STAAR Review

Which statement best explains the significance of the Mayflower Compact?

• It limited the power of future colonial governments
• It weakened the influence of religion in government.
• It established a form of self-government based on a social contract.
• It guaranteed liberties for colonists through local government

•Intolerable Acts imposed •First Continental Congress convened •Thomas Paine’s Common Sense published All the events listed above occurred during — 

• the era of westward expansionOption 1*
• the Era of Good Feelings
• the Revolutionary Era
• the Jacksonian Era

Patrick Henry opposed ratifying the U.S. Constitution because he believed that under it—

• the states would surrender too much power to the federal government
• alliances could not be formed with other countries
• the courts would not be able to hold government officials accountable
• individuals would exercise too much power over the federal government

Which group was among the first to call for an end to slavery?

• American Indians, b/c they viewed the plight of slaves as similar to their own
• Quakers, b/c slavery contradicted their religious beliefs
• British loyalists, b/c Great Britain had ended the slave trade
• Puritans, b/c the New England economy did not rely on slavery

The Battle of Saratoga marked a turning point in the Revolutionary War because its outcome

• influenced France to lend support to the Americans
• inspired the British to fight harder
• caused Britain and France to form an alliance
• influenced the British to ask for peace

Following the French and Indian War, Great Britain began to collect taxes from the colonies to -

• prevent colonists from boycotting British goods
• generate revenue to pay its war debt
• build colonial unity
• create a system of government in the colonies

In his pamphlet entitled Common Sense, whom did Thomas Payne refer to as the "royal brute"?

• George Washington
• Napolean Bonaparte
• King George III
• Patrick Henry

All of the following are unalienable rights listed in the Declaration of Independence EXCEPT -

• life
• liberty
• the pursuit of happiness
• wealth

In 1620 English settlers in the Plymouth colony drew up an agreement in which they agreed to obey the laws passed "for the general good of the colony." This document  is called the -

• English Bill of Rights
• Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
• Magna Carta
• Mayflower Compact

George Mason refused to sign the Constitution and opposed its ratification because he believed that  it—

• did not adequately protect individuals from potential government abuse
• did not give the executive branch enough power to oversee the military
• prevented the legislative branch from effectively governing the states
• prevented the judicial branch from using judicial review to overturn acts of the legislature