Deck 2: Early Governance and the Constitutional Framework

Question 1

During Lewis and Clark's expedition in the American West, they

A) practiced democracy, with all-women and slaves-having a vote.
B) allowed Clark's slave York to vote but not the Native American Sacagawea.
C) were stranded during the winter and resorted to a form of dictatorship.
D) were purely a military commission given by Thomas Jefferson and did not include women.
E) were Army captains and always dictated to the others.

Answer 1

practiced democracy, with all-women and slaves-having a vote.

Question 2

Which of the following political actors is most accurately thought of as a part of government?

A) The federal bureaucracy
B) Political parties
C) Public opinion
D) Interest groups
E) Constitutional lawyers

Answer 2

The federal bureaucracy

Question 3

Canada, Great Britain, and the United States are examples of

A) monarchies.
B) pluralist societies.
C) oligarchies.
D) authoritarian systems.
E) pure democracies.

Answer 3

pluralist societies.

Question 4

British policies that led to the casual enforcement of trade laws with the hopes of great economic gain were referred to as

A) tributary custom.
B) salutary neglect.
C) customary practice.
D) taxation without representation.
E) sufficient efficacy.

Question 5

The so-called Boston Tea Party was a result of

A) Parliament passing the Coercive Acts, referred to as the Intolerable Acts.
B) Parliament granting the East India Company a monopoly on importing tea into the colonies, among other trade acts.
C) the closing of Port of Boston by British war ships because of unrest in the colonies.
D) the driving desire for liberty from a corrupt government, led by the Sons of Liberty.
E) Parliament granting control of Boston Harbor to the Hudson Bay Company.

Question 6

Referred to as the Intolerable Acts in the colonies, the British referred to the acts intended by the British Parliament to quell unrest and punish colonial insolence as the _____ Acts.

A) Coercive
B) Repressive
C) Redistributive
D) Tributary
E) Colonial Law

Question 7

The Declaration of Independence is widely regarded today as one of the best arguments in favor of

A) the social contract theory.
B) capitalism.
C) just law theory.
D) political realism.
E) conservatism.

Question 8

Why did American public support for the Continental Army lag throughout the revolution against England?

A) The public was confident of an American victory.
B) Most Americans supported the British cause.
C) A lack of information about the war meant that the public was unaware of conditions.
D) A majority of Americans were deeply suspicious of professional armies.
E) Most Americans felt apathetic about the war.

Question 9

Demonstrating his support for the Revolutionary War, who claimed in 1787 that "the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants"?

A) George Washington
B) Aaron Burr
C) Samuel Adams
D) Thomas Jefferson
E) Thomas Paine

Question 10

The Articles of Confederation ___________ the U.S. Constitution.

A) followed
B) amended
C) preceded
D) served as a preamble to
E) was the British model of

Question 11

Amending the Articles of Confederation required the consent of

A) 5 of the 13 states.
B) 7 of the 13 states.
C) 9 of the 13 states.
D) 11 of the 13 states.
E) all 13 of the 13 states.

Question 12

The primary lesson drawn from Shays's Rebellion was the idea that the

A) national government was too powerful.
B) states needed to maintain strong police forces.
C) right to bear arms needed to be expanded.
D) right to bear arms needed to be restricted.

Question 13

The plan to dump the Articles of Confederation and start from scratch with a new Constitution (rather than revising the old Articles) was advanced at the Constitutional Convention by

A) George Washington.
B) Edmund Randolph.
C) George Clinton.
D) Thomas Jefferson.
E) Benjamin Franklin.

Question 14

The New Jersey Plan was supported primarily by

A) large states.
B) small states.
C) agricultural states.
D) industrial states.
E) slave states.

Question 15

Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution prohibited Congress from stopping the importation of slaves from overseas until

A) 1796.
B) 1808.
C) 1819.
D) 1832.
E) 1899.

Question 16

The idea that each branch of government would be afforded its own specific powers but would also be dependent on the branches of government to carry out its powers is sometimes referred to as

A) sharing of powers.
B) de jure powers.
C) de facto separation.
D) limited government.
E) the supremacy clause.

Question 17

The ability of Congress to override a presidential veto is an example of

A) relative powers.
B) distributional powers.
C) checks and balances.
D) representative republicanism.
E) federalism.

Question 18

The series of documents supporting ratification of the new Constitution and written under the pseudonym Publius in New York City newspapers was the

A) Constitutional Council.
B) Federalist Papers.
C) Madisonian Papers.
D) New World Gazette.
E) Poor Richard's Almanack.

Question 19

The belief that representative republics must be small and relatively homogeneous if they are to succeed was common to the

A) Democrats.
B) Republicans.
C) Whigs.
D) Federalists.
E) Anti-Federalists.

Question 20

The most important contribution of the Anti-Federalists was the

A) Supreme Court.
B) Connecticut Compromise.
C) Three-fifths compromise.
D) Bill of Rights.
E) end of slavery.

Question 21

From the British perspective, the imposition of taxes upon the colonists after the French and Indian War were a fair way to get the colonists to pay for the cost of their own defense.

Question 22

The British colonists in the Americas were the highest taxed peoples in the New World.

Question 23

The shortage of specie, or hard money, was a contributing factor in Shays's Rebellion.

Question 24

The Virginia Plan proposed a council of revision, which would have some control over national legislation and an absolute veto over state legislation.

Question 25

The right of states to maintain the slave system was specifically protected by the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution.

Question 26

In the debate over ratification, the Federalists opposed the new Constitution.

Question 27

Because the Constitution is purposely vague, legal scholars and Supreme Court justices sometimes cite the Federalist Papers in their proceedings.

Question 28

The Twenty-Seventh Amendment limits presidents to two terms in office.

Question 29

_____ law refers to a body of law that applies to violations of rules and regulations defined by the government.

A) Common
B) Private
C) Civil
D) Criminal
E) Public

Question 30

_____ law refers to the body of laws that apply to private rights, such as the ownership of property or the enforcement of contracts.

A) Common
B) Criminal
C) Civil
D) Private
E) Public

Question 31

Which of the following is NOT an example of the exercise of power?

A) An interest group so large that government bureaucrats are forced to consider their concerns
B) A handful of corporate elites who pursue regulatory officials to steer public policy their way
C) The media shifting public opinion in favor of one candidate over another
D) Congress forcing the president to shift positions on Middle East policy
E) All of these provide examples of the exercise of power

Question 32

A system of government in which members of the general public select agents to represent them in political decision making is known as a(n)

A) direct democracy.
B) republic.
C) liberal democracy.
D) authoritarian regime.
E) constitutional regime.

Question 33

A system of government in which leaders face few formal legal restrictions but are checked by noninstitutional forces such as political parties, religious groups, or business leaders is referred to as

A) a constitutional monarchy.
B) an authoritarian regime.
C) a totalitarian regime.
D) a fascist regime.
E) a republic.

Question 34

Which of the following is an example of pure democracy?

A) Voting for elected officials
B) Congress impeaching the president
C) The Constitution limiting the power of the Congress
D) Participating in a town hall meeting
E) The courts declaring an act of Congress unconstitutional

Question 35

The French and Indian War was fought by which two foreign powers against each other in North America?

A) France and Spain
B) France and Great Britain
C) Spain and the Netherlands
D) Great Britain and the Netherlands
E) Great Britain and Spain

Question 36

Which of the following colonial figures played a central role in leading the Sons of Liberty?

A) Thomas Jefferson
B) John Jay
C) Samuel Adams
D) Benjamin Franklin
E) George Washington

Question 37

The generation before the Great Squeeze, a time of "salutary neglect," was a time when

A) Parliament had tried out acts of strict trade enforcement, testing the waters for the Great Squeeze.
B) English investors resented the lax trade laws with the colonies.
C) Parliament and the local colonial governments embraced a time of "good feelings."
D) Parliament led a policy of casual, loose enforcement of trade laws in the colonies.
E) English investors recorded record lows in profits.

Question 38

Why did Parliament impose few taxes on the colonies prior to the Great Squeeze?

A) Members of Parliament were hoping to curry the support of the colonists for their reelection campaigns.
B) Parliament was afraid any taxes would ferment rebellion in the colonies.
C) Parliament hoped that low taxes would stimulate economic growth in the colonies.
D) The British Empire was already profitable and did not need additional revenues from the colonies.
E) Parliament did exact huge taxes on the colonies even before the Great Squeeze.

Question 39

The series of moves by the British Parliament that attempted to channel money back to the commercial class in Great Britain were known as the

A) Commerce Clauses.
B) The Quartering Acts.
C) The Stamp Acts.
D) The Intolerable Acts.
E) The Acts for Trade.

Question 40

The Intolerable Acts were strongly opposed by the colonists because they

A) saw all taxes as an imposition on their liberty.
B) wanted independence from Britain.
C) felt their interests were not represented in the British Parliament.
D) wanted more funding for local development in the colonies.
E) believed they should not have to pay taxes because they were already serving the British Empire.

Question 41

Written in 1690, _____'s Two Treatises on Government profoundly influenced the thinking of the founders.

A) Adam Smith
B) Thomas Hobbes
C) Jean-Jacques Rousseau
D) John Locke
E) John Milton

Question 42

At the time of the American Revolution, many Americans argued that the essence of self-governance was the ability to

A) control taxes.
B) elect judges.
C) join the military.
D) make laws concerning religion.
E) enjoy freedom of speech and assembly.

Question 43

Political change during the American Revolution focused on which pathway of action?

A) Lobbying
B) Court-centered action
C) Grassroots mobilization
D) Elections
E) Cultural change

Question 44

The Stamp Act Congress, called to protest the Stamp Act of 1765, produced which document immediately after the meeting ended?

A) The Declaration of Rights and Grievances
B) The Complaints Against the Crown
C) The American Freedom Statement
D) The Declaration of Independence
E) The Charter Rights and Freedoms

Question 45

Common Sense, an articulation of the case for American independence, was written by

A) Thomas Paine.
B) Edmund Burke.
C) Edward Smith.
D) John Smith.
E) John Adams.

Question 46

The main goal of the First Continental Congress was

A) independence from Great Britain.
B) improving relations with Great Britain.
C) improving relations with the Native Americans.
D) establishing a new country in the Americas.
E) increasing the wealth of the colonies.

Question 47

The first battle between American and British forces in the Revolutionary War occurred at

A) Lexington.
B) Concord.
C) Bunker Hill.
D) Charlestown.
E) Gettysburg.

Question 48

At the time of the Second Continental Congress,

A) the majority of Americans supported independence.
B) the majority of Americans opposed independence.
C) Americans remained sharply divided on the question of independence.
D) independence was a foregone conclusion.
E) Britain had already declared a ceasefire in the Revolutionary War.

Question 49

The First Continental Congress met for the first time in

A) 1769.
B) 1772.
C) 1774.
D) 1776.
E) 1778.

Question 50

The First Continental Congress included representatives from all of the colonies EXCEPT

A) Georgia.
B) Rhode Island.
C) New Hampshire.
D) Virginia.
E) North Carolina.

Question 51

In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson presents a notion of individual rights granted by

A) a monarch.
B) the people themselves, directly.
C) the people themselves, indirectly.
D) the representatives of the people.
E) God.

Question 52

The second sentence of the Declaration of Independence reads "That to secure these rights Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government." Which of the following concepts is illustrated by this passage?

A) Social contract theory
B) Natural rights
C) Just law theory
D) The state of nature
E) Oligarchy

Question 53

During the American Revolutionary War against the British, the Continental Army was headed by

A) Benedict Arnold.
B) Aaron Burr.
C) George Washington.
D) Alexander Hamilton.
E) Benjamin Franklin.

Question 54

Americans in which state toppled a statue of King George and had it melted down to make 42,000 bullets for the revolution against Britain?

A) Rhode Island
B) New Hampshire
C) New York
D) New Jersey
E) Massachusetts.

Question 55

The Declaration of Independence draws heavily in its understanding of the source of individual liberty from

A) conservative political thought.
B) divine law.
C) social contract theory.
D) common law traditions.
E) Roman law traditions.

Question 56

The Declaration of Independence was written to convince the

A) British government to grant the colonies their independence,
B) colonists to support the cause of liberty.
C) French to support America's war against Britain.
D) British government to treat the colonist with greater respect and equality.
E) British people to support the colonists in their bid for independence.

Question 57

In writing the Declaration of Independence, the founders were attempting to use the

A) elections pathway.
B) court pathway.
C) lobbying pathway.
D) grassroots mobilization pathway.
E) cultural change pathway.

Question 58

Which of the following was a power granted to the national government under the Articles of Confederation?

A) Regulate commerce
B) Collect taxes
C) Establish courts
D) Establish a draft
E) Establish a national money system

Question 59

Which of the following was NOT a reason for the failure of the Articles of Confederation?

A) The national government set the tax rate too high.
B) The national government had no way to regulate interstate commerce.
C) The national government was not able to conduct foreign affairs.
D) The nation experienced an economic revival during the 1780s.
E) There was no effective national leadership.

Question 60

Under the Articles of Confederation, the central government had the power to

A) raise taxes.
B) raise an army.
C) borrow money.
D) regulate foreign trade.
E) form a national bank.

Question 61

Shays's Rebellion was a response to

A) taxation without representation.
B) slavery.
C) the unjust demands placed on the colonists by the British.
D) the lack of responsiveness on the part of a state government to the needs of its citizens.
E) the displacement of Native Americans by Europeans that settled in the original thirteen colonies.

Question 62

What happened to those who participated in Shays's Rebellion?

A) They were sentenced to death and executed.
B) They were sentenced to death but pardoned.
C) They were sentenced to hard labor.
D) They were charged but found not guilty by a jury of their peers.
E) They were never prosecuted.

Question 63

In an effort to deal with the economic crisis of the 1780s, many state governments passed _____ laws, which postponed foreclosures.

A) quit
B) eminent domain
C) property
D) stay
E) justice

Question 64

Particularly after 1776, the ranks of the Continental Army were filled primarily with

A) slaves hoping for freedom.
B) citizen soldiers convinced of the justice of their cause.
C) draftees and the poor.
D) German mercenaries.
E) French conscripts.

Question 65

One of the main objectives of those who participated in the Constitutional Convention was to

A) ensure the maximum degree of stability possible.
B) ensure the maximum degree of liberty possible.
C) balance liberty and stability.
D) guarantee the protection of private property.
E) weaken the power of the national government.

Question 66

The Constitutional Convention met in May of _____ for the purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation.

A) 1776.
B) 1779.
C) 1781.
D) 1785.
E) 1787.

Question 67

At the Constitutional Convention, the New Jersey Plan was proposed by

A) William Paterson
B) James Madison.
C) Edmund Randolph.
D) Thomas Jefferson.
E) Benjamin Franklin.

Question 68

The New Jersey Plan

A) proposed to outlaw slavery in the colonies.
B) established a national income tax.
C) prohibited a national income tax.
D) provided for representation in the national legislature based on population.
E) provided for equal representation of all states regardless of population in the legislature.

Question 69

At the Constitutional Convention, the Virginia Plan was proposed by

A) William Paterson
B) James Madison.
C) Edmund Randolph.
D) Thomas Jefferson.
E) Benjamin Franklin.

Question 70

Which of the following was NOT a feature of the Virginia Plan at the Constitutional Convention?

A) A multi-person executive council
B) Life terms for judges appointed by the legislature
C) A system whereby acts of the new national legislature would override state law
D) A system of checks and balances
E) A Council of Revision to review national and state laws

Question 71

The Virginia Plan was supported primarily by

A) large states.
B) small states.
C) agricultural states.
D) industrial states.
E) slave states.

Question 72

The most significant difference(s) between the Virginia and New Jersey Plans centered on the

A) distribution of seats in the national legislature.
B) nature and composition of the national executive.
C) relative balance of power between the national and state governments.
D) distribution of seats, nature and composition of the national executive, and the power between the national and state governments.
E) seats only in the national legislature and on the composition of the national executive.

Question 73

The Great Compromise was presented to the Constitutional Convention by

A) Benjamin Franklin.
B) John Jay.
C) George Washington.
D) Roger Sherman.
E) Thomas Jefferson.

Question 74

One of the main debates at the Constitutional Convention centered on the nature of representation in the national legislature. What were the two competing approaches to representation in this debate?

A) Direct democracy vs. representative democracy
B) State-based vs. citizen-based representation
C) Citizen-based vs. individual-based representation
D) Federal vs. unitary democracy
E) Citizenship-based vs. residency-based representation

Question 75

The three-fifths compromise came about because delegates from

A) three-fifths of the colonies argued for slaves to be included in population counts.
B) the northern colonies argued for the Senate to be based on population.
C) Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia argued for the legalization of slavery.
D) New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey argued that slaves should be included in population counts.
E) Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia argued that slaves should be included in population counts.

Question 76

The three-fifths compromise

A) guaranteed at least three votes to small states for every five votes large states had in Congress.
B) reduced the tax imposed by the British on tea from five cents to three cents per pound.
C) counted five slaves as three free persons for the purpose of representation in the Congress.
D) guaranteed state governments at least three-fifths of all tax revenues raised by the federal government.
E) required a three-fifths majority to ratify the proposed Constitution.

Question 77

Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution prohibited Congress from

A) ending the slave trade for 20 years.
B) imposing a national income tax.
C) overturning the decisions of the states.
D) removing a sitting official from office.
E) undermining the power of the president.

Question 78

Article VI of the Constitution outlines what important principle in American government?

A) Equality of citizenship
B) Checks and balances
C) Rights of citizenship
D) The supremacy of the national government
E) The process by which the Constitution could be amended

Question 79

Which of the following statements most accurately describes the respective roles of each branch of government?

A) The executive creates the law, the legislature enforces the law, and the courts punish people who break the law.
B) The courts create the law, the legislature interprets the law, and the executive enforces the law.
C) The legislature makes the law, the executive carries the law into force, and the courts resolve disputes over the law.
D) The legislature creates the law, the states enforce the law, and the courts interpret the law.
E) The states create the law, the legislature interprets the law, and the courts enforce the law.

Question 80

A system of government in which political power and functions are divided among different layers of government, such as the national government and the states, is referred to as a(n) _____ system.

A) unitary
B) confederal
C) federal
D) devolved unitary
E) proportional representation