5.9 Practice MCQs
Answer the following MCQs using the sources and your knowledge of world history.
Group 1
Questions 1-3 refer to the chart below
Percentages of Workers Employed in Textile Factories in England by Age and Gender, 1835–1867
Question 1a
The high proportion of women and children among the workers reflected in the table is best seen in the context of the
low wages of workers in industrial societies
resistance of older male workers to being displaced by younger workers
persistence of guild regulations and other traditional restrictions on labor practices
decrease in family size associated with greater income
Question 1b
The data in the table best provide historical context to understand which of the following developments in mid-nineteenth-century Great Britain?
Pollution resulting from industrial manufacturing
The emergence of social reform movements
The development of better transportation infrastructure
The increasing demand for consumer goods
Question 1c
The labor patterns shown in the table are most directly relevant in understanding which broader process in nineteenth-century Europe?
The emergence of challenges to patriarchal gender norms
The decline in the popularity of organized religions
The development of new class identities
The growing influence of nationalism on state policy
Group 2
Questions 4-7 refer to the images below
Image 1: Coal Mine in the English Midlands, circa 1750
Image 2: Coal-Sifting Room at a Mine, Western France, circa 1850
Question 2a
Image 1 best illustrates which of the following broad economic transformations in the period circa 1750 ?
The transition from an industrial to a postindustrial economy
The transition from a human- and animal-powered economy to a fossil-fuel economy
The transition from the First Industrial Revolution to the Second Industrial Revolution
The transition from guild-system manufacturing to putting-out-system manufacturing
Question 2b
Which of the following was the most immediate effect of the processes illustrated in the images?
A renewed push for overseas colonies as European countries competed for new sources of coal
The launch of European-sponsored industrialization efforts in Asian and African countries
A decline in Asian countries’ share of world manufacturing as Asian goods lost ground to European imports
The emergence of Germany as the dominant industrial power in Europe following German unification
Question 2c
The gender and age makeup of the workforce shown in Image 2 best illustrates which of the following phenomena in mid-nineteenth-century European society?
Working-class families and bourgeois families generally had similar occupational patterns.
Within factories, skilled workers continued to be predominantly male, while women and children continued to perform mostly unskilled factory work.
The development of working-class neighborhoods was characterized by unsanitary living conditions and high levels of crime.
As more women moved into office or clerical jobs, factory owners’ treatment of female workers improved.
Question 2d
In the second half of the nineteenth century, the working conditions depicted in Image 2 served as an inspiration for those arguing that
oil and electricity rather than coal should become the basis of a new industrial economy
the negative environmental impacts of industrialization should be addressed by stringent regulations
the negative social effects of capitalism should be alleviated by enacting factory regulations
a Protestant work ethic was the most important factor behind Europe’s global economic dominance
Group 3
Questions 8-10 refer to the passage below
“There is no town in the world where the distance between the rich and the poor is so great, or the barrier between them so difficult to be crossed. The separation between the different classes, and the consequent ignorance of each other’s habits and condition, are far more complete in this place than in any other country in Europe, or even in the rural areas of Britain. There is far less personal communication between the master cotton spinner and his workmen and between the master tailor and his apprentices than there is between the Duke of Wellington and the humblest laborer of his estate, or than there was between King George III and the lowliest errand boy in his palace. I mean this not as a matter of blame, but I state it simply as a fact.”
Richard Parkinson, English clergyman of the Anglican Church, “On the Present Condition of the Laboring Poor in Manchester,” paper published in London, 1841.
Question 3a
The class relationships in Manchester described by Parkinson are best explained in the context of the
low education levels of urban residents and the scarcity of schools
increasing pressure for greater political representation of new industrial towns in national governments
declining wealth of the traditional landed aristocracy in comparison to factory owners and industrialists
continuous migration of new workers to industrial towns and the high job turnover
Question 3b
The disparities of wealth mentioned by Parkinson in the passage are best explained in the context of the
lower prices for consumer goods made possible by industrialization
higher wages available for industrial work as compared to agricultural work
high profits and low wages associated with manufacturing industries in the nineteenth century
failure of urban governments to create infrastructure and public health services in rapidly growing cities
Question 3c
The rapid growth of nineteenth-century industrial cities such as Manchester is best understood in the context of which of the following economic developments?
The increases in agricultural productivity that freed up laborers for work in factories
The adoption of protective legislation for workers that encouraged people to seek industrial jobs
The abolition of slavery that made plantation agriculture less profitable
The migration of people from colonial areas to Europe in search of better economic opportunities
Group 4
Questions 11-13 refer to the image below
Map of the South Wales Coalfield, a Major Mining Center in Great Britain, circa 1820
Question 4a
Together with access to coal deposits, which environmental factor most directly contributed to Great Britain’s early industrialization?
Its location on an island group separate from continental Europe
Its abundance of iron ore
Its cold climate, unsuitable for cultivating many crops
Its plentiful domestic sources of gold and silver
Question 4b
Waterways such as canals and rivers were important in the process of early industrialization because they provided
cheap electrical power needed for industrial production
access to leisure activities for the growing middle class
a source for improved sanitation for the rapidly urbanizing population centers
a means for integrating economic activities in regional and national markets
Question 4c
Which of the following best summarizes the way in which the development of the factory system and the development of new transportation infrastructure such as railways worked together as factors facilitating British industrialization?
The factory system produced the surplus labor that led large numbers of British people to emigrate overseas, and the new transportation infrastructure enabled those migrants to make their journeys.
The factory system concentrated the working classes in cities, and new transportation infrastructure allowed governments to better monitor and police these workers.
The factory system concentrated production in relatively few locations, and the new transportation infrastructure allowed more goods and people to reach these locations in less time.
The factory system led to an ever-greater degree of specialization of labor and, by doing so, helped meet the railway industry’s need for highly skilled workers.
Group 6
Questions 14-15 refer to the passage below
“The fourth annual meeting of the shareholders of the British South Africa Company was held yesterday at the Cannon-street Hotel. The company’s chairman, in his opening address, said, ‘Twice during the past year we met when fighting with Africans was taking place in the company’s territory, when financial arrangements of a complicated character were pending, and when the outlook of the enterprise seemed full of doubt and difficulty. Today, however, we are in a position far superior to any we had previously occupied and ever had hoped to attain. In founding the British South Africa Company, the shareholders undertook the occupation and development of a considerable extent of valuable territory in South Africa. Thus, because of the far-seeing action of a few men connected with the company, this enormous territory was secured for Great Britain. The perfectly legitimate objections of some people to chartered companies like ours were answered by the certainty that this vast territory—equal in extent to Central Europe—could not have been brought under British sway in any other way.
Turning now to the development of railway communication in our territory, it is being pursued by building lines from the Cape Colony and joining them to other lines that will provide a route over Portuguese Mozambique and to the sea. Postal and telegraphic communications will closely follow, and in some cases already precede, the completion of the railroad. In addition, even before our mines have reached a stage of development great enough to cause a large inflow of population, the shareholders may congratulate themselves on the satisfactory outlook of our finances in Mashonaland*.’”
*a region in northern Zimbabwe that contained extensive deposits of gold and other minerals and metals
Report of Alexander Duff, chairman of the British South Africa Company, to company shareholders in London, recorded in the Mining Journal, Railway and Commercial Gazette, published in London, 1895
Question 6a
As described in the passage, the economic model of the British South Africa Company most directly differed from which of the following economic trends in the late nineteenth century?
The shift in Asian and African economies from manufacturing of finished goods to resource extraction
The shift from nation-based businesses and enterprises to transnational businesses and enterprises
The shift from heavy industry to industries centered on the production of consumer goods
The shift from mercantilism to free-market trade policies
Question 6b
The “objections” that the chairman refers to in the first paragraph can most directly be explained in relation to which of the following arguments commonly made by laissez-faire economists in the period 1750–1900?
The monopolistic practices of government-chartered joint-stock companies such as the British South Africa Company distorted market competition and hurt consumers.
Granting government charters to joint-stock companies such as the British South Africa Company allowed too much free trade and hurt workers in home countries.
Government involvement in the business of companies such as the British South Africa Company inevitably led to deregulation that removed valuable protections for workers and consumers.
The creation of government-supported joint-stock companies such as the British South Africa Company excluded private investment.
Group 7
Questions 16-18 refer to the image below
Question 7a
The high proportion of women and children among the workers reflected in the table is best seen in the context of the
low wages of workers in industrial societies
resistance of older male workers to being displaced by younger workers
persistence of guild regulations and other traditional restrictions on labor practices
decrease in family size associated with greater income
Question 7b
The data in the table best provide historical context to understand which of the following developments in mid-nineteenth-century Great Britain?
Pollution resulting from industrial manufacturing
The emergence of social reform movements
The development of better transportation infrastructure
The increasing demand for consumer goods
Question 7c
The labor patterns shown in the table are most directly relevant in understanding which broader process in nineteenth-century Europe?
The emergence of challenges to patriarchal gender norms
The decline in the popularity of organized religions
The development of new class identities
The growing influence of nationalism on state policy
Group 8
Questions 19-20 refer to the image below
Question 8a
Which of the following best describes an accurate comparison of the relationship between sailing vessels and steamships in the late nineteenth century that is supported by the data in the table?
The total number of sailing vessels in North America was less than the total number of steamships in Europe.
The total number of sailing vessels in all regions still greatly surpassed the total number of steamships in all regions.
The total number of sailing vessels in all regions was declining in relationship to the total number of steamships in all regions.
The total number of sailing vessels in Asia was less than half the total number of steamships in North America.
Question 8b
Which of the following describes a conclusion about Asia that is best supported by the data in the table?
Although Asia had a smaller number of vessels than Africa had, it had a far larger share of world trade.
Asia’s percentage of world trade was only slightly less than that of Latin America, Africa, and Oceania combined.
Asia’s total number of sailing vessels was nearly half that of Latin America and Europe.
Although Asia had far fewer vessels than North America had, Asia was responsible for a larger percentage of world trade.
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