In his 1790 Report on Public Credit, what did Alexander Hamilton propose to do with the debts left from the Revolutionary War?
Pay them at full face value, including state debts
✓
Cancel them to relieve ordinary taxpayers
Pay only the original holders, such as soldiers
Leave each state to repay its own debts
Correct Answer
Pay them at full face value, including state debts
Hamilton wanted the federal government to honor all wartime debts at face value and take over state debts, binding wealthy creditors to the new national government and restoring its credit. Cancel them to relieve ordinary taxpayers would have destroyed that credit. Pay only the original holders, such as soldiers, was closer to Madison's objection that speculators would profit. Leave each state to repay its own debts is the opposite of federal assumption.
Category: Founding Debates
Question 2
In the Compromise of 1790, southern leaders agreed to support Hamilton's debt plan in exchange for what?
A ban on federal taxes on whiskey
A national capital on the Potomac River
✓
A guarantee that slavery could spread west
Control of the new national bank
Correct Answer
A national capital on the Potomac River
Madison and Jefferson secured a permanent capital on the Potomac, in the South, which became the District of Columbia, while Hamilton won passage of his debt plan. A ban on federal taxes on whiskey was not part of the deal, and a whiskey tax passed in 1791. A guarantee that slavery could spread west was not negotiated. Control of the new national bank was not offered, and Jefferson opposed the bank entirely.
Category: Founding Debates
Question 3
On what grounds did Thomas Jefferson oppose Hamilton's plan for a national bank?
The bank would lend money only to farmers
Foreign nations had refused to trade with it
The Constitution did not grant Congress that power
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The president alone would control the bank
Correct Answer
The Constitution did not grant Congress that power
Jefferson read the Constitution strictly and argued that creating a bank was not among the powers it granted to Congress. The bank would lend money only to farmers is wrong because it served merchants and the government. Foreign nations had refused to trade with it did not happen. The president alone would control the bank is wrong because private stockholders and the government shared ownership.
Category: Founding Debates
Question 4
Which members of Congress led the War Hawks who demanded war with Britain before 1812?
John Adams and John Jay
Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton
John Marshall and James Monroe
Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun
✓
Correct Answer
Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun
Henry Clay of Kentucky and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina were young Democratic-Republican leaders who wanted to punish Britain and expand American territory. John Adams and John Jay were older Federalists. Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton were rivals whose duel took place in 1804, and Hamilton died in it. John Marshall and James Monroe were serving as chief justice and secretary of state, not leading the push in Congress.
Category: War of 1812
Question 5
Thomas Jefferson believed the republic's future depended on which group of Americans?
Independent farmers who owned their land
✓
Urban merchants and bankers
Factory owners in northern cities
A hereditary class of wealthy families
Correct Answer
Independent farmers who owned their land
Jefferson saw self-sufficient yeoman farmers as the most virtuous citizens because owning land made them independent. Urban merchants and bankers were the commercial classes he distrusted. Factory owners in northern cities fit Hamilton's vision of manufacturing. A hereditary class of wealthy families was the kind of aristocracy Jefferson opposed.
Category: Founding Debates
Question 6
Why did James Madison introduce the amendments that became the Bill of Rights in 1789?
To give the president power over state courts
To meet Anti-Federalist demands for protection of liberties
✓
To end the Atlantic slave trade immediately
To restore parts of the Articles of Confederation
Correct Answer
To meet Anti-Federalist demands for protection of liberties
Anti-Federalists had objected that the Constitution did not protect individual rights, and Madison drafted amendments to win their trust. To give the president power over state courts was never proposed. To end the Atlantic slave trade immediately is wrong because the Constitution protected the trade until 1808. To restore parts of the Articles of Confederation was not the purpose of the amendments.
Category: Founding Debates
Question 7
When war broke out between France and Britain in 1793, how did President Washington respond?
He sent troops to aid the French republic
He joined Britain in an alliance against France
He declared the United States neutral
✓
He ended all American trade with Europe
Correct Answer
He declared the United States neutral
Washington's 1793 proclamation kept the young nation out of the European war, angering Democratic-Republicans who sympathized with France. He sent troops to aid the French republic did not happen. He joined Britain in an alliance against France also did not happen. He ended all American trade with Europe describes something closer to Jefferson's later embargo.
Category: Foreign Affairs
Question 8
Edmond-Charles Genêt, an envoy from France, provoked a crisis in 1793 by doing what?
Offering to sell Louisiana to the United States
Firing on an American warship off Virginia
Closing the port of New Orleans to Americans
Commissioning American privateers to attack France's enemies
✓
Correct Answer
Commissioning American privateers to attack France's enemies
Genêt landed in Charleston and began commissioning privateers and organizing militias against France's enemies, which threatened to drag the United States into war, so Washington demanded his recall. Offering to sell Louisiana to the United States happened under Napoleon in 1803. Firing on an American warship off Virginia was the British attack on the Chesapeake in 1807. Closing the port of New Orleans to Americans was a Spanish action.
Category: Foreign Affairs
Question 9
Why did Democratic-Republicans attack Jay's Treaty with Britain in 1794?
It did not stop the British impressment of American sailors
✓
It gave the port of New Orleans to Britain
It committed the United States to war against France
It required Americans to pay France's war debts
Correct Answer
It did not stop the British impressment of American sailors
Jay's Treaty won the removal of British forts in the Northwest and trade concessions, but it left impressment untouched, and Democratic-Republicans saw it as a betrayal of France. It gave the port of New Orleans to Britain is false, since New Orleans was Spanish. It committed the United States to war against France is false. It required Americans to pay France's war debts is also false.
Category: Foreign Affairs
Question 10
How did Pinckney's Treaty with Spain in 1795 benefit western farmers?
It ended the federal tax on whiskey
It opened the Mississippi and New Orleans to American shipping
✓
It gave them Florida for settlement
It removed British forts from the Great Lakes
Correct Answer
It opened the Mississippi and New Orleans to American shipping
Pinckney's Treaty allowed Americans to ship goods down the Mississippi River and through Spanish-held New Orleans, the best outlet for crops from the Ohio Valley. It ended the federal tax on whiskey is wrong because that tax was a domestic matter. It gave them Florida for settlement is wrong because Spain did not give up Florida until 1819. It removed British forts from the Great Lakes was achieved by Jay's Treaty.
Category: Foreign Affairs
Question 11
How did the federal government respond to the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794?
Congress repealed every federal excise tax
Washington asked Britain to send troops
Washington called out a large militia force to suppress it
✓
Congress let the western counties form a new state
Correct Answer
Washington called out a large militia force to suppress it
Washington raised about 13,000 militiamen from several states, and the rebellion collapsed as they marched west, showing that the new government could enforce its laws. Congress repealed every federal excise tax did not happen in 1794. Washington asked Britain to send troops is false. Congress let the western counties form a new state is false, although some rebels talked of forming one.
Category: Frontier Conflicts
Question 12
Which 1794 battle broke the power of the Western Confederacy in the Ohio country?
Battle of Tippecanoe
Battle of the Thames
Battle of Horseshoe Bend
Battle of Fallen Timbers
✓
Correct Answer
Battle of Fallen Timbers
At the Battle of Fallen Timbers, General Anthony Wayne defeated the Western Confederacy, which then gave up most of present-day Ohio in the Treaty of Greenville in 1795. The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought in 1811 in Indiana Territory. The Battle of the Thames was fought in 1813 in Canada, and Tecumseh died there. The Battle of Horseshoe Bend was fought against the Creek in 1814.
Category: Frontier Conflicts
Question 13
What did the Shawnee leader Tecumseh seek in the years before the War of 1812?
A confederacy of Native nations to resist American expansion
✓
Citizenship for Native peoples in Indiana Territory
A trade alliance with the Spanish in Florida
Peaceful removal of his people west of the Mississippi
Correct Answer
A confederacy of Native nations to resist American expansion
Tecumseh worked to unite many Native nations so they could hold their lands together, while his brother Tenskwatawa urged a return to Native ways. Citizenship for Native peoples in Indiana Territory was not his goal; he sought to protect Native lands and sovereignty, not to join the American polity. A trade alliance with the Spanish in Florida was not his aim, since he looked to the British in Canada. Peaceful removal of his people west of the Mississippi is the opposite of his resistance.
Category: Frontier Conflicts
Question 14
What happened in the XYZ Affair of 1797 and 1798?
French agents urged Americans to attack Spanish Florida
French agents demanded a bribe before negotiating with American envoys
✓
British sailors boarded an American frigate off Virginia
Spanish officials offered to sell New Orleans to Congress
Correct Answer
French agents demanded a bribe before negotiating with American envoys
Three French agents, identified in Adams's report only as X, Y and Z, insisted on a bribe and a loan before talks could begin, and publication of the letters turned Americans against France. French agents urged Americans to attack Spanish Florida resembles Genêt's schemes. British sailors boarded an American frigate off Virginia describes the Chesapeake affair. Spanish officials offered to sell New Orleans to Congress did not happen.
Category: Adams Presidency
Question 15
What did the Sedition Act of 1798 make a crime?
Entering the country without a passport
Refusing to serve in the navy
Publishing false or malicious criticism of the government
✓
Selling goods to French merchants
Correct Answer
Publishing false or malicious criticism of the government
The Sedition Act punished speech and writing against the government with fines and prison, and it was used against Democratic-Republican editors and a member of Congress. Entering the country without a passport was not its subject. Refusing to serve in the navy was not covered. Selling goods to French merchants was not made a crime by this law.
Category: Adams Presidency
Question 16
How did President John Adams bring the Quasi-War with France to an end?
By declaring war and invading French colonies
By forming a military alliance with Spain
By paying the bribe that French agents demanded
By negotiating a new treaty with France in 1800
✓
Correct Answer
By negotiating a new treaty with France in 1800
Adams sent a new peace mission, and the 1800 agreement ended French seizures of American ships, although it split his Federalist Party. By declaring war and invading French colonies did not happen, since the conflict stayed undeclared. By forming a military alliance with Spain did not happen. By paying the bribe that French agents demanded is wrong because Americans refused to pay it.
Category: Adams Presidency
Question 17
What was the result of the Hartford Convention of 1814?
It made the Federalists look disloyal and hastened their decline
✓
It ended the War of 1812 on favorable terms
It created the new Democratic Party
It strengthened Federalist control of Congress
Correct Answer
It made the Federalists look disloyal and hastened their decline
New England Federalists met to protest the war, and some talked of secession, so the party looked unpatriotic once the war ended in American celebration. It ended the War of 1812 on favorable terms confuses it with the Treaty of Ghent. It created the new Democratic Party is wrong because that party formed in the 1820s. It strengthened Federalist control of Congress is the reverse of what happened.
Category: War of 1812
Question 18
What principle did the Supreme Court establish in Marbury v. Madison in 1803?
Nullification of federal laws by states
Judicial review of acts of Congress
✓
Executive privilege for the president
Federal regulation of interstate trade
Correct Answer
Judicial review of acts of Congress
Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that part of the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional, establishing the Court's power to strike down laws that conflict with the Constitution. Nullification of federal laws by states was the idea Jefferson advanced in the Kentucky Resolutions. Executive privilege for the president was not the issue. Federal regulation of interstate trade was decided in later cases.
Category: Jefferson Presidency
Question 19
Why was Napoleon willing to sell the Louisiana Territory to the United States in 1803?
Lewis and Clark had already occupied the territory
Britain had already purchased half of the territory
His effort to restore French control of Haiti had failed
✓
A treaty with Spain forbade France to keep it
Correct Answer
His effort to restore French control of Haiti had failed
Napoleon's army failed to retake Saint-Domingue from its formerly enslaved people, and without that colony Louisiana mattered far less to France, which also needed money for war with Britain. Lewis and Clark had already occupied the territory is wrong because their expedition began after the purchase. Britain had already purchased half of the territory is false. A treaty with Spain forbade France to keep it is false, since Spain had just returned Louisiana to France.
Category: Jefferson Presidency
Question 20
What effect did Jefferson's Embargo Act of 1807 have?
It forced Britain to end impressment
It opened new markets for Americans in Asia
It made New England ports more prosperous
It badly damaged American trade and commerce
✓
Correct Answer
It badly damaged American trade and commerce
By keeping American ships in port, the embargo hurt merchants, sailors and farmers far more than it hurt Britain or France, and it was repealed in 1809. It forced Britain to end impressment is false, since impressment continued through the War of 1812 and stopped only when Britain's war with Napoleon ended. It opened new markets for Americans in Asia is false. It made New England ports more prosperous is the reverse, since those ports suffered most.
Category: Jefferson Presidency