Name_______________________________________________

US History Pre-Assessment
1.
After the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, African Americans continued to
experience political and economic oppression mainly because
a) the amendments were not intended to solve their problems
b) many African Americans distrusted the Federal Government
c) Southern legislatures enacted Jim Crow laws
d) poor communications kept people from learning about their legal rights
2.
Analyze the following quote: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they
reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of
citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of
the laws.
The quote above would most likely be associated with which of the following Amendments?
a) 13th Amendment
b) 14th Amendment
c) 15th Amendment
d) 19th Amendment
3. Evaluate the image below.

The artist of the image above is most likely speaking to what issue of the post Civil War Era?
a) Freedmen having an opportunity to apply for employment opportunities in the South.
b) Freedmen having an opportunity to participate in universal male suffrage

c) Freedmen petitioning the government for the right to be seen as lawful citizens of the United States
d) Freedmen petitioning the government to provide them with equal protection of the laws.
4.
In their plans for Reconstruction, both President Abraham Lincoln and President Andrew Johnson
sought to
a) punish the South for starting the Civil War
b) force the Southern States to pay reparations to the Federal Government
c) allow the Southern States to reenter the nation as quickly as possible
d) establish the Republican Party as the only political party in the South
5. After rejecting President Johnsons Reconstruction plan, Congress enacted a program based on:
a) guarantees for the rights of all citizens with the Fourteenth Amendment
b) the confiscation and redistribution of planters lands
c) immediate enfranchisement (gaining of rights) of both freedmen and ex-Confederates
d) heavy-handed punishments towards powerful Southern whites
6. One reason John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and J. Pierpont Morgan were sometimes called
robber barons was because they
a) robbed from the rich to give to the poor
b) made unnecessarily risky investments
c) used ruthless business tactics against their competitors
d) stole money from the federal government

a.
b.
c.
d.

a.
b.
c.
d.

7. What is the main idea of this cartoon?

The Standard Oil Company was a harmful monopoly.
The best way to develop major industries was to form
proprietorships.
Government regulations were strangling the Standard Oil
Company.
Foreign competition in the oil industry was hurting
American companies.
8. In the late 1800s, the theory of laissez-faire capitalism
was used by many industrialists to
petition the government for assistance during times of
financial crisis
oppose colonial expansion in Africa and Asia
argue against government regulation of business
practices
defend limits on the number of immigrants allowed to
work in factories

9. The growth of a large business is merely survival

of the fittest. The American beauty rose can be produced in the splendor and fragrance which bring cheer
to its beholder only by sacrificing the early buds which grow up around it. This is not an evil tendency in
business. It is merely the working out of a law of nature and a law of God. . . . -John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
Which concept is described by this passage?
a.
b.
c.
d.

communism
Populism
utopian socialism
Social Darwinism
10. Speaker A: When demand ran high, and markets were scarce,
he showed little mercy, broke his contracts for delivery and raised prices.
Speaker B: The man of wealth must hold his fortune in trust for the
community and use it for philanthropic and charitable purposes.
Speaker C: It is cruel to slander the rich because they have been successful.
They have gone into great enterprises that have enriched the nation and
the nation has enriched them.
Speaker D: The fruits of the toil of millions are boldly stolen to build up
colossal fortunes for the few, unprecedented in the history of mankind.
Which two speakers would most likely label late 19th-century industrialists as robber barons?

a.
b.

A and B
A and D

c. B and C
d. C and D

11. Analyze the map below.

a.
b.
c.
d.

Which statement is best represented by the data from the map.

By 1870 the United States had multiple railroad lines that connected the east and the west.
By 1870, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads were the first railroads to connected the country.
By 1890, only the East Coast was connected by railroads.
By 1890, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads were the only railroads to connect the country
from coast to coast.
12. Analyze the headlines below and answer the following question:Which statement about labor unions
in the late 1800s is illustrated by these headlines?
Labor Leaders Execute for Causing Haymarket Riot
State Militia Called in to End Homestead Strike
1,000 Jailed as Silver miners Protest Wage Cuts

A.
B.
C.
D.

Strikes by labor unions usually gained public support.

The government frequently opposed labor union activities.
Labor union demands were usually met.
Arbitration was commonly used to end labor unrest.
13. Analyze the image below

a.
b.
c.
d.

This image exemplifies all of the following problems that arose during the Industrial Revolution except?
poor wages for workers
child labor
unsafe working conditions
dangerous machinery
14. Which generalization about population growth is supported by information in this chart?

a.
b.
c.
d.

For every census listed, rural population exceeded urban population.

By 1920, more people lived in cities than in rural areas.
The Civil War significantly slowed the rate of population growth.
Most urban population growth was due to people migrating from rural areas.

a.
b.
c.
d.

15. Which of the following was not a pull factor that brought immigrants to the United States from 1865
to 1920.
Freedom
Economic opportunity
Population growth
Abundant land
16. Analyze the image below

a.
b.
c.
d.

This image taken by Jacob Riis brought about which of the movements in the United States:
Progressive reforms to tenement housing in New York City.
Progressive reforms to working conditions in New York City.
Immigration Act of 1924
Chinese Exclusion Act
17. The Gentlemens Agreement, literacy tests, and the quota system were all attempts by Congress to
restrict

a.
b.
c.
d.

immigration
property ownership
voting rights
access to public education
18. Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity
in the toils of European ambition rivalship, interest, humor or caprice?
Which action by the United States best reflects the philosophy expressed in this quotation?
a. passage of legislation restricting immigration
b. rejection of the Treaty of Versailles
c. enactment of the Lend Lease Act
d. approval of the United States Charter

19. Which statement best describes President Theodore Roosevelts foreign policy position toward Latin
America in the early 1900s?
a. The United States should reduce its involvement in Latin American affairs.
b. The Monroe Doctrine permits the United States to intervene actively in the affairs of Latin American
nations.
c. Latin American nations should form an organization to help them achieve political and economic
stability.
d. The United States should give large amounts of financial aid to help the poor of Latin America.
20. The Monroe Doctrine declared that the United States would
a. prevent the establishment of new European colonies anywhere in the world
b. help colonies in North and South America adopt a democratic form of government
c. view European interference in the Americas as a threat to the national interest of the United States
d. prevent other nations from trading with South American nations

1.
2.
3.
4.

21. Select all of the following that are examples of the goals of Progressivism:
protect social welfare
promote morality
create economic reform
foster workplace efficiency

a.
b.
c.
d.

1, 2
1, 2, 3, 4
3, 4
1, 2, 3

From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the
continent.- Winston Churchill
22. Using the quote and the propaganda images, what does Churchill mean when he declared that an iron
curtain has descended across the continent?
A. The Soviet Union has expanded its communist influence throughout Eastern Europe causing a divide
between the Western and Eastern Europe..
B. The Soviet Union has helped the nations of Eastern Europe improve their standard of living through
communism.
C. The democratic nations of Western Europe have stopped the expansion of Soviet influence in the world.
D. The democratic nations of Western Europe were breaking down the barriers of the communist and
democratic blocks.
23. Mutually-Assured Destruction (MAD) is most closely related to which of the following US strategies?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Containment
Massive retaliation
Dtente
Isolationism
24. Analyze the following documents to answer the question:

Based on these two images, why did the United States engage in a blockade of Cuba?
A.
B.
C.
D.

The Soviets were placing nuclear weapons in Cuba.

The Soviets were planning nuclear strikes against the United States.
The Soviets had shared knowledge with Castro so that Cuba could make their own nuclear weapons.
The Soviets were spreading communism to Cuba by supporting Castro.
25. Analyze the following excerpt from a nuclear scientist in 1946:
We have been made strongly aware of the dangers inherent in the mishandling of this tremendous force
by the peoples of the world. We have seen in the case of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that one crude,
pioneering atomic bomb is sufficient to destroy a city of medium size. It is certain that further

development will result in bombs of vastly greater destructive potential. The Pearl Harbor attack which
destroyed most of Pacific Fleet may be dwarfed in a future war by a disaster in which as much as a
quarter of our population and the major part of our industry will suddenly disappear. This may even be a
conservative estimate of the damage that will occur before we are in a position to retaliate, if retaliation
be any longer possible. It will be a small consolation to have the largest supply of the worlds best bombs;
it may be too late to use them. It is possible that we may not even know who our attackers are.
The quote above by the nuclear scientist best relates to which of the following?
A. that the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan during the end of World War II was immoral and unethical
B. that the invention of atomic bomb technology was a positive good for mankind
C. that atomic bomb technology could possibly result in a nuclear arms race that could have a devastating
result for mankind
D. that Eastern Europe was in jeopardy with the spreading of Nuclear Weapons technology in a post-World
War Two world
26. Read the quote below from President Kennedy in September 1962:
We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other
things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and
measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept,
one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.
The quote above came about as a result of which of the following?
A. The Soviet Union placed nuclear missiles on the Island of Cuba.
B. The Soviet Union forcing a competition in space as a result of numerous achievements in rocket
technology
C. The Soviet Union blockaded West Berlin as a result of the efforts of the United States to economically
support West Europe with the Marshal Plan
D. The Soviet Union achieving nuclear weapons technology as a result of spying on the U.S. nuclear
program.
27. Analyze the image

Which development is most closely associated with the belief in the domino theory?

A.
B.
C.
D.

military involvement in Korea

construction of the Berlin Wall
signing of the nuclear test ban treaty
the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia
28. Use the table and your knowledge of social studies to answer the following question.

Which of the following is a reason for communist victory in China?

A.
B.
C.
D.

The communists refused to feed the people.

The Nationalists were reluctant to fight.
The United States sent U.S. troops to aid the Nationalists.
Mao Zedong fled the mainland.
29. The following post-World War II quote most likely fits which of the following statements:
Raw materials and fuel are in short supply. Machinery is lacking or word out. The farmer of the peasant
cannot find the goods for sale which he desires to purchase. So the sale of his farm produce for money
which he cannot use seems to him an unprofitable transaction. He, therefore, has withdrawn many fields
from crop cultivation and is using them for grazing. He feeds more grain to stock and finds for himself
and his family an ample supply of food, however short he may be on clothing and the other ordinary
gadgets of civilization. Meanwhile people in the cities are short of food and fuel

A.
B.
C.
D.

controlling Nazism in Europe before the Second World War

establishing friendly relations between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II
spreading democracy to developing nations around the world
limiting Soviet expansion by economically assisting civilian populations in Europe
30. Use the map below to answer the following question.
What was a result of United Nations and United States involvement in the Korean war?

A.
B.
C.
D.

UN occupation of the entire Korean peninsula

The firing of General Macarthur
Communist takeover of the Korean peninsula
A stalemate along an armistice line near the 38th parallel

A.
B.
C.
D.

31.The migration of African Americans to the North during and following World War I was mainly a
result of the
success of military desegregation
efforts of the civil rights movement
availability of new factory jobs
impact of affirmative action programs

A.
B.
C.
D.

32. The clear and present danger doctrine stated by the Supreme Court in the case of Schenck
v. United States (1919) had an important impact on the Bill of Rights because it
limited the powers of the president
placed limits on freedom of speech
clarified standards for a fair trial
expanded the rights of persons accused of crimes

33. The Fourteen Points and the Atlantic Charter were both
A. statements of post-war goals for establishing world peace
B. plans of victorious nations to divide conquered territories

C. military strategies for defeating enemy nations

D. agreements between nations to eliminate further development of weapons

A.
B.
C.
D.

A.
B.
C.
D.

34. An important factor contributing to the start of the Great Depression in the United
States was the:
increase in military spending
failure to maintain the gold standard
reduction of tariff rates
uneven distribution of wealth
35. The Dust Bowl experiences of the Oklahoma farmers during the Great Depression
demonstrated the:
effect of geography on peoples lives
success of government farm subsidies
limitation of civil liberties during times of crisis
result of the Indian Removal Act
Question 36 refers to the following image.

Sears Roebuck Consumers Guide

The Granger Collection, New York
36.The image above most clearly epitomized the Gilded Age focus on
a.

business consolidation.

b.

consumption.

c.

labor reform.

d.

utopianism.

A.
B.
C.
D.

37..In the 1930s, the United States attempted to avoid a repetition of the events leading up to
United States involvement in World War I by
establishing the Good Neighbor policy with Latin American nations
forgiving the foreign debts incurred during World War I
officially recognizing the existence of the Soviet Union
passing a series of neutrality laws

A.
B.
C.
D.

38. The 1925 trial of John Scopes reflects the conflict between
science and religion
isolation and international involvement
traditional roles and new roles for women
prohibition and organized crime
39.Korematsu was not excluded from the military
area because of hostility to him or his
race. He was excluded because we are at war
with the Japanese Empire, because the . . .
authorities feared an invasion of our West
Coast and felt constrained to take proper
security measures.
Justice Hugo Black
Korematsu v. United States, 1944
Which generalization is supported by this quotation?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Individual rights need to be maintained in national emergencies.

The Supreme Court lacks the power to block presidential actions taken during wartime.
Individual rights can be restricted under certain circumstances.
Only the Supreme Court can alter the constitutional rights of American citizens
40. Speaker A: The use of the bomb shortened the war and saved American lives.
Speaker B: The United States might have been able to force the Japanese to surrender simply by
demonstrating the power of the bomb on a deserted island.

Speaker C: The use of the bomb was justified because of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Speaker D: In Hiroshima, the bomb instantly incinerated more than 60,000 people. Most were civilians.
Which speakers hold the view that using the bomb was an appropriate military action?
A.
B.
C.
D.

A and B
A and C
B and C
B and D
41.During World War II, this poster was used primarily to

A.
B.
C.
D.

contain the spread of communism

create jobs for the unemployed
gain financial support for the war
convince women to fill vacant factory jobs
42.The Parties to this Treaty reaffirm their faith in
the purposes and principles of the Charter of the
United Nations and their desire to live in peace
with all peoples and all governments.
They are determined to safeguard the freedom,
common heritage and civilization of their
peoples, founded on the principles of democracy,
individual liberty and the rule of law. . . .
Preamble to the North Atlantic Treaty, 1949
This statement shows the commitment of the United States to the principle of

A.
B.
C.
D.

colonialism
neutrality
militarism
collective security