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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was the average life expectancy of an Irish immigrant in the 19th century?
(a) Forty.
(b) Thirty.
(c) Eighteen.
(d) Fifty-five.

2. How did German Jews regard themselves?
(a) Germans of the Hebrew faith.
(b) Jewish Americans.
(c) Hebrews from Europe.
(d) Jews from Germany.

3. During the decades surrounding the beginning of the 20th century, what proportion of Eastern European Jews moved to the United States?
(a) One-tenth.
(b) One-eighth.
(c) One-third.
(d) One-fifth.

4. What kind of work provided a start for most wealthy American Jewish families?
(a) Manufacturing.
(b) Farming.
(c) Peddling.
(d) Unskilled labor.

5. What was the primary loyalty of southern Italians in the 20th century?
(a) The family.
(b) Personal morality.
(c) Country.
(d) The church.

6. What law helped establish the southern Italian crime syndicates?
(a) Prohibition.
(b) Pro-immigration law.
(c) Anti-immigration law.
(d) Gambling restrictions.

7. What advantages does northern Italy have over southern Italy, where most emigrants lived?
(a) Access to trading centers.
(b) Access to seaports.
(c) Schools and colleges.
(d) Adequate rainfall and irrigation systems.

8. The "penal laws" imposed by the British on the Irish were intended to keep the Irish in what situation?
(a) Educated and healthy.
(b) Subjugated and impoverished.
(c) Impoverished and frightened.
(d) Upwardly mobile.

9. What nationality are the Pennsylvania Dutch?
(a) Dutch.
(b) German.
(c) Belgian.
(d) French.

10. What advantages did early Irish immigrants have over others?
(a) They had business acumen and education.
(b) They spoke English and many were literate.
(c) They had skills for industrialization.
(d) They were hard workers and used to urban life.

11. At the turn of the century, what was the population density of the lower East Side in New York?
(a) Seven hundred people per acre.
(b) Two hundred people per acre.
(c) One hundred people per acre.
(d) Five hundred people per acre.

12. What kind of trouble did employers invite who mixed Italian workers from different villages?
(a) Misunderstanding.
(b) Violence.
(c) Increased absenteeism.
(d) Confusion.

13. What does Sowell determine transient immigrants are less likely to do?
(a) Work hard.
(b) Learn the language and become citizens.
(c) Make friends and join social groups.
(d) Establish businesses and save money.

14. What system did Italian immigrants use to finance business ventures?
(a) Banks.
(b) Mutual aid societies.
(c) Crime syndicates.
(d) Credit unions.

15. Which ethnic group got along best with the Indians?
(a) Scotch-Irish.
(b) Celtic Irish.
(c) British.
(d) Germans.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which group of Jews in New York were more established and wealthier?

2. What was a "Hessian"?

3. How long did it take to cross the Atlantic in a steamship?

4. What percentage of arrests in New York City during the 1850s were made of drunk and disorderly Irishmen?

5. Why did farmers in southern Italy live on hillsides?

(see the answer keys)

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