The Homestead Act was passed in 1862 . However, only about 20 percent of newly-added farm land between 1870 and 1900 belonged to homesteads because
a. Americans were more interested in moving to cities than to homesteads.
b. the available land was best suited for grazing livestock, but 160-acre plots were too small to do so profitably.
c. a treaty between the U.S. government and Native Americans prevented homesteaders from acquiring most of the land.
d. homestead filing fees were gradually increased during this time period.
Question 2Which of the following pieces of legislation represents a liberalization of federal land policy?
a. The Homestead Act of 1862
b. The Desert Land Act of 1877
c. The Timber and Stone Act of 1878
d. All of the above are correct.
e. Only a and c are correct.
Question 3Which of the following statements correctly characterizes changes in farming and agriculture land during the period between 1870 and 1900?
a. The number of farms rose, but the number of acres under cultivation fell.
b. The number of farms fell, but the number of acres under cultivation rose.
c. The number of farms, as well as the number of acres under cultivation rose.
d. The number of farms, as well as the number of acres under cultivation fell.
Question 4Between 1870 and 1900, total land under cultivation
a. increased by roughly 25 percent
b. increased by roughly 50 percent.
c. more than doubled.
d. increased fourfold.
Question 5The abrupt end of long distance cattle drives in 1885 was primarily due to
a. the development of railroad cars that could haul cattle.
b. organized efforts by northern cattlemen to reduce overstocking of cattle on the northern ranges.
c. the advent of barbed wire fences.
d. a reduced demand for beef in both domestic and export markets.
Question 6What is the best description of Northern wages from 1860-1864?
a. A relatively large decrease in demand relative to the decrease in supply led to lower wages and fewer people working.
b. An increase in the demand for labor and decrease in the supply of labor led to lower wages and fewer people working.
c. Increases in both the demand and supply for labor led to more people employed who were working for about the same wages.
d. A decrease in the demand for labor coupled with an increase in the supply led to many fewer people working, but those who were employed worked for higher wages.
Question 7What Supreme Court case ruled separate education for blacks and whites was constitutional provided that it was equal?
a. Plessy vs. Ferguson
b. Munn vs. Illinois
c. The Dred Scott Case
d. Brown vs. Board of Education
Question 8The demise of debt peonage in the post-Civil War South was partly due to all of the following except:
a. the arrival of the boll weevil.
b. improved transportation and the growth of mail-order houses.
c. increased urbanization and industrialization.
d. federal land reform legislation that redistributed the ownership of southern land.
Question 9The most important factor in the demise of the debt peonage in the post-Civil War South was:
a. the impact of the boll weevil.
b. improved roads.
c. the automobile.
d. increased urbanization and industrialization.
Question 10Crop lien laws that existed in the South in the late 19th century:
a. allowed country stores to require debtors to repay their debts in cotton.
b. led to the under-production of cotton.
c. protected sharecroppers from exploitation by banks and other lending institutions.
d. redistributed property by providing small farms for freed slaves.
e. All of the above.
Question 11After the Civil War, many Southern farmers fell into a long-run spiral of debt caused by
a. the monopoly power of country stores.
b. the monopoly power of railroads.
c. excessive interest rates charged by banks.
d. carpetbaggers.
Question 12After the Civil War the southern sharecropper was often tied to the land by an economic system similar to although less onerous than slavery, and known as ______.
a. debt peonage
b. the labor redundancy system
c. immiserizing growth
d. the Sea Islands system
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