COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS QUIZ

United States: Historical Background

INSTRUCTIONS: Read and answer the following items carefully. Shade the letter of the
correct answer in your ZipGrade answer sheet.
The quiz that you are about to take is TEXT-DEPENDENT, meaning the items are
constructed based from the readings that have been provided and assigned to you. Specifically,
the main text is Cases in Comparative Politics by O’Neil, Fields and Share

1. The origins of the U.S. state can be 5. The early English colonists in
found in the geographic expansion of Massachusetts were largely settled by _.
which European states in the early
a. Puritans
sixteenth century?
b. Catholics
a. French c. Lutherans
b. Dutch d. Quakers
c. Spanish
6. By what century had England
d. Italian
established six of the thirteen colonies
2. Which European country attempted to that would later form the United States?
form permanent settlements in the
a. 1600s
eastern part of the future United States?
b. 1700s
a. French c. 1800s
b. Dutch d. 1900s
c. Spanish
7. The British government sought to force
d. German
the colonies to conduct their trade using
3. English citizens migrated to America in only _ ships.
search of land and _.
a. French
a. Education b. Spanish
b. Religious freedom c. English
c. Monetary wealth d. Dutch
d. Political power
8. What Act in 1651 created colonial
4. The Virginia colony began as a business dependency by regulating colonial trade?
venture focused on the production of _.
a. Colonial Trade Act
a. Cotton b. Navigation Act
b. Tobacco c. Trade Dependency Act
c. Rice d. Import-Export Act
d. Indigo

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9. Which event marked the defeat of the a. Thomas Jefferson
British at Yorktown, Virginia in 1783? b. George Washington
c. Andrew Jackson
a. Boston Tea Party
d. Abraham Lincoln
b. Boston Massacre
c. Lexington and Concord 15. The end of the War of 1812 with
d. Treaty of Paris Britain in 1815 allowed Americans to
move _.
10. The Articles of Confederation created
a loose alliance of sovereign states with a. North
a _ legislature. b. South
c. East
a. Bicameral
d. West
b. Unicameral
c. Tricameral 16. The Civil War in the United States
d. Multicameral took place during which years?
11. The Constitutional Convention of 1787 a. 1776-1783
resulted in a compromise between b. 1803-1806
advocates of a strong federal state and c. 1861-1865
supporters of _. d. 1900-1905
a. States' rights 17. The Thirteenth Amendment to the
b. Monarchy Constitution was ratified in which year?
c. Theocracy
a. 1783
d. Communism
b. 1830
12. The Bill of Rights aims to protect the c. 1865
rights of individuals against the _. d. 1900
a. Federal government 18. The Progressive Era aimed to restrict
b. State governments the power of big business and address _.
c. Local governments
a. Environmental issues
d. Foreign governments
b. Inequality
13. Which political figure advocated for a c. Technology advancement
strong central state and consolidated the d. Political corruption
Revolutionary War debt?
19. President Theodore Roosevelt created
a. Thomas Jefferson a vast system of national parks to
b. George Washington protect _.
c. Alexander Hamilton
a. Historical landmarks
d. Benjamin Franklin
b. Endangered species
14. Who was responsible for the c. Public land
Louisiana Purchase in 1803? d. Private property

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20. Which president implemented the
New Deal policies in response to the Great
Depression?
a. George Washington
b. Franklin Roosevelt
c. Abraham Lincoln
d. Thomas Jefferson

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Answer Key
1. a. French
2. b. Dutch
3. b. Religious freedom
4. b. Tobacco
5. a. Puritans
6. a. 1600s
7. c. English
8. b. Navigation Act
9. d. Treaty of Paris
10. b. Unicameral
11. a. States' rights
12. a. Federal government
13. c. Alexander Hamilton
14. a. Thomas Jefferson
15. d. West
16. c. 1861-1865
17. c. 1865
18. b. Inequality
19. c. Public land
20. b. Franklin Roosevelt

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