Topic 1 AP Exam Practice
Multiple-Choice Questions
Questions 1 to 3 refer to the passage below.
“Who made man the exclusive judge, if women partake with him the gift of reason? In this style, argue tyrants of every denomination, from the weak king to the weak father of a family; they are all eager to crush reason; yet always assert that they usurp its throne only to be useful. Do you not act a similar part, when you force all women, by denying them civil and political rights, to remain immured [confined against their will] in their families groping in the dark? For surely, sir, you will not assert that a duty can be binding which is not founded on reason. . . ?
Let there be, then, no coercion established in society, and the common law of gravity prevailing, the sexes will fall into their proper places. And now, that more equitable laws are forming your citizens, marriage may become more sacred, your young may choose wives from motives of affection, and your maidens allow love to root out vanity.”
Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women
(Dedicatory letter to Talleyrand of France), 1792
1. Wollstonecraft’s main goal in this passage is to
- (A) secure inheritance rights for surviving wives
- (B) secure female equality with males
- (C) allow men and women to marry based on love
- (D) encourage Britain to support the bourgeoisie in the French Revolution
2. Which of the following writers would LEAST likely support the goals of Mary Wollstonecraft?
- (A) A conservative
- (B) A utopian socialist
- (C) A classical liberal
- (D) A Marxist
3. What part of the excerpt is connected most closely to the ideals of the Enlightenment?
- (A) its reference to equality in marriage
- (B) its mention of equitable laws
- (C) its appeal to reason
- (D) its rejection of tyrants
Short-Answer Questions
1. Use the passage below to answer all parts of the question that follows.
“I wish I knew what mighty things were fabricating. If a form of government is to be established here, what one will be assumed? Will it be left to our Assemblies to choose one? And will not many men have many minds? And shall we not run into dissensions among ourselves? I am more and more convinced that man is a dangerous creature; and that power, whether vested in many or a few, is ever grasping. . . . How shall we be governed so as to retain our liberties? . . . Who shall frame these laws? Who will give them force and energy? . . . When I consider these things, and the prejudices of people in favor of ancient customs and regulations, I feel anxious for the fate of our monarchy or democracy, or whatever is to take place.”
Abigail Adams, letter to her husband John, November, 1775
2. Answer all parts of the question that follows.