All SAT II US History Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Facts And Details In U.S. Economic History From 1899 To The Present
The American inventor, Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931), was known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park" for his 1,093 US Patents. Which of the following did Edison NOT invent?
Motion Picture Camera
The internal combustion engine
A long-lasting electric light bulb
Mimeograph
Phonograph
The internal combustion engine
Belgian engineer, Étienne Lenoir, is generally credited with having invented the first commercially viable internal combustion engine.
Example Question #2 : Facts And Details In U.S. Economic History From 1899 To The Present
Convicted of a double-homocide during an armed robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts. in 1920, these two anarchist Italian immigrants were executed. In 1977, they had their reputations post-humously reformed by Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis on the grounds that their trial was marred by anti-immigrant sentiment and prejudice toward the Italians' anarchism. Who were these anarchists?
Sacco and Vanzetti
Leopold and Loeb
Cafiero and Malatesta
Bookchin and Meltzer
Galleani and Buda
Sacco and Vanzetti
Ferdinando Nicola Sacco (b. April 22, 1891) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (b. June 11, 1888) were convicted of murder and executed on August 23, 1927.
Example Question #3 : Facts And Details In U.S. Economic History From 1899 To The Present
Which of the following was NOT a key component of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal?
The New Deal was a widespread series of government programs undertaken by Roosevelt when he became President to boost the American economy during the depths of the Great Recession. In general, the programs sought to expand government’s role in the economy, making the answer about lowering taxes the only answer choice that does not fit in as a New Deal program.
Example Question #4 : Facts And Details In U.S. Economic History From 1899 To The Present
In March of 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt made his first radio broadcast from the White House, later known as "fireside chats," to .
explain the New Deal programs to the public.
gain moral support of the country for his new initiatives.
explain his reasoning for closing U.S. Banks for a few days.
ask the public to refrain from turning on the lights in case of an air raid.
deliver the State of the Union.
explain his reasoning for closing U.S. Banks for a few days.
Although many of the New Deal actions were later pushed through the fireside chats for public appeal, the original intent of the broadcast was to disseminate the panic related to the closing of the banks as the unemployment skyrocketed, and the markets crashed dramatically. This was later dubbed the Emergency Banking act.
Example Question #5 : Facts And Details In U.S. Economic History From 1899 To The Present
The most destructive stock market crash in U.S. history, known as the Stock Market Crash of 1929, is also known by what other name?
Black Friday
Bloody Sunday
The Day of Doom
Grim Tuesday
Black Tuesday
Black Tuesday
The Stock Market Crash of 1929, which began the 10-year Great Depression, is also known as Black Tuesday, as it happened on a Tuesday.
Example Question #6 : Facts And Details In U.S. Economic History From 1899 To The Present
Federal income tax on individuals is .
Proportional and progressive
Fixed
Proportional and regressive
Progressive
Proportional
Progressive
The Federal income tax is progressive for both individuals and corporations. This, essentially, means that the higher your personal income the greater percentage of that income is subject to taxation. The history of personal income tax in the United States is, perhaps, surprisingly recent. The first income tax was levied on wealthy individuals during the Civil War, but was repealed following the war’s end. Not until 1895 did the Federal government institute its first peacetime income tax. Shortly thereafter Congress passed the Sixteenth Amendment that enabled the government to levy taxes on all personal income. From that moment until now there has been a gradual trend of taxation increases and increases on the proportion of income that the wealthy are required to pay. This reflects the trends of much greater government spending and much greater social awareness in the twentieth and twenty-first Centuries.
Example Question #7 : Facts And Details In U.S. Economic History From 1899 To The Present
The Underwood Tariff Act .
raised the tariff rate
both raised the tariff rate and established a graduated income tax
both reduced the tariff rate and established a graduated income tax
established a graduated income tax
reduced the tariff rate
both reduced the tariff rate and established a graduated income tax
The Underwood Tariff Act, also known as the Revenue Act of 1913, was signed into practice by President Wilson. It lowered the existing tariff rate from forty-percent to twenty-five percent, in an effort to encourage foreign trade. It also established a graduated income tax following the passage of the Sixteenth Amendment (which had established the constitutional right of the Federal government to levy income taxes).
Example Question #8 : Facts And Details In U.S. Economic History From 1899 To The Present
The Taft-Hartley Act, passed in 1947 .
raised the income tax threshold
restricted the authority of labor unions
assisted American war veterans in finding work once they returned to the United States
prosecuted individuals suspected of harboring Communist sympathies
expanded Social Security
restricted the authority of labor unions
The Taft-Hartley Act was passed to restrict the ability of American labor unions to organize for better wages and treatment. It was supported by the majority of Republicans in Congress and managed to pass despite President Truman’s veto attempt. Many historians believe that the Taft-Hartley Act was passed in response to the unprecedented level of strikes that the post-war United States witnessed in 1946. During, the war the vast majority of unions had agreed to refrain from strikes over wages and benefits to assist the war effort; however, with the war ended and wages falling across the country, strikes consistently broke out in almost all major American industries.
Example Question #9 : Facts And Details In U.S. Economic History From 1899 To The Present
On March 25, 1911, one of the worst industrial disasters in American history occurred. 146 garment workers perished in a fire as a consequence of locked doors and exits. This disaster is known by what name?
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
The Garment Workers' Tragedy of 1911
The SOHO Conflagration
The Haymarket Massacre
The Great Chicago Fire
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
The managers of The Triangle Waist Company routinely locked exit doors and doors leading to the stairwells in order to prevent thieving. When a fire broke out at the factory, the mostly female garment workers were unable to evacuate. 146 workers died in the fire.
Example Question #10 : Facts And Details In U.S. Economic History From 1899 To The Present
John F. Kennedy’s Trade Expansion Act .
raised tariffs to protect American business interests
removed embargoes that had been placed on many Communist nations during the previous administration
lowered tariffs to increase foreign trade
called for the construction of internal infrastructure, roads, and railroads to improve the economy
failed to pass Congress due to Southern Democrats siding with Republicans
lowered tariffs to increase foreign trade
JFK launched an ambitious attempt to re-energize the economy and provide for greater social equality. Much of this New Frontier legislation met with opposition in Congress, as Republicans and Southern Democrats blocked a great deal of laws from passing; however, the Trade Expansion Act did pass Congress. It gave the executive branch the ability to lower existing tariffs by as much as fifty percent. The intention was to stimulate the economy.
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