mid term 1

Question 1

What is a Poll Tax?

Answer 1

A fee required to vote; used in the South to prevent African Americans and poor whites from voting.

Question 2

What is a Grandfather Clause?

Answer 2

A law allowing people to vote only if their grandfathers had the right to vote; used to exclude Black voters.

Question 3

What are Jim Crow laws?

Answer 3

State and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the South after Reconstruction.

Question 4

What was the significance of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)?

Answer 4

Supreme Court case that upheld segregation, stating ‘separate but equal’ was constitutional.

Question 5

What is Lynching?

Answer 5

Killing someone, often by hanging, without a legal trial — used as a tool of racial terror in the U.S.

Question 6

What did the 13th Amendment accomplish?

Answer 6

Abolished slavery in the United States.

Question 7

What did the 14th Amendment guarantee?

Answer 7

Guaranteed citizenship and equal protection under the law to all people born or naturalized in the U.S.

Question 8

What did the 15th Amendment provide?

Answer 8

Gave African American men the right to vote.

Question 9

What was the 18th Amendment?

Answer 9

Banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol (Prohibition).

Question 10

What did the 19th Amendment achieve?

Answer 10

Gave women the right to vote (women’s suffrage).

Question 11

What is Child Labor?

Answer 11

The employment of children, often in dangerous or harsh conditions, especially in factories during the Industrial Revolution.

Question 12

What was the Homestead Strike (1892)?

Answer 12

A violent labor strike at Andrew Carnegie’s steel plant in Pennsylvania; resulted in deaths and weakened the union.

Question 13

What are Unions?

Answer 13

Organizations formed by workers to fight for better wages, working conditions, and hours.

Question 14

What is a Strike?

Answer 14

When workers stop working to demand better conditions or pay.

Question 15

What is a Muckraker?

Answer 15

A journalist who exposes corruption and social injustice (e.g., Upton Sinclair, Ida Tarbell).

Question 16

Who was Jane Addams?

Answer 16

Social reformer and founder of Hull House, which helped immigrants and the poor.

Question 17

Who were the Progressives?

Answer 17

Reformers who wanted to fix problems caused by industrialization, including poor working conditions, corruption, and inequality.

Question 18

What was Prohibition?

Answer 18

The nationwide ban on alcohol from 1920–1933 (18th Amendment).

Question 19

What is Reform?

Answer 19

A change made to improve society or correct injustices.

Question 20

What is a Restriction?

Answer 20

A limitation or rule, often placed to control behavior or access (e.g., immigration restrictions).

Question 21

What is Suffrage?

Answer 21

The right to vote.

Question 22

What is Temperance?

Answer 22

A movement to limit or ban alcohol consumption.

Question 23

What is a Referendum?

Answer 23

A vote by the people on a proposed law.

Question 24

What is an Initiative?

Answer 24

A process where citizens can propose new laws.

Question 25

What is a Recall?

Answer 25

A process to remove an elected official from office before their term ends.

Question 26

What is a Political Machine?

Answer 26

A corrupt political organization that controls votes and elections in a city or region.

Question 27

What is a Kickback?

Answer 27

Illegal payments or bribes, often part of corrupt political deals.

Question 28

What is Laissez-faire?

Answer 28

An economic policy where the government has little or no interference in business.

Question 29

Who was Upton Sinclair?

Answer 29

Muckraker who wrote The Jungle, exposing unsafe conditions in the meatpacking industry.

Question 30

Who was Ida Tarbell?

Answer 30

Muckraker who exposed the unfair practices of Standard Oil and its monopoly.

Question 31

What was the Progressive Movement?

Answer 31

A period of widespread social activism and political reform from the 1890s to the 1920s.

Question 32

What is the System of Checks and Balances?

Answer 32

A system that ensures no branch of government (executive, legislative, judicial) becomes too powerful. Each can check the powers of the others.

Question 33

Who was Thomas Edison?

Answer 33

Invented the electric light bulb. Rival of Nikola Tesla; disagreed with Tesla over direct current (DC) vs alternating current (AC).

Question 34

Who was Andrew Carnegie?

Answer 34

Industrialist who led the expansion of the steel industry and promoted philanthropy (Gospel of Wealth).

Question 35

Who was Alexander Graham Bell?

Answer 35

Invented the telephone in 1885, which revolutionized communication.

Question 36

Why did children work in factories?

Answer 36

Because they could be paid less and fit into small spaces; families needed the income.

Question 37

What is the Bessemer Process?

Answer 37

A method for making steel quickly and cheaply by blasting hot air through melted iron. It revolutionized construction and industry.

Question 38

What kind of organization did workers join?

Answer 38

Labor Unions, to demand better wages, hours, and conditions.

Question 39

What happened to Native Americans as settlers moved west?

Answer 39

They were sent to reservations — land set aside by the government, often poor in resources.

Question 40

What led to government regulation of business?

Answer 40

Dangerous working conditions, monopolies, and public pressure from muckrakers and reformers.

Question 41

How did southern states keep African Americans from political power?

Answer 41

Through Jim Crow laws, poll taxes, literacy tests, and the grandfather clause.

Question 42

What was the result of the Spanish-American War?

Answer 42

The U.S. gained territories like Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, becoming a world power.

Question 43

What does imperialism involve?

Answer 43

A stronger nation controls or dominates the political, economic, or cultural life of a weaker nation or region.

Question 44

What did many Progressives believe about major companies?

Answer 44

They believed the government should regulate or control large companies to prevent abuse.

Question 45

What should the government do about unfair business practices?

Answer 45

Regulate and pass laws to protect workers and consumers.

Question 46

Where did The Jungle take place?

Answer 46

Chicago, in the meatpacking district. It exposed horrible conditions for both workers and food safety.

Question 47

What is a Muckraker?

Answer 47

A journalist or writer who exposed corruption, poverty, and other societal problems to push for reform.