Don't Know Much About History Study Questions

1.       Discuss the significance of Thomas Jefferson’s quote: “A little rebellion now and then is a good thing…God Forbid that we should ever be twenty year without such a rebellion…The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

a.       Without suffering which leads to rebellion/questioning, nothing would get accomplished.  Jefferson supported the ideas that if people didn’t rebel, it would sort have meant that the people didn’t care about their freedom.

2.       Why did Shay’s Rebellion happen?

a.       There was a conflict of classes

                                                               i.      Between the working-class farmer, inner-city laborers, servant class, smaller merchants, free blacks AND the bourgeoisies, landed, slaveholding gentry, international merchants

b.      Massachusetts passed a state constitution in 1780

                                                               i.      Poor and middle class peoples were banned from voting g and holding office

c.       As economy worsened, farms were taken to pay off debts

3.       The constitution is “a political creation, hammered together in a series of artfully negotiated compromises. Discuss these compromises.

a.       Congress would have two parts: House of Representatives and Senate.

b.      Slaves would be counted as 3/5 of a person towards the voting. Though they couldn’t actually vote.

c.       The position of President and Executive Branch

4.       What was the Virginia Plan?

a.       New government in America, two Legislators; Judicial and Executive branches were chosen by Legislators

5.       “No person held in service” was a euphemism for what?

a.       No slaves!

6.       List the basic Powers and Checks of the three branches of the government.

a.       Executive

                                                               i.      Chooses Judicial

                                                             ii.      Can veto laws

b.      Legislative

                                                               i.      Can override a veto with 2/3 of the votes

                                                             ii.      Refuse the approve treaties

                                                            iii.      Can question the Judicial

c.       Judicial

                                                               i.      Can declare what the President does illegal

                                                             ii.      Can say that what Congress is doing is unconstitutional

7.       Who wrote the Federalist Papers and why did they write them?

a.       John Jay

b.      Alexander Hamilton

c.       James Madison

d.      They wanted to convince the public that a strong central government was a good idea.

8.       Briefly outline the first ten amendments.

a.       1^st Amendment

                                                               i.      Separation of church and state

                                                             ii.      Freedom to worship

                                                            iii.      Freedom of speech and press

                                                           iv.      Right to assemble and petition for charges

b.      2^nd Amendment

                                                               i.      Right to bear arms

c.       3^rd Amendment

                                                               i.      Soldiers can’t be housed in a private home without the consent of the owner

d.      4^th Amendment

                                                               i.      Right to be free from unreasonable seizure and search

e.      5^th Amendment

                                                               i.      Laws about prosecuting including jury rights/duties

f.        6^th Amendment

                                                               i.      Right to a speedy public trial in district where crime was committed

g.       7^th Amendment

                                                               i.      Guarantees trial by jury

h.      8^th Amendment

                                                               i.      Prohibits cruel and unusual punishments

i.         9^th Amendment

                                                               i.      Defines the rule of the construction of the Constitution

j.        10 Amendment

                                                               i.      Guarantees any powers not specifically delegated to federal governments or to the states rests with the people and states

1.       Depending on the situation

9.       Who could vote in the first election (what parts of the population)?

a.       Mainly white land owning males

b.      Each state had their own voting laws though

10.   How did Washington D.C. be located on the banks of the Potomac?

a.       Madison and Jefferson agreed to Hamilton’s plan to get the country out of debt, but they had to agree to move the capitol to the southern states

11.   What did Jay’s Treaty do?           

a.       It forced the British soldiers to leaves America

12.   What was the Whiskey Rebellion and how was it put down?

a.       Backwoods farmers on the frontier of Western Pennsylvania protested against the large taxes on whiskey

b.      Washington went out with 13,000ish men  and stopped the farmers from rebelling

13.   Describe the election of 1800? How was it finally resolved?

a.       Two Republicans/anti-federalist, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, tied in votes.

b.      House of Representatives had to decide who won

c.       Jefferson assured the Representatives that he would uphold many of the Federalist’s ideas, laws, and recommendations

14.   Who was John Marshall?

a.       Adam’s secretary of state

b.      Supreme Justice Chief

c.       Was the first to say Congress was being unconstitutional

15.   Why did France sell its North American possessions (the Louisiana territory) to the U.S.?

a.       They didn’t have a ton of money and Napoleon wanted a piece of the new world. In the end her decided the money was more important

16.   What did Lewis and Clark do? Describe their journey?

a.       Jefferson sent them west of the Applications to get into the fur trade, retrieve information on the land, trade with the natives, and feel out political and military uses of the land

17.   How did Hamilton incur the wrath of Aaron Burr? Was he right in what he did? How did the ordeal end?

a.       Hamilton used his political influence to become Governor of New York which defeated and angered Burr

b.      I don’t think that what he did was completely wrong. Anything goes when you want to win.

c.       The ordeal ended when Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel; during which Burr shot and fatally wounded Hamilton

18.   What was Jefferson’s Embargo Act? Why was it unpopular and what was it suppose to do?

a.       1807 ~ The Embargo Act prohibited all exports into America

b.      The point of the act was to deny the British any money.

c.       Since the Americans couldn’t trade for good directly, the US couldn’t receive exotic goods like spices, silk, rum and scarce

19.   What did Tecumseh try and do?

a.        He tried to get all the Indians together to form an alliance. He almost pulled it off. 

20.   Describe the Battle of Tippecanoe?

a.       Victory for the United States.

b.      General William Harrison’s men were sent to watch the Native’s to make sure they wouldn’t attack the Americans

c.       Tenskwata, Tecumseh’s brother, led an attack on Henry’s troops

d.      Though he slaughtered the Natives, it wasn’t a successful attack because Harrison destroyed food stores, their village, and Tenskwata’s claim of magical protection

e.      This battle ended the major Native rebellion and retaliation

21.   Most historians call the War of 1812 a draw. Why?

a.       The treaty doesn't do anything. It forms boundaries for the Oregon Country and between Canada and the US.

b.      And Washington D.C. is burned. When your capitol gets burned, you don’t really gain anything.

22.   Describe the Battle of New Orleans.

a.        January 1815. 

b.      The British outnumbered the Americans

                                                               i.      Americans only had 8 casualties compared to Britain’s over 2000 casualties

c.       Said to be one of the most lopsided American victories in history

23.   What did the Monroe Doctrine do?

a.        1823

b.      Declared that the United States would not tolerate intervention in the Americans by European Nations.

c.       Becomes a tool in the 20th century: No one but the United States could meddle with internal affairs in the Western Hemisphere.

24.   What was the Missouri Compromise?

a.       1820

b.      Missouri was to be a slave state but anything north of Missouri's southern border could not be a slave state.

25.   How was the election of 1824 decided? Why was it called a ‘corrupt bargain’?

a.       Person who wins the election of 1824 doesn't become President.

b.      Jackson didn't have majority of the votes. The voting went to the house.

c.       Henry Clay of KY decided to support John Quincy Adams as president

                                                               i.      Adams elected Clay to be Secretary of State when he won the votes of the house

                                                             ii.      People thought that this avoided the voting which many people disagreed with

26.   List some of the labels attached to Andrew Jackson.

a.       Adulterer

b.      Murderer

c.       Orphan

d.      Horseracing Man

e.      Frontiersman

f.        War Hero

g.       Indian Fighter

h.      Native Hater

27.   Was Andrew Jackson an Indian hater? What did the natives call him? What ‘Indian Wars’ did he fight in and what was the outcome? What was his native ‘policy’ as President?

a.       He wasn’t an Indian Hater. He knew what he wanted and would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.

b.      He was called King Long Knife

c.       In 1814 he fought in the Creek War

                                                               i.      He took land away from the Creek Natives by using the Cherokee people against them

d.      In 1819 he fought in a small illegal war in Florida

                                                               i.      Killed many natives and destroyed lots of Spanish forts

1.       Which forced the Spanish to sell Florida to America

e.      His presidential policy instructed America to remove all Natives form their lands and place them elsewhere.

28.   How did Jackson come to symbolize the common people?

a.        Jackson is worshiped by the common people because his presidency, opinions and political party were all in line with the wishes of the middle-class people

b.      Most important president after Washington & Jefferson

Chap. 7 Blog Questions

1) What are the three branches of government and what are the powers of each?
The Legislative Branch makes the law. 
The Executive branch makes sure that these laws and policies are carried out.
The Judicial Branch is the court system that settles disputes between the states. 


2) How can these branches check and balance each other?
Both the house and the senate must pass a bill for it to become a law. The president can check Congress by vetoing the bill. However, Congress can then check the president by overriding the veto, To override a veto, two-thirds of the members of both houses of Congress must vote for the bill.  

3) What were the compromises to the constitution?
~A two house legislature: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The number of Representatives was to be determined by the population of the state and each state had to people representing them in the Senate.
~Counting each enslaved person as three-fifths of a free person for both taxation and representation. (They couldn't actually vote though, even after they were considered free.)  
~Can't use the word slavery 
~Election of the president


4) Who wrote the Federalist papers?
John Jay
James Madison
Alexander Hamilton. 

5) What was the Bill of Rights? Why did some states demand its inclusion before they ratified the constitution? 
The Bill of Rights made sure the government didn't abuse their power. Some states demanded a Bill of Rights because they didn't want the central government to become so powerful that it was like having another king, which was the whole reason for fighting in the Revolutionary War.


6) What were the anti-federalists main fears about the constitution?
The main argument was that the new constitution would take away the American people's liberties and that the central government would become so powerful that they would forget about the states, forget about the people's voices, and favor the rich over the common folk. Basically, the anti-federalists thought that the new constitution would give the central government to much power. 


What were the Federalists about?
A strong central government. 

14) "America was already developing the notion that all were entitled to the best if they worked hard enough, that aiming high was not only morally acceptable but admirable." Discuss the importance of this statement. 
If you worked hard enough, you could do anything you set your mind too. The American dream has always been to go for your dreams. In America you could changes social classes. If you work hard enough, you could go from lower class to middle class, whereas in Britain, doing so was unheard of and frowned upon. 


14a) Who were two people in Rev War period that fit the idea of the American dream?
Alexander Hamilton & Ben Franklin


15) Who were the two most important people involved with the push towards a new constitution? 
Alexander Hamilton & James Madison
Hamilton big reason was that the country was in debt. To get the states out of debt, you need a strong central government. Madison & Hamilton both wanted a strong central government. 
Constitution didn't happen over night. It was long debated. When they met to fix the Constitution the basically through out the Articles of Confederation.
Patrick Henry ("Give me liberty, or give me death")


16) Give examples of how the Articles of Confederation failed.
It could raise an army, but couldn't collect taxes. The power was really in the state's governments. 
There was chaos, they central government was nonexistent. 
The power was all in the states.


17) In your option why would some people prefer State rights over a strong Central government. What are the arguments for both sides?
States Rights
All the states are different. Especially back then, they all had their own culture. 
When you have a strong central government, there is a chance that the government becoming too controlling. Strong central government could go back to the idea of a king. =( 


Strong Central Government
Keeps everyone on the same page.




18) What is a nomiocracy? How do you feel about this term connected with the U.S. government?
It's basically a government ruled by lawyers. 
It's an accurate statement. 


19) What were the three compromises on the Constitution? Which one of these seems the strangest to you?
Compromise 1
Gave the House of Representatives the control of money Bills. The Representatives were directly elected by  number of persons in states.
Senate, two people from each state, were chosen to deal with foreign policy and such matters.


Compromise 2
It stated that nothing negative would be written about slavery in the Constitution. Every slave counted as 3/5 of a freeman, which gave the states the right to count them as voters, though they couldn't actually vote.  And finally, the words 'slave' & 'slavery' would purposely be avoided being written in the text. 


Compromise 3
Dealt with the election of the president
Madison & Hamilton wanted a Presidency for a strong central government. 


20) What is the irony about the President vs. a King as example by Johnson?

He didn't want power in the hands of stupid people because they would do stupid things. 
The president was almost a dictator. He had more power than most kings of the time. Though, unlike the king, the president was the only official elected by the entire nation. Kings are born into power.