Download Document

Document related concepts

Origins of the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup

Georgia in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup

Virginia in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup

United Kingdom and the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup

Secession in the United States wikipedia , lookup

Opposition to the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup

Tennessee in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup

United States presidential election, 1860 wikipedia , lookup

South Carolina in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup

Alabama in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup

Border states (American Civil War) wikipedia , lookup

Union (American Civil War) wikipedia , lookup

Military history of African Americans in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup

Mississippi in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup

Issues of the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup

Transcript
Civil War/Reconstruction Review
. '
I
. ... ·
., .
Civil War
• •' 'What. are the 'str~ngt~~/Weakn~s~ both the South and the North
. . _. l~uringt~,~ qi~i,! \V~r?_:
>. _
.•.. _ _ .•. , :> .-·•.;.• -·.·._,, •...•.-/:/. ··> __ _
• .· What·was the Union's plan to regain the South cciffed? -And what were
of
c.
,
__
•••.
__ .. __
.
.
.
·-···---
:.;··.·_.·· .
·.:.. ::·,·.
.. ·: .
. -•. _
·. :S~~~a~::~1~lfJi1t:Llt~~i~f~1atiro~tH~~~r~;\ .
·• Who ~as the Pre5ident of the Coiifed~rate Steit~?
.: <. ·
• · w~~ was the commanding general of the cof1ftd~.rate-Armles?,; ...
• Whh was the cbrT\manding general of the lJnion Armie5?
._ _
• Who was the Union general who practiced"total war" tf1at- deStroyednot ()~fytrbop_sbut also resources (Hint: the march)?
. . . - · ..
• Why was Gettysburg a major turning point in the Civif'Wcir (Hin~: -not · -··
·::·! .
.;
'
~
·..
'
.·• .·• · :~~~;~r~:~t~~~r~~a;~int.int~eciyil&'ar:<~i~fi<······· ~;.ti,D;,:,
- • . Whaf was fherofe-of AfriCan Amerkansinthe Civil War? .·_· · ·_ . ·. •· . ·· ·
• What i~ the EtJ\Ctrlc_ipC1tion Proclamation? Who did itset free? Who
cr~tedit? .An<:fW~ydid he create-it?
.. .
_ _·.
• 'what was Antietcun known-as? How many days was the battfe?. Who
·• ·won(trick qu~tion)?
·
· ·· ·
· ·· ·
• · Whai happen'1c:f at Appornatox?
_ _ ._
• ·What was-the first battre in the Civil War after F~rt. Sumt-er? -Who .·
w6n? ·_ _ _ ·-·_- .· .
. - ___ . .__ _
.
.
.
. . -·.
• · What \AJGS the battte fought by the ·Massachusetts 54th regiment?.·.
Who won?
...
'.
• W~cit Lincoln's famous speech?
•.· Whcit year~ was the Civil .War?
.
• What was the fast act of the Civil War?·
•. · What were thf.ee consequences of the Civil War?
is
.
.
.
<
--
~
<-
Reconstruction '
.
• Who assassinated President Lincoln? Where was he assassinated?
• Who was the President during this time that went through ~he
impeachment process?
• ·.Who was the struggle for control_ of Reconstruction b~tween? . And· _ -.·
· · why was there a struggle? -. . . . . . .
• What did the. 13th Amendment do:f ·
..• What didthe14thA~ery~.~~t(fo? ·_.- . .
• · . what dlci the 15t,h Arnend.mentdo? ·_
._ ...
.
·-
..
•
••
. · .. ·,_
. ·,_
.
-
.. -.:··
-~ .
. _-: ..... ~ ·....:'
:
..
.
'·
..... -.
.
.
.
... -
. . .-.
,,
..
_·. ,-
.. -
,_.
.
:·.:-·
~ '-~.
. .....
··.:/'
-·!---· ·-·-'·- ··- ..
·:_ . . . . -··.·
·-:- ...
;
.--.
-.' '
·'
·--·
.
~
·. .
.·.'.
_... -·...-o:-:-··-·:·····""··"':C···-r--
LI.ICILN - KENNEDY·
COINCIDENCE?
Both Lincoln ud X:aa.edy wue coac~med wich Civil Ri&hts.
LiDcoln was elect~ P~iid~[ ia 1860; X:eonedy in 1960
•
Both were slain on a Fn•r and in the presence of their wives.
Both were shoe from f.ehmd and ia the head.
Their successors, bcxh a;amcd Johnson, were southern Democrats, and
both were in the Senate.
Andrew Johnson was born in 1808 and Lyndon Johnson was born ~n 1908.
John Wilkes Booth was born in 1839 and Lee Harvey Oswald was born
in 1939.
Booth and Oswald were southerners favoring unpopular ideas.
Boch Presidents' wives lose childcen thcough death while in the
White House.
Lincoln's secretary, whose name was Kennedy, advised him not to go to
the theatre.
Kennedy's .secretary, whose name was Lincoln, advised him noc co go
co Dallas.
John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln in a theatre and ran to a warehouse.
Lee Harvey Oswald shoe Kennedy from a warehouse and ran co a theatre.
The names Lincoln an'd: Kennedy each contain seven leccers.
The names Am·d.rew Johnson and Lyndon Johnson each concainthirteen letters..
"fhe naBles Joihm ;l'illl'Ges Booth and Lee- Harvey Oswald each contain
fifteen lecce·rs..
Both assassins were ki!Hecll 'li>efore being brought co erial.
Both J ohnsons we·re Cl>!Ptp><i>Se·d for re-election by men whose names scare
with "G...
Review - Causes of the Civil War
Suffrage for Women
• What is the Second Great Awakening and how did it affect women?
• What could women NOT do?
• Who is voting at this time?
• Declaration of Sentiments - what did it model and what did it list?
• Seneca Falls- what did it help to create and what did it establish
awareness of?
• Who is Sojourner Truth- wha~is her famous speech, what does it mean,
and what two isms does she deM \>\lith (two movements)?
• Who is Elizabeth Cady Stanton and what did she do?
• Who is Susan B. Anthony and what dfct'"-$he do?
• When would women finally have all the rights entitled to them?
• What does suffrage mean?
Abolition Movement
• What does abolition mean?
• Were all Northerners abolitionists? Were all abolitionists black?
• Who is William Lloyd Garrison and what is he known for (besides his
newspaper)?
• Who is Frederick Douglas and what is he known for (besides his
newspaper)?
• What is the Underground Railroad? How did the fugitives travel? When
did they travel? Who led them? Where did they stay? Who is the famous
conductor of the URR? What is she also known as?
Differences between North and South
• Explain the Climate differences between North and South
• Explain the Natural features of the North on the coast and inland verses
natural features of the South on the coast and inland
• Where did Northern and Southern towns develop?
• What is the Industrial Revolution and in what part of the Original U.S.
did it happen in?
• What part of the Original U.S. is dedicated to agriculture? What does
agriculture require and what did they call the land they lived on?
• What three types of transportation were used in the North verses the
main one used in the South?
•
.
Explain the difference between White Northerners verses Black
Northerners verses White Southerners verses Black Southerners
Confronting the Issue of Slavery
• What's the-debate or question over Missouri?
• Missouri is admitted to the Union as a
state; Maine is
annexed as a
state. What did this do to Congress?
• Where is the imaginary line drawn and what does it represent?· Did it
extend all the way to California?
• What does secession mean?
• Why does California join the Union? And is it slave or free?
• What two territories are opened to slavery under the Compromise of
1850?
• What is the Fugitive Slave Law? (Explain it in detail)
• Who wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin? What is it about? How did it affect the
North/South?
• Who created the Kansas-Nebraska Act?
• Were they states or territories?
• What did the act do to the Missouri Compromise?
• What did the Kansas-Nebraska Act decide about slavery in the
territories?
• What is popular sovereignty?
• Who is Dred Scott?
• What did his case involve?
• What were the decisions made? How did it affect slavery and
slaveholders?
The Crisis Deepens
• Who formed the Republican Party and why? What party did they break
away from?
• What were their beliefs?
• Who was their nominee for Illinois Senate?
• Who was Lincoln's opponent?
• What did Lincoln belief about slavery spreading to the territories and
about abolishing it all together?
• Who is John Brown? And what is Harper's Ferry? What happened there?
After the raid, how did this affect the North?
• Who won the election of 1860?
• What did the results make clear?
• What was the first state to secede?
• What did the Southerners now call their country? And who was their
president?
Graphing Civil War Data
Directions: Complete each of the following eight bar graphs by filling in the appropriate number of boxes to correspond with the correct number on
the X axis. Do not forget to label the bars along theY axis with the correct names, such as "Union States" or "Confederate Rail Mileage."
Land Area
Population
24
22
20
{g 18
c
I_Ll-t-t-n
~
16
::J
24
22
20
18
16
:~ ~~~~---~--I~Ilf--+--1-+--11I
8
1 I
6
I I
I
I I
4
2
24
22
20
{g
c 18
~
16
::J
-
14
-g
::J
8
0C/') 12
as,_ 10
-g 8
6
..c
_g
~ 14
Troops
0C/') 12
as,_ 10
..c
4
2
-
_g
::J
14
6
4
2
c:
Cl'l
:I:
</o
""'
~
:s:
-<
~
;;p
~
"'
Union States = 23 million
Confederate States =9 million
Union States= 2,250,000 sq. miles (75%)
Confederate States= 750,000 sq. miles (25%)
Union States = 2,000,000 served
Confederate States = 800,000 served
The Five Costliest Battles
of the Civil War
War Casualties
60
480
440
400
55
50
360
{5
c
ccs
~
0
£
1 I
320
1 I
280
240
200
160 I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
-gwccs
:~1 1I I I I I I I I I I I
35
~ 30
0
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
120
80 I
I
40
£25
20
151
10
I I I .I
I I I I I I I I
5
Gettysburg
Chickamauga
Chancellorsville
51,112
Vi
Spotsylvania
<?>
Antietam
27,399
20,160
Union States= 360,000 deaths
Confederate States = 240,000 deaths
:c
.v.
~
:;:·
~·
\-"'
i
-..!
34,624
35,732
Miles of Railroad Track
Industrial Production
100
90
80
I I I I I I I I I
I I 1 1
70
Q)
60
_s 50 I
I
I I I I I I I
I I 1 1
c:
~ 40
~
1
30
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
1 1 1
20
I I I I I I I I I I I 1 1
10
24
22
~:~I
20
300
18
270
en 16
-g
14 1
ro
~
I
0
I
I
I
I
I
I
12
:5 10
8
6
c::
(/J
:;c
qo
.Vl
~
~:
'<
w
i-
~
00
I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I
~~~~I
:=E 180
I I I I I I I I I I
0
150
120
I I I I I I I I I I I
90
4
60
2
30
Union Manufacturing Plants= 84%
Confederate Manufacturing Plants = 16%
Union Iron Production = 71%
Confederate Iron Production= 29%
Finances
1 1 I I I I I I I I I
Union Money in Banks = $189 million
Union Rail Mileage = 22,000
Confederate Rail Mileage = 9,000
Confederate Money in Banks = $47 million
Union Bank Assets = $346 million
Confederate Bank Assets = $76 million
Civil War Data Questions
1. How many more people lived in Union states than in Confederate states?
2. About how many times more square miles of land did Union states have
compared to Confederate states?
3. How many more troops did the Union states have than the Confederate states?
4. Which side-the Union or the Confederacy-had greater manufacturing
and iron production?
5. About how many times more railroad track did the North have than
the South?
6. Which side-the Union or the Confederacy-had greater financial resources?
7. Who had more war casualties, the North or the South? How many more
did they have?
------------------------------------8. About how many total people were killed at Gettysburg, Chickamauga,
Chancellorsville, Spotsylvania, and Antietam?
USH-8-5, Activity 3.1, Page 9
9. Looking at the graphs on population and troops, why do you think Union
states were able to raise a much larger army than the Confederacy?
10. The Union had far greater industrial production than the Confederacy. In
what ways do you think this helped the Union?
11. The Union had about 13,000 more miles of railroads than the Confederacy.
In what ways do you think this helped the Union?
12. The Union had far greater financial resources than the Confederacy. In what
ways do you think this helped the Union?
13. List at least two ways in which the Union's large population gave it an
advantage in the Civil War.
14. How many people died in the Civil War. More than half of those deaths did
not occur on the battlefields. What do you think caused the majority of
soldiers' deaths?
15. The North won the Civil War, even though it lost over 100,000 more soldiers
than the South. How can you explain this?
USH-8-5, Activity 3.1, Page 10
Student Handout
Ell!
Your Compromises
Issue 1: The Missouri Compromise
The year is 1820. The debate over statehood for Missouri is getting hotter day by day. To
complicate matters, Maine has just applied for admission to the union as well. Your job is to
find a way to settle this controversy that is acceptable to both the North and the South.
The North's Starting Position
• Supports statehood for Missouri and Maine as free states.
• Does not want slavery to expand into Louisiana Territory.
• Opposes any solution that makes more slave states than free states.
The South's Starting Position
• Supports statehood for Missouri as a slave state.
• Believes slaveholders have the right to settle in any new territory.
• Opposes any solution that makes more free states than slave states.
Your Compromise Should Address These Key Questions
• Should Missouri be admitted to the union as a slave state, a free state, or not at all?
• What stand, if any, should Congress take on the spread of slavery across
Louisiana Territory?
• What should Congress do about Maine's request for statehood?
Your Compromise:
What Really Happened:
USH-8-5, Activity 2.1, Page 25
Student Handout
Ell3
Issue 2: The Compromise of 1850
It is 1850. Congress is in an uproar over California and slavery. You will need all your skills
as a compromiser to settle this conflict and keep the union from flying apart.
The North's Starting Position
•
•
•
•
Supports statehood for California as a free state.
Wants to ban slavery in New Mexico and Utah territories.
Demands an end to slavery and the slave trade in Washington, D.C.
Opposes any fugitive (runaway) slave law that would endanger runaways.
The South's Starting Position
• Opposes letting free states gain a majority in the Senate; reluctant to allow California
admission to the union unless other territories are open to slavery.
• Believes slavery must be allowed to expand into Utah and New Mexico.
• Believes Congress has no power to meddle with slavery wherever it already exists.
• Demands a strong fugitive slave law to help track down runaways.
Your Compromise Should Address These Key Questions
• Should California be admitted to the union as a free state?
• What stand, if any, should Congress take on the future of slavery in New Mexico
and Utah territories?
• What, if anything, should be done about slavery in Washington, D.C.?
• Should Congress pass a strong new fugitive slave law?
Your Compromise:
What Really Happened:
USH-8-5, Activity 2.1, Page 26
Student Handout
a
Issue 3: The Dred Scott Case
The Supreme Court is considering the case of Dred Scott, a slave who is suing for his
freedom. Consider the arguments on each question in this difficult case. Then come up with a
decision you can all live with.
The North's Starting Position
• The Constitution does not limit citizenship to white people; African Americans
have legal rights.
• By taking Scott to free territory, his owner gave up his right to treat Scott as a slave.
• Congress can make laws banning slavery in territories.
The South's Starting Position
• Scott was born a slave, not a citizen, and has no right to sue.
• Scott returned to Missouri with his owner as a slave and should continue to be treated as a
slave under Missouri law.
• Under the Constitution, Congress cannot make laws that deny people the use of their
property (including slaves) anywhere, including the territories.
Your Compromise Should Address These Key Questions
• Is Scott a citizen with the right to sue in a federal court?
• Did Scott's visit to a free territory make him a free man?
• Should Congress be able to ban slavery in the territories?
Your Ruling:
What Really Happened:
USH-8-5, Activity 2.1, Page 27
Student Handout
Elll
Issue 4: Secession
It is the end of 1860. Lincoln has just been elected president. The slave states are talking
about secession (leaving the union). Your job is to find some compromise on slavery that will
prevent civil war.
The North's Starting Position
• Slavery is immoral and must not be allowed to expand.
• Secession is illegal. Once a state, always a state.
• The union must be preserved; we will fight to keep it together.
The South's Starting Position
• Slavery is moral and must be allowed to expand.
• A state comes into the union by its own free choiCe and may secede whenever it chooses.
• The South and its way of life must be preserved; we will secede if our rights are
threatened.
Your Plan to Save the Union Should Address These Key Questions
•
•
•
•
What should be done about slavery where it already exists?
What should be done about slavery in the territories?
What should be done about fugitive slaves?
What should the federal government do if a state decides to secede?
Your Compromise:
What Really Happened:
USH-8-5, Activity 2.1, Page 28
Mary Reynolds
Page 1 of6
Mary Reynolds
Dallas, Texas
Mary Reynolds claims to be more than a hundred years
old. She was born in slavery to the Kilpatrick family, in
Black River, Louisiana. Mary now lives at the Dallas
County Convalescent Home. She has been blind for five
years and is very feeble.
"My paw's name was Tom Vaughn and he was from the
north, born free man and lived and died free to the end of
his days. He wasn't no eddicated man, but he was what he
calls himself a piano man. He told me once he lived in New
York and Chicago and he built the insides of pianos and
knew how to make them play in tune. He said some white
folks from the south told he if he'd come with them to the
south he'd fmd a lot of work to do with pianos in them
parts, and he come off with them.
"He saw my maw on the Kilpatrick place and her man was
dead. He told Dr. Kilpatrick, my massa, he'd buy my maw
and her three chillun with all the money he had, iffen he'd sell her. But Dr. Kilpatrick was never one to
sell any but the old niggers who was part workin' in the fields and past their breedin' times. So my paw
marries my maw and works the fields, same as any other nigger. They had six gals: Martha and Pamela
and Josephine and Ellen and Katherine and me.
"I was born same time as Miss Sara Kilpatrick. Dr. Kilpatrick's first wife and my maw come to their
time right together. Miss Sara's maw died and they brung Miss Sara to suck with me. It's a thing we ain't
never forgot. My maw's name was Sallie and Miss Sara allus looked with kindness on my maw.
[endp. 236]
-------We sucked till we was a fair size and played together, which wasn't no common thing. None the other li'l
niggers played with the white chillun. But Miss Sara loved me so good.
"I was jus' bout big nough to start playin' with a broom to go bout sweepin' up and not even half doin' it
when Dr. Kilpatrick sold me. They was a old white man in Trinity and his wife died and he didn't have
chick or child or slave or nothin'. Massa sold me cheap, cause he didn't want Miss Sara to play with no
nigger young'un. That old man bought me a big doll and went off and left me all day, with the door
open. I jus' sot on the floor and played with that doll. I used to cry. He'd come home and give me
somethin' to eat and then go to bed, and I slep' on the foot of the bed with him. I was scart all the time in
the dark. He never did close the door.
"Miss Sara pined and sickened. Massa done what he could, but they wasn't no peartness in her. She got
sicker and sicker, and massa brung nother doctor. He say, You li'l gal is grievin' the life out her body
and she sho' gwine die iffen you don't do somethin' bout it.' Miss Sara says over and over, I wants Mary.'
Massa say to the doctor, That a li'l nigger yo·ung'un I done sold.' The doctor tells him he better git me
back iffen he wants to save the life of his child. Dr. Kilpatrick has to give a big plenty more to git me
back than what he sold me for, but Miss Sara plumps up right off and grows into fine health.
http://xroads. virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/reynold l.html
1114/2010
Mary Reynolds
Page 2 of6
"Then massa marries a rich lady from Mississippi and they has chillun for company to Miss Sara and
seem like for a time she forgits me.
[endp. 237]
"Massa Kilpatrick wasn't no piddlin' man. He was a man of plenty. He had a big house with no more
style to it than a crib, but it could room plenty people. He was a medicine doctor and they was rooms in
the second story for sick folks what come to lay in. It would take two days to go all over the land he
owned. He had cattle and stock and sheep and more'n a hundred slaves and more besides. He bought the
bes' ofniggers near every time the spec'lators come that way. He'd make a swap of the old ones and give
money for young ones what could work.
"He raised com and cotton and cane and taters and goobers, sides the peas and other feedin' for the
niggers. I member I helt a hoe handle mighty onsteady when they put a old women to lam me and some
other chillun to scrape the fields. That old woman would be in a frantic. She'd show me and then turn
bout to show some other li'l nigger, and I'd have the young com cut clean as the grass. She say, For the
love ofGawd, you better lam it right, or Solomon will beat the breath out you body.' Old man Solomon
was the nigger driver.
"Slavery was the worst days was ever seed in the world. They was things past tellin', but I got the scars
on my old body to show to this day. I seed worse than what happened to me. I seed them put the men
and women in the stock with they hands screwed down through holes in the board and they feets tied
together and they naked behinds to the world. Solomon the the [sic] overseer beat them with a big whip
and massa look on. The niggers better not stop in the fields when they hear them yellin'. They cut the
flesh most to the bones and some they was when they taken them out of stock and put them on the beds,
they never got up again.
{endp. 238]
"When a nigger died they let his folks come out the fields to see him afore he died. They buried him the
same day, take a big plank and bust it with a ax in the middle nough to bend it back, and put the dead
nigger in betwixt it. They'd cart them down to the graveyard on the place and not bury them deep nough
that buzzards wouldn't come circlin' round. Niggers mourns now, but in them days they wasn't no time
for moumin'.
"The conch shell blowed afore daylight and all hands better git out for roll call or Solomon bust the door
down and get them out. It was work hard, git beatin's and half fed. They brung the victuals and water to
the fields on a slide pulled by a old mule. Plenty times they was only a half barrel water and it stale and
hot, for all us niggers on the hottes' days. Mostly we ate pickled pork and com bread and peas and beans
and taters. They never was as much as we needed.
"The times I hated most was pickin' cotton when the frost was on the bolls. My hands git sore and crack
open and bleed. We'd have a li'l fire in the fields and iffen the ones with tender hands couldn't stand it no
longer, we'd run and warm our hands a li'l bit. When I could steal a tater, I used to slip it in the ashes and
when I'd run to the fire I'd take it out and eat it on the sly.
"In the cabins it was nice and warm. They was built of pine boardin' and they was one long rom of them
up the hill back of the big house. Near one side of the cabins was a fireplace. They'd bring in two, three
http://xroads. virginia.edu/-hyper/wpalreynold l.html
11/4/2010
Mary Reynolds
Page 3 of6
big logs and put on the fire and they'd last near a week. The beds was made out of puncheons fitted on
holes bored in the wall, and planks laid cross them poles. We had tickin' mattresses filled with com
shucks. Sometimes the men build chairs at night. We didn't know much bout havin' nothin', though.
{endp. 239]
"Sometimes massa let niggers have a li'l patch. They'd raise taters or goobers. They liked to have them
to help fill out on the victuals. Taters roasted in the ashes was the best tastin' eatin' I ever had. I could die
better satisfied to have jus' one more tater roasted in hot ashes. The niggers had to work the patches at
night and dig the taters and goobers at night. Then if they wanted to sell any in town they'd have to git a
pass to go. They had to go at night, cause they couldn't ever spare a hand from the fields.
"Once in a while they's give us a li'l piece ofSat'day evenin' to wash out clothes in the branch. We
hanged them on the ground in the woods to dry. They was a place to wash clothes from the well, but
they was so many niggers all couldn't get round to it on Sundays. When they'd git through with the
clothes on Sat'day evenin's the niggers which sold they goobers and taters brung fiddles and guitars and
come out and play. The others clap they hands and stomp they feet and we young'uns cut a step round. I
was plenty biggity and like to cut a step.
"We was scart of Solomon and his whip, though, and he didn't like frolickin'. He didn't like for us
niggers to pray, either. We never heared of no church, but us have prayin' in the cabins. We'd set on the
floor and pray with our heads down low and sing low, but if Solomon heared he'd come and beat on the
wall with the stock of his whip. He'd say, I'll come in there and tear the hide off you backs.' But some
the old niggers tell us we got to pray to Gawd that he don't think different of the blacks and the whites. I
know that Solomon is humin' in hell today, and it pleasures me to know it.
"Once my maw and paw taken me and Katherine after night to slip to nother place to a prayin' and
singin'. A nigger man with white beard told us a day am comin' when niggers only be slaves of Gawd.
[endp.240]
We prays for the end ofTrib'lation and the end ofbeatin's and for shoes that fit our feet. We prayed that
us niggers·could have all we wanted to eat and special for fresh meat. Some the old ones say we have to
bear all, cause that all we can do. Some say they was glad to the time they's dead, cause they'd rather rot
in the ground than have the beatin's. What I hated most was when they'd beat me and I didn't know what
they beat me for, and I hated they strippin' me naked as the day I was born.
"When we's comin' back from that prayin', I thunk I heared the nigger dogs and somebody on horseback.
I say, Maw, its them nigger hounds and they'll eat us up.' You could hear them old hounds and sluts
abayin'. Maw listens and say, Sho nough, them dogs am running' and Gawd help us!' Then she and paw
talk and they take us to a fence comer and stands us up gainst the rails and say don't move an:d if anyone
comes near, don't breathe loud. They went to the woods, so the hounds chase them and not git us. Me
and Katherine stand there, holdin' hands, shakin' so we can hardly stand. We hears the hounds come
nearer, but we don't move. They goes after paw and maw, but they circles round to the cabins and gits
in. Maw say its the power of Gawd.
"In them days I weared shirts, like all the young'uns. They had collars and come below the knees and
was split up the sides. That's all we weared in hot weather. The men wearedjeans and women gingham.
Shoes was the worstes' trouble. We weared rough russets when it got cold, and it seem powerful strange
they'd never git them to fit. Once when I was a young gal, they got me a new pair and all brass studs in
http://xroads. virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/reynold l.html
11/4/2010
Women
· The Seneca Falls
Declaration of Sentiments
On July 19 and 20, 1848, people gathered in Seneca Falls, New York. to
discuss women's rights. Organizers Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia
Matt helped write the Declaration of Sentiments. Signed by 700 people,
it helped shape the future of the women's rights movement
e hold these truths to be selfevident: that all men and women
are created equal; that they are
endowed [provided] by..-their Creator with
certain inalienable [permanent] rights; that
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness ....
The history of mankind is a history of
repeated injuries and usurpations [seizures]
on the part of man toward woman, having in
direct object the establishment of an absolute
tyranny [unjust rule] over her. To prove this,
let facts be submitted to a candid [fair] world.
He has never permitted her to exercise
her inalienable right to ... [the vote] ....
He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns ....
He has monopolized nearly all the profitable employments, and from those she is
permitted to follow, she receives but a scanty
remuneration [payment]. He closes against her
all the avenues to wealth and distinction which
he considers most honorable to himself....
W
He has denied her the facilities for
obtaining a thorough education, all colleges
being closed against her. ...
He has endeavored [tried], in every way
that he could, to destroy her confidence in
her own powers, to lessen her self-respect,
and to make her willing to lead a dependent
and abject [hopeless] life ....
Resolved, That woman is man's equalwas intended to be so by the Creator, and the
highest good of the race demands that she
should be recognized as such.
Understanding Primary Sources
1. What are some of the injustices that
the declaration describes?
2. How is the Declaration of Sentiments
modeled after the Declaration of
Independence?
l. Are the rights demanded in the declara-. .
tion granted to women in the United
States today? Explain your answer.
.·
The Foremothers of Women's Equality: Who Are They? http://edsitement.neh.gov/view _lesson_plan.asp?id=435
Name _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Date _ _ _ _ __
Complaints in the
Declaration of Sentiments
Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote a Declaration of Sentiments for the first Woman's Rights Convention,
held in Seneca, New York, in 1848. She based the document on Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of
Independence. Like Jefferson, Stanton included a list of complaints.
I. Match these summary versions of
S~anton's
complaints, written in contemporary
language, with her original complaints on the next page.
1. Women had to obey laws created without their input
2. Women could not attend college.
3. Married women were, for all intents and purposes, legally dead.
4. Women were not allowed to vote.
5. Women's self-esteem was ruined due to their treatment at the hands of men.
6. Women had fewer rights than men with low morals and men who were not citizens.
7. Unmarried women were taxed with no say in how the money was to be spent.
8. Women could not be ministers, doctors, or lawyers. Women's work was low-paying.
9. Women in divorce cases had no say over matters such as who would raise the children.
10. A married woman had no rights to property or the money she earned.
11. Men were given complete control over and responsibility for their wives.
12. Men were unrightfully "playing God" by deciding what was appropriate for women.
13. Because women could not vote, they could be more easily exploited.
14. Women were not allowed to hold important positions in the churc or the state.
15. There was a different standard of behavior for men and women.
Permission is granted to educators to reproduce this worksheet for classroom use.
II. Questions (Use the numbers above to identify complaints.):
1. Which complaint(s} would you consider the most serious?
2. Which complaint(s) most resemble complaints of colonists prior to the Revolutionary War?
3. Which complaint(s) relate more to entrenched attitudes about women than they do to legal
obstacles to equality?
4. Which-if any-of the problems referred to in the complaints do you regard as still problematic
today?
5. Which problem(s) referred to in the complaints, once solved, likely led to an improvement in
society for everyone?
http://edsitementneh.gov
Permission is granted to educators to reproduce this worksheet for classroom use.
Homesteaders
Pull Factors
are positive
things that
make people
want to make
changes
(Good thing?
somewhere
else)
Push
Factors are
negative
things that
force people
to make
changes.
(Bad things
where you
are
Both push and pull factors are involved in understanding why homesteaders left
their homes in the East and moved onto the plains.
Sort the following factors into push or pull
Overcrowding in
the East
To escape from
poverty
The Homestead
Act 1862 offered
free land to settlers
To make a new
start
Push Factors
Letters from those
who had already
moved onto the
Plains
To escape
religious or racial
ersecution
Newspaper or
magazine articles
about the West
Advertising by
railroad companies
Pull Factors
AMElU•CANEYEWlTNES:S···
Custer's Last Stand
.0
·.]i· ·.·.u~e.·
s··.fod71g···c··~.
n. Cavalry
..2·5., 18.. was
76·,•. . one
oj.··. ·t.·.hdnd.i·a. n.
tl.!t.er.im.d.·.·h···.ir.
·7th
34-year~o/d Northern Cheyenne 'Pwo
.
Moon. A miner chiif of tbe trib.ti's:KitFr;:c. Saciety, he hqd
beiin ii 'li)arriarfom/I:JO agerj'iJ and had hriifljrser'Jleil asa governmentscout. After rllShif!g tafou the threatfom Miffor M,arct~s.A"
&no:rdi!tacbmentto the south, Two Moon turned nl)t;tb.toflght o}]" ·
Custer~ units. Some 22 years after t})11 Battle of the Little Bighorn,
Two MoarJ tv/d~is·story ofthefight. to •short~storj·wiitftJ:ttfld?JO<iJel­
istHamlin <Garland ThefoliiYWing editedexcerjrf:oJbis actOilfti;Cotnes
from. Garland~ report if thai inter'View. as it ·"iJ)(JS published iii. ilie ·.
Septetn!Jtr1898 isme oj'McClure1!i Magazine. ·While siJme ifF.iJo
Moon'S. nunilien are probably exaggerated; his tale does give afeeling
for the iha¢S•ofthe roet{t:
.
I went to water my horses at 11 'creek. and ·vvashed them offWith
c()ol ..vater, the~ too& lt s"~ni rnrsd£ 1 c~chack'to. t:h~· ca(l'lp
afoot, When l got.· near i'Ity ·Iodgl!, ,1 Ioo)<eq., .toV~arM CSiftirtg
l3Ull~s ca.iJlp; I saw·.a •greatdtist r.ish;1g;lt J.btJke(iillke;'<'~ '\\{hixlw;ind.
Soon [It} Sioux. ·borsetnnn came rushhig irit?J caJ#p .sjlWtill~ ·•
<!Soldier come! ~leP;ty white sbfdiexs,'' . . . . ........... · •: . . . •·' .·•.••.•.•. •.· .•.•. .
. Out~ide, far 1.1p the valley, t heard: :thatt,le t:rY, ~Hay~ay, Bay~ .
ay!" 1 l1eard shooting; too, this way [dapping;hi§·ha.nds. v~r;yfast].
l cmildil't see any Indians~ ·Everybody was getting ho111es and ·•· ·
saddles. Afteri had caught my horse, a Sioux1-vurrior came again
and said, "Many soldiers are coming."
I ··rode swiftly toward·. Sitting· Hull's · camp. There I. saw· the
white soldiers fighting in a line [Retlo1s men}lndians covered.
the flat. They began to drive the soldiers all mixed.uySiotL'<;
then soldiers, theit more Sioux, and all shootipg.The air was full.
of smoke and dust. I saw the soldiers fill back and>drop into the·
rivet-bed like buffalo 11eeing. They had no fune to lookfor a
crossing. The Sioux chased them up the hill,; where they met
more. soldiers in wagons. And .then messengers came saying
more soldiers were going to kill the women, and the S:ioux
turned back. Chief Gall was there fighcing. Crazy Horse also.
1 then rode toward my camp, ·and stopped squaws from carry.ing off lodges. vVhilc I was sitting on my horse I saw flags come
llP over the hill to the east like that [he raised his finger-tips]~
Then the. soldiers rose all· at once, all on horses, like this {he put
his fingers behind each other to indicate that Custer appeared
marching in coh.trrins offours]. Theyfimnedintothree:b.ranchcs [squadrons] with a little ways bcnvecn; The.n a hl.lglc 'soUl:lq.;,
ed, and they all got off horses, and some soldiers Jed: the horses
back over the hilL
·
Thenthe Sioux rode up the ridge on all sides, riding veryf~tst.
The Cheyenn<! went up the left way. Then the shooting was
54 AMERlCAN HISTORY JUNE 2006
..
.
.
.
Heart•· Sull•lndudect···
Crazy Horse (in··
spotted war paint,
center). firing<on a
troop~rot"Custer's ·.
.'l:t,b Cavalry. ·
quick, quick Po~pop-pop very fast. Some nf the soldim
were down on the'ir knees, some standing. OH!ccrs all in front.
The smoke was like a gtt:at cloud, arid everywhere the Sioux
went the dust n:>se Jike smoke. We circled all round rhemswirllng- like water round a stone. We shoot, we ride fast, we
shoot aguin. Soldiers drop, and horses fall on them. Soldiers in
line drop, but one man rides up and down the line-all the time
shouting. He rode a sorrel horse with white face and white
forelegs.ldon'tkriowwho he was •. He was a brave man.
lt~diar1skeepswirling round and round, and the soldiers killed
olily~ few. Many soldiers fell. At last all horses killed but five.
Once in a while some man would break out and run toward the
~;.iver,.but he would fall. At lilllt about a hundred men and five
horsenien stood .on the hill all bunched together. All along the
b1.igler keptblowing his commands. He was very brave too. Then
·\\ chief was killed. I hear it was Long Hair (Custer], I don't
know; and then ftve horsemen and the bunch of men, may be s<>
forty, started tO\vard the river. The man on the sorrel horse led
them, shouting all the time. He wore [a] buckskin shirt, and had
long black hair and mustache. He fimght hard with ~l big knife.
His men were all covered with white dust. I couldn't tell whether
they were oft1cers or not. One man all alone ran far down toward
the river, then round up over the hill. I thought he was going to
escape, but a Sioux flrcd and hit him in the head. He was the last
man. He wore braid on his arms [Sergeant James Butler?].
All the soldiers were now killed, and the bodies were stripped.
After that no one could tell which were officers. The bodies
were left where. they fell. We had no dance that night. \Ve
were sorrowful.
Ne.xt day f(mr Sioux Chief> and two Cheyenne and I, Two
Ivloon, went upon the battlet1eld to count the dead. One man
carried a little bundle of sticks. \Vhen we came to dead men, we
took a little ~tick and gave it to another man, so we counted the
dead. There were 388. There were thirty-nine Sioux and seven
Cheyennes killed, and about a hundred wounded.
Some white soldiers were cut with knivcB, to make sure they
were dead; and the war women had mangled some. Most of
them were left ju~t where they fell. \Ve came to a man with a big
mustache; he lay down the hill towards the river. The Indians did
not take his buckskin slurt. The SiotLx said, "That is a big chief.
That is Long Hair.» I don't know. I had never seen him. The man
on the white-faced horse was the br.west man.!]
JUNE 2006 AMERICAN HISTORY 55
Terms:
• Manifest Destiny
• annex
• cession
• resetvations
Places:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Original U.S.
Louisiana Territory
Oregon Country
Texas Annexation
Mexican Cession
Gadsden Purchase
Rivers and Mountains:
• Rio Grande River
• Mississippi River
• Missouri River
• Rocky Mountains
• Appalachian Mount;qins
People:
•
President Jefferson
I
President Polk
• President Jackson
0
Lewis and Clark
Iii
Sacagawea
• York
(I)
Who went to the west? And why did they go there?
• Missionaries
e Mormons -where did they settle?
• Fa.-mers
• Mountain Men -what did they want?
• Native Americans
• Fot"ty-Ninet"S- where did they settle?
• Chinese Immigrants- where did they settle?
• Teianos- where did they settle?
• Texans- where did thev settle?
I
How did Americans get to the west?
• Tt-ails- Oregon
• Rail.-oads
What did the Americans spread?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Christianity
Disease
Education
Communication
Transportation
Industrialization
Problems with Manifest Destiny
• Native Americans - Who were the two tribes that were pushed ofF
their land, where were they From, where were they sent. and why
were they pushed ofF their land?
-z,.
• Whqt were the other counhies thqt occupied the continent?
What were the economic reasons For moving west?
•
•
•
•
Gold
Fur
Cheqp, fertile hnd
Pqcif-lc Oceqn - hqde with Asi<m continent
Original
u.s.
• From Mississippi Rivet- to the Atlqntic Oceqn, except Flot-ida
Louisiana Purchase (Territory)/"Noble Bargain"
• What port city did Jefferson Wqnt?
• Why did Jefferson Wqnt the city?
• Who owned the Louisiana Tenitot-y (know the country who sold it
to the V.S. )?
• Why did this country give it up?
• Wqs their bloodshed?
• What did this put-chase do to the size of the V.S.?
• What WqS the debate ovet- the Louisianq Put-chase?
Oregon Country
•
•
•
•
•
•
Who occupied this land?
What Pt-esident did this involve?
What did 54' 40' ot-11ght meqn?
Whqt did a treaty do to the Ot-egon territory?
Why did Amehcans want the Ot-egon counhy?
Was theit- bloodshed?
Texgs Annexation
• Who owned the Te>Qs at-ea?
• Was their bloodshed?
• Why did Texans want theit- independence?
..,
What was the Alamo? And why did the Texans occupy it?
• Why did Texas take so long to annex? In other words, what was the
debate? Who wanted Texas as a state and who didn't?
~ Why did the U.S. want the TexC}s C}rea?
®
Mexican Cession
• Who owned this areCJ (know the country that lost this ICJnd)?
• What President did this involve?
®
Was their bloodshed?
• What sparked the Mexican War?
• WhCJt two stCJtes (CJs they are known today) fell during the MexicCJn
War?
• WhCJt M~'<ican city did the Americans push their way into?
• What WCJS the name of the treCJty that WCJS signed CJnd whCJt did it
do?
• How much of Mexico's territory did they give up?
Gadsden Purchase
• Bought to complete the Southwest Border of the U.S.
• What two stCJtes (as they are known today) did this involve?
Pike's Peak in winter.
tt[p]erhaps
this historical
judgment
glosses
over some
critical and
unflattering
facts about
Zebulon
Pike''
A chart of the internal part of louisiana from an account of expeditions to the sources of the Mississippi
and through the Western parts of Louisiana.
The Legend of Zebulon Pike
Before we can examine Pike's climate and
weather discussions, we first need to refresh
ourselves regarding the accepted Pike story.
The specifics of the Pike "legend" are pretty
the
successful
straightforward.
Following
expedition of the great explorers Meriwether
Lewis and William Clark across the northwestern
Great Plains to Oregon, Lieutenant Pike in 1806
undertook a scouting expedition across the thenunknown southern extremes of the Louisiana
Purchase along the Arkansas River. Facing
monumental and life-threatening challenges
from native Americans, the environment, the
weather, and even the Spanish military, he and
his men journeyed westward, discovered the
mountain in Colorado that now bears his name,
and then were captured and held prisoners by the
Spanish. After 6 months of captivity in the hands
of the Spanish Empire in New Mexico, Pike was
released and eventually wrote a detailed public
28
WEATHERWISE
•
JANUARY I FEBRUARY 2010
report on his expedition before being killed by
the British in a closing battle of the War of 1812.
Many history books regard him as a true American
hero, of the caliber of Lewis and Clark.
Unfortunately, our evaluation of the weather
experienced by the Pike expedition and what
Pike wrote about that climate afterwards suggests
that perhaps this historical judgment glosses
over some critical and unflattering facts about
Pike, his expedition, and his linkage to infamous
superiors.
The Burr Conspiracy
To fully appreciate the Pike Expedition of
1806-1807, we must put the expedition into the
context of the major political scandal of that
time: the potentially treasonous plot against
the government of the United States known as
the BurT Conspiracy. The Burr Conspiracy was
orchestrated by a highly placed cabal of U.S. army
officers and southern landowners led by infamous
former United States Vice President Aaron Burr.
According to the accusations later raised against
him, Aaron Burr's ultimate goal was to create,
by armed rebellion, an independent nation to
the west of the Mississippi River, perhaps in the
region associated with the southern Louisiana
Purchase, but primarily linked to Southwest
lands claimed by the Spanish.
Pike
explicitly
Was
involved? While no "smoking
gun" documents exist to
prove or disprove Pike's direct
participation in the Burr
Conspiracy, several . aspects
of the expedition deserve
attention. First, in contrast to
the famous Lewis and Clark
expedition, Pike's expedition
not
conceived
and
was
authorized by the President of
the United States at the time,
Thomas Jefferson. Instead, the
expedition was set up through
military channels without
direct presidential oversight;
in particular, it was authorized
by Pike's commanding officer,
General James Wilkinson.
Interestingly, James Wilkinson
was one of Aaron Burr's primary associates and
possible co-conspirators. Indeed, Wilkinson
eventually faced military court martial because
of his likely involvement in the Burr conspiracy
(although the general was ultimately found not
guilty of treason against the United States).
Second, General Wilkinson appointed a
nonmilitary observer to accompany the Pike
expedition, a man named Dr. John H. Robinson.
Why Robinson, a civilian, was assigned to the
military scouting expedition and what the true
nature of his mission was are unfortunately two
secrets known only to Robinson and Wilkinson.
No existing documents shed light onto this
mystery man's role, but he apparently was
working under Wilkinson's direct orders and
was not officially pan of the U.S. military. Some
historians have speculated that he might have
been a courier assigned to take secret letters from
Wilkinson and Burr to the Spanish.
Third, some of the specific orders from
Wilkinson to Pike involving the precise purpose
and goals of the expedition were either verbal, or
the written records have been lost to history. Indeed,
after the expedition returned and Wilkinson
was undergoing his trial for his part in the Burr
Conspiracy, Wilkinson wrote an interesting letter
to Pike (during the time in which he stridently
was denying his involvement with Burr):
You will hear of the scenes in which I have been
engaged, and may be informed that the traitors whose
infamous designs against the constitution and government of our country I have detected, exposed, and
destroyed, are vainly attempting to explain their own
conduct by inculpating me; and, among other devices, they have asserted that your's and lieutenant
Wilkinson's [the General's son who also was on
the expedition] enterprise was
a premeditated co-operation with
Burr ... let it then suffice to you
for me to say, that of the information you have acquired, and
the observations you have 1nade,
you must be cautious, extremely
cautious how you breathe a word,
because the publicity may excite
a spirit of adventure adverse to
the interests of our government,
or injurious to the maturation of
those plans, which may be hereafter found necessary and justifiable by the government. 1
expedition was
not conceived
and authorized
by the President
of the United
States at the
time''
Fourth, it is clear that
General
Wilkinson
had
engaged Pike at the very least
to spy on the Spanish, although
no written order confirming
that has ever been uncovered.
At the time of the expedition, tension between
the expanding United States and Spain was high.
Aaron Burr.
WWW.WEATHERWISE.ORG
•
WEATHERWISE
29
Pike's Peak at Sunrise as seen from the Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
In 1806 almost every American citizen expected
a war with Spain. It was critical that information
about the Spanish possessions in Mexico and
the Southwest be acquired. Indeed, in a letter to
Wilkinson, Pike noted:
... as to the mode of conduct to be pursued towards
the Spaniards I feel more at a loss: as my Instructions
lead me into the Country of the [Indians]-part of
which is no Doubt claimed by Spain-although the
Boundary's between Louisiania & N. Mexico have
never yet been defined-in consequence of which
should I encounter a [Spanish] party . . . [/ would]
signify our intention of pursuing our Direct route
to [southern US military posts]-this if acceded to
would gratify our most sanguine expectations; but if
not [would] ... secure us an unmolested retreat. ...
But if the Spanish jealousy, and the instigation of
traitors, should induce them to make us prisoners of
War-(in rime of peace) I trust to the magnaminity
of our Country for our liberation-and a Due reward to their opposers for the Insult, & indignity,
offer'd their National Honor.
Many historians agree that Pike's eventual
capture by the Spanish in New Mexico--Pike
claimed that he and his men had become "lost"
and accidently strayed into Spanish territorywas because Pike (and perhaps the mysterious
30
WEATHERWISE
•
JANUARY I FEBRUARY 2010
Dr. Robinson) were using the expedition as a
cover to spy on the Spanish in present-day New
Mexico.
But given the close association between
Burr and Wilkinson, the question can be raised
as· to whether the covert purpose of the Pike
exploration was to scout the land for Bun's
ultimate formation of a new nation in the
region. And, if so, how much did Pike know and
contribute to the subterfuge?
One big clue lies in the weather reports
produced both during and after the expedition.
Was the Expedition Report
~'Weather~ Doctored"?
Of particular interest are the environmental
and weather descriptions made by Pike in his
field notes and then later in his published report.
We suggest that if Pike's expedition was, in fact,
meant to help facilitate the Burr-led settlement
of the Great Plains and Spanish Southwest, any
blatantly negative weather and environmenr
descriptions given in Pike's post-trip report
would serve two purposes for Pike, and through
him, his superiors Wilkinson and Burr: 1) it
would discourage migration into that area (and
leave the door open for a Burr movement into
the region), and/or 2) it could possibly justify
any claim by Wilkinson and Burr (if they were
charged with treason against the United States)
that they wouldn't have really wanted to invade
such an inhospitable region.
One very critical word that could especially
aid Wilkinson's and Burr's empire-building
designs for the Great Plains is "desert." If people
in the eastern United States believed that the
Great Plains were a
"great American desert,"
then the region would be
considered inhospitable
and
unproductive,
and therefore of little
interest to the expansion
proponents of the United
States. When we look
at Pike's field notes, we
discover only one single
mention of the word
"desert" when referring
to the Great Plains.
Upon reaching the Great Bend of the Arkansas
River, Pike does refer for the first and only time
to the presence of a desert, likely a small sandy
expanse caused by the shallowness of the river:
prairie, on the south by a sandy sterile desert at a
small distance.
Other than this single passage, no further
mention is made of "desert" east of the "Mexican
Mountains" (Rocky Mountains). Indeed, the
specific term "desert" doesn't even appear in
Pike's "Table ofNames"-a glossary of the various
geologic and environmental terms he uses in his
report. Instead, the tenn that Pike consistently
uses to refer to the
land east of the Rocky
Mountains is "prairie."
According to Pike's
Table of Names, a prairie
is defined not as a desert,
but instead as simply "a
natural meadow."
Pike reinforces this
idea of the Great Plains
prairie being a "natural
meadow"
throughout
his numerous daily
entries into his journal.
For example, he makes mention of numerous
buffalo herds supported by abundant prairie
grass: "I stood on a hill, and in one view below
me saw buffalo, elk, deer, cabrie, and panthers."
The next day, Pike adds, "On the march we
were continually passing through large herds of
buffalo, elk, and cabrie; and I have no doubt that
one hunter could support ZOO men." Indeed, the
initial portion of the Pike expedition by boat up
the Missouri and Osage rivers took 37 days, and
Pike notes that rain fell on 13 of these days.
'~ [R]obinson might
have been a courier
assigned to take
secret letters to
the Spanish''
The Arkansas {River], on the party's arrival, had
not water in it six inches deep, and the stream was
not more than 20 feet wide, but the rain of the two
days covered all the bottom of the river which in this
place is 450 yards from bank to bank, which are not
more than four feet in height, bordered by a few cottonwood trees on the north side by a low swampy
The Arkansas River as seen from the top of Mount Petit Jean.
WWW.WEATHERWISE.ORG
•
WEATHERWISE
31
The "Real" Climate of the Great
Plains in 1806
1805-1806
DRY
WET
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
Interestingly, upon his eventual return (after
capture and release by the Spanish), the entire
tenor of Pike's description of the Great Plains
undergoes a marked change-almost a complete
reversal from his earlier notes. Upon his return,
Pike writes the following in his published 1810
public report of the climate and environment of
the Great Plains:
But here a barren soil, parched and dried up for
eight months in the year, presents neither moisture
nor nutrition sufficient, to nourish the timber. These
vast plains of the western hemisphere, may become
in time equally celebrated as the sandy deserts of Africa; for I saw in my route in various places, tracts
of many leagues, where the wind had thrown up the
sand, in all the fanciful forms of the ocean's rolling
waves, and on which not a speck of vegetable matter
existed ... But from these immense prairies may arise
one great advantage to the United States, viz. The
restriction of our population to some certain limits,
and thereby a continuation of the union.
That rather definitive statement by Pike on
the desert-like character of the Great Plains only
carne after he had been released as a prisoner
by the Spanish and was again in contact with
Wilkinson. Correspondence between Wilkinson
and Pike indicates that Pike by this time had
become well aware of the ongoing trials involving
the members of the Burr conspiracy.
32
WEATHERWISE
•
JANUARY I FEBRUARY 2010
But the question might be posed as to whether
Pike's final report was perhaps more accurate
than his field notes? Do the available data
suggest wetter or dryer conditions during Pike's
expedition in 1806-1807?
Noted tree-ring climatologists Ed Cook, David
Meko, and others have identified the specific
number and location of regions with reconstructed
precipitation (derived from tree-ring analysis)
indicating strong drought conditions. The early
part of the first decade of 1800s did see strong
drought ·in the Southwest and Great Basin
regions of North America, with wetter conditions
progressively eastward. However, a new tree-ring
reanalysis of that time by Cook and colleagues
indicates that throughout the Great Plains
region, conditions by the end of Pike's expedition
were trending wetter (as the Great Basin drought
of 1806 began to lessen by 1807). 2
In a similar fashion, a few readings taken by
weather instruments in the early 1800s for areas
near the southern Louisiana Purchase exist for
comparison. In particular, John Breck Treat, who
was trained in making weather observations in
a similar manner as the great explorers Louis
and Clark, made a detailed series of weather
observations for the region of Pine Bluff, Arkansas,
during the period 1805-1808 specifically for the
President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson.
Treat noted in a cover letter to Jefferson in 1809
that he made his observations in Arkansa in
Louisiana, and wrote to Jefferson that "if from
their perusal you can derive, either information
or amusement, respecting the climate of this part
of our country, your acceptance will be highly
gratifying." Modern analysis of those records
indicates that precipitation values (particularly
in the winter of 1806-1807) were near normal,
exhibiting monthly variations typical of the
mid-continent. No "desert" conditions were
reported by Treat. So the reconstructed climate
t~ [P]ike
had
become well aware
of the ongoing
trials involving the
members of the Burr
conspiracy''
appears to coincide with Pike's tenor of "wet
prairie" observations during the trip, and not the
pessimistic "desert" climate scenario that Pike
described in his final, public report.
The Verdict on Pike
Did Pike "doctor" the weather in his final
report at the secret urging of General Wilkinson?
Unfortunately, we will likely never know.
Many of Zebulon Pike's original papers and
correspondence were long ago destroyed by a fire
in Philadelphia. So we are left with circumstantial
evidence. We believe that Pike's marked change
in the characterization of the Great Plains from
the generally upbeat climate descriptions in
his field notes to the published report's "barren
soil, parched and dried up for eight months in
the year, presents neither moisture nor nutrition
sufficient, to nourish the timber" at the very least
suggests a possible cover-up.
A conspiracy theorist might also see a strong
correlation between Wilkinson's order to Pike
that "you must be cautious, extremely cautious
how you breathe a word [of the information
you have acquired, and the observations you
have made], because the publicity may excite a
spirit of adventure adverse to the interests of our
government," and the statement that Pike made
in his final report that knowledge of the "desert"
conditions of the Great Plains "may arise one
great advantage to the United States, viz. The
restriction of our population to some certain
limits." Was Pike attempting through that
statement to dampen the "spirit of adventure"
as his commander had ordered?
So while we have tantalizing circumstantial evidence, the funda-mental question of
Pike's possible role in the Burr Conspiracy
still remains unanswered. Was Pike's final
report a deliberate example of "climate
mis-information" to aid Burr and his fellow
conspirators, or was it his true impression of
the Great Plains climate? Unfortunately, the
truth may never be completely known.
(!lJ
MERLIN LAWSON is a professor at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln. RANDY CERVENY is a professor at
Arizona State University and a contributing editor of
Weatherwise. CARY MOCK is a professor at the University
of South Carolina.
~~ [t]he
publicity
may excite
a spirit of
adventure
adverse
to the
interests
of our
government''
Bison in Yellowston-e National Park;conjuring an image of the scene that likely confronted Pike.
WWW.WEATHERWISE.ORG
•
WEATHERWISE
33
:\'arne - - - - - - - - - - D a r e - - - - - - - - Class - - - - - - - -
Reteaching Activity 12·41
DIRECTIONS: Organizing Facts The numbered items in the Fact Bank describe
settlers to the Western territories of California and Utah. Write the number of
each item in the appropriate section of the chart.
··~
I; .
Cal~fomia and utah Settlers ·
.
Forty-Niners
.
·
. · ·
Mormons
.
.
~
1. used irrigation canals for growing
crops
2. settled in boomtowns such as
Shinbone Peak
3. drew 100,000 people to California
in 1848 and 1849
4. members of the Church of Jesus
Christ of latter-dav Saints
DIRECTIONS: Essay Answer the following
questions on a separate sheet of paper.
1. What group of people grew rich from
the California Gold Rush? Explain why
they were so prosperous.
2. Why might the Mormons have chosen a
region that was isolated and had a very
dry climate as a place to settle.?
66
·
5. made San Francisco an important
city
6. founded Deseret, which became
Salt Lake City
7. included Asian immigrants,
primarily from China
8. used streambeds for "panning"
9. led by Joseph Smith and Brigham
. Young
·- · .
\:Jmc - - - - - - - - - - - - D a r e _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ C l a s s - - - - - - - - '1
I. .
A_cti-·v-ity_l_2_-~----*-~.-..:::6,;) *
_*_E_n_n_·c_hm_e_n_t
Texas Independence
The opening of the Texas Declaration of Independence, which was
adopted on March 2, 1836, is given below.
When a government has ceased to protect the lives. liberty. and property
of the people from whom its legitimate powers are derived. and ... becomes
an instrument in the hands of evil rulers of their oppression: ... the first law
of nature. the right of self-preservation-the inherent and inalienable right
of the people to appeal to first prii'Jciples and take their political affairs
into their own hands in extreme cases-enjoins it as a right toward-themselves and a sacred obligation to their posterity to abolish such government
and create another in its stead. calculated to rescue them from impending
dangers. and to secure their future welfare and happiness.
Nations. as well as individuals. are amenable for their acts to the public
opinion of mankind. A stateml%nt of a part of our grievances is. therefore.
submitted to an impartial world. in justification of the hazardous but
unavoidqb/e step now taken of severing our political connection with the
Mexican people. and assuming an independent attitude among the nations
of the earth.
DIREUIONS: Interpreting Facts Use the excerpt to ansv,'er the follo\\'ing questions.
1. \\'hat is the cause for the declaration? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2. \\'hat are "first p r i n c i p l e s " ? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3. \Vhat does self-preservation require a nation to do? _____________
4. \-\'hat will the new government be designed to do?
5. What will the content following this excerpt discuss?
DIRECTIONS: Making a Chart On a separate sheet of paper,
compare the opening of the Texas Declaration of Independence
to the op_ening of the United States Declaration of Independence. How are they alike?
Different? Complete a chart to explain your findings.
68
Add facial eJg>ressions and speech bubbles to the
drawings below to reflect how~ativ~~ Americans
and the common man felt and thought about
Jackson's Indian Policy.
Add facial expressions and speech bubbles to the
drawing below to reflect what the conimon man
and the ric~ well-born felt and thought about
Jackson's rise from the frontier to the White
House.
Directions: Select six characters from the drawing below (you may include animals), and create speech or thought
bubbles for each one. In each bubble, write one or two sentences describing the character's thoughts or feelings.
Within each bubble, use one of the terms listed in the Word Bank. If necessary, write yQur sentences as captions in
the space below the drawing. Color in the drawing to make it look like the actual painting.
-~.-,_- -.-<-_:,: ,::·-._ -:_ :--;:___ ·:.-_:',_·Annotating
a Famous Historical Painting
>.-.·- -·': · · - - .
destroy
Manifest Destiny
progress
growth
native people
territorial acquisition
justified
other (Ountries
United States
What you should know for the
Constitutional Convention Test
1. How many delegates were at the Constitutional Convention?
2. Who were FWMPO?
3. Where was the Convention held?
4. What date did the Convention start?
5. Who was NOT allowed to attend the Convention?
6. What was the key word of the Convention?
7. What was the reason for the Constitutional Convention (originally)?
8. What state did not send delegates to the Convention? Why?
9. Who was the Chairman of the Convention?
· 10. Who was the oldest delegate at the Convention? How old was he? -11. What did Benjamin Franklin urge at the Convention?
12. Who was the "Father ofthe Constitution"?
13. Why do we know what happened at the Convention?
14. How long did the delegates decide to keep the discussion private? Why?
15. What were the small states afraid of?
16. What did the small states want?
17. What did the large states want?
18. In the Great Compromise, how many houses were created in Congress?
19. Name the two houses in Congress. What will representation be based on in each
house?
20. What is the purpose of government? What should people do if government stops
doing its job?
21. The Framers were guided by the ideals set forth in a document written by Thomas
Jefferson. What was that document called?
22. Where was Thomas Jefferson at the time of the Convention, and what was he
doing?
23. What did the 3/5ths Compromise deal with?
24. How were slaves counted in the 3/5ths Compromise?
25. Defme Federalists.
26. Define Anti-Federalists.
27. What did the Anti-Federalists want in order to ratify the Constitution?
28. Defme Bill ofRights.
29. Define ratify.
30. Defme compromise.
31. How many ofthe 13 states were needed to ratify the Constitution?
32. What happens if laws violate the Constitution? ·
33. The _ _ _ _ _ _ is America's social contract. It provides the
- - - - - - for our laws.
34. Define Preamble.
35. Defme Articles (as it refers to the Constitution.)
36. Defme Amendments. How many are there in currently in the Constitution?
37. List what the Articles (all 7) provide for.
38. What were the Federalist Papers?
39. Who wrote the Federalist Papers?
40. Know the Preamble, word for word.
LET THE CONVENTION BEGIN!
~?
_______________________________________________________________
~? ____________________________________~----------------------
U11Y? ____________________________________________________________
~T~?--------~-----------------------------------------WHATDID THEYAGREEON?
l. Each state had
vote.
2. The Articles of Confederation were __________ A few of the biggest problems
were:
A. There was no --------------------------------------------B. Congressoollidn't _____________________________________________
C. The----------------------- governments had more power than d1e
---------------------------------'---- government.
3. They were SO BAD, delegates wouldn't even bother to rewrite --------------'-______________________ . Instead, they wollid create something totally new
and different ... and, hopefully, ----------4. The ideals in the ----------------------------~ would guide them.
5. They would keep all windows and doors locked iri order to keep their discussions
years because . . .
secret. They would remain secret for
A.
B.
6. The key word would b e - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - which mt>..ans e.ach side GIVING UP some of what thev
, want to GET son1e of what
d1ey want. (As mama used to say, "You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours!")
I (lOa)
SO . . . WHO SHOWED UP TO THE "PARTY"?
There were
delegates. AU states except
sent
delegates. (They hated the Articles of Confederation so much they wouldn't even try.
'Ybat a buncha party poopers!) There were no women, slaves, former slaves, free
black men, Native Americans, or even poor people who were invited to attend. Every
single one of the delegates was a
F___________ w___________
~,
___________ P___________ o___________
Some of the most important delegates were:
l.
----------~--------------(the
_________________________ ):
2. __________________________ (the _________________________ ):
3.
4.
5.
Oh yeah . . . one important guy who was not there was ______________________
He was hangin' out in France.
c-2 (lob)
COMPROMISE, BABY.I THAT'S WHAT IT'S ABOIJT!
vs ..
small STATES
WANTED:
WANTED:
WORRIED:
WORRIED:
BIG states
THE GREAT COMPROMISE
CONGRESS would have _ _ _ _ _ houses.
One would be based on-------------~ satisfying the
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ states. This house would be called
The other would have the
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - f r o m each state~
no matter how large or small~ thus satisfying the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ states. This
house would be called
SENATE+ HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
=
THE 3/5 COMPROMISE
What about SLAVES? Of course~ people in the South didn't treat them like people~ BUT
they wanted to count them as part of d1e population so they would have more votes!
In the
end~
they were counted as _ _ _ _ of a person
each~
ANTI-FEDERA LTSTS vs. FEDJRA ltTSTSANTI-FEDERAI,ISTS
•!• - - - - - - - - - - the Constitution as it was written_ because they feared .
I. Lossof _________________________________________
2. Lossof ____________________________________________
•!• They wanted a - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - to list~ ensure~
and protect their individual freedoms.
"This proposal ••• is of a most alarming nature ••• You ought to be extremely cautious, watcbful,
jealous ofyour liberty. "
- Patrick Henry, anti-federalist
FEDERALISTS
•!• They insisted - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - were safe because .
I. Each state had its own - - - - - - - - - - - - - - with a bill of rights.
2. The
would be elected directly by
the people~ and its members would be sure to protect people~s rights.
•!• They _______ their views in town meetings~ newspapers~ pamphlets~ and a
famous collection of
called the ___________
- - - - - - - - - - · These were written by people like _________
-------~-,--~and-----------"I am persuaded that this plan is the best which our poh"tical situation, habits, and opinions will
admit, and superior to any the revolution has produced. " -Alexander Hamilton, federalist
_ _ _ _ of
states were needed to RATIFY (approve) the Constitution. In
the end, it took our old friend
to get it done. Anti-federalists
agreed to ratify i t - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - " I like the organization of the government into branches • . . I will now tell you what I do not like.
First, there is no hill of rights ... a hill of rights is what the people are entided to against every
government on earth. " - Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to James Madison
,;
L/ (!Dd
THE CONSTITUTION . ..
WHAT'S INA SOCIAL CONTRACT?
Written from
, it was finally ratified on
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ , when nine states gave their approval. Eventually, all 13 states
approved it, with the last state doing so in 1790. Guess who it was. Yup, the old
party pooper,
. Thus, 13
independent states became a solid, union: THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Woo hoo!
The Constitution is America's
, and the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
of the United States. It doesn't list every single law we should follow, but it provides a
- - - - - - - - - - - - for all of the laws of the U.S. government to fit into. NQ
law can _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ or go against it.
The framers agreed with Locke, Montesquieu, Jefferson, and other great thinkers:
The people of the United States have the right and the power to - - - - - - - - themselves. The government depends on the __________ for its power,
and it only exits to
them. More importantly, IF THE
GOVERNMENT STOPS PROTECTING PEOPLE'S RIGHTS, the people should
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - · Remember, that was the core idea of the
______________________ ,andwe&illbelieverttoday.
THE PREAMBLE
Like most -formal writing, the Constitution begins with an _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
although it has kind of a funny name. It's called the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ , and it
states the purposes and goal of the Constitution. Here's what it says .
"We the People of the United Sta.tes of America., in order to form a. more perfect
union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common
defense, promote the geneml WeUa.re, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves
and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this ConstJ..tution for the Umted Sta.tes of
. "
Amenca.
Wl1at ?. '· Rt.0al1t.
page.
. tllat's a lotta big words, soooooo let's break it dow~ on the neA.'t
ONE OF WASHINGTON'S GREATEST LEGACIES ...
THE HAMILTON FINANCIAL PLAN
"What are we going to do with this heavy debt?"
-new President George Washington
When Washington first took office, the new country was in
... big time!
Can you guess why? That's right ... it was because they had spent so much fighting
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . But what in the world were they going to
do about it? Well, ol' George was smart ... smart enough to know he needed help,
so he called on his Secretary of the Treasury, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
If you recall, Hamilton was the one who _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
and he believed ir-1 a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, a government
that encouraged business and industry. His financial plan to get the country out of
debt had three parts to it.
HAMILTON'S FINANCIAL PLAN
1.
2.
3.
Pay off all _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Raise government _ _ _ _ _ _ _(money) through _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
and
(taxes on good imported form another country)
Create a
to give the government a safe place to
,keep its money.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ and
total~v disagreed
with Hamilton about this bank. In fact, they got into many arguments about it.
Eventually,
Jefferson
even
created
a
new
political
party,
THE
----------------------4 to distance himself from Hamilton and the
Federalists. In fact, he hated Hamilton soooo much, that he eventually quit his job as
Secretary of State because he couldn't stand to be around the guy!
In his farewell address at the end of his presidency, George Washington urged
He warned that they
people to
could seriously
the unity of the American people.
"'
'
'·.
.."'-.
'-~- .
'·--"·--,__
-.
\
-\
------·-----··---
-~--
-__j~
-~~~----""'r
---l
\
!·,
r----
The Constitutional Convention
There were many questions facing the future of the United States in
1787. It was obvious that the Articles of Confederation were not working
and something had to be done. Congress called for a convention _to be
held in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787. _Delegateswere to be sent from
every state with the purpose of developing a plan to improve the Articles
of Confederation.
Fifty-five men attended the meeting in Philadelphia that hot
summer. All were free white male property owners and many played an
important role in the American Revolution. Important delegates to the
convention included George Washington, James Madison, Benjamin
Franklin and Alexander Hamilton. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams
were in Europe acting as ambassadors for the United States and,
therefore, not in attendance. George Washington was a great
Revolutionary War hero and had the dignity and presence of a great
leader. It was no wonder that every delegate agreed that he would
serve as the convention's president. James Madison became known as
the "Father of the Constitution", due to his detailed notes of the
proceedings as well as his important role in the discussions. Benjamin
Franklin was the oldest delegate to the convention. At the age of 81 it is
believed that he brought wisdom, experience, humor, and the call for
compromise to the discussions. Alexander Hamilton was interested in
making the United States a strong and wealthy nation. The only state not
participating in the convention, was Rhode Island. They were happy with
the Articles of Confederation and hostile to any idea of change.
The delegates decided that the proceedings would be kept private
for 30 years. This would allow for the delegates to freely express their
opinions without the fear of outside influences. To ensure this, they locked
all windows and doors. They also chose to ignore Congress' plans to fix
the Articles of Confederation and instead began to write an entirely new
constitution. Each state would have one vote during the convention.
During the course of the convention, many arguments and
disagreements broke out. One of the most important conflicts among the
Framers was about representation in Congress. They disagreed over how
many representatives each state should be able to send to Congress. The
conflict was between delegates from states with small populations and
those from states with large populations. Small states were afraid that the
states with larger populations would control the new national
government. Their solution was to allow each state to have the same
number of representatives in Congress or equal representation. This was
contained I the New Jersey Plan. On the other side, delegates from states
with larger populations thought this was unfair. They argued that a state
Co'/.on.i,aLAm.er~ {18tn- C~)
ONLINE NEWSPAPER
ti~b \Lids 1bYl1
Direct"~: U~http://www:i~ii
VLeMJ!pet:per- CcL!herl;y New~').
•
•
·=·
elsa
!J, treat-~CLn~~
follow ~~e:p~
Fw!t", ~Cl.tper.w-rv, p~ ~ or ew0Yl.t.
5~ v~ch-youv ~ory. Yow ccwv~ LKl:{orWUitA:'LOYV o-rvthe~e:
• Thivc4
•
~ ~ o-ta" ''c".
N~ wvt;t"~ youv 3 ~or~
lvfcil<-e- .\iM'"~"to- ~ L-wtportCt11tt"
i¥t{orWUitA:'ww. Vo- not-p~~ Ecu;}v ~ory ~be; Clt" leaM: 10
~e¥\,Cey 'Lo-nff w{.;t}v (i(A/\1 L-Y\.tvoduct-ory ~~ ~ Cl/
~ ~~ Youv ~ ~ory ~b€1-the- Wl.01Jt"
L-wtportCt11tt" ~ Wruf3' 'the- ;-t-ory tf'V 1.se perJ<)rl/ ar tryo-u- Uved bac/v
then!
o
•
lhe¥v,
YOU WILL 13£ G'RAVEV ON Ttl£ 6+ 1 CONTENTS OF WRITING
~pU;;tu.,v~thca; ~ wL;th; youv ve:po-r1:}'. ~ ccwv
be;~o-vvthe-~e:
•
lvf cil<-e- .\-tM'"~ yow pvoofv~ ~ edt;t-youv pcq:>ef".
•
F~, pvWtt;youv vteMJlPiXper. An.d,-turY\IL;t"i.nt"to-youv cla-.wbi:nt.
A4o-turw Wt.t youv "t~fr"Dm/ NOW & nf.EN. Vwect'~follow.
Co'/.on.i,aLAm.er~
{18tn- Century}
NOW & TH.EN
Direct"~: u~ http://www.lihe¥ty7vi4;,S~'ccNow &
The-n!'),
creat"~ c;vtwo--colu..tnw chari: co-m:pCU'"lNlft 5 i:te,ww .( 6 YOW~ & 3
~) {YO"Wl! now & the-w. (E~let: t~ c;v ~ what:
ftirwwear, et-o.).
Act'wity
Taking a Bath
It~look.t~~thi.v.
NOW
n!EN
At least once a day, warm
water, easily accessible
Maybe once a month, used
heated water from stove,
got cold quickly
with more people should have more representation, or proportional
representation, and was a part of the Virginia Plan.
The problem was solved by an agreement known as the Great
Compromise. The Great Compromise contains three important parts: 1)
Congress would have two houses, the Senate and the House of
Representatives. 2) The House of Representatives would be elected on
the basis of proportional representation. 3) The Senate would be elected
on the basis of equal representation. The compromise was hotly debated
and passed by one vote.
The next problem was what to do with slavery. The economy of the
southern states was almost completely agricultural and depended on
slave labor. In contrast, the northern states' economy was much more
diverse and generally relied on free 'labor. Therefore the southern states
had a much higher slave population that they wanted to be counted for:
representation purposes. Northern states argued that because laves
could not vote, they should not be counted in the figures for determining
representation in Congress. Delegates worked out the Three-Fifths
Compromise. They decided that five slaves would count as three persons
for the purposes of representation.
Due to the different economies of the North and South, the states
also disagreed on trade. All the states agreed that Congress should
control trade between the states, but what about foreign trade? The
North wanted Congress to control foreign trade, because they made their
living by shipping. They wanted the same laws everywhere. The South,
however, exported large amounts of rice, tobacco, and indigo. They
were worried that they would lose customers if Congress taxed these
goods. The Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise solved this problem.
Congress was given the power to tax imports but not exports, and was not
allowed to end the slave trade for 20 years.
Finally the Constitution was done. On September 17, 1787, the
delegates met one last time. Of the 42 delegates present, 39 signed the
Constitution, thus sending it to the states for ratification.
E®l'=fl·'·'·''''1~i4J
Matrix for Analyzing Features of the Articles of Confederation
Directions: Each placard you will receive explains one of the features of the Articles of Confederation. Carefully examine the drawing on the placard,
read the information on it, and discuss the question(s). Then complete the information in the appropriate place on the matriz below.
Placard
A
Feature
Why This Was Included In the Articles of Confederation
Possible Problems with This Feature
Lack of leadership from central government. No
single leader for the government.
No Chief Executive.--
·-
8
c
c:
(I)
~
~~
...
D
.!->
?
~
Wanted to protect individual states' power.
Fear of a strong central government.
Congress did not
have the power to
tax citizens. It could
only request tax
money from states.
States often chose not to pay taxes, and the federal
government didn't have the funds to operate
effectively.
'
I
I
I
:X:
t
Laws needed approval by nine of
the thirteen states.
--
Congress did not
have the power to
draft an army. It
could only request
states to send men
for military services.
I
Fear of a central government with a strong
army that might take away citizens' rights.
----
--
--
-~-
-
-~--
---
'
--~-~-
--
---
--
Placard
E
c:
Vl
::c
.t
~.<
~·
...
•t...
;;?
..
o.t
Feature
No national
court system.
F
Any amendments
·(changes) to the
Articles must be
approved by all
13 states.
G
Congress did not
have the power to
collect state debts
owed to the federal
government.
H
Congress did not
have the power to
settle disputes
among states.
Why This Was Included In the Articles of Confederation
Possible Problems with This Feature
Fear of a central government with a court
system that might be unfair to the rights
of states.
Nearly impossible to make changes to Articles.
Any one state could stop an amendment that all the
other states wanted.
Fear of a strong central government that
could force states to pay for things they
..
didn't want.
Disputes among states often could not be resolved.
Created disunity among states.
~
I
i!
I
@)
~~~
L
I
The ARTicles of Confederation
As the Revolutionary War was continuing, the leaders of the country realized that a
plan for government was needed ifwe should happen to win. A plan was devised for a
new government that would be called the Articles of Confederation. Many ideas were
considered for this new government but certain ideas were a must. First off, the new
government would not have an individual as powerful as the king they were fighting.
There was no way that the colonists were going to put up with another tyrant. Another
idea that was popular was that the states would form a firm league of friendship as
opposed to one central government controlling everything. This would allow the states to
do what they thought was best for them. With this idea Virginia wouldn't have to worry
about what Massachusetts was doing.
Well as it turned out, we did win the war and this new government was needed. So
we started the country with the Articles of Confederation as our guide. But soon
problems started to appear. Some of the problems were relatively minor but others were
quite large. The first big problem that emerged was the fact that states were more
powerful that the national government. No country wanted to enter into treaties or
alliances with us for fear that they would have to make thirteen separate treaties. Other
countries weren't recognizing us as a country ourselves. The second problem was the
fact that our national government couldn't tax.
· Without the power to tax, the government couldn't pay its debts. The national
government asked the states for help but they weren't any better financially. Paper
money was being recognized in only the state that issued it. The money that the national
government issued was worth nothing due to the fact that they really had nothing to back
it with. The country was in deep financial trouble.
The third large problem involved that ability to regulate interstate trade. The congress in
the new government could not tell the states not to tax each other as they shipped goods
around the country. By taxing anyone who crossed their border, they forced a
manufacturer to deal only in his home state. This drove the states further and further
apart and added to the financial problems. Manufacturers weren't able to ship to other
states and were going out if business. This meant that they weren't able to pay taxes to
the state and they were losing revenue.
These weren't the only problems just the biggest ones. The new government has no
real leader. There was no executive branch to run things. When this government was
created the colonists didn't want a single person to have any power. So the government
was made up of only a legislative branch. Changing the Articles was another problem.
To make a change in the Articles of Confederation you needed all thirteen states to agree.
One state could prevent the others from making any change that was needed. The new
national government couldn't raise an army. The Articles allowed them to ask states for
troops but the states wouldn't supply the men. They thought the militias were needed to
protect the state not the country. Finally, the new government didn't create a national
court system. What was a crime in one state might not be a crime in another state. We
had no feeling ofbeing a united country. We were thirteen separate little countries that
happen to share a coastline. If big changes weren't made soon, the country might not last
past the first few years.