Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson’s Impact on America

You on the next slides you will read a passage, then answer the question that follows. Each
passage will have a clue to the answer of the below question.

Watch the video below to begin !!

Multiple Choice

Jefferson is one of the most unique characters in American history. He loved democracy and detested kings and centralized power. This made him a great candidate to write the most famous political breakup letter ever: the Declaration of Independence. Once America became a country, he continued to advocate strongly for states' rights. He didn't want the federal government to become too powerful like the one America’s founders had rebelled against. He was uncomfortable with the power of the presidency but had to deal with it himself when he became the third president. He kept things more casual in the White House though, often greeting dinner guests in a pair of worn-out slippers.

Based on the passage, which statement would Thomas Jefferson most likely agree with?

• Countries should have a strong, federal government.

• Monarchy is a better system of government than democracy.

• The federal government should not overpower state governments.

• The president of the United States should always dress formally.

Multiple Choice

George Washington was unanimously elected to be the first president of the United States. On April 30, 1789, he placed his hand on a Masonic Bible and took the oath of office. Washington was a well-liked Revolutionary War hero. He enjoyed long, seven-hour fox hunts, fixing things and gardening. Washington, DC wasn't the capital when President Washington took office. Instead, he began his presidency in New York, bringing seven of his slaves with him.

According to the passage, what is true about George Washington?

• He narrowly won the presidency in a very close vote.

• Many of his officers in the Revolutionary War respected him.

• He thought hunting foxes was cruel and immoral.

• Despite being from Virginia, he never owned slaves.

Multiple Choice

Both Jefferson and Hamilton served in Washington's cabinet: Jefferson served as America's first secretary of state while Hamilton was secretary of the treasury. They started arguing almost immediately about the role of the government; Jefferson was a states' rights supporter and opposed Hamilton's national bank, and Hamilton found Jefferson foolishly idealistic. Jefferson thought Hamilton was a monarchist. The Anti-Federalists supported Jefferson, and the Federalists supported Hamilton.

Which of the following statements best expresses the central idea of the passage?

• The Federalists supported Alexander Hamilton.

• The Anti-Federalists supported Thomas Jefferson.

• Thomas Jefferson was the first secretary of state.

• Jefferson and Hamilton worked together but disagreed.

Multiple Choice

Jefferson and the Anti-Federalists wanted more power and autonomy for state governments. They wanted to limit the federal government. They opposed establishing a national bank, an institution that Hamilton and his supporters fought for. The Anti-Federalists had support from farmers and Southerners.

In many ways, Jefferson's views on limiting the federal government didn't change when he became president. One of the first things Jefferson did after taking office was to make the footprint of the federal government smaller. He cut taxes, repealed tariffs, repealed the Whiskey Tax that had led to the Whiskey Rebellion and also cut military spending.

What is the meaning of the underlined phrase in the passage above?

• Jefferson worked to regulate people's shoe size.

• Jefferson worked to shrink the federal government's power.

• Jefferson worked to decrease the size of the country’s capital city.

• Jefferson worked to measure the size of the federal government.

Multiple Choice

Hamilton and the Federalists favored more power and autonomy for a centralized, federal government. The Federalists worked to establish a national bank—they argued that this institution was needed for the nation to collect funds and print money. Federalists drew their support from urban centers and from the North.

According to the passage, the Federalists wanted a national bank because

• the states needed a secure place to save their funds.

• the federal government needed to be able to collect funds and print money.

• people in the North and in cities owed money and were poor.

• too much money was being printed by the states.

Multiple Choice

Hamilton didn't come to America until he was 16. He arrived to enroll in King's College (later renamed Columbia University) in New York City. Hamilton was born on the island of Nevis in the British West Indies. His mother, a Frenchwoman, had an affair with his father, a Scottish trader, and was married to someone else when Hamilton was born.

In contrast, Jefferson was born at the Shadwell plantation located just outside of Charlottesville, Virginia. He spent his childhood roaming the woods and studying his books in the remote Virginia Piedmont region. His father, Peter Jefferson, was a successful farmer. He was also a skilled cartographer who produced the first accurate map of the Province of Virginia.

Based on the passage, which of the following is a cartographers most likely to do?

• design a complicated dance routine

• manage a successful farm and plantation

• create a map of a newly discovered land

• trade goods with someone to make a living

Multiple Choice

Thomas Jefferson is one of the most controversial figures in American history: some exalt him as the Father of Freedom, but to others, he was an enslaver and a racist. Most people acknowledge that, like it or not, he was both.

Jefferson, who made the most forceful statement for general equality that the world had ever known (“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”), enslaved over 600 people throughout his life. Clearly, he was not ready to extend equality to Black men or women of any race. Jefferson was an idealist, but his ideals were very much bound within the world he lived. He himself may have said it best: "Bigotry is the disease of ignorance."

How does the author of the passage best show that Thomas Jefferson did not extend his views on equality to all men and women?

• by stating that Jefferson is "one of the most controversial figures in American history"

• by suggesting that Jefferson was not the most idealistic leader of his era

• by including a quote from Jefferson about equality

• by stating that Jefferson was an enslaver

Multiple Choice

So who ended up winning the argument between Jefferson and Hamilton? Over the next half century, the battle between state and federal power would intensify over the issue of slavery, culminating in a terrible and bloody war. But, over the course of United States history, the federal government would take on more and more responsibilities: from guiding the banking system to conserving natural parks; from supporting education to developing new technologies; from helping the poor and elderly to financing governments overseas.

Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?

• The federal government has become more powerful over time.

• The battle between state and federal powers caused a civil war.

• Jefferson and Hamilton are symbols of an ongoing battle.

• The federal government currently helps guide the nation's banking systems.

Multiple Choice

From the late 1790s until 1815, France, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, fought with England, Russia and Austria. These series of conflicts are known as the Napoleonic Wars. To fund the expensive Napoleonic Wars, both the English and the French began seizing American ships. Tensions flared in 1807, when the captain of the USS Chesapeake refused to let the British aboard. The British frigate HMS Leopard fired on the American ship. The British finally did board and hanged four American sailors. Jefferson was outraged. He banned all British warships from American waters. Congress quickly passed the Embargo Act of 1807. It ended all imports and exports because it banned any ships from sailing from a US port to a foreign port. The act was designed to hurt the British and French economies. But it mostly hurt the United States.

According to the passage, the Embargo Act of 1807

• was designed to raise funds for the Napoleonic Wars.

• backfired because it mostly damaged the United States.

• was vetoed by President Thomas Jefferson.

• offered a peace treaty for the British and American governments.

Multiple Choice

The United States wasn't always a land "from sea to shining sea." Spain originally owned the area west of the Mississippi, which was known as the Louisiana Territory. Then France, under Napoleon, owned it. Jefferson attempted to purchase the territory from Napoleon. He was scared that Napoleon, in his quest for world domination, would try to build an empire in America. But Napoleon needed cash and agreed to sell Louisiana to the United States for $15 million in April 1803.

The Louisiana Purchase nearly doubled America's size. Ironically, the purchase was financed using bonds from Hamilton's US Bank, which Jefferson had opposed and said was unconstitutional.

According to the passage, which of the following is true about the Louisiana Purchase?

• It cost the United States $20 million.

• It expanded the size of the United States by less than one quarter.

• Its purchase was financed with bonds from the United States' Bank.

• Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists opposed it.

Multiple Choice

Jefferson hired army captain Meriwether Lewis to head the expedition to map the newly purchased American West. Lewis chose his friend William Clark to co-lead the expedition, and the two of them hired forty skilled soldiers and hunters for the journey. One of the men also brought his slave, York.

Lewis and Clark set off from St. Louis in 1804. In the Dakotas, they hired a French-Canadian trapper and one of his Indian wives, Sacagawea, as their guides.

Sacagawea, a pregnant, Native American teenager, acted as interpreter. She negotiated a crucial purchase of horses that the group needed to cross the Rockies. While on the trek, she also gave birth to a healthy child.

What is the purpose of the third paragraph of the passage?

• to provide a description of Sacagawea’s role in the expedition

• to argue that Sacagawea was the most important member of the expedition

• to support the claim that Sacagawea did not lead the expedition

• to describe the hardships Sacagawea encountered during the expedition

Multiple Choice

Leading up to and during the War of 1812, the British Navy captured American ships and forced their American crews into its army. This was called impressment. In response, President James Madison and Congress declared war against Britain. The War of 1812 was fought in America. When the British occupied DC, they burned it. Afterwards, the president's mansion was painted white to cover up the fire damage, giving it the name “White House.”

The United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent in 1814, but the British in the Gulf Coast didn't get the news. They invaded New Orleans but were quickly repelled by Andrew Jackson's troops.

What is the meaning of the underlined phrase in the passage above?

• The British in the Gulf Coast didn't understand the Treaty of Ghent.

• The British in the Gulf Coast didn’t watch the signing of the Treaty of Ghent.

• The British in the Gulf Coast didn't completely read the Treaty of Ghent.

• The British in the Gulf Coast didn't hear that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed.

Multiple Choice

America was tired of the French, British and Spanish keeping so many troops in North and South America. In response, President James Monroe and his secretary of state John Quincy Adams drafted the Monroe Doctrine. This declared American dominance in the Western Hemisphere. The doctrine told Europe to stay out.

Ever since, American foreign policy has reflected this doctrine. The United States has funded governments and rebel groups in Latin America as it has seen fit.

Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

• Where Did the Monroe Doctrine Come From?

• History of the American Economy

• Monroe and Adams: A Great Working Relationship

• Federalism vs. Anti-Federalism: Which Will Win?