AP US History Unit 1 MCQs

Question 1

During the seventeenth century, colonists’ daily life was influenced the most by

Answer 1

Puritans in Massachusetts

Question 2

The “war hawks” in the period leading up to the war of 1812 garnered most of their support from

Answer 2

The south and west

Question 3

One way that the leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony encouraged the younger generation to join the Church was by writing

Answer 3

The halfway covenant

Question 4

In his farewell address George Washington warned against

Answer 4

Foreign entanglements and the formation of political parties

Question 5

Which of the following was a result of the Albany Congress?

Answer 5

The Iroquois remained neutral and the colonists rejected Franklin’s plan for unity

Question 6

All of the following are associated with loose constructionism during the early years of the United States of America EXCEPT

Answer 6

The “elastic clause”

• Statement in the U.S. constitution to grant laws in which are necessary and proper for carrying out the enumerated list of powers.

Question 7

The battle of Saratoga proved to be a significant turning point in the revolutionary war because it

Answer 7

Demonstrated to France that the Americans might win the war and subsequently led to the Franco-American Alliance of 1778

Question 8

The most notable achievement of the United States under the articles of confederation was

Answer 8

The provision for land sales in the Northwest that would benefit the entire nation

Question 9

During the Revolutionary War, the Loyalists

Answer 9

Made up approximately 20-30 percent of the population

Question 10

The success of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 hinged on compromises over

Answer 10

Slavery and representation in Congress

Question 11

During the period preceding the Revolutionary War, the British act provoking the most outrage among the colonists was

Answer 11

The passage of the Boston Port Act

• The Boston Port Act was one of the intolerable or coercive acts passed as punishment for the Boston Tea Party
• The act permitted the British navy to take control of the port of Boston

Question 12

In 1775 the Second Continental Congress

Answer 12

Adopted the Olive Branch Petition, declaring colonial loyalty to the Crown

• At the time, the Continental Congress offered King George the Olive Branch petition, which professed loyalty to the crown and asked the king to stop the hostilities

Question 13

Which of the following events represented the most significant action on the part of the colonists against British authority?

Answer 13

The Stamp Act Congress

• The Stamp Act was one of the first united actions of the colonists against King George III

Question 14

Which of the following statements concerning the Federalist Papers is true?

Answer 14

They were written as propaganda to support the ratification of the Constitutional

• The papers were written by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison in an effort to drum up support for the ratification of the constitution and the cause of republicanism

Question 15

All of the following were manifestation of mercantilist theory Except

Answer 15

Virtual representation

• Virtual representation was the theory by which the British justified their practice of taxing the colonies and passing laws to govern them without giving them the benefit of representation in Parliament

Question 16

The chief goal of the Alien and Sedition Acts was to

Answer 16

Check the power of the Democratic-Republicans

-The Federalist-sponsored Alien and Sedition Acts aimed to limit the power of the Democratic-Republicans. To accomplish this, the act both restricted immigration and provided for censorship of newspaper articles

Question 17

Which of the following was NOT a provision of the Land Ordinance of 1785 or the Northwest Ordinance of 1787?

Answer 17

Land sales in admitted territories would be protected from speculators

• Land sales were not protected from speculators under the ordinances. All the other answers are true

Question 18

Which of the following does NOT represent the views of Prime Minister Grenville after the Seven years’ War?

Answer 18

He wanted to reward the colonies through his extension of salutary neglect

• Grenville’s policies put an end to salutary neglect, rather than extending it

Question 19

The election of 1800 is historically and politically significant because it

Answer 19

Demonstrated that political parties could, in fact, bring about a peaceful revolution in a republican form of government

• There was a peaceful transfer of power from one political party to another. Washington and Adams had both been Federalists, while Jefferson was a Democratic-Republican. Men still had their doubts whether a republican form of government was feasible given the size and diversity of the new United States. Republics were desirable but fragile forms of government, and factions were believed to be detrimental to political stability

Question 20

In 1798 President John Adams delivered the following message to Congress” I will never send another minister to France without assurance that he will be received, respected, and honored as the representative of a great, free, powerful, and independent nation.” What event inspired this comment?

Answer 20

The XYZ Affair

• The words were in reference to the XYZ affair, in which a French official demanded a bribe from a U.S. envoy simply for the privilege of doing diplomatic business

Question 21

The First Great Awakening led to all of the following EXCEPT

Answer 21

The renewed persecution of witches

Question 22

The Embargo Act of 1807 had which of the following effects on the United States?

Answer 22

It disrupted American shipping

• Thomas Jefferson, who created the Act, forbade all trade with Europeans, thus disrupting American shipping

Question 23

The National Road was constructed primarily for the purpose of

Answer 23

Promoting trade and communication with the Old Northwest

Question 24

The idea of Manifest Destiny included all of the following beliefs EXCEPT

Answer 24

Commerce and industry would decline as the nation expanded its
agricultural base

Question 25

Before 1492, many American Indian cultures were strongly influenced by the

Answer 25

Spread of corn cultivation

Question 26

Puritan migration from England came to a near halt between the years 1649 and 1660 because, during that period

Answer 26

The Puritans controlled the English government after the English Civil War

Question 27

Which of the following was true of a married woman in the colonial era?

Answer 27

She generally lost control of her property when she married

Question 28

Which of the following was true of the French-American Alliance formed in 1778?

Answer 28

It influenced the British to offer generous peace terms in the Treaty of Paris

• The British, who were major enemies with the French, wanted to form an alliance with America to prevent the French-American alliance to overpower them, and therefore were willing to appeal to the Americans more than before in order to create peace

Question 29

Under the Articles of Confederation the United States central government had no power to

Answer 29

Levy taxes

Question 30

“A national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a national blessing.” Which of the following is the author of the quotation above?

Answer 30

Alexander Hamilton

Question 31

Alexander Hamilton’s economic program was designed primarily to

Answer 31

Establish the financial stability and credit of the new government

• After the American Revolution, US had huge war debts. He created the first national bank and national currency.

Question 32

The Kentucky and Virginia resolutions, the Hartford Convention, and the South Carolina Exposition and Protest were similar in that all involved a defense of

Answer 32

States’ rights

Question 33

Frederick Jackson Turner’s “frontier hypothesis” focused on the importance of

Answer 33

The existence of cheap unsettled land

Question 34

Liberty of conscience was defended by Roger Williams on the grounds that

Answer 34

The state was an improper and ineffectual agency in matters of the spirit

Question 35

By the end of the seventeenth century, which of the following was true of women in New England?

Answer 35

They were a majority in many church congregations

Question 36

A major weakness of the Articles of Confederation was that they

Answer 36

Made it too difficult for the government to raise money through taxes and duties

Question 37

The Puritans believed that the freedom to practice religion should be extended to

Answer 37

Puritans only

• The puritans didn’t accept any religious beliefs other than the protestant religion. The Church of England was set to break away from the Catholic Church.

Question 38

The Sugar Act of 1764 represented a major shift in British policy toward the colonies in that, for the first time, the British

Answer 38

Levied taxes aimed at raising revenue rather than regulating trade

Question 39

All of the following influenced the United States’ decision to declare war against Great Britain in 1812 EXCEPT

Answer 39

The American government’s certainty that its navy was more powerful than Great Britain’s

Question 40

The First Great Awakening was a direct response to

Answer 40

The Enlightenment

Question 41

Which of the following states the principle of “virtual representation” as it was argued during the eighteenth century?

Answer 41

All English subjects, including those are not allowed to vote, are represented in Parliament

Question 42

Which of the following most accurately describes the system of indentured service in the Chesapeake settlement during the seventeenth century?

Answer 42

Most indentured servants were lured by the promise of freedom and property upon completion of their service

Question 43

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was a significant achievement because it

Answer 43

Defined the process by which territories could become states

Question 44

All of the following were elements of Henry Clay’s American System EXCEPT

Answer 44

The creation of large numbers of federal jobs in areas with unemployment problems

Question 45

Anglo-American women in colonial times

Answer 45

Could own property or execute legal documents only if they were widowed or unmarried

Question 46

In the seventeenth century the Chesapeake Bay settlement expanded its territorial holdings more quickly than did the Massachusetts Bay settlement primarily because

Answer 46

Farming of the chief Chesapeake export, tobacco, required a great deal of land

Question 47

The debate over the First Bank of the United States was significant because it raised the issue of

Answer 47

How strictly the Constitution should interpreted

Question 48

Which of the following statements about the Stamp Act is NOT true?

Answer 48

Colonial legislatures sent letters of protest to Parliament threatening secession from England if the Stamp Act was not repealed

Question 49

The doctrine of nullification stated that

Answer 49

A state may repeal any federal law that it deems unconstitutional

Question 50

The English colonists that settled Virginia and the neighboring Indian tribes had widely different attitudes about all of the following subjects EXCEPT

Answer 50

The centrality of religion in daily life