Quotes

Question 1

Benjamin Franklin empire

Answer 1

‘A great Empire, like a great Cake, is most easily diminished at the edges.’

Question 2

Benjamin Franklin On British control writing from london July 1773

Answer 2

‘This country pretends to be our sovereign’

Question 3

Adam smith wealth of nations quote (1776)

Answer 3

‘The rulers of Great Britain have, for more than a century past, amused the people with the imagination that they possessed a great empire on the west side of the Atlantic’

Question 4

Edmund Burke on the untidy empire called it

Answer 4

‘extensive and detached’

Question 5

Alan farmer on charters

Answer 5

‘Charters were the umbilical cords attaching the colonies to Britain - the mother country’

Question 6

Alan farmer on British administration in the colonies

Answer 6

‘Given that British administration affecting the colonies lacked central control, confusion and duplication often characterised the bureaucracy’

Question 7

Alan Farmer on Charters

Answer 7

‘Charters were the umbilical cords attaching the colonies to Britain’

Question 8

Alan farmer on parliamentary acts pre 1763

Answer 8

‘Trade regulation apart, there was hardly a single parliamentary act that touched on the internal affairs of the colonies’

Question 9

Edmund Burke on salutary neglect

Answer 9

‘a wise and salutary neglect’

Question 10

Peter Kalm (swedish biologist travelling in NA 1748-52)

Answer 10

The ‘restrictions occasion the inhabitants of the English colonies to grow less tender for their mother country.’

Question 11

Richard Hofstadter (1948)

Answer 11

colonial America was ‘a middle-class world’

Question 12

Alan Farmer on effects of Peace of Paris 1763

Answer 12

‘Ironically, the British triumph prepared the ground for the American Revolution’

Question 13

Robert Middlekauff

Answer 13

‘before 1776, the Americans had become almost completely self-governing’

Question 14

Maldwyn A. Jones

Answer 14

‘At the close of the Seven Years War in 1763 hardly any of the American colonists are likely to have harboured thoughts of independence’

Question 15

Alan Farmer on the Sugar Act

Answer 15

‘The Sugar Act represented a fundamental revision in the relationship between Britain and her colonies’

Question 16

Elpathet Dyer of Conneticut on the Stamp Act

Answer 16

‘If the colonies do not now unite, and use their most vigorous endeavours in all proper ways, to avert this impending blow, they may for the future, bid farewell to freedom and liberty, burn their charters and make the best of thraldom and slavery’

Question 17

Alan Farmer on repeal of the Stamp Act

Answer 17

‘in denying Parliament the right to tax them, the Americans were implicitly denying Parliament’s right to govern them.’

Question 18

Alan farmer on uniting power of the Stamp Act

Answer 18

‘The Stamp Act had brought the colonists closer together than they had ever been before’

Question 19

Alan Farmer on the Townshend Duties

Answer 19

‘Some MPs realised that Townshend’s measures, which would raise only £40,000 per year, were a mistake’

Question 20

Alan Farmer on Non-Importation

Answer 20

‘As well as putting economic pressure on Britain, non-importation strengthened the moral resolve of the colonists’

Question 21

T.H. Breen on the threat of British luxury goods

Answer 21

‘The baubles of Britain, were believed to be threatening American liberty as much as were parliamentary taxation and a bloated customs service.’

Question 22

Alan Farmer on the repeal of the Townshend Duties

Answer 22

‘The Townshend duties, which had stirred up such a hornet’s nest, made little financial sense’

Question 23

John Adams in his diary on the Boston Tea Party

Answer 23

‘This destruction of the tea is so bold, so daring, so firm, intrepid and inflexible, and it must have so important consequences and so lasting, that I cannot but consider it as an epoch in history’.

Question 24

Chatham on the Tea Party

Answer 24

‘criminal’

Question 25

John Adams

Answer 25

'America is not any part of the British realm or dominions'

Question 26

Thomas Jefferson in A Summary of the Rights of British America (1774)

Answer 26

why should 160,000 electors in Britain give laws to millions of Americans; 'every individual of whom is equal to every individual of them'

Question 27

Edmund Burke on empire and minds 1775

Answer 27

‘A great empire and little minds go I’ll together’

Question 28

Hugh Brogan On Pontiac’s rising

Answer 28

‘’The whole frontier, from the Great Lakes far southwards, was in flames, and the British army had to stamp them out”

Question 29

Hugh Brogan stamp act and revolution

Answer 29

‘On 22 March 1765 the Stamp Act became law, and the American Revolution began’

Question 30

John Adams on the Olive Branch Petition

Answer 30

it gave 'a silly cast to our whole doings'

Question 31

Jeremy Black on opportunities missed 1775-6

Answer 31

'It is not difficult... to feel that opportunities were missed and that the British failed to make adequate use of their sea power'

Question 32

Alan Farmer on British inaction in Boston 1775-6

Answer 32

'British inaction gave the rebels time to consolidate their hold elsewhere'

Question 33

Thomas Paine, 1776 on breakdown of union

Answer 33

'Reconciliation, is now a fallacious dream'

Question 34

Sam Adams on declaring independence

Answer 34

'Is not America already independent? Why then not declare it?'

Question 35

Richard Henry Lee, 7th June in Congress, voicing the Virginia convention's resolution

Answer 35

'that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states'.

Question 36

Alan Farmer on the right Independence Day

Answer 36

'It was the 2 July vote, rather than the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on 4 July, that proclaimed the birth of the United States of America'

Question 37

What does Farmer say about Americans celebrating Independence Day

Answer 37

'for over 200 years Americans have been celebrating their country's birthday on the wrong day'

Question 38

Abraham Lincoln on Thomas Jefferson

Answer 38

'the most distinguished political of our history'

Question 39

Gordon Wood on Jefferson

Answer 39

one of 'the greatest and most heroic figures figures in American history'

Question 40

Vernon Partington on Jefferson

Answer 40

'Far more completely than any other American of his generation he embodied the idealisms of the great revolution'

Question 41

preamble to the Declaration of Independence

Answer 41

'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.'

Question 42

What did the Declaration of Independence accuse George III of|?

Answer 42

trying to establish an 'absolute tyranny over these states'

Question 43

Alan Farmer on declaring / winning independence

Answer 43

'it was one thing to declare independence; it was another thing to win it.'

Question 44

Louis M. Hacker on the cause of the American revolution

Answer 44

'The struggle was not over high-sounding political and constitutional concepts over the power of taxation or even, in the final analysis, over natural rights. It was over colonial manufacturing, wild lands, and furs, sugar, wine, tea and currency, all of which meant simply the survival or collapse of English mercantile capitalism within the imperial-colonial framework of the mercantilist system'

Question 45

what do Charles Beard and Merrill Jenson argue?

Answer 45

they emphasise the importance of economic factors in bringing about the American Revolution, stressing the Trade and Navigation Laws and oppressive customs duties.

Question 46

Alan Farmer's main reason for Revolution (hint it rhymes with lipsicle)

Answer 46

'Principle, not economic hardship, was the cause of opposition to the taxes and duties'

Question 47

Thad W. Tate's main reason for the War of Independence

Answer 47

'the contest over constitutional rights'; 'political and constitutional issues were the occasion fore every outbreak of protest within the colony'

Question 48

Alan Farmer on British deliberate irritation

Answer 48

'After 1763, British ministries, in an effort to squeeze money from America, devised a series of irritations which propelled the colonies towards independence'

Question 49

What does Farmer call the outbreak of war in 1775?

Answer 49

'an accident waiting to happen'

Question 50

Farmer on rebellious troops presence

Answer 50

'The moment the British moved away from a town or region, rebellion flared up in their rear'

Question 51

Eric Robinson on the task for British forces attacking Patriots

Answer 51

'trying to hit a swarm of flies with a hammer'

Question 52

Why didn't the British fight a seabird strategy?

Answer 52

1. policy would betray loyalists 2. seaboard strategy had failed in New England in 1775 3. Pressure in Britain for a speedy and decisive victory; not long and drawn out

Question 53

Joseph Ellis (2004) on why Washington adopted an offensive strategy taking on the British army in battle

Answer 53

'He regarded battle as as summons to display one's strength and courage; avoiding battle was akin to dishonourable behaviour.'

Question 54

What does Stephen Conway (1995) regard the War of Independence as?

Answer 54

the first modern war, anticipating what happened in Europe in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815)

Question 55

What does Piers Mackesy (1964) regard the War of Independence as?

Answer 55

in contrast to Stephen Conway's view, Mackesy sees the contest as essentially traditional and conservative.

Question 56

John Adams explaining the defeat in the battle of Long Island

Answer 56

'In general, our generals were out generalled.'

Question 57

A disconsolate Washington writing after December 1776 British forces seized Newport, Rhode Island

Answer 57

'I think the game is pretty near up'

Question 58

Farmer on Saratoga and France

Answer 58

Although 'France may well have entered the war in 1778 even without Saratoga' 'Saratoga helped to overcome any last doubts and made French intervention certain'

Question 59

Farmer on French intervention

Answer 59

'French intervention produced a national war effort in Britain that the American rebellion had not aroused.'

Question 60

Farmer on French intervention

Answer 60

'French intervention produced a national war effort in Britain that the American rebellion had not aroused.'

Question 61

What does Farmer call Arnold's traitoringggg and escape to fight with success for Britain ?

Answer 61

'HIs action seemed to symbolise the crumbling of the American idea'

Question 62

Tarleton's savagery In warfare with Carolinas 1780

Answer 62

'If warfare allows me I shall give no quarter'

Question 63

Lord North's response to Cornwallis's surrender

Answer 63

'Oh God, it is all over'

Question 64

John Adams' remark on ensuring unity in the colonies

Answer 64

he ensured that the 'thirteen clocks were made to strike together'

Question 65

Esmond Wright (1995) phrase on the American Revolution

Answer 65

'Nobs versus Mobs.'

Question 66

Alan Farmer on Slavery

Answer 66

'As the revolutionary crisis heightened awareness of ideological principles, so the anti-slavery movement gathered strength in every northern state'

Question 67

Alan Farmer's conclusion on slavery in this era

Answer 67

'The Revolutionary generation was remarkable for its failure to take more action against slavery.'

Question 68

Mary Beth Norton (1980) on the impact of war on women

Answer 68

Women moved from submission into a world over which they had some control, and were no longer content to be 'good wives', instead educating themselves and discussing politics.

Question 69

Alan farmer's conclusion on women in this era

Answer 69

'Most women remained in a subordinate position within a patriarchal social order'

Question 70

Edward Countryman (1985) on Native Americans

Answer 70

the transformation of power relations between white people and the Native Americans in the trans-Appalachian west was among the most radical Changs wrought by the war.

Question 71

John Adams on complete, unexpected Revolution

Answer 71

'We are in the very midst of a Revolution, the most complete, unexpected and remarkable of any in the history of nations'

Question 72

historian Colin Bonwick

Answer 72

'there can be no doubt that the United States which entered the nineteenth century was very different in many, if not all, respects from the colonial America from which it emerged.'

Question 73

Edmund Wright on the extensive influence the American revolution had

Answer 73

'It is impossible indeed to find limits to the consequences for the world that have followed from the events that took place on the narrow Atlantic seaboard in the years from 1763 to 1783.'

Question 74

William Pierce on James Madison, 1787

Answer 74

'the best informed Man of any point in debate'

Question 75

Historian Clinton Rossiter (1956) on James Madison's performance at the Philadelphia Convention

Answer 75

'a combination of learning, experience, purpose, and imagination that not even Adams or Jefferson could have equalled.'

Question 76

Thomas Jefferson describing the Philadelphia Convention May 1787

Answer 76

'an assembly of demi-gods'

Question 77

What did John Fiske call the years from 1781-1787 before the Founding Fathers rode to the rescue with their Constitution

Answer 77

the 'Critical Period'

Question 78

How do Beard, Jensen and Main respond to John Fiske's view that the years 1781-1787 were a 'Critical Period'

Answer 78

they see 1781-1787 as years of achievement, not failure. The Founding Fathers actually were reactionaries trying to protect their own economic interests.

Question 79

What do Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick consider the Founding Fathers to be?

Answer 79

'Young Men of the Revolution', driven by youthful energy not self-interest

Question 80

How does John Roche see the Founding Fathers?

Answer 80

modern politicians who understood the need for reform and who carefully calculated the best strategy for achieving it

Question 81

What does Esmond Wright emphasise about the Founding Fathers

Answer 81

that they were patriots, 'men with principles as well as pocketbooks'.

Question 82

John Adams, 1815, on what the Revolution was

Answer 82

'What do we mean by the Revolution? The War? That was no part of the Revolution; it was only an effect and consequence of it. The Revolution was in the minds of the people, and this was effected, from 1760 to 1775, in the course of fifteen years before a drop of blood was shed at Lexington.'