1754-1800 (10-17%)

Question 1

Why was the Battle of Yorktown significant?

Answer 1

The Battle of Yorktown was the last major battle of the American Revolution. The British were led by Lord Cornwallis and the colonists/French were led by George Washington and Jean-Baptiste de Rocheambeau.

Question 2

What and when was the Whiskey Rebellion?

Answer 2

In 1794, farmers refused to pay Hamilton’s proposed whiskey excise and terrorized tax collectors in the region. Washington responded with Hamilton’s advising by sending military troops to quell the rebellion. The incident proved that the new system of government had the power and authority to suppress any resistance to its laws.

Question 3

When was the French and Indian War (Seven Years War), and what was its impact?

Answer 3

The French and Indian War was a conflict between the British and the French that greatly involved the Native Americans and the American colonists. The French lost the war, and accordingly decreased their influence in the colonies. On the other hand, the British practically did the opposite. Unsatisfied with the colonists’ efforts during the war, the Crown was determined to impose stricter control on the colonies.

Question 4

What was the impact of “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine?

Answer 4

“Common Sense” by Thomas Paine was published in 1776, and persuaded the colonists of the necessity for independence.

Question 5

What was the impact of the Tea Act?

Answer 5

In 1773, Parliament imposed a tea tax on the colonies, which Americans saw as a new way it was trying to reaffirm its power. In defiance, colonists dressed up as Mohawk Indians and dumped chests of tea into Boston Harbor, infuriating the British.

Question 6

What was Lexington and Concord?

Answer 6

“The Shot Heard ‘Round The World”

1775 - These were the first shots (the first battle) of the American Revolution.

Question 7

How and why did American attitudes toward Parliament, the English Constitution, and the King change between 1763 and 1765?

Answer 7

Attitudes changed in response to legislation like the Proclamation of 1763, the Sugar Act of 1764, and the Stamp and Quartering Acts of 1765. The colonists grew to despise the British government, and formed the Stamp Act Congress. This was a major step in the colonies becoming a unified nation.

Question 8

What was the Proclamation of 1763?

Answer 8

The Proclamation of 1763 prevented westward expansion past the Appalachian Mountains, in a British attempt to assert more control over the colonies.

Question 9

What was the Battle of Saratoga?

Answer 9

The Battle of Saratoga (1777) was the turning point in the American Revolution for the colonists. Following the battle, the French decided to aid and participate in the war effort.

Question 10

What were the Committees of Correspondence?

Answer 10

The Committees of Correspondence - started by Samuel Adams in 1764 - were groups intended to circulate grievances against the British to towns within their colonies.

Question 11

When was the Second Continental Congress, and what came out of it?

Answer 11

The Second Continental Congress in 1775 established the Continental Army with Washington as its commander, a committee to formulate and conduct foreign policy, and that they would begin issuing paper money.

Question 12

What were the Articles of Confederation?

Answer 12

Drawn up in 1781, the Articles were the first national government. They were very weak pieces of legislation with no POTUS or Judiciary, with Congress as the central institution and only given few powers to avoid tyranny, and made so that the country was completely dependent on the states.

Question 13

What were the Northwest Ordinances?

Answer 13

The Northwest Ordinances of 1784, 1785, and 1787 were the most consequential pieces of legislation passed under the Articles of Confederation.

Ord. 1784 - Established that western territories would be organized as new states

Ord. 1785 - Established a system for selling western lands

Ord. 1787 - Ceded state claims to western territories to the national government, created the Northwest Territory, and created a system for a territory to apply for statehood.

Question 14

What were the Intolerable Acts?

Answer 14

In 1774, the Intolerable Acts closed Boston ports to all but the military and took control of the Massachusetts government. They were designed to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party, but it seemed to Americans that the British were cutting them off form the West and surrounding them with their enemies.

Question 15

What was the Treaty of Paris?

Answer 15

The Treaty of Paris (1783) ended the Revolution and Britain finally recognized American Independence. In this negotiation (by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay), Britain ceded lands from the Mississippi to the Appalachian Mountains.

Question 16

What did the Declaration of Independence promise?

Answer 16

The Declaration of Independence (1776) listed the rights, grievances, and signatures of the founding fathers in declaring independence.

“We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal.”

Question 17

When was the First Continental Congress, and what came out of it?

Answer 17

The Continental Congress of 1774 was one of the first times the colonies acted as a united state.
At the meeting they (6 things)…
- Rejected a colonial union under British Authority
- Created a statement of grievances, demands, and the repeal of oppressive legislation since 1763
- Approved a series of resolutions recommending military preparations be made in the event of a possible attack on Boston
- Agreed to a series of boycotts
- Established a “continental association” to enforce the agreements made
- Agreed to meet again the following spring

Question 18

What is the Bill of Rights?

Answer 18

In 1791, James Madison proposed and established the first 10 amendments to the Constitution (the 2 others were added in later) - the Bill of Rights. Antifederalists would not ratify the Constitution without this bill to protect the rights of individuals and reinforce the balance of powers.

Question 19

What was the “Boston Massacre”?

Answer 19

In 1770, “liberty boys” began throwing rocks and snowballs at a group of Redcoats, and the British retaliated by killing 5 people.

Question 20

What was Shays’s Rebellion?

Answer 20

In 1786, Daniel Shays led an uprising in response to the poor economy after the war. They stopped foreclosures on bankrupt farms and disrupted court proceedings. The rebellion highlighted the need for a stronger central government.

Question 21

What were the “Rights of Englishmen”?

Answer 21

In 1772, Samuel Adams drafted a “Declaration of Rights of the Colonists as Men”. It stated that they had the right to life, liberty, property, and the ability to support their rights in anyway they could.

Question 22

What was the “Virginia Resolves”?

Answer 22

The “Virginia Resolves” was Patrick Henry’s dramatic speech to the house that aroused Americans to action. It introduced a set of resolutions declaring that Americans possessed the same rights as the English, including the right to only be taxed by their representatives.

Question 23

What was the Townshend Program?

Answer 23

Following the Mutiny/Quartering Act of 1765, Massachusetts and New York Assemblies refused to grant the mandated supplies to British troops. In response to their objection, Townshend disbanded the New York Assembly. He also established the Townshend Duties (taxes solely on external transactions), which he believed the colonists would not oppose since they were not on internal transactions. He was wrong. The colonists were furious and rejected the distinction between internal and external taxation.

Question 24

What did the colonists mean when they said “no taxation without representation”?

Answer 24

“No taxation without representation” was the American belief that it was the right of the people to only be taxed with their own consent.

Question 25

What is the difference between virtual representation and actual representation?

Answer 25

Virtual representation is the idea that every person is represented in a body of government (like Parliament). Actual representation is the belief that every community is entitled to its own representative, elected by the people of that community.

Question 26

What did the Revolutionary War mean for African Americans?

Answer 26

The American Revolution meant freedom for many African Americans because the British enabled many escaped slaves to leave the country as a way of disrupting the American war effort. Slave owners opposed emancipation and feared the Revolution would create slave rebellion. The combination of Revolutionary sentiment and evangelical Christian fervor helped spread antislavery sentiments in the North, and slave trade became prohibited in several states. Quakers and other antislavery activists pressured legislatures to allow legal emancipation of slaves in all northern states before the end of the Revolution (except New York - in 1799 and New Jersey - 1804). The Revolution exposed the continuing tension between the nation’s commitment to liberty, but also slavery. One of the greatest ironies of the Revolution was that many white Americans were both fighting to secure their freedom and to preserve slavery for others.

Question 27

What was the Statute of Religious Liberty?

Answer 27

In 1786, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Statute of Religious Liberty, which called for complete separation of church and state.

Question 28

What was the Virginia Plan?

Answer 28

James Madison’s Virginia Plan:
- Consisted of a supreme Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary
- Very different from the Confederation
Called for a national legislature of two houses
- States would be represented in proportion to their population
- Approved after only brief debate

Question 29

What was the New Jersey Plan?

Answer 29

• Retained the essence of the Confederacy with a one-house legislature in which all states had equal representation
• Congress had expanded powers to tax and to regulate commerce
• Was rejected but realized they would have to make concessions to smaller states
• Agreed to permit members of the upper house (Senate) to be elected by the state officials

Question 30

What was the “Great Compromise”?

Answer 30

(1787) The “Great Compromise” established the bicameral legislature that remains today. In the lower house (House of Representatives), states would be represented on the basis of population and slaves would be counted as three fifths of a free person in determining the basis for both representation and direct taxation. In the upper house (Senate), states would be represented equally with two members apiece.

Question 31

What is “separation of powers” / the system of “checks and balances”?

Answer 31

“Separation of powers” / The system of “checks and balances” is the federal structure of the government designed to prevent any single, despotic authority from emerging.

• Two chambers of congress
  
  • Constant “checking” of each other
  • Both have to agree for a law to be passed
• Presidential veto power over Congress
• Federal courts would be protected from both the executive and the legislature because judges would serve for life
• Members of the government
  
  • House of Representatives: Elected by the people
  • Senate: Elected by state legislators
  • President: Chosen by the electoral college
  • Federal Judges: Appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate

Question 32

Who were the Federalists? Antifederalists?

Answer 32

Federalists (Hamilton, Jay, Washington, Franklin, Madison) were supporters of the strong national republic and Antifederalists (Henry, Samuel Adams) were those who opposed the Constitution in favor of small localized governments.

Question 33

What were the Federalist Papers?

Answer 33

The Federalist Papers were a series of essays supporting the Constitution (written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay)

Question 34

What was the Judiciary Act of 1789?

Answer 34

In the Judiciary Act of 1789, Congress provided for a Supreme Court of six members and a system of lower district courts and courts of appeal. It gave the Supreme Court the power to make the final decisions in cases involving the constitutionality of state laws.

Question 35

What was Hamilton’s National Bank Plan?

Answer 35

Hamilton wanted to create a permanent national debt to motivate the wealthy classes to lend money to the government to perpetually support the survival of a centralized state. His plan outlined the following:
- Provide loans and currency to businesses
- Give the government a safe place for the deposit of federal funds
- Facilitated the collection of taxes and the disbursement of the government’s expenditures
- Provide a stable center to the nation’s banking system
Chartered by the federal government, but much of its capital would come from private investors
- Recommended two kinds of taxes
- An excise tax on alcoholic beverages
- Tariff on imports
- Offered the vision of America becoming a nation with a wealthy enlightened ruling class; a vigorous, independent commercial economy; and a thriving manufacturing sector

Question 36

Why were the founding fathers against the idea of political parties?

Answer 36

Most of the framers of the Constitution believed that parties were dangerous “factions” to be avoided, especially since the Constitution made no reference to political parties.

Question 37

In what ways did the French Revolution expose the political philosophies of the Federalists and Republicans?

Answer 37

The Federalists expressed horror at the uprising against the government, and the Republicans applauded the democratic, anti-aristocratic spirit of the Revolution.

Question 38

What was Pinckney’s Treaty?

Answer 38

This treaty from 1795 guaranteed Americans the right to navigate the Mississippi.

Question 39

What were the Alien and Sedition Acts?

Answer 39

Alien Acts: Placed new obstacles for foreigners trying to become American citizens. They discouraged immigration and encouraged some foreigners already in the country to leave.

Sedition Act: Allowed the government to prosecute those who engaged in “sedition” against the government

 - Only libelous or treasonous activities were subject to prosecution
 - Gave the government authority to stifle virtually any opposition
 - Republicans interpreted the new laws as part of a Federalist campaign to destroy them

Question 40

Describe the theory and practice of mercantilism and explain why Americans resented it.

Answer 40

Mercantilism forced the colonies to export constantly

for the benefit of the British, never allowing the economy of the Americans to prosper.

Question 41

Explain why Paine’s “Common Sense” finally propelled Americans to declare their independence in the summer of 1776, and outline the principal ideas of “republicanism” that Paine and other American revolutionary leaders promoted.

Answer 41

He challenged the British authority and British monarchy. He mainly argued that the British had little to gain from the British and that the colonies have evolved and no longer need to depend on the English for help.