AP®HistoryCollege BoardUS HistoryExam QuestionsPeriod 3: 1754-1800Shaping a New Republic

Shaping a New Republic (College Board AP® US History): Exam Questions

6 mins6 questions
11 mark

“That from a conviction (as suggested in his report No. 1155 herewith presented) That a National Bank is an Institution of primary importance to the prosperous administration of the Finances, and would be of the greatest utility in the operations connected with the support of the Public Credit, his attention has been drawn to devising the plan of such an institution, upon a scale, which will intitle it to the confidence, and be likely to render it equal to the exigencies of the Public.”

 Alexander Hamilton, Final Version of the Second Report on the Further Provision Necessary for Establishing Public Credit (Report on a National Bank), 13 December 1790

Alexander Hamilton’s ideas expressed in the excerpt are most directly a reaction to the 

  • Need for America to have a balanced and self-reliant economy  

  • Accumulation of public debt after the American Revolution

  • Desire to purchase Louisiana from France    

  • Enactment of the excise tax 

Choose your answer

21 mark

“That from a conviction (as suggested in his report No. 1155 herewith presented) That a National Bank is an Institution of primary importance to the prosperous administration of the Finances, and would be of the greatest utility in the operations connected with the support of the Public Credit, his attention has been drawn to devising the plan of such an institution, upon a scale, which will intitle it to the confidence, and be likely to render it equal to the exigencies of the Public.”

 Alexander Hamilton, Final Version of the Second Report on the Further Provision Necessary for Establishing Public Credit (Report on a National Bank), 13 December 1790

Which of the following people strongly opposed Alexander Hamilton’s point of view in the excerpt?

  • John Jay

  • George Washington 

  • John Adams

  • Thomas Jefferson 

Choose your answer

31 mark

“That from a conviction (as suggested in his report No. 1155 herewith presented) That a National Bank is an Institution of primary importance to the prosperous administration of the Finances, and would be of the greatest utility in the operations connected with the support of the Public Credit, his attention has been drawn to devising the plan of such an institution, upon a scale, which will intitle it to the confidence, and be likely to render it equal to the exigencies of the Public.”

 Alexander Hamilton, Final Version of the Second Report on the Further Provision Necessary for Establishing Public Credit (Report on a National Bank), 13 December 1790

The views expressed by Alexander Hamilton in the excerpt most directly contributed to the

  • Alien and Sedition Acts 

  • Whiskey Rebellion 

  • Creation of a two-party system 

  • “Era of good feelings”

Choose your answer

41 mark
Table showing U.S. Congress seats from 1789 to 1801, comparing Federalists and Democratic Republicans with seat numbers and additional columns.

Data on party divisions in the House from 1789 to 1801, The Office of the Historian of the U.S. House of Representatives, history.house.gov

The data in the table most directly reflects which of the following political developments in the early republic?

  • The increasing dominance of the Federalist Party in national politics

  • The emergence of political parties despite initial resistance to factionalism

  • The success of George Washington in preventing partisan divisions

  • The decline of regional differences in American politics

Choose your answer

51 mark
Table showing U.S. Congress seats from 1789 to 1801, comparing Federalists and Democratic Republicans with seat numbers and additional columns.

Data on party divisions in the House from 1789 to 1801, The Office of the Historian of the U.S. House of Representatives, history.house.gov

The party shifts shown in the table are most directly related to which of the following foreign policy crises?

  • The XYZ Affair and Quasi-War with France

  • The War of 1812 against Britain

  • The Louisiana Purchase and its diplomatic consequences

  • The Monroe Doctrine’s warning against European intervention

Choose your answer

61 mark
Table showing U.S. Congress seats from 1789 to 1801, comparing Federalists and Democratic Republicans with seat numbers and additional columns.

Data on party divisions in the House from 1789 to 1801, The Office of the Historian of the U.S. House of Representatives, history.house.gov

The data in the table most directly foreshadows which of the following political developments in the early 19th century?

  • The immediate dissolution of the Federalist Party after the Election of 1800

  • The strengthening of New England’s political influence in Congress

  • The emergence of new political coalitions within the Democratic-Republican Party

  • The increasing dominance of one-party rule in national politics

Choose your answer