Free History of the United States I: Early Colonization to 1877 Practice Questions

Sample Practice Questions

Try these 10 sample questions from the History of the United States I: Early Colonization to 1877 practice bank. Each includes the answer and explanation. Continue with the interactive practice above to review the full question set.

1. 1Under the Articles of Confederation, how were states represented when Congress voted?

   1. A.Each state cast one vote.Correct answer: A
   2. B.Each state voted in proportion to its population.
   3. C.Each state received two votes plus a population share.
   4. D.Each state's vote depended on its tax contributions.

   Explanation: Articles of Confederation states, "In determining questions in the united states, in Congress assembled, each state shall have one vote.". Equal state voting protected state sovereignty; population, mixed-house and revenue-based formulas did not govern this Congress.

   Reference: Articles of Confederation — Article V

2. 2What distinguished an indentured servant's labor obligation from lifelong chattel slavery?

   1. A.The servant's legal status depended solely on African ancestry.
   2. B.A service contract normally ended after a specified term.Correct answer: B
   3. C.The servant's children automatically inherited permanent bondage.
   4. D.The servant could never receive freedom dues.

   Explanation: Outline of U.S. History states, "indentured servants agreed to work for the agencies as contract laborers, usually for four to seven years.". Indenture usually imposed a finite contract rather than hereditary lifetime bondage. Inherited perpetual status, an absolute bar to freedom dues and a racial-only definition misstate that arrangement.

   Reference: Outline of U.S. History — Chapter 1, printed p. 19, indentured migration

3. 3Which colonial New England activity benefited especially from abundant forests and good harbors?

   1. A.Rice planting and milling
   2. B.Sugarcane cultivation and refining
   3. C.Tobacco planting and curing
   4. D.Shipbuilding and maritime tradeCorrect answer: D

   Explanation: Outline of U.S. History states, "Good stands of timber encouraged shipbuilding. Excellent harbors promoted trade". A: Rice was associated with different southern environments. B: Sugarcane required a different climate and plantation setting. C: Tobacco was a different regional staple economy. D: Timber supplied vessels and harbors connected maritime commerce.

   Reference: Outline of U.S. History — Chapter 2, printed p. 24, New England economy

4. 4Why did Puritans support broad literacy among ordinary New England believers?

   1. A.To cultivate classical poetry among wealthy patrons
   2. B.To enable direct reading of ScriptureCorrect answer: B
   3. C.To prepare a small elite for professional clerical offices
   4. D.To train merchants in overseas commercial accounting

   Explanation: Outline of U.S. History states, "The Puritan emphasis on reading directly from the Scriptures underscored the importance of literacy.". A: Elite classical cultivation is not the stated religious rationale. B: Reading Scripture explains mass religious literacy. C: Elite professional preparation is narrower than broad lay literacy. D: Commercial training is a different educational purpose.

   Reference: Outline of U.S. History — Chapter 2, printed p. 27, education

5. 5What happened to French Canada in the 1763 peace settlement?

   1. A.It remained a French colony.
   2. B.It passed to Spanish control.
   3. C.It became an independent confederation.
   4. D.It passed to British control.Correct answer: D

   Explanation: Outline of U.S. History states, "In the Peace of Paris (1763), France relinquished all of Canada, the Great Lakes, and the territory east of the Mississippi to the British.". A: France did not retain Canada. B: Spain was not the recipient of Canada. C: The settlement did not make Canada independently sovereign. D: France ceded Canada to Britain.

   Reference: Outline of U.S. History — Chapter 2, printed p. 33, Peace of Paris 1763

6. 6Under the Articles of Confederation, how was the common treasury normally supplied?

   1. A.Import duties collected independently by national customs officers
   2. B.Land taxes assessed and collected by Congress throughout the states
   3. C.Taxes raised by state legislatures in response to national requisitionsCorrect answer: C
   4. D.Taxes levied directly by Congress on individual residents

   Explanation: Articles of Confederation states, "The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the several states". A: The Articles did not create independent national customs collection. B: Congress did not directly levy land taxes. C: Article VIII assigns collection to state legislatures. D: Congress lacked direct individual taxing power.

   Reference: Articles of Confederation — Article VIII, common treasury and state taxation

7. 7Which settlement pattern is particularly associated with early eighteenth-century Scots-Irish migration into Pennsylvania?

   1. A.Moving into the backcountry to clear land for small farmsCorrect answer: A
   2. B.Entering established urban mercantile communities
   3. C.Acquiring large patroon estates and using tenant labor
   4. D.Forming coastal communities dominated by plantation elites

   Explanation: Outline of U.S. History states, "The Scots-Irish tended to settle in the backcountry, where they cleared land and lived by hunting and subsistence farming.". A: The source characterizes the newcomers' movement into backcountry small farms. B: Urban mercantile settlement is not the characteristic inland farming pattern identified. C: Patroon estates and tenancy describe a different social and landholding pattern. D: Coastal plantation hierarchy differs from the backcountry settlement described.

   Reference: Outline of U.S. History — Chapter 2, printed p. 25, Middle Colonies

8. 8Which export crops helped distinguish colonial South Carolina's plantation economy from Virginia's tobacco specialization?

   1. A.Apples and dairy products
   2. B.Flax and maple sugar
   3. C.Rice and indigoCorrect answer: C
   4. D.Wheat and oats

   Explanation: Outline of U.S. History states, "North and South Carolina also produced and exported rice and indigo". Rice and indigo were major Carolina export staples. Grain, orchard and northern household products do not describe that plantation specialization.

   Reference: Outline of U.S. History — Chapter 2, printed p. 26, Carolinas

9. 9Which activity best illustrates Benjamin Franklin's contribution to Enlightenment civic and intellectual culture?

   1. A.Creating voluntary forums for inquiry such as a learned society and subscription libraryCorrect answer: A
   2. B.Organizing frontier revival meetings through itinerant preaching
   3. C.Composing systematic Calvinist theology and revival sermons
   4. D.Building an experimental communal settlement outside conventional society

   Explanation: Outline of U.S. History states, "He formed a debating club that became the embryo of the American Philosophical Society. His endeavors also led to the founding of a public academy that later developed into the University of Pennsylvania. He was a prime mover in the establishment of a subscription library, which he called “the mother of all North American subscription libraries.”". A: Franklin's debating club and library exemplify shared inquiry. B: This describes a revivalist rather than Franklin's civic-scientific activity. C: This better fits a theological writer such as Edwards. D: Communal experimentation identifies a different reform tradition.

   Reference: Outline of U.S. History — Chapter 2, printed p. 28, Franklin

10. 10What inland strategic issue lay behind colonial concern about the French chain of forts from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi?

    1. A.Competition over Atlantic fishing grounds
    2. B.Disputes over access to Caribbean naval harbors
    3. C.Competition over control of western settlement corridorsCorrect answer: C
    4. D.Disputes over duties on imported Caribbean molasses

    Explanation: Outline of U.S. History states, "for in holding the Mississippi Valley, France could limit their westward expansion.". A: Atlantic fishing was a different geographic rivalry. B: Caribbean harbors were outside the inland corridor at issue. C: The inland French position could restrict westward colonial expansion. D: Molasses duties were a different imperial trade dispute.

    Reference: Outline of U.S. History — Chapter 2, printed p. 32, French strategic position