Deck 2: Constructing a Government: The Founding and the Constitution

Question 1

The First Continental Congress called for a total boycott of British goods.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre were defended by future president John Adams.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was given power to declare war and make peace.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

During the lead-up to the American Revolution, the New England merchants who cried "no taxation without representation" cared more about expanded representation in the British Parliament than about lower taxes.

Question 5

Under the Articles of Confederation, the central government was based entirely in Congress.

Question 6

Members of the U.S. Supreme Court serve staggered six-year terms.

Question 7

In the United States, no set of institutional procedures is more important than the Declaration of Independence.

Question 8

During the 1750s, the British Crown's North American colonies on the whole paid remarkably little in taxes to the mother country.

Question 9

The Constitutional Convention passed the New Jersey Plan with little compromise.

Question 10

Delegates from large states, such as Pennsylvania, were able to manipulate the procedures at the Constitutional Convention in order to achieve final adoption of the Virginia Plan with negligible amendment.

Question 11

Under the Articles of Confederation, the presiding officer of the executive branch was appointed through a nomination and voting process of the assembled delegates in the Electoral College.

Question 12

Collective action among colonists was sparked by the British government's harsh response to the Boston Tea Party.

Question 13

The principal advantage of the Articles of Confederation was that the central government could prevent one state from discriminating against other states in the quest for foreign commerce.

Question 14

Shays's Rebellion was forcefully ended by the quick and decisive actions by federal troops sent by Congress under the Confederation.

Question 15

The Three-Fifths Compromise established the principle, new in republican theory, that a man who lives among slaves had a greater share in the election of representatives than the man who did not.

Question 16

Under the Articles of Confederation, the nation's armed forces were financed by federal income taxes.

Question 17

The income tax represented the single most important source of government revenue for the British regime prior to the American Revolution.

Question 18

Delegates from all 13 colonies attended the Annapolis Convention.

Question 19

Under the Articles of Confederation, each state was represented in the Continental Congress in proportion to its population.

Question 20

Radicals seeking independence were primarily disgruntled members of the colonial merchant elite.

Question 21

Staggered terms of service in the Senate were intended to make that body even more politically responsive to popular opinion.

Question 22

In Section 8 of Article III, the U.S. Constitution discusses the important principle of judicial review.

Question 23

The Constitution implies that any power not explicitly granted to the federal government is not granted at all.

Question 24

Federal judges are given lifetime appointments.

Question 25

Throughout the Constitution, the principle of majority rule prevails.

Question 26

Which of the following was NOT one of the sectors of society that was particularly influential in colonial politics?

A)New England merchants
B)suffragettes
C)small farmers
D)shopkeepers

Question 27

Prior to the Revolutionary War, British policies harmed the economic interests of which two large sectors of colonial society that previously supported British rule?

A)royalists and small farmers
B)southern planters and New England merchants
C)New England merchants and shopkeepers
D)southern planters and royalists

Question 28

Among the sectors of society that were important in colonial politics prior to the American Revolution, the more radical forces were represented by

A)New England merchants.
B)holders of lands, offices, and patents.
C)southern planters and shipbuilders.
D)shopkeepers, laborers, and small farmers.

Question 29

In the absence of an amendment, any power not specifically enumerated in the Constitution is conceived to be reserved to the national government.

Question 30

The Constitution does not explicitly mention the principle of the separation of powers.

Question 31

Under the Constitution as originally passed, the members of the Senate were to be appointed by the state legislatures.

Question 32

In the chain of events leading up to the American Revolution, the radical forces were permitted to expand their political influence because the colonial elites were split by

A)disagreement over slavery.
B)western boundary disputes.
C)a lack of common currency.
D)British tax and trade policies, especially the Tea Act of 1773.

Question 33

Each branch of the government of the United States is responsible to a different constituency.

Question 34

There were no checks and balances in the Constitution until passage of the Bill of Rights.

Question 35

Prior to the Revolutionary War, the British government suffered from high debt and a variety of financial problems. How does its solution to raise revenue through increasing taxes on the colonies illustrate the policy principle?

A)Members of the British Parliament were running for reelection, and it was popular in Britain to campaign on raising taxes in the colonies instead of at home.
B)The British were interested in raising revenue to cover the costs of defending the colonies, while Parliament and the colonial government made it possible to tax colonial commerce.
C)Colonial administrators were weary of the economic and political power of the merchants and southern planters and therefore sought to punish them by raising taxes on their commodities.
D)Colonial administrators wanted more independence from the British Parliament. In exchange for raising taxes, colonial administrators were granted more leeway in local matters.

Question 36

The Constitution makes no direct mention of judicial review.

Question 37

The Constitution grants the president the unconditional power to accept ambassadors from other countries.

Question 38

The most recent amendment added to the American Constitution is the balanced budget amendment.

Question 39

The Constitution grants the Supreme Court the unconditional right to grant reprieves and pardons.

Question 40

According to the rationality principle, all political actions have a purpose. When the British government attempted to raise taxes on American colonists, what services were they trying to force the colonists to pay for?

A)moving new colonists to Quebec
B)pensions and disability for retired sailors
C)an invasion of Russia
D)defense of the colonies and its shipping

Question 41

The Declaration of Independence was remarkable for its assertion that there are certain unalienable rights including

A)life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
B)due process and equal protection under the law.
C)freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and freedom of speech.
D)liberty, equality, and fraternity.

Question 42

To show their displeasure with the Stamp Act of 1765, colonists in Boston

A)stormed Bunker Hill and took over its fort.
B)organized demonstrations, parades, and mass meetings.
C)killed 12 British soldiers in what became known as the Boston Massacre.
D)marched to Lexington and seized a cache of British weapons.

Question 43

In the mid-eighteenth century, the revenues that governments relied on came mostly from

A)a flat tax.
B)an income tax.
C)tariffs and duties.
D)seizing the property of wealthy traitors.

Question 44

The Declaration of Independence was almost entirely written by

A)James Madison.
B)Thomas Jefferson.
C)Alexander Hamilton.
D)George Washington.

Question 45

On March 5, 1770, nervous British soldiers opened fire on the mob surrounding them, killing five colonists and wounding eight others. News of this event spread quickly throughout the colonies and was used to fan anti-British sentiment by radicals who called the incident the

A)Boston Massacre.
B)Tuesday butchery.
C)Boston Tea Party.
D)Guy Fawkes event.

Question 46

Colonial society was made up of conflicting economic and political interests that made British rule possible. The Stamp Act and the Tea Act altered the interests of certain key sectors of colonial society, creating incentives to

A)engage in collective action based on common goals.
B)delegate authority to the radicals.
C)resolve jurisdictional conflicts in the Continental Congress committee system.
D)form a coalition with the royalists.

Question 47

The British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre were defended by __________, a pillar of Boston society and future president of the United States.

A)John Adams
B)Thomas Jefferson
C)George Washington
D)Ben Franklin

Question 48

The radicals led by Samuel Adams hoped that the Boston Tea Party would goad the British into strong reprisals. Which principle does this strategy illustrate?

A)rationality principle
B)institution principle
C)policy principle
D)collective action principle

Question 49

Why did the British government impose taxes such as the Stamp Act specifically on the American colonies instead of in England only?

A)Influential interest groups supported the colonial taxes.
B)Increased taxes were politically unpopular in England, so the government chose to raise taxes on the colonists instead.
C)The British government had spent large sums of money on defending the colonies and sought to recapture that revenue from the colonists.
D)Money raised from the taxes was intended to be used to pacify revolutionary citizens in the colonies.

Question 50

The Boston Tea Party was led by

A)Patrick Henry.
B)Thomas Payne.
C)Alexander Hamilton.
D)Samuel Adams.

Question 51

What was the ultimate goal of the radical participants in the Boston Tea Party?

A)rescind the Tea Act
B)rescind the Stamp Act
C)close Boston Harbor to British commerce
D)alienate the British government from its colonial supporters

Question 52

Colonists organized and participated in the Boston Tea Party of 1773 as a direct response to

A)military seizure of tea and other agricultural goods in Boston Harbor.
B)atrocities by British garrison troops.
C)the withdrawal of military protection from commercial ships sailing to the Americas.
D)the British granting the East India Company a monopoly on the export of tea from Britain.

Question 53

After years of relatively little interference in the local affairs of its American colonies, the English government passed a tax on all printed and legal documents, including newspapers, pamphlets, advertisements, notes and bonds, leases, deeds, and licenses. Mass protests declaring "no taxation without representation" erupted throughout the colonies against the

A)Tea Act.
B)Stamp Act.
C)Colonial Tariff.
D)Document Tax.

Question 54

The Stamp Act of 1765 and the Sugar Act of 1764 created incentives for which two groups to engage in collective action?

A)small farmers and recent immigrants
B)holders of royal land offices and patents and shopkeepers
C)New England merchants and southern planters
D)southern planters and royalists

Question 55

The Boston Tea Party set into motion a cycle of provocation and retaliation that, in 1774, resulted in the convening of an assembly of delegates from all parts of the colonies called the

A)First Colonial Convention.
B)Boston Confederated Congress.
C)Philadelphia Constitutional Convention.
D)First Continental Congress.

Question 56

In November of 1777, the Continental Congress adopted the United States' first written constitution. It was known as the

A)Virginia Plan.
B)Declaration of Independence.
C)Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union.
D)Seneca Falls Declaration.

Question 57

In 1773, the British government granted a monopoly on the export of tea from Britain to the politically powerful East India Company, which sought to bypass the colonial merchants and sell the tea directly to the colonies. The merchants called on their radical adversaries for support, and the most dramatic result was

A)the Boston Tea Party.
B)an attack on Fort Sill.
C)the Philadelphia Midnight Murders.
D)the ceremonial burning of the Union Jack flag in the Philadelphia town square.

Question 58

By dumping the East India Company's tea into Boston Harbor, Samuel Adams and his followers pressured the British into enacting a number of harsh reprisals that

A)radicalized Americans to resist British rule.
B)effectively ended the slave trade in the Northern states.
C)temporarily softened public support for revolutionary forces.
D)benefited southern planters at the expense of New England merchants.

Question 59

The result of the 1777 Continental Congress was a constitution concerned primarily with

A)preventing domestic insurrection.
B)limiting the powers of the central government.
C)generating new tax revenues to help pay for armed resistance.
D)regulating trade among the colonies as well as imports and exports.

Question 60

Dramatic events like the Boston Massacre provide an issue for individuals to organize around when putting together revolutionary activities. This provides a way to overcome the

A)collective action problem.
B)institution principle.
C)history principle.
D)revolutionary organization conundrum.

Question 61

In contrast to Charles Beard's approach, some view the framers of the Constitution as being motivated by

A)a desire to redistribute economic benefits to the working class.
B)economic self-interest.
C)the dominant philosophical and moral values of the day.
D)political party identification.

Question 62

In hindsight, the decision of New England merchants and southern planters to ally with small farmers, shopkeepers, and other pro-independence radicals to defeat the British seems puzzling as the balance of power in post-Revolutionary America shifted in favor of the radicals and threatened the interests of the pre-Revolutionary elite. However, the decision of the merchants and planters to join forces with the radicals may be considered __________ if each group considered the costs and benefits of the decision and speculated about future effects.

A)rational
B)irrational
C)intelligent
D)insane

Question 63

The proposal offered by the smaller states during the Constitutional Convention that argued each state should be equally represented in the new regime regardless of its population was known as the

A)Virginia Plan.
B)Connecticut Plan.
C)Massachusetts Plan.
D)New Jersey Plan.

Question 64

Which state did NOT send delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia?

A)Rhode Island
B)Delaware
C)Massachusetts
D)Georgia

Question 65

It is possible that the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia would never have taken place at all if not for a single event that occurred soon after the Annapolis Convention. This event was

A)Shays's Rebellion.
B)the Boston Massacre.
C)the Boston Tea Party.
D)the Whiskey Rebellion.

Question 66

The proposal to alter the Articles of Confederation by providing for a system of representation in the national legislature based on the population of each state or the proportion of each state's revenue contribution, or both, was known as the

A)Virginia Plan.
B)New Jersey Plan.
C)Massachusetts Plan.
D)Connecticut Plan.

Question 67

The founder who probably had the most influence on the Virginia Plan (which served as the framework for the eventual Constitution) was

A)John Adams.
B)James Madison.
C)Alexander Hamilton.
D)Thomas Jefferson.

Question 68

Why did Shays's Rebellion enable collective action among those who wanted to revise the Articles of Confederation?

A)Shays was a charismatic political entrepreneur who was able to bring together several key opponents of the Articles.
B)The rebellion showed that the federal government was already strong enough to quell an uprising, which demonstrated that taking further steps toward a stronger central government was an attainable goal.
C)Shays introduced key figures in western Massachusetts to the concept of civil disobedience, which in turn caught on with opponents of the Articles across the country.
D)The rebellion provided politicians who were already convinced of the inadequacy of the Articles with the ammunition they needed to convince a broader public of their inadequacy.

Question 69

Early states had broad latitude to pursue their own policies, and the national government, under the Articles of Confederation, had little recourse if it disliked those policies. For example, the Rhode Island legislature-dominated by representatives of small farmers, artisans, and shopkeepers-frightened businessmen and property owners throughout the country by instituting

A)free trade policies.
B)economic policies including drastic currency inflation.
C)generous agricultural subsidies and severely protective tariffs.
D)eminent domain activities for an extensive statewide park system.

Question 70

The one positive result of the Annapolis Convention was a resolution calling for

A)a declaration of independence from England.
B)a boycott of tea, linens, and other goods from England.
C)ratification of the new Constitution of the United States.
D)a later meeting in Philadelphia to reform the Articles of Confederation.

Question 71

The Articles of Confederation provided a set of rules and procedures that provided incentives for states to compete with each other for foreign commerce. This effect of the Articles best reflects which principle of politics?

A)the institution principle
B)the policy principle
C)the history principle
D)the collective action principle

Question 72

According to historian Charles Beard, the framers of the Constitution were motivated primarily by

A)the quest for justice.
B)moral principles.
C)personal enrichment.
D)religious fervor.

Question 73

Daniel Shays, a former army captain, led a mob in a rebellion against the Massachusetts government in order to

A)open up western territories for expansion.
B)prevent foreclosures on debt-ridden farm lands.
C)release certain British loyalists from captivity as prisoners of war.
D)resist taxes on whiskey.

Question 74

An extension of the policy principle is that rational actors design institutions that help them bring about the outcomes they desire. How did the Three-Fifths Compromise bias outcomes, compared to the Northerners' preference on the issue of slavery and representation?

A)Southern states were able to ensure that no more than three-fifths of all federal revenue came from trade tariffs.
B)It ensured that three-fifths of all new territory acquired by the United States would allow slavery.
C)States with relatively more slaves gained representation in Congress and thus were better able to protect the interests of slave owners.
D)It guaranteed that enslaved persons would be able to cast votes that counted for 60 percent of a free person's vote in federal elections.

Question 75

During the winter of 1786-1787, John Adams of Massachusetts was sent to negotiate a new treaty with the British to cover disputes left over from the war. The British government responded that it would

A)set a blockade around Boston Harbor.
B)relinquish control over the lands to the west.
C)negotiate with each of the 13 states separately.
D)require war reparations before signing any new treaty.

Question 76

Why did the smaller states object to the Virginia Plan?

A)In accordance with the institution principle, small states wanted to maintain the existing institutions (the Articles of Confederation), but the institution principle does not apply to large states.
B)In accordance with the rationality principle, the Virginia Plan provided greater representation in the national legislature for larger and/or wealthier states, which disadvantaged the small states.
C)The small states tended to be from the North and objected to the strong proslavery content in the Virginia Plan.
D)The smaller states feared that the national government would force them to pay equal shares of the national budget.

Question 77

The agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention to give each state an equal number of senators regardless of population but link representation in the House of Representatives to population became known as the

A)Boston Plan.
B)Philadelphia Plan.
C)Three-Fifths Compromise.
D)Great Compromise.

Question 78

In 2016, the five smallest states held roughly 0.5 percent of the seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 10 percent of the seats in the U.S. Senate. These differing levels of representation of the five small states were the result of which decision during the Constitutional Convention?

A)the New Jersey Plan
B)the Virginia Plan
C)the Great Compromise
D)the Three-Fifths Compromise

Question 79

Charles Beard's interpretation of the framing of the Constitution was primarily

A)legal.
B)ethical.
C)ontological.
D)economic.

Question 80

Under the Articles of Confederation, what power was Congress given?

A)the power to levy taxes
B)the power to restrict slavery
C)the power to regulate titles of nobility
D)the power to declare war