History: Examination, Multiple Choice Quiz Example

Part 1: Multiple Choice and Explanations

At the end of the Seven Years’ War, the American colonists _______, while the British _______.

1. Were suffering from economic hard times; were saddled with a large war debt.
2. Were proud to be part of the British Empire; thought of their fellow Englishmen in America as equals.
3. Tried to keep British troops in America to protect against natives; thought that Americans should settle and defend the Ohio Valley on their own.
4. Celebrated their contributions to victory; voiced contempt for American military skill and were suspicious of American self-interest.
5. Were disappointed in Britain’s defeat; made room for an expanded French presence in North America.

Explanation:

Finally ending the seven years of conflict between British and France along with their colonies is the treaty of Paris. Consisting an agreement of the exchange of lands and colony governance, this treaty allowed both parties to get their own share of the war, which defines their power and the authority they have over the said lands. Parts of the American soil were retrieved by the British empire at the edge of the era when they were experiencing economic downturn. On the other hand, although Britain was relatively successful, it was noted to have been bankrupted due to the many expenses the administration incurred during the stretch of the war.

The first Continental Congress in 1774:

1. Renounced American allegiance to George III and created a Continental Army.
2. Denied Parliament’s right to tax and legislate for the colonies, while recognizing Parliament’s right to regulate colonial trade.
3. Denied that Parliament had any authority at all in America, but took an oath of loyalty to George III.
4. Denied that Parliament or George III had any authority in America, and called upon all colonial legislatures to seize power from royal officials.
5. Voted for direct military action against British troops in the colonies, in order to establish national independence as soon as possible.

Explanation:

Also known as the Stamp Act, the first Continental Congress in 1774 was organized to provide a response to the circular letter that has been distributed by the province of Massachusetts Bay. During this meeting, the Declaration of Rights with fourteen statements occurred. Among the fourteen statements were several points directed towards the unified protest of American colonies to the new British system of taxation. As a result, this meeting denied the British parliament to tax businesses although they are allowed to regulate the trade activities in the locations that they are given authority over.

The Declaration of Independence argued for independence on the basis of:

1. The violations of colonists’ “rights as Englishmen.”
2. Parliament’s infringements on American liberty.
3. George III’s infringements on American liberty.
4. The argument that monarchy was contrary to reason and the Bible.
5. The superiority of democracy over all other forms of government.

Explanation:

Because of the British administration’s impact on the American culture and lifestyle, the need for independence was duly sought after. Relatively, this particular independence was mostly sought after as freedom from the infringement to American liberty that George III has insisted during his rule of the British empire. The establishment of social classes and the impending effect it has on how the Americans envision themselves as members of a unified society was a deterring influence from the said ruler. The Declaration of Independence then desired such classifications and separations in the society to be won over and the balance of social equality be further established.

Which of the following was most true about the experience of African Americans in the war of independence?

1. As the war dragged on, blacks were increasingly welcomed to enlist.
2. White Americans generally avoided arming black colonists, but the British eagerly recruited and armed runaway slaves.
3. Though still enslaved, they rallied around the revolutionary rhetoric of freedom, overwhelmingly supporting the Patriot side.
4. Very few slaves escaped to freedom, but those who did found themselves welcome in the north, Canada, and the West Indies.
5. African Americans who fought did so because the British represented slavery and the Patriots represented an end of slavery.

Explanation:

The desire to become liberated from the administration of the British empire was a sure aim of the Americans. This is the reason why they wanted to fight as one unified society. However, when it comes to the consideration over black colonies, the white Americans wanted to save slaves for themselves therefore not arming them or giving them any chance to fight their way through. As a result, most of the slaves ran away and British lords who seemed to have treated them better than their American counterparts accepted most of them; they armed them and turned them against their own people.

What is the best description of the United States under the Articles of Confederation?

1. An integrated republic with a decentralized structure of national government.
2. Thirteen independent state republics loosely joined together under a very weak representative body.
3. A national government with a strong chief executive and weak legislature.
4. Thirteen independent nations affiliated in a temporary defensive alliance.
5. A country with a relatively even balance between state power and the power of the central government.

Explanation:

Although the Articles of Confederation allowed for a more independent America, the thirteen states were likely unsettled during the time. The said situation was evident due to the fact that there was no structured governmental system for the states to follow. Instead, the congress allowed an only federal institution which allowed the thirteen states to control low power on finance and local governance as it is.

What was the most important result of the rebellion led by Daniel Shays?

1. It supported the widespread belief that the people should take the law into their own hands.
2. It proved that the revolutionary spirit was still thriving in America even after the Revolution.
3. It gave crucial momentum to the growing movement to strengthen the national government.
4. It prompted Massachusetts to ratify the Constitution immediately.
5. It forced much of the country to print more paper money in order to avoid similar rebellions.

Explanation:

Shay’s rebellion even showed the society how weak the Articles of Confederation were and provided a wakeup call on the people on the desire of making them keener to how they want their new and own government established. This then allowed the chance to establish debates the involved arguments of whether or not a new central government should be established in support of the 13 smaller states.

In the late 1700’s, the American population was doubling every 20 years, primarily because of:

1. Accelerating immigration, especially from Ireland.
2. The increasing longevity of women.
3. The absorption of new people as the country added more territory.
4. Widespread campaigns to reduce birth control options.
5. An extremely high birth rate.

Explanation:

Due to the emergence of the campaign for independence, the American society grew naturally by high birth rate in the 1700’s. People felt more confident during the time and were compelled to live life as it is. Men and women were specifically concerned about making their own families and were confident about better future for the country.

The Federalist Party:

1. Wanted a weak central government in order to promote economic individualism.
2. Opposed republican government and pushed for a return to monarchy.
3. Wanted to aid farmers by increasing the supply of paper money.
4. Called for increasing government funding for social welfare programs.
5. Wanted to use government power to promote commerce and industry.

Explanation:

As defined in the Jay Treaty (1794), the federalist party specifically wanted to be committed to establishing good relations with Britain especially in relation to economically dependent factors of social growth. Creating policies relating to bank savings, tariffs and reasonable tax, the party’s trajectory is directed towards promoting commerce and industry as part of the growing strong governance system for the American region and its people.

Which of the following does NOT accurately state a principle that Thomas Jefferson espoused?

1. Radical change is sometimes necessary in order to ensure equality and democracy for all people regardless of race or gender.
2. People can be trusted to make political choices based on correct principles.
3. Human reason is a powerful tool that can unlock the secrets of nature and improve society.
4. The life of the independent farmer in a free market is economically preferable and morally superior to life in the city.
5. Religious toleration was a key principle in establishing an orderly and free society.

Explanation:

Jefferson specifically believed that people act upon the existence of their will. Most individuals however have string yet undefined basis of their will. It is because of this that most of their political choices become jeopardized by personal desires, which most often than not hurt the distinctive function of politics directed to the general public.

The Treaty of Ghent:

1. Ended the fighting without resolving any of the issues that had caused the war of 1812.
2. Ended the war by resolving most of the Anglo-American differences.
3. Ended the war by yielding additional territory and navigation rights to the British.
4. Ended the fighting and secured economic advantages for the U.S., demonstrating the great influence of American diplomats overseas.
5. Prevented Andrew Jackson’s army from engaging in battle with the British.

Explanation:

Ending the war was not part of the outcomes of the application of the Treaty of Ghent. Nevertheless, it created a sense of negotiated agreement on the part of the parties involved as they affixed their signatures which resulted to the release of prisoners and the restoration of captured lands and ships from Britain to the American property rights.

PART 2: Identification and Explanation

Marbury v. Madison 

This ruling was a landmark decision that truly defined the parameters of the government.  Using the power of judicial review, the court asserted itself as the validator of law.  This is the earliest example of the “checks and balances” between the branches of government.  The Court’s elimination of the Judiciary Act of 1789 was based on the fact that it superseded the authority of the Constitution.  This decision paved the way for the Supreme Court to interpret the law to expand a host of civil liberties throughout time.

Tecumseh

Tecumseh was a figure that struggled to unite the tribes along the early American border in common cause against the new settlers, with a message that called for the avoidance of the white people’s alcohol and guns.  He also reached across the battle lines to attempt diplomacy with America, but was ultimately betrayed and his people attacked.  This caused Tecumseh to ally his people with the British, and aid them in the war of 1812.  His leadership of an Indian confederation was instrumental in Britain’s assault on America in the War of 1812.  By the time of his death, he was the most powerful Native American of his time.

 Committees of correspondence

The shadow government that rose from the Committees of Correspondence were responsible for spreading information and coordinating responses to British actions.  They were also responsible for planning the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia to formally petition the Crown for a redress of grievances.  Acting separately in their own colonies, the committees were responsible for the iconic acts of the Revolution, like the Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere’s ride. These groups were filled with the wealthiest and influential among the patriots, and can easily be viewed as the early beginnings of the American political system that was to come.

Battle of Saratoga               

The Battle of Saratoga is considered the turning point for the colonists in the American Revolution.  It also transformed the war into a global war, as news of the victory reached the corners of the globe.  France allied itself with the colonists, along with their allies Spain and Holland.  The American victory at Saratoga prompted the French to offer supplies and soldiers, which instrumental in the eventual American victory of the war, most notably in the Battle of Yorktown.

 Part 3: Essays

Answer TWO of the following four questions, your choice. Each essay should be approximately 2 pages (double spaced—one page single spaced). Establish an introduction in the beginning of your essay, and use specific examples and details to clarify each of your points. Be sure to answer every part of the question.

In the American Revolution, was the dispute over taxation and representation a conflict over the principles of freedom, or was it an issue of economic interests, or both? Explain some of the motivations of the revolutionaries.

The causes of the American Revolution have always been romanticized as being based in the realities of an oppressive, unrepresentative government.  However, one could theorize that if this lack of freedoms were the real issue, then the colonies would have revolted soon after their inception.  What is much more evident is the correlation between the growing sense of uprising in the late 1700’s with the aggressiveness of colonial taxation.  In the aftermath of the Seven Year’s War, the British crown was holding onto a national debt that nearly doubled during the conflict, and the financial burden fell to the kingdom’s proverbial cash cow, the American colonies.  The close of the war marked the beginning of a series of taxes levied on the colonists that took their wealth to cover those debts, actions that only exacerbated the issue of living as a section of the population unrepresented in government.  Two of these taxes – the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765 – there are clear instances of how, through the negative influence of British regulations on American commerce, the colonists marched towards revolution.

As one of the first taxes on the colonies for the sole purpose of raising revenue, the Stamp Act was easily viewed as an attack on not only the American shipping industry, but also the idea of just governance itself.  On the surface, the Act appeared to expand and protect markets by reducing the duty on foreign molasses and allowing Americans to export commodities like lumber, iron, and skins. However, stipulations also called for the creation of heavy taxes on items that were once duty-free, and the lowering of the molasses tax was just an attempt to collect a tax that was never enforced (The Molasses Act of 1733).  Additionally, exports from the colonies were required to pass through British ports first, so that American products would be bought by other shippers.

With the passage of the Stamp Act in 1765, the taxation on the colonies became even more pointed. Requiring a tax and stamp placed on all printed material and commercial documents, the Stamp Act was the first time that the colonists were not paying tax to their local legislatures, but to directly to England.  While the Sugar Act was an indirect taxation on specific industry, the Stamp Act was levied on the people, which violated their right to avoid taxation without representation – one of the foundations of their rights as English citizens. The organized protest that was the Stamp Act Congress was the first unified protest among the colonies against a Britain, and the resulting demonstrations and violent acts against tax collectors led to the tax never being truly enforced.  While the British argued that these taxes paid for the protection of the colonies in the form of troops on the ground, the American sentiment was stronger: the gouging of the lucrative colonies were more than good reason to break free from the mother country.

In what ways did expansion into “the frontier” shape the course of American history in the 1775-1815 period? How was the “backcountry” and westward expansion a key issue for Americans in this time period?      

The American Revolution was not just an era that caused the separation of the colonies from the British Empire, but also one where the new nation begin to grow into its continent.  As a group of colonies, the early Americans were saddled economically and politically to the coast, but with independence came the cry to move westward.  At the end of the French and Indian War, the opportunities and challenges of western settlement made the period from 1775 – 1815 the birthdate for the spirit American geographical expansion that defined the country’s progress.

At the close of the French and Indian War, Britain expanded their influence in the North American continent with the acquisition of Canada from the French and Florida from the Spanish.  However, in the colonies between these two landmasses the trailblazing of pioneers like Daniel Boone through the Cumberland Gap opened the American consciousness toward moving west.  This area west of the Appalachians and east of French North America was called the “backcountry,” and became the home for many immigrants.  But this land was also home to the Shawnee, Cherokee and other tribes of the First Nations.  Land-hungry settlers and indigenous people made for high tensions that only increased with the dissolution of the Proclamation of 1763, the treaty that left all lands west of the mountains to the native people.  At the close of the war, the white population continued to explode with the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and the organization of the Northwest Territories.  These acts helped plunge the two sides into a series of battles, including the massive Indian defeat at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794.  It wasn’t until the end of the War of 1812 that the Indian resistance – now allied with the invading British – lost its momentum.

The migration into the backcountry can also be viewed as the first immigration boom of the new country.  Thousands from northern England – particularly the Scots-Irish – moved into the unsettled land, where they built log cabin and farmed in communities not connected to the eastern colonies – and ultimately the Empire – by waterways.  This disconnection helped to foster a sense of independence in the settlers from the politics of the continent, even creating a rebellious resentment of the colonies’ forces during the French and Indian War.  The rugged lifestyle of the settlers unquestionably created a sense of individualism, one that wanted to shirk the external authority from the east.  This passion for self-governance was the same core argument made by the sponsors of the Declaration of Independence, and the ideals for American expansion were founded through the formation of their communities.