Questions 21 – 23 refer to the following excerpt. “[I am] commanded to explain to the Japanese that. . . . [the United States] population has rapidly spread through the country, until it has reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean; that we have now large cities, from which, with the aid of steam vessels, we can reach Japan in eighteen or twenty days; [and] that . . . the Japan seas will soon be covered with our vessels. “Therefore, as the United States and Japan are becoming every day nearer and nearer to each other, the President desires to live in peace and friendship with your imperial majesty, but no friendship can long exist, unless Japan ceases to act toward Americans as if they were her enemies. . . . “Many of the large ships-of-war destined to visit Japan have not yet arrived in these seas, though they are hourly expected; and [the United States has], as an evidence of [its] friendly intentions . . . brought but four of the smaller ones, designing, should it become necessary, to return to Edo [Tokyo] in the ensuing spring with a much larger force.” – Commodore Matthew C. Perry to the emperor of Japan, letter, 1853 Question: The population trend described in the excerpt most directly reflected which of the following domestic developments in the nineteenth century?
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Questions 54 and 55 refer to the following excerpt. “The…
Questions 54 and 55 refer to the following excerpt. “The Moral Majority, Christian Voice, and other groups of the 1970s and 1980s had a far broader issue agenda than their predecessors. The core agenda involved opposition to abortion, civil rights protection for gays and lesbians, and the ERA [Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, which would have guaranteed equal rights for women], and support for school prayer and tuition tax credits for religious schools. But the organizations staked positions on a variety of other issues as well. [Jerry] Falwell . . . consistently supported increases in defense spending. The Moral Majority Report, the organization’s newsletter, attempted to build support for conservative economic issues as well, including a subminimum wage, a return to the gold standard, and cuts in social welfare spending.” – Clyde Wilcox, historian, 2003 Question: The position on defense spending advocated by the Moral Majority and similar groups during the 1980s indicates that they would have been most likely to support the
Questions 31 – 33 refer to the following excerpt. “In 1…
Questions 31 – 33 refer to the following excerpt. “In 1789 the flag of the Republic waved over 4,000,000 souls in thirteen states, and their savage territory which stretched to the Mississippi, to Canada, to the Floridas. The timid minds of that day said that no new territory was needed; and, for the hour, they were right. But [Thomas] Jefferson, through whose intellect the centuries marched; Jefferson, who dreamed of Cuba as an American state; Jefferson, the first Imperialist of the Republic—Jefferson acquired that imperial territory which swept from the Mississippi to the mountains, from Texas to the British possessions, and the march of the flag began! . . . Jefferson, strict constructionist of constitutional power though he was, obeyed the Anglo-Saxon impulse within him. . . . And now obeying the same voice that Jefferson heard and obeyed, that [Andrew] Jackson heard and obeyed, that [James] Monroe heard and obeyed, that [William] Seward heard and obeyed, that [Ulysses] Grant heard and obeyed, that [Benjamin] Harrison heard and obeyed, our President today plants the flag over the islands of the seas, outposts of commerce, citadels of national security, and the march of the flag goes on!” – Albert J. Beveridge, candidate for United States Senate, “The March of the Flag” speech, 1898 Question: Beveridge’s speech was written in the context of
Questions 8 – 11 refer to the following excerpt. “We ar…
Questions 8 – 11 refer to the following excerpt. “We are reduced to the alternative of choosing an unconditional submission to the tyranny of irritated ministers, or resistance by force. . . . “We fight not for glory or for conquest. We exhibit to mankind the remarkable spectacle of a people attacked by unprovoked enemies, without any imputation or even suspicion of offense. They boast of their privileges and civilization, and yet proffer no milder conditions than servitude or death. “In our own native land, in defense of the freedom . . . , and which we ever enjoyed till the late violation of it—for the protection of our property, acquired solely by the honest industry of our forefathers and ourselves, against violence actually offered, we have taken up arms.” – Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, July 1775 Question: The issuing of the declaration in the excerpt best serves as evidence of the
Questions 41 – 44 refer to the following graph. Question:…
Questions 41 – 44 refer to the following graph. Question: Which of the following factors most likely contributed to the trend in Chicago’s population from 1890 to 1940 ?
Questions 31 – 33 refer to the following excerpt. “In 1…
Questions 31 – 33 refer to the following excerpt. “In 1789 the flag of the Republic waved over 4,000,000 souls in thirteen states, and their savage territory which stretched to the Mississippi, to Canada, to the Floridas. The timid minds of that day said that no new territory was needed; and, for the hour, they were right. But [Thomas] Jefferson, through whose intellect the centuries marched; Jefferson, who dreamed of Cuba as an American state; Jefferson, the first Imperialist of the Republic—Jefferson acquired that imperial territory which swept from the Mississippi to the mountains, from Texas to the British possessions, and the march of the flag began! . . . Jefferson, strict constructionist of constitutional power though he was, obeyed the Anglo-Saxon impulse within him. . . . And now obeying the same voice that Jefferson heard and obeyed, that [Andrew] Jackson heard and obeyed, that [James] Monroe heard and obeyed, that [William] Seward heard and obeyed, that [Ulysses] Grant heard and obeyed, that [Benjamin] Harrison heard and obeyed, our President today plants the flag over the islands of the seas, outposts of commerce, citadels of national security, and the march of the flag goes on!” – Albert J. Beveridge, candidate for United States Senate, “The March of the Flag” speech, 1898 Question: Based on the excerpt, Beveridge would have most likely opposed which of the following?
Questions 12 – 14 refer to the following excerpt. “As it…
Questions 12 – 14 refer to the following excerpt. “As its preamble promised, the Constitution would ‘ensure domestic tranquility’ by allowing the federal government to field an army powerful enough to suppress rebellions like those that had flared up in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and other states. Even more important, the Constitution would ‘establish justice’ by preventing the state assemblies from adopting relief measures that screened their citizens from either their Continental taxes or their private debts. . . . Excoriating [harshly criticizing] the legislatures for collecting too little money from taxpayers, the bondholders and their sympathizers noted with approval that the Constitution would take the business of collecting federal taxes away from the states and place it firmly in the hands of a powerful new national government.” – Woody Holton, historian, “‘From the Labours of Others’: The War Bonds Controversy and the Origins of the Constitution in New England,” William and Mary Quarterly, 2004 Question: Which of the following issues did the framers of the United States Constitution most directly address?
Questions 51 – 53 refer to the following excerpt. “No t…
Questions 51 – 53 refer to the following excerpt. “No thoughtful person can question that the American economic system is under broad attack. This varies in scope, intensity, in the techniques employed, and in the level of visibility. “There always have been some who opposed the American system. . . . “But what now concerns us is quite new in the history of America. We are not dealing with sporadic or isolated attacks from a relatively few extremists or even from the minority socialist cadre. Rather, the assault on the enterprise system is broadly based and consistently pursued. . . . “The most disquieting voices joining the chorus of criticism come from perfectly respectable elements of society: from the college campus, the pulpit, the media, the intellectual and literary journals, the arts and sciences, and from politicians.” – Memorandum from Lewis F. Powell, Jr., attorney and future United States Supreme Court Justice, to Eugene B. Sydnor of the United States Chamber of Commerce, 1971 Question: Based on the excerpt, Powell would have been most likely to support which of the following during the 1980s?
Questions 38 – 40 refer to the following excerpt. “We m…
Questions 38 – 40 refer to the following excerpt. “We must have tax reform. The method of raising revenue ought not to impede the transaction of business; it ought to encourage it. I am opposed to extremely high rates, because they produce little or no revenue, because they are bad for the country, and, finally, because they are wrong. We cannot finance the country, we cannot improve social conditions, through any system of injustice, even if we attempt to inflict it upon the rich. Those who suffer the most harm will be the poor. . . . The wise and correct course to follow in taxation and all other economic legislation is not to destroy those who have already secured success but to create conditions under which everyone will have a better chance to be successful.” – President Calvin Coolidge, inaugural address, 1925 Question: Members of which of the following groups would have been most likely to agree with the perspective expressed by Coolidge in the excerpt?
Questions 48 – 50 refer to the following excerpt. “One o…
Questions 48 – 50 refer to the following excerpt. “One of the tragedies of the struggle against racism is that up to now there has been no national organization which could speak to the growing militancy of young black people in the urban ghetto. There has been only a civil rights movement whose tone of voice was adapted to an audience of liberal whites. It served as a sort of buffer zone between them and angry young blacks. . . . “An organization which claims to speak for the needs of a community—as does the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee—must speak in the tone of that community, not as somebody else’s buffer zone. . . . “The need for psychological equality is the reason why SNCC today believes that blacks must organize in the black community. Only black people can convey the revolutionary idea that black people are able to do things themselves. Only they can help create in the community an aroused and continuing black consciousness that will provide the basis for political strength.” – Stokely Carmichael, “What We Want,” 1966 Question: The ideas expressed in the excerpt could best be used to support which of the following perspectives at the time?