U.S. History: Articles of Confederation and Constitution

What was one of the major achievements of the Confederation government? | A. It created systematic and orderly rules for expansion into western lands. | B. It had authority to levy taxes and regulate commerce. | C. It established a national judiciary to interpret laws. | D. It streamlined the process of amending the Articles by requiring only a simple majority for approval.

a

How did Native nations respond to American settlement west of the Appalachians? | A. Native peoples moved farther west to avoid contact with American settlers. | B. Native nations drafted treaties ceding their traditional lands to the United States. | C. Native peoples chose to live peacefully among their new American neighbors. | D. Many Native nations allied with the Spanish in hopes of forestalling American expansion westward.

d

What is the significance of Shays's Rebellion? | A. Shays and his followers were able to secure debt relief for Massachusetts farmers. | B. The rebellion exposed the dangers of a tyrannical central government. | C. The rebellion won support from James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. | D. The rebellion strengthened the hand of nationalists who called for a stronger national government.

d

In what way was the new government under the Constitution less than democratic? | A. Members of the House of Representatives would be chosen by popular election. | B. The national government was given total power over the states. | C. The Constitution provided for a lifetime president and Senate. | D. The president and vice president would be elected indirectly by society's elites in an electoral college.

d

What is federalism? | A. a system of checks and balances that prevents any branch of the national government from dominating the others | B. the division of political power between the national government and the states | C. government based on a two-house legislature with a state's population determining its representation in each | D. government based upon a single-house Congress in which each state cast one vote

b

Although the words "slave" and "slavery" do not appear in the document, how was the institution entrenched and protected in the original Constitution? | A. The Constitution prohibited the abolition of the international slave trade. | B. The Constitution prohibited the return of runaway slaves who sought refuge in non-slaveholding states. | C. The Constitution gave slaveholding states more power in Congress to pass laws favorable to slavery or oppose those which were deemed detrimental. | D. The Constitution provided for the arming of slaves in time of war.

c