CFPT U.S. History and Culture 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which constitutional amendment abolished slavery in the United States?
- 13th Amendment (Correct answer)
- 14th Amendment
- 15th Amendment
- 12th Amendment
Correct answer: 13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment, ratified in 1865, formally abolished slavery and involuntary servitude throughout the United States.
Question 2: The Missouri Compromise of 1820 primarily addressed which issue?
- Tariff disputes between North and South
- The balance of slave and free states entering the Union (Correct answer)
- Native American land rights west of the Mississippi
- Federal funding for internal improvements
Correct answer: The balance of slave and free states entering the Union
The Missouri Compromise admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, maintaining Senate balance and prohibiting slavery north of the 36°30' parallel.
Question 3: What was the primary purpose of the Lend-Lease Act of 1941?
- To declare war on Germany and Japan
- To provide military aid to Allied nations fighting the Axis powers (Correct answer)
- To establish a military draft for American citizens
- To create the United Nations framework
Correct answer: To provide military aid to Allied nations fighting the Axis powers
Lend-Lease authorized the U.S. to supply Allied nations—especially Britain and the Soviet Union—with arms and materials without requiring immediate payment.
Question 4: Which Supreme Court case established the principle of judicial review?
- McCulloch v. Maryland
- Marbury v. Madison (Correct answer)
- Gibbons v. Ogden
- Fletcher v. Peck
Correct answer: Marbury v. Madison
Marbury v. Madison (1803) established that the Supreme Court has the authority to strike down laws that conflict with the Constitution.
Question 5: The Homestead Act of 1862 was primarily designed to do which of the following?
- Regulate railroad land grants in the West
- Encourage westward settlement by granting free land to settlers (Correct answer)
- Establish Native American reservations
- Fund the transcontinental railroad construction
Correct answer: Encourage westward settlement by granting free land to settlers
The Homestead Act granted 160 acres of public land to settlers who lived on and improved the land for five years, accelerating westward expansion.
Question 6: Which event directly triggered the United States' entry into World War I in 1917?
- The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
- Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmermann Telegram (Correct answer)
- The sinking of the HMS Lusitania alone
- Britain's declaration of war on Germany
Correct answer: Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmermann Telegram
Germany's resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmermann Telegram—proposing a German-Mexican alliance against the U.S.—pushed Congress to declare war in April 1917.
Question 7: The cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance primarily celebrated which of the following?
- Industrial labor rights and union organizing
- African American artistic, literary, and intellectual achievement (Correct answer)
- Women's suffrage and progressive reform
- Southern agricultural traditions and folk music
Correct answer: African American artistic, literary, and intellectual achievement
The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s–30s was a flourishing of African American culture centered in Harlem, New York, producing landmark works in literature, music, and visual art.
CFPT U.S. History and Culture 2
Which constitutional amendment abolished slavery in the United States?