Period 4: 1800–1848

The Constitution of the United States was ordained and established, not by the states in their sovereign capacities, but emphatically, as the preamble of the Constitution declares, by 'the People of the United States.'... [The] Constitution was not designed for a day, but to endure through a long lapse of ages, the events of which were locked up in the inscrutable purposes of Providence. It was to be modified by the people, in the manner prescribed in the instrument itself, and not by the states, who have no right to interpret it at their pleasure.

— Justice Joseph Story, opinion of the Court in Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee (1816)

Based on the excerpt, which of the following best describes the principal effect of the judicial philosophy of the Marshall Court era?

"The Constitution of the United States is, in fact, a compact, to which each State is a party... and the several States, or parties, have a right to judge of its infractions; and in case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of power not delegated, they have the right, in the last resort... to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil."

—John C. Calhoun, *South Carolina Exposition and Protest*, 1828

Which of the following was the most direct cause of the sentiments expressed in the excerpt?

“We shall organize Anti-Slavery Societies, if possible, in every city, town, and village in our land. We shall send forth agents to lift up the voice of remonstrance, of warning, of entreaty, and of rebuke. We shall circulate, unsparingly and without delay, tracts and pamphlets. We shall enlist the pulpit and the press in the cause of the suffering and the dumb. We shall aim at a purification of the churches from all participation in the guilt of slavery...”
—Declaration of Sentiments of the American Anti-Slavery Society, 1833

The tactics and goals described in the excerpt most directly reflect the influence of which of the following historical developments?

Read the following excerpt from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to Abigail Adams in 1804:

"Nothing in the Constitution has given them [the judges] a right to decide for the Executive, more than to the Executive to decide for them. . . . The opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional, and what not, not only for themselves in their own sphere of action, but for the Legislature & Executive also in their spheres, would make the judiciary a despotic branch."

Which of the following historical developments during the early nineteenth century was Jefferson reacting against in this excerpt?

"The political system of the allied powers is essentially different in this respect from that of America. This difference proceeds from that which exists in their respective Governments; and to the defense of our own, which has been achieved by the loss of so much blood and treasure... we owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety."
—President James Monroe, Annual Message to Congress (Monroe Doctrine), 1823

Which of the following best explains the primary diplomatic goal of the United States in issuing this statement?

Source: U.S. Census Bureau and historical estimates of cotton production, 1800–1840.

Which of the following historical developments is best supported by the data in the table?

Read the excerpt below.

"We must always have party distinctions... Party attachment in former times kept these [sectional] feelings in subjection... [A national party organization would] substitute party principle for personal preferences as the rule of public action."
— Martin Van Buren, letter to Thomas Ritchie, 1827

Which of the following developments in the Jacksonian era best reflects the goals expressed in the excerpt?

“The laboring classes of this country are rapidly sinking in the scale of society... whilst the wealth of the nation is rapidly accumulating in the hands of a few. The hours of labor have been increased, while the compensation has been diminished... We are therefore convinced that the only way to avert the impending ruin of our class is by a general union of all the workingmen of the country.”
— Constitution of the New England Association of Farmers, Mechanics, and Other Workingmen, 1832

Which of the following developments in the first half of the nineteenth century most directly contributed to the grievances expressed in the excerpt?

"This treaty must of course be laid before both Houses, because both Houses have important functions to exercise respecting it. They, I presume, will see their duty to their country in ratifying & paying for it, so as to secure a good which would otherwise probably be never again in their power. But I suppose they must then appeal to the nation for an additional article to the Constitution, approving & confirming an act which the nation had not previously authorized. The Executive in seizing the fugitive occurrence which so much advances the good of their country, have done an act beyond the Constitution. The Legislature in casting behind them metaphysical subtleties, and risking themselves like faithful apprentices, must ratify and pay for it, and throw themselves on their country for doing for them unauthorized, what we know they would have done for themselves had they been in a situation to do it."

— Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Breckinridge, August 12, 1803

Which of the following statements best describes how the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory challenged Thomas Jefferson's political principles?

"The duties of all public officers are, or at least admit of being made, so plain and simple that men of intelligence may readily qualify themselves for their performance; and I can not but believe that more is lost by the long continuance of men in office than is generally to be gained by their experience."
— President Andrew Jackson, First Annual Message to Congress, 1829

Which of the following political developments during the Jacksonian era was most directly aligned with the ideas expressed in the excerpt?

"We have looked upon the massive brick structures of the factories, and we have heard the constant hum of the power-looms. This machinery, moved by the power of the Merrimack River, accomplishes in a single day what would have required weeks of hand-loom labor in our mothers' kitchens. The young women who tend these machines are part of a new order of labor, where the clock, rather than the sun, regulates the daily routine."
— Adapted from *The Lowell Offering*, 1844

The developments described in the excerpt most directly reflect which of the following changes during the Market Revolution?

John C. Calhoun, speech in the U.S. Senate, 1837:

"I hold that in the present state of civilization, where two races of different origin, and distinguished by color, and other physical differences, as well as intellectual, are brought together, the relation now existing in the slaveholding States between the two, is, instead of an evil, a good—a positive good."

Which of the following arguments used by Southern defenders of slavery in the antebellum era is most directly reflected in Calhoun's speech?

Thomas Jefferson, letter to Spencer Roane, September 6, 1819:

"In denying the right they [the federal judiciary] usurp of exclusively explaining the constitution, I go further than you do... The constitution, on this hypothesis, is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form they please. It should be remembered, as an axiom of eternal truth in politics, that whatever power in any government is independent, is absolute also... A judiciary independent of a king or executive alone, is a good thing; but independence of the will of the nation is a solecism, at least in a republican government."

Thomas Jefferson's critique in the excerpt most directly challenges which of the following constitutional doctrines established by the Marshall Court?

"The traffic in ardent spirits is a trade in human misery and death. It is the great source of poverty, crime, and disease in our land. Let the temperate, the moral, and the religious combine their influence to put a stop to this destroying pestilence. Let voluntary associations be formed in every town and village to discourage the use and sale of this poison. In this way, public opinion may be purified, and our country saved from moral ruin."

— Address of the Executive Committee of the American Temperance Society, 1828

The mobilization of voluntary associations described in the excerpt was most directly facilitated by which of the following social changes of the early nineteenth century?

"The Constitution is a limited grant of power... But now, we are told that the executive may purchase an empire, and the legislature must pay for it, under the general welfare clause or the treaty-making power. If this principle is admitted, there is no boundary to federal authority. The very party that rode into power in 1800 on the promise of restoring the constitutional balance has now adopted the consolidated, energy-driven doctrines of their predecessors. We have bartered our principles for a wilderness."

—John Randolph of Roanoke, speech in the House of Representatives, 1803

Which of the following conflicts or developments during the Jefferson administration is best illustrated by the concerns expressed in the excerpt?

"In 1831, the Lowell mills were in active operation... Help was in great demand, and stories were told all over the country of the new factory place, and the high wages that were offered... The laws of the boardinghouses were very strict... No girl was allowed to be out after ten o'clock at night."
— Harriet Hanson Robinson, Loom and Spindle, describing her experiences in the 1830s

Which of the following was a major social effect of the industrial growth described in the excerpt?

"The idea of complete holiness, or perfectionism, is not merely an inward sentiment, but a call to revolutionize every relationship of human life. The prevailing system of marriage and private property isolates individuals, breeding selfishness and conflict. To truly prepare for the Kingdom of God, believers must abandon these worldly divisions and enter into a single, unified family where all labor, property, and affection are held in common, modeled after the early Christian church."

— John Humphrey Noyes, *The Berean*, 1847

Which of the following early-nineteenth-century developments was the most direct cause of the social experiment advocated in the excerpt?

"The great Canal, which connects the western lakes with the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean, has opened a new era. The agricultural products of the West are now brought to the markets of the East at a fraction of the former cost, while the manufactured goods of our eastern cities are easily transported to the interior."
— Adapted from a New York newspaper article, 1825

Which of the following developments in the United States between 1800 and 1848 was a direct result of the transportation innovation described in the excerpt?

"By means of this great canal, a highway is opened to the heart of a fertile continent, and the products of the western forests and plains will find a cheap and rapid transit to the Atlantic ocean... The agriculturalist of the West is no longer isolated; he is brought into close relation with the merchant of the East, and both are mutually dependent on the success of the other."

— Cadwallader D. Colden, Memoir, Prepared at the Request of a Committee of the Common Council of the City of New York, 1825

Which of the following regional dynamics in the United States during the first half of the nineteenth century did the economic developments described in the excerpt most directly reinforce?

"The introduction of steamboats on the Western waters has produced a revolution in the habits, business, and feelings of the Western people... Before this, the return voyage from New Orleans was a matter of months of laborious rowing and towing. Now, a passage is made in days. The Western farmer is no longer isolated; his produce finds a rapid market, and he receives in return the manufactures of the East and the luxuries of Europe."
— Timothy Flint, Recollections of the Last Ten Years, 1826

Which of the following historical developments during the period 1800 to 1848 was the most direct consequence of the transformation described in the excerpt?