Midterm Examination

A  “an African American monster”; share a tendency to criticize blacks and heroify whites

B  “a savage ex-slave”; see him as treacherous and completely uncivilized

C  “a religious fanatic”; generally agree that those who kill based on religious principles are insane

D  “deeply religious”; find it logical that a black man could have serious moral opposition to slavery

A  Lincoln, by overturning the Fugitive Slave Act, demonstrated his support for Northern abolitionists

B  Lincoln, by opposing the Fourteenth Amendment, was reluctant to mix his personal beliefs with politics

C  Lincoln, based on his refusal to preserve the Union at any cost, was ideologically opposed to slavery

D  Lincoln, who could have ended slavery in 1860 but chose not to, was indifferent about slavery

A  Crittenden Compromise; made slavery permanently legal, thus preventing Southern states’ secession

B  Fugitive Slave Act; required that northern states return runaway slaves to their “rightful owners.”

C  Fourteenth Amendment; guaranteed equal protection under the law for all, white and black

D  Emancipation Proclamation; made slavery illegal in the United States

A  The term emerged during the nadir of American race relations as a way to discredit Northern Republicans

B  All of these

C  Most Northern Republicans had proven themselves to be scandalous opportunists

D  Most white Southerners during Reconstruction felt that Northerners were opportunistic scoundrels

A  Texts widely use these terms without explaining how and when they were coined

B  Texts fail to explain that abolitionists had coined the terms before white Southerners adopted them

C  Texts neglect to mention that the terms first surfaced within African American communities

D  Texts’ spellings of the terms vary

A  framing it as evidence that Lincoln was unconcerned about abolishing slavery

B  misquoting Abraham Lincoln to make him appear to be a John Brown sympathizer

C  emphasizing Lincoln’s intention to raise support in New York for the Union cause

D  suggesting Lincoln was vying for support among abolitionists

A  Lincoln’s rejection of the 1860 Crittenden Compromise demonstrates his unwillingness to accept slavery

B  Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural contain no references to the issue of slavery

C  White Southerners founded the Confederacy on the principle of white supremacy and to preserve slavery

D  Until the nadir of American race relations (1890 – 1940), John Brown was viewed as completely sane

A  To advance the notion that a sane white man couldn’t be willing to sacrifice his life to help another race

B  All of these

C  Because most simply pass on these inaccuracies, which were originally fabricated by whites during the nadir of American race relations

D  To avoid provoking discussions regarding racism and slavery

A  All of these

B  suggest Brown led the Harpers Ferry raid when he was, in fact, a follower

C  claim that Brown was captured, when he, in fact, never was

D  describe him as insane when most first-hand accounts suggest otherwise

A  All of these

B  comparisons/contrasts of Douglas’ and Lincoln’s campaign promises

C  comparisons/contrasts of their speaking styles and fashion choices

D  comparisons/contrasts of Douglas’ pro-slavery and Lincoln’s anti-slavery beliefs

A  South Carolina showed it opposed states’ rights by denying northern states their right to disobey the act

B  South Carolina supported northern states’ rights by criticizing the act as “anti-states’ rights”

C  South Carolina was inconsistent regarding its states’-rights stance

D  The act required free (non-slavery) states to return runaway slaves to Southern slaveholders

A  “…Margaret Mitchell was wrong to heroify Reconstruction-era blacks in Gone With the Wind”

B  “…newly free blacks felt justified in destroying Southern whites’ property”

C  “…former slaves’ literacy rates were higher than those of whites”

D  “…it is only right that whites be always in control”

A  newly free African Americans proved themselves far more corrupt than their white counterparts

B  African Americans systematically destroyed plantations because these properties symbolized slavery

C  Reconstruction never happened. It was “fake news”

D  newly free African Americans strengthened existing laws as members of Southern states’ legislatures

A  imply that slavery played a minimal role in determining U.S. policy

B  imply that, before the Civil War, the U.S. considered Indians a greater threat than slave revolts

C  imply that slaveholding presidents feared the French because France had outlawed slavery

D  imply that the U.S. was continually preoccupied with acquiring more and more land

A  eliminating Native American threats; protecting the U.S. from foreign powers, specifically the French

B  eliminating protection for runaway slaves; gaining territory

C  protecting the U.S. from foreign powers, specifically the French; eliminating Native American threats

D  gaining territory; eliminating protection for runaway slaves

A  Textbooks downplay slavery’s role in the war, thus making the Confederacy seem victimized

B  Textbooks discount the role the North played in reinforcing white supremacy

C  Textbooks emphasize the need for the South to apologize to families whose ancestors were slaves

D  Textbooks stress that the Confederacy expressed remorse over seceding from the union

A  a battle between the agrarian South and industrial North

B  about “states’ rights”

C  All of these

D  a dispute over tariffs

A  provided a more desirable situation for blacks than they knew post-emancipation

B  was a burden for slave owners at least as much as for their slaves

C  was a “structure of racial harmony”

D  All of these

A  because Jefferson had vowed to protect Haitians, while Adams was indifferent

B  None of these

C  in that Jefferson provided the French with money while Adams offered ammunition and other supplies

D  based on whether or not the presidents themselves owned slaves

A  “We seized territory only after tribes were decimated by disease or migrated voluntarily”

B  “We tried to Europeanize them; they wouldn’t or couldn’t do it, so we dispossessed them”

C  “We took only the land that Native Americans sold to us, legitimately”

D  “We offered restitution by giving contemporary tribes [casino] gaming rights”

A  Native American tribes sometimes sold territory belonging to rival tribes

B  Natives’ “premodern understanding of land ownership” led them to undervalue their territory

C  Tribes typically preferred selling to neighboring natives rather than whites

D  Tribes negotiated land deals shrewdly

A  omitting any mention of the attraction of native societies

B  criticizing these whites as traitors to their heritage

C  having students speculate about why so many whites found native life appealing

D  pointing out that many Native Americans also abandoned their tribes to live among whites

A  All of these

B  To imply that whites didn’t exactly “dispossess” Natives, as tribes preferred roaming to farming

C  Students are meant to think of tribes as “wild” before Europeans helped “civilize” them

D  So that students infer Native Americans fit the “primitive” archetype

A  neglect to inform readers that diseases such as smallpox had hindered Indians’ reasoning abilities

B  fail to mention the Dutch bought Manhattan from the English, who had themselves overpaid for the land

C  take a Eurocentric approach, in that they imply Native Americans couldn’t intelligently bargain

D  omit information about the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, a deal that netted native tribes millions

A  All of these

B  conflate “refined and enlightened” and “having a complex division of labor” as definitions of ‘civilized’

C  feature pictures that suggest native Americans were typically aggressors against white settlers

D  oversimplify Natives’ religious beliefs

A  pay heed to archaeological evidence that indigenous tribes lacked boat-making and sea-faring abilities

B  wish to avoid discussions regarding climate change

C  ignore new evidence suggesting the Bering Strait never froze and thus was impossible to traverse on foot

D  hope to reinforce the idea that natives descended from very primitive groups

A  Most Natives were removed because of their violent tendencies

B  Natives typically either were killed off by disease or voluntarily moved

C  Natives were usually allowed to remain on lands they owned so they could teach whites to plant crops

D  Even those Natives who did acculturate were targets for dispossession

A  carried infectious diseases

B  been as intelligent, on average, than Native Americans

C  learned Native American languages

D  been more technologically advanced than Native Americans

A  The hijacking hypothesis is less plausible than other possible explanations

B  The “storms and pilot error” explanations are relatively uncontroversial

C  Authors are concerned that students might try to emulate the Pilgrims by hijacking ships themselves

D  The hijacking hypothesis is a crackpot theory invented by John Brown

A  Most textbook authors are WASPs who write from a White Anglo Saxon Protestant perspective

B  The Virginians engaged in cannibalism, which makes them difficult to idolize

C  Neither of these

D  Both of these

A  a lack of historical records indicates this may not have actually happened

B  such a portrayal would likely ruin the image of these “supernaturals,” our patriarchs

C  since Native Americans didn’t believe in the concept of private property, the act didn’t constitute “theft”

D  the Pilgrims later paid reparations to the tribes whose valuables they had “borrowed”

A  All of these

B  Authors of high school U.S. history textbooks could be accused of adopting a pro-African American stance

C  High school U.S. history courses risk alienating students of color

D  By advancing this fact, high school U.S. history textbooks might cause interracial riots among students

A  Most students don’t understand that what we now know as the United States remains mostly unsettled

B  Most students tend to give credit the Spanish instead of to the English, who settled first

C  Students generally disregard the fact that Native Americans had “settled” here thousands of years ago

D  Students fail to note that the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock in 1619, not 1620, as commonly believed

A  Textbook authors attempt to reinforce the “primitive tribe” and “virgin continent” archetypes

B  Textbook authors have conducted independent research, which has yielded new, different estimates

C  Textbook authors typically wish to encourage classroom discussions about estimates’ disparity

D  Textbook authors side with late-19th-century estimates, as the research was more meticulous back then

A  Most textbooks estimate 10-20 million, when researchers generally agree on 1-2 million

B  Texts tell students that estimations are pointless, since historical data is extremely limited

C  Most textbooks fail to count women as part of the North American Indian population

D  Most textbooks estimate 1-2 million, when researchers generally agree on 10-20 million

A  Authors emphasize British “settlement,” even though the Spanish “settled” first

B  Authors suggest Spanish “settlers” carried diseases even though the British were more disease-ridden

C  Authors emphasize Spanish “settlement,” even though the British “settled” first

D  Authors suggest British “settlers” carried diseases even though the Spanish were more disease-ridden

A  He chose to ignore his belief that enslaving human beings was immoral

B  Instead of justifying his slaveholding, he freed his slaves and became an anti-slavery activist

C  He turned over his plantation to his sons and lived among the Arawaks for the rest of his life

D  He ordered that, upon his death, all of his slaves should be set free

A  He never knew he had discovered a New World

B  None of these

C  He was born to poor parents and, though he accomplished much, he died in poverty and obscurity

D  Unlike his predecessors, he believed the Earth must be round

A  Cognitive dissonance describes inconsistencies between one’s belief systems and actions

B  Cognitive dissonance led Columbus, who initially thought highly of natives, to call them “stupid”

C  Cognitive dissonance often leads individuals to justify their behavior

D  Cognitive dissonance led Columbus’ crew to threaten mutiny

A  help students understand that Europeans’ high intelligence naturally led to domination of other groups

B  deflect conversations about the Turks, whose closure of trade routes motivated Europeans to find new ones

C  avoid discussing Western advantages in military technology as a motivation for exploration and conquest

D  All of these

A  both a “heroic navigator” and a “great plunderer”

B  an “ordinary seafarer who rose from, and died in, obscurity”

C  a “courageous explorer” who made mistakes but proved the Earth was round

D  a “genocidal maniac” whose achievements are exaggerated

A  We might conclude that Europeans’ primary goal was not the pursuit of wealth

B  We tend to assume it’s somehow “natural” for one group to dominate others

C  All of these

D  We are likely to think of Europeans as richer and more powerful than others because they’re “smarter”

A  High school history textbooks overlook or completely omit pre-Columbian explorers

B  Both of these

C  High school history textbooks identify “modern technology as a European development”

D  Neither of these

A  …we must intervene in international conflicts only when we are fighting for democracy

B  …we can never trust a man named ‘Woodrow’

C  …sometimes presidents lose popularity after a few decades of historical perspective

D  …there is a connection between racist presidential leadership and likeminded public response

A  A love of country within the seeing-impaired community

B  Disdain for one’s country despite its history of generosity

C  Indifference regarding the US’s political processes

D  Praising one’s country while ignoring its historical blemishes

A  Religion

B  Social class

C  Sex

D  War

A  Texts imply that Wilson acted to “restore stability” in Haiti despite Wilson’s colonialist actions

B  Texts showcase Helen Keller’s socialist beliefs to imply she cared about impoverished Americans

C  Texts emphasize that Wilson, unpopularly, intervened in the Russian Revolution

D  Texts suggest that, by embracing US history’s complexity, students can be their own “heroes”

A  Wilson re-segregated the federal government

B  Wilson praised Birth of a Nation, a film that spurred the resurgence of the Ku Klux

C  Wilson used the US military to intervene in the Russian Revolution

D  All of these

A  Humanitarianism; think critically about them

B  Unification; tell them apart

C  Disestablishmentarianism; accept their roles as government figureheads

D  Heroification; think straight about them

A  a graduate of Radcliffe; dispel the myth that she was functionally illiterate

B  a radical socialist; avoid discussing issues of socioeconomic class

C  blind and deaf; discourage students who might mock her disabilities

D  blind and deaf; allow students to focus on her promotion of social justice