Chapter 14



Chapter 14

War, Recovery, and Regional Divergence

General Questions

1. Disadvantages faced by the South in fighting the Civil War include

a. an inadequate supply of free, military-aged males.

b. limited industrial capacity.

c. shortages of horses and mules.

d. the lack of an effective administrative machinery for tax collection.

e. all of the above.

2. In response to Southern restrictions on the export of cotton in 1861 and 1862,

a. Britain was forced to give financial aid to the Confederate government due to its dependence on Southern cotton.

b. Britain provided a naval blockade protecting ships carrying Southern cotton.

c. the price of Southern cotton soared, allowing Southern planters to earn substantial profits.

d. Britain relied on alternate sources of supply to meet its cotton demand.

3. The Confederacy’s primary mechanism for generating revenue during the Civil War was to

a. raise taxes.

b. increase trade and gain more money from exports.

c. borrow more money.

d. print more money.

4. Which of the following methods of generating federal government revenue was first introduced during the Civil War?

a. the personal income tax

b. inflationary finance

c. import tariffs

d. bond sales

5. The Beard-Hacker Thesis claims that postbellum economic growth in the United States was

a. slowed by rapid immigration.

b. accelerated by rapid immigration from English-speaking countries.

c. slowed by the formation of industrial monopolies.

d. accelerated by economic and financial changes generated by the Civil War.

6. All of the following statements provide evidence in support of the Beard-Hacker Thesis except

a. The Civil War caused a transfer of political power from Southern agrarians to Northern industrial capitalists.

b. Following secession, Congress passed legislation to increase tariffs and grant land to railroads.

c. The Civil War created a demand stimulus for manufactured goods to support the war effort.

d. The growth rate in commodity output between 1860 and 1870 was 2.0 percent for the economy as a whole and 2.3 percent for the manufacturing sector.

7. The Goldin and Lewis (1975) study of the costs of the Civil War

a. finds peaceful abolition of slavery would have been more costly than the War.

b. fails to include an estimate for the loss of human capital due to the War.

c. estimates the total cost of the War at more than double national income in 1860.

d. finds Northern property damage to be a major factor in the War's cost.

8. Which of the following is the best description of U.S. economic growth during the 1800s?

a. The annual growth rate for the 20 years preceding the Civil War was about the same as the annual growth rate from 1870-1899, while the growth rate during the Civil War was higher than either period.

b. The annual growth rate for the 20 years preceding the Civil War was lower than the annual growth rate from 1870-1899.

c. The annual growth rate for the 20 years preceding the Civil War was greater than the annual growth rate from 1870-1899.

9. What best describes changes in per capita output between 1860-1880?

a. The South experienced both an absolute reduction and a reduction relative to the North.

b. Both the North and South grew, but the North grew faster than the South.

c. The North and South both suffered absolute decreases.

d. The South and the North grew and the South grew faster than the North.

10. Which statement best describes the South’s economic experience from 1880-1900?

a. All regions of the South declined in per capita personal income, and LA, GA, AL, SC, and MS experienced the greatest declines in per capita personal income.

b. Every region in the South experienced growth, and LA, GA, AL, SC, and MS experienced the slowest growth rate of per capita personal income.

c. Every region in the South experienced growth, and LA, GA, AL, SC, and MS experienced the fastest growth rate of per capita personal income.

d. All regions of the South declined in per capita personal income, and LA, GA, AL, SC, and MS experienced the slowest declines in per capita personal income.

11. What was not a reason for the decline of the Deep South between the Civil War and 1890?

a. elimination of economies of scale in the production process

b. an extended period of droughts and bad weather

c. significant withdrawal of labor from the fields, especially by women and children

d. increased competition from suppliers in other nations

12. What was not one of the causes of hardship for Southern agricultural products in the immediate post-Civil War period (1870-1890)?

a. increased infestation by boll weevils and other insects

b. significant withdrawal of women and children from the fields

c. increased competition from new producers in other areas of the world

d. the loss of the plantation system

13. Which Amendment freed slaves?

a. Thirteenth

b. Fourteenth

c. Sixteenth

d. Eighteenth

14. In the decade immediately following emancipation, former slaves

a. were willing to work under the gang system in return for wages and benefits.

b. decreased their labor supply.

c. obtained ownership of roughly 40 percent of Southern farms.

d. moved to northern states in large numbers.

15. Which statement best describes the immediate post-slavery experience for ex-slaves?

a. They were able to engage fully in the economic, social, and political activities in their towns.

b. Freedmen took advantage of the educational opportunities available to them and had education rates equal to those of whites.

c. Most freedmen immediately moved north.

d. Their life expectancies increased dramatically.

e. Their wages increased relative to the wages of whites.

16. Sharecropping

a. allowed tenant farmers and land owners to share the risks and benefits of farming.

b. gave freed slaves more control over their workday.

c. relied on contracts that were usually renegotiated annually.

d. created little incentive for long-term investments in improvement of farm land.

e. all of the above

17. For the tenant in the postbellum South, the advantage of sharecropping compared with renting for cash was that

a. the sharecropper’s output was less dependent on weather.

b. the sharecropper realized all of the gains from extra effort.

c. sharecropping required more capital than renting.

d. under sharecropping the landlord absorbed part of the risk of a bad harvest.

18. After the Civil War, the Southern sharecropper was often tied to the land by an economic system similar to although less onerous than slavery, and known as

a. debt peonage.

b. the labor redundancy system.

c. immiserizing growth.

d. the Sea Islands system.

19. After the Civil War, many Southern farmers fell into a long-run spiral of debt caused by

a. the monopoly power of country stores.

b. the monopoly power of railroads.

c. excessive interest rates charged by banks.

d. carpetbaggers.

20. What Supreme Court case ruled separate facilities for blacks and whites was constitutional provided the facilities were equal?

a. Plessy vs. Ferguson

b. Munn vs. Illinois

c. the Dred Scott Case

d. Brown vs. Board of Education

21. Part of the decrease in real wages during the Civil War was due to deteriorating productivity because of

a. the inability of firms to replace machinery.

b. the need to use inexperienced workers.

c. the decline in coal production.

d. excessive days lost due to strikes.

Economic Insights

1. What is the best description of Northern wages from 1860-1864?

a. A relatively large decrease in demand relative to the decrease in supply led to lower wages and fewer people working.

b. An increase in the demand for labor and decrease in the supply of labor led to lower wages and fewer people working.

c. Increases in both the demand and supply for labor led to more people employed who were working for about the same wages.

d. A decrease in the demand for labor coupled with an increase in the supply led to many fewer people working, but those who were employed worked for higher wages.

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