Deck 5: The American Revolution

Question 1

Among the following,who was NOT a British general during the American Revolution?

A) Thomas Gage
B) William Howe
C) John Burgoyne
D) Horatio Gates
E) Barry St. Leger

Answer 1

Horatio Gates

Question 2

In 1775,as conflicts with England intensified,American colonists

A) made extensive efforts to prepare themselves for war.
B) were deeply divided about what they were fighting for.
C) believed England was not willing to engage in military operations against them.
D) saw their larger population as a key advantage over England.
E) considered arming slaves to help build up the colonial army.

Answer 2

were deeply divided about what they were fighting for.

Question 3

Published in January 1776,Common Sense was written by

A) Thomas Jefferson.
B) Thomas Paine.
C) James Madison.
D) Ben Franklin.
E) James Otis.

Answer 3

Thomas Paine.

Question 4

During the second phase (1776-1778)of the American Revolution,British military efforts were hampered by

A) a series of tactical blunders and misfortunes.
B) a severe shortage of new soldiers coming from England.
C) an American blockade of British ships.
D) the American capture of the commanding British general.
E) American alliances with Native American tribes in the region.

Question 5

The war effort by American colonists would be financed primarily by

A) spending hard currency.
B) printing paper money.
C) borrowing from abroad.
D) selling bonds.
E) melting down jewelry into specie.

Question 6

In the final phase (1778-1781)of the American Revolution,the British

A) mounted their largest military assault against the Continental army.
B) badly overestimated the support of American Loyalists.
C) made a focused effort to win public support in the northern colonies.
D) concentrated their efforts on capturing individual Patriots.
E) began a policy of "total war" that resulted in several cities being burned to the ground.

Question 7

Which of the following took place during the first phase (1775-1776)of the Revolutionary War?

A) British troops evacuated Boston.
B) American troops captured Quebec.
C) The British won a significant victory in North Carolina.
D) American troops took Nova Scotia.
E) British troops under William Howe captured Philadelphia.

Question 8

Which of the following nations became involved in a general war against England during the American Revolution?

A) Belgium
B) Canada
C) the Netherlands
D) Portugal
E) Sweden

Question 9

In early 1778,France

A) withdrew military naval support from the U.S., but continued to provide monetary assistance and supplies.
B) expelled the colonies' diplomats, including Benjamin Franklin, from Paris.
C) agreed to give the Americans money and supplies, but withheld its soldiers.
D) declared war on both England and Spain.
E) recognized the United States as a sovereign nation to help prevent it from abandoning the war effort.

Question 10

Financing the Revolution was difficult for the American side because

A) hard currency was scarce.
B) the printing of paper money was illegal.
C) foreign nations refused to loan money for the war effort.
D) bonds were not yet in use.
E) the colonists' wealth had all been kept in London.

Question 11

The British military campaigns of 1777 saw

A) General William Howe stay in camp when he was supposed to have moved south.
B) General John Burgoyne suffer a major defeat at Saratoga.
C) a major American victory at Philadelphia.
D) the British surround and lay siege to George Washington's army at Valley Forge.
E) the British retake Boston and set it afire.

Question 12

As commander of the Continental army,George Washington

A) had no shortage of Americans willing to volunteer to fight the British.
B) had no previous actual military experience.
C) was an early critic of independence.
D) saw Congress leave all important military decisions up to his judgment.
E) was admired, respected, and trusted by nearly all Patriots.

Question 13

As the fighting in the final phase of the American Revolution (1778-1781)carried into communities previously isolated from the war,

A) local criticism of Patriots increased.
B) American armies engaged in more large, open-field battles.
C) support for independence greatly increased.
D) large segments of the American population became war refugees.
E) more Loyalists began actively helping the British.

Question 14

In the aftermath of the Declaration of Independence,the colonies began to call themselves states

A) because that was how they were defined in the preamble.
B) in response to the British custom of calling them provinces.
C) due to the belief that each was a sovereign entity.
D) as a deliberate means of undermining the formation of a single American nation.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 15

The author of Common Sense

A) sought to concentrate colonial anger on unpopular parliamentary measures.
B) was an American who had never been to England.
C) sold very few copies of his pamphlet until after the war was won.
D) was arrested by British officials and charged with treason.
E) considered the English constitution to be the greatest problem facing the colonists.

Question 16

In the Battle of Bunker Hill,

A) the Patriots suffered light casualties and won the battle.
B) the British suffered heavy casualties.
C) Benedict Arnold was wounded.
D) the British surrendered their main forces to the Patriots.
E) the Patriots refused to withdraw and were all killed.

Question 17

At the start of the Revolution,American advantages over the British included a

A) greater commitment to the war.
B) larger number of troops.
C) better equipped navy.
D) more coherent military command structure.
E) better relationship with Native American tribes.

Question 18

The Declaration of Independence

A) borrowed heavily from previously published colonial documents.
B) was never formally approved by the Second Continental Congress.
C) avoided making any direct criticism of the king.
D) called for the formation of a two-party democracy.
E) originally recommended that all slaves be freed.

Question 19

During the American Revolution,the Iroquois Confederacy officially

A) declared its neutrality.
B) allied itself with the colonists.
C) allied itself with the British.
D) refused to ally with either combatant until France entered the war.
E) disbanded and withdrew to the west.

Question 20

When George Washington crossed the Delaware River on Christmas night,1776,he was intent on surprising

A) American Loyalists.
B) Indians.
C) the Hessians.
D) British regulars.
E) William Howe.

Question 21

The battle at Yorktown involved

A) the most bloody battle of the war.
B) the suicide of the commanding British general.
C) evidence that the British were executing prisoners of war.
D) a combined French and American army and navy.
E) treachery on the part of Benedict Arnold.

Question 22

Which of the following was the scene of a substantial British victory in the final phase (1778-1781)of the American Revolution?

A) Cowpens
B) Charleston
C) Yorktown
D) Guilford Court House
E) Saratoga

Question 23

In 1776,Abigail Adams was an advocate for

A) full gender equality in the new postwar nation.
B) a woman's right to vote.
C) new protections for women against abusive and tyrannical men.
D) support for impoverished war widows.
E) temperance.

Question 24

The principal Americans who negotiated the peace terms with the British were

A) Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson.
B) Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, and John Adams.
C) John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, and Samuel Huntington.
D) Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.
E) Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay.

Question 25

During the American Revolution,female "camp followers"

A) assisted in the support of regular troops.
B) played traditional female roles and were not involved in combat.
C) served to maintain traditional gender distinctions.
D) were prostitutes.
E) often inadvertently betrayed the position of Washington's army.

Question 26

Which of the following statements regarding the American Revolution and Native Americans is FALSE?

A) The outcome of the war largely weakened the position of Indians.
B) Indians generally had better relations with the British than with the Americans.
C) White Americans' attitudes toward the tribes took a turn for the worse during the war.
D) American Patriots had generally tried to persuade Indians to be neutral in the war.
E) Some Indians took advantage of the conflict to launch attacks of their own.

Question 27

Which of the following statements regarding Benedict Arnold is FALSE?

A) Arnold was an American military hero early in the war.
B) During the war, Arnold grew convinced the American cause was hopeless.
C) Arnold conspired with the British to betray a Patriot stronghold at West Point, New York.
D) Arnold had previously foiled the advance of Barry St. Leger into the Mohawk Valley.
E) Arnold spent the last years of the Revolution as a prisoner of war.

Question 28

Which of the following statements regarding General Nathaniel Greene is FALSE?

A) He led American forces to victory in the battle at Yorktown.
B) He divided his forces into fast-moving contingents to confuse and exasperate Cornwallis.
C) He was one of the most effective commanders in the American army.
D) He replaced Horatio Gates as commander of the southern forces in the Continental army.
E) He was forced to withdraw at Guilford Court House after inflicting heavy losses.

Question 29

In colonial America,under English common law a married woman

A) could not own property.
B) had more legal rights than unmarried women.
C) had legal authority over her children.
D) could not earn wages greater than her husband.
E) could only initiate divorce in case of adultery.

Question 30

The core American political ideology of the postwar period considered the success of the new republican governments to be dependent on

A) a strong central governing authority.
B) the development of heavy industry.
C) westward expansion.
D) the creation of a strong military.
E) independent landowners.

Question 31

Regarding the status of women,the effect of the American Revolution

A) was minimal and short-term.
B) was to dismantle the patriarchal legal system.
C) was to end the traditional cultural concepts of the female role in society.
D) generally weakened the position of women in society.
E) led some women to question their position in society.

Question 32

Following the American Revolution,as the republic took shape in the 1780s,greater social importance was attached to women in the role of

A) wives.
B) feminists.
C) citizens.
D) nurses.
E) mothers.

Question 33

Post-Revolution American domestic manufacturing was stimulated by

A) favorable trade agreements with England.
B) an English desire to protect American vessels.
C) the closing of British ports to American trade.
D) British abandonment of impressments.
E) the flood of immigration after the war.

Question 34

The prominent eighteenth-century essayist Judith Sargent Murray placed her greatest emphasis on the right of women to

A) vote.
B) own property.
C) divorce.
D) obtain an education.
E) serve in combat.

Question 35

As a result of the American Revolution,the Anglican Church in America was

A) weakened.
B) banned in most colonies.
C) made the official religion of Virginia.
D) praised by Patriots for supporting independence.
E) tried for aiding and abetting the British.

Question 36

During the American Revolution,enslaved African Americans in the colonies

A) joined the British army in large numbers to fight against their American masters.
B) were assisted by the British to escape, as a way to disrupt the American war effort.
C) were offered their freedom by Americans if they fought against the British.
D) tried to help Loyalists escape to Canada in exchange for their freedom.
E) were not significantly affected by the conflict.

Question 37

During the American Revolution,Loyalists

A) were forced to leave the colonies soon after the war began.
B) were nearly all office holders in the English government.
C) were forbidden by the Patriots to move to England until the war had ended.
D) constituted perhaps as many as one-third of the white colonial population.
E) freed their slaves to help augment British forces in the colonies.

Question 38

The fear of ________ helped prevent English colonists in the Caribbean islands from joining with the continental Americans in the revolt against Britain.

A) the British navy
B) economic repercussions
C) French intervention
D) hurricanes
E) slave rebellions

Question 39

For most Revolutionary American political thinkers,the concept of equality meant that there should be equality of

A) opportunity.
B) rights, regardless of race, sex, or property.
C) condition.
D) opportunity and of condition.
E) rights and of condition.

Question 40

Under the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1783,

A) the United States gained formal British recognition of American independence.
B) Spain received Gibraltar from the English.
C) the United States received all territory east of the Rocky Mountains.
D) France received Canada from the English.
E) England was forced to pay reparations to the new American nation.

Question 41

Shortly after signing the Treaty of Paris of 1783,the British government

A) evacuated its forts in America.
B) made restitution to slaveholders for slaves the British army had freed during the war.
C) attempted to purchase Florida.
D) restricted American access to British markets.
E) declared war on Spain to take its New World colonies away.

Question 42

Under the Articles of Confederation,the national government had the power to

A) regulate trade.
B) draft troops.
C) borrow and issue money.
D) levy direct taxes on the people.
E) override state laws.

Question 43

The Declaration of Independence borrowed heavily from previously written colonial documents.

Question 44

One effect of Shays's Rebellion was that it

A) temporarily brought a halt to the new American government.
B) led the federal government to adopt the gold standard.
C) led to the downfall of the state government in Massachusetts.
D) contributed to the growing belief the national government needed reform.
E) encouraged Massachusetts to adopt gradual emancipation.

Question 45

The Articles of Confederation were adopted when states gave up their

A) power to regulate trade.
B) power to make war.
C) claims to western lands.
D) right to levy their own taxes.
E) plans for emancipation.

Question 46

In the early 1790s,the efforts of Little Turtle represented an attempt by Indians to

A) accommodate white settlers.
B) maintain their lands given through treaties.
C) resist white expansion by military force.
D) negotiate the sale of Indian lands.
E) encourage England to mediate a settlement between Indians and the new nation.

Question 47

The Virginia Statute of Religious Liberty of 1786

A) was written by James Madison.
B) called for a complete separation of church and state.
C) gave all religious denominations special privileges within the state.
D) only applied to Christian denominations.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 48

Under the Articles of Confederation,

A) each state had one vote in Congress.
B) all states had to approve any important measure.
C) there could be no amendments to the Articles.
D) no legislation could be passed without all states voting on the issue.
E) the executive had the power to veto legislative decisions.

Question 49

The 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers

A) forced the Miami Indians into negotiations with the United States.
B) saw the U.S. forces suffer a significant defeat.
C) led the United States to temporarily evacuate from the Ohio Valley.
D) resulted in the death of General Anthony Wayne.
E) represented the last major military victory for Indians against the U.S.

Question 50

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787

A) created a single territory out of the lands north of Ohio.
B) guaranteed freedom of religion throughout the affected areas.
C) prohibited slavery within the affected areas.
D) abandoned the system created in the 1784 Ordinance.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 51

During the 1780s,most state governments

A) moved to limit popular power.
B) were notable for their stability.
C) found it difficult to revise their constitutions.
D) remained strongly elitist.
E) eliminated property requirements for voters.

Question 52

The 1795 Treaty of Greenville

A) allowed the Miami Indians navigation rights to the Mississippi.
B) compelled the Miami Indians to move out of the Ohio Valley.
C) was never signed by any Indian leaders.
D) removed all restrictions to white settlement of the Ohio Valley.
E) led the United States to affirm that Indian lands could be ceded only by the tribes themselves.

Question 53

The Ordinances of 1784 and 1785 represented an attempt to

A) eliminate slavery in the western states.
B) compromise on the question of slavery expanding into the territories.
C) enhance the power of the central government.
D) gain redress from the English at the expense of Native Americans.
E) provide for the admission of new states into the union.

Question 54

In 1780,Massachusetts sought to revise the power of the governor by

A) allowing the legislature to set his salary.
B) having him elected directly by the people.
C) taking away his authority to veto legislation.
D) permitting him to sit in the legislature.
E) granting him the power to tax.

Question 55

Under the Articles of Confederation in 1777 there was a federal

A) Congress.
B) judiciary.
C) executive.
D) bureaucracy.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 56

Who did the Congress send to London as a minister in 1784 to resolve the differences between the Confederation and the British regarding the peace treaty of 1783?

A) Benjamin Franklin
B) James Madison
C) John Jay
D) John Adams
E) George Washington

Question 57

As leaders of a tax rebellion the 1780s,Daniel Shays and his supporters demanded

A) the nation's capital be moved to New England.
B) an end to paper currency.
C) a moratorium on debt collection.
D) renewed trade agreements with England.
E) the right to vote for all white men, regardless of property holdings.

Question 58

Which statement about slavery in America in the 1780s is true?

A) In no state was it illegal.
B) Many southern states prohibited the importation of slaves from abroad.
C) Virginia passed a law forbidding the manumission of slaves.
D) The strongest forces against slavery were found in the western colonies.
E) Most whites believed blacks should be integrated into American society as equals.

Question 59

The beginning of hostilities in 1775 found the colonies generally unprepared for war.

Question 60

During the 1780s,in every new state constitution,

A) state legislatures were to be chosen by a direct popular vote.
B) governors were prevented from holding a seat in the legislature.
C) property requirements for voting were relaxed or eliminated.
D) women were denied the right to vote.
E) governors were given the authority to tax.

Question 61

Few Loyalists were so disaffected as to leave the United States as a result of their opposition to the Revolutionary War.

Question 62

Loyalist sentiment was thought to be stronger in the South than in the North.

Question 63

For some African Americans,the Revolution meant increased exposure to the concept of liberty.

Question 64

The Americans violated their alliance with France by negotiating a peace with Great Britain without informing the French.

Question 65

When George Washington took command of the Continental army,he did not have a great deal of public confidence.

Question 66

During the Revolutionary War,the Iroquois Confederacy was united in its allegiance to Great Britain.

Question 67

Immediately following Lexington and Concord,it is safe to say that most Americans now saw their main goal as independence from Great Britain.

Question 68

France was an American ally during the Revolutionary War,but it did not provide the Americans with significant amounts of money or munitions.

Question 69

One effect the Declaration of Independence had was that individual colonies were motivated to reconstitute themselves as "states."

Question 70

Both Quakers and Catholics were strengthened as a result of their support for the Patriot cause and the Revolutionary War.

Question 71

In composing the Declaration of Independence,Thomas Jefferson borrowed heavily from the political theories of Thomas Hobbes.

Question 72

The influence of the Anglican Church in the United States was strengthened as a result of the Revolutionary War.

Question 73

Women,sometimes by choice but more often by necessity,flocked to the camps of the Patriot armies during the Revolutionary War.

Question 74

The Battle of Saratoga (1777)was both a turning point in the Revolutionary War and a victory for the colonists.

Question 75

By the end of the Revolutionary War,the position of Native Americans in and near the United States had been strengthened by their support of the Patriot cause.

Question 76

The Revolutionary War increased already-deep internal divisions among Native American tribes.

Question 77

The United States never negotiated a formal alliance with France during the Revolutionary War.

Question 78

Both Congress,under the Articles of Confederation,and the various state legislatures had the power to independently tax individual Americans.

Question 79

Cornwallis's defeat at Yorktown led not only to the resignation of Lord North as prime minister,but to public outcries in England against continuing the war.

Question 80

To Thomas Paine it made "common sense" to break from Parliament,but not from the king.