CHAPTER 7: THE FIRST REPUBLIC, 1776–1789
Multiple Choice
1. What would a follower of Daniel Shays most likely have said in 1786?
A) “It is the common people who should be the strength of republicanism in our nation.”
B) “Rebels against the new republic must not submit themselves to base passions.”
C) “We must continue to follow the wise counsel of revolutionary leaders in our state.”
D) “The highest law in a republic is the one that encourages the vast pursuit of property.”
2. Which of the following was an effect of Shays’s Rebellion?
A) Americans realized the social classes readily lived in harmony.
B) Many leaders lost faith in the Articles of Confederation.
C) There were calls for a move away from centralized power.
D) A renewal of public confidence in the national government.
3. The number of free African Americans was highest in __________.
A) 1730
B) 1750
C) 1790
D) 1800
4. From 1776 to 1807, property-holding women had the right to vote __________.
A) in New Jersey
B) only in local elections in the United States
C) in England
D) if their husbands allowed them to vote
5. Which of the following was a way in which the Revolution affected women?
A) more restrictive divorce laws
B) greater access to education
C) a worsened perception of women’s moral status
D) an increase in the sale of black female slaves
6. As a result of the Revolution __________.
A) the number of free blacks increased dramatically
B) the number of slaves in the South dropped
C) slaves grew less bold in their efforts to gain freedom
D) slaves stopped running away in the 1800s
7. Between 1777 and 1784, __________.
A) most northern states ended slavery
B) most northern states accelerated their use of slavery
C) slaveowners resorted to the use of Indian slaves
D) many states allowed women a temporary right to vote
8. State constitutions tended to __________.
A) increase the power of the national government
B) exclude a formal bill of rights
C) lower property requirements for the right to vote
D) strengthen ties between the state and the Anglican Church
9. Voting power in Congress in 1785 was __________.
A) based on population
B) concentrated in the New England states
C) divided equally among the thirteen states
D) based on how much states had contributed to the war effort
10. Official state constitutional support for religions in the 1780s was strongest in __________.
A) the mid-Atlantic states
B) New England
C) the Lower South
D) the Chesapeake region
11. Overall, state constitutions __________.
A) weakened the executive relative to the legislature
B) increased property requirements for voting
C) decreased the frequency of elections
D) made lower houses popularly elected
12. Most state constitutions put into effect by the end of 1777 included __________.
A) increasing the power of governors in the states
B) the end of annual elections
C) expressions of the rights of common citizens
D) a commitment to custom rather than written constitutions
13. By the end of the war, Continental money was __________.
A) actively invested in the London stock exchange
B) used to effectively pay off the nation’s war debts
C) virtually worthless
D) more valuable than the British pound
14. The leader of the economic nationalists was __________.
A) Thomas Jefferson
B) Robert Morris
C) Patrick Henry
D) William Paterson
15. Economic nationalists wanted to __________.
A) secure a charter for the Bank of North America
B) weaken the ties between the Confederation and the Bank of North America
C) have the President assume payment of the entire national debt
D) increase the national deficit to fund the military
16. Regarding trade between Britain and the United States between 1783 and 1789, it is true that
__________.
A) exports approximately equaled imports
B) America imported more from Britain
C) Britain imported more from America
D) Britain imposed a total trade ban on its former American colonies
17. The American economy in the mid-1780s was __________.
A) highly inflationary
B) growing at a slow rate
C) growing at a rapid rate
D) in a depression
18. After the Revolution, British merchants __________.
A) canceled all debts owed to them by American merchants
B) continued to close their markets to American goods
C) refused to sell goods to consumers in America
D) eagerly accepted Continental money as a means of payment
19. One of the problems for the United States’ economy in 1784 was __________.
A) competition increased the prices of British imports
B) the circulation of too much currency
C) a sharp increase in wages vs. profits
D) the lack of debts to reflect a credit history to lenders
20. Efforts to offset British attempts to hurt the American economy failed due to the __________.
A) refusal of northern states to pass protective tariffs
B) American public’s reluctance to blame England for economic woes
C) release of too much currency by the American government
D) lack of a unified national policy regarding Great Britain
21. Why were conservatives alarmed by the actions of the debtor party in Rhode Island?
A) The conservatives were angered by the party’s unofficial alliance with England.
B) Conservatives feared the creation of governments that included farmers and artisans.
C) The debtor party supported an open policy of free trade with Great Britain.
D) The debtor party wished to reduce voting rights that had been gained in the Revolution.
22. The Land Ordinance of 1785 encouraged a certain type of settler by __________.
A) requiring a minimum purchase of 640 acres
B) allowing Indians to remain settled in their ancestral lands
C) prohibiting the spread of Catholicism west of the Appalachian Mountains
D) requiring new states to pay for all the costs of education in new territories
23. How have American politics concerning debt come full circle since the 1780s?
A) There are a record number of Antifederalists.
B) Debtors have revolted against local courthouses.
C) Record levels of both private and governmental indebtedness have led to anger and instability.
D) We are in a historic time of peak prosperity.
24. Chesapeake planters refused to pay their debts to Britain because __________.
A) the Treaty of Paris did not require payment of debts
B) the planters were all bankrupt and without assets
C) Britain had freed many slaves without compensation to slaveowners
D) the planters argued that they never incurred financial debts to British merchants
25. After the war, Loyalists __________.
A) still faced hostility in the new United States
B) refused to leave the new nation
C) were allowed to keep their property
D) benefited from treaty requirements that they could not be harassed
26. The states’ failure to repay Loyalists for property that was confiscated during wartime created a
pretext for the British to __________.
A) tax Anti-Loyalists
B) keep their forts in the West
C) spread propaganda to Canadian settlers
D) team up with Native American tribes
27. Spain contested American land expansion __________.
A) in New England
B) along the Mississippi River
C) east of the Appalachian Mountains
D) near the Canadian border
28. John Jay’s treaty with Spain was opposed by congressmen from the South, because __________.
A) they believed Spain was trying to subsidize northern industry
B) they suspected Jay of secretly working for British interests
C) they felt Jay had sold out the interests of Southerners who had pioneered the West
D) Jay was a leading spokesman in favor of Indian rights and ending slavery
29. As social, political, and economic crises increased in the mid-1780s, __________.
A) supporters of the Articles of Confederation grew in number
B) more American leaders became nationalists
C) westerners were the only Americans who were satisfied with governmental policies
D) unicameral legislatures dominated state governments
30. How did Spain increase pressure on the West in the summer of 1784?
A) It threatened to start a Spanish-Indian war.
B) It set a deadline for negotiating westward expansion with the American government.
C) It refused to allow settlers to pass through Spanish territory.
D) It closed the Mississippi River to American trade.
31. Delegates met at the Annapolis Convention to __________.
A) create a new federal government
B) call for a regulated land policy for the Northwest
C) challenge the institution of slavery
D) devise a universal system of commercial regulation
32. The Constitutional Convention took place in __________.
A) Philadelphia
B) Annapolis
C) New York
D) Washington, D.C.
33. The two main leaders who called for a Constitutional Convention were James Madison and
__________.
A) Patrick Henry
B) Thomas Jefferson
C) Samuel Adams
D) Alexander Hamilton
34. The Constitution does not provide __________.
A) equal representation in a unicameral Congress
B) shared power between the national and state governments
C) Congress with power to control military affairs
D) a balance of power between the three branches of government
35. The Virginia Plan was introduced by __________.
A) Alexander Hamilton
B) Thomas Jefferson
C) James Madison
D) Patrick Henry
36. The New Jersey Plan __________.
A) was the basis for voting in the Senate
B) favored large states
C) would not allow the national government to levy taxes
D) was excluded from the Great Compromise
37. The Great Compromise, created by Roger Sherman, __________.
A) actually aggravated the situation of free and slave states
B) successfully split the differences between small and large states by providing two senators for every
state
C) made all representation proportionate to the size of individual states
D) called for a policy of “one state, one vote”
38. What concession was made to southern delegates to gain their support for the federal government’s
power to regulate trade policies?
A) Northern delegates agreed to never pass tariffs that favored manufacturing interests.
B) James Madison proposed that southern states could nullify federal laws.
C) Delegates returned to the original idea of entirely proportionate legislation.
D) Northern delegates agreed to drop demands for abolition of the slave trade.
39. Regarding the chief executive, the Constitution __________.
A) prohibits the president from appointing judicial officers
B) allows the executive to conduct foreign affairs
C) prohibits the president from vetoing legislation
D) sets the length of a mayoral term
40. James Madison’s political philosophy regarding the creation of the Constitution was that “Ambition
must be made to counter __________.”
A) ambition
B) commercial dominance
C) self-interest
D) monarchy
41. The Constitution established a __________ government.
A) federal
B) unitary
C) confederate
D) monarchical
42. Judicial review is the __________.
A) Supreme Court’s right to have the final say on constitutionality
B) method used to settle tied elections
C) system of funding the American court system
D) right of state courts to have the final say on federal laws
43. Most members of the national elite at the Constitutional Convention believed that enlightened self-
interest was better for the nation than the revolutionary ideal of __________.
A) anarchy
B) republicanism
C) constitutional monarchy
D) disinterested virtue
44. Coming out of the Constitutional Convention, which unresolved issue would have the greatest impact
on later American history?
A) judicial review
B) slavery
C) the status of the Supreme Court
D) the method of electing senators
45. In order to reach agreement that the enactment of trade legislation would require a simple majority,
delegates had to make a concession regarding __________.
A) taxes
B) slavery
C) the courts
D) interstate commerce
46. Which statement would most likely have been said by a Federalist?
A) “We mistrust the extreme powers the Constitution gives to the national government.”
B) “Our republic will thrive best with a balance of power between national and state governments.”
C) “Slavery shall be an issue that Congress must never address, for it is not in the domain of the
legislative branch.”
D) “This Constitution serves us best when it allows local interests to be the heart and soul of the nation.”
47. Most Antifederalists __________.
A) owned manufacturing interests
B) supported a strong central government
C) had centers of support in the urban North
D) distrusted the social and commercial elite
48. Supporters of ratification of the Constitution included __________.
A) small farmers
B) bankers
C) urban artisans
D) Native Americans
49. Many Antifederalists were concerned that the original draft of the Constitution did not __________.
A) make attempts to end slavery
B) include a bill of rights
C) provide specific language about judicial review
D) create a bicameral national legislature
50. The Antifederalists couldn’t hope to combat the Federalists, in part, because the Federalists
__________.
A) were more popular
B) had governmental support
C) were backed by the courts
D) were better educated
Essay Questions
51. Compare and contrast the major differences between the United States Constitution and the State
Constitution of Pennsylvania created in 1776.
52. What were the key events and factors that resulted in the ratification of the Constitution?
53. What major problems did the young republic face after its victory over Great Britain? How did these
problems motivate members of the elite to call for a federal constitution?
54. How did the postwar era and the Constitutional Convention reveal and foreshadow the existence and
growth of sectional and class differences in the United States?