Former+Questions+of+the+Day

These questions come compliments of Mr. Greg Feldmeth.

**United States History Question of the Day Answer and Explanation** Sioux tipis painted by Karl Bodmer, 1833 (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons-- public domain  ) A number of Indian groups lived on the North American continent before Spanish explorers reached the New World. Which of the following statements are true about them? I. Tribes in the Northwest developed elaborate canal systems to sustain agriculture II. Several written languages were developed, enabling unrelated tribes to communicate easily III. Plains Indians built much of their nomadic life around roaming herds of buffalo IV. Horses enabled hunters to range far from their tribe in search of food V. Eastern woodland Indians hunted game and planted agricultural crops > (A) III and V (B) I, III, and V (C) III, IV, and V (D) III and IV (E) II, IV, and V

(A) III and V **Explanation**:
 * Answer**:

Plains Indian culture was largely dependent on the huge buffalo herds that roamed the Great Plains in the centuries before Europeans arrived. Eastern woodlands Indians, who lived in the forested region between the Mississippi River and the Atlantic Ocean, hunted game and farmed some agricultural crops. Southwest tribes developed canal systems for irrigation. No written languages have been discovered. Horses, though thought to have evolved in the Western Hemisphere, were introduced by the Spanish in the 1500s. ** Christopher Columbus arriving at San Salvador in the New World, 1492 //(//Source//: Wikimedia Commons--//public domain//)//** Which of the following was a belief of Christopher Columbus following his voyages?

(A) the native Indians of the Caribbean should be treated as equals with the Spanish (B) he had discovered a new hemisphere previously unknown to Europeans (C) he had discovered a relatively easy passage from the Atlantic to the Orient (D) the world was even smaller than he had previously thought (E) he was always treated fairly by Spanish authorities in the New World


 * Answer:**

(C) he had discovered a relatively easy passage from the Atlantic to the Orient
 * Explanation:** Columbus's treatment of the Taino natives on Hispaniola has been viewed by some as genocide and he certainly did not propose equality. He never acknowledged that he had discovered a new land, contending that the islands of the Caribbean were merely previously unexplored outposts of Asia. His behavior while serving as governor of Hispaniola so upset his superiores that he was forced to return to Spain in chains in 1500. To his death Columbus felt he had discovered a relatively quick passage from Europe to Asia.

Which of these was not a position formerly held by President Thomas Jefferson?

(A) governor of Virginia (B) secretary of state (C) vice-president of the United States (D) president of the 1787 Constitutional Convention (E) member of Virginia's House of Burgesses
 * Answer:**

(D) President of the 1787 Constitutional Convention
 * Explanation:**

George Washington served as president of the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Jefferson was Minister to France at that time. Jefferson did however serve in Virginia's House of Burgesses, as governor of Virginia during the Revolutionary War, as the first Secretary of State, and as vice-president to political enemy John Adams. Jefferson's greatest skills were probably not as a politican or diplomat, however, but as a political philosopher and visionary. He penned the Declaration of Independence and following his terms as president, planned the curriculum and designed the buildings of the University of Virginia. At a dinner of Nobel Prize winners in the White House in 1962, President John Kennedy ad libbed "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House – with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787

(A) finally removed the British presence from the Ohio River Valley (B) reduced the authority of the federal government in the western territories (C) provided a procedure for admitting new states to the Union (D) resulted in Shays' Rebellion (E) divided land into sections that were then sold to investors

(C) provided a procedure for admitting new states to the Union
 * Answer:**


 * Explanation:** The Northwest Ordinance, in addition to prohibiting slavery in the Northwest Territories, provided that residents could apply for statehood when the population reached 60,000 inhabitants. New states came in on the same level as the original 13 states. In 1803 Ohio became the first state admitted under the provisions.

America's most persuasive pamphlet, //Common Sense// by Thomas Paine //(Source: Wikimedia Commons--public domain)// Question 0918:

In //Common Sense// by Thomas Paine

(A) Parliament is seen as the enemy of freedom, but King George III is viewed with respect (B) colonists are encouraged to cut their ties with Great Britain (C) colonists are encouraged to find areas of compromise with Parliament and King George III (D) colonists are encouraged to ignore political issues and focus on economic advancement (E) an argument is made that the colonists are represented virtually in Parliament because they are still British subjects


 * Answer:**

(B) colonists are encouraged to cut their ties with Great Britain


 * Explanation:**

Written in January 1776, following Lexington and Concord but prior to the Declaration of Independence, //Common Sense// directly challenged those who asserted that the American colonies should remain within the British Empire. Paine urged colonists to sever their ties with the mother country, contending that Great Britain had abused the colonies. He concluded that "'tis time to part."

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