For anybody in APUSH

wxmann
Sun, 30 Sep 2007 00:30:37 +0000

1763 was a turning point in American History. Assess the validity of this statement. Proclamation of 1763 stopped colonists from westward expansion. This ended the prior period of Salutary Neglect and was the beginning of greater British control over the colonies.
The colonists were justified in their revolution. Assess the validity of this statement. Guess you could say that Britain p**sed everyone off through the Stamp Act, Townshend Act, Quartering Act, Quebec Act, Navigation Laws, Sugar Acts, Intolerable Acts, Boston Massacre, etc etc etc.
It has been said that Americans revolted against tyranny anticipated, rather than against tyranny inflicted. Assess the validity of this statement. *There was a group of radicals in America, the Whigs, who believed that the govt was out to get them. Also, the Americans were rather paranoid that the lowering of tea prices was an attempt to justify greater taxation, thus the Boston Tea Party. *
Compare and contrast the British and American conduct of the war. How did each side propose to “win” and how realistic was its assessment of the situation, and how did the prewar assessment influence the ultimate outcome of the war? British tried to blockade and attack straight on, also hired mercenaries (Hessians). America used Guerilla tactics and fought to wear the enemy down. Also they knew that it didn’t matter if one won the battle, as long as one wins the war. The Hessians really weren’t loyal and it was hard to blockade such a long coastline. Meanwhile the Americans, though they lost most battles, won key ones like Saratoga which drew the French onto their side.
Examine the relative successes and failures of the Articles of Confederation. Was this new government capable of providing the stability that the new nation needed? Successes: NW Ordinance set a precedant for application of statehood and abolition of slavery in the North. Failures: Weak central govt led to continued economic woes in revenue (inability to tax or regulate commerce), and eventual rebellions such as Shays’. States often quarreled against one another such as issues with Western lands. In retrospect this govt was insufficient and probably would’ve collapsed in the early 1800’s w/ the wars in Europe and eventually the War of 1812.
Compare and contrast the political, economic and social philosophies of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton and the sort of nation each wished to create. Jeffersonians believed in a rather weak ctrl govt with more power to the people and the states. Agrarian economy, as above poster mentioned. Social, I guess more etiquette and less of a distinct aristocratic class I believe (I remember reading something about etiquette and simplicity in the executive office during his presidency). Hamiltonians believed in industry, a strong National Bank and increased national credit, strong central govt.
During the Federalist Era, events in other countries did much to shape the political party growth and domestic policy. How did American relations with England, France and Span affect the two political parties and how the government responded to these foreign influences. Jay’s Treaty w/ Britain regarding trade led to opposite against Feds. Feds were pro-Britain, Dem-Rep were pro-French. XYZ Affair with France led to close war, but Pres. Adams would not have it in accordance to Washington’s Neutrality Proclamation. This led to many attacks against Adams, leading him to pass Alien and Sedition Acts. These were hated and also led to the eventual downfall of the Federalist party.
Many historians view the War of 1812 as the “second war for independence”, but is this an accurate characterization? Sorta proved that the U.S. could defend itself. Also led to a spirit of Nationalism which indirectly led to a stronger economy, industrialization, an own American culture (contrasting with before, when American borrowed ideas from Britain), the Monroe Doctrine, the belief of Manifest Destiny, and pride in American products.
What happened to the Federalists? For the first decade under the Constitution, the Federalist Party held the nation together and 20 years later all but ceased to exist. Died. A lot of it had to do with what Adams did during his presidency and dissent between the Federalist stronghold in New England and the rest of the nation during the War of 1812.


…continued later b/c I HAVE to go to the bathroom right now!
okay, back


Explain Hamilton’s motives for proposing his plans for taxation, assumption and currency regulation and what it was in his motives which so upset Jefferson and Madison. Basically Hamilton wanted investors to have confidence in the economy. He wanted to bolster national credit, while maintaining some debt to keep investors tied to the American bank. Also he centralized the economy by creating a National Bank. (sorry for the ambiguity, I didn’t get much of this stuff when I read Founding Brothers or when we went over it in class) Jeffersonians hated this because they believed it was unconstitutional (didn’t explicitly state that Hamilton could create a National Bank in the Constitution). Madison didn’t like assumption because his state, VA, didn’t have much debt to begin with. Hamilton argued that the Constitution did not explicitly state that he could not do that (principle of elastic clause, loose interpretation of the Constitution rather than a Jeffersonian strict interpretation).