Quiz for Sources for America’s History, Part 6

Question

1. In his book, What Social Classes Owe to Each Other (Document P6-1), William Graham Sumner used Charles Darwin’s ideas about natural selection to analyze American society at the turn of the nineteenth century. Based on his analysis, what did Sumner think about how American society should be reorganized in the 1880s?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is d. Sumner did not want to see any change in the social or economic structure. He believed that the wealthy occupied the top rung of the social and economic ladder because they were the fittest members of society, and that the poor, as the least fit, belonged at the bottom. Artificially elevating those at the bottom, he suggested, was not only unfair to those who had achieved wealth and status, but dangerous because it would prevent the advancement of society.
Incorrect. The answer is d. Sumner did not want to see any change in the social or economic structure. He believed that the wealthy occupied the top rung of the social and economic ladder because they were the fittest members of society, and that the poor, as the least fit, belonged at the bottom. Artificially elevating those at the bottom, he suggested, was not only unfair to those who had achieved wealth and status, but dangerous because it would prevent the advancement of society.

Question

2. William Dean Howells’s essay, “Pernicious Fiction: Tests of the Poison” (Document P6-2), criticized sentimental novels as injurious to the soul and suggested that they were “to blame for a great deal of harm in the world.” His call for truth and realism in fiction paralleled and was shaped by which other late-nineteenth-century development?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is b. Howells’s call for realism in fiction grew from the era’s emphasis on rationalism and empirical facts. Investigative journalists like Ida Tarbell and Jacob Riis researched and wrote stories that revealed truths about the concentration of wealth and the experience of poverty, and these inspired reformers to take action. Howells believed that realistic fiction, like journalism, could help people understand the world and facilitate efforts to change it.
Incorrect. The answer is b. Howells’s call for realism in fiction grew from the era’s emphasis on rationalism and empirical facts. Investigative journalists like Ida Tarbell and Jacob Riis researched and wrote stories that revealed truths about the concentration of wealth and the experience of poverty, and these inspired reformers to take action. Howells believed that realistic fiction, like journalism, could help people understand the world and facilitate efforts to change it.

Question

3. In Caroline Ticknor’s “The Steel-Engraving Lady and the Gibson Girl” (Document P6-3), the characters of the Steel-Engraving Lady and the Gibson Girl represent which of the following respective pairs of women who lived at the turn of the nineteenth century?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is d. Caroline Ticknor wrote this story to illustrate the differences between the woman who was shaped by the Victorian-era domestic ideal and the more modern ideal for women that emerged at the end of the nineteenth century. In the story, the modern Gibson Girl expresses disdain for the old-fashioned Steel-Engraving Lady who is constrained by Victorian customs and attitudes about woman’s proper place.
Incorrect. The answer is d. Caroline Ticknor wrote this story to illustrate the differences between the woman who was shaped by the Victorian-era domestic ideal and the more modern ideal for women that emerged at the end of the nineteenth century. In the story, the modern Gibson Girl expresses disdain for the old-fashioned Steel-Engraving Lady who is constrained by Victorian customs and attitudes about woman’s proper place.

Question

4. What fundamental assumption did Franz Boas’s book The Mind of Primitive Man (Document P6-4) seek to promote?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is a. Franz Boas was an early social scientist who recognized that racial “traits” were socially and culturally determined and not biological. Boaz argued that the so-called inferiority of African Americans was not inherent, but that it stemmed from the institution of slavery and was perpetuated by racist practices and attitudes.
Incorrect. The answer is a. Franz Boas was an early social scientist who recognized that racial “traits” were socially and culturally determined and not biological. Boaz argued that the so-called inferiority of African Americans was not inherent, but that it stemmed from the institution of slavery and was perpetuated by racist practices and attitudes.

Question

5. The opinions expressed by Royal Cortissoz in his response to the Armory Show in New York City (Document P6-5) revealed that he was an admirer of which of the following schools of art?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is d. Cortissoz dismissed much of the new art displayed at the Armory Show as ugly and useless, making clear his preference for traditional forms. His article illustrates the cultural clash that occurred when new styles of art bumped up against the old at the end of the nineteenth century.
Incorrect. The answer is d. Cortissoz dismissed much of the new art displayed at the Armory Show as ugly and useless, making clear his preference for traditional forms. His article illustrates the cultural clash that occurred when new styles of art bumped up against the old at the end of the nineteenth century.

Question

6. In his essay “What the Indians Must Do” (Document P6-6), Carlos Montezuma railed against the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, arguing that it should be disbanded immediately. He objected to the Indian Bureau because it

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is b. Montezuma objected to the Bureau of Indian Affairs because it mismanaged reservation land by making it available to businesses that pursued profit-making ventures, such as dam building and mining. He also rejected its policies, which aimed to keep the Indians complacent and dependent on the government for survival. Dismantling the Bureau, he believed, was the first step toward preserving Indian land and organizing Indians to resist their oppression.
Incorrect. The answer is b. Montezuma objected to the Bureau of Indian Affairs because it mismanaged reservation land by making it available to businesses that pursued profit-making ventures, such as dam building and mining. He also rejected its policies, which aimed to keep the Indians complacent and dependent on the government for survival. Dismantling the Bureau, he believed, was the first step toward preserving Indian land and organizing Indians to resist their oppression.