Launching the New Ship of State: 181-184



Not a president...but



Here are some questions for your consideration:

1. How are amendments to the Constitution proposed?
2. What is the Bill of Rights? What are some things it/they does/do?
3. What was the point of the 9th Amendment?
4. How did Hamilton plan on reviving public credit and what is assumption?
5. How can debt be a good thing? Put this into the context of your reading.
6. What is a tariff? What is an excise tax?

Ratifying the Constitution: 174-178

S-T-E-E-L-E-R-S!

Here are some questions for the nest reading, found on pages 174-178:

1. How did the federalists convince some anti-federalists to support ratification of the constitution? Give an example.
2. Define: The Federalist.
3. Elaborate on the section titles "A Conservative Triumph." What does this mean? Think of question 6 from the last reading.
4. How was the principle of republican government preserved in the United States Constitution?

"We, the people..."

Your next reading takes you into the Constitutional Convention, convened for the express purpose of revising the weak Articles of Confederation. What happened, of course, was something much more than that. Here are some questions for your consideration from pages 170-174:

1. What was the Virginia Plan?
2. What was the New Jersey Plan?
3. What was the Great Compromise?
4. How did the common law legal tradition influence the length of the Constitution? How is this different from other constitutions?
5. How did the institution of slavery impact the making of the Constitution?
6. In what ways is the Constitution essentially a conservative document (as in, not radical), and in what ways was it innovative? How did it attempt to resolve the tensions left over from the Revolution? To reconcile with the Spirit of '76?
7. What was the main point of disagreement between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists?

America's First Constitution

Remember that we didn't finish our discussion about the radicalism of the American Revolution. Keep thinking about it! Here are some questions from the reading, 162-165 and 167-170:

1. So, you're at this party and you find yourself in a discussion about the Articles of Confederation. What the heck is that?
2. What was the argument over Western lands about? How did this delay ratification of the Articles?
3. What were the biggest problems with the Articles of Confederation? In what way was the Articles government not up to the challenges facing the new nation?
4. Define: Shay's Rebellion
5. What was the defining issue that "touched off the chain reaction that led to a constitutional convention?" Can you elaborate? (168-169.)
6. Who was the chairman of the Constitutional Convention?
7. Describe the delegates at the convention. What were they like?

How Radical was the Revolution?

This radical?

Please remember to review Common Sense before next class. If you didn't get a chance to do so in class, please mark the passages that stick with you about arguing for separation. That is what we will start with.

We are skipping over the military history of the Revolution, so that we can start to talk about what it actually did. The answer may not be as clear as you think. Here are some questions for your consideration:

1. What effect did the Loyalist departure have on the new United States?
2. What evidence does your book present to show that society was really changed by the Revolution?  This is a big question and you can look on pages 158 and 159 for answers. Think how broad the term society is. Think about slaves and women, lower classes and upper classes. Be prepared to devote several sentences to this answer.
3. What innovation did Massachusetts add to the flurry of constitution making in the states?
4. What was different about the American conception of constitutions and the British one?
5. Why did many state legislatures move their capitals westward? Do you think this is important?
6. What were the economic drawbacks of the Revolution? How did Britain react?
7. What were the biggest economic problems facing the country?
8. "Prospects for erecting a lasting regime were far from bright." Elaborate; provide context.

Common Sense Revolution: 134-142

T-Paine!

Your reading opens in early 1776, when the rebellion was still contained in New England. It is really important to remember that not everyone in the colonies was a revolutionary, especially during the early phases of the war. Keep that in mind as you answer these questions:

1. "Why did Americans continue to deny any intention of independence"? That is to say, why were many American leaders eager to frame the Boston rebellion as a misunderstanding, and not reflective of a broader movement? What are some things that changed public opinion in favor of separation? (Two part question.)
2. What is republicanism (you should already know this)? Did everyone share Paine's vision of a republican society? Why or why not?
3. Why is the Declaration of Independence referred to sometimes as the "explanation" for independence?
4. What arguments did Jefferson set forth in the Declaration?
5. What impact did the Declaration have, at home and abroad?
6. Who was a typical Loyalist, and who was a typical Patriot (meaning what kinds of people would be one or the other, occupation, background, etc).
7. What did you learn in the section "Patriots and Loyalists" that changed your understanding of the Revolutionary War, and of American History in general?

The Road to Revolution, Continued: 122-124

Because your reading is so short, there will not be any questions. As always, be prepared for a quiz.

The Road to Revolution, Part I: Reading 1.4, 109-111 and 113-118

Your reading picks up at the end of the French and Indian War, in 1763, and mostly deals with the aftermath of that conflict in the colonies. This is big time stuff, girls, so read carefully. Here are some questions for your consideration:

1. Define: Pontiac's Rebellion
2. Define: Proclamation of 1763
3. Define: republicanism
4. Define: radical Whigs
5. Define: Mercantilism
6. Define: Stamp Act

Please try to read around these terms, too, so you get some context.

Map Work

Girls,

Your only homework is to finish your maps. You can find the instructions, here. Don't forget to include New France and New Spain. As I said in class, these are not bonus features.

Attach a separate piece of paper that summarizes your findings. What are the general features of the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies (hint: you can find summaries in your books, but you better not plagiarize). This can be done in a few sentences.

Please feel free to use your search engines at home to find more detailed maps than the one in your books.

This is a completion grade. If you do your best to get everything on there, keep it neat, and bring it to class, you will get full credit.

Economy and Religion in the British Colonies: Reading 1.3

The next reading will take us into the 18th cenutry and look at economic and social features of the British colonies. Here are some questions for your consideration:

1. Name at least one major industry for each of the three regions (New England, Middle, and Plantation Colonies.
2. What is the triangular trade? (See map on pg. 84.)
3. Elaborate on the quote, "Yet strains appeared in this complex network as early as the 1730s" (referring to the Colonial economy).
4. What were the two most prominent "established" churches in the colonies?
5. How were the Anglican and Congregationalist churches different in the colonies?
6. In the shortest sentence possible, what was The Great Awakening?

Summer Reading Assignment

Get it while it's hot.

The Northern Colonies: Reading 1.2

We move North now, out of the so-called Plantation Colonies and into New England. This is a longer reading, so please feel free to follow the reading guide, rather than try and read the whole thing. I have tried to provide questions that I feel are the most significant from the reading (remember to STOP when you reach the second subject heading listed):

1. Where does the Protestant Reformation fit into the story of America? What does it have to do with settlement, if anything? (Think Cause and Effect.)
2. Define: Puritans, Separatists
3. What is the Mayflower Compact, and why is it significant?
4. Put this quote into context: "the beaver and the Bible were the early mainstays: the one for the sustenance of the body, the other for the sustenance of the soul" (Kennedy, 43).
5. How was The Massachusetts Bay Colony founded?
6. What did John Winthrop think of democracy? Why does this matter? Does it tell us anything about the mindset of early leaders in Colonial American society?
7. Was the New England settlers' experience with Native Americans similar to that of the Virginians, or different? How so?
8. Describe two distinct features of the Middle Colonies.

"England on the Eve of Empire": Reading 1.1

Tonight marks, for you A dayers, the start of nightly readings. (B dayers, feel free to get started.) Every night, you will come to the blog to check for reading questions, guides, and overviews. Ideally, you will read through once, annotate, and then come back to the questions. So, without further ado, here are your first set of questions, from 26-31, and 38:

1. What do you think is the connection between population growth in England and settling the New World (America) in the late 16th and early 17th centuries?
2. What is primogenture?
3. What is a joint-stock company?
4. Why is the Virginia Company charter such a significant document?
5. What is the real story of John Smith and Pocahontas?
6. Describe early Virginians' relationship with local Indian tribes.
7. What were the most significant consequences of European arrival in America for Native Americans?
8. Name three distinctive features of the Plantation Colonies.
9. PLEASE BRING COMPUTER TO FIRST DAY OF CLASS IF YOU HAVE ONE

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