“In the decades following the Civil War, American capitalism began to produce a distinct culture, unconnected to traditional family or community values, to religion in any conventional sense, or to political democracy. It was a secular business and market-oriented culture, with the exchange and circulation of money and goods at the foundation of its aesthetic life and of its moral sensibility. . . .“By World War I, Americans were being enticed into consumer pleasure and indulgence rather than into work as the road to happiness. . . . For generations, America had been portrayed as a place of plenty, a garden in which all paradisiacal longings would be satisfied. . . . By the early 1900s this myth was being transformed, urbanized and commercialized, increasingly severed from its religious aims and focusing ever more on personal satisfaction and even on such new pleasure palaces as department stores, theaters, restaurants, hotels, dance halls, and amusement parks. . . . This new era heralded the pursuit of goods as the means to all ‘good’ and to personal salvation.”William Leach, historian, Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture, 1993QuestionWhich of the following long-term developments in the second half of the 1800s best helps to explain the change in United States culture depicted in the excerpt?ResponsesSome Americans began to move away from urban areas to form utopian communities.Some Americans began to move away from urban areas to form utopian communities.The formation of farmers’ cooperatives increased resistance to the business practices of corporations.The formation of farmers’ cooperatives increased resistance to the business practices of corporations.Some wealthy Americans used the doctrine of Social Darwinism began to justify economic inequality.Some wealthy Americans used the doctrine of Social Darwinism began to justify economic inequality.The creation of new manufacturing methods allowed factories to greatly increase production.

The USA’s economy in 1861, on the eve of the Civil War, featured all of the following EXCEPTGroup of answer choicesMost products made one-at-a-time by craft workersMost Americans engaged in farming or other agricultural pursuitsMost consumer sales transacted by small-scale general merchantsMost banking conducted by large New York investment firms

From 1945 to 1973, the United States economy generated an unprecedented amount of wealth. Despite economic fluctuations, the overall trend during this period remained positive: business flourished, real wages rose, a strong industrial sector provided working-class mobility ladders, and organized workers had a political voice in the Democratic Party. Though significant segments of American society did not share in this prosperity – especially minorities and rural whites – millions moved into the middle class. Veterans returning from World War II and the Korean War utilized opportunities such as the GI Bill and cheap Federal Housing Administration loans as bridges into the middle class. Capitalizing on the previous generation’s hard-fought labor gains, an adult male with a union job could support a family on a single income by working forty hours a week, with evenings and weekends away from the job, a paid vacation, full job benefits, affordable healthcare, regular pay raises, unemployment insurance, and a guaranteed pension and Social Security.From 1973 to 2012, the United States continued to generate significant wealth, yet real wages stagnated, and the share of national wealth and income held by the poor and middle classes shrank, while the share of the rich increased. According to the Institute for Policy Studies, “The United States exhibits wider disparities of wealth between rich and poor than any other major developed nation” (inequality.org/wealth-inequality/). But why?

The Culture Wars of the 1990s were battles over the moral values of Americans. The Christian Coalition was organized in opposition to what it perceived as an attack on “traditional” American values. These organized counterattacks were against which tenets of perceived social liberalism?Correct Answer(s)secularismabortion clinicsgay rightsgovernment subsidies to corporations

Observing Americans in the mid-1800s, Europeans noted that Americans worked hard and wereMultiple choice question.becoming less religious.growing more willing to recognize the rising labor movement.concerned with acquiring material goods.more concerned with intellectual pursuits than with the pursuit of wealth.

Which aspect of life in early America is illustrated BEST by this excerpt?ResponsesA The goal of most Americans was to be healthy.The goal of most Americans was to be healthy.B Religion was the main interest and study of Americans in the colonies.Religion was the main interest and study of Americans in the colonies.C Most Americans had to work for a living, yet many wanted to be educated.Most Americans had to work for a living, yet many wanted to be educated.D The acquisition of wealth was more important than any other activity in life.