SOL Quiz 9

1. SOL Quiz 9 The Critical Period

2. 1. Which helped earn the era of the Articles of Confederation, the title "The Critical Period"? a. Congress was unable to effectively deal with foreign and domestic crises. b. The United States was forming a new, republican government. c. It was uncertain if the United States would continue to exist. d. all of the above Britain's former colonies had just declared independence from their mother country, abandoning their traditional political system. In its place they attempted a new experiment: to create a nation based entirely on republican principles. That new nation, under the Articles of Confederation, could not effectively deal with a number of crises, both foreign and domestic. People did not know if the United States would continue to exist, split into several different countries, or even fall under a military dictatorship.

3. 2. Which goal MOST influenced the authors of the Articles of Confederation? a. establishment of a strong central government b. elimination of sectional feelings c. preservation of the rights and powers of states d. creation of a strong, unified financial system The authors of the Articles of Confederation wanted to protect the rights and powers of the states. To accomplish this, the Articles denied the national government the power to force its will upon the states. Though Congress was enabled to represent the confederation of states in treaties with foreign governments and the American Indians, it was denied the power to directly tax citizens and enforce its laws.

4. 3. The Articles of Confederation denied Congress the power to a. appoint a general to head the U.S. Army b. send ambassadors to foreign countries c. collect taxes from the states d. decide when the war was over The writers declined to give the Congress the power to tax for a number of reasons. They were fighting a war against a central government that had tried to illegally tax its citizens, and did not want to repeat the experience with their own government. In addition, they wanted the states to ratify the agreement, which states might not do if the national government was given the power to tax.

5. 4. Which power was shared by both the state governments and the Congress of the Articles of Confederation? a. power to raise tariffs b. power to print money c. power to prosecute law-breakers d. power to regulate trade between the states Both the state governments and the Congress of the Articles of Confederation had the power to print money. Other powers, including the power to raise tariffs, prosecute law-breakers, and regulate trade, were granted only to state governments.

6. 5. Daniel Shays was a champion of many a. loyalists b. bankers c. debtors d. landlords After the Revolutionary War, the country was caught in the grip of an economic depression. Angry at Massachusetts's refusal to help indebted farmers, Shays decided to take action. He and his followers occupied courthouses preventing judges from ruling against farmers who could not pay their debts. Shays's army also tried to seize weapons from a U.S. arsenal in Springfield. He then planned to march on the state capital in Boston, force the government to inflate the money supply, and adopt other policies that would help debtors.