Multiple Choice
Identify the
choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
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The Beginnings of
Self-Government
The
American system of government has roots in English history and European political philosophy. It also
has roots in the experiences of the colonists, as they struggled against nature, England, and each
other to set up a system that would reflect their beliefs and meet their needs . Thus, to fully
understand the American system, we must look back to the nation's
beginnings.
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1.
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The structure and philosophy of
American government can be traced to
a. | the experiences of the
colonists | c. | European political
philosophy | b. | English history | d. | all of
these |
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The First British
Settlements
In the 1580s,
Sir Walter Raleigh, the adventurer and writer, convinced England's queen, Elizabeth I, to allow
him to establish the first British outpost in North America. He did this by sending a ship of
settlers in 1585 to Roanoke Island off the coast of North Carolina. Raleigh's attempt to
create a settlement was unsuccessful . The first permanent British settlement would not be
established until the 1600s.
Jamestown
In 1607, another group
from London, the Virginia Company, established a trading post in Virginia . This group named its
settlement Jamestown. In the first year of its existence, over 60 percent of the colony's 105
inhabitants died. In 1609, England sent over 800 new settlers. By the spring of the following year,
only 60 were left. The survivors, admitting defeat, decided to return to England. Just as they were
planning to depart, new supplies and more settlers arrived. The original 60 colonists changed their
plans. Together, all the colonists rebuilt Jamestown, which became the first permanent British
settlement in North America
Of the six thousand people who left England for Virginia
between 1607 and 1623, four thousand died. Those who survived established a type of government that
would serve as a model for later colonial adventures
The king of England had given the
Virginia Company a charter, a written grant of authority, to make laws "for the good and
welfare" of the Jamestown settlement . Jamestown's colonists used this charter to
institute a representative assembly, a lawmaking body composed of individuals who represented the
population . Representative assemblies became a typical form of government in the
colonies
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2.
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Sir Walter Raleigh attempted
and failed to create the first settlement in America at
a. | Roanoke Island off the coast of
North Carolina | c. | Jamestown in
Virginia | b. | Philadelphia on the Delaware river | d. | Boston in New England |
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3.
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The first successful settlement
in America was at
a. | Roanoke Island off the coast of
North Carolina | c. | Jamestown in
Virginia | b. | Philadelphia on the Delaware river | d. | Boston in New England |
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4.
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The first settlement in America
was
a. | a religious
settlement | c. | and educational
expedition | b. | a business settlement | d. | none of these |
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5.
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What gave the Virginia Company
the authority to make laws for the colony?
a. | no one, they just assumed the
authority | c. | a charter issued
by the King of England | b. | the Articles of Confederation | d. | a charter issued by the King of
Spain |
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6.
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The first government in the
American colonies was
a. | a
dictatorship | c. | a government based
on the power of the Church of England | b. | a representative assembly | d. | none of these |
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The Pilgrims and the
Mayflower Compact
The Plymouth Company established the
first New England colony in 1620. A group of English Protestants, the Pilgrims, sailed to North
America on the Mayflower. They landed at what is now Provincetown Harbor, at the tip of Cape Cod in
Massachusetts . (They later moved the ship to Plymouth, Massachusetts, which became their new home
.)
Before the Pilgrims went ashore, the adult males drew up the Mayflower Compact, an
agreement in which they set up a government and promised to obey its laws. It was signed by
forty-one of the forty-four men aboard on November 21, 1620. No women were allowed to sign it, nor
did they have any direct part in developing it, because women at that time did not have any political
status. The Pilgrims established a written document for self-government because their leaders
believed that they needed a set of rules to govern themselves and prevent civil disorder. They
also wanted to create a government based on the consent of the governed.
The Mayflower Compact
was in fact a social contract of the type that Locke had described. It was an agreement among
individuals to establish a government and to live by its rules . This particular social contract had
great historical significance because it served as a prototype-a model-for similar compacts in
American history
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7.
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Why did the Pilgrims create the
Mayflower Compact?
a. | they wanted to establish the Church
of England as the official church | c. | no one knows | b. | they were ordered to do so by the king | d. | they wanted to establish an orderly and safe colony for mutual
protection |
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8.
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Because almost all of the
Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact the government they established was based on
a. | pure
democracy | c. | consent of the
governed | b. | rule by the nobility | d. | a fascist type of rule |
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9.
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What philosopher advocated the
type of government established by the Mayflower Compact?
a. | John
Locke | c. | Thomas
Paine | b. | Baron Montesque | d. | Sir Walter Raleigh |
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10.
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What was the source of power
for the government set up by the Mayflower Compact?
a. | the
king | c. | the people who were being
governed | b. | the Mayflower ships officers | d. | the church |
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More Colonies Are Formed
Another settlement in New England was set up by
the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1620. By 1639, a number of Pilgrims who were being persecuted for
their religious beliefs decided to leave the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They colonized the area that
is now Connecticut . In the process, they developed America's first written constitution-the
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut. This document called for a representative assembly. Elected
representatives from each town would serve in the assembly and make laws . The document also called
for the popular election of a governor and judges.
By 1732, all thirteen colonies had been
established . Each colony had its own political documents and constitution. For example, the
Massachusetts Body of Liberties was adopted in 1641. It supported protection of individual rights and
became part of colonial law. In 1683, the Pennsylvania Frame of Government was passed. This document,
along with the Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges of 1701, established some of the principles that
were later expressed in the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights |  | | |
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11.
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What was the first written
constitution in America called?
a. | U.S.
Constitution | c. | Articles of
Confederation | b. | Magna Carta | d. | Fundamental Orders of Connecticut |
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12.
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The first constitutional
government in the U.S. had
a. | a
governor | d. | all of
these | b. | an assembly for making laws | e. | none of these | c. | a court system |
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13.
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Which statement is
true?
a. | By the middle 1700’s each
colony had its own established government | c. | the colonies did not establish their own governments until after the
Revolutionary War | b. | By the middle 1700’s each colony was ruled by a royal
dictatorship | d. | There was only one government for
all of the colonies |
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14.
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The basic ideas for
constitutional government and a Bill of Rights were well established in each of the colonies well
before the American Revolution in 1776
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Early
Legislatures
Not only did
the colonies have constitutions, they also had lawmaking bodies or legislatures. The first was the
Virginia House of Burgesses, established in 1619. By the time the colonies declared
independence from England in 1776, each colony had its own representative legislature, and most of
these legislatures had been operating for over a hundred years. The colonial legislatures were the
schooling grounds for many of the leaders who later wrote the U.S. Constitution . The legislatures
gave leaders experience in self-government and provided a model for our later political
framework.
Colonial legislatures and their
individual members also had extensive contact with the governing methods of the native peoples.
Indeed, some of the distinctive political beliefs of American life emerged out of a rich Native
American democratic tradition.
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15.
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Which statement is
true
a. | By the time of the Revolution in
1776, most of the colonies were still trying to establish representative
legislatures | c. | By the time of the
Revolution in 1776, all of the colonies had well established representative
legislatures | b. | The Indians taught the colonists how to write a
constitution | d. | none of these statements are
true |
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16.
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What is a legislature used
for?
a. | making
laws | c. | both making and enforcing
laws | b. | enforcing laws | d. | neither making nor enforcing
laws |
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17.
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It is clear from these readings
that by the middle of the 1700’s most Americans believed in the “Divine Right of
Kings.”
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Problem
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Early
Legislatures
Not only did
the colonies have constitutions, they also had lawmaking bodies or legislatures. The first was the
Virginia House of Burgesses, established in 1619. By the time the colonies declared
independence from England in 1776, each colony had its own representative legislature, and most of
these legislatures had been operating for over a hundred years. The colonial legislatures were the
schooling grounds for many of the leaders who later wrote the U.S. Constitution . The legislatures
gave leaders experience in self-government and provided a model for our later political
framework.
Colonial legislatures and their
individual members also had extensive contact with the governing methods of the native peoples.
Indeed, some of the distinctive political beliefs of American life emerged out of a rich Native
American democratic tradition.
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18.
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What is the main idea of the
passages above?
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