Response to the following multiple choice questions and True / False:
1. Isaac Newton argued that the physical world operated according to fixed laws and principles that are knowable through logic and reason. True / False
2. Just as Martin Luther before him challenged the assumptions of previously held truths in Christianity, Isaac Newton challenged the assumptions of previously held truths in the field of
a. technology
b. science
c. cliometrics (the study of numbers)
d. the Mandates of Nature
3. The Renaissance and the interpretation of Isaac Newton's theories led Europeans to think
a. that human activity here on earth was important
b. that the human mind was powerful and capable of great achievements
c. that traditionally held truths should be questioned
d. that human achievement, capability, and progress were important
e. all of the above
4. Why is John Locke an important character in history?
a. he articulated the philosophy of Royal Absolutism
b. he denounced the laziness of the European peasantry and urged them to become a part of the capitalist market economy
c. he applied Luther's ideas to the social and political world of human relations
d. he concluded that common sense and reason could solve social and political problems
5. What were the three European "religious offsprings" of The Enlightenment?
a. absolutism, atheism, and agnosticism
b. atheism, agnosticism, and aestheticism
c. reincarnation, deism, and asceticism
d. asceticism, deism, and atheism
e. agnosticism, deism, and atheism
6. All of the following, as discussed in class, are central ideas to The Enlightenment except the promotion of:
a. progress
b. bondage
c. equality
d. order
e. justice
7. Which two groups from England initially occupied the northern colonies of British North America?
a. The Spaniards and the French
b. The monarchs and the peasants
c. The Quakers and the Puritans
d. The Indians and the Traders
8. One of the main complaints of the British rule in the North American colonies had to do with the idea that colonists resented that they had no representation in English Parliament. The colonist rallying cry was: "Taxation without Representation!" True False
9. What was one of the main accomplishments of the Second Continental Congress which met initially in 1774?
a. They adopted the language of peace with no commitment to violence
b. They decided to stay with the British Empire
c. They coordinated a joint attack on the French
d. They created a Continental Army to be led by George Washington
10. The Declaration of Independence contained language which was very similar to the writings of John Locke a century earlier. True False
11. What was the second main Enlightenment-inspired revolution? (Hint: think 1789)
a. The Indian Revolution
b. The French Revolution
c. The series of Latin American Revolutions
d. The American Revolution
12. Despite their efforts, the Spanish and Portuguese monarchies could not prevent Enlightenment ideas from arriving - usually in the form of news and written reports - into their colonies in Central and South America. True/ False
13. What was the name of the French leader who invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the early 1800s and whose actions stimulated revolutionary war in Latin America?
a. King Louis XIV
b. Simon Bolivar
c. Napoleon
d. King Joao V
14. During Stage One of the Latin American Revolutions, only three regions manage to gain independence from Spain. They were:
a. Mexico, Guatemala and Argentina
b. Peru, Bolivia, and Chile
c. Paraguay, Uruguay, and Brazil
d. Paraguay, Chile, and Argentina
15. Cuba chose to stay with the Spanish Empire because it was a free society already, and slaves formed an important part of the middle class in that colony. True / False
16. What is the connection between The Enlightenment and the "Ideological Revolutions" discussed in class.
a. the French, American and Spanish American Revolutions were based on ideas like liberty, equality and progress
b. the French, American and Haitian Revolutions were based on ideas like absolutism, communism and slavery
c. the French, American and German Revolutions were based on ideas like progress, enlightenment, and pessimism
d. None of the above are true
17. The Articles of Confederation were finally approved in 1781, when all the new American states agreed to surrender their
a. power to regulate trade within their state territories
b. power to enact laws in their regions
c. claims to western lands.
d. right to charge their own taxes.
18. What was a shared feature of all the state constitutions drawn up during the American Revolution?
a. A government with strong monarchical powers
b. A commitment to republicanism
c. A call for a strong centralized government
d. Two equally powerful congressional houses: upper and lower
19. Which issue dominated debate at the Constitutional Convention of 1787?
a. How the government should regulate trade
b. Whether or not slavery should be abolished
c. How to balance the interests of large and small states
d. Whether or not presidential powers should be increased
20. When the American Constitution was drafted, slavery was
a. not named but recognized and guaranteed.
b. criticized as contradictory to democracy.
c. outlawed in the North.
d. explicitly named as being a landowner's liberty.
21. What event marked the official beginning of armed hostilities between the North and South in April 1861?
a. Confederates firing on the frigate Star of the West
b. An assault on Washington, D.C.
c. The assault on federal troops passing through Baltimore
d. Confederates firing on Fort Sumter
22. What irony emerges when considering the wartime leadership of Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis?
a. Neither man was committed to the efforts he embarked on.
b. While Lincoln was confident, Davis privately believed that the South never had a chance.
c. The inexperienced Lincoln proved to be a more adept leader than the seasoned Davis.
d. Davis and Lincoln agreed more than they disagreed on political policy.
23. Initially the Confederacy sought King Cotton diplomacy, a strategy based on the belief that
a. European nations' need for cotton would lead them to support the Confederacy.
b. raising the price of cotton would force the North to negotiate a peaceful settlement.
c. European nations would loan the South more money if it reduced the price of cotton.
d. growing less cotton and freeing more slaves would convince England to recognize the Confederacy.
24. Darwin's job as a naturalist on the Beagle
a. entailed observations of the natural life he encountered during the expedition
b. led him to contemplate the origin of species on earth
c. provided him a scientific foundation for his theory of Natural Selection
d. was essentially to that of a scientist
e. all of the above
25. Which of the following are features of Darwin's theory of Natural Selection?
a. better equipped species die out over time
b. weaker species reproduce and eventually prosper and survive
c. over time plants and animals that successfully adapt to their environment survive
d. none of the above are correct
26. What is the theory of scientific immutability?
a. the theory that over time, species evolve from one form to another
b. the theory that only the fittest survive
c. the theory that species adapt to their environment and change over time
d. the theory that animals, but not plants, evolve over time
e. none of the above
27. Why were the Galapagos Islands important for Darwin's theories?
a. because life on these islands were in pristine (untouched by human life) form
b. because these islands sit close to England allowing Darwin to conduct extensive research there
c. because living species here had successfully fought off the effects of human intervention for years
d. they provided him inspiration for the illustration on the cover of his book on Natural Laws
28. Darwin's ideas were controversial in Europe in the 1800s because they had to do with
a. carnivores and herbivores and omnivores
b. the origins of life in Asia, our primate past, and his acceptance of immutability
c. our primate (gorilla) ancestors, Africa as the origin of human life, and the challenge to the Christian idea of the creation of the world
d. Europe's racism and our reptile past
29. What was the most troubling consequence for many non-European (white) people around the world of Darwin's scientific ideas as discussed in class?
a. the idea that human beings originated from primitive sea animals
b. the concept that the world was created over millions of years rather than in eight days
c. Social Darwinism
d. the adaptation of Darwin's ideas to communism
e. the discovery of diamonds in South Africa and spices in Southeast Asia
30. New Imperialism, as practiced by Europeans between the 1830s and the 1960s
a. was an economically motivated event which saw Africans asserting their right to their lands and resources
b. was a revival of European expansion into Latin America after 1730
c. involved the passive infiltration of European ideas into Africa and Southeast Asia during the late 19th century
d. was an attempt by Europeans to dominate the lives of peoples from across many parts of the globe
31. Social Darwinism justified racism, imperialism, Capitalism, and the rejection of compassion and social responsibility for many Westerners of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
True False
32. The United States mainly sought to practice New Imperialism in which part of the world starting in the 1830s and intensifying after the USA Civil War?
a. Africa
b. Asia
c. Europe
d. Latin American
33. The American government worked with US big business interests (investors) to intervene politically and militarily in regions throughout Latin America? True /False
34. One of the most important areas targeted by the Americans during the era of New Imperialism to enhance trade and commerce between regions on the eastern and western side of Central America was:
a. The Chilean Canal
b. The Panama Canal
c. The Straits of Gibraltar
d. The Managuan Canal
35. The Americans practiced outright colonization in various regions of the world during the 19th century. They didn't, for example, simply impose their will militarily to ensure that American economic interests were safe. True/ False