Deck 7: The American People and the American Revolution 1775-1783

Question 1

The chapter introduction tells the story of the Battle of Bunker Hill to make the point that

A) Americans won their revolution by pitting dedicated amateur soldiers against the might of Britain's professional redcoats.
B) initially the war went badly for the Americans, testing their commitment to liberty and independence.
C) a key question in that battle and throughout the war was whether Americans would really fight to win their independence.
D) declaring independence was one thing, but after the Declaration, actually fighting against the authority of one's own king was quite another.

Answer 1

a key question in that battle and throughout the war was whether Americans would really fight to win their independence.

Question 2

The text suggests that a fundamental question at the outset of the Revolution was, "Will they fight?"Different individuals answered this in different ways. Which of the following does NOT accurately state one of the responses?

A) Northern Anglicans and recent emigrants from the British Isles tended to remain loyal to the British.
B) Most middle-class American revolutionaries preferred to join the Continental Army rather than merely become part of their local militias.
C) The war to protect liberty and property was, ironically, waged by those classes of Americans who were poor and least free.
D) In the latter part of the war, brutal civil war between loyalist and rebel bands raged across the South.

Answer 2

Most middle-class American revolutionaries preferred to join the Continental Army rather than merely become part of their local militias.

Question 3

During the first year of the Revolution, American war aims shifted from a desire for redress of grievances to a demand for complete independence. Which of the following influenced this shift?

A) the impact of Tom Paine's Common Sense
B) Washington's refusal to command the Continental Army until independence was declared
C) congressional actions on war aims and treaties with France
D) British actions to crush American resistance by using Indian tribes

Answer 3

the impact of Tom Paine's Common Sense

Question 4

Which of the following was NOT among the actions taken by the Continental Congress, before the Declaration of Independence, that seemed to be the actions of an independent government?

A) drafting the "Olive Branch Petition"
B) creating a Continental Army
C) dealing with Canada
D) opening American trade with other nations

Question 5

The Declaration of Independence based the case for independence on

A) the violations of colonials' "rights as Englishmen."
B) Parliament's infringements on American liberty.
C) George III's infringements on American liberty.
D) the argument that monarchical government violated both reason and the Bible.

Question 6

The first, briefer section of the Declaration of Independence dealt with ________, while the second included ________.

A) American grievances; reasons for now becoming independent of the English
B) the general right of revolution based on natural rights; the specific offenses of King George III by which England forfeited its right to rule Americans
C) the announcement of American independence; the reasons why such a declaration must be made at this time
D) the assertion that all men are created equal; the rights of life, liberty, and happiness as justifications for severing ties with England

Question 7

What was the most dominant common characteristic among the diverse group of people who remained loyal to Britain?

A) They were devout Christians who believed the Bible commanded obedience to authority.
B) They were old-stock wealthy planters and merchants from the coastal areas whose families had long prospered under British rule.
C) They owed their livelihood and social status to Crown appointments and thus were unmoved by constitutional arguments.
D) They were fearful of divisions and instability within American society.

Question 8

The ranks of loyalists included

A) a disproportionate number of New Englanders.
B) a majority of southern Anglicans.
C) a large number of recent emigrants from the British Isles.
D) middle-class artisans in the port towns of the middle colonies.

Question 9

The products of spinning bees and dressing down in homespun

A) were ways in which poor women were forced to support the army.
B) were tactics used by loyalists to demonstrate that independence would lower the American standard of living.
C) contributed to the solidarity of resistance by displaying fewer differences in appearance between rich and poor.
D) helped to raise money and provide clothing for the Continental Army.

Question 10

George Washington's desire to create a professional military establishment

A) was at first undermined by the republican fear of standing armies.
B) was eventually fulfilled by the power of the Second Continental Congress to draft soldiers.
C) diminished quickly because he came to rely almost wholly on the militia.
D) rose quickly because he concentrated on offensive military strategy rather than on discipline.

Question 11

At first, the bulk of the Continental Army was recruited from ________, but eventually most Continental soldiers were ________.

A) the New England states; from the middle states plus Virginia
B) the lower classes; solidly middle class
C) the militias; drawn from the poorest and least free
D) farmers conscripted by the provincial congresses and state legislatures; volunteers

Question 12

After evacuating Boston, the British army took the initiative, launching a successful assault on

A) New York City.
B) Philadelphia.
C) the Carolina backcountry.
D) the Jersey shore.

Question 13

The initial fighting in the war occurred in New England; most engagements in the two years after the Declaration of Independence took place in ________; and the conflict in the later war years raged across ________.

A) the Chesapeake; the Hudson valley
B) the Chesapeake; the Carolinas and Georgia
C) the middle states (New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania); the Carolinas and Virginia
D) the port towns in the middle states (New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania); the backcountry

Question 14

The Continental Army gained a key victory over the British at ________, demonstrating its ability as a fighting force and winning support for its cause in the region.

A) Trenton
B) New York
C) Brandywine Creek
D) Germantown

Question 15

Among the following, which was a key mistake made by British leadership in carrying out the war in America?

A) They alienated the Indian population.
B) They underestimated the extent of loyalist support.
C) They underestimated the effectiveness of local rebel militia.
D) They formed large regiments of escaped slaves.

Question 16

Which of the following describes the American relationship with the French?

A) The French provided secret aid as a way to gain revenge against the British.
B) The French offered an overt alliance in hopes they could regain their lost North American possessions.
C) The Americans sought French aid with advisors only.
D) The Americans negotiated a treaty with France for Canada and islands in the Caribbean.

Question 17

"Saratoga changed everything,"says your text, referring to which of the following?

A) Britain's success meant they retained control of the seas after all.
B) Britain's defeat led to a treaty of alliance with France, opening a new phase of the war.
C) Britain's defeat meant they abandoned all hope of subduing the rebellion and opened negotiations for peace and American independence.
D) The military standoff forced General Howe to turn toward Philadelphia instead of linking up with General Burgoyne.

Question 18

Which of the following best explains why the French fought against Britain in the American Revolution?

A) They expected to be able to regain territory in North America.
B) They sympathized with the republican principles by which the Americans fought.
C) The successful British occupation of Philadelphia convinced them that the Americans were losing and needed help.
D) They feared that the Americans would reconcile with Britain, their historic enemy.

Question 19

Despite great triumphs on the battlefield and at the diplomatic bargaining table, the Continental Army suffered at Valley Forge because

A) Congress and the civilians responsible for providing for the army were disorganized and indifferent.
B) the military leadership, in order to instill true discipline, drilled the soldiers beyond their endurance.
C) the winter was unusually harsh and the army was compelled to camp outdoors.
D) the soldiers were never told of the victories elsewhere.

Question 20

Which statement about the regulars of the Continental Army is true?

A) Most of the soldiers were older, propertied farmers with families, whose substantial farms, left to the care of wives and children in their long absence, fell into disrepair.
B) Despite the hardships, Continental soldiers-who had enlisted for the sake of liberty-refused the temptations of desertion and mutiny that plagued the hired armies of Europe.
C) While local partisans in the South often ran at the first encounter with the enemy, the Continental Army proved its mettle in a series of victories in the Carolinas and Georgia.
D) In social composition and military tactics, the American army came to resemble the British army.

Question 21

In the war for independence, most Native Americans

A) sided with the rebels.
B) generally maintained neutrality, although a few tribes sided with the rebels.
C) were pressed by the European powers to become allies.
D) sided with the British until Clark took Vincennes.

Question 22

The British shifted to a southern strategy after 1778 because

A) they felt they could exploit slave unrest.
B) they felt they could exploit loyalist support.
C) they had been driven out of their beachheads in northern cities.
D) the Continental Army was tied down defending the North.

Question 23

For the southern backcountry, the Revolutionary War meant

A) relative calm, due to isolation from the fighting.
B) bitter, bloody, partisan civil war.
C) suffering from slave uprisings as well as guerrilla war.
D) a series of significant victories by the Continental Army.

Question 24

The slave revolts so dreaded by southern whites never materialized during the fight in the South. Which of the following is a possible reason this was the case?

A) The partisan war made collective resistance and escape too great a risk.
B) Greater white precautions discouraged potential black rebels.
C) The boldest slaves were drawn off into the armies.
D) The British encouraged escape and enlistment in the British army instead of an uprising against their masters.

Question 25

What was the role of African Americans in the revolution?

A) As the war dragged on, blacks-especially northern free blacks-were increasingly welcome to enlist.
B) Americans generally avoided arming blacks, but the British eagerly recruited runaway slaves.
C) Though still enslaved, they rallied around the revolutionary rhetoric of freedom, uniformly supporting the American cause.
D) Very few slaves escaped to freedom; those who did found themselves welcomed in the North, the West Indies, or Canada.

Question 26

George Washington's victory at Yorktown came as a joint achievement of the Continental Army and

A) the French army.
B) the French navy.
C) militia from the area.
D) All these answers are correct.

Question 27

Which of the following is the best statement of why the British signed the peace treaty granting American independence?

A) The Americans had driven the British army out of North America.
B) The French had driven the British navy from the high seas.
C) The timing of the occasional American victories led to a global situation in which the British needed to salvage the rest of their empire by cutting their American losses.
D) They had sent a commission offering peace on prewar terms, which the Congress accepted in all particulars except refusing to remain in the empire.

Question 28

In the end, which of the following is the best answer to this question, posed by the British: Would Americans fight for freedom?

A) Yes, but only according to Indian-style guerrilla warfare.
B) Yes, but only on their own terms.
C) No, not unless they were fighting to defend their own personal property.
D) No, they would not.

Question 29

During the Revolutionary War, clothes sewn from domestic textiles were

A) a mark of low social rank.
B) associated with the alliance with France.
C) a badge of opposition to British colonial policy.
D) considered stylish because they were also worn in high society in France.

Question 30

During the Revolutionary War, slaves sought freedom

A) from the British.
B) from the Americans.
C) from whichever side seemed likely to grant it.
D) from the French.

Question 31

The "________"was an appeal from the Second Continental Congress affirming American loyalty to King George III.

Question 32

As written by Jefferson, the ________ both justified why Americans no longer considered themselves English and denied England any authority in the colonies.

Question 33

Americans called them "tories,"but they called themselves ________.

Question 34

British strategy changed several times: First they sought to show force in New England, then take cities in the middle colonies, then finally regain their colonies in the ________ by drawing on American supporters.

Question 35

Americans won a decisive victory at ________ that not only repulsed an invasion from Canada but changed the whole strategic picture of the war.

Question 36

When the ________ shifted from secret aid to outright alliance with the Americans, the British declared war.

Question 37

The final and decisive American victory was the surrender of the British force trapped at ________.

Question 38

________, a competent Continental officer who became disillusioned with the American cause despite a key role in several American military successes, went over to the British side and ended up fighting rebels in Virginia.

Question 39

________, through astute diplomacy, both won an ally for America and negotiated the treaty that gave Americans their independence.

Question 40

Describe British and American military strategies as they evolved over the course of the War for Independence.

Question 41

Among what sorts of people and in which areas was loyalism strongest?

Question 42

In what different ways did the Declaration of Independence justify the colonies' break with Great Britain?

Question 43

Discuss the role of the white civilian population-both men and women-in the War for Independence.

Question 44

Describe how the war affected the lives of black slaves living in the American South.

Question 45

Describe the effect of the Battle of Bunker Hill on the course of the War for Independence.

Question 46

Discuss the role of the French in the War for Independence. Why were they reluctant at first to intervene? In what key ways did they contribute to the American victory?

Question 47

How did Nathanael Greene provide effective leadership of the American army in the South?

Question 48

Why did the British adopt a "southern strategy"after 1778? What could the British have done differently in order to win the war in the South?

Question 49

Assess the relative importance of the militia and the Continental Army in securing rebel victories in the War for Independence.

Question 50

What was the single most important reason that the British lost the War for Independence?

Question 51

From Washington's point of view, what were the chief obstacles to be overcome in fighting the war? How did he address those problems?

Question 52

Henry Laurens, a South Carolina merchant, reported that after the war's outbreak, local slaves took up the cry of Liberty-he put it-"in thoughtless imitation."Do you agree? What options were available to African Americans during the Revolution? How did different people exercise those options? Be as specific as possible.

Question 53

Discuss the global issues that were involved in the American War for Independence.

Question 54

Explain the chronology of the American Revolution. Be sure to mention at least three battles and three significant people. Be specific.

Question 55

Describe the problem of sectionalism. How did the North and the South divide during the American Revolution? What caused this division?