CHAPTER 10: THE JACKSONIAN ERA, 1824–1845
Multiple Choice
1. By the end of the 1820s, the right to vote __________.
A) was restricted to wealthy white males
B) was available to fewer Americans than were eligible in 1800
C) had moved significantly toward universal manhood suffrage for whites
D) was extended to include blacks and females in the North
2. A major change in American politics by the late 1820s was __________.
A) mass participation through wider voting rights for white males
B) the lack of sectional concerns expressed in Congress
C) political careers being seen as public service rather than as a profession
D) a move away from politicians speaking in the language of the common man
3. After the Salary Act of 1816 __________.
A) many Congressmen were voted out of office in the next election
B) American workers received higher wages
C) Andrew Jackson was elected president in the next election
D) John Calhoun emerged as a major spokesman for the working class
4. How did the rights of free African-Americans change during the early to mid-1800s as compared to the
Revolutionary War period?
A) Their rights did not change, as suffrage was still limited to white, property-owning men.
B) African-American men were given the right to vote, but their female counterparts were not.
C) All American citizens, including freed former slaves, were given the right to vote.
D) Suffrage was limited to white men and women.
5. Which group was an active participant in the Second Great Awakening?
A) Traditional Calvinists
B) Roman Catholics
C) Baptists
D) Congregational Presbyterians
6. Many evangelical preachers of the Second Great Awakening __________.
A) were wealthy Federalists
B) directly challenged slavery
C) emphasized a solemn approach to religion
D) saw no connection between religion and the common person
7. Preachers of the Second Great Awakening believed which of the following?
A) All humans were predestined at birth for heaven or hell.
B) Expressions of popular culture should not be included in religious worship.
C) Personal, heartfelt experiences will not bring spiritual rebirth.
D) Women should be encouraged to achieve spiritual revival.
8. The first presidential candidate of the Democratic Party was __________.
A) James Monroe
B) John C. Calhoun
C) Henry Clay
D) Andrew Jackson
9. The Albany Regency, a tightly disciplined political machine, was run by __________.
A) John Quincy Adams
B) Nelson Biddle
C) John Tyler
D) Martin Van Buren
10. An important legacy of the election of 1824 was __________.
A) Jackson’s election as the “people’s president”
B) large-scale spending to win an election
C) public sympathy for Jackson, who lost because of a “corrupt bargain”
D) the expression of slavery as a major issue in American elections
11. The election of 1828 revealed that Jackson had a formidable electoral base __________.
A) in New England
B) with bankers of the Northeast
C) in Massachusetts and New York City
D) with farmers of the South and West
12. Jackson dominated his presidency with __________.
A) republican ideals
B) fear and retribution
C) the sheer force of his personality
D) ideals from the French Revolution
13. The spoils system features a strategy in which __________.
A) government jobs are given to supporters of the victorious party
B) large land speculators have the strongest influence in government
C) the military is aggressively used as a factor in foreign relations
D) the Bank of the United States is the central facet of the economy
14. Which policy was supported by Andrew Jackson?
A) wide use of protective tariffs
B) internal improvements that benefited the general public
C) support of a strong national bank
D) large government subsidies to bolster manufacturing
15. The Cherokee Indians __________.
A) never experienced significant grievances with white political authorities
B) were seen by whites as the most savage tribe in the South
C) always refused to assimilate with white culture
D) had their own newspaper and a constitution
16. The term Trail of Tears refers to the __________.
A) slaughter of the Sauk and Fox Indians in Northern Illinois
B) plight of the yeoman farmer in the face of industrial power
C) horrifying conditions experienced by Cherokees during their removal
D) system of separating families through the slave trade in the Deep South
17. The Indian Removal Act __________.
A) did not affect the Cherokee tribe
B) focused on Indians west of the Mississippi
C) passed over Jackson’s veto
D) included Indians living in Florida
18. In the case Worcester v. Georgia, the Supreme Court ruled that __________.
A) the Bank of the United States was unconstitutional
B) slavery was an issue left to the discretion of individual states
C) the state of Georgia had violated the Constitution in their treatment of Indians
D) Jackson’s Indian policies were constitutional and well within his rights of executive action
19. Which statement would most likely have been said by a supporter of nullification?
A) “Our union, it must be preserved above all else and at all costs.”
B) “The promotion of the nation’s industrial base is the foundation of our republic.”
C) “As the nation grows in size and power, a strong central government is a vital necessity.”
D) “The states shall not adhere to federal law that is deemed to be unconstitutional.”
20. The Force Bill was designed to deal with __________.
A) problems resulting from the Indian Removal Act
B) the nullification crisis
C) the impact of lower tariffs
D) the Bank War
21. Which statement best describes Jackson’s view of those who supported nullification?
A) Jackson viewed nullification as a dangerous and treasonous affront to the union.
B) He sympathized with the stance on nullification expressed by Southerners.
C) Jackson viewed them as an unimportant voice in the national political debate.
D) He defeated them by ignoring their ideas and refusing to debate the issue.
22. The Force Bill gave Jackson the power to __________.
A) remove the Cherokees with military force
B) engage in an undeclared naval war with England
C) put down nullification with military force
D) appoint cabinet officials without congressional approval
23. When Henry Clay tried to make the Bank of the United States a key campaign issue in 1832,
__________.
A) most of the nation supported his rational stance on the matter
B) Jackson backed off from making the Bank a political issue
C) Jackson turned the tables on him by vehemently opposing rechartering of the Bank
D) very few people viewed the issue as an important one in America’s political dialogue
24. During his second term, President Jackson __________.
A) sponsored his first Indian Removal Act
B) established his support of preserving the union for the first time
C) dismantled the Bank of the United States
D) encouraged the removal of the Choctaw tribe
25. One of the effects of destroying the Bank of the United States was __________.
A) the belief that Jackson had sold out to the northeastern elite
B) a decline in land buying in the western territories
C) a decrease of commodity prices
D) the shifting of deposits to state banks
26. The first crisis that besieged the administration of Martin Van Buren was the __________.
A) outbreak of the Mexican War
B) dissolution of the Democratic Party
C) Panic of 1837
D) threat of secession by South Carolina
27. The value of federal land sales in southern states was highest around __________.
A) 1825
B) 1830
C) 1835
D) 1840
28. Which of the following was a factor in creating the Panic of 1837?
A) the lowering of interest rates and loosening of credit by the Bank of England
B) a drop-off in the price and exportation of American cotton
C) the lack of availability of credit for buying western lands in the early 1830s
D) the payment of debts by many state governments that had borrowed lavishly in the 1820s and 1830s
29. The Whig Party believed that the Panic of 1837 happened for many reasons, including __________.
A) irresponsibility on the part of Henry Clay in creating his financial plan
B) the defeat of the Specie Circular of 1836
C) the predominance of “pet banks” that emerged during the 1830s
D) the creation of the national bank by Andrew Jackson
30. Andrew Jackson issued the Specie Circular, which prevented __________ from being purchased with
anything but specie.
A) cotton
B) slaves
C) substantial amounts of weapons
D) large tracts of public land
31. The Independent Treasury System __________.
A) established the Democratic Party as a spokesman for big government and industry
B) was an economic success, but a political failure
C) reduced the nation’s money supply and prolonged the depression
D) was not passed by Congress after President Van Buren refused to support it
32. In the 1830s, how did government and private banks influence the economy?
A) They tightly controlled spending and credit.
B) They inflated interest rates to earn money for governmental coffers.
C) They promoted reckless economic expansion with easy credit.
D) They spent too much money on failed investments.
33. William Lloyd Garrison believed that slavery __________.
A) should gradually be legislated out of existence
B) was immoral and should be immediately ended
C) was not a moral issue, but an important economic issue
D) was not a major issue in American politics
34. In the 1830s, abolitionists achieved which of the following?
A) winning the support of President Jackson for their cause
B) printing over one million pieces of antislavery literature
C) persuading southern plantation owners with their arguments
D) discarding the moral arguments against slavery
35. The gag rule __________.
A) denied First Amendment rights to southern planters
B) stopped any members of Congress from defending Indians
C) made it illegal for the Supreme Court to address the issue of slavery
D) allowed Congress to automatically table all antislavery petitions
36. Anti-Jacksonians called themselves Whigs because __________.
A) they were strong supporters of better ties with Britain
B) they accused Jackson of acting like a monarch
C) it was the name of an influential and popular novel of the period
D) the Jacksonians had begun to call themselves Tories
37. Compared to Democrats, Whigs were more likely to __________.
A) have support in the South
B) have support among subsistence farmers
C) favor less government involvement in economic affairs
D) oppose further westward expansion
38. The Anti-Masons called for __________.
A) an end to slavery
B) equal rights for all freemen
C) a return to rule by the privileged elite
D) the right of states to nullify federal law
39. The Whigs made political inroads in the presidential election of 1836 when __________.
A) William Henry Harrison was elected
B) Andrew Jackson lost support among small farmers
C) the Democrats lost their majority in the Senate
D) Van Buren lost some of the Democrats’ support in the South
40. The Whig Party was __________.
A) very popular in the South and West
B) unsuccessful at getting a president elected in the 1840s
C) not supportive of territorial expansion
D) a supporter of government for economic development
41. The first members of the Whig Party believed that __________.
A) mass-based political parties were the way of the future
B) Jackson had exercised too much power in his years as president
C) the government should not interfere with affairs of the economy
D) the spread of paper money would ruin the national economy
42. William Henry Harrison won the election of 1840 for many reasons, including that __________.
A) he was tainted by loyalty to the Bank of the United States
B) he capitalized upon his image as a war hero in the War of 1812
C) his youthful idealism appealed to a new generation of Americans
D) the Whigs picked a weak vice presidential candidate
43. Why was John Tyler at odds with the urban and commercial members of the Whig Party?
A) He disliked industry as being anti-liberty.
B) He was a states’-rights advocate and farmer.
C) He was callous about the death of the former president.
D) He openly criticized the Whigs for their wealth.
44. The first president to die in office was __________.
A) Martin Van Buren
B) John Tyler
C) William Henry Harrison
D) James Polk
45. Which statement about John Tyler is true?
A) He believed in a republic founded on a strong central government.
B) He emerged as an outspoken opponent of annexing Texas.
C) He was expelled from the Whig Party when he was president.
D) He pursued a wide-ranging program for internal improvements.
46. How did Daniel Webster impact Tyler’s foreign policy?
A) He drafted the treaty to allow for continued western expansion.
B) He encouraged Tyler to take an isolationist view of foreign policy.
C) He negotiated with the British to allow for Michigan to become a state.
D) He brokered the treaty that established the boundaries between British Canada and Maine and the
Upper Midwest.
47. Why did President Jackson refuse to annex Texas before leaving office?
A) He did not believe that Texas was similar enough to the rest of the states to be appropriate for
annexation.
B) He was afraid of provoking a war with Mexico.
C) He disliked their slave-holding history.
D) He bowed to pressure from his political party.
48. In the election of 1844, __________.
A) Henry Clay suffered a landslide defeat
B) the Whigs held onto the presidential office
C) James Polk expressed expansionist ideas
D) pro-slavery voters supported the Whigs
49. Why did the Democrats focus on linking Oregon to Texas as a territorial objective in their 1844
electoral platform?
A) to counter the charge that they were a pro-southern party
B) to counter the charge that they were anti-southern
C) to gain the support of future voters from those territories
D) to increase revenue from the territories for political activity
50. The dominant issue in the election of 1844 was __________.
A) protective tariffs
B) the Bank of the United States
C) the annexation of Texas
D) internal improvements
Essay Questions
51. How was it becoming apparent that sectionalism and the issue of slavery were becoming vital and
heated political topics in American society?
52. Describe three political controversies of the 1830s or 1840s that reveal key divisions among
Americans regarding the future of the nation.
53. How did the annexation of Texas emerge as an important political issue? Why were the Democrats
more in favor of expansion than the Whigs?
