AMSCO Reading Quiz_Antebellum America

"If, then education be of admitted importance to the people, under all forms of government, and of unquestioned necessity when they govern themselves, it follows, of course, that its cultivation and diffusion is a matter of public concern and a duty which every government owes to its people .... "Many complain of this tax, not so much on account of its amount as because it is for the benefit of others and not themselves. This is a mistake; it is for their own benefit, inasmuch as it perpetuates the government..."He who would oppose it, either through inability to comprehend the advantages of general education, or from unwillingness to bestow them on all his fellow citizens, even to the lowest and the poorest, or from dread of popular vengeance, seems to me to want either the head of the philosopher, the heart of the philanthropist, or the nerve of the hero."

-Representative Thaddeus Stevens, Speech to the Pennsylvania Legislature, 1835

The first free public education system in the United States began in which of the following colonies?

• Massachusetts

• NewYork

• Pennsylvania

• Virginia

Which of these groups would most strongly agree with Stevens on his view of education?

• Transcendentalists

• Business leaders

• Jacksonian Democrats

• Protestant Churches

Stevens disagrees with those who oppose free public education because

• it is an example of government control

• it will result in increased taxes

• schools lack qualified teachers

• schools are under Protestant influences

"Unlike those who call themselves no-government men, I ask for, not ... no-government, but ... a better government...."It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I

think right. ..."There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war [ with Mexico] who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them .... "Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison ... If the alternative is to keep all just men in prison or give up war and slavery, the state will not hesitate which to choose. If a thousand men were not to pay their tax bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure ... This is . . . the definition of a peaceable revolution."

-Henry David Thoreau, lecturer and author, "Resistance to Civil Government," (Civil Disobedience), 1849

Thoreau challenged the government because

• he rejected all forms of government

• he opposed war in all cases

• it engaged in a war to take land from Mexico

• it taxed people without representation

Thoreau believed that a just man should be prepared to do which of the following?

• Organize opposition

• Run for elected office

• Overthrow the government

• Go to jail for his beliefs

Which of the following groups held views most similar to the ideas expressed in this excerpt?

• Revivalists

• Transcendentalists

• Phalanxes

• Millennialists

"I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talk about?

"That man over there says that women need to be helped ... Nobody ever helps me .... And ain't I a woman?

"Then they talk about this thing in the head ... intellect ... What's that got to do with women's rights or negro's rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little

half-measure full? "Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did Christ come from? ... From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him."

-Sojourner Truth, abolitionist and former slave, speech to a

Women's Convention in Ohio, 1851

Sojourner Truth strongly rejects criticisms of women that are based on which of the following?

• The ideas of transendentalism.

• The cult of domesticity.

• The teachings of religion.

• The working status of women.

Sojourner Truth saw connection between the women's rights movement and

• the Second Great Awakening

• the antislavery movement

• the cult of domesticity

• the Constitution

"Where, where was the heroic determination of the executive to vindicate our title to the whole of Oregon-yes sir, 'THE WHOLE OR NONE'[?] ... It has been openly avowed ... that Oregon and Texas were born and cradled together

in the Baltimore Convention; that they were the twin offspring of that political conclave; and in that avowal may be found the whole explanation of the difficulties and dangers with which the question is now attended .... I maintain "l. That this question ... is .... one for negotiations, compromise, and amicable adjustment.

"2. That satisfactory evidence has not yet been afforded that no compromise which the United States ought to accept can be effected.

"3. That, if no other mode of amicable settlement remains, arbitration ought to be resorted to .... "

-Robert C. Winthrop, speech to the House of Representatives, "Arbitration of the Oregon Question," January 3, 1846.

Winthrop suggests that Polk's slogan of "Fifty-four Forty or Fight!" was based mainly on which of the following attitudes?

• Polk held strong anti-British sentiments

• Polk believed the country needed more free land

• Polk hoped to get political benefit

• Polk felt pressure from Southerners

Which of the following served as a major cause of the war with Mexico?

• The annexation of Texas

• The Monroe Doctrine

• The Louisiana Purchase

• The election of 1844