Forging the National Economy, 1790–1860

1. Chapter 14 Forging the National Economy, 1790–1860

2. Question All of the following beliefs characterized ecological imperialism EXCEPT • the wild, unspoiled character of the land, especially in the West, was deemed to be among the young nation’s defining attributes. • no other nation had the pristine, natural beauty of America, unspoiled by human hands and reminiscent of a time before civilization. • an appreciative attitude toward wilderness became a kind of national mystique, inspiring literature and painting, and eventually conservation. • the United States had a God-given right to conquer and settle the western frontier.

3. Answer All of the following beliefs characterized ecological imperialism EXCEPT • the wild, unspoiled character of the land, especially in the West, was deemed to be among the young nation’s defining attributes. • no other nation had the pristine, natural beauty of America, unspoiled by human hands and reminiscent of a time before civilization. • an appreciative attitude toward wilderness became a kind of national mystique, inspiring literature and painting, and eventually conservation. • the United States had a God-given right to conquer and settle the western frontier. (correct) Hint: See pages 307–308.

4. Question The Molly Maguires were a/an • anti-immigrant party centered in New England in the 1850s. • woman’s suffrage organization which emerged after Seneca Falls in 1848. • shadowy Irish miners’ union that rocked the Pennsylvania coal districts in the 1860s and 1870s. • nascent, quasi-Masonic order comprised of Scots-Irish frontiersmen who settled Texas in the 1830s.

5. Answer The Molly Maguires were a/an • anti-immigrant party centered in New England in the 1850s. • woman’s suffrage organization which emerged after Seneca Falls in 1848. • shadowy Irish miners’ union that rocked the Pennsylvania coal districts in the 1860s and 1870s. (correct) • nascent, quasi-Masonic order comprised of Scots-Irish frontiersmen who settled Texas in the 1830s. Hint: See page 311.

6. Question All of the following were true of the Irish in America EXCEPT • New York’s political machine Tammany Hall came to be dominated by immigrant Irish politicians. • Irishmen dominated police departments in many big cities. • Democratic politicians rejected the Irish vote, for fear of alienating their powerful, reform-minded evangelical Protestant constituency. • politicians often found it politically profitable to “twist the British lion’s tail” to appeal to anti-British feelings among Irish votes.

7. Answer All of the following were true of the Irish in America EXCEPT • New York’s political machine Tammany Hall came to be dominated by immigrant Irish politicians. • Irishmen dominated police departments in many big cities. • Democratic politicians rejected the Irish vote, for fear of alienating their powerful, reform-minded evangelical Protestant constituency. (correct) • politicians often found it politically profitable to “twist the British lion’s tail” to appeal to anti-British feelings among Irish votes. Hint: See page 311.

8. Question The Know-Nothing party’s primary purpose was to limit access to power and citizenship for • free blacks. • immigrants. • women. • Masons.

9. Answer The Know-Nothing party’s primary purpose was to limit access to power and citizenship for • free blacks. • immigrants. (correct) • women. • Masons. Hint: See page 314.

10. Question All of the following were true of the Cotton gin EXCEPT • Eli Whitney was told that the poverty of the South would be relieved if someone invented a device for separating seeds from short-staple cotton. • Whitney’s cotton gin was fifty times more effective than the handpicking process. • almost overnight, the raising of cotton became highly profitable, and the South was tied hand and foot to the throne of King Cotton. • slavery was already on the rise, and the cotton gin’s production of cotton cloth created a vibrant new slave market in the North.

11. Answer All of the following were true of the Cotton gin EXCEPT • Eli Whitney was told that the poverty of the South would be relieved if someone invented a device for separating seeds from short-staple cotton. • Whitney’s cotton gin was fifty times more effective than the handpicking process. • almost overnight, the raising of cotton became highly profitable, and the South was tied hand and foot to the throne of King Cotton. • slavery was already on the rise, and the cotton gin’s production of cotton cloth created a vibrant new slave market in the North. (correct) Hint: See page 318.

12. Question Limited liability was significant for all of the following reasons EXCEPT it • gave expansive rights to creditors in cases of legal claims or bankruptcy. • aided the concentration of capital by permitting the individual investor to risk no more than his own share of the corporation’s stock. • meant that businessmen could create corporations without applying for individual charters from the legislature. • revolutionized news gathering, diplomacy, and finance.

13. Answer Limited liability was significant for all of the following reasons EXCEPT it • gave expansive rights to creditors in cases of legal claims or bankruptcy. • aided the concentration of capital by permitting the individual investor to risk no more than his own share of the corporation’s stock. (correct) • meant that businessmen could create corporations without applying for individual charters from the legislature. • revolutionized news gathering, diplomacy, and finance. Hint: See page 321.

14. Question In Commonwealth v. Hunt, the Supreme Court ruled that • labor unions were not illegal conspiracies, provided that their methods were “honorable and peaceful.” • labor unions were illegal conspiracies, even if their methods were “honorable and peaceful.” • factories could not exploit female workers unless they guaranteed proper “moral education” for single women. • strikes were legalized overnight.

15. Answer In Commonwealth v. Hunt, the Supreme Court ruled that • labor unions were not illegal conspiracies, provided that their methods were “honorable and peaceful.” (correct) • labor unions were illegal conspiracies, even if their methods were “honorable and peaceful.” • factories could not exploit female workers unless they guaranteed proper “moral education” for single women. • strikes were legalized overnight. Hint: See page 324.

16. Question All of the following were true of the cult of domesticity EXCEPT • it was a widespread cultural creed that glorified the customary functions of the homemaker. • from their pedestal, married women commanded immense moral power, and they increasingly made decisions that altered the character of the family itself. • upon marriage, women left their paying jobs and took up their new work as wives and mothers. • parental “arrangement,” not love, more and more frequently determined the choice of a spouse.

17. Answer All of the following were true of the cult of domesticity EXCEPT • it was a widespread cultural creed that glorified the customary functions of the homemaker. • from their pedestal, married women commanded immense moral power, and they increasingly made decisions that altered the character of the family itself. • upon marriage, women left their paying jobs and took up their new work as wives and mothers. • parental “arrangement,” not love, more and more frequently determined the choice of a spouse. (correct) Hint: See page 325.

18. Question All of the following were true of the McCormick Reaper EXCEPT • it undermined the Southern cotton economy by introducing mass production of an alternative staple crop, which needed very little slave labor. • McCormick invented a mechanical reaper near his home in Virginia in 1831. • the reaper was best suited to the horizonless fields of wheat on the rolling prairies of the Midwest. • by the 1850s, McCormick’s Chicago factory was cranking out more than twenty thousand reapers a year for midwestern farmers.

19. Answer All of the following were true of the McCormick Reaper EXCEPT • it undermined the Southern cotton economy by introducing mass production of an alternative staple crop, which needed very little slave labor. (correct) • McCormick invented a mechanical reaper near his home in Virginia in 1831. • the reaper was best suited to the horizonless fields of wheat on the rolling prairies of the Midwest. • by the 1850s, McCormick’s Chicago factory was cranking out more than twenty thousand reapers a year for midwestern farmers. Hint: See page 328.

20. Question All of the following were true of the Erie Canal EXCEPT • New Yorkers dug the Erie Canal, with massive federal aid, in order to link the Great Lakes with the Hudson River. • New Yorkers were led by Governor DeWitt Clinton, whose grandiose project was scoffingly called “Clinton’s Big Ditch.” • the value of land along the route skyrocketed. • new cities, such as Rochester and Syracuse, blossomed as a result of the canal.

21. Answer All of the following were true of the Erie Canal EXCEPT • New Yorkers dug the Erie Canal, with massive federal aid, in order to link the Great Lakes with the Hudson River. (correct) • New Yorkers were led by Governor DeWitt Clinton, whose grandiose project was scoffingly called “Clinton’s Big Ditch.” • the value of land along the route skyrocketed. • new cities, such as Rochester and Syracuse, blossomed as a result of the canal. Hint: See pages 329–330.