US History CLEP

What was the agricultural basis for the large populations of Southwest Native American societies like the Pueblo?

"Maize (corn) agriculture, which created a surplus."

The arrival of what animal post-Columbian Exchange, transformed Great Plains Native societies into mobile bison-hunting cultures?

The horse.

What powerful political alliance in the Northeast was matrilineal and lived in longhouses?

The Iroquois Confederacy.

"What were the three primary motivations for European exploration

often summarized as the '3 Gs'?","Gold (economic wealth), God (spreading Christianity), and Glory (national competition)."

"The transfer of plants

animals, diseases, and technology between the Old World and the New World is known as the _____.",Columbian Exchange.

What was the most devastating impact of the Columbian Exchange on Native American populations?

"The introduction of Old World diseases like smallpox, leading to a demographic collapse of up to 90%."

The introduction of which two New World crops led to massive population growth in Europe?

Maize (corn) and potatoes.

What Spanish colonial institution granted settlers the right to Native American labor in exchange for Christianizing them?

The Encomienda System.

What was the name of the rigid social hierarchy in the Spanish colonies based on race and birthplace?

The Spanish Caste (Casta) System.

Who argued that Native Americans were inferior and that their conquest was justified in a famous debate?

Juan de Sepúlveda.

Who was the Spanish priest who opposed the mistreatment of Native Americans and advocated for their rights?

Bartolomé de las Casas.

"What was the most successful Native American uprising in North America

which drove the Spanish out of New Mexico for 12 years?",The Pueblo Revolt (1680).

What was the primary economic focus of the French colonies in North America?

"The fur trade, which led to partnerships with Native Americans."

Which English colonial region was characterized by a tobacco-based plantation economy and an early reliance on indentured servants?

The Chesapeake (Virginia and Maryland).

What event in 1676 marked a major turning point causing the Chesapeake colonies to shift from indentured servitude to African chattel slavery?

Bacon's Rebellion.

What was the first representative assembly in the English colonies established in Virginia in 1619?

The House of Burgesses.

Maryland was founded by Lord Baltimore as a refuge for which religious group?

Catholics.

What was the primary motivation for the founding of the New England colonies?

Religious freedom for Puritans seeking to create a 'city upon a hill'.

"Who was banished from Massachusetts Bay for advocating for the separation of church and state

and subsequently founded Rhode Island?",Roger Williams.

What devastating 1676 conflict ended major Native American resistance in New England?

King Philip's War.

Which colonial region was known as the 'breadbasket' for its production of wheat and oats and had the most ethnic and religious diversity?

The Middle Colonies.

Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn as a haven for which religious group that valued religious toleration and fair treatment of Natives?

Quakers.

The economy of the Southern colonies (like South Carolina) and the West Indies was heavily reliant on large plantations and African slavery to produce cash crops like _____ and _____.

"Rice, indigo, and sugar."

What was the brutal transatlantic voyage that brought enslaved Africans to the Americas as part of the Triangular Trade?

The Middle Passage.

The _____ were racist legal codes that stripped enslaved people of their rights and made slavery a hereditary institution.

Slave Codes.

What major slave uprising in South Carolina in 1739 demonstrated a form of armed resistance to slavery?

The Stono Rebellion.

What was the religious revival in the 1730s-1740s that emphasized emotional preaching and challenged traditional church authority?

The First Great Awakening.

"Who was a key figure of the Great Awakening known for his sermon 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God'?"

Jonathan Edwards.

What series of British laws enforced mercantilism by requiring colonies to trade primarily with England?

The Navigation Acts.

"What term describes Britain's pre-1763 policy of loosely enforcing laws which allowed colonial assemblies to gain power and autonomy?

Salutary Neglect.

What was the primary cause of the French and Indian War (1754-1763)?

Competition between Britain and France over the Ohio River Valley.

"What British policy enacted after the French and Indian War, banned colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains?"

The Proclamation of 1763.

"What was the first direct tax imposed on the American colonists by Parliament requiring a tax on all printed materials?"

The Stamp Act (1765).

"What was the most effective method of colonial resistance to British taxes such as the Stamp Act and Townshend Acts?"

Boycotts of British goods.

In response to the Boston Tea Party Parliament passed the _____, which closed the port of Boston and reduced Massachusetts' self-government.

Coercive (Intolerable) Acts.

"What influential pamphlet by Thomas Paine argued for independence in clear simple language?"

Common Sense.

Which battle in the American Revolution served as the turning point by convincing France to form an alliance with the United States?

The Battle of Saratoga (1777).

What was the final major battle of the American Revolution where the British army surrendered?

The Battle of Yorktown (1881).

What law passed under the Articles of Confederation established rules for creating new states and banned slavery in the Northwest Territory?

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787.

"What 1786 uprising of Massachusetts farmers revealed the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation particularly its inability to maintain order?"

Shays' Rebellion.

The _____ at the Constitutional Convention created a bicameral legislature with a House based on population and a Senate with equal representation.

Great Compromise.

What compromise determined how enslaved people would be counted for purposes of representation and taxation?

The 3/5 Compromise.

"Those who supported the ratification of the new Constitution like Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, were known as _____."

Federalists.

What was added to the Constitution to appease Anti-Federalists who feared a strong central government would infringe on individual liberties?

The Bill of Rights.

What part of Alexander Hamilton's financial plan led to the formation of the first political parties?

The proposal to create a National Bank.

What 1794 event demonstrated the new federal government's power to enforce its laws when Washington sent troops to suppress a revolt over an excise tax?

The Whiskey Rebellion.

"In his Farewell Address George Washington warned against two things: entangling alliances and _____."

Political parties.

What controversial laws passed during John Adams' presidency restricted criticism of the government and targeted immigrants?

The Alien and Sedition Acts (1798).

"In response to the Alien and Sedition Acts Jefferson and Madison drafted the _____, which argued that states could nullify unconstitutional federal laws."

Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions.

Why is the election of 1800 often called the 'Revolution of 1800'?

It marked the first peaceful transfer of power between opposing political parties (Federalists to Democratic-Republicans).

The Supreme Court case _____ established the principle of judicial review.

Marbury v. Madison (1803).

"What 1803 land deal negotiated by Thomas Jefferson, doubled the size of the United States?"

The Louisiana Purchase.

What was the main cause of the War of 1812?

British impressment of U.S. sailors and the arming of Native Americans.

Henry Clay's 'American System' was an economic plan based on what three pillars?

"A protective tariff, a national bank, and internal improvements (roads/canals)."

"The Supreme Court case _____ affirmed that the federal government not states, regulates interstate commerce."

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824).

"What 1820 agreement admitted Missouri as a slave state Maine as a free state, and drew a line at 36°30′ for future territories?"

The Missouri Compromise.

What U.S. foreign policy statement declared the Western Hemisphere closed to further European colonization?

The Monroe Doctrine (1823).

Andrew Jackson's practice of rewarding his political supporters with government jobs was known as the _____.

Spoils System.

"What crisis erupted when South Carolina led by John C. Calhoun, declared the 'Tariff of Abominations' unconstitutional and threatened to secede?"

The Nullification Crisis.

"Andrew Jackson's veto of the _____ led him to move federal funds into state-level 'pet banks' contributing to the Panic of 1837."

Second Bank of the U.S.

"What 1830 law championed by Andrew Jackson, led to the forced removal of Native American tribes from the Southeast on the 'Trail of Tears'?"

The Indian Removal Act.

"What man-made waterway completed in 1825 connected the Great Lakes to New York City sparking a boom in trade and western settlement?"

The Erie Canal.

What system of labor in early textile mills primarily employed young unmarried women?

The Lowell System.

A surge of Irish and German immigration in the mid-19th century led to the rise of _____ an anti-immigrant sentiment embodied by the Know-Nothing Party

Nativism.

Who led the movement for public school reform in the 19th century?

Horace Mann.

Who was the key reformer for improving the treatment of the mentally ill and reforming prisons?

Dorothea Dix.

The _____ in 1848 organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, issued the Declaration of Sentiments, marking the start of the women's rights movement.

Seneca Falls Convention.

The invention of the _____ by Eli Whitney in 1793 dramatically increased the demand for slave labor in the South.

Cotton Gin.

What violent 1831 slave uprising led to harsher slave codes and increased fear in the South?

Nat Turner's Rebellion.

What was the 19th-century belief that the U.S. was destined by God to expand its territory to the Pacific Ocean?

Manifest Destiny.

The Mexican-American War (1846-1848) resulted in the U.S. acquiring a vast territory known as the _____.

Mexican Cession.

What failed proposal sought to ban slavery in all territories acquired from the Mexican-American War?

The Wilmot Proviso.

One part of the Compromise of 1850 was the _____ which angered Northerners by requiring them to assist in the capture and return of escaped slaves.

Fugitive Slave Act.

What 1854 law repealed the Missouri Compromise line and allowed slavery in new territories to be decided by popular sovereignty?

The Kansas-Nebraska Act.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act led to violent clashes between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers in a conflict known as _____.

Bleeding Kansas.

What 1857 Supreme Court decision ruled that African Americans were not citizens and that Congress could not ban slavery in the territories?

The Dred Scott Decision.

What abolitionist became a martyr for the cause after his 1859 raid on a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry?

John Brown.

The election of _____ in 1860 on a platform of preventing the expansion of slavery was the immediate cause of Southern secession.

Abraham Lincoln.

"What was the strategic turning point of the Civil War in the East after which the Confederacy could not launch another major offensive?"

The Battle of Gettysburg (1863).

Issued after the Battle of Antietam the _____ freed slaves only in the states in rebellion and changed the purpose of the Civil War.

Emancipation Proclamation.

"The Union victory at _____ in 1863 gave them control of the Mississippi River splitting the Confederacy in two.

Vicksburg.

Which amendment abolished slavery throughout the United States?

The 13th Amendment.

"Which amendment granted citizenship due process, and equal protection under the law to all persons born in the U.S.?

The 14th Amendment.

Which amendment granted suffrage to African American men?

The 15th Amendment.

"What federal agency was created during Reconstruction to provide aid education, and labor contracts for freed slaves and poor whites?

The Freedmen's Bureau.

What were the restrictive laws passed by Southern states immediately after the Civil War to control the labor and behavior of newly freed African Americans?

Black Codes.

What agricultural system trapped many freedmen and poor whites in a cycle of debt to landowners?

Sharecropping.

What event officially ended Reconstruction by removing federal troops from the South in exchange for a Republican presidency?

The Compromise of 1877.

"Who saved the Jamestown colony with his disciplined leadership and the rule 'He who will not work shall not eat'?"

John Smith.

"Who introduced a profitable strain of tobacco to Virginia ensuring its economic survival?"

John Rolfe.

John Winthrop was the governor of Massachusetts Bay and famously described the Puritan colony as a '_____'.

City upon a hill.

"As the most important Chief Justice _____ established the principle of judicial review in 'Marbury v. Madison'.

John Marshall.

"Who wrote 'Walden' and the essay 'Civil Disobedience' making him a leading Transcendentalist thinker?"

Henry David Thoreau.

The Liberator was an influential abolitionist newspaper published by _____.

William Lloyd Garrison.

What novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe dramatically increased Northern anti-slavery sentiment?

Uncle Tom's Cabin.

What was the name of the art movement that focused on painting majestic American landscapes and celebrated nature?

The Hudson River School.

Who was the Union general who led the destructive 'March to the Sea' employing a total war strategy?

William T. Sherman.

"Who were the Northerners who moved south during Reconstruction often for political or economic gain?"

Carpetbaggers.

Who were the Southern whites who supported the Republican party and Reconstruction policies?

Scalawags.