henrettasources

Quiz for Sources for America’s History, Part 3

Document Links

Question

1. John Dickinson’s song (Document P3-1), composed to win support for the American cause, emphasized the importance of which concept?

American independence from Britain

No taxation without representation

The illegitimacy of monarchy

Reconciliation with Britain

Correct. The answer is b. This song, written in 1768, emphasized Americans’ rights as British citizens and stressed the injustice of Britain’s recent efforts to extract tax revenue from the colonists. It aimed to unite Americans around the cause of unfair taxation.

Incorrect. The answer is b. This song, written in 1768, emphasized Americans’ rights as British citizens and stressed the injustice of Britain’s recent efforts to extract tax revenue from the colonists. It aimed to unite Americans around the cause of unfair taxation.

Question

2. De Crèvecoeur’s description of life in America in the 1780s (Document P3-2) corresponds to the vision articulated by which of the following leaders of the new nation?

Alexander Hamilton

George Washington

Thomas Jefferson

Benjamin Franklin

Correct. The answer is c. De Crèvecoeur wrote, “Some few towns excepted, we are all tillers of the earth, from Nova Scotia to West Florida. We are a people of cultivators, scattered over an immense territory, communicating with each other by means of good roads and navigable rivers, united by the silken banks of mild government, all respecting the laws, without dreading their power, because they are equitable. We are all animated with the spirit of an industry which is unfettered and unrestrained, because each person works for himself.” His description corresponds closely to Thomas Jefferson’s vision of an American republic founded on a population of independent small farmers.

Incorrect. The answer is c. De Crèvecoeur wrote, “Some few towns excepted, we are all tillers of the earth, from Nova Scotia to West Florida. We are a people of cultivators, scattered over an immense territory, communicating with each other by means of good roads and navigable rivers, united by the silken banks of mild government, all respecting the laws, without dreading their power, because they are equitable. We are all animated with the spirit of an industry which is unfettered and unrestrained, because each person works for himself.” His description corresponds closely to Thomas Jefferson’s vision of an American republic founded on a population of independent small farmers.

Question

3. In the tumultuous decades that followed the American Revolution, Judith Sargent Murray, in the essay “On the Equality of the Sexes” (Document P3-3), uses the era’s democratic ideals to argue which of the following?

Women should have the same political rights as men.

Society created women’s inferiority to men, not biology.

Educated women could be better mothers to their sons.

Women’s work was no less important than men’s work.

Correct. The answer is b. In the same era that Americans began to question such time-honored conventions as aristocracy and monarchy, Judith Sargent Murray published this essay to question the assumption that women were naturally inferior to men. She argues in this essay that women’s inferiority came from social and cultural practices, not biology.

Incorrect. The answer is b. In the same era that Americans began to question such time-honored conventions as aristocracy and monarchy, Judith Sargent Murray published this essay to question the assumption that women were naturally inferior to men. She argues in this essay that women’s inferiority came from social and cultural practices, not biology.

Question

4. The messages contained in George Washington’s “Farewell Address” (Document P3-4) suggest that he issued it for which of the following reasons?

Washington wanted to warn Americans about particular domestic and foreign enemies who threatened to undermine the nation’s institutions.

Washington sought to underscore the need for all Americans—both inside and outside of government—to place the interests of the nation above their own.

Washington, fearing that John Adams was not a skilled politician, hoped to chart a clear path for Adams to follow during his presidential term.

Washington recognized that the Union was unstable and sought to instruct those in power about how to solve the problems he was leaving behind.

Correct. The answer is b. Washington’s “Farewell Address” warns Americans about the potential threats to the nation posed by factions and foreign entanglements and suggests that these might be avoided if citizens and political leaders alike place the interests of the United States above all others.

Incorrect. The answer is b. Washington’s “Farewell Address” warns Americans about the potential threats to the nation posed by factions and foreign entanglements and suggests that these might be avoided if citizens and political leaders alike place the interests of the United States above all others.

Question

5. Margaret Van Horn Dwight’s “A Journey to Ohio” (Document P3-5) would be most useful to a historian who was trying to find evidence and gain understanding about which of the following topics?

Pennsylvania Dutch settlers’ impressions of and opinions about New Englanders

Pennsylvania Dutch settlers’ religious practices and educational status

An elite New England woman’s perspective on Dutch settlers in Pennsylvania

How people in different parts of the United States understood American identity

Correct. The answer is c. For a historian, Margaret Van Horn Dwight’s journal would provide the most useful evidence and information about an elite New England woman’s perspective on Dutch settlers in Pennsylvania. It would also give a historian some insight into the experiences and practices of Pennsylvania Dutch settlers, but only as they were filtered through Dwight’s eyes.

Incorrect. The answer is c. For a historian, Margaret Van Horn Dwight’s journal would provide the most useful evidence and information about an elite New England woman’s perspective on Dutch settlers in Pennsylvania. It would also give a historian some insight into the experiences and practices of Pennsylvania Dutch settlers, but only as they were filtered through Dwight’s eyes.

Question

6. The passage from James Flint’s Letters from America (Document P3-6) suggests that he regarded the Americans he observed at Methodist camp meetings in Indiana as

rational men and women, well prepared to participate in politics.

faithful sheep who can be easily manipulated by self-interested leaders.

different from, but fully equal to, elites in East Coast cities.

energetic citizens eager to bring their religious enthusiasm to bear on public life.

Correct. The answer is b. Unlike many observers, such as de Crèvecoeur and others who emphasized the independence and virtue of the American citizenry, Flint viewed the Americans who attended this camp meeting on the frontier as impressionable people who were too easily manipulated by charismatic preachers.

Incorrect. The answer is b. Unlike many observers, such as de Crèvecoeur and others who emphasized the independence and virtue of the American citizenry, Flint viewed the Americans who attended this camp meeting on the frontier as impressionable people who were too easily manipulated by charismatic preachers.