Deck 5: A Virtuous Republic: Creating a Workable Government, 1783-1789

Question 1

Why did the Confederation Congress start printing paper currency after the American Revolution?

A) to placate merchants
B) to pay soldiers in the Continental Army on a regular basis
C) to make up for the shortage of silver and gold
D) to encourage exports

Answer 1

to make up for the shortage of silver and gold

Question 2

The Newburgh Conspiracy was an attempt by military officers in the Continental Army to

A) restore seized property to Loyalists
B) remove George Washington as general of that army
C) plan a military coup against Congress
D) break apart from the United States

Answer 2

plan a military coup against Congress

Question 3

Why did the Confederation Congress have trouble meeting its financial obligations needed to fund government business?

A) It did not have the power to levy taxes.
B) It could not print currency.
C) It had no authority to make laws.
D) It was dominated by poorly educated representatives.

Answer 3

It did not have the power to levy taxes.

Question 4

George Washington is often compared to the Roman hero Cincinnatus because both men

A) returned to farming after retiring as generals of their armies
B) became the first presidents of their republics
C) developed friendly alliances with their enemies
D) presided over conventions that resulted in written constitutions

Question 5

Although Rhode Island used the most paper money to deal with its financial problems,
Refused to accept this type of currency and had to pay steep fines for doing so.

A) merchants
B) farmers
C) industrial manufacturers
D) fishermen

Question 6

The graphs titled "Economic Status of Legislators in New Hampshire, New York, and New Jersey" imply that the change in the makeup of state legislatures after the Revolution would lead to a new nation that would .

A) eliminate class distinctions
B) do away with titles of aristocracy and nobility
C) allow the wealthy to become much more powerful
D) become more democratic and representative of the population

Question 7

The Treaty of Paris failed to recognize the .

A) authority of American diplomats to negotiate abroad
B) Mississippi River as the western border of the United States
C) independence of any state beyond the original thirteen
D) interests of the Indian peoples

Question 8

Although student Martha Ryan inscribed "Liberty or Death" in her cipher book, penmanship exercises in this book such as "Honour Father and Mother...A good girl will mind" reveal that in the period of the new republic .

A) women had many opportunities to attend established colleges and universities
B) education for women exclusively took place at home
C) women were still expected to follow traditional roles
D) education prepared women for a public life in politics and government

Question 9

How did the theory of conquest influence diplomatic relations with Indian peoples?

A) Americans and Indians in the lands west of the Appalachians came to a compromise on American settlement of this territory.
B) British officials in Canada promised the Indians land in the United States if they defeated American settlers on the frontier.
C) Americans saw Indians as a "subdued people" who should relinquish all claims to Western lands.
D) Americans and Indians began an era of peaceful cooperation.

Question 10

Buildings designed after the American Revolution, such as the Virginia State Capitol, displayed architectural features from the Roman Republic as a way to make connections to that republic's ideals of .

A) imperial power
B) public virtue
C) separation of church and state
D) equality and democracy

Question 11

This page from a book of children's verse shows that schools in the new republic were intended to teach such skills as reading, writing, and arithmetic in addition to .

A) the development of artistic skills
B) patriotism
C) scientific observation
D) Christian values

Question 12

"Tender laws" allowed farmers to pay debts with .

A) paper money
B) goods
C) gold and silver
D) depreciated currency

Question 13

Based on this map of North America that shows border disputes at the end of the American Revolution, the United States encountered diplomatic problems with Great Britain due to British

A) denial of free access of the Mississippi River to western American farmers
B) disputes over territory between the Mississippi River and Spanish Florida
C) occupation of territory near the Great Lakes
D) attacks on American naval forces in the Atlantic Ocean

Question 14

George Washington's sword that rests on the bundle of rods known as "fasces" symbolizes that .

A) farming is more important than warfare
B) a republic must always be prepared for war
C) military generals are the most powerful members of a virtuous republic
D) civilian leaders control a republic's military power

Question 15

What is the most likely reason that the artist of this portrait depicted merchant Daniel Boardman as a country gentleman?

A) Merchants preferred to be shown in grand style, whether or not this was accurate.
B) Visual images in the portrait that represented his role as a merchant emphasized his success.
C) The life of a prosperous merchant was not perceived as being most compatible with republican virtue.
D) By presenting himself as a simple working man, Boardman believed he would gain more business from his customers.

Question 16

American women assumed the roles of republican mothers and wives and participated in the political life of the new republic by .

A) adorning their homes with patriotic images
B) managing their households
C) taking up the profession of teaching
D) cultivating patriotism and virtue in their children

Question 17

After the American Revolution, the United States encountered new economic problems including a trade deficit with Britain which resulted from .

A) expenses for reimbursing Loyalists for confiscated property
B) continuing boycotts
C) the desire for luxury goods that had been unavailable during the war
D) the refusal of banks to extend credit

Question 18

In addition to experiencing diplomatic problems with neighboring European powers in North America, the United States also had to deal with the .

A) British navy in the Atlantic Ocean
B) Indian tribes west of the Mississippi River
C) Spanish raids on frontier settlements
D) Barbary pirates on the Mediterranean Sea

Question 19

How do the 1780s engraving Keep Within the Compass and the needlework sampler created by Rhode Islander Nabby Martin illustrate contradicting viewpoints on the roles of womanhood in the new republic?

A) The engraving shows that women should remain within their traditional confined roles in society while the sampler demonstrates that women should focus on a wider world.
B) The engraving implements symbols from the ancient Roman Republic while the sampler focuses more on themes from the Enlightenment.
C) The engraving illustrates that women were only happy in their traditional roles and not in the newer roles of education and government shown in the sampler.
D) More women preferred to create artwork with traditional themes such as those found in the engraving instead of more radical concepts.

Question 20

America's first federal constitution was known as the .

A) Constitution of 1787
B) Articles of Confederation
C) Bill of Rights
D) Northwest Ordinance

Question 21

How does Thomas Jefferson's map for the settlement of the west reflect Enlightenment thinking?

A) The territories are named for the heroes of the American Revolution.
B) The territories are arranged in a grid.
C) Natural features are disregarded in the borders of the territories.
D) The territories are much larger than the first thirteen states.

Question 22

Even though both the Virginia and New Jersey Plans differed on how to structure the government of the United States, they both shared a common vision of .

A) expanding public participation in the process of electing a chief executive
B) bestowing all states equal power in the legislative branch
C) giving the government stronger powers over the economy
D) reducing the power of the federal courts

Question 23

Why was Jefferson unable to fulfill his desire to create a republic of small independent farmers in the Northwest Territory?

A) Small farmers did not have the hard currency needed to purchase land at one dollar an acre.
B) Indians were allowed to remain in their ancestral lands.
C) The territories created in this region could not become states in their own right.
D) Southern protests forced Congress to open this region to slavery.

Question 24

Language in the Northwest Ordinance showing that the foundation of new states in the Northwest Territory was based on the "fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty" reflects .

A) the right to own slaves and other property
B) the need for an educated citizenry
C) republican ideals
D) a willingness to compromise with Indians in this territory

Question 25

What is the most likely reason why most state politicians were Anti-Federalists?

A) They were angry that the states had retained the majority of power in the new Constitution.
B) They could lose a lot of power relative to the new central government established by the Constitution.
C) They felt that without a bill of rights, the new government would do little to protect states' rights.
D) They wanted to be able to negotiate treaties and engage in foreign diplomacy.

Question 26

How did Shays's Rebellion lead to the reform of the Articles of Confederation?

A) It revealed the vulnerability of a nation with a weak central government.
B) It showed that the judicial branch had overstepped its authority.
C) It exposed the need for better checks and balances.
D) It demonstrated the failure of republican ideals.

Question 27

The New Jersey Plan was proposed to protect the interests of .

A) larger states
B) smaller states
C) individual citizens
D) the Indian population

Question 28

The Northwest Territories could apply for statehood with the Confederation when each of their populations reached .

A) 5,000 adult males
B) 10,000 adult males
C) 50,000 free inhabitants, including women
D) 60,000 free inhabitants, including women

Question 29

The Great Compromise, devised by Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth, impacted Congress by .

A) resolving the dispute over representation in Congress
B) aggravating the tension between free and slave states over the slave trade
C) proposing that members of Congress be directly elected by the people
D) giving each state one vote in Congress

Question 30

This map shows that the movement of Shaysite rebels in Massachusetts was .

A) centered around Boston
B) limited to the western section of the state
C) along the coastal regions of Massachusetts Bay
D) prevalent across the entire state

Question 31

Which of the following is a major feature of the Virginia Plan?

A) It proposed a judicial branch dependent on Congress for its powers.
B) It recommended an executive system where three representatives from the various regions of the United States would govern together.
C) It offered a proposal to create a unicameral legislature.
D) It called for representation in Congress to be proportionate to each state's population.

Question 32

What conclusion can be made about the new federal government created by the Constitution?

A) The people had greater power in selecting a chief executive.
B) The federal government was more powerful than it had been under the Articles of Confederation.
C) The federal government continued to lack any power over economic matters.
D) The interests of the larger states were better served under the Constitution than under the Articles of Confederation.

Question 33

The convention to reform the Articles of Confederation met in .

A) Philadelphia
B) Annapolis
C) New York
D) Boston

Question 34

Why does Thomas Rossiter portray the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in this nineteenth-century painting as haloed by light?

A) He wanted to emphasize the virtue of the delegates because they opposed slavery.
B) He wanted to make sure that every viewer could identify George Washington as president of the convention.
C) He wanted to show that the delegates were not a covert group who met in secrecy.
D) He wanted to make up for the deficiencies and lack of experience possessed by the delegates.

Question 35

How did the political cartoon The Looking Glass for 1787 differ from the articles written in
The Federalist?

A) It was crude rather than sophisticated in its methods of persuasion.
B) It supported the Anti-Federalist rather than the Federalist position.
C) It promoted a hopeful future for the United States.
D) It appealed to reason rather than to emotion.

Question 36

What was the most important achievement of the Confederation Congress?

A) the development of paper money to fund the government
B) plans for the settlement and eventual statehood of the Northwest Territory
C) resolving economic problems for the farmers in western Massachusetts
D) creating a plan for the joint administration of western lands with Britain

Question 37

Thomas Jefferson's initial plan for the Northwest Territory reflected in the Ordinance of 1784 called for the .

A) curtailment of westward expansion
B) end of slavery in the western territories after 1800
C) reservation of one section of land in each township to create a public school
D) creation of townships of 36 square miles

Question 38

What compromise did the Constitutional Convention reach in regards to the slave trade?

A) Congress did not have the authority to ban the slave trade until 1808.
B) The slave trade was banned in all states but Virginia.
C) Only Southern states could conduct the slave trade.
D) The international slave trade continued, but interstate trade was banned.

Question 39

The writers of the Constitution of 1787 created a powerful central government that shifted away from the concept of virtue and instead emphasized .

A) federalism
B) checks and balances
C) domestic tranquility
D) virtual representation

Question 40

How was the slave population in states which legalized slavery addressed when determining the apportionment of representatives to the lower house of Congress?

A) Every slave in a state was counted as a whole person when determining legislative apportionment.
B) Slaves were not included in the population count from each state.
C) Slavery was abolished, and the former slaves were included in population counts.
D) Slaves were counted as three-fifths of a person for purposes of taxation and apportionment.

Question 41

Most Anti-Federalists .

A) opposed individual states having more power than the central government
B) felt that the influence of the average citizen on government should be checked
C) placed their trust in the virtue of representatives and leaders
D) distrusted the social and economic elite

Question 42

What does this map reveal about the patterns of support for and against the Constitution during the ratification process?

A) Federalist support was strongest in coastal areas while Anti-Federalist support was strongest in the backcountry of various states.
B) Federalists had more support in states with larger populations than those with smaller ones.
C) South Carolina was the only state in the South where the Federalists had complete support.
D) Support for and against the Constitution was evenly divided in every state.

Question 43

In The Federalist, James Madison argued that including a written bill of rights was dangerous because it .

A) was likely to ignore and alienate minority groups in the United States
B) would give too much power to the national government
C) did not reflect the goals of the American Revolution
D) could leave out other rights that were not included on this list

Question 44

On June 21, 1788, which state's vote gave Federalists the nine states needed to ratify the Constitution?

A) New Hampshire
B) New York
C) Delaware
D) Virginia

Question 45

Federalists organized and staged a "grand federal procession" in New York City where many associations such as the pewter workers carried banners like this one to demonstrate that support for the Constitution was .

A) tentative until greater rights were given to the working class
B) strongly favored by workers who wanted a powerful government to protect their interests
C) advantageous because Congress's power to levy taxes would lead to higher salaries
D) negative because it relied too heavily on many British anti-labor policies

Question 46

Successful and unconditional ratification of the Constitution can be attributed to

A) decisive victories in states with larger populations including Virginia and New York
B) powerfully written articles by Anti-Federalists like George Mason who urged ratification
C) capitalization of early momentum gained by quick ratification in five states
D) Federalist determination to not compromise with Anti-Federalists

Question 47

In this image from a Massachusetts newspaper, the "Eleventh Pillar" represents .

A) the Constitution becoming the new law of the land
B) New York being the final state to ratify the Constitution
C) New York's decision to vote against the Constitution
D) New York's ratification of the Constitution

Question 48

After the Constitution was ratified, Anti-Federalists chose to .

A) support the Constitution provisionally unless certain amendments were made
B) work within the framework provided by the Constitution to secure their goals
C) continue to publish newspaper articles explaining why they opposed the Constitution
D) leave the United States