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 SettlementsIn 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
![nar002-1.jpg](gov_ch_2-1_early_se_files/nar002-1.jpg) 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 ![nar003-1.jpg](gov_ch_2-1_early_se_files/nar003-1.jpg) 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 | ![nar004-1.jpg](gov_ch_2-1_early_se_files/nar004-1.jpg) | | |
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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. ![nar005-1.jpg](gov_ch_2-1_early_se_files/nar005-1.jpg) 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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Short Answer
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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.
|
|
18.
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What is the main idea of the passages above?
|
|
|
The First British SettlementsIn 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
![nar002-1.jpg](gov_ch_2-1_early_se_files/nar002-1.jpg) 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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|
19.
|
What is the main idea of the passages above?
|
|
|
The Pilgrims and the Mayflower Compact ![nar003-1.jpg](gov_ch_2-1_early_se_files/nar003-1.jpg) 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
|
|
20.
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What is the main idea of the passages above?
|
|
|
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 | ![nar004-1.jpg](gov_ch_2-1_early_se_files/nar004-1.jpg) | | |
|
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21.
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What is the main idea of the passages above?
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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. ![nar005-1.jpg](gov_ch_2-1_early_se_files/nar005-1.jpg) 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.
|
|
22.
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What is the main idea of the passages above?
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