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In the years immediately before the American Revolution, the concept of natural rights:
a. greatly influenced Thomas Jefferson’s early writings.
b. prompted Thomas Jefferson to support independence before the war even began.
c. caused many American colonists to call for the abolition of the monarchy.
d. contradicted the argument for colonial resistance.
e. led to Parliament’s passage of the Declaratory Act of 1766.
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a. greatly influenced Thomas Jefferson’s early writings.
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Which of the following was NOT a significant battle during the first year of the Revolutionary War?
a. Lexington and Concord, which included "the shot heard ’round the world’"
b. Fort Ticonderoga, where soldiers commanded by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold forced a British surrender
c. Breed’s Hill, where the British suffered heavy casualties trying to dislodge colonial militiamen
d. the Siege of Boston, which culminated in Sir William Howe’s troops abandoning the city
e. Cowpens, which helped turn the tide of war in the South.
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e. Cowpens, which helped turn the tide of war in the South.
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John Adams recommended George Washington as commander of the Continental army because:
a. he knew that Washington was weighing an offer from Britain to lead its North American forces.
b. he shared Washington’s view of the importance of natural rights.
c. the fact that Washington was from Virginia could help unify the colonists.
d. he knew Washington had opposed General Howe’s forces cutting down the Liberty Tree.
e. they had an agreement that Adams would then be put in charge of administering the army in the New England colonies.
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c. the fact that Washington was from Virginia could help unify the colonists.
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What did Lord Dunmore do that horrified many southerners?
a. He encouraged Indians to conduct raids against backcountry settlements in the Carolinas.
b. He issued a proclamation freeing all slaves south of the Ohio River.
c. He promised freedom to slaves who joined the British cause.
d. He confiscated property of Loyalists.
e. He circulated germ-ridden blankets among frontier towns to spread disease.
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c. He promised freedom to slaves who joined the British cause.
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The Olive Branch Petition:
a. was meant to ease tensions among the organized political parties within the Continental Congress.
b. enabled northern and southern colonies to work together.
c. convinced Thomas Paine that he had enough support to write Common Sense.
d. was Parliament’s final attempt to explain virtual representation to the colonists.
e. was addressed to King George III and reaffirmed American loyalty to the crown.
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e. was addressed to King George III and reaffirmed American loyalty to the crown.
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Thomas Paine’s Common Sense:
a. argued that the British governmental system was perfectly good, but that current officials had corrupted it.
b. made highly original arguments in favor of independence.
c. sold well among the elite, who in turn were able to convey its ideas to the lower classes.
d. argued that America would become the home of freedom and "an asylum for mankind."
e. led to his arrest on charges of treason, but he saved himself by writing another pamphlet taking the opposite position.
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d. argued that America would become the home of freedom and "an asylum for mankind."
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What would Americans NOT experience, according to James Chalmers, the Maryland Loyalist, should independence come to the colonies?
a. an imposed government
b. failed commerce
c. increased debt among farmers and plantation owners
d. happiness and prosperity
e. misery and desolation
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d. happiness and prosperity
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Which statement about Thomas Paine’s Common Sense is FALSE?
a. It was published in 1776.
b. It called for a democratic system based on frequent elections and a written constitution.
c. It tied the economic hopes of the new nation to the idea of commercial freedom.
d. It dramatically expanded the public sphere.
e. It was breathtakingly original in its ideas.
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e. It was breathtakingly original in its ideas.
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Most of the text of the Declaration of Independence:
a. was originally drafted by Benjamin Franklin and then brilliantly edited by Thomas Jefferson.
b. consists of a list of grievances against King George III.
c. is an updated version of John Locke’s classic, The Rights of Man.
d. specifically attacks the idea that Parliament has a right to enact any laws for the colonies.
e. is an irrefutable argument for the notion of virtual representation.
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b. consists of a list of grievances against King George III.
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All of the following are true of the Declaration of Independence EXCEPT:
a. ultimately, it is an assertion of the right of revolution.
b. its arguments made it a uniquely American document with little relevance to other nations.
c. it celebrated individual self-fulfillment as a central element of American freedom.
d. it completed the shift of Americans’ focus from their rights as Englishmen to their rights as human beings.
e. it deemphasized tradition as a force in shaping American society.
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b. its arguments made it a uniquely American document with little relevance to other nations.
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All of the following were advantages enjoyed by the British during the American Revolution EXCEPT:
a. the world’s best navy.
b. a professionally trained army.
c. the ability to recruit German soldiers to fight for the British.
d. an intimate knowledge of the terrain.
e. the ability to lure slaves to fight for the British in exchange for their freedom.
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d. an intimate knowledge of the terrain.
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Which of the following is TRUE of the soldiers who fought for American independence?
a. During the war’s later years, the Continental army relied increasingly on young men with limited economic prospects.
b. Relatively few—only one in sixty—lost their lives in the war.
c. Nearly one-third of all American soldiers were slaves fighting as substitutes for their masters.
d. Because they had the most to gain, men of substantial property served in disproportionately high numbers throughout the war.
e. Lacking any military experience and unsure of their cause, the soldiers performed so poorly that it took the addition of 25,000 French ground troops to prevent a British victory.
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a. During the war’s later years, the Continental army relied increasingly on young men with limited economic prospects.
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During the eight years of war, approximately how many Americans bore arms in the Continental army and state militias?
a. 80,000
b. 125,000
c. 200,000
d. 350,000
e. 500,000
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c. 200,000
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Which of the following statements regarding black soldiers during the American Revolution is FALSE?
a. No southern state allowed blacks to serve in its militia.
b. A total of approximately 5,000 African Americans served in state militias and in the Continental army and navy.
c. Rhode Island, which had a relatively high black population for New England, formed a black regiment.
d. George Washington initially refused to allow black recruits, but later changed his mind.
e. Blacks and whites served together in racially integrated Continental army units.
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a. No southern state allowed blacks to serve in its militia.
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The main point of The American Crisis was:
a. that the Continental Congress should agree to peaceful reunification with Britain.
b. to inspire American soldiers to continue to fight despite demoralizing military losses.
c. that independence was too costly a goal for the colonies.
d. to encourage European powers to provide military assistance to the cause of American independence.
e. a prediction that the war would end unhappily for supporters of independence.
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b. to inspire American soldiers to continue to fight despite demoralizing military losses.
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In the winter of 1776-1777, Washington won important victories that improved American morale. These battles were at:
a. Saratoga and Albany, New York.
b. Morristown and East Orange, New Jersey.
c. Long Island and White Plains, New York.
d. Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts.
e. Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey
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e. Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey
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A key consequence of the Battle of Saratoga in October 1777 was:
a. France became an ally to the United States.
b. the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress.
c. the immediate surrender of all British troops to the Continental army.
d. British commanders taking the war into the heart of New England for the first time.
e. General Washington’s decision to retreat to Valley Forge for the winter.
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a. France became an ally to the United States.
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In 1778, the focus of the war shifted:
a. from minor skirmishes of fewer than a hundred men to major battles, each involving thousands of soldiers.
b. from fighting in the southern states to fighting in New York and New England.
c. to an emphasis on the Continental army’s trying to capture British strongholds in the Ohio Valley.
d. to the South, where the British captured Savannah that year.
e. to emancipation, when General Washington declared all slaves who fought for American independence should be free.
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d. to the South, where the British captured Savannah that year.
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During the Revolutionary War, tensions between backcountry farmers and wealthy planters:
a. enabled the British to turn around their previously unsuccessful performance during the war.
b. prompted several mutinies within colonial ranks.
c. gave the British hope that they might be able to enlist the support of southern Loyalists.
d. led Benedict Arnold to defect to the British.
e. caused Francis Marion’s eventual defeat at the Battle of Cowpens.
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c. gave the British hope that they might be able to enlist the support of southern Loyalists.
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Cornwallis was defeated at Yorktown because:
a. he had no land or water escape route.
b. he was overwhelmed by Washington’s much larger and better trained army.
c. General Clinton had withdrawn from Yorktown, leaving Cornwallis vulnerable.
d. most of his troops were cold, starving, and ready to surrender.
e. King George III ordered an end to the war.
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a. he had no land or water escape route.
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Washington’s defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown:
a. allowed Washington to march his men unmolested through the Lower South where he achieved ultimate victory at Camden.
b. would have been impossible without Benedict Arnold’s poor generalship on behalf of the British.
c. angered the French, whose fleet had yet to arrive and who wanted credit for the victory.
d. destroyed British public support for the war.
e. made up for Washington’s failure to support General Nathanael Greene at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.
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d. destroyed British public support for the war.
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The negotiation of the Treaty of Paris of 1783:
a. ignored those who had been loyal to the British empire.
b. was a masterful bit of diplomacy by Thomas Jefferson.
c. gave the new American nation control of Florida.
d. led to the British government receiving compensation for anything the Continental Congress had taken from British citizens.
e. began only after the Battle of Yorktown.
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e. began only after the Battle of Yorktown.
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British possessions in the West Indies:
a. were handed over to the new United States in the Treaty of Paris.
b. issued their own declarations of independence in the late 1770s.
c. remained loyal to the crown during the American Revolution because their leaders feared slave uprisings.
d. all fell into the hands of the French, either through conquest or treaty, as a result of the American Revolution.
e. were divided during the American Revolution: some islands sent regiments to the Continental army, while others proudly fought for the king.
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c. remained loyal to the crown during the American Revolution because their leaders feared slave uprisings.
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The Treaty of Paris did NOT:
a. recognize American independence.
b. sever the alliance between the United States and France.
c. give the United States territory between Canada and Florida east of the Mississippi River.
d. give Americans the right to fish in Atlantic waters off of Canada.
e. require the restoration of Loyalist property seized by local and state
governments.
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b. sever the alliance between the United States and France.
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