US History to 1877 General Review

What river forms a border betwen the United States and parts of Mexico?
1. Mississippi
2. Ohio
3. Rio Grande
4. Columbia
What geographic region is located along the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico?
1. Coastal Plain
2. Appalachian Highlands
3. Canadian Shield
4. Interior Lowlands
What geographic region is located west of the Rocky Mountains and east of the Sierra Nevadas?
1. Great Plains
2. Interior Lowlands
3. Basin and Range
4. Coastal Range
What geographic region may be described as "Rugged mountains along the Pacific Coast that contain fertile valleys"?
1. Coastal Plain
2. Great Plains
3. Interior Lowlands
4. Coastal Range
What river was the gateway to the west?
1. Missouri River
2. Columbia River
3. Ohio River
4. Mississippi River
On a map of North America, which of the following rivers would be the farthest east?
1. Colorado River
2. Ohio River
3. Columbia River
4. Mississippi River
What river was explored by Lewis and Clark?
1. Colorado River
2. Mississippi River
3. Columbia River
4. Missouri River
What geographic region contains the oldest mountain range in North America?
1. Coastal Plains
2. Interior Lowlands
3. Appalachian Highlands
4. Canadian Shield
What river was explored by the Spanish?
1. Mississippi River
2. Ohio River
3. Colorado River
4. Missouri River
What geographic region consists of flat lands that gradually increase in elevation westward?
1. Canadian Shield
2. Interior Lowlands
3. Great Plains
4. Ohio River
What water feature provided the French and Spanish with exploration routes to Mexico and other parts of America?
1. Rio Grande
2. Columbia River
3. Gulf of Mexico
4. Ohio River
Where is the Continental Divide located?
1. Basin and Range
2. Coastal Range
3. Rocky Mountains
4. Canadian Shield
Which was NOT a motivating force for European exploration?
1. Look for gold.
2. Begin new schools.
3. Spread Christianity.
4. Secure land for the empire.
What obstacles were faced by the early European explorers?
1. Railroads and highways
2. Wars and battles
3. Technology and computers
4. Poor maps and navigation tools
A difficulty that early explorers of North America experienced was _____.
1. fear of the unknown
2. danger of sea monsters
3. hostility from French ships
4. not enough sailors
Francisco Coronado claimed southwest United States for what country?
1. England
2. France
3. Spain
4. Portugal
Samuel de Champlain claimed Quebec for what country?
1. Portugal
2. France
3. England
4. Spain
Who claimed the Mississippi River Valley?
1. John Smith
2. Christopher Columbus
3. John Cabot
4. Robert La Salle
What was not a goal during the Age of Exploration?
1. The expansion of empires and power
2. The increase in wealth and improved balance of trade
3. The desire to spread Christianity
4. The development of large cities
What group of people made voyages of discovery along West Africa?
1. Spanish
2. French
3. Portuguese
4. English
Which of the following is an example of cultural interaction between the American Indians and Europeans?
1. Sharing of navigational tools and ships
2. Establishment of trading posts
3. Routes of exploration from Europe
4. Competition for empires among European nations
One reason for conflict between the American Indians (First Americans) and the Europeans was _____.
1. the struggle over money
2. the European desire for American Indian corn
3. the struggle over land
4. disagreement over ships
Who conquered and enslaved American Indians (First Americans) during early European exploration?
1. The Spanish
2. The French
3. The Portuguese
4. The West Africans
Who learned farming techniques from the American Indians (First Americans)?
1. the English
2. the Spanish
3. the Portuguese
4. the Dutch
What was the reason for starting an English settlement at Jamestown?
1. Social
2. Religious
3. Political
4. Economic
Roanoke Island (Lost Colony) and Jamestown Settlement were similar in that _____.
1. both mysteriously disappeared
2. both were settled by the French
3. both were established as economic ventures
4. both were established the same year
What colony was settled by people who had been in debtors' prisons in England?
1. Massachusetts
2. Virginia
3. Georgia
4. Pennsylvania
Why did the Puritans come to America?
1. To practice their religion freely
2. To make more money and live a better life
3. To build a democratic government
4. To expand lands controlled by the King of England
Which American colonial region had rock soil and a jagged coastline?
1. Southern
2. Mid-Atlantic
3. Western
4. New England
Which colonial region had coastal lowlands and rich farmlands?
1. Mid-Atlantic
2. New England
3. Western
4. South
Who worked as caretakers, houseworkers, and homemakers?
1. Women
2. Men
3. Artisans
4. Indentured Servants
Which region's warm, mild climate and level, fertile land made it ideal for growing crops?
1. New England
2. Mid-Atlantic
3. Western
4. Southern
Why was slavery accepted in the colonies?
1. Slaves were treated equally.
2. Slaves provided labor that brought posperity.
3. Slaves were willing to work for low pay.
4. Slaves were able to vote.
Men and women who agreed to work without pay for the person who paid for their passage to the colonies were called _____.
1. craftsmen
2. artisans
3. indentured servants
4. large landowners
Who enforced the English laws that colonists had to obey?
1. Supreme Court
2. Tax collectors
3. Legislators
4. Governors
How did England raise money for the French and Indian War?
1. Sold tobacco to the colonists
2. Traded with the French
3. Imposed taxes on the colonists
4. Built new bridges
Why were the colonists dissatisfied with England?
1. The colonists did not have representation in Parliament.
2. The King did not come to visit.
3. The colonists liked the governor.
4. The King did not control colonial legislatures.
Who was the author of the pamphlet Common Sense?
1. John Locke
2. George Washington
3. Thomas Jefferson
4. Thomas Paine
Who was the commander of the Continental Army?
1. Thomas Jefferson
2. Thomas Paine
3. George Washington
4. Patrick Henry
Where did the first battle of the American Revolutionary War take place?
1. Lexington and Concord
2. Williamsburg
3. Yorktown
4. Bunker Hill
What British General surrendered at Yorktown?
1. King George
2. Lord Cornwallis
3. Benjamin Franklin
4. John Adams
Who was the major author of the Declaration of Independence?
1. George Washington
2. Thomas Jefferson
3. Patrick Henry
4. Thomas Paine
What former slave wrote poems and plays supporting American independence?
1. Phillis Wheatley
2. John Adams
3. Dolley Madison
4. Frederick Douglass
Who led patriots in throwing tea into Boston Harber to protest tea taxes?
1. Patrick Henry
2. Samuel Adams
3. Thomas Paine
4. John Locke
The signing of what document recognized American independence from England?
1. Common Sense
2. Treaty of Paris
3. Cornwallis Papers
4. Treaty of Yorktown
What country helped the American colonists win the Revolutionary War?
1. England
2. France
3. Spain
4. Portugal
What advantage helped the American colonists win the Revolutionary War?
1. Sale of tobacco
2. Strong leadership
3. Trade with England
4. Weak economy
The United States is an example of the form of government called a _____.
1. dictatorship
2. direct democracy
3. representative democracy
4. confederation
The Articles of Confederation established what could best be described as a _____.
1. strong monarchy
2. weak national government
3. loose dictatorship
4. strong federal system
What was a weakness of the Articles of Confederation?
1. It did not provide for an executive or judicial branch.
2. It did not allow the states to coin their own money.
3. It was opposed to Great Britain.
4. It was based on the Mayflower Compact.
The Virgnia Plan for the Constitution of the United States called for a _____.
1. new monarchy
2. government with power held by the states
3. government in which larger states would have more power
4. small power of states in Congress
Who drafted the Virginia Plan?
1. James Madison
2. Thomas Jefferson
3. Patrick Henry
4. George Washington
In the Constitution of the United States, the system of separation of powers divides power between _____.
1. the national and state governments
2. the Democratic and Republican Parties
3. the United States Senate and the House of Representatives
4. the three branches of the national government
The main responsibility of Congress is to ______.
1. approve treaties
2. control the armed forces
3. hire government officials
4. make laws
What view did Alexander Hamilton have on the role of national government?
1. Believed in making the Constitution more like the Articles of Confederation
2. Favored a test to see whether the amendment process worked
3. Supported limits on states' rights
4. Supported limits on the constitutional powers of the federal government
The leader of the Federalists was _____.
1. Thomas Jefferson
2. John Adams
3. Alexander Hamilton
4. James Monroe
What view did Thomas Jefferson have on the role of national government?
1. Favored a weak national government
2. Supported a national bank
3. Favored large business
4. Believed in the Federalists
Who was President when the federal court system was established?
1. George Washington
2. Thomas Jefferson
3. Patrick Henry
4. John Adams
What President bought Louisiana from France?
1. James Madison
2. George Washington
3. Thomas Jefferson
4. John Adams
What President warned European nations not to interfere in the western hemisphere?
1. James Monroe
2. Thomas Jefferson
3. John Adams
4. George Washington
What event under Thomas Jefferson doubled the size of the United States?
1. Virginia Plan
2. Panama Canal
3. Louisiana Purchase
4. Articles of Confederation
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark explored what territory?
1. Panama
2. Louisiana
3. Florida
4. Georgia
Who gave Florida to the United States through a treaty?
1. Spain
2. France
3. England
4. Portugal
What state was added after it became an independent republic?
1. Mississippi
2. Georgia
3. Texas
4. New Mexico
What state became part of the United States as the result of a war with Mexico?
1. California
2. Texas
3. North Carolina
4. Tennessee
What provided cheaper and faster transportation to the Great Lakes area?
1. Erie Canal
2. Oregon Trail
3. Panama Canal
4. Santa Fe Trail
The idea that expansion was for the good of the country and was the right of the country became known as _____.
1. National Industries
2. California Gold Rush
3. Transportation Act
4. Manifest Destiny
Who invented a machine that allowed cotton to be cultivated faster than by hand?
1. Cyrus McCormick
2. Robert Fulton
3. Eli Whitney
4. Thomas Jefferson
Who invented the reaper that increased productivity of the American farmer?
1. Anderson and McCormick
2. Whitney and Fulton
3. Jefferson and Adams
4. Washington and Henry
Who improved the steamboat that provided faster river transportation?
1. Robert Fulton
2. Cyrus McCormick
3. Patrick Henry
4. Jo Anderson
One of the first white abolitionists to call for the "immediate and complete emancipation" of enslaved people was _____.
1. Benjamin Lundy
2. William Lloyd Garrison
3. David Walker
4. Frederick Douglass
Most abolitionists believed that _____.
1. the Constitution should be ammended to restrict slavery to areas east of the Mississippi River
2. slavery was morally wrong
3. slavery should be abolished gradually
4. each state should be allowed to determine the legality of slavery within its own borders
Women who were fighting to end slavery recognized their own bondage and formed the ______.
1. temperance movement
2. education movement
3. employment movement
4. women's rights movement
The first women's rights convention was held in _____.
1. Georgia
2. New York
3. Virginia
4. Ohio
Who purchased his freedom from his slaveholder and later started an abolitionist newspaper called The North Star?
1. Frederick Douglass
2. Horace Mann
3. Charles T. Weber
4. William Lloyd Garrison
The network of escape routes out of the South for enslaved people was the _____.
1. Freedom Network
2. Slave Network
3. Underground Railroad
4. Southern Railroad
Who was the most famous Underground Railroad conductor?
1. Isabel Sojourner Truth
2. Angelina Grimke
3. Sarah Grimke
4. Harriet Tubman
The most controversial issue at the Seneca Falls convention was _____.
1. education
2. suffrage
3. jobs
4. slavery
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were best known for their struggle to _____.
1. prohibit the sale of alcohol
2. improve low wages for workers
3. secure the right of women to vote
4. expose government corruption
Who published the anti-slavery newspaper, The Liberator?
1. William Lloyd Garrison
2. Nat Turner
3. Harriet Beecher Stowe
4. John Brown
"As the first runaway slave to speak publicly against slavery, I ask for abolition immediately and I call for slaves to lead the fight for this cause." Which of the following people might have made this statement?
1. William Lloyd Garrison
2. Susan B. Anthony
3. Isabel Sojourner Truth
4. Frederick Douglass
Who is known for assisting with the Underground Railroad?
1. Robert Fulton
2. Jo Anderson
3. Harriet Tubman
4. Eli Whitney
What abolitionist and women's rights leader escaped from slavery?
1. Isabel Sojourner Truth
2. Dolley Madison
3. Martha Washington
4. Susan B. Anthony
Who traveled and worked across the nation to help get women the right to vote?
1. Isabel Sojourner Truth
2. Dolley Madison
3. Susan B. Anthony
4. Martha Washington

US History to 1877 General Review

Multiple-Choice ExerciseContent © 2009 Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Education; Permission to Use Granted by VDOE; Author of Activity: Tami Maloney; All rights reserved. No commercial, for-profit use of this material is allowed. E-mail comments and questions to Tami Maloney.

Multiple-Choice Exercise
Content © 2009 Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Education; Permission to Use Granted by VDOE; Author of Activity: Tami Maloney; All rights reserved. No commercial, for-profit use of this material is allowed. E-mail comments and questions to Tami Maloney.