CLEP U.S. History Exam

John Adams:

1797-1801. Born on October 30, 1735 in Braintree, Massachusetts. In October 1770, Adams gained fame after defending the British soldiers who were charged for the Boston Massacre. Four years later, Adams attended the First Continental Congress as a delegate from Massachusetts. In 1776, he served on the committee to prepare the Declaration of Independence, just one of ninety committees on which he worked. Adams authored the Massachusetts state constitution, the longest running state constitution in the nation. Was pressured into signed the Alien and Sedition Acts which were as follows:

Naturalization Act: Increased the residency requirement for U.S. citizenship from 5 to 14 years.

Alien Act (Alien Friends Act): Allowed the president to deport any non-citizen deemed "dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States".

Alien Enemies Act: Allowed for the arrest and deportation of male citizens from a nation at war with the U.S..

Sedition Act: Made it a crime to publish "false, scandalous, and malicious writing" against the government or its officials. 

Thomas Jefferson:

1801-1809. Jefferson fully embraced the lifestyle of an affluent member of the planter class, and over the course of his lifetime he owned over 600 enslaved people—the most of any American president. Jefferson was elected to the Continental Congress. In 1776, he completed one of his greatest career achievements—The Declaration of Independence. Jefferson soon emerged as a leader of the Democratic-Republicans, receiving enough Electoral College votes in 1796 to become vice president under John Adams. Four years later, Jefferson defeated Adams and Aaron Burr, assuming the presidency on March 4, 1801. As president, Jefferson also acquired 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River from France for $15 million. This land deal, known as the Louisiana Purchase, doubled the size of the United States, while setting up the fledgling nation for westward expansion throughout the nineteenth century.

James Madison:

1809-1817. Madison spent months in his library drafting a document now referred to as the Virginia Plan. The Virginia Plan laid the foundation for the United States Constitution, proposing a centralized government consisting of three branches, where each branch would provide checks and balances so that no branch could become too powerful. Over the next several months, Madison played a central role convincing the delegates to create a new government with more authority and centralized power rather than simply revising the Articles of Confederation. After the delegates completed the Constitution, they submitted it to the states for ratification. As the state legislatures deliberated, Madison worked with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay to author a series of letters defending the Constitution. These letters, known as the Federalist Papers, were published in newspapers throughout the country. During his presidency, Madison faced mounting tensions between the United States and Great Britain. British forces continued to harass American ships, as well as seize cargo and impress American sailors into the Royal Navy. The “War Hawks” in Congress pressed Madison to consider military action. On June 18, 1812, the United States declared war on Great Britain. Four months later a peace agreement was brokered, and the war officially came to an end with the ratification of the Treaty of Ghent in February 1815.

James Monroe:

1817-1825. He fought in the American Revolution and was wounded at the Battle of Trenton; served in the legislative bodies of the Virginia General Assembly and the United States Senate, as well as Governor of Virginia; held diplomatic posts across Europe for different administrations; and served as Secretary of State and Secretary of War (briefly acting in both capacities) during the James Madison administration. He also studied law with Thomas Jefferson—in fact, because of his relationship with Jefferson, Monroe purchased land adjacent to Monticello in Albemarle County, calling it Highland. As the country expanded westward, the issue of permitting slavery in new territories would continue to threaten a fragile Union. The Missouri Compromise of 1820, signed by President Monroe, temporarily defused the situation. Working with Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, Monroe professed American sovereignty from European nations while asserting a national right of influence over the western hemisphere. This idea, later called the “Monroe Doctrine,” shaped the next century of international relations between the United States and the world, influencing American presidents and policymakers who sought to make the country a global power.

John Quincy Adams:

1825-1829. On July 11, 1767, John Quincy Adams was born in Braintree, Massachusetts to Abigail and John Adams. in 1817, John Quincy Adams served as secretary of state for President James Monroe. He authored the Monroe Doctrine, which declared the United States’ intention to resist European intervention in Latin America. In 1841, he argued in front of the Supreme Court in the United Staes v. Amistad case and won the release of enslaved African captives.

Andrew Jackson:

1829-1837. He served as a district attorney and later practiced law throughout Tennessee before settling in Nashville. In 1802, he was elected General of the Tennessee Militia, serving in different theaters as needed. In 1812, President James Madison commissioned him Major General of U.S. Volunteers and he led military campaigns against the Creek Nation. With their defeat, Jackson imposed treaties on the Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Cherokees, securing millions of acres of land for white settlers. He was later called upon to wage war against the Seminoles. Jackson’s interpretation of his orders resulted in an invasion of Spanish Florida, and in 1819 Spain ceded the territory to the United States. Advocated for the common man. Jackson respected the right of individuals to own property and had no moral qualms when it came to profiting from slavery. At the same time, he viewed pro-slavery fanatics and abolitionists negatively, blaming both groups for instigating sectional discord. His support of the “Gag Rule” and the suppression of abolitionist literature reflected his acceptance of slavery and general opposition to anything he perceived as a threat to the Union. This same mentality guided his reaction to the Nullification Crisis in 1832—as Jackson was eager and willing to force South Carolina to comply with federal law over the tariffs. He also signed the Indian Removal Act in 1830—and forced dozens of unfair treaties on Native-American peoples. President Jackson maintained that removal was the best solution for all parties, as it would preserve Indian cultures, prevent unwanted assimilation, and limit violence between white settlers and Native Americans. Best intentions aside, this devastating relocation resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of indigenous peoples as they were forcibly pushed westward by the military.

Martin Van Buren:

1837-1841. In 1821, the state legislature elected Van Buren to represent New York in the United States Senate, where he served until he resigned to become the Governor of New York. He held this office briefly before accepting the position of Secretary of State for President Andrew Jackson. He became the first president to use the term “slavery” in an inaugural address, affirming his support for the institution. As president, Van Buren continued many of his predecessor’s policies—including the forcible removal of thousands of Native Americans from their lands. His administration’s involvement in the United States v. Amistad case on behalf of the Spanish government was viewed as a defense of slavery, though it lost the case at the United States Supreme Court. He did draw a sharp contrast to Jackson on the issue of Texas, as Van Buren believed annexation of a territory that permitted slavery would incite political discord and likely instigate a war with Mexico. In 1844, Van Buren was poised to reclaim leadership of the Democratic Party, but his opposition to the annexation of Texas ultimately hurt him with southern delegates and those that favored westward expansion. Van Buren made one more attempt to return to the White House in 1848 as the presidential candidate for the Free Soil Party—a party that was formed to oppose the expansion of slavery into the western territories but Major General Zachary Taylor ultimately won the 1848 election.

William Henry Harrison:

1841. As Native American peoples continued to resist displacement, Harrison served as aide-de-camp to General “Mad Anthony” Wayne at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, which opened most of the Ohio area to settlement. After resigning from the army in 1798, he became secretary of the Northwest Territory, was its first delegate to Congress, and helped obtain legislation dividing the Territory into the Northwest and Indiana Territories. In 1801 he became governor of the Indiana Territory, serving 12 years. At the Battle of the Thames, north of Lake Erie, on October 5, 1813, he defeated the combined British and Native American forces. Tecumseh was killed in the battle, scattering his allies and destroying the delicate Native American alliance he had forged. The Native Americans scattered, never again to offer serious resistance in what was then called the Northwest.

Throughout his lifetime, Harrison offered contradictory views on slavery. As a slave owner, he opposed the idea of Congress restricting slavery in new territories. As his political career took off, he carefully avoided condemning slavery and instead professed the belief that the states themselves should decide its fate. On April 4, 1841, he died at the White House—the first president to die in office—and with him died the Whig program.

John Tyler:

1841-1845. While he considered himself a Democrat, he sometimes opposed President Andrew Jackson’s policies—specifically whenever the president opted to use executive power at the expense of the states. Vice President Tyler took the oath of office with Harrison’s cabinet present and assumed all presidential authority immediately, but the new president quickly found himself at odds with leaders in the Whig Party. His veto of legislation that would revive the Second Bank of the United States sparked a visceral reaction from both politicians and citizens alike. The Whig Party cast Tyler out and most of his cabinet resigned over this episode; at the same time, his Democratic friends no longer trusted him. A few days before leaving office, Tyler signed legislation to annex Texas—an expansionist policy goal he had pursued since becoming president and probably his most notable achievement.

James K. Polk:

1845-1849. In 1823, he was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives, where he was known for consistently backing the political aspirations of “Old Hickory,” otherwise known as General Andrew Jackson. For this support, Polk gained the nickname “Young Hickory.” In 1825, Polk was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and in 1835, he became Speaker of the House where he used his authority to strictly enforce a “Gag Rule” barring the discussion of slavery. Polk was chosen as the presidential nominee at the convention, largely because of his support for “Manifest Destiny” and expanding the United States’ territorial holdings. The “dark horse candidate” faced off against Whig candidate Henry Clay and won, becoming the eleventh president of the United States in 1845. After successfully renegotiating the Canadian boundary to the 49th parallel with Great Britain, Polk instigated the Mexican-American War, a two-year conflict stemming from the 1845 annexation of Texas. In 1846, Polk sent American diplomat John Slidell to secretly negotiate a dispute over Texas’ boundary claims and purchase the territories of New Mexico and California for up to $30 million. When the Mexican government turned Slidell away, President Polk ordered American troops under General Zachary Taylor to move into and occupy disputed territory, inciting the conflict with Mexico. At the conclusion of the conflict, the United States successfully acquired more than 500,000 square miles of Mexico’s land holdings including present-day California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. President Polk publicly supported the expansion of slavery into these territories.

Zachary Taylor:

1849-1850. Taylor gained national prominence after he won a series of major military victories during the Mexican-American War. Despite being outnumbered by Mexican forces, Taylor’s defeat of General Antonio López de Santa Anna at the Battle of Buena Vista cemented his status as a military hero and prepared him for the American political stage. One of the main issues during the Taylor presidency were the lands acquired from the victory in the Mexican-American War. Northerners and southerners sharply disagreed over whether the territories wrested from Mexico should be opened to slavery. Although Taylor subscribed to Whig principles of legislative leadership, he did not blindly support Whig leaders in Congress. While he attempted to remain above the political fray, Taylor personally did not support the expansion of slavery.

Millard Fillmore:

1850-1853. Douglas’s effective strategy in Congress, combined with Fillmore’s pressure from the White House gave impetus to the Compromise movement. The acts passed both chambers of Congress, and were signed by President Fillmore in September 1850. These pieces of legislation admitted California as a "free state"; organized the territorial governments of New Mexico and Utah on the basis of popular sovereignty; established a boundary between Texas and New Mexico; abolished the slave trade in the nation's capital; and strengthened the Fugitive Slave Act.

Fillmore believed that his efforts had averted a major crisis and saved the Union. Instead, this sectional truce left most factions unsatisfied. Fillmore's signing of the Fugitive Slave Act was also heavily criticized by abolitionists. By law, the federal government was now required to assist slave owners in recapturing enslaved people, even if they were found in states where slavery was outlawed. There were also harsh penalties for anyone caught assisting or hiding enslaved people.

Franklin Pierce:

1853-1857.
The most violent renewal of national turbulence came from the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and reopened the question of slavery in the West. This measure, the handiwork of Senator Stephen A. Douglas, grew in part out of Douglas’s desire to promote a railroad from Chicago to California through Nebraska. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, advocate of a southern transcontinental route, had already persuaded Pierce to send James Gadsden to Mexico to buy land for a southern railroad. He purchased the area now comprising southern Arizona and part of southern New Mexico for $10,000,000.

Douglas’s proposal, to organize western territories through which a railroad might run, caused extreme trouble. Douglas provided in his bills that the residents of the new territories could decide the slavery question for themselves—otherwise known as popular sovereignty. The result was a rush into Kansas, as proslavery and antislavery activists vied for control of the territory. Violence ensued, and “Bleeding Kansas” became a prelude to the Civil War.

James Buchanan:

1857-1861. He became James K. Polk’s secretary of state and Franklin Pierce’s minister to Great Britain.