Could you pass UW’s 1908 entrance exam? John Curley attempts the history portion

Part of an entrance exam for the University of Washington (UW), dated all the way back to 1908, was circulating around Seattle this week, making some wonder: Could I have passed this exam?

The section that was trending online was specifically dated to history, with four subcategories: Ancient, Medieval and Modern, English, and American history. How well would you have done answering these questions? KIRO host John Curley decided to take part in the rigorous exam, which specified that you only needed to answer one question per category.

“I’m going to see way into the future,” Curley said. “I know it’s 1908, but definitely get Brock Huard an opportunity to start as a sophomore. He’s going to be that good.”

Ancient History

1. Describe an Egyptian temple.

2. Compare the early history of Babylonia with that of Egypt.

3. What is an oligarchy?

4. What did Solon do for Athens?

5. Describe slavery in Athens.

“Well, it wasn’t good, although in Athens, there were clear distinctions between those who had all the political power, and then there were divisions in the slave society, and there were three or four various categories of slaves in Athens, but just about everybody was a slave,” Curley answered. “Some were slightly better off than others.”

6. What causes contributed to Alexander’s victories?

7. What was the tribune in early Rome?

8. What was the Roman phalanx?

9. What did Caesar do for Rome?

10. What was the Praetorian Guard?

Medieval and modern history

1. Compare the empire of Otto I. with that of Charlemagne.

2. Would the Pope have acquired temporal power if Rome had continued to be the residence of an Emperor?

3. Who were the Minnesingers?

4. What were the guilds?

“They wanted to make sure that, and this is early into the economics of that particular society, you had to train and work for like seven years. You’d be a journeyman first, and then you’d work your way up to the apprentice, and then for the apprentice position … there were too many. This was really the beginning of the unions that were sort of created there, loosely,” Curley said. “It was a way of stopping people from just trying to get some work, and slaves from trying to move from a slave position up into actual craftsmanship.”

5. What is meant by the Hundred Years’ War?

6. Describe the Battle of Crecy.

7. Who was Richelleu?

8. What was the Holy Alliance?

9. What caused the Crimean War?

10. Give some of the results of the war between Russia and Japan in 1904-1905.

English history

1. How did Pope Gregory become interested in the conversion of England?

2. Why did William I. curtail the power of his barons?

3. What were the early forest laws?

4. What was “mortmain” (a dead hand) in early English history?

5. Why was King Henry VIII popular?

6. How did England meet Spain’s Invincible Armada?

7. Name the Stuart kings of England?

8. What was Robert Walpole’s greatest contribution to English history?

9. What was the pocket-borough system?

10. How did Queen Victoria become also Empress of India?

“She never went to India. I know that. I know that England got new trading rights with India. England and India did, and she, Queen Victoria, was really well known for being anti-racism, and she didn’t like the caste structures of India,” Curley answered. “They were promoting her as caring a lot about India, even though she had never been there before, but she had this great affection for India, for some reason. That’s all. That’s all I know.”

American history

1. Name the great drainage systems of the United States.

2. What European countries had colonies in North America in 1750?

3. What were the limits of the United States in 1783; in 1804; in 1820?

4. What were the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions?

“I can’t remember. Either Kentucky or Virginia didn’t like the fact that the United States, as it was formed, was not the United States unless every single state agreed to the compact of being included in the United States,” Curley said. “So then they thought each state should be able to challenge the Constitution, and they didn’t like the control that the federal government had. They wanted to be able to not have the federal government write laws that would pertain to every state, and they thought each state should be able to question the constitution of the federal government. That I knew.”

5. What was nullification?

6. What was secession?

7. Give dates of the beginning and ending of the war between the
states.

8. What was the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution?

9. What was the Trent Affair?

10. How was the Hayes-Tilden election contest settled?

How well did you do? Comment below.

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