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Sample Questions: History of the United States II

The following History of the United States II sample questions aren't used in actual CLEP exams and aren’t presented here as they will be on the test. Use them to get a sense of question format and difficulty level.

Directions

Each of the questions or incomplete statements below is followed by five suggested answers or completions. Select the one that is best in each case.

Questions

  1. Populists in the nineteenth century opposed railroad companies’ practice of
    1. charging higher rates for farmers than for grain elevator owners
    2. lobbying Congress to nationalize the telegraph network
    3. purchasing equipment and raw materials overseas
    4. employing African American porters on railcars
    5. hiring rural workers to maintain the railroads
  2. Which of the following was an effect of the New Deal’s recovery measures on United States society by the 1950s?
    1. Working-class people and Americans in urban areas formed a solid voting block for the Republican Party.
    2. Many Americans accepted the intervention of the federal government in the economy to secure the basic welfare of citizens.
    3. Desegregation measures were broadly embraced, and public schools around the nation were quickly integrated.
    4. Americans increasingly saw Congress and not the president as their primary voice in the national government.
    5. Opposition to the policies of Franklin Roosevelt led Southern voters to defect from the Democratic Party.
  3. Which of the following best describes the United States economy in the 1950s?
    1. An extended depression led to widespread unemployment.
    2. High inflation rates and an oil embargo led to stagnation in the economy.
    3. Government financing for education and homeownership supported economic growth.
    4. Businesses successfully lobbied the government to lessen regulation of corporate trusts.
    5. Technological innovations led to declining employment in manufacturing.
  4. A major goal of the Black Power movement in the 1960s was to
    1. assert African American control over civic and cultural institutions in African American neighborhoods
    2. empower church-affiliated African American civil rights organizations
    3. foster greater African American integration into predominately white suburban communities
    4. assist African Americans seeking vocational and industrial training
    5. encourage African American rights activists to form alliances with leaders of other rights movements
  5. Which of the following describes an important effect of John Dewey’s ideas on education in the early twentieth century United States?
    1. A focus on the mastery of facts and rote memorization in student learning
    2. The adoption of cultural relativism in the study of history and society
    3. The reinforcement of religious doctrine in science and philosophy
    4. A shift to experiential learning as central to educating citizens
    5. An emphasis on ethnic and racial integration in education
  6. A genre of popular entertainment that frequently provided an outlet for expressing fears about the Cold War in the 1950s was
    1. the Western
    2. science fiction
    3. rock and roll
    4. the variety show
    5. musical theater
  7. The Camp David Accords, brokered in 1978 by President Jimmy Carter, sought to resolve which of the following situations?
    1. Diplomatic strains with China
    2. Competing claims to the Suez Canal
    3. Conflict between Egypt and Israel
    4. Human rights abuses in Latin America
    5. Tensions with the Soviet Union over Afghanistan
  8. Which one of the following views was NOT a central element of Ronald Reagan’s political perspective?
    1. Government intervention in the economy should be reduced to encourage free enterprise.
    2. Job and skills training should be encouraged to lessen dependency on welfare programs.
    3. Defense spending should be reduced to spur economic growth.
    4. Labor unions should have less power in order to allow employers more flexibility.
    5. Tax rates should be lowered to maximize tax revenue and increase investment.

  9. Place the following events in the correct chronological order. Place the earliest event first.

    1. The Roe v. Wade decision
    2. The ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment
    3. The popularization of Rosie the Riveter
    4. The passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

     

  10. Which of the following was an important direct effect of the Compromise of 1877?
    1. Sharecropping and tenant farming spread throughout the Southern states.
    2. The former Confederate states recognized the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.
    3. The Democratic Party maintained control of the presidency for the next decade.
    4. The United States removed the last federal troops overseeing Reconstruction in the South.
    5. Railroad owners came to an agreement with workers on a nationwide strike

Answers

1) A   2) B   3) C   4) A   5) D   6) B   7) C   8) C   9) B, C, A, D   10) D

History of the United States II exam.

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