1750-1914 Practice Questions

Which of the following statements about slavery in the 19th C is false.

A. Cuba was one of the last American nations to abolish slavery.

B. Denmark was one of the first European nations to abolish the slave trade.

C. England’s naval power was used to restrict the slave trade.

D. By the end of the 19th C slavery was entirely abolished.

E. Russia abolished serfdom in 1861.

Which of the following statements about the Industrial Revolution in the 19th C is FALSE?

A. Worker satisfaction diminished as jobs became repetitive, unskilled, and dangerous.

B. It reduced differences between the social classes.

C. Women and children were desired in the labor force because of their subservience and size.

D. It contributed to a dramatic change or even breakdown of family and village life.

E. It triggered an economic expansion.

In the cartoon above who is trying to join this club?

A. China

B. Japan

C. Korea

D. Manchuria

E. Siam

Which of the following descriptions best illustrates what kind of "club" this is?

A. Imperialist

B. Syncretic

C. Liberal

D. Totalitarian

E. Conservative

25. Of the following regions, which defied the common pattern of growing Western domination in the nineteenth century?

A. The Ottoman Empire

B. Latin America

C. Africa

D. India

E. Russia and Japan

By the outbreak of World War I, which of the following African nations remained free?

A. Chad and Algeria

B. Liberia and Nigeria

C. Algeria and Ethiopia

D. Ethiopia and Liberia

E. Nigeria and Chad

Which of the following statements about India under British control is false?

A. It was a geographic expression rather than a unified culture.

B. It was divided by historic animosities between Hindus and Muslims.

C. Several hundred thousand British controlled millions of the Indians.

D. Labor was so necessary, that workers were not sent as coolies overseas.

E. Its agricultural production increased while industrial output decreased.

Which of the following is an accurate description of political reform in Asia in the late 19th C and early 20th C?

A. Japan’s Meiji Restoration aimed at reforming and modernizing the country using traditional Shinto methods.

B. Muhammad Ali modernized Egypt without help of European advisors or experts.

C. Iran’s Constitutional Revolution tried to free it from foreign manipulation by writing a code of laws.

D. Mongkut and Chulalongkorn modernized Siam with aid from the Japanese.

E. The Tanzimat reforms of the Ottoman Empire aimed to liberalize the economy but keep society the same.

Which of the following statements about Latin America in the late 19th C is false?

A. Caudillos established dictatorships in many nations.

B. Economic booms were fueled by the export of raw materials.

C. Large landholders and urban businessmen prospered at the cost of the indigenous population and former slaves.

D. Economic dependency and manipulation by western nations was avoided.

E. Most attempts at political consolidation and union failed.

26. Which of the following statements concerning the development of Russia and Japan to 1900 is accurate?

A. Neither Russia nor Japan successfully industrialized prior to 1914.

B. Japan and Russia achieved economic autonomy, but failed to participate in the colonial scramble for power.

C. Russia and Japan not only industrialized by World War I, but also achieved parity with the West's economic core position in the world trade network.

D. Both Russia and Japan had programs of industrialization underway by 1914, and had some imperial activity.

E. Both staunchly resisted the Western push toward industrialization.

Base your answers to questions 48 and 49 on the passage below and on your knowledge of World History.

“It was a town of red brick, or of brick that would have been red if the smoke and ashes had allowed it; but as matters stood it was a town of unnatural red and black like the painted face of a savage. It was a town of machinery and tall chimneys, out of which interminable serpents of smoke trailed themselves for ever and ever, and never got uncoiled. It had a black canal in it, and a river that ran purple with ill-smelling dye. . . .” — Charles Dickens, Hard Times

48. The author of this passage is describing conditions caused by the

1. Commercial Revolution.
2. French Revolution.
3. Industrial Revolution.
4. Scientific Revolution.
5. Russian Revolution.

49. Which problem is the subject of this passage?

1. Economic inequality.
2. Urban pollution.
3. Lack of child labor laws.
4. Poor transportation systems.
5. Lack of unions.

63. Which of the following statements concerning the impact of the West on other civilizations is most accurate?

A. By the end of the nineteenth century, the West was the primary cause of the destruction of many global civilizations.

B. The West, dating back to the ancient world, had always been the primary cause of the destruction of other global civilizations.

C. Despite the growth of scientific knowledge and military technology through the nineteenth century, nomadic peoples continued to be the primary cause of the fall of civilizations.

D. While the West had a clearly demonstrable impact on Islam and China by the nineteenth century, the other global civilizations declined as a result of the incursion of other peoples.

E. Other civilizations were quick to Westernize.

77. Which of the following was not a problem that plagued Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and South and Southeast Asia?

a. Both native and foreign financial interests adopted an anti-free-trade policy.

b. Wealth was concentrated in the hands of a small group of people.

c. They were too reliant on one crop.

d. Foreign investors owned and controlled the plantations.

e. They depended too heavily on exporting primary products with no industrialization.

76. Canada, Argentina, Uruguay, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand

a. remained backward economically because they relied entirely on exporting primary goods.

b. industrialized and eventually out-produced and out-competed the western Europeans.

c. exported primary goods but also underwent economic development and industrialization.

d. never industrialized.

e. relied on a socialist mode.

42. Which of the following was a reason that England was the first country to industrialize?

A. It lacked river transportation network.

B. It had no political or economic stability.

C. It had failed to increase its agricultural productivity through enclosures.

D. It was already heavily urbanized.

E. It had access to natural resources like coal necessary for industrialization.

43. During the nineteenth century,

F. the Atlantic slave trade reached its peak.

G. almost 80 percent of the total number of slaves exported left Africa.

H. the British established sole control over the export of slaves from Africa.

I. slavery was under attack, but the volume of trade to Cuba and Brazil remained high.

J. all Atlantic slave areas experienced increasing slave populations due to high levels of slave fertility.

47. Which of the following states was the least multiethnic and multicultural in the nineteenth century?

A. Ottoman.

B. Tokugawa.

C. Qing.

D. United States of America.

E. Russian.

52. Which of the following is an accurate statement regarding ecological changes in the time period from 1750-1914?

A. Industrialization affected cities by causing a decrease in population and pollution.

B. Droughts magnified the impact of market forces.

C. Industrializing lands experienced ecological degradation for the first time ever.

D. The cultivation of tea and rubber drastically changed the countryside of places like Russia and Canada.

E. Environmental conditions like those seen in El Niño were not yet detected by the available technology.

60. “If there are any Southern barbarians who propagate the teachings of the [Christian] priests, or otherwise commit crimes, they may be incarcerated in the prison…” Which government might have said this during the 18th to early 19th C?

A. Mauryan India

B. Yuan China

C. Tudor England

D. Tokugawa Shogunate

E. Moorish Spain

57. Which of the following is an example of nationalism in the 19th C?

1. Latin American independence movements.
2. Bismarck’s plan to unite most British-speaking people into a single state.
3. The new French National Identity movement.
4. The Zionist movement to establish a Jewish homeland in China.
5. Spain’s unification into a nation-state under Garibaldi’s leadership.

“Your honorable nation takes away the products of our Central Land, and not only do you thereby obtain food and support for yourselves, but moreover, by reselling these products to other countries you reap a threefold profit. Now if you would only not sell opium, this threefold profit would be secured to you: how can you possibly consent to forego it for a drug that is hurtful to men, and an unbridled craving after gain that seems to know no bounds!”

35. The quotation above comes from an 1839 letter addressed

A. to the president of the United States from a Filipino nationalist.

B. to the Ottoman sultan from a Russian minister.

C. to the king of Portugal from a Indian raja.

D. to the king of the Netherlands from a Burmese noble.

E. to the British monarch from a Chinese official.

“Famine seems to be the last, the most dreadful resource of nature. The power of population is so superior to the power in the earth to provide subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race. . . .” — Thomas Malthus, “Essay on Population,” 1798

37. The prediction above proved to be wrong in part because of increases in

1. ethnic cleansing.
2. farm productivity.
3. the number of wars.
4. the number of droughts.

20. Which of the following best describes the impact imperialism had on colonized women?

A. Everywhere it reduced women to virtual slaves.

B. It released women from some burdens, but produced others.

C. Everywhere it greatly enhanced women’s status and well-being.

D. It reinforced all cultural norms and kept women in their traditional roles.

E. It generally had no impact on women at all.

.

PRACTICE TEST QUESTIONS FOR 1750-1914 ERA TEST

Which of the following statements about slavery in the 19th C is false.

F. Cuba was one of the last American nations to abolish slavery.

G. Denmark was one of the first European nations to abolish the slave trade.

H. England’s naval power was used to restrict the slave trade.

I. By the end of the 19th C slavery was entirely abolished.

J. Russia abolished serfdom in 1861.

Which of the following statements about the Industrial Revolution in the 19th C is FALSE?

F. Worker satisfaction diminished as jobs became repetitive, unskilled, and dangerous.

G. It reduced differences between the social classes.

H. Women and children were desired in the labor force because of their subservience and size.

I. It contributed to a dramatic change or even breakdown of family and village life.

J. It triggered an economic expansion.

2. The artwork shown above most likely is from which period?

F. Baroque.

G. Neo-Classical.

H. Romantic.

I. Impressionism.

J. Post-Impressionism.

7. Which of the following societies did not create or unify their peoples into a nation or new identity during the 19th and early 20th C.?

1. The Zulus of South Africa.
2. Bismarck’s Germany.
3. Meiji Japan.
4. Cavour’s Italy.
5. Toussaint’s Haiti.

6. What Western intellectual would have endorsed the following statement? "History is shaped by the available means of production and who controlled them leading to inevitable class conflict."

A) Kari Marx

B) Vladimir Lenin

C) John Locke

D) Adam Smith

E) Sigmund Freud

Which of the following is not an accurate portrayal of responses to foreign domination in the 19th C?

F. Reforms and industrialization by the Russian czars.

G. Defensive modernization by Siam and Ethiopia.

H. The Boxer and Taiping Rebellions in China.

I. Japan’s isolationism under Meiji rule.

J. The Tanzimat reforms in the Ottoman Empire.

Joining the club

In the cartoon above who is trying to join this club?

F. China

G. Japan

H. Korea

I. Manchuria

J. Siam

Which of the following descriptions best illustrates what kind of "club" this is?

F. Imperialist

G. Syncretic

H. Liberal

I. Totalitarian

J. Conservative

25. Of the following regions, which defied the common pattern of growing Western domination in the nineteenth century?

K. the Ottoman Empire

L. Latin America

M. Africa

N. India

O. Russia and Japan

By the outbreak of World War I, which of the following African nations remained free?

F. Chad and Algeria

G. Liberia and Nigeria

H. Algeria and Ethiopia

I. Ethiopia and Liberia

J. Nigeria and Chad

Which of the following statements about India under British control is false?

F. It was a geographic expression rather than a unified culture.

G. It was divided by historic animosities between Hindus and Muslims.

H. Several hundred thousand British controlled millions of the Indians.

I. Labor was so necessary, that workers were not sent as coolies overseas.

J. Its agricultural production increased while industrial output decreased.

Which of the following is an accurate description of political reform in Asia in the late 19th C and early 20th C?

F. Japan’s Meiji Restoration aimed at reforming and modernizing the country using traditional Shinto methods.

G. Muhammad Ali modernized Egypt without help of European advisors or experts.

H. Iran’s Constitutional Revolution tried to free it from foreign manipulation by writing a code of laws.

I. Mongkut and Chulalongkorn modernized Siam with aid from the Japanese.

J. The Tanzimat reforms of the Ottoman Empire aimed to liberalize the economy but keep society the same.

Which of the following statements about Latin America in the late 19th C is false?

F. Caudillos established dictatorships in many nations.

G. Economic booms were fueled by the export of raw materials.

H. Large landholders and urban businessmen prospered at the cost of the indigenous population and former slaves.

I. Economic dependency and manipulation by western nations was avoided.

J. Most attempts at political consolidation and union failed.

26. Which of the following statements concerning the development of Russia and Japan to 1900 is accurate?

F. Neither Russia nor Japan successfully industrialized prior to 1914.

G. Japan and Russia achieved economic autonomy, but failed to participate in the colonial scramble for power.

H. Russia and Japan not only industrialized by World War I, but also achieved parity with the West's economic core position in the world trade network.

I. Both Russia and Japan had programs of industrialization underway by 1914, and had some imperial activity.

J. Both staunchly resisted the Western push toward industrialization.

Base your answers to questions 48 and 49 on the passage below and on your knowledge of World History.

“It was a town of red brick, or of brick that would have been red if the smoke and ashes had allowed it; but as matters stood it was a town of unnatural red and black like the painted face of a savage. It was a town of machinery and tall chimneys, out of which interminable serpents of smoke trailed themselves for ever and ever, and never got uncoiled. It had a black canal in it, and a river that ran purple with ill-smelling dye. . . .” — Charles Dickens, Hard Times

48. The author of this passage is describing conditions caused by the

1. Commercial Revolution.
2. French Revolution.
3. Industrial Revolution.
4. Scientific Revolution.
5. Russian Revolution.

49. Which problem is the subject of this passage?

1. Economic inequality.
2. Urban pollution.
3. Lack of child labor laws.
4. Poor transportation systems.
5. Lack of unions.

63. Which of the following statements concerning the impact of the West on other civilizations is most accurate?

F. By the end of the nineteenth century, the West was the primary cause of the destruction of many global civilizations.

G. The West, dating back to the ancient world, had always been the primary cause of the destruction of other global civilizations.

H. Despite the growth of scientific knowledge and military technology through the nineteenth century, nomadic peoples continued to be the primary cause of the fall of civilizations.

I. While the West had a clearly demonstrable impact on Islam and China by the nineteenth century, the other global civilizations declined as a result of the incursion of other peoples.

J. Other civilizations were quick to Westernize.

77. Which of the following was not a problem that plagued Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and South and Southeast Asia?

a. Both native and foreign financial interests adopted an anti-free-trade policy.

b. Wealth was concentrated in the hands of a small group of people.

c. They were too reliant on one crop.

d. Foreign investors owned and controlled the plantations.

e. They depended too heavily on exporting primary products with no industrialization.

76. Canada, Argentina, Uruguay, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand

a. remained backward economically because they relied entirely on exporting primary goods.

b. industrialized and eventually out-produced and out-competed the western Europeans.

c. exported primary goods but also underwent economic development and industrialization.

d. never industrialized.

e. relied on a socialist mode.

42. Which of the following was a reason that England was the first country to industrialize?

F. It lacked river transportation network.

G. It had no political or economic stability.

H. It had failed to increase its agricultural productivity through enclosures.

I. It was already heavily urbanized.

J. It had access to natural resources like coal necessary for industrialization.

43. During the nineteenth century,

P. the Atlantic slave trade reached its peak.

Q. almost 80 percent of the total number of slaves exported left Africa.

R. the British established sole control over the export of slaves from Africa.

S. slavery was under attack, but the volume of trade to Cuba and Brazil remained high.

T. all Atlantic slave areas experienced increasing slave populations due to high levels of slave fertility.

47. Which of the following states was the least multiethnic and multicultural in the nineteenth century?

F. Ottoman.

G. Tokugawa.

H. Qing.

I. United States of America.

J. Russian.

52. Which of the following is an accurate statement regarding ecological changes in the time period from 1750-1914?

F. Industrialization affected cities by causing a decrease in population and pollution.

G. Droughts magnified the impact of market forces.

H. Industrializing lands experienced ecological degradation for the first time ever.

I. The cultivation of tea and rubber drastically changed the countryside of places like Russia and Canada.

J. Environmental conditions like those seen in El Niño were not yet detected by the available technology.

60. “If there are any Southern barbarians who propagate the teachings of the [Christian] priests, or otherwise commit crimes, they may be incarcerated in the prison…” Which government might have said this during the 18th to early 19th C?

F. Mauryan India

G. Yuan China

H. Tudor England

I. Tokugawa Shogunate

J. Moorish Spain

57. Which of the following is an example of nationalism in the 19th C?

1. Latin American independence movements.
2. Bismarck’s plan to unite most British-speaking people into a single state.
3. The new French National Identity movement.
4. The Zionist movement to establish a Jewish homeland in China.
5. Spain’s unification into a nation-state under Garibaldi’s leadership.

“Your honorable nation takes away the products of our Central Land, and not only do you thereby obtain food and support for yourselves, but moreover, by reselling these products to other countries you reap a threefold profit. Now if you would only not sell opium, this threefold profit would be secured to you: how can you possibly consent to forego it for a drug that is hurtful to men, and an unbridled craving after gain that seems to know no bounds!”

35. The quotation above comes from an 1839 letter addressed

F. to the president of the United States from a Filipino nationalist.

G. to the Ottoman sultan from a Russian minister.

H. to the king of Portugal from a Indian raja.

I. to the king of the Netherlands from a Burmese noble.

J. to the British monarch from a Chinese official.

“Famine seems to be the last, the most dreadful resource of nature. The power of population is so superior to the power in the earth to provide subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race. . . .” — Thomas Malthus, “Essay on Population,” 1798

37. The prediction above proved to be wrong in part because of increases in

1. ethnic cleansing.
2. farm productivity.
3. the number of wars.
4. the number of droughts.

20. Which of the following best describes the impact imperialism had on colonized women?

F. Everywhere it reduced women to virtual slaves.

G. It released women from some burdens, but produced others.

H. Everywhere it greatly enhanced women’s status and well-being.

I. It reinforced all cultural norms and kept women in their traditional roles.

J. It generally had no impact on women at all.