pt 1 Flashcards
Explain the main results of England’s “Glorious Revolution” of 1688-89. (And keep in mind how American colonists would think about these things almost a
century later.)
Introduced
English liberties,
the house of lords,
the house of commons.
Gave citizens’ rights that later colonists felt had been infringed on. Ie… Habeas corpus, trial by jury, etc.
Note, pp. 43-44: To clarify, the real point here is that the American revolutionaries would ultimately shift their position and agree with the logic of Parliament’s single-sovereignty argument. They responded “not by rejecting the doctrine of sovereignty but
by relocating it” (p. 43). To “where” did they relocate sovereignty?
They related to the separate American legislatures. American connection to the parliament was through the king.
In the Declaration, Jefferson explains why the Americans thought it was necessary for the colonies to separate from Great Britain. Review his reasons.
Also review Gordon Wood, pp. 61-62 on this topic.
taxation without representation,
housing of soldiers,
Britain introduced slavery to colonies.
cracked down on smuggling, therefore no trial by jury anymore.
Explain Britain’s political (not military) disadvantage in the American War of Independence.
Money, length of time it took for word to travel across sea, political backing of war, didn’t have France on their side (coming out of French and Indian war)
What was the significance of not adopting entail and primogeniture practices in America?
America did not want to take part in this system because they supported equal opportunity, and promote rational and independent citizens
Define entail
maintain the unity and stem line of estate.
Define primogeniture
rights and interests of the younger siblings sacrificed for the older.
what is religious toleration
Toleration implies established religion to do the tolerating.
what is religious freedom
there is no set religion and people are free to worship how they please
What institution is necessary in order to have an official policy of toleration, and why so?
a church or place of higher worship established by the head governmental power. if there is a set religion/place of worship, it becomes law to agree with that religion.
pp. 154-155: Explain Madison’s goal that the new Federal Constitution establish (in Gordon Wood’s words) a “national republic in its own right” that would be “superimposed on the states.”
By strengthening the federal government, the states would not have the power to have that level of corruption anymore
On Federalist no. 10: In the view of Federalists such as Madison and Hamilton, how would the Constitution’s new governmental structure channel the “best” men into the national government rather than into the state governments? (I.e., how did they define “best”?) Contrast this thinking with the ideal of Republican virtue of 1776.
“The states would now stand to the central government” – Gordon Wood. Model the federal government after the state government, and the federal is built upon and is sovereign over states.
Finally, how would this feature of the new government avoid the problem seen in the state governments in the 1780s, yet at the same time leave that problem in place? Could it perhaps compensate for that problem?
Broader pool of representatives, avoids spirit of localism. Best men rise to the top, easier to weed out the bad men. Articles failed because there was no national government to fix national issues. Relied on states working together. Fixed but still left the way in which state governments focus locally. This selfish perspective of state rulers doesn’t matter anymore, federal government takes care of large national issues
In what sense did the Anti-Federalists lose the immediate contest yet ultimately win the “larger struggle”?
They lost the constitution but they held the presidency for over 2x longer than the federalists. Anti-federalist era ended in 1828
Amendment no. 5: What 3 things cannot be taken from you without “due process of
law”?
Life, liberty and property
