Unit 1 - Historical Documents Test

Select all of the grievances that are found in the Declaration of Independence:

• The British King has abused the rights of the American colonists

• The British King forced colonists to house soldiers in their homes

• The British King asked citizens to give up their rights of representation

• The British King dissolved the representative assemblies in the colonies

• The British King accepted petitions for a redress of grievances

The social contract theory as used in the Declaration of Independence was most influenced by

• American colonists

• Enlightenment philosophers

• British Parliament

• King of Great Britain

The Declaration of Independence contains within it a

• plan for organizing the Western territories

• request for a treaty between the colonies and Spain

• proposal for reuniting the colonies and Great Britain

• statement of grievances against the King of Great Britain

One Enlightenment idea of John Locke that found its way into the Declaration of Independence is that

• a government must have three separate branches

• grievances against the English monarchy are unjustified

• an individual's rights can be taken from them by the government

• people create a contract with government to protect their natural rights

Name one provision of the Northwest Ordinance that established a precedent for governing the United States:

"The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judicial, in the same hands...may unjustly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny."

The writers of the Constitution adopted this Enlightenment idea described in the above quote by

• developing a system of checks and balances

• establishing many political parties

• relying on an Electoral College to elect the President

• including a federal system of government

"No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments, in the said territory."

• Northwest Ordinance

• Not Northwest Ordinance

"The a well-regulated militia composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty."

• Northwest Ordianance

• Not Northwest Ordinance

Which document is best described as a framework for government based on Enlightenment principles?

• Declaration of Independence

• Communist Manifesto

• U.S. Constitution

• Bill of Rights

Which statement best explains why the Articles of Confederation established a weak rather than a strong central government

• Americans were following the plan of government set up in the Declaration of Independence

• Revenues were not adequate to support a strong central government

• The absence of national problems made a strong government totally unnecessary

• Colonial experiences under Great Britain had created a fear of unlimited government