Quiz 11: The Restless North, 1815-1860

After the War of 1812, A) farmers in the North remained self-reliant and seldom participated in the emerging market economy. B) more people in the North began to work for others in return for wages. C) there seemed to be few economic differences between the North and the South. D) the United States was immediately flooded with foreign imports, thus pushing many newly emerging domestic industries into bankruptcy.

Individual farmers in the new market economy of the 1800s A) specialized in growing crops that could be sold for cash on the market. B) started trading surplus crops with their neighbors. C) were self-sufficient. D) raised a wide variety of crops.

When Mary Ann Archbald produced cloth to sell for cash, her primary objective was to A) gain money for the purchase of luxury items. B) accumulate wealth. C) gain economic independence for herself. D) pay off her family's land debt.

Which of the following was true of northern artisans in the pre-industrial age? A) Most could not make a living as craftsmen, and thus they also engaged in subsistence farming. B) Most lived in seaport towns. C) They never earned wages while working for master craftsmen as either apprentices or journeymen. D) Most lived in rural areas, and their crafted goods were transported to urban areas for sale.

Which of the following acted as an impediment to industrial growth in the early nineteenth century? A) The enactment of laws in many Northeastern states that outlawed corporations B) Supreme Court decisions that were unfavorable to business interests C) The absence of businessmen willing to take investment risks D) The lack of cheap, quick transportation

Which of the following was a consequence of the War of 1812? A) The difficulty of moving troops and supplies during the war spurred interest in the building of a more reliable road system. B) Sectional conflict became far more pronounced. C) The federal government tried to pay its war debts by enacting the first income tax on American citizens. D) The war acted to impede the emergence of domestic industries.

The explosion of canal building in the 1820s and 1830s was caused by the A) success of the Erie Canal. B) impact of the protective tariff. C) development of the New England textile industry. D) provision of federal subsidies for canal construction.

The development of a national railroad system was hampered by which of the following? A) The absence of a national standard for track width B) The public's fear concerning the safety of rail travel C) The refusal of most financial institutions to grant loans for rail construction D) The cost of both buying land and hiring the number of workers necessary to lay track over rough terrain

In the mid-nineteenth century, where was the one place that northern and southern railroads connected? A) Baltimore, Maryland B) Bowling Green, Kentucky C) Nashville, Tennessee D) Richmond, Virginia

Which of the following was true of the nation's canals and railroads by 1860? A) The national transportation network they created promoted a sense of national unity. B) Construction was so haphazard that they hampered the emergence of a national marketplace. C) They did little to unite the North and the South. D) They had been completely financed by the federal government.

Which of the following is a reason that the South built fewer railroads than the North? A) Research clearly indicated that such investments would be of no economic benefit to the South. B) The South saw the industrial and transportation revolutions as threats to republican ideology. C) The southern states believed that such construction should be the responsibility of the federal government. D) Many southern planters continued to invest their money in land and slaves.

By the 1850s, which of the following was a consequence of internal improvements in the North? A) The canals and railroads built in the North only benefited factory owners and financiers. B) The canals and railroads built in the North had a unifying effect by linking the Northeast with the Old Northwest. C) The canals and railroads built in the North benefited the entire nation and helped to integrate both the South and the Old Northwest into the North's market economy. D) The canals and railroads built in the North severely strained the economy of many Northern states, causing some of those states to declare their state treasuries bankrupt.

During the first half of the nineteenth century, internal improvements in the North A) sometimes caused the degradation of the natural world. B) were celebrated by all Americans as examples of their ingenuity and creativity as a people. C) aided the northern fresh-water fishing industry by increasing the number of lakes and streams in which fish could thrive. D) led to a significant increase in the number of mills by making water power more available and cheaper.

Which of the following is a reason for the rapid manufacturing and commercial expansion experienced by the Northeast during the forty years following the War of 1812? A) The unparalleled natural increase in the population of the North and South increased demand for manufactured products. B) The federal government poured vast sums of money into the building of factories and the building of canals. C) Transportation costs were dramatically reduced as a result of extensive internal improvements. D) After the war most European nations refused to import goods to the United States, thus domestic manufacturing expanded rapidly in the Northeast to meet consumer demand.

Which of the following was true of factory work in the 1840s? A) Workers in large factories continued to have a close personal relationship with the factory owner. B) The shortage of labor meant that most factory workers had job security. C) The flow of work was governed by the clock. D) Workers usually had far more opportunities for advancement than would have been true in pre-industrial artisan shops.

The key to the American system of manufacturing was A) the financial method used to finance plant expansion. B) a unique method of corporate management. C) the use of machine-tooled, interchangeable parts. D) the vertical integration of companies.

To adequately staff the Lowell textile mill at Waltham, Massachusetts, mill managers first turned to A) runaway slaves from the South. B) newly arrived European immigrants. C) young girls from New England farms. D) farmers who could no longer support themselves through farming.

Which of the following best explains the deterioration of the working and living conditions of workers in New England textile mills in the 1830s and 1840s? A) Living and working conditions deteriorated primarily because of the economic depression of the late 1830s. B) Working and living conditions deteriorated primarily because of the growing labor surplus. C) Management's emphasis shifted from providing decent working and living conditions for the workers to maximizing profits. D) Competition from English imports was the primary reason for the deterioration of working and living conditions.

Some New England textile mill workers responded to their deteriorating working conditions in the 1830s by A) organizing a nationwide product boycott. B) lobbying state legislatures for a shorter workday. C) engaging in sabotage against the machines. D) organizing and going on strike.

As evidenced by the formation of the Lowell Female Reform Association in 1844, female workers in New England textile mills had changed their methods of resistance to deteriorating working conditions. What new method were they using? A) They organized a nationwide product boycott. B) They called for the passage of state legislation to shorten the workday. C) They engaged in sabotage against the machines. D) They organized and went on strike.

By the 1850s most workers in the New England textile mills came from which of the following groups? A) Dispossessed farmers B) New England farm daughters C) Free blacks D) Female immigrants

The labor parties formed in Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts in the 1820s advocated which of the following? A) An end to imprisonment for debt B) A four-day work week C) A pension plan guaranteed by employers D) Free room and board for mill workers

Which of the following is true of the labor movement during the 1840s? A) It was made up primarily of socialists and anarchists. B) It was successful in getting pension plans for many workers. C) Its major achievement came when the courts relieved workers from the threat of conspiracy laws being used against them if they organized or engaged in strikes. D) It demonstrated the unity present among workers.

The Massachusetts case Commonwealth v. Hunt was important in which of the following respects? A) It declared organized labor to be an illegal restraint of trade. B) By ruling that it was constitutional for a state to use the militia to end labor disputes, it declared strikes to be illegal. C) By ruling that a contract between a labor union and a factory owner was binding, it recognized the right of labor to bargain collectively. D) It recognized the right of workers to organize and strike.

Initially, the biggest market for readymade clothes was A) women from wealthy families in the Northeast. B) southern planters who bought such clothes for their slaves. C) workers in textile mills. D) businessmen working in Northeastern financial centers.

In the 1850s, which of the following cities was the center of the clothing trade? A) Boston B) Cincinnati C) New Orleans D) New York

A counting house was A) the place where railroad companies planned their train schedules and freight rates. B) the place where the paperwork for a merchant's commercial transactions was completed. C) a corporation's central warehouse. D) a bank.

During the 1830s northeastern farmers faced which of the following problems? A) The new labor-saving farm implements were unsuited to the area's terrain. B) Severe drought struck the area. C) Overproduction led to a dramatic decline in wheat and corn prices. D) Many were overburdened with debt because of the acquisition of new land.

In what way did Massachusetts and New York encourage agricultural innovation in the late 1810s? A) They subsidized prizes to farmers judged to have grown the best crop. B) At no charge, they provided farmers with the newest, most innovative farm tools. C) They subsidized irrigation projects. D) They hired state-supported agricultural specialists to travel to farms and teach farmers to use the latest agricultural tools and techniques.

How did New England farm families respond to competition from the West? A) They gave up attempting to improve their livestock and turned to raising poultry. B) They opened more land to the production of wheat and corn. C) They began to raise livestock and to specialize in vegetable and fruit production. D) They returned to subsistence farming.

Which of the following is a good example of the transition to a market economy? A) Farmers in the West began to try to meet the demands of the marketplace by producing animals, dairy products, grain, and vegetables on a single family farm. B) More and more farmers, especially in the West, began to turn to subsistence farming. C) Farm women began to produce more dairy products to be sold in the market, and they then used their profits to buy factory-produced cloth. D) Spinning and weaving at home became more and more important.

The boom-and-bust economic cycles from 1815 to 1860 were the direct result of A) droughts and resulting crop failures. B) the development and expansion of the new market economy. C) government intervention in the economy. D) the nation's overdependence on foreign trade.

In the early nineteenth century, family planning was A) becoming more common. B) unknown. C) confined to the rich. D) generally regarded as immoral.

Which of the following statements is true concerning the birthrate in America between 1800 and 1860? A) The birthrate declined sharply among urban women and increased slightly among rural women. B) The birthrate continued to increase, but more slowly than it had in the eighteenth century. C) The birthrate declined, but more so among native-born Americans than among immigrant women. D) The birthrate increased slightly among urban women and decreased sharply among rural women.

During the early nineteenth century, many married and widowed working-class women A) worked at specialized tasks in the new factories. B) acquired secretarial skills and worked in urban offices. C) became clerks in the new urban department stores. D) sold their domestic skills for wages by working as laundresses, seamstresses, and cooks.

By the mid-1800s, what occupation was recognized as consistent with the domestic ideal and therefore as acceptable for a woman? A) Nursing B) Social work C) Teaching D) Secretarial work

During the nineteenth century, A) overall family size increased in all regions of the country. B) government at both the state and national level established social programs designed to alleviate poverty. C) the number of single women in the United States increased significantly. D) the gap between rich and poor in the United States narrowed.

Which of the following made urban expansion possible in early-nineteenth-century America? A) Public transit B) The power of cities to annex adjacent unincorporated areas C) Donations of land to city governments D) Removal of the Native Americans

Why did city governments eventually take over the task of supplying water to urban dwellers? A) Private interests did not have the capital necessary to build adequate water supply systems. B) Wealthy citizens demanded the extension of services to industry and business. C) Cities were judged to be liable for illnesses and deaths caused by contaminated drinking water. D) Arguments at neighborhood wells over water rights became a major source of violence and disorder.

Which of the following is true concerning the distribution of wealth in the United States between 1800 and 1860? A) Wealth was distributed more equitably throughout society. B) There was no significant change in the distribution of wealth during that time. C) Wealth was concentrated in the hands of a relatively small number of people. D) There was a redistribution of wealth from the wealthiest families to middle-class families.

In the 1840s and 1850s, the wealth of members of the upper-class elite in America was often based on A) talent. B) godliness. C) inheritance or marriage. D) perseverance.

Which of the following had become a feature in many middle-class homes by the 1840s and 1850s? A) Dirt floors B) Several servants C) Indoor toilets D) Homemade furniture

Which of the following best represents the percentage of the white population that was foreign-born by 1860? A) 80 percent B) 50 percent C) 30 percent D) 15 percent

What prompted the massive migration of Irish to the United States in the 1840s? A) The Irish civil war B) The potato famine in Ireland C) The Anglo-Irish war D) Religious persecution in Ireland

The massive nineteenth-century influx of Irish immigrants into the United States was accompanied by A) the passage of restrictive immigration laws. B) legislation lengthening residency requirements for citizenship. C) the growth of anti-Catholic sentiment. D) a nationwide typhoid fever epidemic.

In contrast to Irish immigrants, German immigrants to the United States A) were not as likely to be subjected to negative stereotyping. B) were all of the Protestant faith. C) found it very difficult to find employment. D) usually stayed for a few years and then returned home.

Between 1820 and 1860, the population of free blacks in the United States A) remained essentially constant. B) declined moderately. C) rose slightly. D) rose steadily.

Which of the following is true of free blacks in the North in the 1840s and 1850s? A) They gained the right to vote. B) They gained the right to attend public schools, which previously had been for whites only. C) They generally suffered from political, social, and economic discrimination. D) Black men generally found jobs far more easily than did black women.

Which of the following is associated with the youth culture that developed in New York City in the 1840s? A) Zoot suiters B) The Beats C) The Chelsea Youth Brigade D) Bowery boys and gals

Why were middle- and upper-class city dwellers drawn to the Masonic order in the early nineteenth century? A) They found its informality and absence of ritual attractive. B) The order offered harmony and shared values. C) They enjoyed the vaudeville-like entertainment offered in the lodges. D) The order emphasized equality among all people.

Which of the following was true of minstrel shows in the 1830s and 1840s? A) By ridiculing African Americans, they stoked the fires of racism. B) They provided a forum through which whites and blacks could better understand and accept their cultural differences. C) They served as the major entry point for African Americans into the entertainment industry. D) By popularizing African American song and dance, they served to break down racial barriers.

Which of the following correctly characterizes the penny press? A) Penny newspapers were affiliated with a political party and relied on politicians for a great deal of their content. B) The penny press had no hired reporters, and their content was based solely on readers' letters. C) Rather than relying on subscriptions and political contributions for their revenue, penny newspapers were sold by newsboys on the street and earned money from advertising. D) Penny newspapers catered primarily to wealthy urbanites and covered mostly financial and commercial news.

In an effort to provide for the public safety of its citizens, New York City A) hired its own police force in 1845. B) encouraged citizens to arm themselves in the 1840s. C) established a nine o'clock evening curfew in 1845. D) erected gas lights on all streets in 1842.

Which of the following best states the free-labor ideology? A) If you work hard and live a virtuous life, you will move up the social and economic ladder. B) Life is full of hardships that, if endured, will build character. C) Manual labor is beneath those of Anglo-Saxon heritage. D) Slavery is morally wrong and should be abolished immediately.