U.S. Economic History Trivia
1. What was the first major export industry in America?
Answer: Tobacco. By 1617, 50,000 pounds of the Virginia-grown crop were exported to England.
2. What was produced at the first American factory?
- Cars
- Clothing
- Canned goods
- Yarn
Answer: Yarn. It was produced at Samuel Slater's Mill, founded in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1790. Workers at the spinning machines lived in company housing and worked for wages paid in credit at the company store. Cloth itself was not produced at the mill: The yarn was woven into cloth by independent hand weavers working out of their homes.
3. What kind of employees were recruited to work in the first American cloth factories?
- Young unmarried women
- Young unmarried men
- Young married women
- Young married men
- Old unmarried women
- Old unmarried me
Answer: Young unmarried women. Most of the employees in the early years of the Boston Manufacturing Company were young, unmarried women. Founded at Waltham, Massachusetts, in 1814 by Francis Cabot Lowell, the company ran the first American factories to produce both yarn and finished textiles. Its employees were daughters of New England farmers, usually employed for only a limited period between school and marriage, often to build up their dowries. Housed in supervised boardinghouses, they worked for cash wages at spinning and weaving machines.
4. How large was the first national debt?
- $25 million
- $50 million
- $75 million
- $100 million
Answer: $75 million. When Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton restructured the government's miscellaneous debts into more or less their current form in 1791, the national debt was $75 million, or about $18 per person, given the population at that time.
5. How large was it 200 years later?
- Millions
- Billions
- Trillions
- Zillions
Answer: Nearly 50,000 times larger than 1791. The national debt in 1991 was $3.7 trillion, or about $14,500 per person at that time.
6. How many "Banks of the United States" have there been?
Answer: 2. Both were chartered by Congress, and both were allowed to expire after 20 years. The First Bank of the United States lasted from 1791 to 1811, the second from 1816 to 1836. Each served as the federal government's fiscal agents and repositories of federal funds. The banks were intended to help stabilize fiscal and monetary conditions and were favored by urban commercial interests. The banks were opposed by farmers, entrepreneurs, and state banks, a coalition that helped ensure their demise.
7. Who were the chief adversaries in the "Bank War"?
- Andrew Jackson vs Nicholas Biddle
- Bill Clinton vs the American people
- Abraham Lincoln vs Robert E. Lee
- George Washington vs England
Answer: Jackson vs Biddle. On one side of the Bank War (1833 - 36) was President Andrew Jackson, who wanted to abolish the Second Bank of the United States. On the other side was the Second Bank's president, Nicholas Biddle. Jackson vetoed the Second Bank's early renewal in 1832 and withdrew all federal funds in 1833. In retaliation, Biddle contracted credit and called in loans. After years of public debate, Jackson won the Bank War when its charter was allowed to expire in 1836.
8. Has the national debt ever been fully paid off?
- No, never
- Yes, once
- Yes, twice
- Yes, more than once
Answer: Only once -- in 1835 and 1836, during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. This was the only time any modern nation has eliminated its national debt.
9. At its height, how much cotton did the South produce?
- Less than 1 million bales
- 1 to 2 million bales
- 2 to 3 million bales
- Over 3 million bales
Answer: Over 3 million bales. Between 1850 and 1860, when it was generating 3 to 4.8 million bales of cotton per year, the South provided over 75 percent of the cotton in the world.
10. What was the first installment plan in American business?
- Henry Ford
- Ross Perot
- Edward Clark
- John D. Rockefeller
Answer: Edward Clark. It was introduced by Isaac Singer's partner Edward Clark in 1856. Customers could buy a sewing machine for five dollars down, paying the rest in monthly installments of three to five dollars, including interest. Singer was criticized for charging high interest, but the company's sales took off. In 1857, Clark came up with another American retail institution: the trade-in allowance, offering 50 dollars for old sewing machines.
11. In the 19th century, what was the Great Depression?
- 1873-1897
- 1929-1935
- 1987-1993
- 1965-1969
Answer: It was the worldwide period of deflation that lasted from 1873 to 1897 and caused erratic fluctuations in economic activity in the U.S. Unlike the Great Depression of the 1930s, it was not marked by low productivity.
12. Which administration brought about the first federal income tax?
- Bill Clinton
- Abraham Lincoln
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- George Washington
Answer: Abraham Lincoln. It was during the Lincoln administration in the middle of the Civil War that the first tax on income was levied by Congress -- in the Internal Revenue Act of 1862. The rates ranged from 3 to 5 percent. Congress eliminated the tax in 1872.
13. When did the federal income tax become a permanent institution?
Answer: 1913. It has been permanent since 1913, with the passage of the 16th Amendment. As established in that year, the bottom rate was 1 percent on taxable net income over $3,000 for an individual, $4,000 for a married couple. The top rate, for those making more than $500,000, was 7 percent.
14. How much did the highest tax bracket fall during the Reagan years?
Answer: 30%. President Reagan's supply-side tax cuts lowered the top tax rate from 70 percent to 30 percent.
15. How many shares of stock were traded on Black Tuesday?
- About 16 million
- About 32 million
- About 64 million
- About 128 million
Answer: About 16 million. On October 29, 1929, the date of the worst crash on Wall Street history, over 16 million shares of stock were traded on the New York Stock Exchange. That day, $8-9 billion in paper value was lost.
16. How many points did the Dow Jones industrial average fall in the crash of 1987?
- About 100
- About 300
- About 500
- About 700
Answer: About 500. The Dow Jones fell 508 points, or 22.6 percent, on Monday, October 19, 1987.
17. What was the highest tariff in U.S. history?
- Bill Clinton’s tariff
- The Hawley-Smoot Tariff
- The Great Depression Tariff
- The Tariff against Germany during World War II
Answer: Hawley-Smoot. It was the Hawley-Smoot tariff, a 1930 protectionist bill that placed a duty of about 60 percent on imported goods. Aimed at alleviating the Depression, the tariff instead sparked a trade war and worsened economic conditions in the U.S. and Europe.
18. How much did the national debt grow during World War II?
- Twofold
- Threefold
- Fourfold
- Sixfold
Answer: About sixfold. In 1940, the national debt was $43 billion. At the end of World War II, it was $258.7 billion.
19. What is the largest denomination of U.S. currency now being issued?
- $100
- $1,000
- $10,000
- $100,000
Answer: The $100 bill. Issuance of larger denominations stopped in 1969, though some larger bills are still in circulation -- all the way up to the $100,000 bill featuring Woodrow Wilson's picture.
20. What was the leading career choice of Harvard M.B.A. graduates in 1976? In 1986?
- Lawyer then accountant
- Business owner both in 1976 and 1986
- Investment banking then manufacturing
- Manufacturing then investment banking
Answer: In the mid-1970s, the leading career choice for Harvard M.B.A. graduates was manufacturing. Ten years later, it was investment banking.
21. When did the Dow Jones industrial average first close higher than 1000? 2000? 3000?
- 1950, 1993, 1997
- 1901, 1902, 1903
- 1972, 1987, 1991
- 1990, 1997, 1998
Answer: 1972, 1987, 1991. Instituted over a century ago (in 1896) and named for businessmen Charles Dow and Edward Jones, the economic indicator has set all three records within the last 25 years. It first closed higher than 1000 on November 14, 1972. On January 8, 1987, it closed higher than 2000. Four years later, on April 17, 1991, it finished above 3000.
22. Did Drexel Burnham Lambert file for bankruptcy in the 1980s or 1990s?
- 1980s
- 1990s
- did not file
- filed before 1980
Answer: 1990. The firm that specialized in using junk bonds to fund 1980s corporate takeovers marked the beginning of a new decade by filing for bankruptcy on February 13, 1990. The company had defaulted on more than $100 million in loans.
23. How many people serve on the Federal Reserve Board?
Answer: Seven members serve on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, founded in 1913. All are appointed to 14 year terms by the president. The Federal Reserve System, which includes all national banks and many state banks, helps to maintain the country's economic health through such means as fixing reserve deposit requirements and establishing discount rates.
24. What makes up the GNP (Gross National Product)?
- The total market value of American goods
- Some number that the nation can multiply
- The national debt divided by the population count
- Fortune 500 companies
Answer: Total market value of goods. Reported quarterly, it represents the total market value of American goods and services bought for final use during a one-year period. Considered the most comprehensive measure of U.S. economic activity, it includes consumer purchases, private investment, and government spending.
25. In 1992, what was the biggest corporation in America?
- Microsoft
- Exxon
- General Motors
- Ford Motor Company
Answer: General Motors. In 1992, it was General Motors, with sales of $133 billion and assets of $191 billion. In second place was Exxon, with sales of $104 billion and assets of $85 billion.
26. What magazine empire is bigger, the Hearst Corporation or Time Warner?
- Time Warner
- Hearst
- Same size
- Both owned by the same company
Answer: As of 1990, Time Warner was about twice as big, with $1.855 billion in magazine revenue to Hearst's $993 million.
27. What percentage of national wealth is held by the richest one percent of Americans in 1989?
Answer: Over 30%. More than 36 percent of the nation's net worth (assets minus debts) was held by the top one percent of households in 1989, up from below 20 percent in 1979, according to a 1992 study. The study shows that the wealthiest few increased their share of the nation's total wealth as much during the Reagan years as they did in the 100 years from 1830 to 1929.
28. What was the official poverty level in 1990 (family of four)?
- About $4,000
- About $8,000
- About $12,000
- More than $16,000
Answer: About $12,000. For a family of four, the poverty level as defined by the Office of Management and Budget in 1990 was $12,675.
29. What percentage of Americans lived below the poverty level in 1990?
- About 13%
- About 25%
- About 47%
- About 21.2%
Answer: About 13%. In 1990, the percentage of all races was 13.5. Among whites, 10.7 percent lived below the poverty level; among blacks, 31.9 percent did. For persons of Hispanic origin, the rate was 28.1 percent.
Questions from "American History, The New York Public Library Book of Answers." |
