer: B) The period was marked by relatively low voter turnout
, Rationale: Contrary to being a period of low turnout, the Gilded Age saw some of the highest
voter participation rates in American history. The "paralysis" refers to the political gridlock
and focus on patronage and spectacle rather than substantive policy, not to voter apathy.
Question 8
Which of the following is the best example of technological progress impacting the urban
household in the late nineteenth century?
A) The widespread availability of electric refrigerators
B) The fact that few households employed live-in maids any longer
C) Brand-name prepared foods that reduced domestic labor
D) The tradition of the large noonday dinner
E) The common use of indoor plumbing in all urban dwellings
Correct Answer: C) Brand-name prepared foods that reduced domestic labor
Rationale: The mass production and marketing of brand-name foods (e.g., Campbell's Soup,
Quaker Oats) was a key technological and commercial development of the period that
simplified food preparation for urban households. Electric refrigerators were not common
until the 1920s and beyond.
Question 9
The "defenders of the faith" in the 1920s reacted against modern urban culture in several ways.
Which of the following was NOT a primary example of this reaction?
A) The rejuvenation of the Ku Klux Klan to crusade against foreigners and minorities
B) Prohibition, which aimed to curb what was seen as urban immorality
C) The rise of Protestant fundamentalism, as seen in the Scopes Trial
D) The "Red Scare Decade," marked by hostility to radicalism
E) The widespread adoption of jazz music in rural communities
Correct Answer: D) The "Red Scare Decade," marked by hostility to radicalism
Rationale: While the Red Scare (1919-1920) reflected a fear of foreign influence and
radicalism, it is more accurately characterized as a political reaction to the Bolshevik
Revolution and postwar labor unrest, rather than a direct defense of traditional rural culture
RATIONALES 100% COMPLETE/GRADE A+ ASSURED
Question 1
During Grant's second term, which of the following was the last major piece of Reconstruction
legislation passed by Congress?
A) The Wade-Davis Bill
B) The Fourteenth Amendment
C) The Civil Rights Act of 1875
D) The Sherman Antitrust Act
E) The Pendleton Civil Service Act
Correct Answer: C) The Civil Rights Act of 1875
Rationale: The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was the final significant piece of federal legislation
enacted during the Reconstruction era, aimed at guaranteeing African Americans equal
treatment in public accommodations and on public transportation.
Question 2
What was the primary vision behind the concept of a "New South" in the late nineteenth
century?
A) A return to the agrarian values of the antebellum period
B) Industrial development and economic diversification
C) The establishment of a society based on racial harmony and equality
D) A political system that broke the power of conservative elites
E) The complete rejection of all northern influence and investment
Correct Answer: B) Industrial development and economic diversification
Rationale: Proponents of the "New South" advocated for a future centered on
industrialization, railroad expansion, and a move away from the South's exclusive reliance on
agriculture, hoping to emulate the North's economic success.
Question 3
Which of the following best describes the purpose of disfranchisement measures like poll taxes
and literacy tests in the late nineteenth-century South?
,A) To ensure only educated and financially stable individuals could vote
B) To prevent Populist reformers from gaining political power
C) To raise revenue for struggling state governments
D) To also target poor whites who might vote against the Democratic party
E) To exclusively bar African Americans from voting without affecting whites
Correct Answer: D) To also target poor whites who might vote against the Democratic party
Rationale: While the primary goal of disfranchisement was to eliminate the African American
vote, these measures were also designed to remove poor white voters who were likely to
support opposition parties like the Populists, thus consolidating the power of the ruling
Democratic elite.
Question 4
During the Wilson administration, a revolutionary situation and American intervention
repeatedly occurred in which country?
A) China
B) The Philippines
C) Cuba
D) Mexico
E) Nicaragua
Correct Answer: D) Mexico
Rationale: The Mexican Revolution created significant instability, leading to multiple U.S.
interventions during Woodrow Wilson's presidency, including the occupation of Veracruz and
the Punitive Expedition.
Question 5
Why did President Abraham Lincoln pocket-veto the Wade-Davis Bill passed by congressional
leaders during the Civil War?
A) It ignored the reality of slavery and did not include emancipation
B) It was too lenient toward the former Confederate states
C) It would have cost the Republican party votes in the North
D) It was considered too stringent and would have made reconciliation more difficult
,E) It shifted primary responsibility for Reconstruction from the President to the military
Correct Answer: D) It was considered too stringent and would have made reconciliation more
difficult
Rationale: Lincoln believed his own Ten Percent Plan, which was more lenient, would
encourage a quicker end to the war and a smoother restoration of the Union. He saw the
Wade-Davis Bill, which required a majority of white male citizens to swear loyalty, as too
harsh and an impediment to his goal of reconciliation.
Question 6
The establishment of "normal schools" in the late nineteenth century reflected a broader trend
toward what?
A) Replacing public-supported education with private colleges
B) The narrowing of educational opportunities for women
C) An emphasis on classical, liberal arts education
D) The impact of the new field of psychology on teaching methods
E) Practical and professional training
Correct Answer: E) Practical and professional training
Rationale: Normal schools were specifically created to provide formal training for teachers,
which was part of a larger movement toward professionalizing various fields, including
education, nursing, and law, by establishing specialized schools.
Question 7
The term "politics of paralysis" is used to describe the Gilded Age because of several factors.
Which of the following is an EXCEPTION to those factors?
A) Political energy in Congress was often spent on patronage rather than policy
B) The period was marked by relatively low voter turnout
C) Presidential candidates were often chosen from a small number of "swing" states like Ohio
and New York
D) Parties used rallies and ethnic appeals to mobilize voters
E) The two major parties were very closely balanced in power, leading to political stalemate
Correct Answer: B) The period was marked by relatively low voter turnout
, Rationale: Contrary to being a period of low turnout, the Gilded Age saw some of the highest
voter participation rates in American history. The "paralysis" refers to the political gridlock
and focus on patronage and spectacle rather than substantive policy, not to voter apathy.
Question 8
Which of the following is the best example of technological progress impacting the urban
household in the late nineteenth century?
A) The widespread availability of electric refrigerators
B) The fact that few households employed live-in maids any longer
C) Brand-name prepared foods that reduced domestic labor
D) The tradition of the large noonday dinner
E) The common use of indoor plumbing in all urban dwellings
Correct Answer: C) Brand-name prepared foods that reduced domestic labor
Rationale: The mass production and marketing of brand-name foods (e.g., Campbell's Soup,
Quaker Oats) was a key technological and commercial development of the period that
simplified food preparation for urban households. Electric refrigerators were not common
until the 1920s and beyond.
Question 9
The "defenders of the faith" in the 1920s reacted against modern urban culture in several ways.
Which of the following was NOT a primary example of this reaction?
A) The rejuvenation of the Ku Klux Klan to crusade against foreigners and minorities
B) Prohibition, which aimed to curb what was seen as urban immorality
C) The rise of Protestant fundamentalism, as seen in the Scopes Trial
D) The "Red Scare Decade," marked by hostility to radicalism
E) The widespread adoption of jazz music in rural communities
Correct Answer: D) The "Red Scare Decade," marked by hostility to radicalism
Rationale: While the Red Scare (1919-1920) reflected a fear of foreign influence and
radicalism, it is more accurately characterized as a political reaction to the Bolshevik
Revolution and postwar labor unrest, rather than a direct defense of traditional rural culture
