The American Revolution, 1776 1783 Chapter 5 Exam Questions

Chapter 5: The American Revolution, 1776–1783

CORE OBJECTIVES

1. Explain the challenges faced by both British and American military leaders in fighting the Revolutionary War.

2. Identify key turning points in the Revolutionary War, and explain how they changed the direction of the war.

3. Describe the ways in which the American Revolution was also a civil war.

4. Examine how the Revolutionary War was an “engine” for political and social change.

5. Compare the impact of the Revolutionary War on African Americans, women, and Native Americans.

TRUE/FALSE

1. Americans were more successful than the British in recruiting Indian allies during the American Revolution.

OBJ: 1. Explain the challenges faced by both British and American military leaders in fighting the Revolutionary War.

TOP: Native Americans and the Revolution

2. Thomas Paine’s pamphlet The American Crisis gave the colonists inspiration with the line, “These are times that try men’s souls.”

OBJ: 1. Explain the challenges faced by both British and American military leaders in fighting the Revolutionary War.

TOP: Washington’s Narrow Escape

3. Desertion was a big problem for Washington’s army during the Revolution.

OBJ: 1. Explain the challenges faced by both British and American military leaders in fighting the Revolutionary War.

TOP: Washington’s Narrow Escape

4. Before the Revolution was over, the British were fighting the Spanish, the French, and the Dutch, as well as the Americans.

OBJ: 2. Identify key turning points in the Revolutionary War, and explain how they changed the direction of the war.

TOP: Alliance with France

5. The American victory at the Battle of Saratoga destroyed any British hopes of winning the war.

OBJ: 2. Identify key turning points in the Revolutionary War, and explain how they changed the direction of the war.

TOP: The Treaty of Paris (1783)

6. After 1778, much of the fighting in the Revolution was done in the south.

OBJ: 2. Identify key turning points in the Revolutionary War, and explain how they changed the direction of the war.

TOP: The War Moves South

7. The Treaty of Paris granted the United States unquestioned claim to Florida.

OBJ: 2. Identify key turning points in the Revolutionary War, and explain how they changed the direction of the war.

TOP: The Treaty of Paris (1783)

8. During the Revolution, Loyalists came exclusively from the elite ranks of society.

OBJ: 3. Describe the ways in which the American Revolution was also a civil war.

TOP: Choosing Sides

9. Many Loyalists emigrated from the American colonies during and after the American Revolution.

OBJ: 3. Describe the ways in which the American Revolution was also a civil war.

TOP: The Loyalists Flee

10. In the aftermath of the Revolution, American leaders founded a purely democratic form of government.

OBJ: 3. Describe the ways in which the American Revolution was also a civil war.

TOP: Republican Ideology

11. The Articles of Confederation left many powers to the states.

OBJ: 4. Examine how the Revolutionary War was an “engine” for political and social change.

TOP: The Articles of Confederation

12. The Anglican Church became the Episcopal Church (in the United States) after the American Revolution.

OBJ: 4. Examine how the Revolutionary War was an “engine” for political and social change.

TOP: Freedom of Religion

13. Thomas Jefferson was the most notable Virginian to free his slaves during the Revolution.

OBJ: 5. Compare the impact of the Revolutionary War on African Americans, women, and Native Americans.

TOP: The Paradox of Slavery

14. “Camp followers” were women (wives, mothers, sisters) who followed men to war to wash, cook, and sew for them in exchange for daily rations.

OBJ: 5. Compare the impact of the Revolutionary War on African Americans, women, and Native Americans.

TOP: The Status of Women

15. During the war, Iroquois tribes such as the Mohawks helped the Americans fight against the British.

OBJ: 5. Compare the impact of the Revolutionary War on African Americans, women, and Native Americans.

TOP: Native Americans and the Revolution

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. Which of the following statements about the challenges and strengths of the British during the American Revolution was true?

a. British troops consisted of a large number of citizen-soldiers who were well trained.

b. One of the greatest challenges the British faced was that the colonies were so far away.

c. The British struggled with individual, conventional battles but excelled in their development of an overall strategy for the war.

d. The British faced many setbacks because of the lack of commitment of their troops.

e. A major strength of the British forces was the overabundance of American Loyalists and Native Americans willing to fight for them.

OBJ: 1. Explain the challenges faced by both British and American military leaders in fighting the Revolutionary War.

NAT: Comparisons and Connections

TOP: British Military Power

MSC: Evaluating

2. Which of the following groups did the British troops during the American Revolution include?

a. Hessians

b. The French

c. Whigs

d. The Stockbridge Indians

e. Citizen-soldiers

OBJ: 1. Explain the challenges faced by both British and American military leaders in fighting the Revolutionary War.

NAT: Historical Period

TOP: British Military Power

MSC: Remembering

3. How did the British government supply its army in the colonies?

a. Supplies were shipped from Britain.

b. They relied on the Native Americans for supplies.

c. They foraged for supplies.

d. Everything they needed was supplied by British Loyalists.

e. The Germans supplied the needed provisions.

OBJ: 1. Explain the challenges faced by both British and American military leaders in fighting the Revolutionary War.

NAT: Historical Period

TOP: British Military Power

MSC: Understanding

4. Which of the following statements about the Continental Army is true?

a. George Washington gave the army this name because soldiers from all thirteen colonies were working together and developing a national outlook.

b. The army was limited to militiamen across the settled part of the continent and continued to be organized by colony throughout the war.

c. The army already had a strict training schedule before the war; the main area of improvement needed was raising the funds to pay their soldiers adequately.

d. Although it connected the different colonies in an unprecedented way, the army did not include any soldiers from Georgia and received little support from the South.

e. The army had adequate funds and enlistment contracts going into the war, but their knowledge of the terrain, especially that controlled by the Native Americans, was limited.

OBJ: 1. Explain the challenges faced by both British and American military leaders in fighting the Revolutionary War.

NAT: Comparisons and Connections

TOP: The Continental Army

MSC: Evaluating

5. Of the following, which statement best describes average Patriot soldiers?

a. Middle class artisans and merchants

b. Disciplined volunteers

c. Experienced, professional soldiers

d. Poor farmers and former indentured servants

e. Members of the upper class

OBJ: 1. Explain the challenges faced by both British and American military leaders in fighting the Revolutionary War.

NAT: Historical Period

TOP: The Continental Army

MSC: Remembering

6. Washington, as the colonial army’s leader, believed that

a. well-trained, disciplined soldiers were the key to winning the war.

b. a decisive and staggering victory was needed.

c. the Native Americans’ allegiance would turn the tide.

d. the Continental army should also hire mercenaries.

e. all he had to do was wait for disease to decimate the British troops.

OBJ: 1. Explain the challenges faced by both British and American military leaders in fighting the Revolutionary War.

NAT: Comparisons and Connections

TOP: The Continental Army

MSC: Understanding

7. Which of the following statements correctly described the Iroquois Confederacy during the American Revolution?

a. It was divided in its policies toward the Patriots and British.

b. It allied with the British.

c. It allied the Continental army.

d. It remained neutral.

e. It withdrew to Canada for the duration of the war.

OBJ: 1. Explain the challenges faced by both British and American military leaders in fighting the Revolutionary War.

NAT: Comparisons and Connections

TOP: Native Americans and the Revolution

MSC: Understanding

8. After several successful battles in New Jersey in December 1776, a British officer stated that the Americans had become

a. “defeated, downcast, and depleted.”

b. “a formidable enemy.”

c. “a group with little belief in their cause.”

d. “a passable foe, but one that would be defeated.”

e. “utterly determined to disregard acceptable rules of war.”

OBJ: 1. Explain the challenges faced by both British and American military leaders in fighting the Revolutionary War.

NAT: Comparisons and Connections

TOP: A Desperate Gamble

MSC: Analyzing

9. General Howe, the British commander, believed he could defeat the Americans by

a. cutting off outside support to the colonies.

b. taking control of the countryside.

c. offering the colonists money to switch sides.

d. slowly wearing down the Continental army.

e. defeating Washington and his troops in a single decisive battle.

OBJ: 1. Explain the challenges faced by both British and American military leaders in fighting the Revolutionary War.

NAT: Comparisons and Connections

TOP: A Strategy of Evasion

MSC: Understanding

10. The Battle of Saratoga was particularly significant because

a. it demonstrated General Burgoyne’s incompetence.

b. the outnumbered Americans defeated the superior British troops.

c. it resulted in an alliance between the Americans and the French.

d. this quick victory showed American superiority.

e. the British routed the Americans.

OBJ: 2. Identify key turning points in the Revolutionary War, and explain how they changed the direction of the war.

NAT: Change and Continuity

TOP: Alliance with France

MSC: Understanding

11. After 1778, which of the following countries allied with the United States?

a. Spain, Canada, and the Netherlands

b. France, Spain, and Germany

c. France, Spain, and Austria

d. France, Spain, and the Netherlands

e. France, Spain, and Canada

OBJ: 2. Identify key turning points in the Revolutionary War, and explain how they changed the direction of the war.

NAT: Historical Period

TOP: Alliance with France

MSC: Remembering

12. In response to the Battle of Saratoga, what did Britain’s Lord North do?

a. He offered to surrender if the Americans would remain a part of the British Empire.

b. He offered to comply with earlier American demands in return for an end to the war.

c. He threatened to annihilate the Americans if they did not surrender.

d. He agreed to listen to the American complaints.

e. He allied with the Spanish.

OBJ: 2. Identify key turning points in the Revolutionary War, and explain how they changed the direction of the war.

NAT: Change and Continuity

TOP: Alliance with France

MSC: Understanding

13. Where did George Washington’s army spend a miserable winter in 1777–1778, suffering intensely?

a. Saratoga

b. Delaware River

c. Valley Forge

d. Trenton

e. Yorktown

OBJ: 2. Identify key turning points in the Revolutionary War, and explain how they changed the direction of the war.

NAT: Historical Period

TOP: Valley Forge and Stalemate

MSC: Remembering

14. Who was the Prussian mercenary who volunteered in 1778 to train the Continental Army and bring unity and discipline?

a. Baron Willem Dafoe

b. Julius Heinrich, baron von Austria

c. Kaiser Georg Jan Heimlich

d. Friedrich Wilhelm, baron von Steuben

e. Baronet Max Weber

OBJ: 2. Identify key turning points in the Revolutionary War, and explain how they changed the direction of the war.

NAT: Change and Continuity

TOP: Valley Forge and Stalemate

MSC: Remembering

15. Which of the following occurred as a result of the Revolution?

a. A series of strict and effective treaties between Patriots and Indians for land

b. The formation of the first major government-supported Indian reservations

c. A guerrilla war in which Indians and Loyalists fought Patriot settlers in the West

d. The creation of formal settlements designed for Loyalists and traitors in the West

e. Great Britain's refusal to participate in the Treaty of Paris

OBJ: 2. Identify key turning points in the Revolutionary War, and explain how they changed the direction of the war.

NAT: Change and Continuity

TOP: War in the West

MSC: Remembering

16. Which of the following was part of British General Sir Henry Clinton’s “southern strategy” to turn the tide of war?

a. Recruiting as many slaves as possible

b. Enlisting support from local Loyalists and Cherokees

c. Training local militia forces in British military tactics

d. Attacking the U.S. capital at Washington, D.C.

e. Attacking local guerrilla bands such as those led by Thomas Sumter

OBJ: 2. Identify key turning points in the Revolutionary War, and explain how they changed the direction of the war.

NAT: Change and Continuity

TOP: The War Moves South

MSC: Understanding

17. According to the textbook, the Battle of King’s Mountain was significant because

a. it was the first time family fought family in the conflict.

b. it showed that the British could be defeated.

c. the war became much more brutal after this battle.

d. the battle raged for months and exhausted both sides.

e. it inspired farmers of the region to join the Patriot cause.

OBJ: 2. Identify key turning points in the Revolutionary War, and explain how they changed the direction of the war.

NAT: Historical Interpretations

TOP: The Battle of King’s Mountain

MSC: Analyzing

18. Which of the following statements about the Battle of Yorktown was true?

a. It was a combined Franco-American victory over the British.

b. It was won by General Cornwallis.

c. It would have been an American victory even without France’s aid.

d. It ended with General Cornwallis’s escape.

e. It saw the French fleet defeated.

OBJ: 2. Identify key turning points in the Revolutionary War, and explain how they changed the direction of the war.

NAT: Historical Period

TOP: Yorktown

MSC: Remembering

19. During the American Revolution, those loyal to the British crown were often called

a. Patriots.

b. Whigs.

c. Tories.

d. Hessians.

e. Subjects.

OBJ: 3. Describe the ways in which the American Revolution was also a civil war.

NAT: Change and Continuity

TOP: Choosing Sides

MSC: Remembering

20. During the American Revolution colonists divided into which three groups?

a. Tories, Patriots, and the undecided middle

b. Tories, Loyalists, and King’s Men

c. Patriots, Whigs, and Tories

d. King’s Men, Tories, and the undecided middle

e. Patriots, King’s Men, and Loyalists

OBJ: 3. Describe the ways in which the American Revolution was also a civil war.

NAT: Change and Continuity

TOP: Choosing Sides

MSC: Understanding

21. Colonial Loyalists believed that the British constitution was more likely to __________ than the American revolutionary leadership.

a. deprive them of essential rights and privileges

b. grant them special favor for supporting the King

c. protect colonial rights and liberties

d. infringe on the right to bear arms

e. install a monarchy in the colonies after the Revolution

OBJ: 3. Describe the ways in which the American Revolution was also a civil war.

NAT: Events and Processes

TOP: Choosing Sides

MSC: Understanding

22. By the end of the American Revolution, American Patriots had decided

a. a true democracy was impossible and incompatible with their new republican ideology.

b. the British monarchy could have been modified to allow for better representation in the colonies.

c. separation of power and republican government were the only true protections of liberty.

d. being subjects of the British Crown was tolerable and not worth the bloodshed of the war.

e. the creation of states would have little impact on the new government.

OBJ: 3. Describe the ways in which the American Revolution was also a civil war.

NAT: Change and Continuity

TOP: Choosing Sides

MSC: Understanding

23. Which of the following statements is accurate?

a. Loyalists were often city folk and Catholics.

b. Loyalists were most often Philadelphians.

c. Loyalists hated Anglicans.

d. Loyalists came from all over the colonies, but especially seaports.

e. Loyalists feared the English constitution.

OBJ: 3. Describe the ways in which the American Revolution was also a civil war.

NAT: Change and Continuity

TOP: Choosing Sides

MSC: Evaluating

24. When Loyalists fled to Canada, which of the following occurred?

a. The American government compensated them for their lost property.

b. They left all runaway slaves behind.

c. Their return was courted by the United States.

d. The American government confiscated their abandoned property.

e. Their departure went unnoticed.

OBJ: 3. Describe the ways in which the American Revolution was also a civil war.

NAT: Change and Continuity

TOP: The Loyalists Flee

MSC: Understanding

25. Which of the following correctly describes the changes experienced by American citizens after the American Revolution?

a. They enjoyed more freedoms.

b. They had fewer freedoms.

c. They were much worse off.

d. They were unsure of themselves.

e. They experienced a return to antiquity.

OBJ: 4. Examine how the Revolutionary War was an “engine” for political and social change.

NAT: Historical Period

TOP: War as an Engine of Change

MSC: Evaluating

26. The government of the United States of America established by the revolutionaries is best described as

a. a limited monarchy.

b. an aristocracy.

c. an oligarchy.

d. a representative democracy.

e. a direct democracy.

OBJ: 4. Examine how the Revolutionary War was an “engine” for political and social change.

NAT: Historical Period

TOP: Republican Ideology

MSC: Understanding

27. When the American Revolution ended, the predominant type of government in Europe was

a. monarchy.

b. aristocracy.

c. oligarchy.

d. democracy.

e. tyranny.

OBJ: 4. Examine how the Revolutionary War was an “engine” for political and social change.

NAT: Comparisons and Connections

TOP: Republican Ideology

MSC: Remembering

28. According to the textbook, the new __________ that arose in the aftermath of the American Revolution remain(s) unique in history.

a. tariff laws

b. state constitutions

c. city councils and county governments

d. Supreme Court system

e. powers of federal taxation

OBJ: 4. Examine how the Revolutionary War was an “engine” for political and social change.

NAT: Events and Processes

TOP: Republican Ideology

MSC: Understanding

29. Which of the following was part of the structure of national government under the Articles of Confederation?

a. A set process for enforcing its ordinances

b. The levying of taxes

c. A lack of involvement in state disputes

d. The appointment of a chief executive

e. The lack of a federal court system

OBJ: 4. Examine how the Revolutionary War was an “engine” for political and social change.

NAT: Events and Processes

TOP: The Articles of Confederation

MSC: Analyzing

30. Among the political changes engendered by the Revolution was

a. allowing women to run for political office.

b. lowering the voting age to 18.

c. an expansion of voting rights for many men.

d. placing term limits on Congress.

e. depriving free blacks the right to hold political office.

OBJ: 4. Examine how the Revolutionary War was an “engine” for political and social change.

NAT: Change and Continuity

TOP: Expansion of Political Participation

MSC: Understanding

31. In the aftermath of the American Revolution, Americans

a. relied upon the English model of limited monarchy.

b. turned to Europe for advice and financial aid.

c. found society largely unchanged.

d. embraced a new, exciting sense of common nationality.

e. offered equality to Native Americans.

OBJ: 4. Examine how the Revolutionary War was an “engine” for political and social change.

NAT: Change and Continuity

TOP: A Social Revolution

MSC: Understanding

32. Which of the following statements about the concept of complete freedom of religion was true?

a. It was always present in British colonies.

b. It appeared only after the American Revolution.

c. It was copied from the French.

d. It included the Native American faiths.

e. It ignored Catholicism.

OBJ: 4. Examine how the Revolutionary War was an “engine” for political and social change.

NAT: Events and Processes

TOP: Freedom of Religion

MSC: Understanding

33. Which of the following British policies or efforts during the American Revolution backfired, and how?

a. The British offered enslaved blacks freedom in return for fighting for their cause, but most of these enslaved blacks escaped before they reached the battlefield.

b. The British recruitment of enslaved blacks to join the military and their allowing them to use arms led to many southerners joining the Patriot forces.

c. The British rallied the support of Loyalist colonists during the war by causing them to fear the Patriots, but the Patriots rarely treated the Loyalists with violence.

d. More than 50 percent of the American colonists were Loyalists because the British promised them the ability to return to England, but most Loyalists adopted the Patriots’ cause and remained in America at the end of the war.

e. The British visited the French inhabitants in Canada in hope of convincing them to aid the war effort, but this visit resulted in many of their soldiers dying from a smallpox outbreak.

OBJ: 5. Compare the impact of the Revolutionary War on African Americans, women, and Native Americans.

NAT: Events and Processes

TOP: The Paradox of Slavery

MSC: Analyzing

34. Which statement regarding black participation in the American Revolution is accurate?

a. The American government freed slaves who fought for the Patriot cause.

b. No blacks, free or slave, were allowed to fight.

c. The British freed thousands of runaway slaves who fought for them.

d. Washington and Jefferson were comfortable with the idea of slaves fighting for America.

e. American slave masters trusted their slaves to be loyal.

OBJ: 5. Compare the impact of the Revolutionary War on African Americans, women, and Native Americans.

NAT: Change and Continuity

TOP: The Paradox of Slavery

MSC: Understanding

35. Whereas the Revolution inspired northerners to end slavery in their states, southerners believed they were fighting to

a. make slavery legal in the new western states.

b. perpetuate the foreign slave trade.

c. abolish only the foreign slave trade.

d. prevent the British from freeing their slaves.

e. move from a system of slavery to indentured servitude.

OBJ: 5. Compare the impact of the Revolutionary War on African Americans, women, and Native Americans.

NAT: Change and Continuity

TOP: The Paradox of Slavery

MSC: Analyzing

36. Which of the following statements correctly describes the state of women's rights at the end of the American Revolution?

a. Women could vote.

b. Women could preach.

c. Women were less educated than men.

d. Women could buy or sell property.

e. Women could hold elected office.

OBJ: 5. Compare the impact of the Revolutionary War on African Americans, women, and Native Americans.

NAT: Historical Period

TOP: The Status of Women

MSC: Remembering

37. Which of the following statements accurately describes the status of women after the end of the Revolutionary War?

a. All women found their lives greatly improved as a result of the war, especially politically.

b. Women experienced no changes in status as a result of the war.

c. As a result of the war, American women had fewer rights than ever before.

d. There were new opportunities to broaden women’s roles in society.

e. The war made traditional gender roles even more appealing to women.

OBJ: 5. Compare the impact of the Revolutionary War on African Americans, women, and Native Americans.

NAT: Change and Continuity

TOP: The Status of Women

38. During the American Revolution, Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John and asked that

a. women be given greater liberties and protections.

b. he join the military.

c. slavery be expanded to include more areas of the colonies.

d. he support the Loyalist cause.

e. laws be put in place forbidding women from engaging in politics.

OBJ: 5. Compare the impact of the Revolutionary War on African Americans, women, and Native Americans.

NAT: Change and Continuity

TOP: Status of Women

MSC: Understanding

39. Patriot leader and future president John Adams believed that giving more rights to women

a. would reward women for their help on the battlefield during the American Revolution.

b. would lead to blacks and Native Americans also demanding rights.

c. would protect America’s future and increase liberty in the republic.

d. was only moral and logical.

e. was necessary to prevent women from rebelling against the new government.

OBJ: 5. Compare the impact of the Revolutionary War on African Americans, women, and Native Americans.

NAT: Change and Continuity

TOP: The Status of Women

MSC: Remembering

40. Which of the following correctly describes most of the Native American tribes during the American Revolution?

a. They chose to ally with the Americans.

b. They chose to ally with the British.

c. They chose to try and remain neutral.

d. They moved to new territories.

e. They saw their lives get better.

OBJ: 5. Compare the impact of the Revolutionary War on African Americans, women, and Native Americans.

NAT: Historical Period

TOP: Native Americans and the Revolution

MSC: Remembering

ESSAY

1. Discuss the validity of the following assertion: “Without the cooperation of the French, American victory in the Revolution would not have been possible.”

Answers will vary.

2. Describe the ways in which the American Revolution was a “civil war” between the American colonies and Great Britain.

Answers will vary.

3. Discuss the social effects of the Revolution. In what areas was the revolutionary promise or spirit most fulfilled? In what areas was it least fulfilled?

Answers will vary.

4. How “revolutionary” was the American Revolution? Discuss the political, social, and religious changes that resulted.

Answers will vary.

5. Explain the social changes—or the lack thereof—for women and blacks (free and slave) in America after the Revolution. Did American leadership oppose these sorts of changes in any way?

Answers will vary.

MATCHING

Match each person or group with one of the following descriptions.

1. Hessians

2. General Howe

3. Benjamin Franklin

4. Baron von Steuben

5. Admiral de Grasse

6. George Washington

7. Thomas Paine

8. Nathanael Greene

9. Banastre Tarleton

10. John André