Quiz for Sources for America's History, Chapter 8

Question

1. J. Hill’s lithograph, Junction of Erie and Northern Canal (Document 8-1), provides evidence to support which of the following conclusions?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is d. This lithograph, which depicts a prosperous small town on the edges of the canal surrounded by fertile land, suggests that the arrival of canals and roads in the nation’s interior built new businesses, such as mills, factories, hotels, and shipping companies, but that the commercial economy complemented and bolstered the agricultural economy rather than supplanting it.
Incorrect. The answer is d. This lithograph, which depicts a prosperous small town on the edges of the canal, surrounded by fertile land, suggests that the arrival of canals and roads in the nation’s interior built new businesses, such as mills, factories, hotels, and shipping companies, but that the commercial economy complemented and bolstered the agricultural economy rather than supplanting it.

Question

2. How did the article “Home Influence” from Baltimore’s Weekly Register (Document 8-2) challenge the arguments Thomas Jefferson made in Notes on the State of Virginia (Document 7-2)?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is a. Whereas Jefferson wrote in Notes on the State of Virginia that “those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God,” and that independent farmers were the virtuous people who could best create and sustain a republican government, this article proposed that domestic manufacturing was actually the means by which Americans could become independent and virtuous. The author of “Home Influence” suggested that economic independence from Great Britain was the key to a prosperous economy and a successful republican government.
Incorrect. The answer is a. Whereas Jefferson wrote in Notes on the State of Virginia that “those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God,” and that independent farmers were the virtuous people who could best create and sustain a republican government, this article proposed that domestic manufacturing was actually the means by which Americans could become independent and virtuous. The author of “Home Influence” suggested that economic independence from Great Britain was the key to a prosperous economy and a successful republican government.

Question

3. Mercy Otis Warren’s letters to her young friend and to Catharine Sawbridge Macaulay

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is d. These letters are useful to historians because of what they reveal about Mercy Otis Warren and her views on the republican culture and political system that were emerging in the 1790s. Warren was extraordinary and not necessarily a representative of “women’s” views or experience more generally.
Incorrect. The answer is d. These letters are useful to historians because of what they reveal about Mercy Otis Warren and her views on the republican culture and political system that were emerging in the 1790s. Warren was extraordinary and not necessarily a representative of “women’s” views or experience more generally.

Question

4. Why did Benjamin Rush (Document 8-4) argue for American women to receive the benefits of education in the subjects he proposed?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is a. Rush did not advocate education for women in order to make them men’s equals or to give them access to the rights and privileges of American citizenship. He saw women’s education primarily as a means through which they could learn to subordinate themselves to their husbands’ authority and acquire the skills necessary to educate virtuous male citizens.
Incorrect. The answer is a. Rush did not advocate education for women in order to make them men’s equals or to give them access to the rights and privileges of American citizenship. He saw women’s education primarily as a means through which they could learn to subordinate themselves to their husbands’ authority and acquire the skills necessary to educate virtuous male citizens.

Question

5. In his 1820 letter to John Holmes (Document 8-5), Thomas Jefferson described his concerns about the Missouri Compromise and suggested that Congress had overstepped its authority by “regulat[ing] the condition of the different descriptions of men composing a state.” The authority to allow or prohibit slavery, he suggested, was “the exclusive right of every state, which nothing in the constitution has taken from them and given to the general government.” This opinion contradicts the position and actions Jefferson had taken in which prior instance?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is b. Although Jefferson argued in 1820 that Congress did not have the authority to create legislation that would allow or prohibit slavery in particularly states, he had taken a completely different position in 1787 when he drafted the Northwest Ordinance, which stipulated that slavery would not be permitted in the new states carved out of the Old Northwest. The Northwest Ordinance was enacted by the Second Continental Congress in 1787, two years before the U.S. Congress was established by the U.S. Constitution. Nevertheless, in 1787 Jefferson believed that the federal government had the authority to determine the status of slavery in new states, which contradicted his position in 1820.
Incorrect. The answer is b. Although Jefferson argued in 1820 that Congress did not have the authority to create legislation that would allow or prohibit slavery in particularly states, he had taken a completely different position in 1787 when he drafted the Northwest Ordinance, which stipulated that slavery would not be permitted in the new states carved out of the Old Northwest. The Northwest Ordinance was enacted by the Second Continental Congress in 1787, two years before the U.S. Congress was established by the U.S. Constitution. Nevertheless, in 1787 Jefferson believed that the federal government had the authority to determine the status of slavery in new states, which contradicted his position in 1820.

Question

6. In “Analects Upon the Rights of Man” (Document 8-6), Lorenzo Dow was making an argument in support of the

A.
B.
C.
D.

Correct. The answer is d. Dow, an itinerant evangelical preacher, was arguing that religion, like politics, should be democratic. He opposed the notion that traditional religious leaders and institutions were needed to guide and direct common Americans, arguing instead that such people could do God’s work in simple ways that would ultimately redeem the world.
Incorrect. The answer is d. Dow, an itinerant evangelical preacher, was arguing that religion, like politics, should be democratic. He opposed the notion that traditional religious leaders and institutions were needed to guide and direct common Americans, arguing instead that such people could do God’s work in simple ways that would ultimately redeem the world.