Chapter Chronology

Quiz for Visualizing History: “The Great Seal of the United States”

Select the best answer for each question. Click the “submit” button for each question to turn in your work.

Question

1. Why did Congress decide in 1776 that it was important for the United States to have an official seal?

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B.
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D.
Correct. The answer is b. Congress wanted to design a seal for the United States so that the nation could sign and authenticate official documents and treaties. Having a seal was also a symbolic way that the United States could assert its identity as a fully-fledged independent nation.
Incorrect. The answer is b. Congress wanted to design a seal for the United States so that the nation could sign and authenticate official documents and treaties. Having a seal was also a symbolic way that the United States could assert its identity as a fully-fledged independent nation.

Question

2. Why might Francis Hopkinson, who drew the 1780 design of the United States seal, have decided to include a Roman centurion (military officer) in his design?

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B.
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D.
Correct. The answer is d. The Roman figure most likely functioned as an emblem of the political system associated with the Roman Republic, which was an important intellectual reference point for the new state governments that comprised the United States. Republicanism stressed popular elections, representative institutions, and a government that promoted the welfare of the people.
Incorrect. The answer is d. The Roman figure most likely functioned as an emblem of the political system associated with the Roman Republic, which was an important intellectual reference point for the new state governments that comprised the United States. Republicanism stressed popular elections, representative institutions, and a government that promoted the welfare of the people.

Question

3. In the first draft of the United States seal, the drawing of the shield and the phrase E Pluribus Unum (“Out of Many, One”) both represent the idea that the new nation should be governed as

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B.
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D.
Correct. The answer is b. The shield is drawn as one large shield comprised of thirteen smaller shields, each representing one of the new states. Both this concept and the phrase “out of many, one” illustrate the same idea that underpinned the Articles of Confederation: that the United States would be a confederacy of independent states.
Incorrect. The answer is b. The shield is drawn as one large shield comprised of thirteen smaller shields, each representing one of the new states. Both this concept and the phrase “out of many, one” illustrate the same idea that underpinned the Articles of Confederation: that the United States would be a confederacy of independent states.

Question

4. Why did Congress decide on the final seal design so quickly in June 1782 after years of failed design suggestions?

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Correct. The answer is a. Since one of the main impetuses for creating the seal was to allow the United States to sign treaties, the imminence of the Treaty of Paris pushed the issue of finalizing a design for the seal, which is why Congress commissioned and approved Thomson’s design in less than a week.
Incorrect. The answer is a. Since one of the main impetuses for creating the seal was to allow the United States to sign treaties, the imminence of the Treaty of Paris pushed the issue of finalizing a design for the seal, which is why Congress commissioned and approved Thomson’s design in less than a week.

Question

5. How might Congress have hoped American citizens would react to the creation of an official seal for of the newly-founded United States in 1782?

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B.
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Correct. The answer is c. The design of the Great Seal was an act of nation-building, in which Congress strove to inspire feelings of patriotism, pride, and allegiance towards what was at the time a very young nation.
Incorrect. The answer is c. The design of the Great Seal was an act of nation-building, in which Congress strove to inspire feelings of patriotism, pride, and allegiance towards what was at the time a very young nation.