Deck 7: Hard Realities for a New Nation

Question 1

The galloping inflation of the Revolutionary War period

A) persisted throughout the 19^th century because of over-issue of paper money by the states.
B) has been exaggerated; prices were, in fact, quite moderate during the War.
C) was particularly steep because the central government had no taxation powers to back it even partially.
D) was accelerated by the repudiation of most wartime-issued paper money following the War.

Answer 1

was particularly steep because the central government had no taxation powers to back it even partially.

Question 2

Which of the following most accurately and completely describes the responsibilities the Constitution gave to the federal government?

A) The authority to provide for copyrights and patents.
B) The right to tax income.
C) The authority to regulate interstate commerce.
D) Both a and c.

Answer 2

Both a and c.

Question 3

The Constitution

A) empowers each state to negotiate its own treaties with foreign governments.
B) empowers Congress to pay off all public debts, including those incurred by the states.
C) allows for states to set tariffs on goods imported from another state.
D) allows only Congress to set tariffs on goods moving from one state to another.

Answer 3

empowers Congress to pay off all public debts, including those incurred by the states.

Question 4

Which of the following responsibilities did the Constitution not give to the federal government?

A) The right to set laws on patents.
B) The sole right to mint coins.
C) The right to establish post offices.
D) The right to tax income.

Question 5

Most of the cost of the Revolutionary War was borne by

A) France , which supplied loans to finance the war effort.
B) domestic bond holders.
C) holders of devalued paper currency that was ultimately repudiated.
D) Tory property owners whose crops and belongings were confiscated.

Question 6

What generated the most revenue for the U.S. government for most of the nineteenth century?

A) Income taxes
B) Property taxes
C) Tariffs on goods imported from other nations
D) Inheritance taxes
E) Taxes on products shipped between states

Question 7

The Constitution

A) empowers each state to negotiate its own treaties with foreign governments.
B) provides for each slave to be counted as 1 person in determining a state's membership in the House of Representatives.
C) gives the federal government the exclusive power to coin money.
D) allows states to set tariffs on goods imported from another state.
E) All of the above.

Question 8

What was not one of the Constitutional compromises about slavery?

A) Limited the importation of slaves to 20 years.
B) Northern states had to abide by the Southern states' slavery laws.
C) Prevented imported slaves from being taxed.
D) Slaves counted a 60% of a person for congressional representation.

Question 9

Under the Articles of Confederation,

A) only the federal government could issue paper money.
B) only the federal government had the power to levy taxes.
C) the federal government was ultimately responsible any debts incurred by the states.
D) the federal government had a difficult time negotiating military and economic treaties with other nations.
E) All of the above.

Question 10

Having sided with the British during the Revolution, the ___________ lost much of their land and position in America after the War.

A) Iroquois
B) French
C) Mexicans
D) Sioux

Question 11

The economic system envisioned by the Constitution _________.

A) embodied Adam Smith's emphasis on protecting private property.
B) used the Civil Code of France, rather than the English Common Law, as its foundation.
C) enshrined the traditional 18^th century model of mercantilism which allowed the government to have large control over private ownership of goods and services.
D) fostered Jefferson's idea of a democracy based primarily on agriculture.

Question 12

For the U.S., the Revolutionary War (1775-1781) period could best described as having a rapid growth in:

A) Trade
B) Inflation.
C) Real per capita income.
D) Slave imports.

Question 13

Which is an accurate description of the Revolution?

A) It never had majority support.
B) Two-thirds of the population either opposed it or did nothing to support it.
C) It became a popular war, maintaining widespread popular support after 1776.
D) Both a and b are correct.
E) None of the above are correct.

Question 14

At the heart of the young nation's economic woes after the Revolutionary War was the fact that Americans

A) had snubbed the French in trade during the war.
B) had thought they could rely solely on their long and deep trade relations with Spain.
C) were no longer part of the British Empire.
D) refused to trade with  independent Caribbean nations.

Question 15

What method did the U.S. use to fund most of the cost of the Revolutionary War?

A) Increases in taxes.
B) Increases in the money supply.
C) Increases in bond sales
D) Increases in tariffs.

Question 16

What was not one of the problems of the Articles of Confederation?

A) It did not allow the federal government to tax.
B) It did not give the federal government sufficient power to define international relationships.
C) It could not keep the states together as a political union.
D) It did not give the federal government the sole right to mint coins.

Question 17

The Continental Congress faced several constraints in its effort to finance the Revolutionary War.  The largest source of funds for the War was

A) excise taxes.
B) domestic bond sales.
C) borrowing from foreign powers, such as France.
D) printing money.

Question 18

Which of the following statements accurately characterizes American trade during the Revolutionary War?

A) The American colonies actively traded with France, Holland and Spain until 1778, when trade was hampered by British blockades.
B) British blockades hampered the trade activities of first Northern and later Southern ports.
C) American trade fell below pre-war levels.
D) Decreases in exports led to decreases in domestic production of textiles, beer and other products.
E) Both b and c are correct.

Question 19

The writings of the 18^th century economist _____________ greatly influenced Constitutional provisions regarding private property rights.

A) John Maynard Keynes
B) Alfred Marshall
C) Adam Smith
D) John Hicks

Question 20

The hyperinflation of the Revolutionary War period was in part caused by the issuance of paper money with a face value in the ______ of dollars.

A) millions
B) tens of millions
C) hundreds of millions
D) billions of dollars

Question 21

During the Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815)

A) America experienced periods of  full employment.
B) urbanization increased sharply.
C) America bore the brunt of the mercantilist policies of both England and France.
D) Both a and c are correct.
E) Both a and b are correct.

Question 22

During the period following the Revolution,

A) the populations of the major cities increased dramatically.
B) per capita exports decreased slightly for the southern states.
C) per capita exports decreased sharply for the southern states.
D) on average, per capita exports increased.

Question 23

If a the price index was 60 in 2000 and the price index was 90 in 2009, the best estimate of the annual inflation rate between 2000 and 2009 is

A) 15%.
B) 40%.
C) 50%.
D) 90%.
E) 7\5.

Question 24

Which of the following statements presents accurate information about the Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815)?

A) The major adversaries in the Wars were England and Canada.
B) The peace treaty that ended the Wars is known as the Essex Decision.
C) The Wars led to increased demand for American shipping services.
D) During the temporary peace of 1801-1803, demand for U.S. re-exports increased.

Question 25

Common American re-exports of the Napoleonic War period included all of the following except

A) cotton
B) sugar
C) coffee
D) spices

Question 26

Immediately following the Revolution,

A) America found itself outside the protection of the British empire
B) trade alliances with both Spain and France began to crumble.
C) all American-built vessels were ineligible to trade with the British Empire.
D) All of the above are correct.
E) Only a and b are correct.

Question 27

InWhich of the following states suffered the most severe drop in per capita exports between 1768 and 1792?:

A) Massachusetts
B) Maryland
C) North Carolina
D) South Carolina

Question 28

Data presented in the text compare exports per capita in the early 1790s with exports per capita just prior to the Revolution.  The data show that by the early 1790s, exports per capita had increased in _____________, but had decreased in ___________________.

A) the Upper South; the Lower South
B) the Upper South; New England
C) New England; the Middle Atlantic states
D) the Middle Atlantic states; the Upper and Lower South

Question 29

The Embargo Act (1807)

A) had a devastating effect on U.S. manufacturing.
B) led to increases in U.S. exports and per capita income.
C) increased U.S. imports, but decreased U.S. exports.
D) was replaced by the Non-Importation Act of 1809.
E) All of the above.

Question 30

Immediately following the Revolution, in the 1780s,

A) indigo was the most important U.S. export (in terms of dollar value).
B) Spain placed severe restrictions on trade between its colonies and the U.S.
C) the U.S. became the main provider of shipping services for the French West Indies.
D) Great Britain eliminated tariffs on rice and tobacco.

Question 31

The Embargo Act (1807)

A) provided little, if any aid to the emerging manufacturing sector in the U.S.
B) successfully forced England and France to ease their harassment of neutral ships.
C) reduced U.S. imports, but increased U.S. exports.
D) remained in effect until after the Civil War.
E) None of the above are correct.

Question 32

When the colonies obtained independence they were no longer bound by a number of English laws, including the Navigation Acts. What best describes the impact of the removal of the Navigation Acts for commodities that were imported from Europe via England?

A) A shift out of the supply curve and a shift back in the demand curve, which  lowered prices.
B) A shift out in the supply curve, which decreased the price and increased the  quantity.
C) A shift back in both the supply and demand curves, which decreased quantity.
D) A shift back in the demand curve, which lowered both price and quantity.

Question 33

The U.S. terminated its role in the slave trade in the early 1800s. What is the best assessment of what would have happened had the U.S. not ended the slave trade?

A) The price of slaves would be lower and the wages of free workers would be lower.
B) The price of slaves would be higher and the quantity of free workers would be lower.
C) The price of slaves would be lower and the wages of free workers would be higher.
D) The quantity of slaves would be higher and the quantity of free workers would be higher.
E) The quantity of slaves would be lower and the wages of free workers would be lower.

Question 34

Post-Revolutionary trade data show that after 1790

A) U.S. trade with non-British areas of the Caribbean increased.
B) the export of food to the West Indies increased
C) trade in the southern U.S. did not keep pace with population growth.
D) the U.S. exported tobacco to France and the Netherlands.
E) All of the above.