Deck 2: The Founding and the Constitution

Question 1

The Boston Massacre occurred when

A)five British soldiers were killed by an angry mob of colonists protesting outside of the seat of the colonial government in Boston.
B)five colonists were killed by British soldiers outside of the seat of the colonial government in Boston.
C)50 colonists were killed by British soldiers outside of the seat of the colonial government in Boston.
D)50 British soldiers were killed by an angry mob of colonists protesting outside of the seat of the colonial government in Boston.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The Boston Tea Party was largely a response to the

A)British government's decision to grant the East India Company a monopoly on the export of tea from Britain.
B)British government's decision to remove all of its soldiers from the colonies.
C)British government's decision to tax the colonists' personal income.
D)Boston Massacre.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following statements best summarizes John Locke's philosophical arguments in his treatises on government?

A)Individuals create governments to protect their lives, liberties, and possessions, and if a government fails in its duties, the citizenry has the right to alter or abolish it.
B)Monarchs rule by "divine right" and citizens can only retain those rights that are approved by the king or queen.
C)Governments exist to provide their citizens with equality, and the only legitimate use of government force is to provide for the equal distribution of wealth.
D)All governments necessarily lose their legitimacy after one generation, and all new generations of citizens must determine which rights should be protected in their country.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Prior to 1760, the MOST radical forces in colonial politics represented

A)royal office and patent holders.
B)New England merchants.
C)southern planters.
D)shopkeepers, laborers, and small farmers.

Question 5

A ________ is a system of government in which member states retain almost all of their sovereign authority and delegate limited powers to a weak central body.

A)Republic
B)Confederation
C)bicameral state
D)unitary state

Question 6

The Articles of Confederation were ratified by all the states in

A)1763.
B)1777.
C)1781.
D)1791.

Question 7

Which of the following was NOT one of the reprisals enacted by the British in response to the Boston Tea Party?

A)restricting movement of the colonists to the West
B)removing accused persons from the colonies to Britain for trial
C)granting the East India Company the power to sell tea directly in the colonies instead of working through the colonial merchants
D)closing the Boston port to commerce

Question 8

The events that led to the Revolutionary War were triggered by which of the following?

A)The British raised revenue by increasing the tax rate of the colonies.
B)The British had established suspicious alliances with Indian tribes during the French and Indian War.
C)American separatists assassinated King George III.
D)The British attempted to end slavery in the colonies.

Question 9

Colonial protesters of the Stamp Act and the Sugar Act rallied around which slogan?

A)"No taxation without representation."
B)"Give me liberty or give me death."
C)"A house divided against itself cannot stand."
D)"Don't tread on me."

Question 10

________ defended the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre.

A)Thomas Jefferson
B)Samuel Adams
C)John Adams
D)John Hancock

Question 11

The Stamp Act was a

A)tax on commerce.
B)prohibition on all unofficial mail.
C)law permitting the Crown to open mail.
D)tax on sugar, molasses, and other commodities.

Question 12

Which of the following statements about national defense under the Articles of Confederation is FALSE?

A)Congress was given the power to declare war.
B)Congress was given the power to make treaties and form alliances with other countries.
C)The nation's armed forces were composed entirely of state militias.
D)The president served as commander in chief of the nation's armed forces.

Question 13

Which of the following statements about the income tax is MOST accurate?

A)The British government began collecting income taxes in the 1760s in order to pay for the costs of protecting the colonies.
B)The income tax was the single most important source of revenue for the United States under the Articles of Confederation.
C)Colonial opposition to the income tax led to the Boston Tea Party.
D)Although the income tax is currently one of the most important sources of government revenue, it had not yet developed during British rule over the colonies in the eighteenth century.

Question 14

The First Continental Congress was

A)the meeting arranged between British and colonial forces to negotiate the end of the Revolutionary War.
B)the British government's lawmaking body for the colonies prior to 1776.
C)a loose affiliation of small farmers and artisans that organized protests against British rule between 1770 and 1774.
D)a group of colonial delegates assembled in 1774 that called for a total boycott of all British goods.

Question 15

How was political power in the Continental Congress divided under the Articles of Confederation?

A)Each state had an equal vote.
B)Each state's votes were proportionate to its population.
C)Each state's power depended on its geographic size.
D)Each state's power depended on its economic wealth.

Question 16

Who orchestrated the Boston Tea Party?

A)John Adams
B)Samuel Adams
C)John Hancock
D)Paul Revere

Question 17

The philosophical view articulated in the Declaration of Independence was MOST heavily influenced by the work of liberal theorist

A)Niccolò Machiavelli.
B)Alexis de Tocqueville.
C)John Locke.
D)Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu.

Question 18

The United States' first written constitution was called the

A)Magna Carta.
B)Bill of Rights.
C)Articles of Confederation.
D)Declaration of Independence.

Question 19

Which of the following statements best describes British rule of the American colonies during the first half of the eighteenth century?

A)The British ruled with a heavy hand and exerted a strong influence in every colonial town and city.
B)The British ruled with a heavy hand in small towns but exerted no influence at all in the largest cities.
C)The British ruled with a light hand and exerted a strong influence only in the largest colonial cities.
D)The British ruled with a light hand and exerted almost no influence at all in any colonial town or city.

Question 20

What was the MOST common form of taxation during the colonial era?

A)the income tax
B)tariffs, duties, and taxes on commerce
C)the animal head tax
D)taxes for use of governmental services and lands

Question 21

The Declaration of Independence was a remarkable philosophical statement for its time because it asserted that

A)slavery was a "morally unjust" institution that should be outlawed.
B)there were "unalienable rights" that could not be abridged by governments.
C)laissez-faire capitalism would be the "supreme law of the land" in America.
D)America was "first and foremost, a Christian nation."

Question 22

The writing of the Constitution demonstrates the

A)marriage of interests and principles.
B)triumph of self-interest over the common good.
C)epitome of civic virtue.
D)triumph of the common good over self-interest.

Question 23

Which of the following laws passed by the Congress of the Confederation compelled states to surrender their western land claims?

A)the Northwest Ordinance of 1787
B)the Land Ordinance of 1785
C)the Alien and Sedition Acts
D)the Navigation Act of 1818

Question 24

How many states sent delegates to the Annapolis Convention in 1786?

A)None of the states sent delegates
B)Less than half of the states sent delegates
C)More than half of the states sent delegates
D)All of the states sent delegates

Question 25

Which state did NOT send delegates to the convention at Philadelphia?

A)Rhode Island
B)Massachusetts
C)Virginia
D)Maine

Question 26

The 1787 convention to draft a new constitution was held in

A)New York City.
B)Philadelphia.
C)Washington, D.C.
D)Richmond, Virginia.

Question 27

The Articles of Confederation were concerned primarily with

A)creating a unitary form of government.
B)creating a federal form of government.
C)creating a government in which the states were largely subservient to the national government.
D)limiting the powers of the central government.

Question 28

The Virginia Plan was proposed on May 29, 1787, by

A)James Wilson.
B)Edmund Randolph.
C)Robert Yates.
D)Alexander Hamilton.

Question 29

Under the Articles of Confederation, it was left to the ________ to execute laws passed by the Continental Congress.

A)states
B)council of presidents
C)courts
D)president

Question 30

Although ________ delegates attended the Philadelphia convention in 1787, only ________ delegates ended up signing the newly drafted Constitution.

A)25; 10
B)55; 39
C)75; 44
D)435; 100

Question 31

Daniel Shays was

A)one of the authors of the Federalist Papers.
B)the primary architect of the New Jersey Plan.
C)the primary architect of the Virginia Plan.
D)a former army captain who led a mob of farmers in a rebellion against the Massachusetts government.

Question 32

Why was the Declaration of Independence a remarkable political statement for its time?

A)It convinced southern states to abolish slavery.
B)It persuaded the British government to give back all the tax revenue it had collected from the colonies.
C)It ended the Revolutionary War by offering a compromise with the British government.
D)It helped unify colonial groups that were divided along economic, regional, and philosophical lines by identifying shared problems, grievances, and principles.

Question 33

The five men appointed by the Second Continental Congress in 1776 to write a statement about American independence from British rule were Robert Livingston, John Adams,
Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and

A)John Hancock.
B)Thomas Jefferson.
C)George Washington.
D)Samuel Adams.

Question 34

According to historian Charles Beard, the framers of the Constitution were MOSTLY concerned with

A)pursuing military glory and imperialism.
B)promoting their own economic interests.
C)creating a religious community.
D)creating a form of government that maximized popular sovereignty.

Question 35

The Land Ordinance of 1785 was significant because it

A)imposed large tariffs on luxury goods arriving on American lands through East Coast ports.
B)established the principles of land surveying and landownership that governed America's westward expansion.
C)redistributed the property of British loyalists to small farmers who supported the revolution.
D)provided 40 acres of free land to all immigrants from western and northern European countries.

Question 36

Under the Articles of Confederation, the

A)armed forces of the United States consisted of state militias.
B)Continental Congress had the power to lay taxes on citizens.
C)president was elected to four-year terms.
D)states were prevented from discriminating against each other in the competition for foreign commerce.

Question 37

The main outcome of the Annapolis Convention was

A)the addition of the Bill of Rights to the Constitution.
B)the adoption of the "Star-Spangled Banner" as the country's national anthem.
C)the Declaration of Independence.
D)a carefully worded resolution calling on the Congress to send commissioners to Philadelphia at a later time to improve and reform the Articles of Confederation.

Question 38

What led British officials to raise taxes on the American colonists during the 1760s?

A)a deficit that was incurred as a result of the French and Indian War
B)the cost of war against Napoleon in Europe
C)the expenses incurred in colonizing South Africa
D)the extensive roads and canals built by the British in North America

Question 39

The Three-Fifths Compromise

A)determined that three out of every five slaves would be counted for purposes of representation and taxation.
B)determined the ratio between free states and slave states.
C)declared that the states would pay three-fifths of the Revolutionary War debt and the federal government would pay the rest.
D)determined that all American citizens would pay three-fifths of their incomes to the federal government in taxes every year.

Question 40

Which of the following statements about the process of amending the Articles of Confederation is MOST accurate?

A)The Articles of Confederation could not be amended.
B)The Articles of Confederation could be amended with a simple majority vote of the Congress.
C)The Articles of Confederation could be amended with a unanimous vote of the Congress.
D)The Articles of Confederation could be amended only through a national constitutional convention in which three-fourths of state governors approved of all changes.

Question 41

During the Philadelphia convention, the New Jersey Plan was supported by ________ states.

A)less-populous
B)slaveholding
C)free
D)southern

Question 42

Direct election of senators was instituted with the

A)Supreme Court's decision in Marbury v.Madison.
B)ratification of the Constitution.
C)passage of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913.
D)passage of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment in 1965.

Question 43

At the Constitutional Convention, the proposed plan to create a congress where representation was distributed according to population was called the ________ Plan.

A)Virginia
B)New Hampshire
C)Marshall
D)New Jersey

Question 44

Bicameralism is a constitutional principle that represents the division of

A)the national government into two branches.
B)the powers of the executive branch between two individuals: the president and the vice president.
C)Congress into two chambers.
D)the federal court system into two levels: the Supreme Court and the appellate courts.

Question 45

According to French political philosopher Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, placing the executive, legislative, and judicial powers in different governmental bodies worked very
Well in

A)the Ottoman Empire.
B)Austria-Hungary.
C)the Mongol Empire.
D)the Roman Republic.

Question 46

The political significance of the Great Compromise and the Three-Fifths Compromise was to

A)reinforce the unity of the New England merchants and the southern planters.
B)exacerbate tensions between the New England merchants and the southern planters.
C)transfer power from the Senate majority leader to the vice president.
D)increase public support for the establishment of a national bank.

Question 47

In order to win concessions from large states at the Philadelphia convention, representatives from smaller states such as Delaware threatened to

A)boycott goods from large states.
B)ban travel across their borders.
C)form alliances with foreign nations.
D)create their own independent country.

Question 48

Shays's Rebellion was significant because it

A)convinced many observers that the government under the Articles of Confederation had become dangerously inefficient and indecisive.
B)started the Revolutionary War.
C)persuaded many colonists that slavery should be outlawed in the Constitution.
D)convinced Congress to approve the Louisiana Purchase.

Question 49

The weakness of the national government under the Articles of Confederation became concerning to southern planters and New England merchants when

A)a flu pandemic killed over 10,000 Americans in the spring of 1784.
B)a series of slave revolts swept through the southern states and overthrew a number of local governments in the summer of 1783.
C)"radical" forces representing small farmers, artisans, and shopkeepers began to exert control over a number of state governments.
D)royal land-, office-, and patent holders began to exert control over a number of state governments.

Question 50

The Virginia Plan proposed a system of representation in the national legislature that was based on

A)equal representation between the states.
B)the concept of universal suffrage.
C)the population of each state, the proportion of each state's revenue contribution, or both.
D)the strength of each state's militia.

Question 51

The president's power to veto a bill passed by Congress is a good example of

A)separation of powers.
B)federalism.
C)checks and balances.
D)civil liberties.

Question 52

Which of the following statements about the Articles of Confederation is INCORRECT?

A)The Articles of Confederation included no federal court system.
B)The Articles of Confederation included a provision for appointing a president.
C)The Articles of Confederation allowed each state to coin or print its own money.
D)The Articles of Confederation allowed the states to sign commercial treaties with foreign governments.

Question 53

The electoral college is

A)an expression of direct democracy.
B)designed to select the president of the United States.
C)the institution that originally selected U.S.senators.
D)the federal organization that oversees the operation of all elections held in the United States.

Question 54

States like Delaware, Connecticut, and New York opposed the Virginia Plan because they

A)disliked the Bill of Rights that was contained within the Virginia Plan.
B)wanted to eliminate the state governments rather than give them the constitutional status suggested by the Virginia Plan.
C)wanted every plan for a new government to include a provision protecting the institution of slavery for at least 25 years, and the Virginia Plan did not contain such a provision.
D)feared that large states would dominate the new government if representation were to be determined by population, as stipulated by the Virginia Plan.

Question 55

James Madison believed that the greatest conflict of interest in the Philadelphia convention was between ________ and ________.

A)large states; small states
B)northern states; southern states
C)the wealthy; the poor
D)Catholics; Protestants

Question 56

The issue of representation was addressed in the Great Compromise by giving each state

A)the opportunity to elect its own governors.
B)an equal number of senators but linking representation in the House of Representatives to population.
C)an equal number of votes in the electoral college.
D)a veto over constitutional amendments.

Question 57

Which of the following was a ramification of the Three-Fifths Compromise?

A)It allowed for a political agreement between the North and the South.
B)It allowed for a political agreement between large states and small states.
C)It permanently outlawed the slave trade.
D)It temporarily outlawed slavery.

Question 58

Shays's Rebellion was an attempt to

A)prevent the state of Massachusetts from foreclosing on the lands of debt-ridden farmers.
B)invade New England by royalists from Canada.
C)bring a Georgian slave revolt to Virginia.
D)force the British government to rescind the Tea Act.

Question 59

Scholars disagree on the motives of the Founders in writing the U.S.Constitution as they did, but a prominent argument about their primary goal is that they wanted to devise a system

A)consistent with the dominant philosophical and moral principles of the day, while also promoting commerce and protecting private property from radical state legislatures.
B)of direct democracy that maximized popular sovereignty.
C)that concentrated authority in one branch of government.
D)that ended slavery.

Question 60

What did the New Jersey Plan propose for Congress?

A)Representation would be equal for each state.
B)Representation would be based on population.
C)Representation would be proportionate to the share of taxes paid by each state to the federal government.
D)Representatives to Congress would be appointed by the state legislatures.

Question 61

Which of the following possesses the sole power to create revenue bills?

A)the House of Representatives
B)the Senate
C)the president
D)the Treasury Department

Question 62

The framers designed the Senate to be a check against excessive democracy by doing which of the following?

A)Senators were originally appointed by state legislatures.
B)Senators have shorter terms than members of the House of Representatives.
C)Senators are directly elected by the people.
D)Senators are the only officials immune from impeachment.

Question 63

Only one-third of the Senate is up for re-election during any single election year because the framers believed that

A)too many elections would be difficult for the states to run.
B)this was a way to make the Senate resistant to popular pressure.
C)the state legislatures would conspire with each other to elect a Senate dominated by a single party.
D)this would make members of the Senate more responsive to the preferences of their constituents.

Question 64

The three branches of government created by the Constitution are

A)constitutional, elected, and appointed.
B)executive, legislative, and judicial.
C)federal, state, and local.
D)military, courts, and bureaucracy.

Question 65

Which of the following statements about the House of Representatives and the Senate is true?

A)The Senate and the House have the power to ratify treaties.
B)The Senate and the House have the power to approve presidential appointments.
C)The House has the power to overturn a president's veto, while the Senate does not.
D)The House has the power to originate revenue bills, while the Senate does not.

Question 66

The framers of the U.S.Constitution intended to create a presidency capable of

A)completely dominating Congress.
B)withstanding excessive popular pressure by making it subject to indirect election through the electoral college.
C)spending money with little interference from any other branch of government.
D)regulating all forms of commerce.

Question 67

Federal judges are appointed by the ________ and must be approved by the ________.

A)Senate; president
B)president; Senate
C)president; House of Representatives
D)president; Supreme Court

Question 68

Which entity is placed in charge of determining whether a state discriminated against goods or people from another state?

A)the Solicitor General
B)the Supreme Court
C)the Department of Justice
D)the Department of Commerce

Question 69

In order for the Constitution to be formally adopted, ________ of the ________ states in the Union had to agree to its terms.

A)7; 13
B)9; 13
C)13; 13
D)34; 50

Question 70

The framers employed the separation of powers and federalism in order to

A)prevent the new government from abusing its power.
B)end the slave trade.
C)create a replica of the British political system.
D)promote economic equality among all citizens.

Question 71

Which office did the framers design to be directly elected by the people?

A)U.S.representative
B)U.S.senator
C)U.S.president
D)U.S.vice president

Question 72

The expressed powers of Congress are listed in ________ of the U.S.Constitution.

A)Article I, Section 8
B)Article II, Section 1
C)Article III, Section 2
D)the Bill of Rights

Question 73

The system of shared powers, divided between a central government and the state governments, is called

A)the electoral college.
B)federalism.
C)checks and balances.
D)the separation of powers.

Question 74

The "comity" provision of Article IV of the Constitution was designed to promote national unity by

A)asserting that the federal Constitution, and federal law generally, take precedence over state laws, and even state constitutions.
B)claiming that powers not explicitly delegated to the federal government were reserved for the states.
C)prohibiting state governments from discriminating against citizens of other states in favor of their own citizens.
D)outlawing government discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, and gender.

Question 75

According to Article II of the U.S.Constitution, the president has the power to

A)officially recognize other nations.
B)overrule federal judges.
C)regulate commerce in the states.
D)convene Congress in special session.

Question 76

Judicial review is the power of

A)the courts to decide on the constitutionality of actions taken by the other branches of government.
B)Congress to review the decisions of the federal courts.
C)the states to review the constitutionality of federal actions and laws.
D)the courts to review and edit pieces of legislation before they are voted on in Congress.

Question 77

Montesquieu called ________ the principle of giving each branch of government its own constituency.

A)tyranny
B)democracy
C)a mixed regime
D)a republic

Question 78

The decision to give the national government control over interstate commerce and finance was motivated primarily by the framers' desire to

A)end slavery in the United States.
B)eliminate state and local governments.
C)promote economic development and protect property from radical state legislatures.
D)guarantee economic equality for all citizens.

Question 79

The delegates at the Philadelphia convention turned down the idea of including a list of citizens' rights in the Constitution because they believed that

A)such a list would limit economic development.
B)since the federal government was already limited to its expressed powers, further protection of citizens was not needed.
C)citizens should vote directly on which rights should be protected.
D)such a list would make government too weak to protect national security.

Question 80

What is the term length of a federal judge?

A)two years
B)four years
C)six years
D)life