Chapter 2 & 3 Flashcards
(258 cards)
Which of these is TRUE about the United States Constitution?
A) It centralizes political power.
B) It is superseded only by decrees of the president.
C) It sets neutral rules for the game of politics.
D) All of these are true.
E) None of these are true
Answer: E Page Ref: 35-36
In setting the broad rules of the game of politics, constitutions A) are never neutral; they give some participants advantages over others. B) are fair and impartial. C) allow all participants the same political opportunities. D) have no effect on the distribution of power in society. E) are constantly changing.
Answer: A Page Ref: 32
By eighteenth-century standards, life was ________ for most people in the United States at the time of the Revolution.
A) hell both politically and economically
B) politically oppressive
C) ideal
D) not bad
E) an economic nightmare
Answer: D
Page Ref: 32
The British government stepped up its controls over the American colonies with new taxes
and stronger commerce regulations right after
A) King Phillipʹs War.
B) the assassination of the Duke of Windsor.
C) King Georgeʹs War.
D) the Civil War.
E) the French and Indian War.
Answer: E
Page Ref: 32
During the colonial period,
A) Americans experienced less freedom than citizens of most European nations.
B) Britain was involved in nearly every aspect of American politics.
C) Americans were burdened with cumbersome feudal and hierarchical restraints.
D) Americans suffered one of the lowest standards of living in the world.
E) the King and Parliament generally confined themselves to governing the coloniesʹ
foreign and trade policies.
Answer: E
Page Ref: 32
The British levied new taxes on its North American colonies in the eighteenth century in order
to pay for
A) maintaining the elegant lifestyle of the British royalty.
B) conquest of territories in Africa and Asia.
C) defending new territories obtained after the French and Indian War.
D) tax cuts and social welfare programs for residents of the British Isles.
E) the rising cost of tea.
Answer: C
Page Ref: 32
Who issued the Declaration of Independence?
A) the Constitutional Convention of 1776
B) the Continental Congress
C) President George Washington
D) the 13 colonial legislatures
E) General George Washington
Answer: B
Page Ref: 33
The Declaration of Independence was a
A) valid legal document under British law.
B) bitter attack against the British king for abuses said to have been done to the colonists
over a long period of time.
C) proclamation from King George III granting the American colonists the right to form
their own nation.
D) thoughtful, cautious explanation of why independence might be a good idea if certain
demands were not met.
E) last effort by the American colonists to get back on good terms with England, while only
threatening independence.
Answer: B
Page Ref: 33
The Declaration of Independence was primarily
A) a treaty with France for war against Britain.
B) an original philosophical treatise on politics.
C) an outline for a new government.
D) a polemic, announcing and justifying a revolution.
E) the United Statesʹ first constitution.
Answer: D
Page Ref: 34
The primary author of the Declaration of Independence was
A) Thomas Jefferson.
B) Benjamin Franklin.
C) James Madison.
D) King George III.
E) George Washington.
Answer: A
Page Ref: 33
The Declaration of Independence
A) contained completely new ideas on political philosophy.
B) became one of the most important statements of American political philosophy.
C) took several months to write.
D) blamed the British parliament for abuses on the colonies.
E) all of the above
Answer: B
Page Ref: 33
The American Revolution was based upon the ideas of
A) intellectual slaves.
B) intellectual frontiersmen.
C) George Washington.
D) European political thinkers.
E) American farmers.
Answer: D
Page Ref: 35-36
The foundation of John Lockeʹs philosophy was that human beings
A) derive their rights from nature.
B) have rights that are granted them by government.
C) determine their own rights.
D) derive their rights from God.
E) are granted their rights by their King.
Answer: A
Page Ref: 34-35
Which of these was NOT among John Lockeʹs key philosophical concepts?
A) checks and balances
B) limited government
C) natural rights
D) consent of the governed
E) property rights
Answer: A
Page Ref: 34-35
John Lockeʹs ideas on natural rights were related to human law in that
A) natural rights were less important than human law.
B) natural rights were considered higher than human law.
C) human law was the source of natural rights.
D) human law protected property rights, making human law equal to natural rights.
E) human law and natural rights were unimportant after revolution.
Answer: B
Page Ref: 34-35
John Locke believed in each of the following EXCEPT
A) limited government.
B) consent of the governed.
C) natural rights.
D) divine right of kings.
E) both C and D
Answer: D
Page Ref: 34-35
The Declaration of Independence argued that
A) nations are indivisible and a people must never secede from their mother nation.
B) people should revolt when they suffer deep injustices.
C) the British parliament was to blame for the evils imposed upon the colonists.
D) people should always work peacefully within the system to redress any grievances they
have.
E) revolution is justifiable whenever people become angry with their government.
Answer: B
Page Ref: 35-36
Reflecting the natural rights philosophy, the Declaration of Independence stated that
governments derive their just powers from
A) God.
B) the consent of the governed.
C) tradition.
D) their elected leaders.
E) a Constitution.
Answer: B
Page Ref: 35-36
The justification for separation from England in the Declaration of Independence was based
heavily on the ideas of the English philosopher
A) Lord North.
B) Henry VIII.
C) Oliver Cromwell.
D) David Hume.
E) John Locke.
Answer: E
Page Ref: 35-36
The sole purpose of government, according to John Locke, was to
A) promote the common good.
B) prevent anarchy.
C) educate its people.
D) protect individuals from violence.
E) protect natural rights.
Answer: E
Page Ref: 34-35
John Locke believed that the ʺend of governmentʺ was
A) preservation of property.
B) majority rule.
C) equality of man.
D) pursuit of happiness.
E) ʺthe beginning of life.ʺ
Answer: A
Page Ref: 34-35
In John Lockeʹs philosophy, the requirements that standing laws be known and private
property be preserved
A) are always threatened by democratic government.
B) impose two major limits on government.
C) are unenforceable when government is limited.
D) must be sacrificed in the interest of democracy.
E) could only be enforced by a powerful king
Answer: B
Page Ref: 34-35
Lockean thought and the Declaration of Independence are similar in that both
A) recognize the right of the people to determine their own form of government, short of
resorting to revolution.
B) were developed in the late 1700s.
C) value the preservation of private property.
D) seek common ideals in government through the establishment of a constitutional
monarchy.
E) support the concept of natural rights and the idea that government be built on the consent of the governed.
Answer: E
Page Ref: 36
Thomas Jeffersonʹs phrase ʺlife, liberty, and the pursuit of happinessʺ was a modification of
John Lockeʹs phrase ʺLife, liberty, and ________.ʺ
A) property
B) God
C) heaven
D) health
E) equality
Answer: A
Page Ref: 36