American History Final Exam

Question 1

Written by Francis Scott Key as a poem, became the national anthem in 1931.

Answer 1

The Star Spangled Banner

Question 2

The first constitution of the United States, lasted 1781-1787, was extremely weak.

Answer 2

The Articles of Confederation

Question 3

The American belief that it was the destiny of their nation to control all of North America.

Answer 3

Manifest destiny

Question 4

Secretary of the treasury under President Washington, helped to write the Federalist Papers.

Answer 4

Alexander Hamilton

Question 5

Commanding general of the Southern army during the Civil War.

Answer 5

Robert E. Lee

Question 6

The first state to secede from the Union.

Answer 6

South Carolina

Question 7

States that didn’t immediately join a side during the Civil War as they bordered both the North and South: VA, AR, TN, NC, DE, MD, KT, MO, WV.

Answer 7

Border states

Question 8

States that didn’t immediately join a side during the Civil War as they bordered both the North and South: VA, AR, TN, NC, DE, MD, KT, MO, WV.

Answer 8

Border states

Question 9

Led an anti-slavery revolt in Southampton, VA that killed 50 whites, including his enslaver’s family.

Answer 9

Nat Turner

Question 10

Created during Reconstruction to help freed Black Americans, started schools and provided food and clothing.

Answer 10

The Freedman’s Bureau

Question 11

President of the Confederacy.

Answer 11

Jefferson Davis

Question 12

1786, a farmer’s rebellion led by Daniel Shay that opposed high taxes on Massachusetts.

Answer 12

Shay’s Rebellion

Question 13

Northerners who supported the South in the Civil War.

Answer 13

Copperheads

Question 14

Became the 31st state in 1850 (free) because of the mass migration due to the gold rush.

Answer 14

California

Question 15

Pushed to near extinction by hunters who rode the new intercontinental railroad.

Answer 15

buffalo

Question 16

Resolved the issue of how slaves would be counted in a state’s population; decided that 3 of 5 would be counted.

Answer 16

Three-Fifths Compromise

Question 17

Black codes that were meant to keep freedmen second class citizens, declared constitutional by the Plessy vs. Ferguson case.

Answer 17

Jim Crow Laws

Question 18

The length of the Civil War.

Answer 18

1861-1865

Question 19

Paper money issued by the federal government during the Civil War to finance the Union war effort.

Answer 19

Greenbacks

Question 20

A machine invented by Eli Whitney in 1793 to rapidly separate cotton fibers from their seeds.

Answer 20

cotton gin

Question 21

US Constitution drafted at Independence Hall, PA in May of 1787.

Answer 21

Philadelphia

Question 22

1855–Kansas was allowed popular sovereignty, leading to conflict between northerners and southerners.

Answer 22

Bleeding Kansas

Question 23

A tax based on income; created by Lincoln in 1862 to help pay for the war’s expenses.

Answer 23

income tax

Question 24

Elected president in 1860, made the Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address, assassinated in 1865.

Answer 24

Abraham Lincoln

Question 25

1797–American diplomats were sent to France to negotiate but were approached by French agents demanding a bribe.

Answer 25

The XYZ Affair

Question 26

A pivotal but ultimately failed Confederate infantry assault during the Battle of Gettysburg.

Answer 26

Pickett's Charge

Question 27

Gold discovered in 1848, 49ers rushed to make it rich though many didn't, leading to California’s statehood in 1850.

Answer 27

California Gold Rush

Question 28

Where General Lee surrendered to General Grant, ending the Civil War on April 9, 1865.

Answer 28

Appomattox Courthouse

Question 29

A group of advisors established by George Washington to help govern.

Answer 29

presidential cabinet

Question 30

1868–Grants citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United States.

Answer 30

14th Amendment

Question 31

The Southern bombardment of this Union fort in April of 1861 signified the start of the Civil War.

Answer 31

Fort Sumter

Question 32

A group of American pioneers stranded in the Sierra Nevada mountains, resulting in cannibalism.

Answer 32

The Donner Party

Question 33

A Shoshone woman who played a critical role in the Lewis and Clark Expedition as an interpreter and guide.

Answer 33

Sacajawea

Question 34

Lands held in trust by the U.S. government for specific tribes.

Answer 34

reservations

Question 35

Shot President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater on April 14, 1865.

Answer 35

John Wilkes Booth

Question 36

The idea that diverse ethnic groups in America would assimilate into a single culture.

Answer 36

The Melting Pot

Question 37

Hate organizations that employed terror in pursuit of their white supremacist agenda.

Answer 37

Ku Klux Klan

Question 38

A conical bullet invented in 1849 that increased the accuracy and deadliness of rifled muskets.

Answer 38

Minie ball

Question 39

The first ten amendments of the U.S. Constitution, created to protect individual liberties.

Answer 39

Bill of Rights

Question 40

The capital of the Confederate States of America.

Answer 40

Richmond, Virginia

Question 41

Steam-powered, armored warships that revolutionized naval warfare.

Answer 41

ironclads

Question 42

An American abolitionist who created the Underground Railroad to help other slaves escape.

Answer 42

Harriet Tubman

Question 43

For $15 million, the U.S. acquired 828,000 square miles of land from France.

Answer 43

Louisiana Purchase

Question 44

The 18th president of the United States and commanding general who led the Union Army to victory.

Answer 44

Ulysses S. Grant

Question 45

Abolished slavery, ratified in December of 1865.

Answer 45

13th Amendment

Question 46

Mandated the return of escaped enslaved people to their owners, part of the Compromise of 1850.

Answer 46

Fugitive Slave Act

Question 47

A conflict between the US and GB primarily over British maritime rights.

Answer 47

The War of 1812

Question 48

Lincoln’s speech after the Battle of Gettysburg promoting freedom and equality.

Answer 48

Gettysburg Address

Question 49

Northerners who moved South after the Civil War.

Answer 49

Carpetbaggers

Question 50

A period of transformative technological and economic change in the U.S.

Answer 50

The Industrial Revolution

Question 51

An abolitionist novel that dramatized the experience of slavery.

Answer 51

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Question 52

The practice of publicly executing Black Americans without a real charge or trial.

Answer 52

lynching

Question 53

Formed by 11 Southern states that seceded from the United States.

Answer 53

Confederate States of America

Question 54

A social movement that promoted the abstinence of alcohol consumption.

Answer 54

The Temperate Movement

Question 55

A draft that forces men to serve in the military.

Answer 55

conscription

Question 56

A former slave and prominent abolitionist who played a significant role in the movement.

Answer 56

Fredrick Douglass

Question 57

A destructive Union military campaign aimed at crippling the Confederate war effort.

Answer 57

Sherman's March to the Sea

Question 58

A radical abolitionist known for his violent actions against slavery.

Answer 58

John Brown

Question 59

The period following the Civil War aimed at reuniting the nation and rebuilding the South.

Answer 59

Reconstruction

Question 60

Prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Answer 60

15th Amendment

Question 61

A formal process of bringing charges against a public official for wrongdoing.

Answer 61

impeachment

Question 62

A farming system where tenants paid for land use with a portion of harvested crops.

Answer 62

sharecropping

Question 63

The forced displacement of approximately 75,000 American Indians from their lands.

Answer 63

The Trail of Tears

Question 64

The Union plan to blockade Southern ports and control the Mississippi River.

Answer 64

Anaconda Plan

Question 65

A volunteer infantry regiment known for its courageous service during the Civil War.

Answer 65

The Massachusetts 54th