NEW
Font size
WorksheetsSemester Exam Review
Total questions: 50
Worksheet time: 25mins
Why did the population of Jamestown plummet between 1609 and the spring of 1610?
The Algonquian Indians attacked and burned down much of the colony.
The London Company closed the settlement because it wasn’t making a profit.
A combination of famine, disease, and a harsh winter killed many in the colony.
Infertile soil caused many settlers to seek better farmland in the middle colonies.
Many English Catholics came to America in the 1600s to
escape a kingdom that did not allow them to worship freely.
protest England’s separation from the Roman Catholic Church.
provide assistance to Catholic countries such as France and Spain.
found a proprietary colony in a southern region of the New World.
The Toleration Act of 1649 was significant to America’s development because it
allowed Protestant settlers to move to the colony of Maryland even though it was founded by Catholics.
symbolized the American value of protecting the freedom of individuals and minority groups.
provided an example of how a representative democracy can pass laws in a fair and just manner.
proved that conflicts over beliefs about God can be solved once-and-for-all by human beings.
The Mayflower Compact could best be described as a/an
detailed list of reasons why the Pilgrims left England for the United States.
trade contract between Great Britain and merchants in the Virginia colony.
early attempt at self-government in the English colonies.
basic agreement requiring colonists to obey Virginia law.
Compared with the South, what disadvantage did New England farmers face?
Regional farms did not support many cash crops.
Few slaves were available to work the rich soil.
Demand for farm labor could not be met by supply.
Rules prevented raising animals for individual use.
What was the significance of the English Bill of Rights?
It led to the bloodless overthrow of James II.
It influenced the writers of the U.S. Constitution.
It emphasized the authority of the English monarchs.
It resulted in the Committees of Correspondence.
In European nations, the practice of carefully controlling trade to create and maintain wealth was called
mercantilism.
brokering.
capitalism.
profiteering.
The purpose of the series of Navigation Acts passed by Parliament between 1650 and 1696 was to
require colonists to do their trading only with England.
establish duties, or taxes, on items exported to the colonies.
benefit the colonists by promoting a spirit of free trade.
give England freedom to buy and sell goods in any market.
What was one result of the French and Indian War?
France lost land claims in North America while Britain gained Canada and most French lands east of the Mississippi River.
Spain gained Canada and Britain gained New Orleans.
Land east of the Mississippi River was divided equally between France and Britain.
France began moving west to settle new lands.
Why was the Stamp Act of 1765 particularly upsetting to the colonists?
It was the first time Parliament had tried to tax colonists directly.
It was the first attempt by Parliament to tax exports, not just imports.
To enforce it, Britain’s standing army used violence to frighten taxpayers.
To enforce it, Britain placed its own judges on the benches of colonial courts.
What event directly sparked the Boston Massacre?
A crowd of sailors dared British troops to shoot at them.
A British soldier standing guard hit a colonist during an argument.
An African American sailor named Crispus Attucks shot a British soldier.
Colonists spread negative propaganda about British troops.
The Boston Tea Party clearly demonstrated how
unhappy colonists were with new British laws.
much colonists cared for tea in relation to other imports.
easily colonists could tell cheap tea from expensive tea.
angry colonists were even before the Boston Massacre.
Which of the following is not one of the ways Massachusetts was punished for the Boston Tea Party?
Its charter was canceled.
Boston Harbor was closed.
The colonial governor had to approve when the legislature could meet.
Bostonians had to search for and recover the discarded tea.
What was the main issue debated during the Second Continental Congress?
whether to seek a peaceful or violent solution
how to plan a surprise attack against Britain
how to convert more colonists to the Patriot cause
whether foreign allies would be beneficial
Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense led many colonial leaders to
reject Enlightenment ideas.
challenge British authority.
understand the good sense of monarchy.
agree to bound by British laws.
Who was the main author of the Declaration of Independence?
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Jefferson
John Adams
George Washington
The idea that the colonies had the right to break away from Britain was based on the Enlightenment idea of the
Mayflower Compact.
rights of royal subjects.
social contract.
contract of the governed.
Why was the idea of taxation without representation so important to the revolutionary cause?
Colonists believed King George III had violated their rights by taxing them without their consent.
Great Britain would have ended taxation if colonists had kept the peace.
Colonists believed that Great Britain should only tax certain items.
Great Britain only taxed the colonists to force them into war.
Why was the Battle of Saratoga a turning point for the Patriots?
The Patriots gained the support of France and Spain.
The Patriots saved the army from losing enlisted men.
The Patriots got a Prussian to train the Continental Army.
The Patriots realized they did not need foreign allies.
How was France’s interest in the Revolution financially important?
The French wanted to repurchase land they had lost in the French and Indian War.
The French provided monetary aid once they believed the Patriots could win.
France would not allow its military to serve without pay.
France introduced its economic system to the colonists.
The winter at Valley Forge was a difficult time for the Continental Army because the army
lacked protection and supplies.
began to turn against the Revolution.
had just lost several important battles.
refused to drill and train.
The Battle of Yorktown
convinced colonists to comply with British rule.
allowed the French to gain colonial territory.
showed the British that they could defeat the Patriots.
was the last major battle of the American Revolution.
Magna Carta inspired the founders of American government to
eliminate the power of the king and queen.
subject government officials to the rule of law.
centralize power in the hands of one leader.
represent the people in a parliamentary body.
Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom declared that
governments had to punish religious discrimination.
governments were responsible for funding churches.
no person who worked on behalf of a religious institution had to pay taxes.
no person could be forced to attend a church or pay taxes to a church.
Why did Congress decide to pass the Land Ordinance of 1785, which divided western lands into townships?
Congress wanted to create a region where slavery was banned.
Native Americans were illegally exploiting territories in the western lands.
Congress wanted to sell lots to the public to pay the nation’s debts.
Colonial governments had already expanded their borders into western lands.
The Articles of Confederation made it difficult for Congress to protect the nation against foreign threats by
placing high tariffs on imports of military supplies.
not creating a national budget for defense spending.
declaring it impossible to force states to provide soldiers.
not instituting a mandatory draft.
The main cause of Shays’s Rebellion was the
corruption of wealthy leaders, which divided the local government.
collection of taxes on land to pay off war debts, which hurt farmers.
overproduction of worthless paper money, which slowed the economy.
inability of the Congress to regulate trade, which led to unemployment.
Which of these was a weakness in the Articles of Confederation exposed by Shays’s Rebellion?
the imbalance of power between the three branches of government
the dominance of an overly powerful executive branch
the problem of states having more power than the federal government
the abuse of force by the national army against the nation’s citizens
Shays’s Rebellion led most Americans to call for a
ban on rebellious activity.
federal judiciary.
national guard.
stronger central government.
The Great Compromise resolved the debate over state representation in the federal government by
creating a bicameral legislature.
creating a unicameral legislature.
deciding individually on the number of delegates each state would have.
deciding that each state would have the same number of delegates.
The Three-Fifths Compromise
freed three-fifths of slaves in the southern states.
granted three-fifths of freed slaves the right to vote.
determined how many representatives a state would have in the Congress by counting three-fifths of the state’s slave population.
decided to give an extra delegate to each state that had banned the slave trade, giving northern states a three-fifths majority in the Congress.
The framers of the Constitution created a system of checks and balances to
outline the powers held by each branch of government.
keep any one branch of government from becoming too powerful.
give the people an opportunity to control the branches of government.
strengthen the powers held by each branch of government.
What is federalism?
a government system where the central government holds supreme power
a system that keeps each branch of government from obtaining too much power
the sharing of power between a central government and the states of a country
the part of government responsible for making the laws of a country or nation
What problem did Anti-federalists have with the Constitution?
They felt that the central government had been given too much power.
They felt that too many rights were guaranteed to individual citizens.
They felt that merchants were not provided with enough protection.
They felt that the nation should return to the Articles of Confederation.
The Bill of Rights
consists of amendments added to the Constitution to protect citizens’ rights.
is the document used to limit the powers of state governments.
outlines the rights of the federal government.
states the ways in which citizens can participate in government.
An amendment to the Constitution is a/an
suggested addition.
official change.
legal clarification.
judicial opinion.
What is a federal system of government designed to do?
place sovereign authority in the hands of the executive branch
limit the role of the central government to providing postal services
divide powers between the states and the national government
stretch the reserved authority of the states when necessary
The First Amendment protects
the right to a speedy and public trial.
the right to keep and bear arms.
freedom of religion, expression, and assembly.
freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures.
Which abuse inspired the inclusion in the Bill of Rights of the Fourth Amendment rule against “unreasonable searches and seizures”?
the impressment of British naval officers discovered on U.S. ships during the Revolutionary War
colonists’ being forced to have their belongings inspected for illegal goods by British soldiers
court-ordered takeovers of property owned by farmers who were in debt due to high property taxes
the confiscation of goods brought from the West Indies on the grounds that they were smuggled
Many Americans wanted George Washington to be president because he
was seen as an honest leader.
urged them to vote for him.
passed the Judiciary Act of 1789.
had a popular wife named Martha.
"Loose construction” is best defined as the idea that the
Constitution need not be interpreted in the context of the whole.
federal government can take reasonable actions in special cases so long as they are not specifically forbidden by the Constitution.
Constitution is flexible, enabling politicians to stretch it in order to deal with new situations.Constitution allows only necessary means to deal with new situations and should not be stretched merely because politicians find it convenient.
Constitution allows only necessary means to deal with new situations and should not be stretched merely because politicians find it convenient.
Which of the following contributed to the Whiskey Rebellion?
The federal government was overprotective of the settlers.
Spain was blocking trade along the Mississippi River.
Farmers could not afford the tax on whiskey.
Farmers found whiskey difficult to transport.
In his Farewell Address George Washington warned against all of the following EXCEPT
Only have commercial relations with Foreign Nations
burdening future generations with debt.
establishing political unity within the nation.
maintaining the institution of slavery.
During the presidency of John Adams, three French agents would discuss a treaty with the United States only in exchange for a bribe. The incident came to be known as the
ABC Talks
ABC Incident
XYZ Event
XYZ Affair
What is judicial review?
the power of Congress to oversee decisions made by the Supreme Court
the power of Congress to review the appointment of Supreme Court justices
the power of the judiciary to declare an act of Congress unconstitutional
the power of the judiciary to monitor the conduct of presidential elections
Which of the following statements reflects the significance of Marbury v. Madison?
It described the specific types of cases that could be brought before the Supreme Court.
It established the Supreme Court’s power to check the other branches of government.
It limited the Supreme Court’s effectiveness by requiring it to hear every case brought before it.
It weakened the Supreme Court in relation to the White House and Congress.
The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 was significant to the United States because it
nearly doubled the size of the country.
helped the United States challenge British power in North America.
set a precedent regarding the purchase of territory without congressional approval.
took New Orleans out of Spain’s control.
Napoléon Bonaparte decided to sell the Louisiana Territory to the United States because he
wanted U.S. support for a war against Spain.
thought the land would be set aside for Native Americans.
needed to reinforce the French military in the war against the British.
wished to build a new empire in North America.
Why was the victory in the Battle of New Orleans important for the United States?
It ended the attacks from Native Americans.
It prevented the British from taking control of the Mississippi River.
It was the last major sea battle against Britain.
It was the first major victory against Britain in the War of 1812.
What did the Treaty of Ghent accomplish?
It ended the War of 1812.
It ended the Creek War.
It banned tariffs on imports from Britain.
It withdrew the unpopular Embargo Acts.
