Unit 3

Question 1

What did Enlightenment thinkers believe in?

Answer 1

Progress, freedom of thought and expression, education of the masses, liberty to all men, and individualism.

Enlightenment thought focused on empiricism, skepticism, human reason, rationalism, and challenged existing social orders and institutions.

Question 2

Who wrote ‘Common Sense’ and what was its main argument?

Answer 2

Thomas Paine; it called for a democratic system based on frequent elections and a written constitution.

Question 3

What did John Locke argue in ‘The Social Contract’?

Answer 3

The government is created to protect its citizens’ natural rights of life, liberty, and property.

Question 4

What was Thomas Hobbes’ view on government as expressed in ‘Leviathan’?

Answer 4

Only an absolutist government can save man from his natural state of savagery and selfishness.

Question 5

Define secularism as popularized during the Enlightenment.

Answer 5

The idea that government and other institutions should exist entirely separate from religion.

Question 6

What is deism?

Answer 6

The belief in a distant God while denying organized religion, basing beliefs on reason.

Question 7

What was the First Great Awakening?

Answer 7

A religious revival that rejected Enlightenment thought and emphasized spiritual salvation.

Question 8

Who sparked the religious revival in New England during the First Great Awakening?

Answer 8

George Whitefield.

Question 9

What conflict initiated the Seven Years’ War?

Answer 9

Ownership claims over the Ohio River Valley between Great Britain and France.

Question 10

What economic system is characterized by regulations aimed at increasing state power?

Answer 10

Mercantilism.

Question 11

What was the outcome of the Treaty of Paris of 1763?

Answer 11

Britain won all of France’s land holdings in colonial America.

Question 12

What was the Albany Plan of Union?

Answer 12

A proposal for colonial unification for defense, rejected by the colonies.

Question 13

Who led Pontiac’s Rebellion?

Answer 13

Chief Pontiac.

Question 14

What were the Navigation Acts?

Answer 14

Laws establishing rules for colonial trade, requiring trade only on English ships.

Question 15

What is salutary neglect?

Answer 15

A period of loose trade regulations and minimal supervision by the British government over the colonies.

Question 16

What was the significance of John Peter Zenger’s trial?

Answer 16

It became a symbol of freedom of the press after he was acquitted of libel.

Question 17

What did the Proclamation of 1763 prohibit?

Answer 17

Movement west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Question 18

What was the Stamp Act of 1765?

Answer 18

A direct tax on all printed documents in the North American colonies.

Question 19

What phrase became associated with colonial opposition to British taxation?

Answer 19

‘No taxation without representation.’

Question 20

What were the Townshend Acts?

Answer 20

Laws that taxed imports of glass, lead, paint, and tea, leading to widespread protest.

Question 21

What event intensified anti-British sentiment in 1770?

Answer 21

The Boston Massacre.

Question 22

What was the Boston Tea Party?

Answer 22

A protest where colonists destroyed 342 crates of East India Company tea.

Question 23

What were the Coercive Acts also known as?

Answer 23

The Intolerable Acts.

Question 24

What did the First Continental Congress do in response to the Intolerable Acts?

Answer 24

Approved a general boycott of British goods and issued the Declaration of Colonial Rights and Grievances.

Question 25

What was the Olive Branch Petition?

Answer 25

A last attempt at negotiation affirming loyalty to the Crown, issued by the Second Continental Congress.

Question 26

When was the Declaration of Independence issued?

Answer 26

July 4, 1776.

Question 27

What did the Articles of Confederation establish?

Answer 27

A central governing authority with limited powers, lacking taxation and commerce regulation.

Question 28

What was Shays' Rebellion?

Answer 28

An armed uprising led by Daniel Shays protesting economic policies in Massachusetts.

Question 29

What did the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 accomplish?

Answer 29

Set up a process to create 5 new states and outlawed slavery in those states.

Question 30

What was the purpose of the Constitutional Convention in 1787?

Answer 30

To revise the Articles of Confederation.

Question 31

What was the Virginia Plan?

Answer 31

A proposal for a two-house legislature based on population.

Question 32

What was the Connecticut Compromise?

Answer 32

A plan combining the Virginia and New Jersey Plans for legislative representation.

Question 33

What was the Three-Fifths Compromise?

Answer 33

Every 5 enslaved individuals would count as 3 for representation and taxation purposes.

Question 34

What are the Bill of Rights?

Answer 34

The first ten amendments added to the Constitution to appease anti-federalists.

Question 35

How many enslaved individuals would count for legislative representation and taxation?

Answer 35

5 enslaved individuals would count as 3. ## Footnote This was part of the Three-Fifths Compromise in the Constitution.

Question 36

What clause in the Constitution required escaped slaves to be returned?

Answer 36

The fugitive slave clause. ## Footnote This clause ensured that an escaped slave could not gain freedom by moving to a free state.

Question 37

Who were the main opponents of the Constitution?

Answer 37

Common people who feared a powerful federal government. ## Footnote They were known as anti-federalists.

Question 38

What is the Bill of Rights?

Answer 38

A series of ten amendments added to the Constitution. ## Footnote It was created to ensure that the federal government would respect the natural rights of citizens.

Question 39

Who authored The Federalist Papers?

Answer 39

John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. ## Footnote These papers argued for the ratification of the Constitution.

Question 40

What was the purpose of Federalist no. 10?

Answer 40

To prevent rule by majority faction and advocate for a large, commercial republic. ## Footnote James Madison wrote this essay.

Question 41

Who was elected as America's first president?

Answer 41

George Washington in 1788. ## Footnote He was a Virginia plantation owner and general during the American Revolution.

Question 42

What did Washington warn against in his farewell address?

Answer 42

Divided political parties and entanglements with European countries. ## Footnote He cautioned about the dangers of factionalism.

Question 43

What event did Alexander Hamilton's whiskey tax incite?

Answer 43

The 1794 Whiskey Rebellion. ## Footnote This rebellion tested federal authority and led Washington to lead a military response.

Question 44

Who was elected as America's second president?

Answer 44

John Adams in 1796. ## Footnote He was the last Federalist president.

Question 45

What were the Alien and Sedition Acts?

Answer 45

Laws that made it harder for immigrants to vote and reduced free speech. ## Footnote These acts were enacted during John Adams's presidency.

Question 46

What did the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions assert?

Answer 46

That the Alien and Sedition Acts were unjust and unconstitutional. ## Footnote These resolutions were authored by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson.

Question 47

What was the XYZ Affair?

Answer 47

A series of French diplomatic incidents that led to an undeclared naval quasi-war with France. ## Footnote It occurred during Adams's presidency.

Question 48

What did Federalists favor?

Answer 48

A strong central government and broad interpretation of the Constitution. ## Footnote They were typically wealthy, educated Northerners.

Question 49

Who was the founder of the Federalist Party?

Answer 49

Alexander Hamilton. ## Footnote He was also the first Secretary of the Treasury.

Question 50

What were the five points of Hamilton's program?

Answer 50

* Establish the nation's credit-worthiness * Create a national debt * Create a private Bank of the United States * Establish a whiskey tax * Impose tariffs ## Footnote These points were aimed at improving the economy.

Question 51

Who were the Democratic Republicans?

Answer 51

Jeffersonians who believed in strict constructionism. ## Footnote They aimed to limit federal government power.

Question 52

Who was Thomas Jefferson?

Answer 52

America's third president and main author of the Declaration of Independence. ## Footnote He co-founded the Democratic-Republican Party.

Question 53

What was the Burr conspiracy?

Answer 53

A plan by Aaron Burr to rule the Louisiana Purchase territory. ## Footnote This led to his political downfall after being caught.

Question 54

What happened in the Hamilton-Burr duel?

Answer 54

Burr killed Hamilton. ## Footnote This duel was the result of political rivalry and tensions.