Download Some historians have argued that the French and Indian War

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Notecards
Revolutionary America, 1763-1800
Assignment: 41 points
1. copy each of these terms onto their own separate index card
2. on the back of the card write bullet points
1. defining the term (def)
2. explaining why that event was so important in American history (sig)
Example:
Term: Civil War
Definition: Fight between the North and South that lasted from 1861 to 1865.
Significance: The American Civil War finally settled the issue of slavery that had plagued America since its inception.
Also, the Union victory firmly established the Federal Government’s supremacy over state governments and their claims
for local control and state’s rights.
(Do write definition and significance)
For an era term, please put the dates of the time period (including the events that started and ended the era), the theme of
the era, and the major events of the time period.
3. The index cards will be due two classes before the unit test.
4. Have them rubber banded, numbered, and in the exact order I listed them for you when you turn them
in. Please write how many cards you have left blank also.
5. Save these index cards so you can use them when you go to study for the AP exam
Terms:
1. Revolutionary Era, 1754-1800
2. French and Indian War (Seven Year’s War)
3. Albany Plan of Union
4. Pontiac’s Rebellion
5. Proclamation of 1763
6. Stamp Act
7. John Locke & Natural Rights Philosophy
8. Sons of Liberty
9. Virtual versus actual representation
10. Townshend Acts
11. Boston Massacre
12. Coercive Acts (AKA Intolerable or
Repressive Acts)
13. Thomas Paine: Common Sense
14. Declaration of Independence
15. Loyalists
16. French Alliance of 1778 (Reasons for it by
both sides)
17. African Americans during the
Revolutionary War
18. Articles of Confederation structure
(give 4 + examples)
19. Articles of Confederation successes (3+
give concrete examples)
20. Articles of Confederation failures (give 3+
concrete examples)
21. Northwest Ordinance
22. Effects of the Revolution on Women
23. Effects of the Revolution on African
Americans
24. Republican Motherhood
25. Shays’ Rebellion
26. The Great Compromise
27. Slavery and the Constitution: (international
slave trade, 3/5 clause, fugitive slave
clause)
28. Federalist Papers
29. Constitutional Structure (give 4 +
examples)
30. Bill of Rights (give 3+ examples)
31. Beard Thesis
32. Why did political parties develop from
1789-1800? (List 5+ examples with a T
chart comparing Federalists & Democratic
Republicans Ideologies)
33. Hamilton’s Financial Program
34. 1st National Bank Debate
35. Whiskey Rebellion
36. French Revolution/ Neutrality Proclamation
37. Jay’s Treaty
38. Washington’s Farewell Address
39. XYZ Affair
40. Alien and Sedition Acts
41. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
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Potential Essay Questions
One of these essay questions will appear on your test:
1. Some historians have argued that the French and Indian War
marked a turning point in British imperial policy toward the
American colonies. Support, modify, or refute this contention
using specific evidence.
2. Some historians have argued that a high tax burden on the
colonists caused the Americans to rebel in 1776. Support, modify,
or refute this contention using specific evidence.
3. Some historians have argued that the American Revolution was
not revolutionary in nature. Support, modify, or refute this
contention using specific evidence.
4. Some historians have argued that the US Constitution was a
radical departure from the Articles of Confederation. Support,
modify, or refute this contention using specific evidence.
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The Road to Revolution 1754-1776
Some historians have argued that the French and Indian War marked
a turning point in British imperial policy toward the American
colonies.
– Support, modify, or refute this contention using specific
evidence.
Causes of the French and Indian War
• French and British settlement into the ______________________
• French hoped to connect New France to settlements in Louisiana
• First Battle: Lieutenant Colonel __________________________ defeats a
French reconnaissance party in a surprise attack, killed 10 French soldiers,
including the French commander, Coulon de Jumonville
• British Fort Necessity and French Fort Duquesne
• Washington forced to surrender
• Britain and France did not officially declare war against each other until
1756
Albany Plan of Union, 1754
• Ben Franklin and representatives from New England, New York,
Maryland, & Pennsylvania
• The immediate purpose was to keep the Iroquois tribes loyal to the British.
• Failed League of Iroquois broke off relation with Britain and threatened to
trade with the French
• Long term range goal was to achieve colonial unity and common defense
against the French threat.
• Failed to ___________________________ under one government,
showed the disunity of the colonies, amazing turn of events 23 years later
the colonies will fight together
The French and Indian War = The War that __________________________
• Colonists fight in the war and develop a _________________________
• British win, but have a _______________________________
that they need to pay off
• Tax colonist to make-up the difference AND do not let them
_______________________________ - bitter feelings
The Effects of the French and Indian War:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Tensions Along the frontier
1763  _______________________________
Native Americans do not stop fighting the French and Indian War
Loose confederation of tribes attack 8 Western British forts
British “gifts” of smallpox-infected blankets from Fort Pitt.
British put down the revolt, but with great expense
Response: Proclamation of 1763- settlers cannot move
_____________________________, too expense for Britain to police and settlers
ignore
1763 was a turning point in British colonial relationships, Britain began to
_________________________________________________
Use space below for notes.
I will come around and
check to see if you added
notes for points.
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New Smyrna, 1768
• Dr. Andrew Turnbull secured a land grant of 40,000 acres, proprietary colony
• Organized the largest attempt at British colonization in the New World
• Named in honor of his wife's (Maria Gracia Dura Bin) birthplace: Smyrna,
Asia Minor
• 1,403 indentured servant immigrants from Minorica, Italy, Smyrna, Asia
Minor, and numerous Greek islands came over on 8 ships
Turnbull’s Land Grant, proprietary colony
Why geographically pick this spot?
Why is this called Minorca?
Why is it called Turnbull Bay and Turnbull Road?
Produced cash crops: indigo, hemp, and sugar cane
What is this place?
• Indian Mound
• Turnbull’s House or warehouse, 1768
• Dr. Ambrose Hull’s house, 1803
• In 1854, John D. Sheldon 40 room hotel and during the Civil War in July
1863, this structure was destroyed by the Union navy
• In 1867 Sheldon built a new hotel, which also housed a post office and several
stores, stood until 1896 when it was torn down
The King’s Highway
• The King’s Highway, cleared in 1632 by following Indian trails, is one of the
first roads in the New World
• It connected St. Augustine to NSB
• It ended at the Old Stone Wharf
• The wharf was necessary for the import and export of goods.
•
•
•
Remains of Turnbull’s Old Stone Wharf are visible at low tide.
Said to be the first public works program for the colony.
Clinch Street and Riverside Dr.
Why is it called Canal Street?
Turnbull’s “Egyptian” Canals
• Several canals were created by the colonists.
• Dug by hand and lined with coquina, a system of waterways was created for
agricultural purposes beginning in 1768
• Canals are clearly visible at the boundary between the towns of New Smyrna
and Edgewater and running through the park on Myrtle Avenue
Collapse
• First, preparations had only been made to accommodate 500 people
• Under-provisioned colony
• The death rate by 1777 was 964, 70% of the original number of settlers
• Slave ship carrying 500 people sank at sea
• Plantation suffered major losses due to insect-borne diseases and Native
American raids
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Collapse
• Harsh treatment by overseers
• 500 remaining colonists marched north in 1777 to St. Augustine to complain
of mistreatment and released from their servitude
• In 1783, the Spanish retook Florida as part of the Treaty of Paris and Andrew
Turnbull moved to Charleston, South Carolina.
• Colonists continued to live in St. Augustine
Some historians have argued that a high tax burden on the
colonists caused Americans to rebel in 1776.
– Support, modify, or refute this contention using specific
evidence.
Sugar Act, 1764
• Extension of the 1733 Molasses Act which required a tariff on all sugar
products that were imported into America from the West Indies
• Tax implemented to pay for the protection of the colonists
• Colonists routinely _____________________ around it, which was not
allowed to go on in any other part of the British Empire
• The colonies were lightly taxed when compared to the rest of the
British Empire.
• American colonists "paid no more than sixpence a year against the
average English taxpayer's twenty-five shillings"
• The price of sugar products was actually lowered through this act
because the tariff was removed and the duty on foreign molasses
imported into the British colonies was reduced from sixpence to
threepence
• Colonists ______________________ the purchase of sugar purchases
• Colonial mindset maintained that in accepting the tax, they would have
been accepting the right for Parliament to impose a tax upon them.
Stamp Act 1765
• 1st ever _______________________________
• Purpose: Raise revenues to support the
_______________________________
• “No taxation without ______________” cry
• Taxed ___________________________
• Riots erupted led by the _______________________________
• Upset the wrong kind of people, like __________________________
Declaratory Acts, 1766
• Passed after the Stamp Act was ______________________________
• Asserted that England possessed the
________________________________________________.
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For every action, there is a …
• Townshend Acts, 1767- Taxed imports like
_______________________________
• Tax was an ______________________________ duty ("external tax")
• Revenues from taxes to pay salaries of
_______________________________________________
• Colonists resist and do not _______________________________
• Repealed because hurt ____________________so much
The Boston Massacre (March 5,1770) _______________________________
• 5 die in the shooting
• African American _________________________ first to die
• Colonists exploited the event to portray the British as heavy-handed
• Propagandized by Paul Revere
• 8 soldiers put on trial for murder, defended by John _______________
• 6 acquitted, 2 found guilty of manslaughter were sentenced to branding
on their hand.
Use space below for notes:
The Regulator Movement, 1766-1771
• Carolina backcountry people organized and protested unfair taxes and
representation
• Took over the government in the backcountry and prevented taxes from being
collected and courts from operating and collecting debt.
• More exposed inter-colonial (East-West) tensions than Imperial tensions
• Few Regulators became ____________________
The Gaspee Incident (1772) _______________________________
Tea Act (1773)
• British East India Co.:
– _______________________________________ imports.
– Many members of Parl. held __________________.
– Permitted the Co. to sell tea directly to cols. without
______________________________________________________
Boston Tea Party (__________)
The Coercive or Intolerable Acts 1774
1. Port Act-Closed _______________________________
2. Government Act- Mass. _______________________________
3. New Quartering Act- expanded _______________________________
4. Administration of Justice Act- royal _______________________________
The Quebec Act (1774)
• ___________________________________________to Canadians
• No _______________________________ in Canada
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First Continental Congress (1774)
Agenda  How to respond to the __________________________________?
Pass Suffolk Resolves:
• Decision to cease all ________ with Britain until the
Coercive Acts were repealed
• Began to arm _______________________________
The British Are Coming . . .
_______________________________make their midnight ride to warn the
______________________of approaching British soldiers.
The Shot Heard ’Round the World!
__________________________________________________– April 18,1775
The Second Continental Congress (1775)
_______________________________
Thomas Paine: _______________________________________________
:
Declaration of Independence (1776)
• Issued on _____________, resolution passed on July 2 to break free
• Primary Author, Thomas Jefferson
• John ____________ and Ben _____________, all were on the
committee speaking for the 2nd Continental Congress
• 1st draft blamed the _____________________________ in America
• Drew on ____________ ideals, refers to God in a less personal way
• Divided into 2 sections
– 1st declared ____________ of life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness, right to overthrow unjust governments
– 2nd part listed abuses by __________________, the specific
reasons for independence
• ___________________- got colonists to ________ the Revolutionary
War cause, got other nations (_________) around the world to help
• Significance: Our _________ promise to ourselves, our vision
statement, our core beliefs, yet nothing is _________________ in it
Use space below for notes:
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The American Revolutionary War, 1776-1783
Saratoga: The Turning Point, 1778
• ____________________ captured 9,500 person British Army led
by General Burgoyne, huge victory
• Convinced ____________________ that Americans could win
• Ben Franklin helped negotiate
______________________________
• Turned the war into a ____________________
• Never could have won the war without France’s _________
• France eager for _______________________________________,
yet agreed not to make any claims to North America
Loyalists
• Also called __________________- “A thing whose head is in
England, whose body is in America, and whose neck ought to be
stretched.”
• About _______of population, 450,000- 500,000
• John Adams letter said that "1/3 supported the Revolution, 1/3
opposed it and 1/3 were neutral.”
• __________________area, more in the South & Middle Colonies
• Recent British immigrants, Anglicans outside of the South,
_________________________, Georgia, gov. officials who owed
their jobs to the empire, _______________?
• Famous ones include William Franklin, Benedict Arnold,
___________________, and Joseph Galloway
• About ___________percent of the Loyalists left, an estimated
white _________________Loyalists, or about 2 percent of the
total American population of 3 million in 1783. The figure of
100,000 Loyalists is often given for the number who actually
went into exile, but this is more of guesstimate that could be
regarded as somewhat accurate if Indian and Black Loyalists and
emigrants to Canada (1/2 to Nova Scotia) from the USA from
1783-1800 are included
• 1st American ____________________________________?
Loyalists, Royalists, King’s Men, _________versus _________,
Patriots, Rebels, Revolutionaries, colonists
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Women during the Revolution
• Many stay at home and run farms, businesses, and children as
men go off to fight
• ____________________________________ with sewing,
clothing, bandages, & blankets
• Poorer ones, 1/15, go off and ______________________b/c no
means to support selves
• __________________________________- organize relief and
harass loyalists
African Americans during the Revolution
• Declaration of Independence ideas of liberty & equality excited
African Americans
• Southern whites expected the British to start slave __________
• 1775, _____________________________________________
offered freedom to any slave who fought for the British, 800
joined
• African Americans fought in the war on ______________ sides
• Washington at first barred them from the Continental Army, but
policy changed as got more desperate, ________________ fought
for the Rebels
• 1,000’s joined the British under General Clinton in the South and
after the fall of Charleston, SC most of the 10,000 were _______
into slavery in the West Indies or in the South after the war
• 4,000 African Americans in the North left with the loyalists from
New York City and went to ______________________, Canada
to set up the largest free black community in the Americas
• 1,200 of these Africans will migrate back to Africa to found
___________________, Sierra Leone
• __________________ slaves escaped to freedom during the war
• Slave revolts never materialized
Yorktown, 1781 “The world turned upside down”
Major lost by Cornwallis forced the British to negotiate a peace
Treaty of Paris, 1783
• Ben ______________, John Adams, and John Jay helped
negotiate
• British agreed to ______________________________ in the
West and Americans agreed to not
_________________________________ from loyalists
• America bounded by Canada and _________________________
River
• Spanish got back ________________, controlled whole west of
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the Mississippi River
The Critical Period, 1783-1789
The Critical Period, 1783-1789, Historian __________
• Treaty of Paris to Washington taking office
• Events: Shay’s Rebellion, depression, Northwest ordinance,
Constitutional convention
Articles of Confederation Government: 1776, 1781-1789
Weaknesses in the structure of the Articles of Confederation
• A ____________ Congress [_____ of 13 votes to pass a law].
• 13 out of 13 to ____________.
• Representatives were frequently absent.
• Could not ________________________.
• No ____________ or judicial branches.
• Could not regulate ____________ between states
State Constitutions
• _________________ _______
• Most had strong governors with veto power.
• Most had bicameral legislatures.
• ____________ required for voting.
• Some had universal white male suffrage.
• Most had ________________________.
• Many had a continuation of state-____________ religions while
others disestablished religion.
Foreign Affairs
• British did not evacuate __________in the west, like promised in
the ________________________ of 1783, supplied Indians and
encouraged them to raid ____________ ____________
____________
• Spain tried to monopolize access to the ____________
– Proposed (never ratified) ______________ Treaty (1786),
secured trading rights with Spain for northeastern
merchants while recognizing Spain’s supremacy on the
Mississippi.
– 2 nations prevent US from exercising control over
____________ ____________ ____________
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Northwest Ordinance of 1785
Major accomplishments:
• Convinced states to give up their ____________ ____________
and made process for new states to enter the nation when had
60,000 people in the territory
• Abolished ____________ in the territory
• Sold land in small, ____________ parcels
• Funded public ____________
• Land sells helped pay for the national ____________
Economy in the 1780’s, Major Depression
1. Huge national and state debts were left from the ____________.
• Excessive use of ____________ to purchase consumer goods
after the war (especially debts to British merchants.
3. Lack of ____________
4. ____________ demanded laws to help their plight – and at times
acted violently (e.g. Shays’ Rebellion)
5. Runaway ____________ was ruinous to many citizens
6. British companies ____________ America with goods at very
low prices.
7. States ____________ each others imports!
Shays’ Rebellion: 1786-7
• Daniel Shays, Western MA
• Small farmers angered by crushing debts and taxes, close down
__________________________________
• Debtors demanded cheap paper currency, lower taxes, &
suspension of ________________________
• marched to Springfield where state's Supreme Court was in
session and where the ___________________.
• Wealthy New Englanders provided ____________ for a large
militia in the region.
• Propertied class feared that the Revolution had created a
"____________
• There could be no stronger evidence of the want of energy in
our governments than these disorders. –George _________
• East- _____________________
Annapolis Convention (1786)
• GOAL  address barriers that __________________
____________________________________
• Sent a report to the Congress to call a meeting of all the states to
Use space below for notes:
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meet in ____________ to examine areas broader than just trade
and commerce.
Use space below for notes:
Philadelphia Constitutional Convention, 1776
Previous attempts at unity
Years
1643-1684
Attempts at Union
New England
Confederation (united
to protect from
________________)
Participants
4 colonies
1686-1689
Dominion of New
England (forced on the
colonies to impose the
_______________
Acts)
7 colonies
1754
1765
1772-1776
1774
1775-1781
1781-1789
7 colonies
Stamp Act Congress
Committees of
Correspondence
First Continental
Congress (adopted The
Association)
Second Continental
Congress
Articles of
Confederation
9 colonies
13 colonies
12 colonies
13 colonies
13 states
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1789-1790
Federal Constitution
13 states
James Madison: Father of the Constitution- writes the “rough draft,’ the
Virginia vs. New Jersey Plans
Compromises:
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Main concepts of the Constitution
• _________________ is the division of power between the national
government and the state governments.
• Much like administration and individual classroom teachers here at
school.
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Separation of ______________________
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Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist Strongholds
Where would you most likely find an anti-Federalist? ___________________
Federalist Papers (85 in all)- Argue that the state of ___________________
_________________________________________________ and Hamilton
Promise of a __________________________ persuades many Anti-Federalists
to support the Constitution
How was the ratification process illegal or at the very least, against the rules of
the Articles of Confederation? _____________________________
Conservative safeguards
1. Purpose was to check the excesses of the "____________ "
-- Convention delegates were ____________in believing that
manhood-suffrage democracy was ____________
2. Safeguards:
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a. Federal judges were ________________________
b. President was elected indirectly by the ____________
c. Senators chosen indirectly by _____________________
3. Only House of Representatives permitted to choose officials by
direct vote of qualified (______________________) citizens.
Beard Thesis
• Historian Charles Beard wrote in 1913 that the Constitution was
written not to ensure a ____________
______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
• ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________
who had purchased Revolutionary War government bonds
"They were well-____________, well-____________, well____________, and well-____________."
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How revolutionary was the Revolution?
•
Revolution (n.): A total, radical change, a fundamental change in political organization
The Effects of the Revolution
Slavery
• Rise of __________________ in all the northern states (plus
Virginia)
– ________________the first to found such societies.
• Slavery eradicated in most __________________________
• Slavery not allowed above Ohio River in the ___________
__________________
• Slave trade to be abolished in __________________
___________________________________
• Thousands of __________ slaves freed after the Revolution
Women
• Republican Motherhood- __________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
• Courts allow more _______________________________
• __________________ gains
Attack on aristocracy
• Ended ________________________
• Ended _______________________________________;
guaranteed large landholdings to a family and meant less land
available for purchase to the public.
• Attacked ____________________________________
• __________________ leave
Separation of Church & State
• Anglican Church replaced by a disestablished _______
__________________ __________________
• Thomas Jefferson introduces leg. to produce sep. of Church &
State in Virg., __________________
• __________________________________________ disestablish
– (Ct in 1818, Mass. in 1833)
Jefferson’s Quote on Religion
• “Reason and free inquiry are the only effectual agents against
error. Give a loose to them, they will support the true religion by
bringing every false one to their tribunal, to the test of their
investigation. They are the natural enemies of error only… It is
__ ________________________________________
__________________________________ stand by itself.
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The Federalist Era 1788-1800
•
•
•
•
The Federalist Era 1788-1800
Book Ends: ____________________________________
Theme: ____________________________________
____________________________________
Major Events: Whiskey Rebellion, French Revolution
abroad, XYZ Affair
Formation of Political Parties, Federalists and DemocraticRepublicans
George Washington
The First Executive Branch- please draw picture on the side
1st Congress
• Adopted the ____________________________________
• _________________________, set up federal court system,
empowered to rule on constitutionality of state courts
• Pass Hamilton’s Financial program (________________)
Hamilton’s Financial Plan
1. Funding ____________________________________
(paying back all the money they said they would) to
establish good credit
2. Assumption of __________________________
 Unfair to South, so a _______________located and
built the nation’s capital in the
___________________, Washington DC
1. Tariffs (tax on imports to __________________________)
2. ____________________________________on Whiskey
3. National Bank to promote business
Battle for the National Bank:
Provisions:
• Federal Treasury would deposit its surplus revenues in the
bank and ____________________________________
____________________________________
Opposition:
• Jefferson strongly opposed the bank on
____________________________________of the Const.
• Hamilton argued _______________________________
– “________________________” (Implied Powers)
– Provided for passing any laws
"_____________________“ to carry out the powers
vested in the various governmental agencies.”
Use space below for notes. I will
come around and check to see if you
added notes for points.
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•
Bank issue sparked ________________________
Which tree represents Hamilton’s view of how to interpret the
Constitution? _______________________________
The Whiskey Rebellion (1794)
• SW Penn. backcountry folks hard hit by
____________________________________
• Torched buildings, tarred & feathered revenue officers, tax
collections came to a halt
• ____________________________________ to crush
rebellion, no opposition
• Significance: Showed ______________________________
____________________________________
Birth of the Party System
• Founding Fathers in 1787 did not ___________________of
political parties. (Federalists & Anti-Federalist were not
____________________________________)
• By 1792-1793, two well-defined groups had crystallized:
i. Hamiltonian _______________________
ii. Jeffersonian _______________________
Federalists
• Believed in gov. by the _________________________
• Distrusted the common people, __________________
• Supported a strong central government
• Encouraged ____________________________________
• Pro-________________________in foreign policy
Jeffersonians (Democratic-Republicans, or Republicans)
• Advocated the rule for the ________________________
• Biggest appeal was to the middle and lower class: _____
farmers, laborers, artisans, and small shopkeepers.
• Economy: Promote _____________________economy,
• Pro _________________________in foreign policy
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•
Foreign Policy
__________________# 1 issue from 1792-1815, eventually
became a world war (Reign of Terror => Napoleon)
I. George Washington
Washington's Neutrality Proclamation (1793)
– Proclaimed U.S. neutrality toward the war between
Britain and France, set ______________________
____________________________________ years
Citizen Genet, 1793
• ____________________________________ undertook to
entice U.S. profiteers to outfit French ships and supply the
French war cause; he recruited Americans
• Washington demanded his _________________& Genet
was replaced.
Jay’s Treaty (1794)
• Averted ____________________________________
• 1. British renewed their pledge to
____________________________________ (as in 1783)
• 2. British consented to pay ______________________ for
recent seizures of American ships and US pay preRevolution debts to British Merchants
• 3. British ____________________________________
• Significance: Most important immediate cause for formation
of the ____________________________________.
Pinckney Treaty of 1795
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Granted ____________________________________ to the
U.S. including right of deposit at the port city of New Orleans
Washington’s Farewell Address, 1796
• Stay away from __________________________________
II. John Adams, 1796-1800
• __________________________________ France
• French started to seize American ships as a
__________________________________
• Full-blown war seemed imminent; Adams kept U.S. out by
the __________________________________, greatest
accomplishment, yet hurt him politically
XYZ Affair, 1797
• Adams sent a delegation to __________________________
• U.S. delegates secretly approached by _______________,
"X,Y, & Z"
• French demanded a large loan and________________
_____________________________________
__________________________________
• Negotiations broke down
• War hysteria swept the U.S.
– “__________________________________”
Alien and Sedition Acts, ________
• Purpose: Federalists passed a series of oppressive laws in
1798 that would __________________________________
and __________________________________
• Alien Acts- Raised residence requirements for U.S.
citizenship from __________________________________
• Sedition Act-Anyone who impeded the policies of gov or
__________________________its officials, including the
president, would be liable to a heavy fine and ___________.
(__________________________________)
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, __________
• ___________________________ were the secret authors
• Republicans believed States had right to nullify
unconstitutional laws passed by Congress Alien and
Sedition acts were ________________________________
• Nullification: __________________________________
________________________________________________
• Compact theory – states made the Union and can leave
when want, __________________________________
• Significance: Later used by _________________________
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Thesis Work, due next class: Worth 15 points
Task: Write 5 sentences (Thesis statements) answering TWO the following essay prompts. (You cannot use the one we
do in class together) The 5 sentences should all be on the same topic and get better as they go along. The first couple of
sentences should be easy to write and poor in quality, but the last couple should be more difficult to write. Your 3 rd, 4th,
and 5th level thesis statements should have 3 categories.
– Prompts: Pick 1 of your 3 potential essay questions for Monday.
1. Some historians have argued that the French and Indian War marked a turning point in British
imperial policy toward the American colonies. Support, modify, or refute this contention using
specific evidence.
2. Some historians have argued that a high tax burden on the colonists caused the Americans to rebel in
1776. Support, modify, or refute this contention using specific evidence.
3. Some historians have argued that the US Constitution was a radical departure from the Articles of
Confederation. Support, modify, or refute this contention using specific evidence.
Example of “Climbing the Ladder”
Prompt:
Analyze the extent to which the American Revolution represented a revolution in American society.
Confine your answer to the period 1775 to 1800.
THESIS TYPES:
1.
Simple thesis (just restates the question): “The American Revolution was a revolution in American society.”
(Rating: poor)
 Thesis is far too simplistic. It contains no partition or analysis.
2.
Complex-simple thesis (Restates the question with a lot of fluff. Acknowledges the answer is complex):
“In some respects, Americans experienced profound changes following the war, yet in other ways things stayed
the same. (Rating: fair)
 The analytical aspect of the thesis is promising in acknowledging different viewpoints. However, no
categories are established. The thesis does not list how American society was changed by the war.
3.
Simple-split thesis (Develops categories): “The American Revolution was a revolution in America politically,
socially, and economically.” (Rating: acceptable)
 Thesis provides a partition: politics, society, and economics.
 Thesis lacks an explanation or general analysis in each of the three areas in the partition. It is a list without
ideas.
 Note: This thesis would be a “simple thesis” if the question already contained a partition.
4.
Complex-split thesis (Categories with analysis): "The war for American independence created a revolution
politically by establishing independence from England, socially through the emergence of Republican
Motherhood in the domestic sphere, and economically by breaking the imperial trade restrictions on the
American colonies.” (Rating: excellent)
 Note: The writer has taken the three previous categories and asked themselves the question how was it
a revolution politically, socially, and economically. The writer has then answered the question. There
previous thesis statement was just a list and now it has 3 ideas. Also notice how the writer does NOT
give examples to these ideas. The writer will save those for the body paragraphs.
5.
Complex-split thesis with ranking: (Ranking the categories with analysis, taking a stand) (Rating:
superior)
Many questions allow the student to formulate a thesis with more nuances. Here is a more sophisticated complex-split
thesis to the above question: (The "Gray Area" thesis where you then rank the categories)
26
“The war for American independence created a complete, radical social revolution through the emergence of
Republican Motherhood for women, created a significant change for the economy with the end of mercantilist
trade policies, and did not constitute a revolution politically as the war simply restored the rule of the former
colonial elite.


Notice that the above thesis argues degrees of change. When answering a question, the writer must take a position. A
thesis should take a position one way or another. Phrases such as "to a larger extent," "to a lesser extent," "more
important," "less important," etc., reveal that the writer has taken a definite position on a question.
It is important not to try to write a thesis that is all "black" or all "white." The most effective essays attempt to navigate the
"gray area" in a more sophisticated fashion where they say their answer is A, but yet B and define those areas. The highest
scores tend to be in the "gray area."
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29
30
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Potential Essay Question:
Some historians have argued that a high tax burden on the
colonists caused the Americans to rebel in 1776. Support, modify,
or refute this contention using specific evidence.
To tax or not to tax, by Darla Davis
Introduction
Any historical event with-world changing consequences will always have
two sides to the story. What most Americans refer to today as the American
Revolution is no different. As Americans, most of us view eighteenth-century
England as a tyrannical power across the ocean, and see men like George
Washington as heroes who fought against the oppressor. If history and wars
were that simple, everyone would understand them, and the need for wars
would be diminished. The truth is, England was not the least bit tyrannical to
the colonies. Actually, the rebels had no idea, nor any intention of establishing
a new and separate government "of the people, by the people, and for the people."
They only meant to make a statement and attempt to avoid every tax that
Parliament could dream up in the process. Across the Atlantic Ocean in
England's Parliament, some men such as William Pitt and Edmund Burke
understood opposition to taxes by the American colonists. After all, the colonies
had been all but ignored by England since they were established in the early
part of the seventeenth century up until the Seven Years War (1756 - 1763).
Other men such as George Grenville and Charles Townshend did not
understand at all the protests against any taxes implemented by Parliament .
These men felt that was not only the right of Parliament to demand taxes, but
also their duty to raise money for the Crown. Parliament had the power to
demand a tax of every British citizen in the empire, and these men had
developed their own ideas about how those taxes would be implemented. These
ideas were expressed through the Revenue Act of 1763 (later called the Sugar
Act) and the Stamp Act of 1765, the Townshend Acts of 1767, and still later a
new set of acts that are referred to as the Intolerable Acts of 1774. All of these
acts were protested in America and, eventually, the authority of Parliament in
the American colonies came to be questioned by the colonists. In the mideighteenth century, the previously mentioned members of Parliament took their
sides and faced the opposition from the colonies head on. The days of ignoring
the rebellious colonies were over.
34
When the first American colonies were established on the continent, "there
was not a British empire "[1] . At that time, the predominant idea was not to build
an empire, for England, but instead, to simply secure lands on the continent in
England's name. England could not afford to be left out of any acquisitions. The
French, the Dutch, and the Spanish had already claimed territories there, and
England could not allow herself to be left behind
any of these countries. "The [English] government
certainly had no money to spare to help the colonies. This
introduced the general rule that English colonies [in America]
had to cover their own costs"[2] . By not funding the
colonies and taking only a "spasmatic interest in their
growing empire "[3] , Great Britain allowed the
colonies to govern themselves for more than one
hundred years with little or even no interference.
The old saying "out of sight, out of mind" tends to be
very true in the relationship between England and
her American colonies. The colonies were so " out
of sight and out of mind" in England that neither a
king, nor a queen, nor current member of
parliament ever set foot on American soil. [4] This
was mainly because America was 3000 miles
away, and a visit there could take up to three
weeks just to arrive in the colonies. Besides, what
could possibly be of interest so far from their
homeland? The English would soon have an answer to that question.
Had the English paid a bit more attention to the colonies in America, they
would have realized that the colonists were losing the concept of who actually
governed them. There was obviously not a monarch or Parliamentary system in
America to rule them, so they naturally began looking to the government
nearest to them for their laws and various needs. There was a " 'layered'
arrangement extending from the British Crown and Parliament through royal officials resident in the
colonies [called governors], to colonial assemblies and down to local units of administration . . ."
[5] . This type of system had never been experienced in England. English
citizens had always had only the local magistrates, Parliament, and their
monarch. It was evident to these citizens just who had absolute authority over
them. The colonists, however, were having their own "out of sight, out of mind"
experience. They could not see authority over them past the governor, if they
could see it extending that far. "The colonies were [clearly] not a normal part of the British
structure . . ."[6] . They were not included in any day-to-day discussions in
Parliament, and if any laws affecting the colonists did change, it would take
them a minimum of three weeks to reach the shore of their continent across
the ocean.
On the flip side, when the Americans did know of laws regarding trade
and taxes, it was not uncommon for them to smuggle the goods to avoid
35
paying any taxes that may have been attached to the products. England winked
at this avoidance, if they even knew about it, for so long that the colonies
began to see "the colonial assemblies . . . as bodies parallel to the House of commons . . ."[7].
This attitude was clearly a threat to England's relationship with her colonies.
Edmund Burke, a Whig in Parliament, pointed out that any quick and definite
taxing of the colonies after having allowed them to govern themselves for so
long would cause a great many objections from the colonists. Burke supported
the fact that Parliament certainly had the right to tax the colonies, but he
"preferred a slow and steady conduct by England toward the colonies" [8]. This would
probably have been the best method to convince the colonies that they were
subject to the powers of parliament, but easing the colonies back into accepting
and obeying all of the acts passed by British Parliament was not what most of
the other members had in mind. A lot had changed with regard to Parliament's
attitude toward the colonies since the Seven Years War.
The Seven Years War was fought primarily on the continent of America,
and when it ended in 1763, the colonists were the ones that benefitted the
most from it. Throughout the Seven Years War (1756 - 1763), the English
government continually supplied the colonies with British troops so that they
might be protected from the French as well as the Indians who had taken sides
with the French in this particular war. These troops were maintained in America
even after the French had surrendered their holdings in Canada to Great
Britain. Their continued presence was to protect the colonists from Indian
invasions as well as French retaliation along the borders. In all, the English
Crown incurred $2 million in debt while fighting against the French and
protecting the colonies. Along with all of the money that was spent to protect
these colonies, there were still ten thousand troops maintained in the American
colonies every year. The colonies had, and still were, reaping the benefits of
being citizens of the British Empire while Great Britain was taking care of all of
the costs. George Grenville, the Prime Minister of Parliament in 1763, did not
appreciate the fact that England was paying the bill for the protection of the
American colonists while they were gaining so much from the placement of
troops there. In 1763, the time had come to "pay the piper," and the most logical
way to do this was to tax the colonies.
Most of the members of Parliament agreed with Lord Grenville, even if he was
an "insufferable bore" as King George III so eloquently mentioned once [9]. Lord
Grenville was entirely correct in his assessment of the situation concerning the
American colonies. The debt incurred to defend them was great, and the colonists were
paying very little of that bill. "The time had come to pay for these victories which . . . the
American colonies had done very little to achieve. . . . [And] in helping to meet the [$2 million]
expenses, Grenville considered it was only proper that at least part of the high cost of maintaining a
force of ten thousand men in America . . . should be met by the colonists themselves"[10] . Most
Americans today would agree that this was not an unreasonable request. The debt had
been incurred on the colonies' behalf, and they should have to help pay for their
protection. After all, Parliament reserved the right to tax any and every citizen of the
36
British Empire, and the colonies were part of the empire. In Lord Grenville's eyes, and
in Parliament's as well, there was no question as to whether or not Parliament could
tax the colonies. But a voice of opposition rose from another member or Parliament.
Grenville's own brother - in - law, William Pitt the Earl of Chatham. He did not question
whether or not they could tax, there was no doubt about that in any one's mind --but
whether or not they should. Pitt, like Burke, had taken into account that American has
been left alone for a very long time and that they would not appreciate a swift action
from Parliament demanding a tax. Unfortunately, William Pitt's fear became a reality.
In the colonies, there was opposition (a , b, c) to the Revenue Act of 1763, on a basis
that no one in Parliament could have foreseen.
The Revenue Act, which came to be called the Sugar Act, was actually an
extension of an act from 1733 called the Molasses Act. The Molasses Act required a
tariff on all sugar products that were imported into America from the West Indies. The
American colonists, however, had found that it was not difficult to smuggle their sugar
items into the colonies and avoid the tariff that was due to the British government.
This sort of activity was not allowed to go on in any other part of the British Empire,
and Lord Grenville saw no reason why it should be permitted in the colonies and be
winked at by England. The colonies were lightly taxed when compared to the rest of
the British Empire. American colonists "paid no more than sixpence a year against the
average English taxpayer's twenty-five shillings" [11]. They were doing well in America.
There was enough industry to surprise an Englishman who had never been there
before. There was absolutely no excuse for the colonists to be further exempt from
taxes that every other British citizen paid. Therefore, with logic on their side, King
George, Lord Grenville, and Parliament agreed that through the Revenue Act the
colonists should help pay for their own protection.
The price of sugar products was actually lowered through this act because the
tariff was removed and "the duty on foreign molasses imported into the British colonies was
reduced from sixpence to threepence"[12] . Therefore, the Sugar Act should have come as
a relief to the American colonists, as it would have been, provided they had been
paying the tariff all along rather than avoiding it. Instead of enjoying this reduction in
the cost, the colonists boycotted the purchase of sugar purchases. Lord Grenville was
shocked. The tax that had been implemented to pay for the protection of these people
had failed. Lord Grenville did not understand how a lowered price on an item could
have caused so much opposition. Most people today would understand his confusion. If
the price of an item were to be lowered, even if it did involve a new tax, most people
would cheerfully pay the new tax and enjoy the lower price. The mind set of the
colonists was obviously very different. In accepting the tax, they would have been
accepting the right for Parliament to impose a tax upon them. The problem for the
colonists was that Parliament did indeed have the right to tax them. According to the
contemporary jurist William Blackstone, "The power of Parliament [was] absolute" [13].
Due to the opposition to this particular act, Parliament repealed the Revenue Act
and Lord Grenville attempted to gain the required revenues though another route. He
gave the colonies the chance to impose a tax upon themselves. After all, William Pitt
had said that in his opinion, the "kingdom [had] no right lay a tax upon the colonies. Taxation
is no part of the governing or legislative power. Taxes are a voluntary gift and grant of the commons
alone" [14] . This idea of Pitt's was noble, the offer of Lord Grenville was generous, and
it may have actually worked very well had he not neglected to mention the amount of
money he expected the colonies to raise. They expected Parliament to say that any
37
amount collected would not be enough, so they did not bother raising the funds
required to avoid a new tax. Given the distrust that the colonists had for Parliament,
this was another fatal error in the relationship between England and her colonies. The
necessary funds were not raised by the colonists, and a new act was implemented.
This act required a tax on any paper product, including a wide range of items from
legal documents such as, a marriage license, to common items, such as a deck of
cards. This new law was called the Stamp Act of 1765.
The Stamp Act was despised even more than the Sugar Act that had preceded
it, and this caused even more rebellion in the colonies. Parliament was forced yet again
to deal with an unpleasant situation involving the colonies. The debates on how to
handle this particular rebellion were even more heated than the previous ones
involving the Revenue Act. Even a colonist by the name of Benjamin Franklin spoke to
Parliament concerning The Stamp Act. He mentioned that the taxes that the colonists
hated so much were the internal taxes, and that is exactly what the Sugar Act and the
Stamp Act were. However, if there were an external tax, then the colonists, according
to Franklin, would more readily pay it and not be so ready to rebel. This idea sparked
even more debate. Lord Grenville, along with other members of parliament "[could] not
understand the difference between external and internal taxes. They [were] the same in effect and
[differed] only in name" [15]. William Pitt answered Lord Grenville in a debate on that
very same day. He said that there was definitely a difference between the two, and
that if Lord Grenville could not see the difference on his own, then he could not help
him [16]. Pitt went on to say that "If [he] could have endured to have been carried in [his] sick
bed . . . [he would] have borne [his] testimony against [the Stamp Act]" [17]. It was said later
that "if Pitt had been in his place . . . the disastrous policy of taxing the colonies could not have
been carried . . ." to the point of actually becoming a law [18]. Pitt did not agree with the
Stamp Act, and he even applauded the colonists for refusing to pay it, but he did
"[maintain] that the Parliament [had] the right to bind [and] to restrain America" [19]. It is
important to remember that he did not think Parliament could not tax the colonies, just
that Parliament should not tax them.
While Pitt and Grenville were in disagreement over the Stamp Act in Parliament,
governing officials in the colonies who had been charged with seeing that this law was
carried out were being harassed to the point of being tarred and feathered by the
rebels in some areas [20]. Others had been threatened with the destruction of their
homes. The Stamp Act was doomed from the start. There was not a royal official in the
colonies who was actually going to enforce this particular act. The Stamp Act was
repealed before it even went into enforcement. Grenville was again devastated by the
failure of his plan to make the colonists pay for their protection. He began to worry
about the outright refusal of the rebels to pay their taxes. He even said the he
"[doubted] that they [bordered] on open rebellion . . . [and feared] they would loose that name to
take that of a revolution [21]. In his disappointment at the failure of both of his plans,
Grenville had no way of knowing how true his words would ring in just a few years.
Lord Grenville lost the seat of Prime Minister in 1765, but it was not because his
plans to get American colonists to pay their taxes had failed. It was more due to the
fact that most men agreed with King George III, who had once mentioned (along with
the thought that Grenville was an "insufferable bore") that "he would rather have the Devil
as a visitor of Buckingham Palace than to be forced to listen to George Grenville" [22]. Grenville
did, however, remain in Parliament and voted to tax the colonies every chance he had.
38
The Sugar Act and the Stamp Act had failed to gain revenue from the American
colonists, but men were still in Parliament devising plans of how the Americans would
be convinced to pay. William Pitt had a plan to get Parliament to forget about the
colonists' refusal to pay taxes to them for the time being by introducing a new idea
involving "The East India Company [whom] . . . British military forces had supported. . . .
[William Pitt, the earl of] Chatham . . . proposed that the company should pay an annual rental to
the government and that the dividend policy of the East India Company should be regulated by the
government to prevent speculation in the company's stocks. [Furthermore], revenues from the East
India Company could have made up the national deficit and averted the taxation issues with the
American colonies"[23] . This bill, however, was refused. The bold refusal of the
American colonists was a slap in the face for Parliament, and it was far from forgotten.
A plan to repay the debt was not enough. Parliament wanted a plan that would
convince the colonists to pay their taxes. This particular test became a challenge, and
in 1767 Charles Townshend, a man seeking popularity, took that challenge.
Townshend was a man that had been around in Parliament to vote for the
Stamp Act when it was popular, and then voted to repeal it when doing so was the
popular thing [24]. No man in Parliament had been able to come up with a plan that
would convince the colonists to pay their taxes since Parliament started paying
attention to them after the Seven Years War. Townshend decided that the best way to
increase his popularity was to get the American colonists to obey Parliament and pay
their taxes peacefully. In order to do this, he took into consideration the speech that
Franklin had delivered several years earlier. Franklin had said that internal taxes were
too cumbersome, and that the people in the colonies would always oppose an internal
tax. An external tax, however, would be treated with a bit more respect in the colonies
-- or at least, that is what Parliament was led to believe. Townshend wanted to be the
man who extracted the desired taxes from the colonies, so he devised a plan which
would involve an external tax. "Charles Townshend . . . gambled an empire for the sake of
popularity. . . ." He decided that in "expressing their aversion to the internal taxes such as the
Stamp Act, [the Americans] had admitted the validity of Britain's right to impose duties"[25] .
The Townshend Acts first involved the old Navigation Laws. Burke did not
oppose these laws, as he had the others introduced by Townshend, because he did not
feel that the colonies would protest against the Navigation Laws. They were "traditional
commercial regulations. They were the corner stone of British colonial policy; they protected and
promoted imperial commerce, to the benefit of mother country and colonies alike. Therefore, Burke
argued that the solution of the American controversy was easy. Let Britain . . . 'be content to bind
America by laws of trade' because she had 'always done it'"[26] .
The colonists had
admitted many times that they did not mind paying a tariff that was meant to regulate
trade. They thought that tariffs were necessary for the success of any country.
Edmund Burke assumed that since the colonists had not objected to the external taxes
used to regulate trade before that they would have no objection to them this time. He
was partially correct. They were too upset about other things, such as the "creation of
the Board of Customs Commissioners under British control, the sanction of searches by customs
officials in homes as well as in stores and offices, and, most objectionable of all, the establishment
of an American civil list from which money could be drawn for the payment of governors, judges,
and other royal officials whose salaries had previously been in the hands of the colonial
assemblies"[27] .
To placate the colonists as well as Parliament, Townshend said that the external
"duties when collected would be applied to the support of civil government in the colonies and any
39
residue would be sent to England"[28] . This was designed to halt any complaint that the
money generated from these tariffs was going directly to the British Crown. There was,
however, enough controversy in that promise alone to give rise to boycotts all over the
colonies, but Townshend did not realize that, nor did anyone in Parliament. This idea
was quite appealing to Parliament. If this plan worked, they were finally going to
regain control over the British officials who had to live in the colonies, and the colonists
would still be paying the salary of these men. Unfortunately, the colonists realized that
if England was the one that was actually handing out the paychecks, so to speak, then
they would lose to England what control they had over the officials.
The Townshend Acts that caused so much trouble in 1767 "proposed imposts on
glass, paper, pasteboard, painters' supplies, and tea"[29] . They were imposed as the
external taxes that Franklin had said would meet less opposition, but they were still
opposed. The words of Lord Grenville several years before must have echoed in the
minds of every man who had been present in Parliament at that time. He said, "I cannot
understand the difference between external and internal taxes. They are the same in effect and
differ only in name"[30] . How true those words were. This time, the colonists were so
serious about not purchasing anything with any tax on it that went to the British
government that they signed a pact amongst themselves stating that they would not
purchase any goods coming to the colonies from England.
When these tariffs were protested in the colonies, Parliament began to feel as though
"The colonial merchants demanded in effect free trade . . . or [at least] easy smuggling"[31] .
Free trade was something that the mother country England did not even have. All
Englishmen paid their taxes. There was no one on English soil, even on the Island of
England, who was exempt from any of these taxes. Any sympathy in England for the
colonists diminished significantly when they protested this set of laws along with all of
the other ones as well. And the realization that they would never willingly pay their
taxes to the British Crown turned out to be "the beginning of the end"[32] .
The people in England who had at first supported the stubbornness of the
American colonists began to dislike them and their attempts to avoid their taxes at all
costs. The reason for this could be blamed on the Townshend Acts as well. Through the
Townshend Acts, the colonists were being pinched, and the English merchants were
feeling the squeeze all the way across the Atlantic Ocean in a land 3000 miles away.
"The boycott on British goods, particularly tea, threatened the livelihood of many English
merchants. More and more sympathy for America was confined to those narrow circles of forward
looking men or to professional politicians in opposition"[33] . But those "forward looking men
and professional politicians" were beginning to get frustrated. The colonists were not
allowing themselves to be taxed, the Townshend Acts were losing support at home
because of the economic impact in England, and Parliament was running out of ideas.
The Townshend Acts were finally lifted, but the damage had already been done. It was
just as Burke had feared when they were first introduced to Parliament. "He [had]
prophesied correctly that the laws would" gain no revenue for England, but "only embitter the
colonists"[34] .
One law did remain intact when the Townshend Acts were repealed, and that
was the Tea Act. This act remained because Parliament wanted to "[keep the Tea Act]
for the sake of principle"[35] , not for revenue. Burke had asked that this law be lifted
from the Americans because it was only causing a greater dislike of the English in
America and gaining absolutely no revenue, but the request was denied. This left a
sore spot for the colonists. They continued to despise the British rule over them, and
40
eventually acted upon that hatred, and gained a new set of acts for their trouble.
In an attempt to convince the colonists to adhere to the laws of Parliament yet
again, the Tea Tax was lowered once more. Tea was now less expensive in the colonies
that it was in England. "The tax on tea had been a continual irritant [in the colonies, and ] On
December 16, 1773, the famous Boston Tea Party[36] expressed the dislike of British rule.
All of the tea that had been left on the merchant ships was dumped into the Boston
Harbor in response to this newly lowered tax on tea. Of course Parliament could not
allow this type of rebellion, the destruction of property, to go unpunished, so a new set
of laws was created.
The news of the "Boston Tea Party" reached Parliament in early 1774. The
members of Parliament, as well as King George III, were outraged. There was
absolutely no way that this display of disobedience by the colonists was going to go
unpunished. They had wasted more than 400 cases of tea, and someone was going to
have to pay for that destruction of property. In response to the constant
insubordination of the colonists, King George III himself approved of measures that
were going to force the colonists into submission. As a result of the king's approval,
Parliament enacted four new laws and updated an old one. These laws, the Boston Port
Bill, the Administration of Justice Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, the Quebec
Act, and the updating of the Quartering Act, [37] were called "coercive" by Parliament,
but they would come to be known by the colonists as the Intolerable Acts. The new set
of acts, while important in itself, was not as important as the new question that came
ringing across the ocean to echo in the halls of Parliament. The colonists were
questioning Parliament's very right to tax and rule over them.The Coercive Acts were
designed to be just what they came to be called by the colonists - intolerable. It was
the intention of Parliament at the time of these acts to force the colonists to obey the
laws and pay the taxes that they were avoiding.
The first of these laws enacted in 1774 was meant as a direct punishment for
the "Boston Tea Party." The Boston Port Bill "was a personal policy of the king who [had]
regretted that he had been so easy with the colonies"[38]. Lord North, the Prime Minister at
the time, presented this bill to Parliament and they, with the approval of the king,
41
closed all of the ports in Boston and ordered that they remain closed until the
repayment for the tea that was at the bottom of the harbor could be made. This act
alone would be detrimental to Boston's economy, and therefore Parliament expected
compliance with their laws from that day forth. Their expectations however, were not
met. In order to regain control in the colonies, Parliament decided that the royal
officials in the American colonies needed some form of protection from the unfair legal
prosecution that they were guaranteed to experience in the colonies. Therefore, they
created another new law, the Administration of Justice Act, which demanded that any
British officials being tried for a crime would be extradited to England so he would
receive a fair trial. This, however, was not enough, and two other laws were enacted
that day as well. One of the other acts, the Massachusetts Government Act, removed
the power of the assemblies and the town councils in the colonies and gave the
governor complete control over them. The second act, called the Quebec Act, took
away portions of land that were meant for the north western colonies and extended
the border of Canada. In effect, this land was given to Quebec. But this was still not
enough to punish the colonists. Four days later, there would be another motion made
by Parliament to punish the colonies.
The Quartering Act of 1765 was revised as a final punishment for the colonists.
Previously, the colonists were demanded only to supply the soldiers stationed in
America with unoccupied buildings for shelter and some food provisions. The revision
demanded that the hospitality offered to the soldiers be extended to the point of
colonists taking the soldiers into their own homes. The colonists did not get along well
with the troops to begin with, so this revision was especially despised.
These acts were important in England not only because they were meant to
force obedience from the rebelling colonists, but also because they displayed the
attitude that the men in Parliament held toward them. However, these acts became
even more important when the colonists raised a new objection not to the new laws,
but the very right of Parliament to enforce any laws and taxes upon them in the first
place since they were not represented in Parliament. "No Taxation Without Representation"
became the colonists' next attempt at avoiding the laws of England, and it sparked
debates and reactions in all of Parliament.
"The right of the legislature of Great Britain to impose taxes upon her colonies . . . [was] so
indisputably clear that" most men felt as though they "should never have thought it necessary
to have undertaken their defense . . . "[39]. William Pitt, who had been sympathetic with
the colonists and had said many times that they should not be taxed, never said that
England could not tax the colonies. That power was evident. When he asked that
Parliament not tax the colonists, he reminded them that while he was opposing the
taxes, he "at the same time, [asserted] the authority of this kingdom over the colonies to be
sovereign and supreme in every circumstance"[40]. What he and the rest of the British
government began to face was the question of the supremacy of Great Britain. They
either ruled the colonies completely and totally, or they did not rule the colonies at all.
The trouble was, every member of Parliament and even the king could see where the
cards were falling on this particular issue. Great Britain was not ruling the colonies at
all. They had challenged the authority of Parliament at every turn, and this latest
question of authority based on representation was just another excuse to avoid the
laws. It was pointed out by Soame Jenyns, another member of Parliament at this time,
that the colonists themselves even admitted that even if they were directly
represented in Parliament, that they believed it would still have no right to impose
42
taxes upon them and then use that money because "it would be an unjust tax. [The tax
would] not be equal on all, and if it [was] not equal, it [could] not be just, and if it [was] not just,
no power whatever [could] impose it." Jenyns thought this type of logic was absolutely
absurd, because "no tax can be imposed exactly equal on all"[41]. A new face in Parliament,
Charles James Fox, supported this argument in his speech by saying "there is not an
American but who must reject and resist the principle and right of our taxing them. The question
then, is shortly this: Whether we ought to govern America on these principles? Can this country
gain strength by keeping up such a dispute as this? Tell me when America is to be taxed, so as to
relieve the burthens of this country"[42].
William Pitt once again took the stand that Englishmen were only supposed to be
taxed by their own consent, and a new question was brought before him by men in his
opposition, including Lord North, the new Prime Minister of Parliament. What was
consent? Was this supposed to mean the consent of the people themselves or the men
that had been chosen to represent them, or the majority of their representatives?
[43]. This became a question that was examined not only for the colonists, but the
people in England as well. After all, "Every man in England [was] taxed, and not one in twenty
[was] represented"[44], but they continued to pay their taxes. It came to be argued that
if common men in England were "virtually" represented and they paid their taxes, then
the colonists were also "virtually" represented, then they could not be liberated from
their taxes. William Pitt again took a stand and to this argument he responded by
saying that "the idea of a virtual representation of America in this House [was] the most
contemptable that [had] ever entered into the head of man. It [did] not deserve a serious
refutation"[45]. The debates went on and on, but one detail seemed to be lost in all of
the arguments that were presented. If the colonies did not respect the power of
Parliament, then who was actually governing America?
With all of the debating that went on in Parliament over the challenge of their power in
America, the question always came back to one single problem. It did not matter what
laws were enacted if the colonists did not adhere to them. Edmund Burke reminded
everyone in Parliament that "a great black book and a great many red coats [would] never be
able to govern [America]"[46]. Truer words may never have been spoken in Parliament.
The laws may have been enacted by the men in that room, but the military was what
England depended upon to defend and uphold her policies in America. Burke and Pitt
and their supporters could see that England was not going to be able to force America
back into obedience, while others maintained that they "either [had] the right to tax the
colonies or [they] did not . . ."[47].
The number of men in Parliament who sympathized with the situation faced by
people in America was greatly diminished by 1774. It was certainly the right of
Parliament to tax the colonies for their debt incurred by the Seven Years War, but none
of the policies were doing any good. Parliament had attempted to retrieve the money
that the colonists owed for the protection they had received during the war and the
stationing of the troops there ever since. Their method for regaining the funds that had
been spent on America's behalf was always a tax of some sort or another. When Lord
Grenville's internal taxes were not welcome in the colonies, they were repealed. In
their place, Charles Townshend attempted to collect payments for that same debt
though an external tax, which Benjamin Franklin had pointed out to Parliament as an
alternative to the troublesome taxes that were collected at the store. This set of taxes
failed as well, and Parliament began to realize that the colonists simply had no
intention or desire whatsoever to pay any sort of tax to cover the cost of their
43
protection. While William Pitt and Edmund Burke supported the position of the
colonists' refusal to pay these taxes, they maintained that Parliament did have the
right to impose any taxes as well as other laws upon the colonists. The right to impose
a law or a tax, however, came with no guarantee that it would be followed. That is
what happened with all of the taxes that were imposed by Parliament upon the
colonies. The colonists defied every act of Parliament and even questioned their right
to be in authority over them. This forced the British government to enact even harsher
laws where the colonists were concerned. Finally, when these laws were implemented,
the colonists sparked a new debate as a last effort to avoid paying their taxes by
saying that they were not represented in Parliament. They may not have been directly
represented in Parliament, but, as it had been pointed out, no Englishman was directly
represented. Men in England may have been able to claim representation, but, in
reality, the population of Great Britain was so large and there were so few
Parliamentary members that "not one in twenty" people living in England was
represented in Parliament [48].
Parliament never asked the colonists to pay a tax that they could not afford. In
reality, they were asked to pay less for the items that they had already been
purchasing. Had they not been smuggling their good into the colonies and avoiding the
tax at every opportunity, they would have realized this. Everyone in the British Empire
had to pay a higher tax than what was asked of the colonies -- even after the various
acts. This is not to mention that these taxes were going to be funding the continued
protection the British colonists in America. The Seven Years War, which benefitted the
colonists, was very expensive. It was also a burden on the British Crown to pay the bill
for ten thousand soldiers that had to be stationed in the colonies. The colonists, in
reality, were only asked to pay for their fair share of the protection that benefitted
them. Parliament not only had every right as the sovereign power of the British Empire
to ask the tax of the colonists, but it was also their duty to keep the Crown from going
bankrupt. How surprising would it be for the members of Parliament who were
thwarted at every turn, to come to America today and see that the very taxes they had
attempted to collect were charged of the American public not only after the
Revolutionary War, but even today, in a time of peace? What a final insult that would
be to the men who were members of Parliament during the time preceding the war.
In 1763, Britain completed a great victory over its eternal arch enemy France. The colonies
could not have been more proud at that moment to be British subjects and to have participated in this
great victory. However, this year marked a great change in the relationship between the mother country
and its offspring. Britain decided to centralize control of its empire and tax the colonists to help cover
the massive war debt accumulated in winning the French and Indian War. This change in policy would
directly lead to July 4, 1776 and the formal break of the colonies with Great Britain. The main cause of
the American Revolution was the colonial legacy of 150 years of virtually independent political and
religious development away from Britain. This was the root cause of the Revolution, without it the
colonists would not have been able to perceive the violation of their civil liberties. The complaints over
44
British taxes and the need to use British Red Coats to impose imperial rule over the colonies would have
never taken place and thus, are insignificant in causing the Revolution.
In 1607 Britain successfully colonized Jamestown marking the start of England’s settlement in
the ‘New World.’ This colony had a very rocky start and barely survived through the deadly Indian
raids, disease, and starvation. The colony turned the corner when John Rolfe domesticated tobacco and
helped Jamestown become a profitable enterprise. Soon thereafter, the House of Burgess was established
marking the start of colonial self-government, a tradition that spread to all colonies by the time of the
Revolution. This was a power that the colonies developed a strong taste for through the policy of
salutary neglect. The British Empire did not find it worth their time or money to concern themselves
with the small, insignificant colonies 3,000 miles away through most of the 1600’s and 1700’s. The one
attempt to control the colonies, the Dominion of New England, was short lived and proved an ineffective
measure. With the Glorious Revolution and the installation of William and Mary on the throne of
England, the policy ended. From this incident, England learned that salutary neglect was the easiest way
to handle the colonies, while the colonists learned the value of protest. Also, at around the same time in
Virginia, Bacon’s Rebellion taught colonists the same lesson of protesting British authority. Overall,
when Britain tried to reverse salutary neglect on the colonist after 1763, it would end bitterly for Britain
because the colonists were so accustom to this method of rule.
Religious traditions were important in establishing independent thought from England. The
plight of the Pilgrims and Puritans all showed the need to escape the control of the Church of England.
Plus, there were a wide variety of other religions settling in America. The Quakers, Presbyterians, and
Lutherans all sought and found some degree of religious freedom in the ‘New World.’ These diverse
religions all helped bring about independence in thought from England and elimination of England being
able to invoke God in their debates of reasons to control the colonies. The Enlightenment also further
dethroned the power of English rule by asserting the importance of natural rights. These are the same
natural rights that John Locke wrote about and Thomas Jefferson used to justify the Revolution in the
Declaration of Independence. In all, these traditions set the stage for colonists to understand the idea that
the British violated their civil liberties.
The main cause of the Revolution leading up to 1776 was that the colonists believed their civil
liberties were being violated, not the taxes themselves as the famous phrase, “no taxation without
representation” illustrates. The taxes on the colonists, like the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Townshend Acts,
and Tea Act were not a financial burden on the colonists. In fact, American colonists enjoyed smaller
taxes than people living in Britain. The Tea Act brings this issue into full clarity; the tax actually made
45
tea cheaper for colonists and yet they still protested. Clearly, there must be some other issue at play in
this situation: the method the British imposed the taxes violated the colonists’ civil liberties.
Time and time again leading up to the Revolution Britain routinely violated colonists’ civil
liberties. As American colonists saw the situation, it all started with the Proclamation of 1763 banning
them from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. The colonists felt strongly that since they helped
win the war, they deserved some of the profits from the war. Britain saw the situation differently; they
banned the colonists from moving west in order to cut expenses and not have to police the area recently
ravished by Pontiac’s Rebellion. The colonists became further enraged when England began to organize
the area in 1774 through the Quebec Act for French Canadians, even going as far as making Catholicism
the official religion.
The issue of taxation boiled down to the slogan Patrick Henry coined, “No taxation without
representation.” Colonists were okay with paying external taxes, like custom duties, to support the
British Empire. Taxes such as the Stamp Act were substantially different in nature; they were internal
taxes. Colonists believed that these taxes could only be collected by people they elected to office, like in
their colonial assemblies. The colonists believed, learned during their independent colonial
development, that this violated their natural rights because it was attacking their sacred property rights.
The British countered with the argument that the colonists were virtually represented in Parliament. The
colonist vehemently disagreed with this line of reasoning and insisted on actual representation. The
point of no return in this debate followed the Boston Tea Party and the passage of the Intolerable acts
closing down Boston Harbor and annulling Massachusetts’s colonial charter.
The cause of all this discontent in the colonies was the violation of civil liberties and one of the
effects of this was the increased British military presence in the colonies. This effect was of little
significance in causing the American Revolution. The Boston Massacre did cause a lot of excitement in
the colonies, but this was mainly the result of the propaganda effort lead by Paul Revere. In fact, the
time period around 1770 was a rather quiet time in the dispute between Britain and the colonies. The
fact that the first fighting of the Revolution began at Lexington and Concord, does not mean it caused the
Revolution. In fact, by that time period the Revolution was inevitable. Americans were already on the
verge of independence. All that was needed to push the colonists over the edge was the publication of
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense.
In the end, Declaration of Independence formally announced to the world that America was
independent, but in fact the seeds of the Revolution were sown long before that day. The Revolution
began with 150 years of independent development away from Britain managed by salutary neglect. This
time gave Americans new conceptions about themselves that allowed them to see themselves as people
46
deserving the same civil liberties as the British. This caused the American Revolution. The problems of
British taxation and British military presence in the colonies were minor causes in the founding of
America.
47
48
Charles Beard, An Economic History of the Making of the Constitution
This handout is adapted from an article by Dr. Curtis E. Grassman, "Conspiracy and the Making of the
Constitution". Dr. Grassman was professor at the University of California, Riverside. The article in its
entirety is at http://www.americanrevolution.org/grassman.html
What was the first, traditional view of the U.S. Constitution? Few documents have been as
venerated and hallowed as the Constitution -- perhaps only the Declaration of Independence and the
Gettysburg Address. A large measure of the praise heaped upon the Constitution and those who wrote it
has been deserved. At this time the fledgling Union appeared to many in grave danger of disintegrating.
Then, fifty-five delegates gathered together in Philadelphia in May, 1787, locked themselves up in the
Pennsylvania statehouse, and worked throughout a long, hot summer to produce the Constitution. When
the founding fathers emerged in September, the new fundamental law they had written provided the
framework for a self-government that withstood not only the immediate crisis, but every critical period
since.
For over a century few, if any, critics questioned what had occurred at the constitutional convention.
Scholars and lay persons alike were in general accord concerning the patriotism and wisdom of the
1787 founding fathers. Throughout the 19th century the hallowed names of Washington, Franklin,
Madison and others could not be mentioned in anything but revered tones. Perhaps this was due in part
to the fact that as a young nation we sorely needed national heroes to convince ourselves that we had a
particular destiny in the world as the example of democracy. But at the beginning of the 1900s, with the
birth of the twentieth century there came a new viewpoint, skeptical in tone and based upon impressive
historical research.
"Each generation must and does rewrite history." During the first decades of the 20th century
"debunkers of our national heritage," as they were called, attempted to remove the haloes from the
1780s-1790s leaders. Textbook history for them had become too much self-congratulation and too little
critical self-examination. This new generation of historians argued that the founding fathers were men
who at times acted out of self-interest not service to their country.
This was a new America. In the early twentieth century, we had just come through the so-called "Gilded
Age" (1865-1900), a period in which urbanization, industrialization, and immigration wrought changes
in the old institutions and values. By 1900 America was deeply concerned with the political corruption
that had characterized the "Gilded Age." It was a time of machine bossism in the cities and states, when
the Senate was referred to as the "Millionaires' Club". Every politician, it seemed, had his price.
Economic mobility by 1900 also looked highly restricted. It was a time when big businessmen,
sometimes called "robber barons," had piled up huge personal fortunes at the expense of regular
working people.
This political immorality and economic monopoly were the primary issues responsible for ushering in
the Progressive Reform Era from 1900 to 1916. They brought Teddy Roosevelt, with his "Square Deal,"
and Woodrow Wilson, with his "New Freedom," into the presidency, caused experimentation with new
laws to regulate big business. The same situation led to a re-investigation of our historical past. The
founding fathers and their work at Philadelphia in 1787 came under scrutiny.
49
Precursors of Beard. Although Charles A. Beard would ultimately give his name to the new
interpretation, there were two books that had already made a similar argument.
1. The opening attack against the founding fathers was launched in 1907 by J. Allen Smith in The Spirit
of American Government: A Study of the Constitution. Smith claimed that it was not a forum of
disinterested statesmen but "the property-owning class who framed and secured the adoption of the
Constitution." This elite, made up of southern planters and northern merchants, he argued, had become
greatly alarmed during the 1780's by the state legislatures passing laws in the interest of debtors instead
of creditors. The country was largely in a state of depression after the Revolution, and in numerous
instances the lower houses in state legislatures (elected annually by the people and responsible for
initiating fiscal bills) had taken steps to relieve the distress of the common people. For example, stay
laws were passed to prevent creditors from seizing the homes of those defaulting on their mortgages,
and often paper money had been issued at an inflated value. Governors and elite groups in the states
often found themselves confronted with legislative mandates and laws from which there was no
recourse. Under the Articles of Confederation, the central government was so weak that it had virtually
no control over the nation's fiscal affairs. Smith, studying the backgrounds of the 55 delegates at
Philadelphia, believed they constituted an economic elite. The new Constitution erected at Philadelphia
greatly enhanced the fiscal powers of the national government, and so he concluded the founding
fathers were acting out of natural, economic self-interest.
Smith also saw an attack on democracy by the founding fathers. Whereas under the Articles of
Confederation, national laws could do little to interfere with the internal workings of the states, the
Constitution designated federal law as the supreme law of the land. Only the federal government, for
example, could pass tariff legislation or issue currency. The powers of the states had been reduced and,
consequently, so had that of the people through their state legislatures. Checks and balances, at the
national level, were part of this attack on democracy. This principle was, as he argued, largely an
attempt to restrict the influence of the new House of Representatives, the institution closest to the
people on the federal level.
Smith took the first steps towards working out a conspiracy thesis. Algie Simons in 1912 presented this
new interpretation even more forcefully. In Social Forces in American History, Simons stated
"The organic law of this nation was formulated in secret session by a body called into existence through
a conspiratory trick, and (it) was forced upon a disfranchised people by means of dishonest
apportionment in order that the interests of a small body of wealthy rulers might be served."
Simons' arguments focussed on the secrecy issue and voting restrictions. The Philadelphia convention
had met behind locked doors. And voting was generally limited to property holders.
Simons' views were not given much credence because, for one, he was a self-confessed socialist and
Marxist, and two, his information was not new. Historians knew that the Philadelphia delegates did not
allow visitors, and that from colonial times to the 1820's voting rights had been restricted to white males
who met a property qualification.
-Historians had generally agreed that secrecy at the convention had been invoked so that the founding
fathers could speak their minds openly, make compromises freely, prohibit partisan press coverage, and
avoid all chances of a public clamor over difficult issues that might break up the convention.
-And property restrictions on the right to vote were not then considered prohibitive. Most adult, white
males met the qualification, and it was justified on the basis that owning property signified one's stable,
virtuous nature, concern for his community, and vested interest in its welfare. Non-property owners
were often transients or men of such small means that the community thought they should have no
influence over local affairs.
50
Then in 1913 a book came out which had a fully developed conspiracy thesis, a thesis which was
difficult to argue against. An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution, by Charles A. Beard.
Beard and the Continentals. What gave Beard's writing the appearance of particular credibility was
the fact that he had just unearthed new historical evidence. He had found some old Treasury
Department records of the 1790's which listed the names of several prominent Federalist leaders and
also those of many other delegates to the Constitutional Convention. He discovered that several of these
leaders held varying amounts of old Continental notes, the paper money used to pay the colonial militia
in the Revolutionary War. These had rapidly depreciated from the outset because the Continental
Congress had not secured them with gold or silver. During the 1780's, there existed a large national
debt, and few if any steps were taken to pay it off or to redeem the Continental notes. They
consequently decreased in value to only about twenty cents on the dollar. This produced a rash of
speculation, wherein many people bought up the paper money for a fraction of its original worth,
hoping that the federal government might someday pay off the bills at a higher rate.
Now Beard had found a number of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention who held the notes in
the early 1790's, just when Alexander Hamilton, as Secretary of the Treasury, proposed a fiscal program
which included paying them off at full face value. Of course, Beard noted that Hamilton had been at
Philadelphia in 1787, and that one of the new central government's first steps was to make good the
paper money it had issued during the Revolutionary War. And it was made good at one hundred percent
face value, something which few people had dreamed would occur. The implications of vested financial
interest and conspiratorial action on behalf of the founding fathers were fully developed in Beard's work
and appeared to be solid because of his new historical evidence. At the end of his landmark book he
drew a number of conclusions, among which are the following:
1) The members of the Philadelphia Convention who drafted the Constitution were, with a few exceptions,
immediately, directly, and personally interested in, and derived economic advantages from, the establishment of
the new system.
2) The leaders who supported the Constitution in the state ratifying conventions represented the same economic
groups as the members of the Philadelphia convention, and in several instances they were also directly and
personally interested in the outcome of their efforts.
3) The entire process, from the calling of the Philadelphia Convention to the ratifying of the Constitution, was
unrepresentative and undemocratic; there was no popular vote on calling the convention; the masses of small
property holders were not represented at Philadelphia; and only a small minority in each state voted for delegates
to the ratifying conventions.
Scholars after Beard would add two more arguments.
4) Minutes of the Convention. All the records of the debates were given to George Washington to take
home with him at the end of the meeting in the belief that the great patriot of the Revolution would
never be challenged for them. Conspiracy historians point out that by getting Washington into their
camp, the pro-Constitution forces went a long way in fending off critical opposition. In fact Washington
is portrayed as a pawn in the hands of those organizing the drive for holding a convention in
Philadelphia.
51
6) Legality of the ratification procedure: According to the Articles of Confederation, which was the
fundamental law of the land at the Constitutional convention, any change in the powers of the central
government had to have the unanimous approval of all thirteen states as represented in the Continental
Congress. The founding fathers changed this because they knew they could not get ratification under
this procedure, so they said that the new Constitution would take effect for all the states when nine of
them had registered their approval. The Continental Congress was completely sidestepped, it being
asked to send the proposed Constitution along to the states immediately and without any debate or
discussion.
Spread of Beard's Thesis. Beard achieved quick fame since the Progressive reformers and muckraking
journalists had already been saying that big businessmen with economic interests and corrupt politicians
had been engaged in a conspiracy against democratic rule by the people. Then in the 1930s, Franklin
Roosevelt was greatly concerned that a conservative Supreme Court was overturning New Deal
legislation. He saw support in Beard's notion that the Constitution was not a noble document, but only
reflected the economic interests of a particular class in the 1780's and 1790's.
What is the present status of the debate? In 1956 a major attack was made on the conspiracy notion
by Robert E. Brown in his landmark book, Charles Beard and the Constitution. Brown challenged the
very basis of Beard's work, declaring that the old master had misused the treasury records he had
discovered. These, he noted, only indicated those who redeemed the notes in 1792, not those who held
them in 1787. It was quite possible, therefore, that the delegates at Philadelphia held few if any notes
when they wrote the Constitution and had only acquired them afterward. This would mean that even if
the founding fathers were speculators after 1787, they would have had to compete for the old
continental notes like everyone else. Moreover, Brown pointed out that Beard was selective in his use of
evidence and generalized too much. At the time of redemption of the notes, in 1792, it was true that
several of the founding fathers held Continental notes, but most of them in fact held only very small
quantities of them. Brown said that, with regard to their overall wealth, measured in terms of land and
their general estates, the paper money formed an insignificant portion of their personal wealth. He went
even further, noting that those few people who held large amounts of the bills in 1792 had not been the
leaders of the Philadelphia Convention in 1787. They had said little if anything in the debates in the
Convention and had not taken a strong hand in the ratification process.
Brown had another point to make concerning the ratification process: He argued that it was not undemocratic at
all. The idea that a popular referendum was necessary to fairly approve or reject the Constitution is a modern
notion of democracy, he declared. It had, after all, been the colonial practice, when deciding a particular issue, for
the people to elect delegates to state conventions authorized to act in their behalf. There was, also, nothing
unusual with only a twenty to twenty-five percent voter turnout for these elections because that figure was quite
typical of the day.
Brown's book was well received, although he did not state flatly there was absolutely no basis for some kind of
conspiracy thesis. In recent years conspiracy-minded historians have attempted to make the founding fathers
ordinary mortals by psychoanalyzing them.
52
Conclusion. One cannot end this essay on a totally optimistic note. Legal historians and constitutional scholars
agree the delegates to the Constitutional convention exceeded their instructions; at least many of them did so.
Congress, on the eve of the convention, declared that only it had the authority to propose changes to the Articles,
and even then a unanimous vote of the states was necessary for any amendment to be approved. Congress said
the convention could meet, but then any suggestions to come out of it would not have the force of law. The
delegates at Philadelphia were aware of this, but they pushed ahead anyway with their design to completely
replace the Articles of Confederation. They even changed the rules of the game for ratification by declaring that
the new constitution would take effect when only nine of the states gave their approval rather than all thirteen.
Constitutional scholars generally agree that this proviso was actually illegal, even though the Continental
Congress finally agreed to abide by it. In this sense a conspiracy did take place at Philadelphia.
But the question remains. Were the delegates motivated by the high ideals of public service, or by the
low ideals of economic self interest. A further question is, if they did act out of greed, was the end result
worth it anyway?
A larger question is: What moves civilizations and history in the large picture?
Materialism or Idealism?
Outline The Beard Thesis:
53
For the first 100 years of American history historians idolized the Founding Fathers and the Federalists. “The
most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man” – a British statesman
referring to the Constitution.
Charles A. Beard in 1913 challenged the traditional view with An Economic Interpretation of the
Constitution.
Beard’s thesis:
The delegates to the Constitutional convention were an economic elite intent upon preserving their property
and maintaining power at the expense of the democratic masses who desired economic and political equality
and were willing to take the property of the wealthy away from them, through democratic means (taxation and
debt relief measures passed by state legislatures) or through violence.
The delegates were speculators in western lands who desired to maintain the value of their investments.
The delegates were holders of depreciated government securities who believed a strong national government
with significant economic authority would be able to restore the value of government securities.
The delegates were creditors with paper wealth of mortgages, stocks, and bonds. A federal government with
significant economic, police, and military powers would be able to ensure that debtors would repay their
creditors or face significant penalties. A stable, healthy, and strong economy made possible by a strong
national authority would preserve the value of paper wealth.
The wealthy delegates would benefit from stronger government, prohibitions on state currency and impairment
of contracts, and prohibitions on provisions aimed at devaluing paper money and other state laws which had
the potential to provide debt relief to debtors and place the wealth of creditors and investors in paper wealth in
jeopardy. A single national currency would prevent states from contributing to inflation by the excessive
printing of competing paper currencies.
In summary, the Constitution was written to further the interests of the Founders at the expense of the people
and the states
Ever since Beard historians have debated the motivations of the Federalists. Beard’s thesis provided a useful
antidote to the unquestioning hero worship of the historians of the 19th Century. However, Beard exaggerated
the significance of delegates’ personal wealth.
Problems with Beard’s thesis:
New evidence unavailable to Beard suggests that delegates' wealth came from more secure sources than paper
wealth such as land.
Most delegates had little stake in paper wealth (they were more involved in landholding and commerce).
Many prominent nationalists had no western lands, bonds, or much other personal property (James Madison
“Father of the Constitution”).
Some opponents of the Constitution held large blocks of land in the west, securities, and significant amounts of
paper wealth.
54
Economics was important, but economics was only one element in a complex interplay of state, sectional,
group, and individual interests. Beard's thesis, like many theories which identify economics as the sole cause
in history, was overly deterministic.
Support for the Constitution often depended upon how well people had fared under the Articles of
Confederation.
Name: ___________________________
To what extent was the US Constitution a radical departure from the Articles of Confederation?
I.
Introduction:
a. Background info on government before the Articles of Confederation:
___________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
b. Thesis Statement: State how much change took place in 3 categories. ( position ___ plus
categories ___ ):
________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
______
II.
1st body paragraph- Topic: _____________________
a. Topic sentence: State just how much change (limited, mild, moderate, significant, or radical)
took place on the
issue:___________________________________________________________
b. Example 1: ___________________________________________________________
c. Example 2: ___________________________________________________________
d. Example 3 : ___________________________________________________________
e. Example 4- Can you come up with an example where you are not 100% radical (or limited)
on the issue. In other words, one example that argues the other side of your argument:
___________________________________________________________________________
__
___________________________________________________________________________
__
III.
2nd body paragraph- Topic: _____________________
a. Topic sentence: State just how much change (limited, mild, moderate, significant, or radical)
took place on the
issue:___________________________________________________________
b. Example 1: ___________________________________________________________
c. Example 2: ___________________________________________________________
d. Example 3 : ___________________________________________________________
e. Example 4- Can you come up with an example where you are not 100% radical (or limited)
on the issue. In other words, one example that argues the other side of your argument:
___________________________________________________________________________
__
55
___________________________________________________________________________
__
IV.
4th body paragraph- Topic: _____________________
a. Topic sentence: State just how much change (limited, mild, moderate, significant, or radical)
took place on the
issue:___________________________________________________________
b. Example 1: ___________________________________________________________
c. Example 2: ___________________________________________________________
d. Example 3 : ___________________________________________________________
e. Example 4- Can you come up with an example where you are not 100% radical (or limited)
on the issue. In other words, one example that argues the other side of your argument:
___________________________________________________________________________
__
___________________________________________________________________________
__
V.
Conclusion- Engage in historiography (use a historians name like Howard Zinn, Charles Beard,
and/ or Gordon Wood) or mention what happened in just the next 25 years after this, but not go
overboard and connect this to today:
__________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_
56
Revolution Review
Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
____
1. The clash between Britain and France for control of the North American continent sprang from their
rivalry for control of
a. Cape Breton Island.
b. the Ohio River Valley.
c. the Mississippi River.
d. the Great Lakes.
e. the St. Lawrence River.
____
2. In his first military command in the French and Indian War, George Washington
a. won a decisive and hard-fought battle at Fort Duquesne.
b. was defeated at Fort Necessity but was allowed to retreat.
c. received strong support from the British.
d. helped to force the French out of Nova Scotia.
e. turned his twenty years of military experience to great success.
____
3. The Seven Years' War was also known in America as
a. the War of Jenkins's Ear.
b. the French and Indian War.
c. the War of the Austrian Succession.
d. King William's War.
e. Queen Anne's War.
____
4. The long-range purpose of the Albany Congress in 1754 was to
a. achieve colonial unity and common defense against the French threat.
b. propose independence of the colonies from Britain.
c. declare war on the Iroquois tribe.
d. prohibit New England and New York from trading with the French West Indies.
e. gain peace with France.
____
5. Benjamin Franklin published in his Pennsylvania Gazette his most famous cartoon of the colonial
era, a disjointed snake, which
a. promoted the idea that America, if they accepted the Albany Plan, would be cut
apart and die.
b. promoted the idea that if the colonies did not stand united against France, they
would fall apart and die.
c. argued that the British would cut apart the French (like the snake) once the Albany
Plan was accepted.
d. implied that the French was like the snake, waiting to be cut apart by the Albany
Plan.
e. promoted the idea that the French, if they accepted the Albany Plan, would join
forces with the British and be united, unlike the disjointed snake.
____
6. Benjamin Franklin's plan for colonial home rule was rejected by the individual colonies because
57
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
it did not provide for the common defense.
the British approved it.
it did not seem to give enough independence to the colonies.
they did not feel that they had been well represented at the Albany Congress.
it placed too much power in the hands of local governments.
____
7. In the peace arrangements that ended the Seven Years' War
a. France surrendered to Great Britain all of its territorial claims to North America.
b. England turned Florida over to Spain.
c. Spain ceded all of Louisiana, including New Orleans, to Britain.
d. France lost all its valuable sugar islands in the West Indies.
e. the British got all of Canada except Nova Scotia.
____
8. As a result of the Seven Years' War, Great Britain
a. gained control of Louisiana.
b. became the dominant power in North America.
c. annexed the island of Cuba.
d. gained exclusive control of the slave trade.
e. All of these
____
9. For Indians, the Treaty of Paris that ended the Seven Years' War
a. safeguarded their lands from further encroachment by colonists.
b. eliminated their ability to play off rival European powers against each other.
c. forced the Indians to negotiate exclusively with the Spanish.
d. pushed them onto reservations.
e. None of these
____ 10. With the defeat of Chief Pontiac and his alliance, the British decided to
a. stabilize Indian-white relations.
b. let the colonists assume financial responsibility for defending themselves.
c. remove troops stationed in the colonies.
d. enlist the aid of France to halt the Indian menace.
e. open land west of the Appalachian mountains to settlement.
____ 11. Chief Pontiac decided to try to drive the British out of the Ohio Valley because
a. the British were weak as a result of the Seven Years' War.
b. the British had deliberately infected Indians with smallpox.
c. of the Proclamation of 1763.
d. the Indians were in a precarious position.
e. the French government had promised to help.
____ 12. In the wake of the Proclamation of 1763
a. American colonists obeyed the law they hated.
b. relations with France improved.
c. relations between the American colonies and the British government improved.
d. the American colonies believed their destiny had been destroyed.
e. American colonists moved west, defying the Proclamation.
____ 13. The Proclamation of 1763
58
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
was warmly received by American land speculators.
removed the Spanish and Indian menace from the colonial frontier.
declared war on Chief Pontiac and his fierce warriors.
prohibited colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains.
opened Canada to American settlement.
____ 14. Change in colonial policy by the British government that helped precipitate the American
Revolution involved
a. removing British troops from American soil.
b. beginning a war with Spain.
c. removing the majority of the British navy from American waters.
d. compelling the American colonists to shoulder some of the financial costs of the
empire.
e. allying with the French.
____ 15. Mercantilists believed that
a. a mother country needed to import more goods than it exported.
b. power came from a small colonial empire.
c. the mother country produced raw materials and colonies produced the finished
product.
d. a country's economic wealth could be measured by the amount of gold and silver
in its treasury.
e. colonies drained a country of its resources.
____ 16. Under mercantilist doctrine, the American colonies were expected to do all of the following except
a. supply Britain with products such as tobacco, sugar and ships' masts.
b. become economically self-sufficient as soon as possible.
c. furnish ships, seamen, and trade to bolster the strength of the Royal Navy.
d. provide a market for British manufactured goods.
e. refrain from exporting woolen cloth.
____ 17. The first Navigation Laws were designed to
a. help colonists get the best possible price for their trade goods.
b. eliminate Dutch shippers from the American carrying trade.
c. foster a colonial economy that would offer healthy competition with Britain's.
d. encourage agricultural experimentation in the colonies.
e. support the mapping of the Atlantic trade routes.
____ 18. Before 1763, the Navigation Laws
a. were enforced heavily in the American colonies and were very effective.
b. hurt Great Britain more than the American colonies.
c. were a great burden to only India.
d. discouraged smuggling by American colonial merchants.
e. were only loosely enforced in the American colonies.
____ 19. Match each act below with the correct description.
A. Sugar Act
1.
first British law intended to raise revenues in the
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B. Stamp Act
C. Declaratory Act
2.
3.
4.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
colonies
asserted Parliament's absolute power over the colonies
required colonists to lodge British troops in their
homes
generated the most protest in the colonies.
A-3, B-2, C-l
A-1, B-4, C-3
A-1, B-4, C-2
A-4, B-1, C-2
A-2, B-1, C-4
____ 20. The first law ever passed by Parliament for raising tax revenues in the colonies for the crown was the
a. Stamp Act.
b. Declaratory Act.
c. Townshend Acts.
d. Quartering Act.
e. Sugar Act.
____ 21. The British Parliament passed the Stamp Act to
a. raise money to support new military forces needed for colonial defense.
b. punish the American colonists.
c. reduce the number of printed documents in America.
d. enable tax collectors to become wealthy.
e. raise taxes to a higher level than in Britain.
____ 22. Passage of the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act
a. led many colonists to believe that the British were expanding colonial freedom.
b. convinced many colonists that the British were trying to take away their historic
liberty.
c. resulted in fewer laws being passed by Parliament regarding the colonies.
d. exemplified to many colonists the difference between legislation and taxation.
e. required action by each colonial legislature.
____ 23. Unlike the ____ Act, the ____ Act and the ____ Act were both indirect taxes on trade goods arriving
in American ports.
a. Townshend, Stamp, Sugar
b. Stamp, Sugar, Townshend
c. Stamp, Quartering, Townshend
d. Declaratory, Stamp, Sugar
e. Quartering, Stamp, Sugar
____ 24. Arrange the following events in chronological order: (A) Sugar Act, (B) Declaratory Act, (C) Stamp
Act, and (D) repeal of the Stamp Act.
a. A, C, D, B
b. C, A, D, B
c. C, B, A, D
d. B, A, C, D
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e. A, B, D, C
____ 25. Colonists objected to the Stamp Act because
a. it was a very expensive tax.
b. they believed it could not be repealed.
c. Parliament passed the tax, not the colonists.
d. they opposed all taxes.
e. they wanted their independence.
____ 26. Virtual representation meant that
a. almost all British subjects were represented in Parliament.
b. every member of Parliament represented all British subjects everywhere.
c. colonists could elect their own representatives to Parliament.
d. Parliament could pass virtually all types of legislation except taxes.
e. each member of Parliament represented only people in his district.
____ 27. Arrange these events in chronological order: (A) Boston Massacre, (B) Townshend Acts, (C) Tea
Act, and (D) Intolerable Acts.
a. A, B, C, D
b. D, B, C, A
c. C, B, D, A
d. B, A, C, D
e. A, C, D, B
____ 28. Match each individual on the left with the correct description.
A. Samuel Adams
B. John Adams
C. Crispus Attucks
1.
2.
3.
4.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
a casualty of the Boston Massacre
a foreign volunteer who drilled American troops
during the War of Independence
a pamphleteer who first organized committees to
exchange ideas and information on resisting British
policy
a Massachusetts politician who opposed the
moderates' solution to the imperial crisis at the First
Continental Congress
A-4, B-3, C-2
A-3, B-4, C-1
A-2, B-4, C-2
A-2, B-1, C-3
A-4, B-1, C-2
____ 29. Which of the following is not a true statement about women's roles during the Revolution?
a. They ran businesses while the men fought.
b. Many were camp followers, who cooked, cleaned and sewed for the troops.
c. They received money and rations for services provided to troops.
d. Some dressed as men and served in battle.
e. Many women urged husbands and sons to stay home and safeguard their families
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and property.
____ 30. African Americans during the Revolutionary War
a. fought for both the Americans and the British.
b. fought only for the British.
c. fought only for the Americans.
d. supported neither side, as both enslaved them.
e. seized the opportunity to gain their freedom by running away to Barbados.
____ 31. Arrange the following events in chronological order: (A) fighting at Lexington and Concord, (B)
convening of the Second Continental Congress, (C) publication of Common Sense, and (D) adoption
of the Declaration of Independence.
a. B, C, A, D
b. A, B, C, D
c. A, C, D, B
d. C, D, A, B
e. A, B, D, C
____ 32. The Olive Branch Petition
a. was passed by Parliament.
b. was an expression of King George III's desire for peace.
c. promised no treason charges if colonists stopped fighting.
d. was an attempt by the colonists to gain support of Native Americans.
e. professed American loyalty to the crown.
____ 33. One purpose of the Declaration of Independence was to
a. warn other nations to stay out of the Revolution.
b. ask for an end to slavery.
c. appeal for fairer treatment by Parliament.
d. explain to the rest of the world why the colonies had revolted.
e. condemn Parliament for its actions.
____ 34. Thomas Paine's pamphlet, Common Sense
a. was published before any fighting took place between the colonists and the British.
b. remained unpopular for several years before being accepted by the public.
c. called for American independence and the creation of a democratic republic.
d. called on the British people to overthrow the king.
e. led to Paine's eventual arrest and imprisonment in America.
____ 35. Americans who opposed independence for the colonies were labeled ____ or ____, and the
independence-seeking Patriots were also known as ____.
a. Tories, Whigs, Loyalists
b. Loyalists, Tories, Whigs
c. Whigs, Tories, Loyalists
d. Loyalists, Whigs, Tories
e. Sons of Liberty, Tories, Whigs
____ 36. Loyalists made up about ____ percent of the American people.
a. 8
62
b.
c.
d.
e.
16
28
39
52
____ 37. The Battle of Saratoga was a key victory for the Americans because it
a. brought the British to offer recognition of colonial independence.
b. brought the colonists much-needed aid and a formal alliance with France.
c. prevented the fighting from spreading into the southern colonies.
d. prevented the colonial capital from being captured by the British.
e. kept Benedict Arnold from joining the British.
____ 38. France came to America's aid in the Revolution because
a. French officials supported the cause of democracy.
b. it hoped to gain access to the American fur trade.
c. it wanted revenge against the British.
d. it could use America to test new military tactics.
e. its new alliance with Britain would be a surprise to both militaries.
____ 39. The new Republic passed a major test when
a. power was peacefully transferred from the conservative Federalists to the more
liberal Jeffersonians in the election of 1800.
b. George Washington and John Adams successfully guided American foreign policy
during the 1790s.
c. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton established the two-party system.
d. Thomas Jefferson solved the Constitutional crisis by authorizing the Louisiana
Purchase.
e. the War Hawks and Anti-War Federalists came together to support James
Madison's War of 1812.
____ 40. The American Revolution was
a. truly radical.
b. inconsequential in world history.
c. an example of accelerated evolution rather than outright revolution.
d. very much like the French revolution.
e. very much like the Russian revolution.
____ 41. All of the following were factors in the fight for the separation of church and state except
a. the Anglican Church was re-formed into the Protestant Episcopal Church.
b. The disestablishment of the Congregational Church occurred throughout New
England.
c. Thomas Jefferson joined the effort.
d. reformers in Virginia secured the passage of that state's Statute for Religious
Freedom.
e. there was resistance to completely disentangling the church from civic affairs in
some parts of New England.
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____ 42. All of the following are true statements about the status of blacks during the American Revolution
except
a. several northern states abolished slavery or provided for gradual emancipation.
b. a few Virginia masters freed their slaves.
c. no states south of Pennsylvania outlawed slavery.
d. some states passed laws that permit blacks to marry and own land.
e. laws everywhere harshly discriminated against free and enslaved blacks.
____ 43. As a result of the Revolution's emphasis on equality, all of the following were achieved except
a. the reduction of property qualifications for voting by most states.
b. the growth of trade organizations for artisans and laborers.
c. the establishment of the world's first antislavery society.
d. full equality between women and men.
e. abolishing medieval inheritance laws.
____ 44. Which of these is NOT a true statement about women's roles after the Revolution?
a. They continued to do traditional women's work.
b. They heeded Abigail Adams' warning to rebel if they did not gain political rights.
c. The new ideology of republican motherhood elevated them as special keepers of
the nation's conscience.
d. They gained access to educational opportunities.
e. State constitutions, like New Jersey's, briefly gave women the right to vote.
____ 45. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787
a. provided for the survey and sale of public lands in the Old Northwest.
b. established a procedure for governing the Old Northwest territory.
c. banned slavery from all territories of the United States.
d. cleared the way for ratification of the Articles of Confederation.
e. gave control over land to the territories in which they were located.
____ 46. One of the most farsighted provisions of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787
a. set aside a section of each township for education.
b. abolished slavery in all of the United States.
c. prohibited slavery in the Old Northwest.
d. kept power in the national government.
e. established a commission to determine the extent of a need for a Bill of Rights.
____ 47. Match each nation on the left with the correct description of the problem it presented for U.S.
foreign relations following the Revolutionary War.
A. Britain
B. France
C. Spain
1.
2.
3.
D. Barbary Coast
4.
a. A-1, B-3, C-2, D-4
threatened American commerce in the Mediterranean
demanded repayment of wartime loans
occupied a chain of trading forts in the Old
Northwest
controlled important trade routes from the interior of
North America
64
b.
c.
d.
e.
A-2, B-4, C-1, D-3
A-2, B-2, C-3, D-4
A-3, B-2, C-4, D-1
A-4, B-2, C-1, D-3
____ 48. Shays's Rebellion was provoked by
a. fear that the Articles of Confederation had created too strong a national
government for the United States.
b. efforts by wealthy merchants to replace the Articles of Confederation with a new
constitution.
c. a quarrel over the boundary between Massachusetts and Vermont.
d. foreclosures on the mortgages of debt-strapped backcountry farmers.
e. the government's failure to pay bonuses to Revolutionary War veterans.
____ 49. Shays's Rebellion convinced many Americans of the need for
a. lower taxes.
b. granting long-delayed bonuses to Revolutionary War veterans.
c. a vigilante effort by westerners to halt the Indian threat.
d. a stronger central government.
e. a weaker military presence in the West.
____ 50. The Constitutional Convention was called to
a. write a completely new constitution.
b. allow the most radical Revolutionary leaders to write their ideas into law.
c. weaken the power of the central government.
d. revise the Articles of Confederation.
e. reassess our foreign alliances.
____ 51. Which of the following Revolutionary leaders was not present at the Constitutional Convention?
a. Thomas Jefferson
b. Benjamin Franklin
c. James Madison
d. George Washington
e. Alexander Hamilton
____ 52. The delegate whose contributions to the Philadelphia Convention were so notable that he has been
called the "Father of the Constitution" was
a. George Washington.
b. Benjamin Franklin.
c. James Madison.
d. Thomas Jefferson.
e. Patrick Henry.
____ 53. The Great Compromise at the Constitutional Convention worked out an acceptable scheme for
a. regulating interstate commerce.
b. levying taxes for raising a militia.
c. apportioning congressional representation.
d. electing the president.
65
e. choosing Senators.
____ 54. Under the Constitution, the president of the United States was to be elected by a majority vote of the
a. general public.
b. Senate.
c. Electoral College.
d. House of Representatives.
e. state legislatures.
____ 55. The Constitutional Convention addressed the North-South controversy over slavery through the
a. large-state plan.
b. small-state plan.
c. three-fifths compromise.
d. closing of the slave trade until 1807.
e. Northwest Ordinance.
____ 56. Among other views, The Federalist, written during the ratification debate, argued that it was
a. impossible to safeguard the rights of states from the power of a strong central
government.
b. possible to extend a republican form of government over a large territory.
c. inevitable that slavery would be abolished in the new republic.
d. illegal to replace the Articles of Confederation with a new constitution.
e. best to establish a direct democracy.
____ 57. Match the individual with his office in the new government.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Thomas Jefferson
Alexander Hamilton
Henry Knox
John Jay
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
A-1, B-3, C-2, D-4
A-3, B-1, C-4, D-2
A-2, B-4, C-3, D-1
A-4, B-2, C-l, D-3
A-1, B-4, C-3, D-2
1.
2.
3.
4.
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
secretary of state
secretary of war
secretary of treasury
____ 58. One of the major criticisms of the Constitution, as drafted in Philadelphia, was that it
a. was too long and detailed.
b. was far too short and required more detail.
c. failed to guarantee property rights.
d. failed to provide a mechanism for amendment.
e. did not provide guarantees for individual rights.
____ 59. The Bill of Rights was intended to protect ____ against the potential tyranny of ____.
a. the prerogatives of Congress, the president
b. the army and the navy, the national government
c. the South, the northern majority
66
d. individual liberties, a strong central government
e. civilian authorities, the military
____ 60. All of the following are guarantees provided by the Bill of Rights except
a. the right to vote for all citizens.
b. freedom of speech.
c. freedom of religion.
d. freedom of the press.
e. right to a trial by a jury.
____ 61. As secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton's first objective was to
a. help the wealthy.
b. bring more industry to the United States.
c. see that more agricultural products were exported.
d. bolster the national credit.
e. put the country on the gold standard.
____ 62. All of the following were part of Alexander Hamilton's economic program except
a. the creation of a national bank.
b. funding the entire national debt at par.
c. vigorous foreign trade.
d. protective tariffs.
e. paying only domestic debts but not foreign debts.
____ 63. Alexander Hamilton believed that a limited national debt
a. would do great harm to the nation's economy.
b. might lead to military weakness.
c. could persuade individuals and nations not to lend money to the United States.
d. was beneficial, because people to whom the government owed money would work
hard to make the nation a success.
e. could help his economic plans but not his political plans.
____ 64. Alexander Hamilton's proposed bank of the United States was
a. rejected by the House of Representatives.
b. supported by Thomas Jefferson.
c. enthusiastically supported by George Washington.
d. based on the "necessary and proper," or "elastic," clause in the Constitution.
e. never fully enacted.
____ 65. Jefferson's argument against the constitutionality of a Bank of the United States were based on the
strict construction principles, especially embodied in the
a. Articles of Confederation.
b. "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.
c. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions.
d. Tenth Amendment in the Bill of Rights.
e. restrictions on Congress's power in Article I, section 10 of the Constitution.
____ 66. Hamilton's major programs seriously infringed on
a. checks and balances.
67
b.
c.
d.
e.
national security.
states' rights.
free enterprise.
federal authority.
____ 67. The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 arose in southwestern Pennsylvania when the federal government
a. levied an excise tax on whiskey.
b. tried to prohibit the sale of whiskey.
c. allowed the import of foreign whiskey.
d. halted the export of American whiskey.
e. tried to prohibit the manufacturing of whiskey.
____ 68. All of the following are true statements about the Whiskey Rebellion except
a. backcountry pioneer folk saw whiskey not as a luxury but as an economic
necessity and medium of exchange.
b. protesters felt burdened by Hamilton's economic programs.
c. Washington responded to the Whiskey Rebellion by negotiating with the
protestors.
d. protesters erected whiskey poles similar to liberty poles used against the Stamp
Act in 1765.
e. whiskey rebels tarred and feathered revenue officers.
____ 69. The Founders had not envisioned the existence of permanent political parties because they
a. opposed anyone who disagreed with them.
b. were not part of the early colonial governments.
c. had existed in Britain.
d. saw them as a sign of disloyalty and lack of national unity.
e. had caused the fall of republican Rome.
____ 70. Match each political leader with his positions on public policy in the 1790s.
A. Hamilton
B. Jefferson
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
privileges for the upper classes
pro-British
sympathy for the common people
potent central government
pay off the national debt
government support for business
pro-French
universal education
A-1, 2, 4, 6B-3, 5, 7, 8
A-1, 5, 6, 7B-2, 3, 4, 8
A-2, 3, 5, 8B-1, 4, 6, 7
A-3, 6, 7, 8B-1, 2, 4, 5
A-5, 2, 6, 3B-1, 4, 7, 8
____ 71. Opposition by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison to the financial plan of Alexander Hamilton
resulted in
68
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
the formation of permanent political parties.
Hamilton's dismissal from the cabinet by George Washington.
politics drifting too far out of kilter with the wishes of the people.
the rejection of Hamilton's plan by Washington.
their dismissal from the cabinet of George Washington.
____ 72. When the French Revolution developed into a war with Britain, George Washington and the
American government
a. supported Britain.
b. assisted France militarily.
c. tried to capture French possessions in North America and the West Indies.
d. remained neutral.
e. captured British possessions in North America.
____ 73. Washington's Neutrality Proclamation of 1793
a. was based on calculations of American self-interest.
b. fulfilled America's obligations under the Franco-American Treaty.
c. was opposed by both Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson.
d. dealt a severe blow to French military and naval strategists.
e. had little impact on future American foreign policy.
____ 74. Arrange the following events in chronological order: (A) XYZ affair, (B) Neutrality Proclamation,
(C) Jay's Treaty, and (D) Kentucky and Virginia resolutions.
a. C, B, A, D
b. B, A, C, D
c. B, C, A, D
d. C, B, D, A
e. A, B, D, C
____ 75. During its first quarter-century as a nation, one of the major problems facing America was
a. the rivalry and warfare between France and Britain.
b. a lack of good political leadership.
c. the continued fighting between the United States and the Armed Neutrality
League.
d. Indian affairs.
e. separation of church and state.
____ 76. Washington's Neutrality Proclamation clearly illustrated the truism that
a. he was unprepared for the demands of foreign policy.
b. foreign policy should be handled by a group and not by a single individual.
c. the United States was trying to do what was best for its allies.
d. self-interest is the basic cement of alliances.
e. unilateral decisions always are the least decisive and will garner the most support.
____ 77. In Jay's Treaty, the British
a. pledged to stop seizing American ships.
b. released Americans from their pre-Revolutionary War debt obligations to British
merchants.
69
c. promised to evacuate the chain of forts in the Old Northwest.
d. refused to pay damages for seizures of American ships.
e. were denied most favored nation status.
____ 78. The United States acquired free navigation of the Mississippi River, the rights of deposit at New
Orleans, and the large disputed territory north of Florida in
a. the Treaty of Greenville.
b. Jay's Treaty.
c. the Convention of 1800.
d. the Pinckney Treaty.
e. the Treaty of Paris.
____ 79. Washington's decision to retire from the presidency in 1797
a. paved the way for Thomas Jefferson to step into the presidency.
b. established a two-term tradition for American presidents.
c. was capped off with a powerful Farewell Address, delivered before thousands of
people.
d. had political leaders singing his praises for his accomplishments and dedication.
e. led England to see the fledgling nation as vulnerable.
____ 80. Washington's Farewell Address in 1796
a. warmly endorsed the appearance of two contending political parties in America.
b. warned against the dangers of permanent foreign alliances.
c. was delivered to a joint session of Congress by Washington himself.
d. proposed a two-term limitation on the presidency.
e. called for the country to rally behind the political party of the JeffersonianRepublicans.
____ 81. The French grew angry with the United States after 1794 because
a. of Jay's Treaty.
b. Congress appointed second-rate ambassadors.
c. of the XYZ affair.
d. John Adams had been elected president.
e. Thomas Jefferson was removed as ambassador.
____ 82. The immediate cause of the undeclared war between the United States and France was
a. the XYZ affair.
b. the Genêt mission.
c. the Neutrality Proclamation.
d. Washington's Farewell Address.
e. Jay's Treaty.
____ 83. The main purpose of the Alien and Sedition Acts was to
a. capture French and British spies.
b. control the Federalists.
c. silence and punish critics of the Federalists.
d. keep Thomas Jefferson from becoming president.
e. provide support for the Democratic-Republican party.
70
____ 84. The Federalist-dominated Congress's Alien Act was aimed at ____, whereas the Sedition Act was
primarily aimed at ____.
a. rebellious slaves, newspapers
b. recent immigrants, newspapers
c. recent immigrants, merchants
d. merchant smuggling, rebellious slaves
e. Indians, farmers
____ 85. The Virginia and Kentucky resolutions were written in response to
a. the XYZ affair.
b. Thomas Jefferson's presidential candidacy in 1800.
c. the Alien and Sedition Acts.
d. the compact theory of government.
e. the Federalist papers.
____ 86. According to the compact theory advocated by Jefferson and Madison
a. the national government was the creation of the thirteen sovereign states.
b. nullification was an invalid policy.
c. the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions were illegal.
d. legislation such as the Alien and Sedition Acts was proper.
e. individuals, not the states, created the federal government.
____ 87. According to the Federalists, the duty of judging the unconstitutionality of legislation passed by
Congress lay with
a. state legislatures.
b. the president.
c. state supreme courts.
d. the Supreme Court.
e. the people.
____ 88. Hamiltonian Federalists advocated
a. government interference in private enterprise.
b. a strong central government.
c. a full-blown democracy.
d. strong ties with France.
e. a low national debt.
____ 89. To the Jeffersonian Republicans, the ideal citizen of a republic was a(n)
a. seaboard merchant.
b. town artisan.
c. indentured servant.
d. independent farmer.
e. industrialist.
____ 90. Thomas Jefferson favored a political system in which
a. the central government possessed the bulk of the power.
b. cities were the primary focus of political activity.
c. a large standing army ensured peace.
71
d. the states retained the majority of political power.
e. manufacturing interests dominated.
72
volution Review
swer Section
ULTIPLE CHOICE
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
B
B
B
A
B
C
A
B
B
A
D
E
D
D
D
B
B
E
C
E
A
B
B
A
C
B
D
B
E
A
B
E
D
C
B
B
B
C
A
C
B
D
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
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PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
REF:
REF:
REF:
REF:
REF:
REF:
REF:
REF:
REF:
REF:
REF:
REF:
REF:
REF:
REF:
REF:
REF:
REF:
REF:
REF:
REF:
REF:
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REF:
REF:
REF:
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REF:
p. 102
p. 103
p. 104
p. 106
p. 106
p. 106
p. 107
p. 107
p. 109
p. 111
p. 110-111
p. 111
p. 111
p. 113
p. 114
p. 114
p. 114
p. 115
p. 115-118
p. 115-116
p. 116
p. 116
p. 116-118
p. 116-118
p. 116
p. 116
p. 118-122
p. 119-120
p. 128
p. 129
p. 132 | p. 135 | p. 137
p. 133
p. 137
p. 135-136
p. 138
p. 139
p. 144
p. 144
p. 156
p. 158
p. 158
p. 159
73
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
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ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
ANS:
D
B
B
C
D
D
D
D
A
C
C
C
C
B
C
E
D
A
D
E
D
D
D
C
A
C
D
A
A
D
A
C
A
D
C
D
B
B
A
A
C
B
C
A
D
B
D
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
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PTS:
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PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
PTS:
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
REF:
REF:
REF:
REF:
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p. 158-159
p. 159
p. 166
p. 166
p. 166-167
p. 167
p. 168
p. 168
p. 169
p. 169
p. 170
p. 171
p. 172
p. 175
p. 181
p. 181
p. 182
p. 182
p. 183
p. 183-184
p. 184
p. 185
p. 184
p. 185
p. 185
p. 185
p. 186
p. 183-187 | p. 190 | p. 198-200
p. 186
p. 190
p. 190
p. 190 | p. 192 | p. 195 | p. 198
p. 190-192
p. 190
p. 192
p. 193
p. 193
p. 193
p. 194
p. 195
p. 196
p. 196
p. 197
p. 197-198
p. 198
p. 200
p. 199
74
90. ANS: D
PTS: 1
REF: p. 198