1. The presidential election of 1800 was thrown into the House of Representatives because
a. John Adams objected to the outcome.
b. Alexander Hamilton’s meddling threw the outcome into doubt.
c. Thomas Jefferson and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney got an equal number of votes.
d. Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr got an equal number of votes.
The answer is d. Burr was supposed to be Jefferson’s running mate. However, when he and Jefferson received an equal number of votes in the electoral college, Burr refused to concede the presidency to Jefferson. This meant that the election decision was sent to the House of Representatives, where it took thirty–six ballots to resolve the question of who would be the country’s next president.
2. The 1803 Supreme Court decision in Marbury v. Madison was a landmark case because it
a. allowed the House of Representatives to determine the constitutionality of laws.
b. increased the power of the president.
c. forced President Jefferson to honor President Adams’s appointments.
d. was the first time the Court acted to disallow a law on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.
The answer is d. In the Marbury v. Madison case, the Supreme Court ruled that, although Jefferson should honor John Adams’s commissions, the Court could not compel him to do so. However, by declaring that the grounds of Marbury’s suit were invalid because they were in conflict with the Constitution, the Court in effect assumed the legal authority to nullify acts of the other branches of the federal government if the Court determined that those acts violated the Constitution.
3. From 1776 to 1801, American ships secured safe passage off the coast of North Africa by
a. sailing under the British flag.
b. paying tribute to four Muslim coastal states.
c. forming a military alliance with Arabic navies.
d. promising local Arabic leaders that they were not trading in slaves.
The answer is b. Prior to 1776, American ships had sailed under the British flag and enjoyed the protection afforded by British tribute payments to the Barbary States—Algiers, Morocco, Tripoli, and Tunis. Ships from nations that refused to pay the tribute were subject to piracy by the four coastal settlements. To protect American merchants, the U.S. government paid the tribute.
4. In the Chesapeake incident of 1807,
a. a British ship captured an American privateer that ran aground just off the English coast.
b. a French ship fired on a British merchant vessel as it emerged from New York City’s harbor.
c. a British naval vessel fired on an American ship at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.
d. an American naval vessel sank a British frigate in an open fight on the high seas.
The answer is c. In June 1807, the Leopard, a frigate in the British navy, stopped the American ship Chesapeake and demanded that a crew be allowed to board the Chesapeake and search for British deserters. After the Chesapeake’s commander refused the search, the Leopard opened fire, killing three Americans. The incident, which happened well within U.S. territory, prompted President Jefferson and Congress to pass the Embargo Act.
5. The social network that brought politicians together and facilitated communication for hiring and promotion during the Madison administration included
a. twice weekly cabinet meetings held by James Madison at a local tavern.
b. monthly barbecues held by Republican senators on the lawn of the Capitol building.
c. presidential press conferences held in the Oval Office on the second Thursday of every month.
d. weekly parties hosted by Dolley Madison at the presidential residence.
The answer is d. Dolley Madison’s weekly dinners, called “Mrs. Madison’s crush” or “squeeze” because of the high demand to attend, became an important way for those in government to meet in a nonpartisan setting and establish social connections that were vital to the business of running the country. Dolley Madison’s skill at political hospitality earned her the nickname of the “presidentress.”
6. The defeat of the Indians at Tippecanoe in 1811 propelled
a. Tecumseh into an alliance with British military commanders.
b. Americans into war with England.
c. the War Hawks into renewed commitment.
d. All of the above.
The correct answer is is d. Tecumseh was deeply upset by William Henry Harrison’s successful attack on Prophetstown and the bad faith the American government and settlers were showing. This gave him every reason to ally himself with British military commanders stationed at outposts in southern Canada and contributed to the outbreak of the War of 1812, which was supported by the War Hawks, western and southern congressmen who sought a war with Britain to justify attacks on Indians and to bring an end to British impressment of American sailors.
7. According to the War Hawks’ Report on the Causes and Reasons for War, war with Great Britain was necessary because
a. the United States needed Canada and Florida.
b. the rate of impressments was rising.
c. of the British lust for power and mad ambition that dishonored the United States.
d. trade between Britain and South America hurt the American economy.
The answer is c. Even though the Report on the Causes and Reasons for War was issued in response to the British seizure of American ships, the impressment of American sailors, and the alliance between the British and Tecumseh, it contained extravagant language about Britain’s “lust for power,” “unbounded tyranny,” and “mad ambition” to demonstrate the ways Great Britain insulted the honor of the United States.
8. Delegates to the Hartford Convention in December 1814 proposed
a. amending the Constitution to protect New England’s sectional interests.
b. refusing to pay for the war.
c. rejecting the Treaty of Ghent.
d. All of the above.
The answer is a. New Englanders had been unenthusiastic about the war; New England congressmen had largely voted against the initial war declaration. Although they could not prevent the war from breaking out, they resisted it by dragging their feet in raising troops for the national army. The main thrust of the Hartford Convention had to do with proposing constitutional amendments that would reduce the South’s political power and make sure that no sectional party or group could ever again lead the country into war at the expense of another group. Delegates wanted to abolish the three–fifths clause as a basis of representation, make certain important types of legislation subject to a two–thirds congressional vote rather than a simple majority, limit the president to one term, and prohibit successive presidents from the same state.
9. Under the legal doctrine of feme covert, wives had
a. limited property rights.
b. no independent legal or political personhood.
c. full custody of their children.
d. no right to work for pay.
The answer is b. The doctrine of feme covert maintained that a married woman’s civic life was subsumed by her husband’s. A married woman was obligated to obey her husband and had no legal claim to her property, her earnings, or even their children.
10. When state legislatures codified their laws, they generally
a. addressed women’s unequal status.
b. gave women the right to vote in state elections.
c. passed up the opportunity to change women’s unequal status.
d. worsened women’s unequal status.
The answer is c. Although states rewrote many British laws in light of republican principles, for the most part they did not alter the laws of domestic relations. American legislators simply assumed that unequal power relations lay at the heart of the family.
11. Around 1800, the church hierarchy of most Protestant denominations was
a. dominated by women.
b. almost exclusively male.
c. elected by church members.
d. composed of elderly men and women.
The answer is b. By 1800, white women composed the majority of congregants. However, nearly all ordained ministers and church elders were male, which meant that most denominations were governed by men.
12. Quaker women who felt a special call were
a. often forced out of their congregation.
b. ignored.
c. quietly tolerated.
d. accorded the status of ministers.
The answer is d. Quakers had a long history of recognizing that women’s spiritual talents could equal those of men. Although Quaker governance was sex segregated, with separate men’s and women’s committees hearing disciplinary cases and formulating church policy, Quaker women were able to lead and speak in religious meetings.
13. Missouri’s admission to statehood was complicated because
a. of the ten thousand slaves in the territory.
b. it lacked the minimum number of residents.
c. southerners opposed its entrance to the Union.
d. most Missourians wanted to remain independent.
The answer is a. Missouri lined up geographically with the free states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. However, it also bordered the southern slave states of Kentucky and Tennessee. As southern white planters had migrated to Missouri, they brought their human property with them, and thus about a sixth of the territory’s population was enslaved. Northerners did not want to see a slave state so far to the north, but southerners could not let the balance of power tip toward the free states.
14. James, amendments to the Missouri statehood bill in 1819 caused controversy because they proposed
a. gradually emancipating all American slaves.
b. gradually emancipating all slaves in Missouri.
c. ending the sale of slaves between states.
d. ending the sale of slaves in the United States.
The answer is b. Tallmadge proposed two amendments to the Missouri statehood bill: the first stipulated that slaves born in Missouri after the enactment of the law be freed at the age of twenty–five, while the second declared that no new slaves could be imported into the state. Tallmadge modeled the first amendment on New York’s gradual emancipation law of 1799.
15. The 1824 election was the first presidential contest in which candidates’ popularity with ordinary voters could be measured, because in all but six of the twenty–four states
a. voters voted for the president directly.
b. voters chose the members of the electoral college.
c. voters voted for the state senators who chose the electoral college members.
d. public opinion polls were widely used.
The answer is b. Prior to 1824, state legislatures chose electors for the electoral college. However, by 1824 all but six states had changed their state constitutions to allow voters the privilege of choosing the electoral college. Because potential electors campaigned by supporting particular candidates, the composition of the electoral college in 1824 reflected popular opinion, at least among the quarter of eligible voters who bothered to exercise the franchise.
16. John Quincy Adams’s victory in the 1824 election was characterized as a “corrupt bargain” on account of
a. Adams’s appointment of Henry Clay as secretary of state.
b. Adams’s shameless pandering to the House of Representatives.
c. the liberal use of bribes and payments.
d. Adams’s widespread use of patronage positions to secure support.
The answer is a. After Henry Clay dropped out of the election, he convinced his supporters in the House to vote in favor of Adams rather than Andrew Jackson. Although Clay and Adams loathed each other, they had political concerns in common, particularly their interest in federal support for internal improvements. But when Adams appointed Clay secretary of state three days after the election, Jackson’s supporters protested that a backroom deal had been made, robbing their candidate of his rightful victory.
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