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The American Revolution Topic Test
Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
1. Which factor gave France the greatest advantage over Britain in the competition for territory in North
America?
A. The large number of French settlers in the interior.
B. The good relations France had with American Indians.
C. The control the French Navy exercised over Atlantic trade routes.
D. The steady supply of raw materials from French colonies in the West Indies.
2. “Despite what seemed like a success, the Treaty of Paris [1763] ultimately encouraged dissension
between Anglo-American colonists and the British Government because their interests in North America
no longer coincided. The British Government no longer wanted to maintain an expensive military
presence, and its attempts to manage a post-treaty frontier policy that would balance colonists’ and
Indians’ interests would prove ineffective and even counterproductive.”
—U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian
How did the British government attempt to solve the problem described in this excerpt?
A. It provided weapons and supplies to both groups.
B. It organized frontier settlers into a citizen militia.
C. It banned colonial settlement west of the Appalachians.
D. It created self-governing assemblies for frontier regions.
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3. This image was intended to promote the Albany Plan of Union. What problem faced by the colonists did the
Albany Plan address?
A. attacks by hostile Indians and foreign settlers

B. lack of citizen participation in state and local militias
C. the British quartering their soldiers in private homes
D. slow economic growth resulting from inconsistent trade policies

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4.
It can be inferred from the information on this map that Pontiac's Rebellion
A. threatened trade between British and Spanish settlers.
B. was a widespread uprising among various American Indian groups.
C. succeeded in halting white settlement of the Ohio River Valley.
D. worsened relations between American colonists and the British government.
5. “And whereas it is just and reasonable, and essential to our Interest, and to the Security of our Colonies, . .
.the several Nations or Tribes of Indians with whom We are connected, and who live under our Protection,
should not be molested or disturbed in the Possession of such Parts of our Dominions and Territories as . . .
are reserved to them, or any of them, as their Hunting Grounds.”
—Proclamation of 1763
Which statement best explains the British rationale for the Proclamation of 1763?
A. Preserving Indian hunting grounds would provide the government with a steady supply
of food for its fast-growing colonies.
B. Halting the westward progress of colonial settlement would reduce further
conflict between American Indians and colonists.
C. Setting aside territory for American Indians to occupy in the interior would make it
easier to purchase Indian lands along the Atlantic Coast.
D. Protecting American Indian leaders from attack would prevent French fur traders
from reestablishing their dominance in the Ohio River Valley.

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6. “Know ye, therefore moreover that we [Charles the Second]... do grant full and absolute power, by virtue of
these presents, to them the said Edward Earl of Clarendon, George Duke of Albemarle, William Lord
Craven, John Lord Berkley, Anthony Lord Ashley, Sir George Carteret, Sir William Berkley, and Sir John
Colleton, and their heirs, for the good and happy government of the said province, to ordain, make, enact,
and under their seals to publish any laws whatsoever... according to their best discretion, of and with the
advice, assent and approbation of the freemen of the said province, or of the greater part of them, or of their
delegates or deputies, whom for enacting of the said laws, when and as often as need shall require, we will
that the said Edward Earl of Clarendon [et al]...shall from time to time assemble in such manner and form as
to them shall seem best.”
—Charter of Carolina, 1663
Which statement best explains how the ideas in this document were modeled on the British system of
government?
A. The king could veto any decision made by the political leaders he appointed.
B. A written constitution was needed to establish a legitimate government.
C. Law-making power was shared between the aristocracy and the voters.
D. Governors were required to make their proclamations public.
7. “When I contemplate these things—when I know that the Colonies in general owe little or nothing to any
care of ours, and that they are not squeezed into this happy form by the constraints of watchful and
suspicious government, but that, through a wise and salutary neglect, a generous nature has been suffered to
take her own way to perfection—when I reflect upon these effects—when I see how profitable they have
been to us, I feel all the pride of power sink, and all presumption in the wisdom of human contrivances melt
and die away within me.”
—Edmund Burke, speech to House of Commons, March 22, 1775
The "wise and salutary neglect" described in this quote led the British government to do which of the
following prior to the French and Indian War?
A. provide military supplies to hostile Indian tribes
B. use American merchant ships for most of its Atlantic trade
C. allow the American colonists to avoid paying taxes on imports
D. invest heavily to develop manufacturing in its North American colonies
8. What change in British policy resulted from the end of the French and Indian War?
A. Colonists were given free land west of the Appalachian Mountains.
B. Royal governors were replaced with governors elected by the colonists.
C. Frontier settlements were required to organize and maintain citizen militias.
D. The government began enforcing tax laws that had largely been ignored in the past.
9. Which of these assumptions was fundamental to Patrick Henry's Virginia Resolves?

A. Taxation without representation is illegitimate.
B. Citizens should organize militias to fight tyranny.
C. Every citizen has a right to freedom of speech and press.
D. The American colonies should be a single, unified nation.

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10. Which of the following was the most widespread form of protest against the new laws passed by
Parliament after the French and Indian War?
A. refusing to buy British-made goods
B. quitting jobs with the British government
C. attacking the homes of wealthy British merchants
D. destroying shipments of weapons for the British Army
11. One source of resentment among colonists in the late 1760s was the British government's use of tax money
to pay
A. American Indians for land taken by the colonists.
B. merchants for shipping goods to the American market.
C. Loyalists for quartering British soldiers in their homes.
D. public officials who were loyal to the British government.
12. Unlike the First Continental Congress, the Second Continental Congress
A. took direct action to prepare for war.
B. resulted in the formation of new institutions.
C. urged Americans to boycott British-made goods.
D. was attended by delegates from both the North and the South.
13. “The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I
am not a Virginian, but an American.”
—Patrick Henry, 1774
Someone who accepted Patrick Henry's claim in this quote would most likely also believe in which of the
following?
A. establishing citizen militias
B. unity among the American colonists
C. declaring independence from Britain
D. the wisdom of the Albany Plan of Union

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14.
It can be inferred from this image that the British Army was
A. unprepared to fight a guerrilla-style war.
B. short of officers with battlefield experience.
C. under orders to shoot at civilians as well as enemy soldiers.
D. better trained and better disciplined than the colonial militia.

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15. Which of the following can best be generalized from this table, which describes Loyalists?
A. Loyalists believed they would benefit from continuing to support British rule.
B. Most Loyalists had been born in Great Britain and did not consider themselves American.
C. Loyalists tended to include the least powerful people in colonial society.
D. Many Loyalists had little interest in westward expansion or the problems of the frontier.
16. Many Loyalists resented the Patriots' willingness to

A. form alliances with European powers.
B. violate the colonists' individual rights.
C. take military supplies without paying for them.
D. support merchants suspected of supporting the Monarch.

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17. “In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated
Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act
which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to
our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an
unwarrantable jurisdiction over us.... We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity [fairness],
and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would
inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and
of consanguinity [close relation].”
—The Declaration of Independence
Which of the following best summarizes the viewpoint of colonial leaders in 1776?
A. They were willing to avoid a rebellion if the British government would give in to
their demands.
B. They felt that the British government could no longer be relied upon to protect
the colonies.
C. They hoped that the British Parliament would overrule the king and establish
better relations with the colonists.
D. They believed that it was no longer possible to remain part of the British Empire
without sacrificing their best interests.

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18. What does this image of the Second Continental Congress indicate about the delegates?
A. Most of them had both military and political experience.

B. They represented a cross-section of the colonies' population.
C. Nearly all of them were from the Deep South or the Chesapeake region.
D. They were all white men who held prominent positions in their home states.

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19.
This image from a British publication indicates that the British public
A. was beginning to believe the American rebellion would succeed.
B. strongly supported the government's effort to prevent the American rebellion.
C. believed that the American colonies were more of a drain than a benefit to the empire.
D. wanted to establish a republican form of government modeled after the
American colonies.
20. How was the Battle of Saratoga a turning point in the Revolutionary War?
A. It brought the Patriots foreign support.
B. It significantly reduced the size of the British Army.
C. It convinced many Loyalists to join the Patriot cause.
D. It forced the British to abandon their defensive strategy.

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21. Which of the following aspects of the Revolutionary War does this drawing most clearly indicate?
A. The final battles of the Revolutionary War were one-sided victories for the
Continental Army.
B. The British Army was running low on weapons and supplies during the final months
of the war.
C. By the end of the war, the British Army no longer had a clear sense of purpose or
the necessary will to fight.
D. The Continental Army was better trained and better disciplined by the end of the war
than it had been at the beginning.
22. What was Spain's main motivation for helping the Patriots during the Revolutionary War?
A. To establish good trade relations with the Americans.
B. To gain an ally in its fight against hostile Indian tribes.
C. To weaken its main competitor for territory in North America.
D. To prevent ideas of self-government from spreading to its colonies.

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23. WHEREAS reciprocal advantages and mutual convenience are found by experience to form the only
permanent foundation of peace and friendship between states: it is agreed to form the articles of the
proposed treaty on such principles of liberal equity and reciprocity, as that partial advantages, those seeds of
discord, being excluded, such a beneficial and satisfactory intercourse between the two countries may be
established as to promise and secure to both, perpetual peace and harmony.
—Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789; Library
of Congress
This excerpt indicates that the Americans who negotiated the Treaty of Paris hoped
A. that the United States would someday be able to return to the British Empire.
B. that the United States would be able to gain more of Britain's North American territory
in the future.
C. that Britain and the United States would be able to have a mutually beneficial
trade relationship.
D. that Britain's system of government would provide a model for the organization of the
U.S. government.
24. The changes brought by the Treaty of Paris did the most to expand the political power of
A. free blacks.
B. unmarried women.
C. property-owning men.
D. native peoples on the frontier.
25. Why were many southern whites against the practice of manumission following the Revolution?
A. They were fearful that freed slaves would seek revenge.
B. They believed African Americans should not be considered citizens.
C. They wanted to keep the southern population high for tax purposes.
D. They thought it showed weakness in the wake of a foreign war.
26. How did Thomas Paine's Common Sense affect the move towards independence?
A. Paine's Common Sense encourages rebellion against Britain.
B. More colonists accept the idea of limited representation in Parliament.
C. Paine recommends compromise as the first course of action.
D. The idea of forming a new republic becomes the goal for many colonists.
27. What effect did the American Revolution have on the world?
A. The idea of overthrowing an old regime seemed impossible.
B. Many European nations were inspired to rewrite their existing constitutions.
C. French soldiers who fought with the Americans returned to France determined to
support the existing monarchy.
D. Achieving liberty and equality became realistic goals and inspired other revolutions.

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Essay
Read each question, and write your answer in complete sentences.
28. Describe What was the main source of conflict between France and Britain in North America during the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries?
29. Generate Explanations How were the British able to undermine the advantage that France enjoyed prior to
the French and Indian War?
30. Compare the view of the Patriots and British officials on the issue of taxation and representation.

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31. Compare What did the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party have in common?
32. Identify Cause and Effect What led to the meeting of the First Continental Congress, and what form of
protest against British policy did it lead to?
33. Describe the actions the Second Continental Congress took in response to the early battles of
the Revolutionary War.
34. Describe the Patriots' political goals.

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35. Compare the advantages enjoyed by the two sides at the beginning of the Revolutionary War.
36. Identify Patterns What strategy enabled the Continental Army to win both the Battle of Trenton and the
Battle of Princeton?
37. Distinguish between the changes in territory that resulted from French and Indian War and the
American Revolution.
38. Draw Conclusions Why did Great Britain lose the war in the South?

The Revolutionary Era
Answer Section
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. ANS: B DIF: medium

2. ANS: C DIF: medium
3. ANS: A DIF: medium
8. ANS: D DIF: medium
ESSAY
28. ANS:
The main source of conflict between France and Britain was competition for territory. Britain wanted to drive
France from North America and take control of the interior trade that France dominated. The two nations
fought a series of wars that resulted in treaties that solved little.
DIF: medium

29. ANS:
The main advantage that France had prior to the French and Indian War was support from most of the
region’s American Indian tribes. The Indians benefited from their ability to play the two sides against each
other, which meant that whichever side could provide more to the Indian tribes would gain their aid. Naval
superiority allowed the British to cut off French shipping to the Americas, which led France's Indian allies to
desert them in favor of the British, who could provide them with supplies.
DIF: medium
30. ANS:
Both groups accepted the idea that the taxation power of a political body depended on that body representing
the group that it was taxing. To the Patriots, their lack of voting rights in Parliament meant that only colonial
assemblies had the power to levy taxes on the colonists, who had the right to vote for representatives in these
assemblies. British officials felt that Parliament acted upon a form of "virtual representation" that took into
account the interests of all British subjects, whether at home or in the colonies. Thus, they felt that
Parliament could legitimately tax the colonists.
DIF: medium
31. ANS:
Both the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party resulted from Patriots' protests against British policy.
Before the Boston Massacre, protests in Boston had caused the King to send troops to Boston to restore order.
The Boston Massacre occurred when British soldiers fired into a crowd after being harassed by a group of
protesters. The Boston Massacre resulted from continued protests that escalated into a British military
response. The Tea Party was a protest against British efforts to trick the colonists into paying the Townshend
Acts. Both events also increased disapproval of the British government and helped galvanize colonists'
support for the Patriot cause.
DIF: medium
32. ANS:
Colonists' negative reaction to the Coercive Acts, known in the colonies as the Intolerable Acts, led colonial
leaders in every colony except Georgia to send representatives to Philadelphia to discuss a united response.
The First Continental Congress led to an expansion of boycotts on British-made goods, which further
escalated the conflict between the colonists and the British government.
DIF: medium
33. ANS:
The Second Continental Congress assumed responsibility for the war and established an army to represent
all of the colonies. This led armed volunteers from the Middle and Southern colonies to march north to New
England to support the Patriot cause.
DIF: medium
34. ANS:
The Patriots wanted to gain independence from the British Empire so that Americans could control their own
political system. They also wanted to establish a republican form of government along similar lines to the
one operating in Britain, without, however, the monarchical aspects.
DIF: medium

35. ANS:
The British had many advantages at the beginning of the war. They had a larger population, a more
productive economy, an established system of government to collect taxes, and a better trained and supplied
military. The Patriots' main advantage was that the fighting was taking place in their territory, far from
Britain. Their other advantages were their strong belief in their cause and the fact that they had much to lose
if they were unable to defeat the British.
DIF: medium
36. ANS:
The Continental army employed the element of surprise to win both battles with a small number of troops
against a larger enemy force.
DIF: medium
37. ANS:
The French and Indian War brought Britain control over Canada, the Great Lakes region, the Ohio River
Valley, and Florida, in addition to the 13 colonies on the eastern seaboard. In the American Revolution, they
lost the southern portion of the Great Lakes region and the Ohio River Valley to the Americans, and they lost
Florida to the Spanish. They retained control over Canada.
DIF: medium
38. ANS:
With the help of the Loyalists, the British scored numerous victories in the South. The turning point,
however, occurred at King's Mountain. The losses were heavy. Gradually, neutral citizens in the South began
to take up the Patriot's cause. As this support gained strength, the British general, Cornwallis, became
frustrated.
DIF: medium

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The American Revolution Topic Test

Copyright © by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. 1

A. attacks by hostile Indians and foreign settlers

Copyright © by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. 2

Copyright © by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. 3

9. Which of these assumptions was fundamental to Patrick Henry's Virginia Resolves?

Copyright © by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. 4

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Copyright © by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. 6

16. Many Loyalists resented the Patriots' willingness to

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A. Most of them had both military and political experience.

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34. Describe the Patriots' political goals.

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1. ANS: B DIF: medium

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