History Exan 2023

Section I PART A: MULTIPLE-CHOICE Questions 1–4 refer to the following excerpt. “May it . . . please your most excellent Majesty, that it may be declared . . . in this present parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the said colonies and plantations in America have been, are, and of right ought to be, subordinate unto, and dependent upon the imperial crown and parliament of Great Britain; . . . and [they] of right ought to have, full power and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the colonies and people of America, subjects of the crown of Great Britain, in all cases whatsoever.” The Declaratory Act, passed by the British Parliament in 1766 1. Which of the following contributed most directly to the enactment of the law in the excerpt? (A) The increasing divergence between colonial and British culture in the 1700s (B) Debates over how Britain’s colonies should bear the cost of the Seven Years’ War (French and Indian War) (C) The drafting of a declaration of independence for Britain’s colonies in North America (D) Conflicts between colonists and British army leaders over recognizing Native American sovereignty 2. The actions described in the excerpt most immediately led to (A) Parliament strengthening its approach to generating new tax revenue in the North American colonies (B) major and sometimes violent conflicts emerging between the various colonial regions (C) a colonial convention to call for independence from Britain (D) Britain delegating greater authority to colonial assemblies 3. Which of the following was the American colonists’ immediate response to the attempts of the British Parliament to enforce the claims made in the excerpt? (A) They acceded to Parliament’s authority to regulate colonial commerce. (B) They denied the power of the British king over the colonies. (C) They sought an alliance with France against Great Britain. (D) They initiated boycotts of imported British goods. 4. Debates over the claims of the British Parliament in the excerpt most directly contributed to which of the following later characteristics of the United States government? (A) The reservation of some governmental powers for the states (B) The enforcement of term limits for the president (C) The establishment of taxation power in Congress (D) The practice of judicial review by the Supreme Court Questions 5–7 refer to the following excerpt. “The Erie Canal poured into New York City [wealth] far exceeding that which its early friends predicted. . . . In the city, merchants, bankers, warehousemen, [and] shippers . . . seized the opportunity to perfect and specialize their services, fostering round after round of business innovations that within a decade of the opening of the Erie Canal had made New York by far the best place in America to engage in commerce. . . . “. . . Even before its economic benefits were realized fully, rival seaports with hopes of tapping interior trade began to imagine dreadful prospects of permanent eclipse. Whatever spirit of mutual good feeling and national welfare once greeted [internal improvements] now disappeared behind desperate efforts in cities . . . to create for themselves a westward connection.” John Lauritz Larson, historian, Internal Improvement: National Public Works and the Promise of Popular Government in the Early United States, 2001 5. The excerpt best illustrates which of the following developments? (A) The extension of commerce with Native Americans (B) The expansion of access to markets (C) The growth in the internal slave trade (D) The increase in semisubsistence agricultural production 6. Which of the following developments in the early nineteenth century could best be used as evidence to support the argument in the second paragraph of the excerpt? (A) The opposition of some political leaders to providing federal funds for public works (B) The failure of some infrastructure projects to recover their costs (C) The recruitment of immigrant laborers to work on new transportation projects (D) The rise of a regional economy based on the production and export of cotton 7. Which of the following later developments had an effect most similar to that described in the excerpt? (A) The invention of the mechanical reaper in the 1830s (B) The annexation of Texas in the 1840s (C) The growth of political party competition in the 1850s (D) The completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the 1860s Questions 8–10 refer to the following excerpt. “The normal condition of all the territory of the United States is that of freedom. That as our Republican fathers, when they had abolished slavery in all our national [western] territory, ordained that ‘no person should be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law,’ it becomes our duty by legislation, whenever such legislation is necessary, to maintain this provision of the Constitution against all attempts to violate it; and we deny the authority of Congress, of a territorial legislature, or of any individuals, to give legal existence to slavery in any territory of the United States.” Republican Party platform, 1860 8. Which of the following best serves as evidence for the claim that “our Republican fathers . . . had abolished slavery in all our national territory”? (A) The ban on the trans-Atlantic slave trade implemented in 1808 (B) The relationship of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson to slavery (C) The provisions of the Northwest Ordinance regarding slavery (D) The agreement to count three-fifths of enslaved people for representation in Congress 9. The ideas expressed in the excerpt were most directly influenced by the (A) nativist movement (B) free-soil movement (C) Texas independence movement (D) temperance movement 10. Republicans asserted that political leaders could not “give legal existence to slavery in any territory of the United States” in order to express opposition against the (A) idea of popular sovereignty exemplified by the Kansas-Nebraska Act (B) removal of American Indians from their homelands (C) recruitment of laborers for Northern factories (D) application of California for statehood Questions 11–14 refer to the following image from the 1940s. Copyright © Boeing. All Rights Reserved 11. The image most directly reflects which of the following developments during the early 1940s? (A) The wartime repression of civil liberties (B) The emergence of the United States as a world power (C) The limited access to consumer goods during wartime (D) The wartime mobilization of United States society 12. The image was most likely intended to promote (A) popular support for federal civil rights legislation to end discrimination (B) the belief that women should have rights equal to those of men (C) the movement of women into jobs traditionally held by men (D) access to union membership for all workers regardless of race or gender 13. Production activities like those depicted in the image most directly contributed to (A) calls to limit arms and naval destroyers for the major world powers (B) critical wartime provisioning for the Allies that led to victory (C) efforts to rebuild Western Europe’s postwar economy (D) concerns about the political influence of the military-industrial complex 14. In the 1950s, the activities of workers such as those depicted in the image would be most challenged by (A) a culture of conformity that emphasized domestic ideals for women (B) an increased need for dual incomes in suburban middle-class families (C) the rise of a second-wave feminist movement in the United States (D) the long-term decline of industrial production in the United States Questions 15–17 refer to the following excerpt. “The oath that I have taken is the same oath that was taken by George Washington and by every President under the Constitution. But I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances never before experienced by Americans. This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts. “I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your President with your prayers. . . . “I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our Government but civilization itself. That bond, though strained, is unbroken at home and abroad. “In all my public and private acts as your President, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always the best policy in the end. My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.” President Gerald Ford, Remarks on Taking the Oath of Office, 1974 15. The remarks in the excerpt were most likely given in response to which of the following? (A) Political scandals resulting from the president’s illegal campaign activity (B) Accusations that the adoption of national wage and price controls constituted socialism (C) The growing concern over escalating antiwar protests and the shooting of students at Kent State University (D) The discovery that the president had ordered invasions of Cambodia and Laos 16. The “strained” bond referenced in the excerpt most directly reflected which of the following? (A) Increased United States involvement in Vietnam (B) A declining economy and rising energy prices (C) Growing federal support for returning power to states (D) Decreasing public trust in the federal government 17. The events discussed in the excerpt led to which of the following political changes? (A) Democrats consolidated political support in areas of the South that Republicans had previously dominated. (B) Republicans overcame divisions within their party with Ronald Reagan’s election as president in 1980. (C) Third-party candidates won increasing numbers of electoral college votes in presidential elections. (D) Congress announced a bipartisan proposal for a Contract with America to regain voters’ trust.