All Possible Questions You Will Find in Reading Quiz E 

These questions are used as quizzes. These questions are also 1/3 of the questions for the objective part of the Exam that ends Unit 2, with the other 2/3rds coming from the two other quizzes in this Unit.

 

These questions are from Chapters 6 and 7 and the Constitution.

 

E

1.   

The word republic was central to citizens in the late 1700s. The BEST definition of the word is:

a. A government without monarchy or aristocracy, one with the power in the hands of the citizens who vote for representatives

b. A new political party

c. A continuation of the British monarchy

d. A strong central government

e. "One man, one vote"

 

Tip: the first answer is a definition of the word republic.

E

2.   

The first state to pass an abolition law was Pennsylvania. The first religious group to prohibit members from owning slaves was:

a. Baptists

b. Methodists

c. Quakers

d. Anglicans

e. Puritans

E

3.    

The period when the new nation governed itself under the Articles of Confederation can BEST be described as:

a. A period of the establishment of many of the basic institutions set up in the Constitution, including Congress passing laws that set up the executive departments and the judiciary and that dealt with financial vulnerabilities of the new nation

b. A period when the nation became involved in the struggles between France and Britain, when the Congress passed laws restricting freedom of the press and speech, and when organization of political parties developed, including with grassroots organization of the Democratic-Republicans

c. A period when the central government could not tax or effectively make treaties

E

4.  

Which of the following was NOT a criticism of American government under the Articles of Confederation?

a. That it failed to deal with the nation's economic problems

b. That it gave too much power to a central government

c. That it failed to adequately confront threats from Britain and Spain along the United States borders

d. That it was unable to deal with the country's fiscal instability

e. That its single legislative body gave some states an unfair advantage

E

5.    

Major weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation government included:

a. The inability to regulate trade through tariffs

b. The inability to tax

c. The inability to provide a stable currency

d. All of the listed answers

e. None of the listed answers

 

E

6.   

The result of Shays’s Rebellion was that Congress realized

a. the seriousness of the farmers' complaints.

b. the futility of the Riot Act.

c. how powerless the government was.

d. the need for a standing army.

e. All of the listed answers.

 

E

7.   

The most important accomplishment of Congress under the Articles of Confederation was its:

a. Disposition of the Florida border problem with Spain

b. Passage of ordinances organizing the Northwest Territory

c. Management of the nation's financial affairs

d. Rejection of British demands for territory along the country's borders with Canada

e. Development of the set of rules for interstate trade and tariffs

 

E

8.   

Among the problems the framers of the Constitution had to solve were:

a. Avoiding abuse, whether by action and inaction, of either executive or legislative power (with English history in the 1600s showing abuse by the king)

b. Lack of a central government to deal with problems beyond the individual states

c. Financial vulnerability of the central government because it had debt but lacked powers under the Articles of Confederation to deal with that debt

d. All of the listed answers

E

9.   

Sometimes called the “Father of the Constitution,” this individual was one of the authors of the Federalist Papers, a set of publications explaining the Constitution and the principles behind the organization of the new government. This individual was:

a. James Madison

b. Thomas Jefferson

c. Alexander Hamilton

d. John Jay

e. Benjamin Franklin

E

10.            

This individual is sometimes called the “Father of the Constitution” because of his work at the Philadelphia Convention, in writing some of the Federalist Papers, and in selecting and writing the Bill of Rights.

a. James Madison

b. Thomas Jefferson

c. Alexander Hamilton

d. John Jay

e. Benjamin Franklin

E

11.            

What created the court system for the central government?

a. The Constitution covered the system in detail.

b. Congressional action in the Judiciary Act of 1789 set up its organization.

c. The Attorney General determined its organization.

d. The first Chief Justice determined its organization.

 

E

12.            

Concerning slavery, the new Constitution:

a. Outlawed slavery itself after 1807

b. Outlawed the slave trade (but not slavery) after 1807

c. Allowed Southern states to count their slaves for congressional representation but not for taxation

d. Outlawed slavery in the North but permitted it in the South

e. Did not address it, except in the Bill of Rights

 

E

13.            

The Constitution consisted of many compromises and interconnected arrangements, including:

a. Small states received 2 votes for each state in the Senate; large states, votes in the House of Representatives based on the population of the state.

b. Slave-holding states counted slaves as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of determining representation but also for determining direct taxes.

c. Members of the House of Representatives were elected directly by the people; members of the Senate, by the state legislatures (until 1913); the President, by the Electoral College.

d. Legislative power was placed in the Congress; executive, in the Presidency; and judicial, in the judiciary, with all of these powers subject to checks and balances.

e. All of the listed answers

E

14.            

Among the "checks and balances" in the Constitution are:

a. Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President for lifetime appointments, but appointments require the approval (the "Advice and Consent") of the Senate.

b. Monetary bills must begin in the House of Representatives, but both houses must approve bills. The President can veto laws, but Congress can override his veto with a 2/3 vote.

c. The President executes laws written by Congress, but Congress can remove the President for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

d. All of the listed answers

E

15.            

What characteristic of the proposed new Constitution of 1787 most alarmed those who opposed it?

a. The omission of a specific listing of long-established liberties--an omission later corrected by amendments

b. The omission of any reference to God

c. The creation of a standing army

d. The naming of the new central government's district, or seat of government, after a Federalist

 

E

16.            

Among the reasons the AntiFederalists may have "smelled a rat" with the development of the Constitution are:

a. The Articles of Confederation required approval of 13 of 13 state legislatures for changes to its rules. The Constitution stated that 9 of 13 are required to ratify the Constitution (and for it to replace the Articles).

b. The Articles of Confederation place sovereignty in the state legislatures; the Constitution, in the people.

c. As initially written and ratified, the Constitution lacked a statement of rights held by the people.

d. All of the listed answers

 

E

17.            

In spite of their self-chosen name, Federalists can be closely associated with:

a. A desire to preserve the Articles of Confederation

b. Proposing that the Bill of Rights be added to the Constitution

c. The idea of a strong central government

d. The idea of states' rights

e. The early abolition movement

 

E

18.            

George Washington's two administrations can BEST be described as:

a. A period of the establishment of many of the basic institutions set up in the Constitution, including the Presidency establishing traditions and the Congress passing laws that set up the executive departments and the judiciary and that dealt with financial vulnerabilities of the new nation

b. A period when the nation became involved in the struggles between France and Britain, when the Congress passed laws restricting freedom of the press and speech, and when organization of political parties developed, including with grassroots organization of the Democratic-Republicans

c. A period when the central government could not tax or effectively make treaties

E

19.            

The first Secretary of State for the United States, appointed during the Washington administration, was this individual who had been central in the American Revolution and who will be central in the development of the Democratic-Republican Party during the Adams administration:

a. James Madison

b. Thomas Jefferson

c. Alexander Hamilton

d. John Jay

e. Benjamin Franklin   

 

Tip: The Ayers textbook in the second edition referred to this political party as the Democratic-Republicans. It was only in the more recent editions that it used the term Republican. To try to help you realize that the Jefferson-Madison party is not like either the current Democratic or Republican parties, the full term Democratic-Republican is used in these questions.

 

E

20.            

The first Secretary of State for the United States was this individual who had been central in the American Revolution:

a. James Madison

b. Thomas Jefferson

c. Alexander Hamilton

d. John Jay

e. Benjamin Franklin

 

E

21.            

This individual was one of the authors of the Federalist Papers. He was also the first Secretary of Treasury for the United States and set the financial policies of the United States. He advocated a national bank, assumption of state war debts, paying all debts the United States made under the Articles of Confederation, and a protective tariff. This individual was:

a. James Madison

b. Thomas Jefferson

c. Alexander Hamilton

d. John Jay

e. Benjamin Franklin

E

22.            

As the first Secretary of the Treasury for the new nation, Alexander Hamilton:

a. Opposed the central government's paying off the indebtedness incurred by the government

under the Articles of Confederation

b. Opposed the central government's assumption of state debts

c. Opposed the creation of a national bank

d. Opposed protective tariffs and subsidies for industry

e. None of the listed answers

 

E

23.            

The Bank of the United States was based on the doctrine of:

a. Strict construction

b. States' rights

c. Implied powers

d. Judicial review

e. Checks and balances

 

E

24.            

What country impressed our sailors, forcing them to serve in their navy, and placed limitations on our rights as a neutral nation:

a. France

b. Great Britain

c. Spain

d. the Netherlands

e. United States

 

E

25.            

Because of our treaty commitments from the American Revolutionary War and because of our demand for rights of a neutral nation during a prolonged war, the new nation faced repeated problems with this nation throughout the early years:

a. France

b. Great Britain

c. Spain

d. the Netherlands

e. United States

 

E

26. 

What nation tried to remain neutral between two great powers at war, in spite of the nation’s treaty commitment with one of those powers and its prior war with the other and in spite of its citizens’ ships trading with both great powers at war:

a. France

b. Great Britain

c. Spain

d. the Netherlands

e. United States

 

E

27. 

The story of the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 saw:

a. A briefly successful move by Pennsylvania to secede from the Union

b. Violent clashes between urban merchants and American troops

c. The central government conduct itself much as it did during Shays's Rebellion

d. The central government conduct itself very differently from Shays's Rebellion (President Washington accompanied thousands of troops into the field to put down the insurrection.)

 

E

28. 

When Washington gave his Farewell Address, he cautioned Americans against

a. involvement in foreign affairs

b. sectional politics

c. political parties

d. All of the listed answers

e. None of the listed answers

 

E

29. 

The administration of John Adams can BEST be described as:

a. A period of the establishment of many of the basic institutions set up in the Constitution, including Congress passing laws that set up the executive departments and the judiciary and that dealt with financial vulnerabilities of the new nation

b. A period when the nation became involved in the struggles between France and Britain, when the Congress passed laws restricting freedom of the press and speech, and when organization of political parties developed, including with grassroots organization of the Democratic-Republicans

c. A period when the central government could not tax or effectively make treaties

 

E

30. 

One of the two major treaties of the New Republic period was Jay’s Treaty with Great Britain in 1795. Jay’s Treaty:

a. Dealt with the removal of the British from their forts west of the Appalachians, paid for ships the British had confiscated, and opened trade with the British West Indies.

b. Dealt with British impressments of sailors, our rights as a neutral nation, and paying for slaves who left with the British in the Revolutionary War.

c. Helped to increase public support for the developing Democratic-Republican Party.

d. Both a and c

 

E

31. 

The Western frontier was secured not just by battles with the Indians, but also by treaty, one of the two major treaties of the New Republic period. Pinckney’s Treaty of 1795 (or the Treaty of San Lorenzo) with Spain gave the United States:

a. The right to navigate the Mississippi River to its mouth

b. The freedom to use the port at New Orleans

c. A desired fixed northern boundary of Florida

d. All of the listed answers

 

E

32. 

The Alien and Sedition Acts:

a. Were Federalist measures passed in Congress

b. Gave the government the authority to silence virtually any opposition, including anyone who would "bring [the government of the United States] into contempt"

c. Were applied against newspaper editors who favored the Democratic-Republicans

d. All of the listed answers

 

E

33. 

The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions:

a. Argued states had the right to nullify laws passed by Congress

b. Were in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts and to the courts being in the hands of the Federalists

c. Were drafted by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison

d. All of the listed answers

 

E

34. 

The development of this new political party came about with increasing divisions during the administrations of Washington and Adams. It had its first victory with the election of Thomas Jefferson as President in 1800. The factions differed over the United States relationship with France, its support for revolution in general, implementation of financial policy, and particularly over the Alien and Sedition Acts. This party is:

a. Federalists

b. AntiFederalists

c. Constitutionalists

d. Democratic-Republicans

 

 Repeated Tip: The Ayers textbook in the second edition referred to this political party as the Democratic-Republicans. It was only in the more recent editions that it used the term Republican. To try to help you realize that the Jefferson-Madison party is not like either the current Democratic or Republican parties, the full term Democratic-Republican is used in these questions.

 

 


These questions are in some cases based on questions in the test database for American Passages.

WCJC Department:

History – Dr. Bibus

Contact Information:

281.239.1577 or bibusc@wcjc.edu

Last Updated:

2013

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