Unit 3

Question 1

Virtual vs Actual Representation

Answer 1

British believed in virtual representation — members of Parliament were duty-bound to protect the interests of all British subjects, including the colonists, and thus they were already being represented

Colonists instead wanted actual representation — someone who lived in the colonies to be present in England representing their needs

This lack of meaningful compromise regarding representation in government led to growing tensions between American colonists and British officials, which took the form of widespread protests and boycotts of British trade exports

Question 2

Committees of correspondence

Answer 2

The colonies’ first system for maintaining communication with one another; helped spread radical colonial ideas

Created to encourage opposition to British acts and make people aware of their liberties

Later on, these grew to coordinate boycott efforts and protests (Sons of Liberty)

Question 3

Stamp Act Congress

Answer 3

Delegates met in NY to discuss boycotting British goods

Drew a petition called the Declaration of Rights and Grievances (by Dickinson)

Declared that the legal authority to tax the colonies belonged only to their elected colonial legislatures, not British Parliament, which they had no representation in

They sent this to King George → Stamp Act was eventually repealed

Significance — first major instance of coordinated action by all the colonies together, unifying to protest against British taxation

Question 4

Virginia Resolves

Answer 4

Speech made by Patrick Henry; his solution to British taxation

Only the Virginia House of Burgesses had the authority to impose taxes on the colonists (colonial representative gov’t)

Question 5

Common Sense

Answer 5

Pamphlet published by Thomas Paine in 1776

Called for independence of America from British monarchy (break all political ties)

Creation of a new form of gov’t — democratic republic

Spoke of natural rights such as life, liberty and property

Extended these ideas to everyday people, before it was only the elite who participated in conventions/meetings

Question 6

Boston Tea Party

Answer 6

Cause — an effort to retaliate against the Tea Act

Sons of Liberty (led by Samuel Adams) boarded British ships and dumped imported tea into Boston Harbor → cost the company millions of dollars

Effect — Boston Harbor was closed until colonists paid for the destroyed tea and turned over those responsible → Intolerable Acts passaged

Question 7

1st Continental Congress

Answer 7

Cause — colonies wanted to unify in a resistance effort against what they viewed as British oppression (Intolerable Acts)

Published their grievances and boycotted British goods

First colony-wide government in British North America

King dismissed the petition and declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion → sent additional troops to put down any further disorders there

Question 8

2nd Continental Congress

Answer 8

After the battles of Lexington and Concord, delegates met again

Congress called on the colonies to provide troops; George Washington was appointed commander in chief of the Continental Army; would lead Massachusetts militia & volunteer units from other colonies

Dickinson drafted Olive Branch Petition to send to King George — last resort peace negotiation in which colonists pledged their loyalty and asked him to intercede w/ Parliament to protect their rights

King George dismissed this plea and declared the colonies in rebellion

Question 9

Declaration of Independence

Answer 9

Listed grievances against King George and British Parliament

Established the defining political values of the new independent nation of America (individual liberty, natural rights, equality, republican government)

Question 10

Saratoga

Answer 10

Turning point in Revolutionary War = victory at Saratoga

News of the American victory persuaded France to join in the war against Britain → official military alliance and receive recognition (gave them guns and ships)

Question 11

Republican motherhood

Answer 11

Idea that women should be educated so that they could instill republican virtues (liberty, equality, service) in their sons

In order for a republic to be strong, it is necessary to have a well educated citizenry. As caretakers, women had the duty of raising good citizens

Elevated the role of women in patriarchal society; introduced idea of equal opportunity + access to education

However, despite their contributions, women remained in a second class status (EX: couldn’t own businesses or property in their name, couldn’t initiate lawsuits/divorce proceedings; remained governed by their fathers and husbands)

Question 12

Shay’s Rebellion

Answer 12

Daniel Shay incited other poor farmers to rebel against high state taxes, imprisonment for debt, and the foreclosing of their farms by state courts bc they couldn’t afford taxes (after coming back from serving in the Revolutionary War)

They stopped the collection of taxes and forced the closing of debtor’s courts

State militia of Massachusetts had to put down the rebellion → illustrated the weakness of the Articles of Confederation

No central government or federal army to put down the insurrection because Congress could not fund it under the limited powers of the Articles

Proved the need for a new constitution with a strong central government

Question 13

Was the dominant concern of the colonists economic or political? (Road to Revolution)

Give KBAT terms for both

Answer 13

Political: Representation in British Parliament (Virtual vs Actual), Virginia Resolves (no taxation w/o representation) Quartering Act (violates English citizens rights of property and privacy), writs of assistance, Common Sense by Thomas Paine (proved it was more of a political and ideological fight for independence than economic)

Economic: Currency Act, Intolerable Acts (closing Boston Harbor), Townshend Act (glass, tea, paint, lead, paper)

Question 14

Sugar Act

Answer 14

Placed duties (import taxes) on sugar shipped to the colonies from non-British sources

First law specifically aimed at raising colonial money for the British crown

External/indirect tax bc it primarily affected merchants, who had to pay the tax, and was only on imports. To recover from the extra money, they raised the price of the good, and thus consumers had to indirectly pay more as well (but it was included in the price)

Question 15

Stamp Act

Answer 15

Required all printed paper to carry an official stamp showing that a tax had been paid (EX: legal documents, contracts, wills, newspapers, advertisements, pamphlets)

Internal/direct tax applied to all the colonists

• had to be DIRECTLY paid to the government by individuals
• taxed INTERNAL items within the colonies

Question 16

Intolerable Acts

Answer 16

Series of laws passed to punish Massachusetts colony and to serve as a warning to other colonies

1. Closed Boston Harbor, prohibiting trade in and out, until colonists paid for the destroyed tea and turned over those responsible for the Boston Tea Party (economic)
2. Reduced the power of the Massachusetts legislature — limited their self government while increasing the power of the royal governor; committees of correspondence were banned (political)
3. Quartering Act reinstated — allowed the housing of British troops in private homes, designed to provide them shelter and supplies; applied to all colonies (political)
4. People accused of crimes were tried overseas in Britain instead of in the colonies (political)

Question 17

Articles of Confederation

Answer 17

First constitution for the US as a nation

Outlined limited powers of central government (Congress):

• unicameral (one house) legislature
• each state was given one vote (equal representation)
• the passing of laws required at least 9 of the 13 congressional votes → no decisions were made
• amending the Articles required a unanimous votes → no amendments were passed

Free sovereign states loosely linked together by Congress, firm league of friendship, not national legislature

Created to be very weak bc of Americans’ fear of a tyrannical government infringing on their natural rights & liberty like Britain had

Question 18

Pros of the Articles of Confederation

Answer 18

1. Powers of Congress
   - wage war, negotiate foreign treaties, maintain army (land/naval forces), send diplomatic representatives, borrow money from the states
2. Won the Revolutionary War
   - US gov’t was responsible for Washington’s victory
   - negotiated favorable terms in the treaty w/ Britain
3. States had more individual sovereignty
   - put all the power into the legislature which was directly answerable to the states, and thus the people
   - colonists identified more w/ their state than nation
4. Land Ordinance/Northwest Ordinance
   - Congress carved up all this land into plots and sold them to people → way to generate revenue for Congress
   - provided a means by which western territories could get a population and become new states in the union (once 60,000 plots were bought)
   - granted limited self gov’t and prohibited slavery in those states
   - set one section of land aside in each township for public education

Question 19

Cons of the Articles of Confederation

Answer 19

1. No separate executive or judiciary (court system) branches to enforce laws
2. Weak central government
   - no power to levy taxes, regulate interstate commerce, or interfere with states
   - individual states had lots of power → lack of leadership, disorganized body
   - this weakness was shown by Shays Rebellion
3. Could not levy national taxes → no revenue
   - could only request that the states donate money to finance its decisions (from the taxes imposed by each state), no enforcement
   - issued worthless paper money
   - no way to pay off national debt from the war
   - couldn’t fund the army that it had the power to maintain

Question 20

Federalist papers

Answer 20

A series of persuasive essays written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay to gather public support for the Federalist campaign

Presented reasons for why a strong national government was necessary and not a threat to people’s liberty or democracy

Question 21

Republic (definition)

Answer 21

Representative democracy, rather than direct democracy

Vote for representatives to legislate on our behalf

Question 22

Hamilton’s Financial Plan

Answer 22

Under the Articles of Confederation, the gov’t had faced financial issues, so Hamilton made a plan to promote economic stability

1. Assumption bill
   - in order to establish the nation’s credit worthiness, it had to pay off all its debt from the war at face value
   - to do this, the federal gov’t should assume states’ debts
2. Create a national bank
   Purpose — depositing gov’t funds and printing banknotes that would provide the basis for a stable US currency → stimulate business
3. Whiskey tax
   - excise tax: tax on domestic luxury goods (whiskey)
4. High tariffs on imported goods
   - in order to encourage domestic industrial manufacturing
   - collect revenue for gov’t

Question 23

Jay Treaty

Answer 23

Cause — British search & seizure of American merchants ships and impressment of seamen into the British navy

Washington sent Chief Justice John Jay to Britain to negotiate → Britain agreed to evacuate its posts on US western frontier, but did not cease their seizures (useless)

Question 24

Pinckney Treaty

Answer 24

Jay Treaty made Spain believe the US was growing closer to its longtime foe Britain → Spain decided to consolidate its holdings in North America

In treaty, Spain agreed to open the lower Mississippi River & port of New Orleans to American trade (farmers could use the port w/o paying taxes)

Also accepted the US claim of Florida’s boundary

Question 25

Whiskey Rebellion

Answer 25

Cause — Hamilton had to find a way to make up the revenue lost bc the imposed tariffs were lower than he wanted → persuaded Congress to pass an excise tax (on domestic luxury goods) on the sale of whiskey This upset small farmers bc the most profitable use of their surplus wheat/grain was to distill it into whiskey Farmers tarred and featured tax collectors Washington led an army to put down the rebellion w/ no bloodshed Significance — unlike Shay’s Rebellion, the Whiskey rebellion showed how strong the central gov’t was bc of the Constitution

Question 26

Washington’s Farewell Address

Answer 26

1. Don’t interfere in European/foreign affairs 2. Avoid permanent alliances 3. Don’t form political parties bc it could lead to sectionalism

Question 27

XYZ Affair

Answer 27

French started seizing US merchant ships for trading w/ British → American anger President John Adams sent 3 commissioners to Paris to peacefully negotiate with the French gov’t Certain French ministers (known as X, Y, and Z), requested bribes to enter into negotiations w/o even meeting them American delegates refused Reported in newspaper → people clamored for war against France

Question 28

Quasi War

Answer 28

Non official, undeclared war w/ France President John Adams recognized that the US was not strong enough to fight a major power Raised the need for a permanent US navy → growth of military (creation of US Marine Corp to serve on ships) → more federal power

Question 29

Alien and Sedition Acts

Answer 29

Alien Acts: anti immigration; aimed to restrict french immigrants who supported DR (also anti french sentiment from XYZ Affair) - Increased the time an immigrant had to wait before they could become a US citizen (Naturalization Act) - Authorized the president to deport or detain any immigrant (alien) they felt was dangerous to the nation in times of war Sedition Act: made it illegal for to speak against the Federalist gov’t in power - those who criticized president or Congress were subject to fines/imprisonment - people considered this a violation of the first amendment (freedom of speech) Democratic Republicans viewed these acts as an overreach of federal power and infringement on their constitutional rights

Question 30

Virginia/Kentucky Resolutions

Answer 30

Virginia = Madison and Kentucky = Jefferson States can nullify federal laws (Alien & Sedition Acts) they consider unconstitutional, meaning they don’t have to enforce it in their borders

Question 31

Election of 1800

Answer 31

Federalist → Democratic Republic control The passing of power from one political party to another occurred peacefully w/o violence Called the Revolution of 1800 bc Federalists feared Jefferson would tear down the republic

Question 32

Judicial Review

Answer 32

Marshall Court established Judicial Review which granted them power to declare a law Congress or the president passed as unconstitutional, basically invalidating it. The Supreme Court could now overrule actions of the other two branches of the federal gov’t

Question 33

Marshall Court's Key Ideas

Answer 33

1. Increase the power of the federal gov’t at the expense of states’ rights 2. Promote business and the economy thru competition (no monopolies)

Question 34

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

Answer 34

Written by Thomas Jefferson Defined separation between church and state Freedom of conscience; government could not violate

Question 35

Louisiana Purchase

Answer 35

Jefferson purchased land that doubled the size of the US ($15 million) Jefferson wanted to create an agrarian society of independent farmers not dependent on the market (avoid Hamilton's vision of an urban + industrial society). This purchase ensured there was enough land for every white man to have his own farm Under strict constructionism, it was unconstitutional for the president to buy foreign land since this was not an enumerated power. However, Jefferson set aside his ideal for the country’s good He submitted the purchase agreement to the Senate, arguing that lands could be added to the US as an application of the president’s power to make treaties Increased Jefferson’s popularity

Question 36

Embargo Act

Answer 36

Cause — Britain and France were at war; they seized American ships and confiscated their cargo; Britain captured US sailors and impressed them to serve in the British navy Forbid all American ships from sailing to foreign ports Since the US was Britain’s largest trading partner, Jefferson hoped that this would prompt them to stop violating their rights in order to not lose US trade Effect — however, the act harmed the US more than it did Britain; devastated American economy (exports dropped), shut down trade, spurred American domestic manufacturing, Britain continued their practices

Question 37

Nonintercourse Act

Answer 37

Jefferson America will trade with all countries other than Britain and France (failed)

Question 38

Macon’s Bill No. 2

Answer 38

Madison America will trade with all countries if they don’t impress American sailors (failed)

Question 39

Missouri Compromise

Answer 39

Congress had always attempted to preserve a sectional balance between North (free) states and South (slave) states — 11:11 If Missouri came in as a slave state, it would give the South a political advantage Concerns over the future status of new territories applying for statehood from the rest of the vast Louisiana Purchase Missouri Compromise (Henry Clay) allowed Missouri in as a slave state and Maine as a free state; prohibit slavery in the Louisiana Territory north of 36 30 line

Question 40

Monroe Doctrine

Answer 40

1. US would not become involved in European affairs 2. American continents (North & South) were not available for European colonization/interference Happened after many Latin American colonies had their independent revolutions → US government was worried that European powers would take advantage of these new free nations

Question 41

McCulloch v Maryland

Answer 41

Upheld constitutionality of the national bank (due to implied powers)