CSS History of the USA MCQs with answers
Practise CSS History of the USA (Optional) with 208 exam-style MCQs, each with the answer and a short explanation. Every test is marked the moment you finish and shows your score chapter by chapter, so you know what to revise next. It is free and needs no sign-up.
208 questions · 3 chapters
What each chapter covers 3 chapters
The questions follow the syllabus chapter by chapter. You can test the whole subject or one chapter at a time.
- Colonial America and independence 48 questionsColonial America, Road to independence and the Revolution, The Constitution and the early republic
- Expansion and sectional conflict 64 questionsExpansion and Manifest Destiny, Jacksonian democracy and reform, Slavery and the road to civil war, The Civil War and Reconstruction
- The modern United States 96 questionsIndustrialisation, immigration and Progressivism, Imperialism and the First World War, The 1920s, Great Depression and New Deal, The Second World War and the Cold War, The civil rights movement, US government and political system
Sample CSS History of the USA MCQs with answers 12 questions
12 questions from the test, one or two from each chapter. Try each one, then open the answer.
1. William Penn founded Pennsylvania in the 1680s mainly as a place where
- A
only Catholics could settle and vote
- B
Quakers and other groups could worship freely
- C
Puritans could enforce a single official church
- D
settlers could trade without any English law
Show answer
Answer: B. Penn, a Quaker, offered religious toleration and fair dealing with the Native Americans. Maryland, not Pennsylvania, was founded as a refuge for Catholics, and Massachusetts was the Puritan colony.
2. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, sponsored by Stephen Douglas, repealed the Missouri Compromise line by
- A
banning slavery in both territories for ever
- B
giving the final decision to Congress and the President
- C
making Kansas a slave state and Nebraska free
- D
letting settlers decide the slavery question by vote
Show answer
Answer: D. The principle was popular sovereignty. Settlers rushed to Kansas to influence the vote, which produced violence.
3. Wilson's Fourteen Points of January 1918 included
- A
a ban on all armies in Europe after the war
- B
payment of heavy reparations by the Allied powers
- C
the division of Germany into occupation zones
- D
self-determination and a league of nations
Show answer
Answer: D. Wilson set out aims for a just peace, among them open diplomacy, freedom of the seas and a league. The Allies accepted only parts of them.
4. Which phrase from the Declaration of Independence lists rights held by all people?
- A
Liberty, equality and fraternity
- B
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness
- C
Life, liberty and property
- D
We the People of the United States
Show answer
Answer: B. The Declaration named life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as unalienable rights. 'Liberty, equality and fraternity' is French and 'We the People' opens the Constitution.
5. How was the nullification crisis of 1832-33 settled?
- A
Jackson accepted that states could ignore federal laws
- B
Congress authorised force but also lowered the tariff gradually
- C
South Carolina was allowed to leave the Union
- D
The tariff was kept at the same rate by the Supreme Court
Show answer
Answer: B. The Force Act backed the President, and Clay's compromise tariff reduced duties gradually. South Carolina then withdrew its ordinance.
6. The Montgomery bus boycott ended when
- A
the governor of Alabama was forced to resign
- B
the bus company went bankrupt and closed down
- C
the Supreme Court ruled bus segregation illegal
- D
Congress passed the Civil Rights Act
Show answer
Answer: C. The boycott brought King to national attention and showed the power of organised nonviolent protest.
7. Which group opposed ratification partly because the Constitution had no bill of rights?
- A
The Federalists
- B
The Loyalists
- C
The Whigs of Britain
- D
The Anti-Federalists
Show answer
Answer: D. The Anti-Federalists feared that a strong central government would threaten liberty. Their pressure led Madison to propose the first amendments in 1789.
8. 'Bleeding Kansas' refers to
- A
a slave rebellion led by Nat Turner
- B
violent clashes between pro- and anti-slavery settlers
- C
the battle that began the Civil War at Fort Sumter
- D
John Brown's raid on a federal arsenal in Virginia
Show answer
Answer: B. Armed bands fought in Kansas Territory in the mid-1850s after the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was in 1859.
9. The sinking of the British liner Lusitania by a German submarine in 1915 turned American opinion against
- A
Russia
- B
Britain
- C
France
- D
Germany
Show answer
Answer: D. Many Americans died in the attack on a passenger ship. Wilson protested, and the US entered the war two years later.
10. In his Farewell Address (1796) President Washington warned the nation against
- A
the growth of the western settlements
- B
holding presidential elections too often
- C
the spread of public education
- D
foreign alliances and the spirit of party
Show answer
Answer: D. Washington urged neutrality in European quarrels and distrusted factions. His advice influenced American foreign policy for a century.
11. The Thirteenth Amendment, ratified in December 1865, did what?
- A
Ended racial segregation in public schools
- B
Gave Black men the right to vote
- C
Abolished slavery in the whole country
- D
Defined American citizenship for all persons born there
Show answer
Answer: C. It ended slavery except as punishment for crime. The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments later dealt with citizenship and voting.
12. A bill vetoed by the President can still become law if
- A
the Supreme Court approves
- B
two-thirds of both houses of Congress vote to override
- C
a simple majority of the Senate votes to override
- D
the House Speaker signs it
Show answer
Answer: B. The override is a check by Congress on the President. A simple majority cannot do it.
Try 196 more questions
Ways to practise 5 ways
- Quick check. 10 questions drawn fresh each time, about 10 minutes.
- By chapter. 10 questions from one chapter, for the topic you are revising now.
- Full paper. A full-length timed paper across the whole syllabus.
- Practice mode. See the right answer and an explanation after every question, with no clock.
- Exam mode. Timed like the real paper, with no going back.
When you get a question wrong, a short note called "The idea behind this" explains the topic it belongs to, with the rules to remember and a worked example.
Common questions
Is this CSS History of the USA test free?
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Are these past paper questions?
The 208 MCQs are our own, written to the syllabus in the style of the exam.
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Instantly. You get your score, the right answer and an explanation for every question, and a list of the topics to work on.
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