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AP United States History Unit 3: Period 3: 1754–1800

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Unit 3: Period 3: 1754–1800

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Question 1

The Great Compromise at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 resolved the most divisive question of representation by:

A.Giving all states equal representation in both houses of the new CongressB.Creating a bicameral Congress with equal state representation in the Senate and population-based representation in the HouseC.Abolishing state governments and replacing them with a system of directly elected national representativesD.Allowing large states to appoint Supreme Court justices while small states controlled the Senate

Question 2

The Hamilton-Jefferson debates of the 1790s over the Bank of the United States centered on which fundamental constitutional question?

A.Whether the president or Congress had the power to create financial institutionsB.Whether the federal government could exercise powers not explicitly enumerated in the Constitution (implied powers)C.Whether foreign banks could operate on American soil under the commerce clauseD.Whether states had the right to tax federally chartered institutions

Question 3

The Articles of Confederation created a national government that was deliberately weak primarily because:

A.The framers lacked the education to design more effective governmental structuresB.Revolutionary-era Americans feared strong central governments as threats to liberty, given their experience with British imperial powerC.Most Americans wanted to return to British rule eventually and did not want a permanent governmentD.The Articles were designed as a temporary emergency measure that everyone expected to be replaced immediately

Question 4

The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 are significant in constitutional history primarily because they prompted:

A.A Supreme Court ruling that established judicial review of federal legislationB.The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, which articulated the doctrine that states could nullify unconstitutional federal lawsC.A unanimous congressional vote to repeal the acts as unconstitutional violations of the First AmendmentD.A military confrontation between Virginia and federal troops that established the supremacy of national law

Question 5

A colonial pamphlet from the 1760s argued: 'The power to tax is the power to destroy. An Englishman's property is his own, and Parliament, sitting three thousand miles away, has no right to take it without his consent expressed through his own representatives.' This argument draws most directly on which tradition?

A.Mercantilist theory holding that colonial economies should serve the mother country's interestsB.English constitutional tradition holding that taxation requires the consent of the governed through elected representativesC.French Enlightenment theory rejecting any hereditary monarchyD.Classical republican theory holding that republics require virtuous citizen soldiers

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Question 6

A pamphlet published in Philadelphia in 1776 declared: 'The cause of America is in great measure the cause of all mankind. Government is at best a necessary evil.' This language is most characteristic of which document or author?

A.John Adams's 'Thoughts on Government,' arguing for balanced republican institutionsB.Thomas Paine's 'Common Sense,' which attacked monarchy and called for immediate American independenceC.The Federalist Papers, arguing for a strong central governmentD.The Declaration of Independence, listing colonial grievances against the king

Question 7

Washington's Farewell Address of 1796 warned most emphatically against which developments?

A.The expansion of slavery and its corrupting influence on republican virtueB.Permanent alliances with foreign nations and domestic political parties (factions)C.The danger of standing armies and the need to rely solely on citizen militiasD.Excessive federal power and the need to preserve state sovereignty under the Constitution

Question 8

Which of the following best explains why Shays' Rebellion (1786–1787) alarmed the nation's founders and contributed to the Constitutional Convention?

A.The rebellion proved that democracy was inherently unstable and that only a monarchy could maintain orderB.It demonstrated that the national government under the Articles was too weak to suppress domestic insurrection or protect property rightsC.The rebellion showed that the Articles gave the national government too much power over state militiasD.Shays' Rebellion was a British-backed plot to destabilize the new nation, proving the need for stronger foreign policy

Question 9

How did the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 represent a significant precedent for American expansion?

A.It established that western territories would become permanent colonies with no path to statehoodB.It created a structured process for territories to achieve statehood on equal footing with existing states, banned slavery in the region, and guaranteed basic civil rightsC.It required all western territories to submit to direct governance from Congress with no elected assembliesD.It resolved the conflicting land claims of eastern states by distributing the Northwest Territory equally among all thirteen states

Question 10

The French and Indian War (1754–1763) contributed to the American Revolution primarily because it:

A.Convinced France to support American independence immediately after the war endedB.Left Britain deeply in debt, leading Parliament to tax the colonies, which colonists resisted as unconstitutionalC.Led Britain to grant the colonies greater self-governance as a reward for their military contributionsD.Eliminated the threat from France and Spain, making the colonies feel less dependent on British military protection

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Question 11

A delegate to the Constitutional Convention writing to a colleague in 1787 argued: 'We have created not a pure democracy but a republic — a government of representatives who will filter popular passions through deliberative reason.' This reflects which key Federalist argument?

A.That the Constitution created a direct democracy giving all citizens equal legislative powerB.That representative institutions would temper majoritarian excess and protect minority rights and propertyC.That only an aristocratic elite should govern, with no popular participation at allD.That state governments should retain all significant governing power and the federal government should be advisory only

Question 12

Anti-Federalists opposed ratification of the Constitution primarily because they feared that:

A.The Constitution gave states too much power at the expense of national unityB.The Constitution concentrated too much power in a distant central government, threatening the liberty of ordinary citizens and state autonomyC.The Constitution would lead to monarchy because the president was too weak to prevent congressional tyrannyD.The three-branch system would result in constant deadlock with no effective government

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