Chapter Nineteen: Toward an Urban Society, 1877-1900

Practice Quiz:

1. Most of the immigrants who arrived in the United States in the late nineteenth-century
a. came seeking economic opportunity.
b. were highly skilled craftsmen.
c. didn’t know anyone in the United States prior to their arrival there.
d. were young women.

2.. Why was mainstream society troubled by the influx of new immigrants in the 1880s?
a. They feared that immigrants would try to assimilate into American society.
b. They felt that too many immigrants would take up land in the West.
c. They feared that the government would give immigrants equal rights.
d. They worried that the new immigrants could not be assimilated.

3. In 1894, the Immigration Restriction League demanded a literacy test for immigrants from
a. China
b. Ireland
c. southern and eastern Europe
d. Mexico

4. As new immigrants entered American society, they
a. were well prepared to make the adjustment.
b. clung to the customs of their native countries
c. quickly assimilated into society.
d. never were able to adjust to their new living conditions.

5. What was one consequence of the urban growth of the late nineteenth century?
a. The development of “walking cities.”
b. More urban planning and better housing.
c. The emergence of powerful political machines that traded services for votes.
d. The growth of middle class neighborhoods.

6. Which statement about American life in the late nineteenth century is NOT true?
a. Meals tended to be heavy and so did the people.
b. Medical science was still hopelessly primitive.
c. Infant mortality declined between 1877 and 1900.
d. Food prices were constantly getting lower.

7. If an American became ill in the 1870s,
a. hospital insurance would cover the cost of the illness.
b. home care would be the common form of treatment.
c. recent medical discoveries would guarantee recovery.
d. he or she would probably die.

8. Most Americans in the 1880s
a. no longer held religious beliefs.
b. were church-attending Protestants.
c. had few private moral standards.
d. were Roman Catholic parishioners.

9. Public schools in the 1870s and 1880s
a. placed greater value on educating females.
b. vigorously stressed discipline and routine.
c. ignored moral and religious education.
d. were considered better than factories by most students.

10. During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, colleges and universities.
a. existed primarily to train young men for the ministry
b. increased in number.
c. refused to offer educational opportunities for women.
d. all of the above.

11. How did the role of children in society change in the late nineteenth century?
a. Children were viewed less as “little adults” who could contribute to the family as soon as possible, and viewed more as young people who needed years to grow up.
b. People began to think of children as less in need of a general education and more in need of a specific education tailored to the jobs they would eventually get.
c. Children were no longer thought of as “free help” and were instead paid for the many chores they did at home.
d. People began to understand the necessity for children to learn important skills as apprentices and not just at home with their families.

12. What was a result of the Supreme Court’s Plessy v. Ferguson decision?
a. Public education became less expensive for southern states.
b. Racial segregation on railways cars remained legal.
c. Twelfth Amendment protections were denied to Native Americans.
d. Voters in rural areas were given greater access to polling places.

13. Booker T. Washington
a. had little hope for the future of African Americans in American society.
b. believed that self-help was the best plan for African Americans.
c. emphasized the importance of higher education for African Americans.
d. founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

14. W. E. B. DuBois
a. founded the Tuskegee Institute.
b. was the author of the Atlanta Compromise.
c. founded Hull House.
d. believed educational advancement was the key to success

15. What did Henry George propose as a solution to poverty in modern society?
a. to let nature take its evolutionary course
b. to replace all taxes with a “single tax” on land
c. a socialist utopia in which government owns the means of production
d. to make churches the center of social reform instead of government

16. Why were many women part of the settlement house reform movement?
a. They believed that poverty was the worst problem in society and must be prevented.
b. It was one of the few places in American society to which they could bring their talents.
c. Women believed that education was the only way to eradicate poverty in the United States.
d. Actually, very few women were involved in the settlement house reform movement.