Chapter 5: Seeds of Revolution !!

Chapter 5: Seeds of Revolution!! • What was the make up of the American population like in the 1760s? • How did King George III anger parliamentarians and confuse British policy? • What were some of the reasons for Britain’s uncooperative attitude toward the colonies? • How did the American view of representative democracy differ from the British view? • What did the Americans like about John Locke’s writings? • What was the purpose of ‘virtue’ in American public life? • Why did Britain maintain a standing army in North America? • How did American and British attitudes towards Native’s change after the Seven Years’ War?

Who was Pontiac and how did he expose the limited value of British troops in the colonies? • What did the Pontiac uprising mean for natives all over the frontier? • What was the Proclamation of 1763? • What was Grenville’s Sugar Act and what was its purpose? • What was the Stamp Act? • What was the “Virginia Resolves”? • What was the nature of the conflict according to Patrick Henry? • Which meeting took place in New York City in October 1765? Why was is significant? • What type of reaction did the Stamp Act receive from the general public? Why? • What was the Declaratory Act and how was it a response to colonial concerns? • Who was Charles Townshend and how did he contribute to the decline of British-Colonial relations?

What was the Quartering Act and how did it affect New York’s governor? • Why did the number 92 become a symbol of colonial defiance for British policies? • Why did Bostonians resent the presence of 4000 British troops in the city in 1770? • How did those opposed to British policy portray the “Boston Massacre” and how was their portrayal received by the people of the colonies? • Who was Lord North? • How did customs commissioners antagonize colonials during the early 1770s?

What did Samuel Adams propose in 1772 that received widespread support across the colonies? Why was this important? • What was the Tea Act and why was it created? • How did Americans respond to the Tea Act? Why? • What were the Coercive Acts and what were they called in the colonies?

Which types of “extralegal” bodies were formed by colonials to compensate for the lack of true popular government? • Where did the call for a Continental Congress originate? • Where was the Congress held and which colonies attended? • What decisions were reached during this first Congress? • What was a “minuteman”?

Why did General Gage send 1,000 soldiers toward Concord on the night of April 18, 1775? • What happened? • When and where did the Second Continental Congress meet? • What decisions did the Congress make with regards to conducting the war? • What was the Prohibitory Act? • Who was Thomas Paine and how did he affect the decision to declare independence?

What was the Olive Branch Petition and what was its purpose? • In the early stages of the war what did most Americans believe they were fighting for? • What caused them to change their opinoins? • What evidence was there that the Second Continental Congress was taking steps towards an open declaration of independence from Britain? • Why is the Declaration of Independence considered one of the most influential political documents in history? • How did the Declaration of Independence actually help with the Colonial’s war efforts?

Describe the historiography of the causes of the Revolution. • What were the Articles of Confederation? • What was the central weakness of the Articles? • Why did the Continental army have to rely on British and French weapons and equipment? • What challenges did Congress face in paying for the war? • What measures did they implement to try and solve the problem? • What were the results?

Describe the situation in Boston following the fighting at Lexington and Concord. • What happened at Bunker Hill? • Why did the British decide to evacuate Boston on March 17, 1776? • Why did Benedict Arnold lead an American invasion of Canada and lay siege to Quebec? • What was the result of Benjamin Franklin’s attempt to convince the Canadian colonies to join the rebellion?

What was General Howe’s attitude toward the colonials? • Which city did the British target for invasion in the summer of 1776? • How large was the force they assembled and of what quality was the force George Washington brought to oppose them? • Was Washington’s defense of New York successful? • Why was he criticized for the attempt to hold Fort Washington? • Why did Paine refer to the late fall and early winter of 1776 as the “times that try men’s souls”? • What took place at Trenton New Jersey on Christmas night 1776?

What was the significance of the victory at Trenton, combined with the wide release of Paine’s American Crisis? • What was the British strategy for 1777? • How did Howe change the strategy? • What was his purpose in attacking Philadelphia? • What was the impact of Howe’s change of plans on General Burgoyne’s operations in the north? • What was the actual and perceived importance of the American victory at Saratoga? • Who was to blame for Britain’s failure to achieve victory during this stage of the war? • What role did the native population play in this stage of the war?

What were some of the challenges that faced some of America’s ‘amateur’ diplomats? • When and why did France recognize the United States as a sovereign nation? • What role had Benjamin Franklin played in this diplomatic victory? • What were the terms of the Treaty of Alliance? • What did France contribute to the war effort? • Why did Great Britain shift its military efforts to the southern colonies? • Who replaced General Howe as commander of British forces in America? • What did he do with his army?

Did the British have any success in their war in the south? • What challenges did they face from patriot forces? • Why did the British not gain effective support from Loyalist militias in the South? • How did the British promise of emancipation for runaway slaves affect the war? • What happened to General Gates? • Who replaced him? • How did Greene “confuse and exasperate” General Cornwallis? • Why were the battles of the Cowpens and Guilford Courthouse important? • Why did Cornwallis retreat to Yorktown? • What was Washington’s plan for Cornwallis?

How was Cornwallis forced to surrender at Yorktown on October 19, 1781? • What role did the French play at Yorktown? • What was the main reason for France’s delay in reaching a settlement with Britain? • How did the American representatives manage to get around the French reluctance? • What were the terms of the 1783 Treaty of Paris? • Which types of people were the Loyalists? • What happened to the Loyalists during and after the war? • Which religious groups suffered as a result of the war? • Which religion gained strength because of the war?

How had the war changed the demographics of the southern states such as South Carolina? • How did the Revolutionary rhetoric about freedom impact the African American population of the United States? • How did this affect southern slave owners? • Was there a contradiction between the rhetoric and the actions of Patriots regarding slavery? • What role did most Native American tribes play in the war? • Of those that did get involved, which side did the usually support and why? • How did the Patriot victory impact the Native American population?

How did the war affect the lives of many colonial women? • What view did General Washington and many of his officers have of the female “camp followers”? • What was their overall effect? • Did the war change the fundamental nature of family dynamics in American households? • Did it have any impact on gender relations? • Did the importance of women as mothers change as a result of the war? Why?

What is a privateer and how did Americans make use of them during the war? • How did the war both hinder and help the growth of the American economy? • Why were the Thirteen Colonies able to win their independence from Great Britain?

Chapter 6 • Why did the states feel the need to draft constitutions to replace their old colonial charters? • Why did the states feel it essential that these constitutions be explicitly worded documents? • What three fundamental freedoms did most states specifically affirm? • How did the role of governor fair in many new constitutions?

Where did most states concentrate governmental power? Why? • How were the elected members of the assemblies of the newly constituted states differ from previous assemblies? • Why was the Massachusetts constitution exceptional? • What sort of plan for confederation did John Dickinson’s committee present on July 12, 1776? • How did the Articles of Confederation compare to Dickinson’s original plan? • How did the population at large feel about the idea of central government?

Contrast the attitudes of “landless” states with those that claimed vast western territories? What was their main point of contention? • In 1781 the states settled their dispute over western lands. How did they do it, and what arrangement did they come up with? • What was Thomas Jefferson’s plan to solve the Northwest Territory issue? • What role did land speculators play in trying to solve the problem of the territories? • What were the challenges surrounding the orderly development of the western frontier? • Ultimately, what were the provisions of the Northwest Ordinance?

How did the American economic situation lead to criticism of the Confederation? • Who were the most prominent nationalists and what did they want? • Did they meet with much success in the early 1780s? • What was the Newburgh Conspiracy and how did it end? • Why did Great Britain refuse to evacuate its soldiers from the Northwest Territory? • Why did Spain close the Mississippi to American trade? What was the impact? • What were some of the symptoms of Congress’ lack of power through the mid 1780s? • How did many Revolutionary leaders’ opinions about the nature of government change in the 1780s? • How did James Madison’s vision of a federal republic differ from Montesquieu’s?

How did nationalists finagle Congress into calling a constitutional convention in May 1787? • What was Shay’s Rebellion and how did it give Madison ammunition for his argument for a strong national government? • What sorts of men attended the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia? • What important procedural decisions did the members of the Constitutional Conventions make? • What was the Virginia Plan? What was the New Jersey Plan? How did they differ?

How did the “grand committee” solve the impasse between large and small states? • What was the “three-fifths” rule? • How did the convention deal with the issue of slavery? • What was the job of the Committee of Detail? • How did the electoral college work? • How did the Convention get around the possibility of state houses blocking passage of the constitution?

What clever decision did the proponents of the constitution make with regards to naming their group? • What other advantages did the Federalists possess over their opponents? • What was the “localist perspective” of the Antifederalists? • By which date had all the states ratified the new constitution? • How did the Bill of Rights come into existence? • What rights does it protect?

Chapter 5: Seeds of Revolution !!