age of jackson
Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
____
1. Andrew Jackson's inauguration
a. was small and dignified
b.
c.
d.
e.
____
2. Which part of the American System proved to be the most controversial?
a. a new national bank
b.
c.
d.
e.
____
the Bank of the United States was constitutional
Catholics could not be barred from political office
the American System was unconstitutional
states could not nullify federal laws
5. The Missouri Compromise
a. allowed popular sovereignty in Missouri to determine if it would be a slave or free state
b.
c.
d.
e.
____
collected taxes
paid the government's debts
made a profit for itself
all of the above
4. McCulloch v. Maryland ruled that
a. the Indians were not allowed to sue the federal government
b.
c.
d.
e.
____
establishment of a permanent army
federal financing of improved roads and canals
income tax
tariff policy
3. What did the Second Bank of the United States do?
a. issued paper money
b.
c.
d.
e.
____
was much like the previous presidential inaugurations
was limited to only the upper-crust of society
was a large, rowdy event
was a disastrous affair since Jackson's opponents protested outside the White House
banned slavery in all territories west of Missouri
preserved the Congressional balance between slave and free states
was bitterly fought against by some Southern politicians
required all Missouri slaves to be emancipated within ten years
6. The Monroe Doctrine
a. allowed Maine and Missouri to enter the Union as states
b.
c.
d.
e.
secured Florida from Spain
declared American abstention from European affairs
made the United States a policing power in the Western Hemisphere
settled the nullification crisis favorably for South Carolina
____
7. The practice of giving a political office to someone based on loyalty to the Party is called
a. a meritocracy
b.
c.
d.
e.
____
8. Which statement about the Whigs is false?
a. They believed that the government ought to promote the economy
b.
c.
d.
e.
____
spoils system
paternalism
Party system
nepotism
They were established as an opposition group to Andrew Jackson
They supported implementation of the American System
They favored non-government intervention in the economy
They had their strongest support in the Northeast
9. During Jackson's presidency, Democrats
a. reduced expenditures
b.
c.
d.
e.
lowered the tariff
killed the national bank
refused to use federal monies for internal improvements
all of the above
____ 10. The nullification crisis of 1832 ended
a. in civil war
b.
c.
d.
e.
with South Carolina seceding from the Union
with Jackson's resignation from office
with a compromised tariff
when Daniel Webster gave a powerful speech to the Senate in favor of nullification
____ 11. By 1827, Cherokees had their own
a. constitution
b.
c.
d.
e.
schools
newspapers
codes of laws
all of the above
____ 12. The panic of 1837 was caused in part by all of the following except
a. declining cotton prices
b.
c.
d.
e.
low tariffs
land speculation
the bank war
the Specie Circular
____ 13. The log cabin candidate was
a. John Quincy Adams
b.
c.
d.
e.
Henry Clay
Martin Van Buren
William Henry Harrison
Andrew Jackson
____ 14. Andrew Jackson
a. inspired little criticism.
b. worried his opponents because he sought to appeal equally to rich and poor Americans.
c. symbolized the self-made man and democratic opportunities.
d. contributed greatly to the rise of the rich planters of the cotton kingdom.
e. Both c and d.
____ 15. How did many Americans reconcile the idea of “universal suffrage” with barring women and
African-Americans from voting?
a. They argued that women and African-Americans were economically dependent, and only
the economically independent, should have the right to vote.
b. They simply avoided the subject, much as southerners who opposed slavery generally kept
quiet for their own protection.
c. They argued that natural incapacity—part of a natural hierarchy—dictated their exclusion.
d. They capitulated to those who favored the “Gag Rule,” which banned discussion of the
subject.
e. None of the above.
____ 16. In the wake of the War of 1812, younger Republicans like Henry Clay and John Calhoun
a. continued to support agrarianism, but believed that the nation’s economic independence
required a manufacturing sector.
b. demanded that the United States scale back its international involvement and depend
exclusively on agriculture for its prosperity.
c. believed in the need for national economic development, but thought that the federal
government should stay out of it and let the states do it.
d. decided that Jeffersonianism was hopelessly out of date when President James Madison
opposed their efforts, and they decided to form their own political party.
e. threw their support to Andrew Jackson because they realized that their plans were too
grandiose to win popular support without a hero as their standard-bearer.
____ 17. Early in the nineteenth century, paper money
a. could be issued only by the Bank of the United States.
b. was like it is now, but with different faces on the bills.
c. consisted of notes promising to pay the bearer on demand a specific amount of “specie,”
meaning gold or silver. C
d. maintained the same value, supported by the U.S. government.
e. never exceeded the amount of money that the bank printing it held in its vault.
____ 18. The Panic of 1819
a. resulted partly from an upsurge in European demands for American farm products that the
United States was unprepared to meet.
b. led to impossibly high prices for western lands.
c. enhanced trust in banks because they did such a good job of weathering the economic
storm.
d. prompted many states to suspend debt collecting, which helped debtors but hurt the
creditors who needed payments.
e. inspired John Marshall’s decision against the banking power in McCulloch v. Maryland.
____ 19. John Quincy Adams
a. welcomed the Missouri Compromise as certain to preserve the Union.
b. was responsible for the Monroe Doctrine, which compromised with Kentuckians on the
issue of slavery.
c. feared that England would try to regain its Latin American colonies.
d. wanted the United States to play a dominant role in the Western hemisphere.
e. believed that the United States needed to become more involved in European affairs.
____ 20. The Election of 1824
a. reflected rising American nationalism.
b. resulted in the election of Andrew Jackson.
c. ultimately did serious damage to Henry Clay’s political hopes.
d. demonstrated that democracy had not spread enough to end the power of political
caucuses.
e. demonstrated the popular support that New Englander John Quincy Adams enjoyed
throughout the nation.
____ 21. Which of the following is NOT true of John Quincy Adams?
a. He enjoyed one of the most distinguished diplomatic careers in American history.
b. He had a far more expansive view of national power than many of his contemporaries.
c. He was popular with the public but inept at insider politics.
d. He was the only member of James Monroe’s cabinet to oppose reprimanding Andrew
Jackson for a Florida incursion in which he killed two British representatives.
e. He was a veteran of the Federalist Party.
____ 22. What made Martin Van Buren important to American history?
a. He engineered the 1824 election outcome that put Andrew Jackson in the White House.
b. He represented the common man rising to high levels, making him a popular figure.
c. He believed, unlike the founding fathers, that political parties served a useful purpose.
d. He argued that sectionalism and the compromises it prompted were good for the country.
e. None of the above.
____ 23. Which of the following did NOT happen during the election of 1828?
a. Andrew Jackson challenged Henry Clay to a duel for opposing his election after having
engineered his defeat in the “Corrupt Bargain” of 1824.
b. John Quincy Adams’s supporters accused Andrew Jackson of murder.
c. Adams’s supporters questioned the morality of Andrew Jackson’s wife because she
married Jackson while she still was married to another man.
d. Jackson’s supporters claimed that Adams had engaged in objectionable sexual practices
while serving as a diplomat abroad.
e. Adams kept in office federal employees who openly campaigned for his opponent.
____ 24. Which of the following was NOT a contradictory aspect of Andrew Jackson’s character?
a. He had little formal education, yet his public statements could display genuine eloquence.
b. He claimed to be democratic in outlook, yet he owned slaves and wanted them sent abroad
if they were freed, and he wanted Native Americans moved from their lands to west of the
Mississippi River.
c. He became one of Tennessee’s richest men, yet he was scared of banks.
d. He was an ardent nationalist, yet he opposed federal interference in the economy or the
personal lives of individuals.
e. He founded the modern Democratic Party, yet he consistently criticized political parties as
antithetical to the founding fathers whose views he claimed to follow closely.
____ 25. By the time of Jackson’s presidency, politics
a. remained very much the province of the elite.
b. was centered on the elections held every other year for Congress.
c. focused on organization, with the public refusing to tolerate showmanship or flowery
oratory.
d. often emphasized individual politicians with mass followings and popular nicknames.
e. was completely under the control of Martin Van Buren.
____ 26. The Whig party
a. took its name from the wigs worn by the founding fathers—an effort to appeal to the
reverence toward such leaders as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.
b. advocated internal improvements backed financially by state governments.
c. attracted support from the most elite merchants, industrialists, and planters.
d. had trouble attracting support in the northeast because it was heavily industrialized, and
industrialists there resented Whig efforts to help the rest of the country catch up to them.
e. nominated Henry Clay for president in its first four presidential campaigns.
____ 27. During the Jacksonian era, professional politicians
a. came entirely from the elite.
b. included newspaper editors who served as an informal cabinet for Jackson.
c. kept an eye on government officials like postmasters to make sure that they avoided
involvement in politics.
d. decided on the candidates and party platforms, then held conventions at which the party
faithful ratified their choices—a clever means of letting the public think it had influence.
e. hated to get involved in local neighborhoods, preferring to leave them to the Whigs.
____ 28. The Democratic view of power was that
a. the public was better off when it was exercised at the federal level.
b. government always endangered private rights.
c. only government could protect against social inequality.
d. government should exercise power only on issues involving private morality.
e. restraining individual competition was a good thing.
____ 29. The nullification crisis
a. originated in South Carolina
b. was based on southern concerns that tariffs were keeping the region from competing with
the North in the industrial revolution.
c. never would have begun without the very public stance taken in favor of nullification by
John Calhoun.
d. brought out Andrew Jackson’s previously hidden desire for compromise.
e. attracted support from Whigs like Daniel Webster, who saw it as an opportunity to
embarrass and annoy Jackson.
____ 30. The conflict between Andrew Jackson and John C. Calhoun
a. was based entirely on personal differences, not ideological differences.
b. helped reduce Martin Van Buren’s influence in the Jackson administration.
c. manifested itself in a dispute over a woman named Peggy Eaton.
d. prompted Jackson to oppose Calhoun’s doctrine of nullification on the grounds that it was
political, not constitutional.
e. compelled Jackson to defend states’ rights even more ardently.
____ 31. Andrew Jackson’s policy toward Native Americans
a. reflected his belief that they had made advances in civilization that would help them when
they were relocated.
b. was inconsistent with his view of nullification.
c. was designed to stop what became known as the Trail of Tears.
d. exemplified his view of democracy; the people had voted to remove Native Americans,
and he would act accordingly.
e. was shaped by Martin Van Buren.
____ 32. Jackson’s battle with the Second Bank of the United States
a. was based partly on his distrust of all banks.
b. reflected the Democratic attitude that power should not be concentrated in one institution
or person—in this case, bank president Nicholas Biddle.
c. involved the first use of the presidential veto as a political statement, not on the basis of
constitutional claims.
d. helped state and local banks to which Jackson had federal funds transferred.
e. All of the above.
____ 33. The Panic of 1837
a. followed a rapid decline in prices in the wake of Jackson’s veto of a renewed charter for
the Bank of the United States.
b. was ameliorated by Great Britain’s acceptance of American paper money and willingness
to assist American creditors and debtors.
c. resulted in the Jacksonians at least temporarily achieving their goal of separating federal
and state governments from involvement in the economy.
d. led to the federal government making money available for economic investment, thereby
contributing to a return to prosperity when federal funds helped develop the Gold Rush.
e. None of the above.
____ 34. In the presidential election of 1840, the Whigs
a. showed that they had adopted the tactics of their opponents.
b. nominated William Henry Harrison on a platform designed to distinguish themselves from
the Democrats as much as possible.
c. chose as their vice presidential candidate John Tyler, who helped counter questions about
Harrison’s commitment to Whiggery.
d. appealed to the elite by showing that Martin Van Buren was undeserving of their support.
e. again nominated Henry Clay.