American and French Revolution Quiz

The primary goal of the people who began the American Revolution was

• to establish a new economic elite in North America.
• to establish the world's first democratic government.
• to achieve the rights they felt the British had been denying them.
• to make legally binding the concepts of equality and liberty for all in the colonies.

Which line from the Declaration of Independence BEST represents the Social Contract Theory, as explained by John Locke?

• "He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions."
• "We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America,... do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States..."
• "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..."
• "He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation."

"The Sovereign, having no force other than the legislative power, acts only by means of the laws; and the laws being solely the authentic acts of the general will, the Sovereign cannot act save when the people are assembled." --Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Of The Social Contract, Or Principles of Political Right, 1762. Which concept is central both to the Declaration of Independence and to Social Contract Theory?

• the authority of the government to create a militia to defend its citizens
• the authority of the government should be based on the "Divine Right of Kings"
• the authority of the government should be derived from the consent of the governed
• the right of the government to trade freely and enter into alliances with other nations

The Preamble to the United States Constitution "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." What Enlightenment idea is reflected in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution?

• All men and women are created equal.
• The government's power comes from the people.
• A system of checks and balances is necessary.
• Power should be divided among three branches.

Both John Locke and Thomas Jefferson wrote about the natural rights of humans. In what document are these "unalienable rights" specifically mentioned?

• the Bill of Rights
• the Mayflower Compact
• the Preamble to the Constitution
• the Declaration of Independence

"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.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." - from The Declaration of Independence This passage MOST accurately reflects the democratic ideals taken from

• the Enlightenment.
• ancient Legalist doctrine.
• the Protestant Reformation.
• the observations of Machiavelli.

The phrase in the Declaration of Independence stating "that governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed" illustrates the principle of

• federalism.
• judicial review.
• equality before the law.
• the Social Contract theory.

One of the central reasons for the military success of the United States in the American Revolution was

• a well armed and well trained military force.
• financial and military assistance from France.
• substantial industrial production of armaments.
• its navy was vastly superior than that of Britain.

BOTH the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizen” & the “Declaration of Independence”

• spoke clearly in opposition to slavery.
• were created by a large and growing working class.
• advocated a separation from an imperial and colonial power.
• asserted that all people had a right to liberty, property, and freedom of expression.

Why did the French Revolution arouse little sympathy among Americans?

• It was accompanied by significant bloodshed.
• France’s new leaders had great disdain for wealth and status.
• It mocked the principles on which the American Revolution was founded.
• France had not been forgiven for its role in the French and Indian War.