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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the irony of Houston's defending the Northerner's rights to abolition?
(a) Houston owned slaves himself.
(b) Houston was a slave to the Cherokee.
(c) Houston disliked all Yankees.
(d) Houston opposed slavery except in the South.

2. According to Kennedy, what makes it difficult to recognize courageous acts when they do occur?
(a) Self interest that only looks like courage.
(b) The secrecy of most courageous acts.
(c) Business concerns and the competition for attention from the public.
(d) Media bias one way or the other.

3. What does Kennedy see as Webster's moral flaw?
(a) Webster had no compunction against taking money for political favors.
(b) Webster was an alcoholic and often lost track of time.
(c) Webster was a compulsive gambler.
(d) Webster had many affairs his wife did not know about.

4. How did Benton urge support for expansion to the West?
(a) He supported communications methods such as the telegraph, the Pony Express and roadways that ran into the country.
(b) He made a Congressional junket to Oregon.
(c) He voted to give tax breaks to manufacturers of wagons.
(d) He pushed a measure giving extra benefits to leaders of wagon trains.

5. Who was the first son of a former president to become president of the U.S.?
(a) Thomas Alva Edison.
(b) Andrew Jefferson.
(c) Geroge Washington Carver.
(d) John Quincey Adams.

Short Answer Questions

1. Whom did the Adams family say that the magistrate must serve?

2. What was Daniel Webster known for during his lifetime?

3. When Houston ran away from home in his childhood, where did he go?

4. Why did Thomas Hart Benton get the nickname of Old Bullion?

5. What effect did Webster's three-hour-long speech in the Senate have in 1850?

Short Essay Questions

1. What advice was Kennedy given when he first went to Congress?

2. Detail the important political positions held by Sam Houston.

3. What does Kennedy point out as a moral flaw in Daniel Webster?

4. Discus the results of Benton's not voting for the annexation of Texas.

5. How does the book reflect John Kennedy's admiration for certain former U.S. Senators?

6. If Webster's popularity was an asset, how does Kennedy point out that it was also a liability?

7. What was the irony of John Quincey's taking sides with Jefferson against his father?

8. What metaphor does Kennedy use illustrating the elected official and constituency relationship?

9. Was Houston able to prevent Texas from seceding from the Union?

10. Relate how Benton survived an attempt on his life by another senator.

(see the answer keys)

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