Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America: Volume II, 1831
On the one side were wealth, strength, and leisure, accompanied by the pursuit of luxury, the refinements of taste, the pleasures of wit, and the cultivation of the arts; on the other were labor, clownishness, and ignorance... But the scene is now changed. Gradually the distinctions of rank are done away with; the barriers that once severed mankind are
falling; property is divided, power is shared by many, the light of intelligence spreads, and the capacities of all classes tend towards equality. Society becomes democratic, and the empire of democracy is slowly and peaceably introduced into institutions and customs... I confess that in America I saw more than America; I sought there the image of democracy itself, with its inclinations, its character, its prejudices, and its passions, in order to learn what we have to fear or to hope from its
progress...
Which of the following movements would most directly support De Tocqueville's argument in the excerpt above?
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America: Volume II, 1831
On the one side were wealth, strength, and leisure, accompanied by the pursuit of luxury, the refinements of taste, the pleasures of wit, and the cultivation of the arts; on the other were labor, clownishness, and ignorance... But the scene is now changed. Gradually the
distinctions of rank are done away with; the barriers that once severed mankind are falling; property is divided, power is shared by many, the light of intelligence spreads, and the capacities of all classes tend towards equality. Society becomes democratic, and the empire of democracy is slowly and peaceably introduced into institutions and customs... I confess that in America I saw more than America; I sought there the image of democracy itself, with its inclinations, its character, its
prejudices, and its passions, in order to learn what we have to fear or to hope from its progress...
Which of the following best represents continuity in the years after 1830 with the ideas that Tocqueville expressed in the excerpt?
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America: Volume II, 1831
On the one side were wealth, strength, and leisure, accompanied by the pursuit of luxury, the refinements of taste, the pleasures of wit, and the cultivation of
the arts; on the other were labor, clownishness, and ignorance... But the scene is now changed. Gradually the distinctions of rank are done away with; the barriers that once severed mankind are falling; property is divided, power is shared by many, the light of intelligence spreads, and the capacities of all classes tend towards equality. Society becomes democratic, and the empire of democracy is slowly and peaceably introduced into institutions and customs... I confess that in America I saw
more than America; I sought there the image of democracy itself, with its inclinations, its character, its prejudices, and its passions, in order to learn what we have to fear or to hope from its progress...
Which of the following would best support Tocqueville's observations as expressed in the excerpt?
James Madison to Robert Livingston, July 29, 1803
Dear Sir I received your favor of by Mr. Hughes, the bearer of the public despatches from
you
& Mr. L. The purchase of Louisiana in its full extent, tho'not contemplated is received withwarm, & in a manner universal approbation. The uses to which it may be turned, render it atruly noble acquisition. Under prudent management it may be made to do much good as wellas to prevent much evil. By lessening the military establishment otherwise requisite orcountenanced, it will answer the double purpose of saving expence & favoring liberty. This is apoint of view in which the
Treaty will be particularly grateful to a most respectabledescription of our Citizens. It will be of great importance also to take the regulation &settlement of that Territory out of other hands, into those of the U.S. who will be able tomanage both for the general interest & conveniency. By securing also the exclusivejurisdiction of the Mississippi to the mouth, a source of much perplexity & collision iseffectually cut off.
Soon after this document was written, Jefferson found himself in a Constitutional predicament for which of the following reasons?
Address by Thomas Jefferson, 1801
During the contest of opinion through which we have passed the animation of discussions and of exertions has sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers unused to think freely and to speak and to write what they think; but this being now decided by the voice of the nation, announced according to the rules of the Constitution, all
will, of course, arrange themselves under the will of the law, and unite in common efforts for the common good...
But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where
reason is left free to combat it.
What issue lied at the heart of the election or, "contest of opinion", that Jefferson was referring to in his address?
John Marshall, "Opinion, Marbury v. Madison
It is emphatically the province and duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is. Those who apply the rule to particular cases must, of necessity, expound and interpret that rule. If two laws conflict with each other, the Courts must decide on the
operation of each. So, if a law be in opposition to the Constitution, if both the law and the Constitution apply to a particular case, so that the Court must either decide that case conformably to the law, disregarding the Constitution, or conformably to the Constitution, disregarding the law, the Court must determine which of these conflicting rules governs the case.
This is of the very essence of judicial duty. If, then, the Courts are to regard the Constitution, and the Constitution is
superior to any ordinary act of the Legislature, the Constitution, and not such ordinary act, must govern the case to which they both apply.
Which of the following events during the Marshall Court's tenure proved that the Supreme Court had little power to force other parts of government to not enforce laws it declared "unconstitutional"?
John Marshall, "Opinion, Marbury v. Madison
It is emphatically the province and duty of the Judicial Department to
say what the law is. Those who apply the rule to particular cases must, of necessity, expound and interpret that rule. If two laws conflict with each other, the Courts must decide on the operation of each. So, if a law be in opposition to the Constitution, if both the law and the Constitution apply to a particular case, so that the Court must either decide that case conformably to the law, disregarding the Constitution, or conformably to the Constitution, disregarding the law, the Court must
determine which of these conflicting rules governs the case.
This is of the very essence of judicial duty. If, then, the Courts are to regard the Constitution, and the Constitution is superior to any ordinary act of the Legislature, the Constitution, and not such ordinary act, must govern the case to which they both apply.
What occurred as a result of this court decision?
John Marshall, "Opinion, Marbury v. Madison
It is emphatically the province
and duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is. Those who apply the rule to particular cases must, of necessity, expound and interpret that rule. If two laws conflict with each other, the Courts must decide on the operation of each. So, if a law be in opposition to the Constitution, if both the law and the Constitution apply to a particular case, so that the Court must either decide that case conformably to the law, disregarding the Constitution, or conformably to the Constitution,
disregarding the law, the Court must determine which of these conflicting rules governs the case.
This is of the very essence of judicial duty. If, then, the Courts are to regard the Constitution, and the Constitution is superior to any ordinary act of the Legislature, the Constitution, and not such ordinary act, must govern the case to which they both apply.
Which of the following events sparked the opinion in this case?
McCulloch v. Maryland by
Chief Justice John C. Marshall, 1819
The first question made in the cause is, has Congress power to incorporate a bank?
It has been truly said that this can scarcely be considered as an open question, entirely unprejudiced by the former proceedings of the nation respecting it. The principle now contested was introduced at a very early period of our history, has been recognized by many successive legislatures, and has been acted upon by the judicial department, in cases of peculiar
delicacy, as a law of undoubted obligation. . . .
The power now contested was exercised by the first Congress elected under the present constitution. The bill for incorporating the bank of the United States did not steal upon an unsuspecting legislature, and pass unobserved. Its principle was completely understood, and was opposed with equal zeal and ability. After being resisted, first in the fair and open field of debate, and afterwards in the executive cabinet, with as much persevering
talent as any measure has ever experienced, and being supported by arguments which convinced minds as pure and as intelligent as this country can boast, it became a law.
The main idea of the passage is that
McCulloch v. Maryland by Chief Justice John C. Marshall, 1819
The first question made in the cause is, has Congress power to incorporate a bank?
It has been truly said that this can scarcely be considered as an open question, entirely
unprejudiced by the former proceedings of the nation respecting it. The principle now contested was introduced at a very early period of our history, has been recognized by many successive legislatures, and has been acted upon by the judicial department, in cases of peculiar delicacy, as a law of undoubted obligation. . . .
The power now contested was exercised by the first Congress elected under the present constitution. The bill for incorporating the bank of the United States did not steal
upon an unsuspecting legislature, and pass unobserved. Its principle was completely understood, and was opposed with equal zeal and ability. After being resisted, first in the fair and open field of debate, and afterwards in the executive cabinet, with as much persevering talent as any measure has ever experienced, and being supported by arguments which convinced minds as pure and as intelligent as this country can boast, it became a law.
Based on your knowledge of U.S. History, which of the following most impacted the debate about federal and state power in the early 1800s?
McCulloch v. Maryland by Chief Justice John C. Marshall, 1819
The first question made in the cause is, has Congress power to incorporate a bank?
It has been truly said that this can scarcely be considered as an open question, entirely unprejudiced by the former proceedings of the nation respecting it. The principle now contested was introduced at a very early period
of our history, has been recognized by many successive legislatures, and has been acted upon by the judicial department, in cases of peculiar delicacy, as a law of undoubted obligation. . . .
The power now contested was exercised by the first Congress elected under the present constitution. The bill for incorporating the bank of the United States did not steal upon an unsuspecting legislature, and pass unobserved. Its principle was completely understood, and was opposed with equal zeal and
ability. After being resisted, first in the fair and open field of debate, and afterwards in the executive cabinet, with as much persevering talent as any measure has ever experienced, and being supported by arguments which convinced minds as pure and as intelligent as this country can boast, it became a law.
Which of the following gave the Supreme Court the authority to render a decision on federal and state power?
The South Carolina Nullification
Ordinance, 1832
We...the people of the State of South Carolina in Convention assembled, do declare and ordain...that the several sets and parts of acts of the Congress of the United States, purporting to be laws for the imposing of duties and imposts on the importation of foreign commodities...are unauthorized by the constitution of the United States, and violate the true meaning and intent thereof, and are null, void, and no law, nor binding upon this State, its officers or citizens; and all
promises, contracts and obligations made or entered into, or to be made or entered into with purpose to secure the duties imposed by the said acts, and all judicial proceedings which shall be hereafter had in affirmance thereof, are and shall be held utterly null and void.
Which of the following explains the most immediate reason for South Carolina's issuance of the Nullification Ordinance?
The South Carolina Nullification Ordinance, 1832
We...the
people of the State of South Carolina in Convention assembled, do declare and ordain...that the several sets and parts of acts of the Congress of the United States, purporting to be laws for the imposing of duties and imposts on the importation of foreign commodities...are unauthorized by the constitution of the United States, and violate the true meaning and intent thereof, and are null, void, and no law, nor binding upon this State, its officers or citizens; and all promises, contracts and
obligations made or entered into, or to be made or entered into with purpose to secure the duties imposed by the said acts, and all judicial proceedings which shall be hereafter had in affirmance thereof, are and shall be held utterly null and void.
Which of the following was not a chief concern among most white South Carolinians ahead of the 1832 Nullification Ordinance?
The South Carolina Nullification Ordinance, 1832
We...the people of the State
of South Carolina in Convention assembled, do declare and ordain...that the several sets and parts of acts of the Congress of the United States, purporting to be laws for the imposing of duties and imposts on the importation of foreign commodities...are unauthorized by the constitution of the United States, and violate the true meaning and intent thereof, and are null, void, and no law, nor binding upon this State, its officers or citizens; and all promises, contracts and obligations made or
entered into, or to be made or entered into with purpose to secure the duties imposed by the said acts, and all judicial proceedings which shall be hereafter had in affirmance thereof, are and shall be held utterly null and void.
The South Carolina Nullification Ordinance is most clearly a predecessor to
Thomas Jefferson to John Holmes, 1820
I thank you, dear sir, for the copy you have been so kind as to send me of the letter to your constituents on
the Missouri question. It is a perfect justification to them. I had for a long time ceased to read newspapers, or pay any attention to public affairs, confident they were in good hands, and content to be a passenger in our bark to the shore from which I am not distant.
But this momentous question, like a firebell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell of the Union. It is hushed, indeed, for the moment. But this is a reprieve only, not a final
sentence. A geographical line, coinciding with a marked principle, moral and political, once conceived and held up to the angry passions of men, will never be obliterated; and every new irritation will mark it deeper and deeper. I can say, with conscious truth, that there is not a man on earth who would sacrifice more than I would to relieve us from this heavy reproach, in any practicable way.
The "Missouri question" on which Jefferson is commenting is indicative of a continuation of which of the following?
Thomas Jefferson to John Holmes, 1820
I thank you, dear sir, for the copy you have been so kind as to send me of the letter to your constituents on the Missouri question. It is a perfect justification to them. I had for a long time ceased to read newspapers, or pay any attention to public affairs, confident they were in good hands, and content to be a passenger in our bark to the shore from which I am not distant.
But this momentous
question, like a firebell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell of the Union. It is hushed, indeed, for the moment. But this is a reprieve only, not a final sentence. A geographical line, coinciding with a marked principle, moral and political, once conceived and held up to the angry passions of men, will never be obliterated; and every new irritation will mark it deeper and deeper. I can say, with conscious truth, that there is not a man on earth
who would sacrifice more than I would to relieve us from this heavy reproach, in any practicable way.
The "Missouri question" was a cause of which of the following?
Thomas Jefferson to John Holmes, 1820
I thank you, dear sir, for the copy you have been so kind as to send me of the letter to your constituents on the Missouri question. It is a perfect justification to them. I had for a long time ceased to read newspapers, or pay any attention to public
affairs, confident they were in good hands, and content to be a passenger in our bark to the shore from which I am not distant.
But this momentous question, like a firebell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell of the Union. It is hushed, indeed, for the moment. But this is a reprieve only, not a final sentence. A geographical line, coinciding with a marked principle, moral and political, once conceived and held up to the angry passions of men,
will never be obliterated; and every new irritation will mark it deeper and deeper. I can say, with conscious truth, that there is not a man on earth who would sacrifice more than I would to relieve us from this heavy reproach, in any practicable way.
Based on Jefferson's letter to Holmes, which of the following issues concerned him enough to describe it as a "firebell in the night"?
Calhoun, South Carolina Exposition and Protest, 1828
If it be
conceded, as it must be by everyone who is the least conversant with our institutions, that the sovereign powers delegated are divided between the General and State Governments, and that the latter hold their portion by the same tenure as the former, it would seem impossible to deny to the States the right of deciding on the infractions of their powers, and the proper remedy to be applied for their correction. The right of judging, in such cases, is an essential attribute of sovereignty, of
which the States cannot be divested without losing their sovereignty itself, and being reduced to a subordinate corporate condition... to reserve such exclusive right to the General Government (it matters not by what department) to be exercised, is to convert it, in fact, into a great consolidated government, with unlimited powers, and to divest the States, in reality, of all their rights...
In this passage, Calhoun intended to convey that
Calhoun,
South Carolina Exposition and Protest, 1828
If it be conceded, as it must be by everyone who is the least conversant with our institutions, that the sovereign powers delegated are divided between the General and State Governments, and that the latter hold their portion by the same tenure as the former, it would seem impossible to deny to the States the right of deciding on the infractions of their powers, and the proper remedy to be applied for their correction. The right of judging, in such
cases, is an essential attribute of sovereignty, of which the States cannot be divested without losing their sovereignty itself, and being reduced to a subordinate corporate condition... to reserve such exclusive right to the General Government (it matters not by what department) to be exercised, is to convert it, in fact, into a great consolidated government, with unlimited powers, and to divest the States, in reality, of all their rights...
The South Carolina Exposition and Protest drew on some of the same ideas as which of the following historical precedents?
Calhoun, South Carolina Exposition and Protest, 1828
If it be conceded, as it must be by everyone who is the least conversant with our institutions, that the sovereign powers delegated are divided between the General and State Governments, and that the latter hold their portion by the same tenure as the former, it would seem impossible to deny to the States the right of deciding on
the infractions of their powers, and the proper remedy to be applied for their correction. The right of judging, in such cases, is an essential attribute of sovereignty, of which the States cannot be divested without losing their sovereignty itself, and being reduced to a subordinate corporate condition... to reserve such exclusive right to the General Government (it matters not by what department) to be exercised, is to convert it, in fact, into a great consolidated government, with unlimited
powers, and to divest the States, in reality, of all their rights...
The passage was written in response to
Missouri Compromise 1820
And be it further enacted. That in all that territory ceded by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude, not included within the limits of the state, contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in
the punishment of crimes, whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted, shall be, and is hereby, forever prohibited:
Provided always, That any person escaping into the same, from whom labour or service is lawfully claimed, in any state or territory of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labour or service as aforesaid.
During the time of this source, what eventually happened to all compromises such as the Missouri Compromise, which attempted to regulate the spread of slavery?
Missouri Compromise 1820
And be it further enacted. That in all that territory ceded by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude, not included within the limits of the state, contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the parties
shall have been duly convicted, shall be, and is hereby, forever prohibited:
Provided always, That any person escaping into the same, from whom labour or service is lawfully claimed, in any state or territory of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labour or service as aforesaid.
What event caused a breakdown in the relative peace between the North and South created by the Missouri Compromise?
Missouri Compromise 1820
And be it further enacted. That in all that territory ceded by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude, not included within the limits of the state, contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted, shall be, and is hereby, forever prohibited:
Provided always,
That any person escaping into the same, from whom labour or service is lawfully claimed, in any state or territory of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labour or service as aforesaid.
The application of Missouri to enter the Union raised what sectional issue surrounding its admission?
Henry Clay's Speech before the Senate on the "American System" (1824)
When gentlemen have
succeeded in their design of an immediate or gradual destruction of the American System, what is their substitute? Free trade? Free trade! The call for free trade is as unavailing as the cry of a spoiled child, in its nurse's arms, for the moon, or the stars that glitter in the firmament of heaven. It never has existed, it never will exist.
Trade implies, at least two parties. To be free, it should be fair, equal and reciprocal. But if we throw our ports wide open to the admission of foreign
productions, free of all duty, what ports of any other foreign nation shall we find open to the free admission of our surplus produce? We may break down all barriers to free trade on our part, but the work will not be complete until foreign powers shall have removed theirs. There would be freedom on one side, and restrictions, prohibitions and exclusions on the other.
The bolts, and the bars, and the chains of all other nations will remain undisturbed. It is, indeed, possible, that our
industry and commerce would accommodate themselves to this unequal and unjust, state of things; for, such is the flexibility of our nature, that it bends itself to all circumstances. The wretched prisoner incarcerated in a jail, after a long time becomes reconciled to his solitude, and regularly notches down the passing days of his confinement.
Gentlemen deceive themselves. It is not free trade that they are recommending to our acceptance. It is in effect, the British colonial system that we
are invited to adopt; and, if their policy prevail, it will lead substantially to the re-colonization of these States, under the commercial dominion of Great Britain. . . .
The debate over the tariff outlined by Clay eventually manifested in which of the following events?
Henry Clay's Speech before the Senate on the "American System" (1824)
When gentlemen have succeeded in their design of an immediate or gradual destruction of the American System,
what is their substitute? Free trade? Free trade! The call for free trade is as unavailing as the cry of a spoiled child, in its nurse's arms, for the moon, or the stars that glitter in the firmament of heaven. It never has existed, it never will exist.
Trade implies, at least two parties. To be free, it should be fair, equal and reciprocal. But if we throw our ports wide open to the admission of foreign productions, free of all duty, what ports of any other foreign nation shall we find open
to the free admission of our surplus produce? We may break down all barriers to free trade on our part, but the work will not be complete until foreign powers shall have removed theirs. There would be freedom on one side, and restrictions, prohibitions and exclusions on the other.
The bolts, and the bars, and the chains of all other nations will remain undisturbed. It is, indeed, possible, that our industry and commerce would accommodate themselves to this unequal and unjust, state of things;
for, such is the flexibility of our nature, that it bends itself to all circumstances. The wretched prisoner incarcerated in a jail, after a long time becomes reconciled to his solitude, and regularly notches down the passing days of his confinement.
Gentlemen deceive themselves. It is not free trade that they are recommending to our acceptance. It is in effect, the British colonial system that we are invited to adopt; and, if their policy prevail, it will lead substantially to the
re-colonization of these States, under the commercial dominion of Great Britain. . . .
Which Democratic-Republican figure would have most likely shared the concerns expressed in the excerpt above?
Henry Clay's Speech before the Senate on the "American System" (1824)
When gentlemen have succeeded in their design of an immediate or gradual destruction of the American System, what is their substitute? Free trade? Free trade! The call for free trade is
as unavailing as the cry of a spoiled child, in its nurse's arms, for the moon, or the stars that glitter in the firmament of heaven. It never has existed, it never will exist.
Trade implies, at least two parties. To be free, it should be fair, equal and reciprocal. But if we throw our ports wide open to the admission of foreign productions, free of all duty, what ports of any other foreign nation shall we find open to the free admission of our surplus produce? We may break down all barriers
to free trade on our part, but the work will not be complete until foreign powers shall have removed theirs. There would be freedom on one side, and restrictions, prohibitions and exclusions on the other.
The bolts, and the bars, and the chains of all other nations will remain undisturbed. It is, indeed, possible, that our industry and commerce would accommodate themselves to this unequal and unjust, state of things; for, such is the flexibility of our nature, that it bends itself to all
circumstances. The wretched prisoner incarcerated in a jail, after a long time becomes reconciled to his solitude, and regularly notches down the passing days of his confinement.
Gentlemen deceive themselves. It is not free trade that they are recommending to our acceptance. It is in effect, the British colonial system that we are invited to adopt; and, if their policy prevail, it will lead substantially to the re-colonization of these States, under the commercial dominion of Great Britain. .
. .
Which of the following presidential administrations is also credited with internal improvements similar to those proposed by the American System?
The Market Revolution
"By 1815, however, a market revolution was surmounting the overland transportation barrier. While dissolving deeply rooted patterns of behavior and belief for competitive effort, it mobilized collective resources through government to fuel growth in countless ways, not least by
providing the essential legal, financial, and transport infrastructures. Establishing capitalist hegemony over economy, politics, and culture, the market revolution created ourselves and most of the world we know."
Which of the following groups would MOST likely support the author's argument that capitalism had taken over the "economy, politics, and culture" of America?
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