CSET Practice Test History Subtest I

Roman Roads

It is often said that "all roads lead to Rome," and in
fact, they once did. The road system of the Ancient Romans
was one of the greatest engineering accomplishments of its
time, with over 50,000 miles of paved road radiating from
their center at the miliarius aurem in the Forum in the
city of Rome. Although the Roman road system was
originally built to facilitate the movement of troops
throughout the empire, it was inevitably used for other
purposes by civilians then and now. 

ROMAN ENGINEERING

Of course, the roads were used for trade, as were the
waterways surrounding and connecting parts of the Roman
Empire to itself and the rest of the known world. The
Romans had exceptional nautical technology for their time;
however their network of roads, even with the perils of
land travel, was unparalleled in convenience and was often
the only choice for travel or shipping goods. The Romans
were the first ancient civilization to build paved roads,
which did not prevent travel during or after inclement
weather. Indeed, mud or gravel would hinder, if not
completely halt many vehicles pulled by animals or other
people, not to mention discourage travelers on foot. Roman
engineers, however, did not stop with just paving Roman
roads. Roads were crowned-that is, they were higher in the
middle than on the sides to allow water to run off-and
they often had gutters for drainage along the shoulders.
Probably the mostincredible engineering feat concerning
the Roman road system, though, is how well the roads were
built. Many are still major thoroughfares for cars today.
Indeed, their road-building methods were unsurpassed until
the invention of the macadam in the 19th century. These
technological advantages made travel and the shipment of
goods across land much easier. Romans shipped lots of
goods within the vast expanses of their empire as well as
to the rest of the world. Goods were constantly being
shipped throughout the empire, depending on the location
within the Empire, as well as supply and demand. Present-
day Great Britain, for example, was a valuable possession
to the Romans because of its silver deposits, which were
used for jewelry and money. Great Britain also supplied a
lot of wool to the rest of the empire. From the
southeastern corner of the empire, the Romans imported
many dyes for clothing and make-up from the Near East.
Over-water transportation usually played a role in imports
from the Near East or Africa, from whence they imported
Egyptian cotton, or exotic animals for the gladiators to
fight. Of course, Rome was connected to the Far East via
the Silk Road, the source of silk and other goods imported
from Asia. No matter what or from where, if the Romans
wanted something exotic, it was probably shipped into
Rome. 

ROMAN TRADE

As well as they designed their road network, travel on
land was often difficult and dangerous for the Romans.
Progress was slow compared to today's standards and a
person traveling on foot would be lucky to travel 35 miles
a day. The more affluent Romans had more choices as to how
they could travel. People who could afford to traveled in
litters carried by six to eight men or several mules.
Small groups of travelers, such as families, rode in
raedae (carriages). People in a hurry, such as messengers
from the emperor, rode in cisii, a light carriage like a
chariot. However, travel for anybody by any mode of
transportation was not safe, particularly at night.
Roadside inns were strategically located in the
countryside at about a days' journey apart. The inns
themselves were not safe. Fights broke out. Murders
occurred. Whenever possible, a traveler stayed with a
friend of the family or even a friend of a friends'
family.

FUNDAMENTALS OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT

"WHEN ANNUAL ELECTIONS END, THERE SLAVERY BEGINS." JOHN
ADAMS, Thoughts on Government, 1776 

THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS 

American self-government is founded on a set of basic
principles. Some grow out of the organic characteristics
of the nation, and others have evolved from the practical
application of the fundamental theses expressed in the
preamble to the Constitution. 

The judicial system is premised on a belief in the
equality of all individuals, in the inviolability of human
rights and in the supremacy of the law. No individual or
group, regardless of wealth, power or position, may defy
these principles. No person, for any reason, may be denied
the protection of the law. 

The incorporation of these and other fundamentals into an
efficient and practicable pattern of self-government
required the formulation of certain working principles.
The nation's physical size and its large population made
literal self-government an impossibility. In its place,
the Founding Fathers elaborated the principle of
representative government. 

At regular intervals, the voters choose public officials
to represent them in government. The voters delegate their
authority to these officials, and to administrators
appointed by them. 

Public officials exercise the power given them by the
people only so long as the people are satisfied with their
conduct and management of public affairs. The people have
a number of ways of expressing their will and of reminding
officials that they are really public servants as well as
leaders of the nation. 

The essential control mechanism is the periodic election
of the principal officers of the legislative and executive
branches. Candidates for public office submit their
platforms, or programs, to the voters for their scrutiny
and approval. Elected officials can never forget they must
face a day of reckoning at regular intervals. 

The dialogue between the voters and their elected
representatives is a continuing one. It includes the daily
flow of mail, telegrams, telephone calls and face-to-face
contact to which every elected official must respond.
American voters are vocal about their views on public
issues and do not hesitate to bring their opinions to the
attention of their representatives. One study found that
the average member of the U.S. House of Representatives
received 521 pieces of mail per week, most of it from
constituents. Some U.S. senators have reported receiving
up to 10,000 separate communications in a one-week period.

It is also common for voters to visit their congressmen
individually or in delegations to press for action on
specific issues. When the legislature is not in session,
it is a rare representative who does not return to his
home district to sound out voters on upcoming legislative
issues. 

In these ways the voters maintain their control of the
governmental process. In addition, the government is
structured to prevent abuse of power by any single branch
or public official. As has been noted previously, the
three branches of the federal government — legislative,
executive and judicial — are semiautonomous. Yet each has
certain authority over the others. The pattern of checks
and balances, implicit in the division of authority,
guards against undue concentration of power in any one
sector of the government at any level. 

There is a price to be paid for maintaining these
safeguards. A democratic government inevitably moves more
slowly — and sometimes less efficiently — than a
government where power is concentrated in the hands of one
individual or a small group. But the American experience
throughout history has been that hasty government action
is often ill-considered and harmful. If the price of full
public debate on all major issues is a relative loss of
efficiency, it is a fair price and one the American people
willingly pay. Moreover, in times of national emergency
the government has proved it can move swiftly and
effectively to defend the national interest. 

THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF CITIZENSHIP The privileges and
freedoms inherent in self-government are balanced by the
duties and responsibilities citizenship. Citizens must
help finance government according to their ability and
must obey the laws and regulations which they, through the
exercise of their franchise, have helped frame. 

Foremost among the responsibilities of citizenship is the
wise use of the power of the ballot. An informed
electorate is the surest guarantee of the survival of
democracy. Whether the issue is paving a street in the
town in which they live or approving a major change in
U.S. foreign policy, American voters have the duty to cast
their votes on the basis of all the information available.

A second major responsibility is public service. Millions
of American men and women have entered the armed forces to
defend their country in times of national emergency.
Millions more have served in peacetime to maintain the
country's military strength. Americans, young and old
alike, have joined the Peace Corps and other volunteer
organizations for social service at home and abroad. Nor
is volunteer service confined to government-sponsored
activities. From parent-teacher associations and Little
League baseball groups at the local level, to consumer
lobbies and foreign policy associations at the national
and international levels, Americans contribute freely of
their time and talents in support of causes in which they
believe. 

A relatively small number of persons choose politics as a
lifetime career. But there are literally millions of
citizens who have entered government service at all
levels. Some are professionals in the field of public
administration, with years of study at the university and
post-graduate level behind them. Others have made their
mark first in private enterprise and later in government
service. 

The judicial system relies on the service of citizens as
members of juries in federal, state and local courts.
Every American of legal age is subject to jury duty,
unless he or she can show that such service would
constitute a revere personal hardship. Grand juries have
enormous powers to investigate wrong-doing by public
officials as well as private citizens. Trial juries sit in
judgment of their fellow citizens charged with violations
of the law. 


REQUIREMENTS FOR CITIZENSHIP To exercise the right to
vote, hold public office, or serve on juries, a person
must be an American citizen. Under the Constitution, all
persons born in the United States and subject to its
jurisdiction are citizens of the United States and of the
district in which they reside. Under certain conditions,
children born to American citizens while they are
traveling or living outside the country are also citizens.
Persons born in Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin
Islands — all of which are part of the United States but
are not states — are American citizens as well. 

A person born in a foreign country may become an American
citizen through the process of naturalization. Aliens who
live in the United States are not compelled to become
citizens, nor are they penalized for not doing so. A great
many noncitizens live in the United States and enjoy the
same freedom of thought, speech and action accorded to
natural-born Americans. They may not, of course, vote, and
in some states citizenship is a requirement for applicants
who wish to obtain licenses to practice law or medicine. 

To be eligible for naturalization, a person must be at
least 18 years of age. He or she must have entered the
United States legally and must have been a resident of the
country for at least five years, including at least six
months in the state in which he or she applies for
citizenship. 

A candidate for citizenship makes application to the
Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Department
of Justice. The agency notifies the applicant where and
when to appear for examination. An officer of the agency
aids the applicant in filing a petition for naturalization
with a court. It is required that two American citizens,
known to be truthful, must support the petition and swear
that the applicant has fulfilled the residence
requirements, is of good moral character, and will support
the principles of the Constitution of the United States.
Both the applicant and the witnesses are questioned by an
examiner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service to
make sure the applicant is qualified. 

The final step is taking the oath of allegiance to the
United States. At least 30 days must pass between the
filing of the petition and taking the oath. After the
oath, a judge signs an order granting naturalized
citizenship. A certificate of naturalization is issued and
the new citizen is then eligible to vote and take an
active part in the government. 


POLITICAL PARTIES Political parties are the basis of the
American political system. Curiously, the Constitution
makes no provisions for political parties nor for their
role as the vehicle by which candidates for public office
are proposed to the voters. 

At the national level, the United States employs a two-
party system that has remained remarkably durable
throughout the nation's history, even though rival
national parties have appeared and disappeared from the
political scene. The Federalists, for example, who rallied
around President George Washington, disappeared slowly
after 1800; and the Whig Party, which arose in the 1830s
in opposition to President Andrew Jackson, a Democrat,
collapsed two decades later. Today, the Democratic Party,
which traces its origins back to the nation's third
president, Thomas Jefferson, and the Republican Party,
founded in 1854, continue to dominate politics at the
federal, state and local levels. 

One explanation for the longevity of the Republican and
Democratic parties is that they are not tight ideological
organizations, but loose alliances of state and local
parties that unite every four years for the presidential
election. Both parties compete for the same broad center
of the American electorate, and although Republicans are
generally more conservative than Democrats, both parties
contain relatively liberal and conservative wings that
continually vie for influence. 

Nevertheless, other parties are also active, and
particularly at the state and local levels, they may
succeed in electing candidates to office and in exercising
considerable influence. During the early 20th century, for
example, members of the Socialist Party were elected to
the House of Representatives and as the mayors of over 50
towns and cities. The Progressive Party held the
governorship of Wisconsin for a number of years and in
1974 an independent candidate became governor of Maine. 

THE ELECTORAL PROCESS The Republican and Democratic
parties contest public office at every level of political
life including town councils, mayoralties, state
governorships, Congress and the presidency. The selection
of these officials is a two-part process, first, to win
the party nomination, and second, to defeat the opposing
party's candidate in the general election. 

Methods of nominating candidates have evolved throughout
U.S. history. The earliest, which dates from colonial
times, is the caucus, an informal meeting of party leaders
who decide which candidates they will support. As the
nation developed and political organization became more
complex, various local caucuses began to delegate
representatives to meet with representatives from other
local caucuses to form county and then state groups, which
finally selected candidates. These enlarged bodies, known
as conventions, were the prototypes of the great
presidential nominating conventions of today. The third
nominating method is the primary election. Primaries are
statewide intraparty elections; which are designed to give
voters the opportunity to select their party's candidates
directly for various offices. 

The electoral process culminates in the quadrennial
election of the president of the United States. Party
candidates are selected in nominating conventions held
several months before the general election. Delegates to
these conventions, chosen within each state, are generally
pledged to vote for a particular candidate, at least on
the first ballot. 

General elections pit the candidates of the political
parties against each other. In most cases, the party
candidates for all offices — federal, state and local –
run as a block or slate, although voters cast their
ballots for each office individually. In addition, each
party draws up a statement of its position on various
issues, called a platform. Voters thus make their
decisions on the basis of the individuals running for
office, and the political, economic and social
philosophies of the parties they represent. 

It is possible for a candidate to run for office in a
general election without the backing of a political party.
To run as an independent, a person must present a
petition, signed by a specified number of voters who
support his or her candidacy. Still another device is the
write-in vote: A candidate's name that does not appear on
the ballot can be written in by voters in a space provided
for that purpose. 

Persons elected to office exercise the power to make and
execute laws as representatives of the people. In certain
circumstances, the people can exercise this power
directly. The example of the New England town meeting is
one such instance. In addition, in some states, a
substantial number of voters may petition for the adoption
of a law, bypassing the normal legislative process. The
proposal, called an initiative, is submitted for approval
of the voters at a general or special election. If
approved, it becomes law without legislative action. In
other cases, the people may be asked to express their
opinions by voting on specific issues in a referendum. The
referendum may be only an expression of the popular will
to guide the legislature, or it may be made binding on the
legislators. In the latter case, an act of the legislature
may be overturned by the voters. 

ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND OPINION Voters cannot make sound
decisions on the issues before them without a free flow of
information and opinion. Freedom of information is a
fundamental aspect of American democracy and is vital to
its proper working. 

The American voter has a virtually limitless supply of
information. Sources include newspapers, magazines, radio,
television, books, pamphlets and mailed communications.
The press of the United States provides daily coverage of
all important local, state, national and international
developments. Speeches and statements of government
officials are published and broadcast, Senate and House
debates are widely disseminated and the press conferences
of major officials are covered in detail. 

The mass media are committed — at least as an ideal — to
impartial, unbiased reporting of the facts. To enable
voters to make intelligent decisions, however, the media
also analyze the meaning of developments and, in clearly
identified columns or broadcasts, express editorial
opinions supporting or opposing the decisions of public
officials. The broad freedom of the American press has, at
times, been criticized as weakening the power of the
government to act for the public good. But Thomas
Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence,
had a ready reply to such criticism. In 1787 he declared: 

The basis of our government being the opinion of the
people, the very first object should be to keep that
right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should
have a government without newspapers, or newspapers
without a government, should not hesitate a moment to
prefer the latter. Several of the largest American weekly
magazines, such as Time, Newsweek and U.S. News and World
Report, are devoted exclusively to reporting and
interpreting the news, and a number of radio stations
similarly broadcast only news. Other publications and
electronic media devote a substantial portion of their
output to the news. Both the print and electronic media
offer debates in public issues and interviews with persons
who support or oppose specific actions. There are also
special-interest publications devoted solely to the
presentation of one or another side of various questions.
During elections, the political parties make ample use of
all the media to present their positions to the American
people. 

THE MEASURE OF SELF-GOVERNMENT Given the resources
available to the electorate for informing themselves on
all sides of every question, it has become an axiom that,
in a democracy, the people get the kind of government they
deserve. If the people are not well served by their
government, it is their own fault. If government functions
well, the people deserve the credit. 

The true measure of a government lies in how well it has
served its people in all kinds of circumstances, both
favorable and adverse, in times of peace and stability and
in times of national crisis. By this standard, the U.S.
system of self-government has been reasonably successful.
It has guided and nurtured the nation from weak and
chaotic beginnings, through phenomenal expansion in
territory and population, through drought, war and
scandal. It weathered a bitter civil war that threatened
to destroy the unity of the nation. It has on many
occasions defended the principles of freedom and self-
determination from attack by hostile forces from within
and without. 

Few Americans, however, would defend their country's
record as perfect. American democracy is in a constant
state of evolution. As Americans review their history,
they recognize errors of performance and failures to act,
which have delayed the nation's progress. They know that
more mistakes will be made in the future. 

Yet the U.S. government still represents the people, and
is dedicated to the preservation of liberty. The right to
criticize the government guarantees the right to change it
when it strays from the essential principles of the
Constitution. So long as the preamble to the Constitution
is heeded, the republic will stand. In the words of
Abraham Lincoln, "government of the people, by the people,
and for the people shall not perish from the earth."