Deck 5: The American Revolution: From Elite Protest to Popular Revolt 1763–1783

Question 1

The fundamental issue leading to the Boston Massacre in 1770 was the ________.

A) British attempt to enforce the Tea Act
B) Boston Tea Party
C) passage of the Townshend Acts
D) sinking of the Gaspee
E) presence of so many British troops in Boston

Answer 1

presence of so many British troops in Boston

Question 2

At the end of the Seven Years' War,American colonists could be best characterized as ________.

A) hostile toward the British
B) optimistic about the future
C) apathetic about colonial-British relations
D) eager for independence from Great Britain
E) trying to rebuild

Answer 2

optimistic about the future

Question 3

In December 1775,Parliament passed the ________,which cut America off from international commerce.

A) Declaratory Act
B) Prohibitory Act
C) Commerce Act
D) Tea Act
E) Trade Act

Answer 3

Prohibitory Act

Question 4

George III believed ________.

A) Parliament should run the empire
B) the monarch should take an active role in government
C) the monarch should be a figurehead
D) qualified men should run the government
E) the monarch should consider parliamentary opinion when making decisions

Question 5

According to whose political theory is power dangerous and must be countered by virtue?

A) Commonwealthmen
B) Whigs
C) Tories
D) Patriots
E) Loyalists

Question 6

Which of the following stated Parliament's belief in its own sovereignty?

A) Townshend Acts
B) Declaratory Act
C) Coercive Acts
D) Stamp Act
E) Sovereignty Act

Question 7

Which of these was the elder statesmen that was one of the men who negotiated a peace with Britain following the Revolutionary War?

A) James Otis
B) Samuel Adams
C) Benjamin Franklin
D) Thomas Jefferson
E) James Madison

Question 8

England passed the Coercive Acts in response to the ________.

A) colonial boycott of the Stamp Act
B) Boston Tea Party
C) American victory at Saratoga
D) Declaratory Act
E) Tea Act

Question 9

The radical American group that first emerged during the Stamp Act crisis was known as ________.

A) the Loyalists
B) the Sons of Liberty
C) the Democratic Republicans
D) the Federalists
E) Oliver's Raiders

Question 10

The Boston Massacre ________.

A) proved the importance of the British army in the colonies
B) raised the possibility of colonial armed resistance
C) had little effect on Anglo-colonial relations
D) had little support from colonial leaders
E) left fifty-three Americans dead

Question 11

The central issue in the Anglo-American debate over governance was ________.

A) divine sovereignty
B) laissez faire
C) parliamentary sovereignty
D) absolute rule
E) colonial sovereignty

Question 12

Who was the Delaware Prophet?

A) Cotton Mather
B) Pontiac
C) Charles Townshend
D) George Grenville
E) Neolin

Question 13

The Tea Act of 1773 was passed in order to ________.

A) save the East India Company
B) raise revenue to pay royal governors' salaries
C) punish colonists for the Boston Massacre
D) support the stationing of British troops in America
E) recover revenue lost by reducing the tax on molasses

Question 14

The English political philosopher most often cited by American rebels was ________.

A) Thomas Paine
B) Edmund Burke
C) William Pitt
D) John Locke
E) David Hume

Question 15

Samuel Adams can best be described as a ________.

A) pacifier
B) compromiser
C) genuine revolutionary
D) pragmatist
E) guerilla fighter

Question 16

Which prohibited colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains?

A) Navigation Act of 1772
B) Proclamation of 1763
C) Stamp Act of 1765
D) Townshend Acts of 1767
E) Settlement Act of 1765

Question 17

The Stamp Act of 1765 affected ________.

A) only businessmen and merchants
B) primarily colonial manufacturers
C) ordinary people, as well as the elite
D) only those in direct trade with Great Britain
E) notaries and other public officials

Question 18

The boycott movement against the Stamp Act ________.

A) had little effect on Great Britain
B) mobilized colonial women to action
C) ultimately hurt American businessmen more than British
D) was opposed by New England businessmen
E) was badly organized

Question 19

The Suffolk Resolves advocated ________.

A) forcible resistance to the Coercive Acts
B) the assassination of British tax collectors
C) the formation of an American navy
D) the repeal of the Stamp Act
E) the formation of the Sons of Liberty

Question 20

A major source of information for the colonists was ________.

A) newspapers
B) books
C) church meetings
D) the marketplace
E) the town crier

Question 21

Which list places events in the correct order?

A) Townshend duties, Boston Tea Party, Boston Massacre, Coercive Acts
B) Townshend duties, Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, Coercive Acts
C) Boston Tea Party, Coercive Acts, Boston Massacre, Townshend duties
D) Coercive Acts, Boston Tea Party, Boston Massacre, Townshend duties
E) Boston Tea Party, Boston Massacre, Townshend duties, Coercive Acts

Question 22

Whose activities were essential to the establishment of a colonial alliance with the French?

A) Thomas Paine
B) John Adams
C) John Dickinson
D) Thomas Jefferson
E) Benjamin Franklin

Question 23

What was the most important responsibility facing the Second Continental Congress?

A) to convince the colonists of the necessity for war
B) to win loyalty from the Indians
C) to organize the colonies for war
D) to find a strong political leader for the nation
E) to draft the Declaration of Independence

Question 24

The American victory that led to the French alliance occurred at ________.

A) Saratoga
B) Yorktown
C) Breed's Hill
D) Philadelphia
E) Trenton

Question 25

Which of the following linked religious values to the practice of government?

A) colonial newspapers
B) the Great Awakening
C) theories of the Earl of Bute
D) ideas from the Commonwealthman
E) the works of John Locke

Question 26

Which of the following did NOT occur as part of the Stamp Act crisis?

A) Patrick Henry denounced British taxation with his Virginia Resolves.
B) A Stamp Act Congress drew together colonial leaders from different regions.
C) Resistance drew many into political action that included street violence.
D) Massachusetts reacted so bitterly that the British imposed the Coercive Acts.
E) Colonial women began to take a greater role in politics.

Question 27

In what way did the Sugar Act differ from earlier regulations,such as the Navigation Acts?

A) Its purpose was to show the colonists that they were not in control.
B) Its purpose was to show the colonists that they were autonomous.
C) It taxed sugar for the specific benefit of the East India Company.
D) Its purpose was to collect revenue from the Americans.
E) It had nothing to do with trade.

Question 28

Why did many African Americans in the North take up arms to fight the British?

A) They believed that the king and the British Parliament were solely responsible for their lack of freedom.
B) They felt that the British had unfairly taxed them without offering representation in Congress.
C) They believed that the Americans were more likely to win the war.
D) They felt that the army was the safest place for them to be at the time.
E) They felt that the Americans were more likely to free them from slavery if they sided with them.

Question 29

How did ordinary colonists respond after the wealthy elite had initiated the American rebellion?

A) They rejected the lead of their "betters."
B) They lost rights gained during the colonial period.
C) They turned an elite movement into a mass movement.
D) They fought for a socioeconomic revolution against the gentry.
E) They retreated further from political activities.

Question 30

What was the main purpose of the continental "Association"?

A) to foster improved relations between the various colonies
B) to seek a conservative, peaceful resolution of the political crises of the mid-1770s
C) to raise money to feed starving Indians displaced by western settlements
D) to halt trade with Britain until the Intolerable Acts were repealed
E) to raise and equip armies to fight for the American cause

Question 31

What was the significance of Thomas Paine's Common Sense?

A) Widening popular support for revolution.
B) It acknowledged the sovereignty of the monarch.
C) It persuaded colonial elites to sever their ties with Great Britain.
D) It had little immediate popularity among the colonists.
E) It did not criticize all monarchs, just George III.

Question 32

What was the role of the colonial militias?

A) They played a decisive role in several major battles.
B) They kept the slave population in line.
C) They maintained political control in areas not occupied by British troops.
D) They consisted mainly of African Americans.
E) They would sometimes switch sides if they did not get paid.

Question 33

While repealing the Townshend duties,why did the North ministry retain a tax on tea?

A) to stabilize prices for tea
B) to punish American tea smugglers
C) to punish John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and the Sons of Liberty
D) to symbolize Parliament's power to tax Americans
E) to ensure that tea from England would not be boycotted

Question 34

The author of the Declaration of Independence was ________.

A) George Washington
B) Benjamin Franklin
C) Samuel Adams
D) Patrick Henry
E) Thomas Jefferson

Question 35

The Loyalists were concentrated in _________.

A) remote mountainous areas
B) the Chesapeake colonies
C) the northernmost colonies
D) urban areas
E) the southernmost colonies

Question 36

Which of the following explains why England lost the Revolutionary War?

A) The British government did not believe it could win the war.
B) British finances could not support the war.
C) British strategists did not understand how to fight the war.
D) George III never supported the war effort.
E) British soldiers sympathized with the Americans.

Question 37

For the British,French intervention meant ________.

A) a change in military strategy
B) little change in their military strategy
C) little challenge to their empire
D) a new ally in the war effort
E) fighting a two-front war, both in the colonies and in Europe

Question 38

What was the most significant consequence of the Seven Years' War?

A) its virtual destruction of American Indians
B) Britain's staggering war debt
C) the remaining French toehold in Quebec
D) the assassination of George II
E) a distaste for further fighting by the colonists

Question 39

Which was central to the colonists' position in the Anglo-American debate over parliamentary powers?

A) their strong belief in the powers of their own provincial assemblies
B) their unswerving support of the monarchy
C) their willingness to defer to the wishes of Parliament
D) their desire for an authoritarian government
E) their desire for revolution

Question 40

What was the tone of the Stamp Act Congress?

A) extreme radicalism, with some delegates calling for an immediate declaration of independence
B) restraint and conciliation, with no mention of independence or disloyalty
C) bitter division between pro-independence radicals and Loyalists who favored British rule
D) angry disputes between various colonies and regions
E) a show of the strength of the Loyalist faction in the colonies

Question 41

Which of the following was NOT a task facing the new nation?

A) deciding what form the new government would take
B) learning how political power would be distributed
C) learning how to ensure political equality for all
D) learning to fend off French attempts to control the country
E) bridging the division of state and federal authority

Question 42

Why were parliamentary sovereignty and the meaning of representation the main points of conflict in the years leading up to the Revolution? Why would the writings of the Commonwealthmen have appealed to Americans influenced by the Great Awakening?

Question 43

Why did some Americans oppose independence? How did their overall political beliefs compare with those of Americans who supported independence?

Question 44

Which statement best explains why the Boston Tea Party became a famous symbol of the American Revolution?

A) The Boston Tea Party was one of the most destructive acts in the entire war.
B) The Boston Tea Party was the final action before the first shots that led to the actual war.
C) The Boston Tea Party showed that the colonists had lost their respect for the British monarchy.
D) The Boston Tea Party not only killed many soldiers, it also destroyed millions of dollars worth of property.
E) The Boston Tea Party was an unprecedented act of violence by angry colonists against the British troops.

Question 45

What factors led to British defeat in the American Revolution?

Question 46

What was the most significant outcome of the Boston Massacre?

A) It demonstrated to the colonists that British troops were largely symbolic and the British would back down in the face of organized resistance.
B) It demonstrated to the colonists that British troops had no effective way to restore order in the colonies.
C) It showed that the colonists had a better organized army than the British and would be difficult to defeat.
D) It was the first act of organized resistance against the British troops in the colonies.
E) It demonstrated to the colonists that British troops would resort to violence to restore order in the colonies.

Question 47

American Loyalists,who sided with the British during the War for Independence,________.

A) tended to be wealthy conservatives
B) were known for their wickedness and immorality
C) favored a strongly centralized, authoritarian form of government
D) came from all occupations and social classes
E) were pacifists who opposed war for any reason

Question 48

What was the impact of the approach to revolution on Native Americans?

Question 49

After the Revolutionary War,why did many American Loyalists who returned to England feel betrayed?

A) They were treated as second-class citizens in England.
B) They were denied any monetary compensation for their sacrifices.
C) They were viewed as traitors by the native-born English.
D) They were viewed as foreigners by the native-born English.
E) They were put in prisons because they would not pay their debts.

Question 50

What was the significance of the Treaty of Paris of 1783?

A) It established the American borders at the Appalachian Mountains.
B) It ensured Loyalists would not be compensated for their lands.
C) It did not provide a favorable conclusion to the war.
D) It allowed Americans the opportunity to form an independent nation.
E) It did not include compensation for Loyalists.

Question 51

What does the following quote by Benjamin Rush signify? "The American war is over,but this is far from being the case with the American Revolution.On the contrary,nothing but the first act of the great drama is closed."

A) The American Revolution was not a war at all, but merely a break from English control over the colonies.
B) The war was merely the first step in the colonists' move toward establishing a new nation.
C) The war was not yet over and the Americans needed to prepare for another round of fighting against the British if they ever hoped to gain their independence.
D) Americans needed to free themselves from other European countries that were restricting their trade and keeping them from economic and political independence.
E) The American Revolution would not end until the English monarchy was destroyed and a new form of government was put in place in England to better rule the colonies.

Question 52

Which of the following was NOT a key benefit of the Treaty of Paris for the United States?

A) guaranteed independence
B) fishing rights in the North Atlantic
C) the rights to Florida
D) all territory east of the Mississippi River
E) an end to the war

Question 53

What did military strategists in 1779 predict would be Britain's last chance for victory over the colonies?

A) a more effective use of its great navy
B) the breaking of the French-American alliance
C) calling on its European allies for help
D) a successful campaign in the Southern Colonies
E) increasing the British army in the colonies by 25,000 men

Question 54

Which event marked the end of the military phase of the war?

A) the capture of New York City by French forces
B) Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga
C) the British evacuation of Boston
D) Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown
E) the destruction of a British army at the Battle of New Orleans