UNIT 3

“Today, two hundred and fifty years after the French and Indian War, most Americans are no more familiar
with its events and significance than they are with those of the Peloponnesian War. Few know that George
Washington struck the first spark of a war that set the British North American frontier ablaze from the
Carolinas to Nova Scotia, then spread to Europe, Canada, the Caribbean, West Africa, India, and, finally, the
Philippines. Historians call this immense conflict the Seven Years’ War; . . . Winston Churchill described it as
‘the first world war.’”
Fred Anderson, The War That Made America: A Short History of the French and Indian War, 2005

1.Which of the following best explains a result of the Seven Years’ War (French and Indian War)

a. France sold the Louisiana Territory to Great Britain.

b. Great Britain gained a claim to land extending to the Mississippi River.
c. Great Britain and Spain established an alliance.
d. British influence over its North American colonies decreased.

2. Britain’s victory in the Seven Years’ War (French and Indian War) had which of the following economic
consequences for its American colonies?

a. The British government granted certain American colonists a monopoly on the fur trade
without French competition.
b. The British government paid for the construction of canals to encourage trade between the
Great Lakes region and the East Coast.
c. The British government increased taxation of colonial goods to help pay off the debt created
by the war.
d. The British government forced American merchants to supply the British Royal Navy without
payment.

3. The conclusion of the Seven Years’ War (French and Indian War) had which of the following effects on
Native American societies?

a. Native Americans allied with Great Britain gained the right to become British citizens,
angering the colonists.
b. British and French officials agreed to force Native Americans to move to reservations west of
the Mississippi River.
c. Native Americans gained control of all of the western fur trade with British colonists.
d. The British government attempted to restrict western settlement to reduce tensions between
colonists and Native Americans.
UNIT 3

“Every British Subject born on the continent of America . . . is by the law of God and nature, by the common
law, and by act of parliament, . . . entitled to all the natural, essential, inherent and inseparable rights of our
fellow subjects in Great-Britain. Among those rights are the following . . . :

“. . . Taxes are not to be laid on the people, but by their consent in person, or by [representatives].

“. . . I can see no reason to doubt, but that the imposition of taxes, whether on trade, or on land, or houses, or
ships, . . . in the colonies is absolutely irreconcilable with the rights of the Colonists, as British subjects. . . .

“The power of parliament is uncontrollable, . . . and we must obey. . . . Therefore let the parliament lay what
burthens they please on us, we must, it is our duty to submit and patiently bear them till they . . . afford us
relief by repealing such acts, as through mistake, or other human infirmities, have been suffered to pass, if they
can be convinced that their proceedings are not constitutional.”

James Otis, The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved, pamphlet, 1764

4. In the excerpt, Otis was responding to which of the following developments?

a. The publication of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense

b. The threat of a French invasion of British North America
c. The introduction of widespread boycotts against imported British goods
d. The British government’s attempts to pay for the costs of the Seven Years’ War (French and
Indian War)

5. Which of the following was a major purpose of Otis’ pamphlet?

a. To recruit foreign allies to support the claims of the colonists against Great Britain
b. To encourage opposition to Parliament’s regulation of colonial commerce
c. To propose a plan to send colonial delegates to sit in Parliament
d. To advocate for colonial independence from Great Britain

6. By the 1770s, to which of the following groups would Otis’ argument that the colonies “must obey”
Parliament most appeal?

a. Farmers in the New England colonies

b. Loyalists in New York
c. Enslaved people in the southern colonies
d. Artisans in port cities
UNIT 3

“To understand political power right, and derive it from its original, we must consider what state all men are
naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and
persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature, without asking leave, or depending upon the
will of any other man.

“A state also of equality, wherein all the power and jurisdiction is reciprocal, no one having more than another.
...

“The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it which obliges every one . . . that being all equal and
independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.”

John Locke, Two Treatises of Government, 1689

7. The ideas in the excerpt were most likely interpreted by American colonists in the 1770s as a call to reject
which of the following?

a. The holding of private property

b. The establishment of representative democracy
c. The acceptance of the divine right of kings
d. The creation of political parties

8. During the period of the American Revolution, Locke’s point of view in the excerpt would most likely have
been interpreted as promoting a form of government based on

a. natural rights
b. military rule
c. hereditary privilege
d. religious beliefs

9. Interpretations of Locke’s assertions regarding a “state of freedom” and a “state also of equality” most
directly influenced which of the following?

a. The grievances of American colonists during the Seven Years’ War (French and Indian War)
b. The political rhetoric of Patriots during the American Revolution
c. The end of American involvement in the international slave trade
d. The demands by colonists to settle beyond the current frontier boundaries

10. The excerpt from Locke’s Two Treatises of Government could best be used as evidence by historians
studying which of the following topics?

a. The impact of the Enlightenment on Revolutionary political thought

b. The use of Revolutionary pamphlets to mobilize colonial resistance to British policies
c. The attempts by African Americans to seek freedom during the American Revolution
d. The influence of the American Revolution on ideas about republicanism overseas
UNIT 3

“The petition of a great number of Blacks detained in a state of slavery in the bowels of a free and Christian
country humbly showeth that your petitioners apprehend that they have in common with all other men a
natural and inalienable right to that freedom which the Great Parent of the Universe hath bestowed equally on
all mankind. . . . They were unjustly dragged by the hand of cruel power . . . from a populous, pleasant, and
plentiful country and in violation of laws of nature and of nations. . . .

“. . . Your petitioners . . . cannot but express their astonishment that it has never been considered that every
principle from which America has acted in the course of their unhappy difficulties with Great Britain pleads
stronger than a thousand arguments in favor of your petitioners. They therefore humble beseech your honors to
give this petition its due weight and consideration and cause an act of the legislature to be passed whereby they
may be restored to the enjoyments of that which is the natural right of all men—and their children who were
born in this land of liberty may not be held as slaves after they arrive at the age of twenty one years.”

Petition to the Massachusetts state legislature, 1777

11. The first paragraph of the excerpt makes the claim that

a. slavery should encourage religious conversion to Christianity

b. concepts of independence should apply only to White men
c. all people should have the same inherent liberties
d. the ideals of the American Revolution should also apply to other nations

12. The second paragraph of the excerpt proposes that the Massachusetts legislature should

a. allow enslaved Africans to serve in the state’s militia

b. find a way to resolve its conflicts with Britain peacefully
c. write a constitution explaining how natural rights apply to enslaved people
d. abolish slavery and release enslaved African Americans upon adulthood

13. Which of the following describes an overall argument of the excerpt?

a. Slavery is not economically important for the northern colonies.

b. Slavery is contrary to the ideals of the American Revolution.
c. Enslaved Africans should be rewarded for their loyalty to Great Britain.
d. Enslaved Africans should be returned to Africa.
UNIT 3

“The Declaration of Independence, drawn up by the Continental Congress, was actually a declaration by
‘thirteen united States of America’ proclaiming that as ‘Free and Independent States they have full power to
levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which
independent States may of right do.’ And the Articles of Confederation, for all the powers it theoretically gave
to the Congress, did not in fact alter this independence. . . . Congressional resolutions continued to be mere
recommendations which the states were left to enforce. . . . The Confederation was intended to be, and
remained, a Confederation of sovereign states.”

Gordon S. Wood, historian, The Creation of the American Republic, 1776–1787, published in 1969

14. Which of the following does the author use to support his argument about the power of the states under the
Confederation?

a. Foundational political documents written during the American Revolution

b. Journals written by leaders of the Continental Army
c. Arguments eventually published as The Federalist papers
d. Treaties signed with Great Britain and France

15.Which of the following evidence is used by the author to support his argument about state independence?

a. The ability of state governments to nullify the laws of other states

b. The ability of the central government to declare war
c. The inability of state governments to collect taxes
d. The inability of the central government to carry out many laws

16. The failure of the Articles of Confederation resulted in which of the following changes in the government
of the United States?

a. The immediate end to property qualifications for White male suffrage

b. The ban on women’s political participation under the ideas of republican motherhood
c. The ratification of a constitution that established a stronger central government
d. The enactment of the Northwest Ordinance, which outlined the admission process for new
states
UNIT 3

“The United States [under the Articles of Confederation] has an indefinite discretion to make [requests] for
men and money; but they have no authority to raise either, by regulations extending to the individual citizens
of America. The consequence of this is, that though in theory their resolutions concerning those objects are
laws, constitutionally binding on the members of the Union, yet in practice they are mere recommendations
which the States observe or disregard at their option.

“There is nothing absurd or impracticable in the idea of a league or alliance between independent nations for
certain defined purposes . . . depending for its execution on the good faith of the parties. . . . In the early part of
the present century there was an [enthusiasm] in Europe for [leagues or alliances]. . . . They were scarcely
formed before they were broken, giving an instructive but afflicting lesson to mankind, how little dependence
is to be placed on treaties which have no other sanction than the obligations of good faith. . . .

“There was a time when we were told that breaches, by the States, of the regulations of the [Confederation’s]
authority were not be expected. . . .

“In our case, the [agreement] of thirteen distinct sovereign wills is requisite, under the Confederation, to the
complete execution of every important measure that proceeds from the Union. . . . The measures of the Union
have not been executed. . . . Each State, yielding to the persuasive voice of immediate interest or convenience,
has successively withdrawn its support.”

Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist paper number 15, published in 1787

17. Which of the following claims did Hamilton make in the excerpt about the powers of the United States
under the Articles of Confederation?

a. The United States could not engage in diplomacy with foreign countries.
b. The United States was not empowered to raise sufficient money for the government.
c. The United States could act without the unanimous consent of the states.
d. The United States was able to raise military forces sufficient to defend the country.

18. Hamilton claimed in the excerpt that state sovereignty

a. increased the unity of the United States

b. guaranteed Americans the protection of their liberties
c. encouraged Americans to pursue the common good in politics
d. allowed states to ignore the requests of the central government

19. Which of the following overall arguments did Hamilton make about the Articles of Confederation?

a. The United States should invite other countries to ally with it under the terms of the Articles.
b. Americans should adopt the Articles as the constitution of the United States.
c. Americans should donate money to Congress because of flaws in the Articles.
d. The United States should abandon the Articles to form a stronger central government.

20.Which of the following was a piece of evidence Hamilton used to support his argument in the excerpt?

a. Earlier attempts to form associations of states in Europe had failed.

UNIT 3

b. The United States had the authority to mandate funding under the Articles of Confederation.
c. Some people believed that the states would agree to follow the congressional directives.
d. States sometimes needed to form alliances to achieve shared goals.

“The preservation of the states in a certain degree of agency is indispensable. It will produce that collision
between the different authorities which should be wished for in order to check each other. To attempt to abolish
the states altogether, would degrade the councils of our country, would be impracticable, would be ruinous.
[John Dickinson] compared the proposed national system to the solar system, in which the states were the
planets, and ought to be left to move freely in their proper orbits. . . . If the state governments were excluded
from all agency in the national one, and all power drawn from the people at large, the consequence would be,
that the national government would move in the same direction as the state governments now do, and would
run into all the same mischiefs [troubles].”

John Dickinson, delegate from Delaware, summary of a speech at the Constitutional Convention from the
notes of James Madison, 1787

21. Dickinson’s concern for the “mischiefs” in the states is best understood in the context of which of the
following?

a. Popular support in the states for making George Washington king

b. The extensive power of the executive in state governments
c. Continued warfare between some states and Great Britain
d. The threat to state governments from popular uprisings

22. The principle of federalism embodied in the United States Constitution had most in common with which of
the following earlier aspects of British colonial government?

a. The autonomy of colonial legislatures from Great Britain

b. The absence of colonial representation in Parliament
c. The enforcement of commercial regulations by British officials
d. The authority of the king over his colonial governors

23. The framers of the United States Constitution initially responded to abuses of executive authority by the
British monarch in which of the following ways?

a. They granted the Supreme Court the ability to veto treaties negotiated by the president.
b. They established the separation of powers between the president and Congress.
c. They provided for the popular election of the president by all voters.
d. They guaranteed that basic rights could not be limited by the president.

24. Dickinson’s desire to preserve “a certain degree of agency” for states is best explained by which of the
following developments in the early United States?

a. The popularity of George Washington

b. The retention of regional cultural identity in conjunction with national unity
UNIT 3

c. The proposals of Alexander Hamilton to address the financial system

d. The challenge of gaining support for infrastructure projects

“I have already intimated [warned] to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the
founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn
you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. . . . The alternate
domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension . . . is
itself a frightful despotism. . . .

“The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have
with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be
fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. . . . Taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable
establishments on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary
emergencies.

“Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even
our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors
or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams
of commerce, but forcing nothing.”

George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796

25. Washington most likely wrote about political parties for which of the following purposes?

a. To warn the public that political parties result in national divisions

b. To explain how political parties are good for the economy
c. To assert that political parties only work in democratic republics
d. To argue that political parties encourage foreign interference

26. Which of the following best explains why Washington warned against foreign alliances?

a. No nations attempted to sign commercial agreements with the United States.

b. Britain and France were at war with each other, and both threatened United States interests.
c. Federalists and Jeffersonian Republicans forced the president to agree to a policy of
neutrality.
d. The power of European empires in the Americas had already begun to decline.

27. Supporters of Washington’s comments would most likely have agreed with which of the following foreign
policies?

a. Forming a large military

b. Expanding territorial control
c. Establishing mutual defense alliances
d. Maintaining economic relationships
UNIT 3

28. George Washington’s suggestions about United States foreign relations reflect which of the following
situations?

a. The need to establish industries to export more goods

b. The desire to encourage immigration from northern and western Europe
c. The continued European colonial presence along United States borders
d. The challenge of spreading American revolutionary ideals abroad
 UNIT 3

29. Which of the following best explains the depiction of George Washington in the painting?

a. The development of a sense of American identity among Patriots

b. The attempts of colonists to gain support for declaring independence
c. The desire of colonists to commemorate conquests over Native Americans
d. The tensions between northern and southern colonies during the Revolutionary War

30. Which of the following best explains the spread of images of George Washington in the United States after the
American Revolution?

a. The republican belief that political power should be inherited

b. The embrace of political party campaigning by electoral candidates
c. The desire of Americans to develop a new national culture
d. The refusal of former Loyalists to accept the outcome of the war
 UNIT 3

31. The trend in the population percent increase from 1790 to 1800 most likely indicates which of the
following?

a. The rapid movement of migrants to newly settled states such as Kentucky and Tennessee
b. The increased arrival of indentured servants in established areas in Virginia and Maryland
c. The restriction of the international slave trade to North and South Carolina
d. The growth of new industrial cities in Georgia

32. The share of White and African American populations in the various states shown in the table most
strongly suggests which of the following?

a. African American migrants were moving from the southern to the northern states.
b. Small subsistence farms dominated older, more established states such as Virginia and
Maryland.
c. Newly settled states such as Kentucky and Tennessee relied less on slave labor than did
regions elsewhere in the South.
d. The use of slave labor was declining throughout the South by 1800.

33. The percentages of White and African American populations in South Carolina shown in the table most directly
suggest the

a. availability of land for settlement in the Deep South

b. expansion of slavery in the Deep South
c. growth of textile manufacturing in southern states
d. reliance on immigrant labor in southern states