Early American Governments

Use the excerpt to answer the question that follows.
 . . . I know that the Colonies in general owe little or nothing to any care of ours, and
 that they are not squeezed into this happy form by the constraints of watchful and
 suspicious government, but that, through a wise and salutary neglect, a generous
 nature has been suffered to take her own way to perfection . . . .
—Edmund Burke, “On Moving . . . for Conciliation with the Colonies,” 1775

Edmund Burke was a member of the British Parliament who wanted to avoid war with the American colonists. Which statement would he most likely support? 

• . Great Britain should copy colonial institutions of government.
• The colonies would be better governed directly under British rule.
• Colonists have governed themselves well without British interference.
• Larger colonies should be made smaller to make them easier to govern.

Which was the first permanent settlement in the new world?

• Roanoke
• Plymouth
• Jamestown
• St. Augustine

What was the real purpose for the colonies?

• To enrich the British
• To build slavery 
• To maintain religious tolerance
• To help poor English settlers

Read the passage and answer the question that follows.
Benjamin Franklin appeared before the Parliament of Great Britain in 1766 to explain reasons why American colonists opposed the Stamp Act. [Member of Parliament]: Do the Americans pay any considerable taxes among themselves?
[Franklin]: Certainly many, and very heavy taxes . . . .
[Member of Parliament]: For what purposes are those taxes laid?
[Franklin]: For the support of the civil and military establishment of the country, and to discharge the heavy debt contracted in the last war [the Seven Years’ War] . . . .
[Member of Parliament]: Was it an opinion in America before 1763 that the Parliament had no right to lay taxes and duties there?
[Franklin]: I have never heard any objection to the right of laying duties to regulate commerce; but a right to lay internal taxes was never supposed to be in Parliament, as we are not represented there . . . .
According to Benjamin Franklin, taxes were only legitimate under what condition?

• if Parliament set them at a lower rate
• if they were needed to pay off war debts
• if the king issued a decree requiring them
• if taxpayers’ representatives agreed to them

  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

What is the source of this quotation?

• United States Constitution
• Declaration of Independence
• Articles of Confederation
• Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”

Which of the following was the first elected representative government in the new world?

• U.S. Congress
• The House of Burgesses
• Parliament
• a.  The House of Commons

 Who could not afford to pay for their passage to the new world, so they signed contracts to give up their freedom for seven years in exchange for food and shelter in the new world?

• Slaves
• Indians
• Indentured servants
• Pilgrims

In his book, The Spirit of Laws (1748), French philosopher Baron de Montesquieu wrote of a “tripartite system” of government in which the powers of government are separated and assigned to different bodies.

How are Montesquieu’s ideas applied in the U.S. Constitution?

• three levels of government (local, state, and federal)
• three levels of the judiciary (district, appellate, and supreme courts)
• three civil protections (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness)
• three branches of government (legislative, executive, and judicial)

. . . Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government . . . -The Declaration of Independence, 1776

This excerpt is based on which philosophical argument? 

• rule of law
• civil disobedience
• social contract theory
• divine right of kings

The Declaration of Independence:
     •  It dissolved the relationship between the colonies and Great Britain.  
•  It established the ideals that became the foundations for the new government of the United States.  
• It serves as the   ? 

Which phrase best completes this list?

• foundation of the two-party political system.
• guarantee of a republican form of government.
• guidelines for candidates seeking office.
• basis for the equal treatment of citizens.