Don't Know Much About History 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."

Thomas Jefferson saw the importance of preventing the government from taking too much power. A rebellion would frighten the people in power cause they don’t want to many rebellions.

2) Why did Shay's Rebellion happen?

The new government was taking away the rights of the farmers, they were being sent to court and jail and they were being taxed.

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

A slave count as 3/5 of a person because the slave owners didn’t think they had a right to vote but they wanted the slaves to count for their senate vote. There would be a Bill of Rights.

4) What was the Virginia Plan?

Becomes the Constitution with some compromises; New Jersey did not like the Virginia Plan. James Madison came up with the Virginia plan.

5) "No person held in service" was a euphemism for what?

Slaves.

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

A bill must be passed before it can become a law. The president can check congress by vetoing, or rejecting, the bill. However, congress can then check the president by overriding, or voting down, the veto. And for the judicial system the president appoints the Supreme Court justices but the senate has to approve the appointments.

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

John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison. They wrote them to state their side about wanting a central government. They were backing up the ratification of the constitution. It was a debate.

8) Briefly outline the first ten amendments.

Separation of Church and State; The right to bear arms, Soldiers cannot be housed in a private home without the consent of the owner; The right to be free from “unreasonable search and seizure”; Provides for laws concerning prosecution, Grantees the right to a speedy public trial in the district where the crime has been committed; Grantees trial by jury; Prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment”; Defines the rule of the construction of the constitution; Grantees that any powers not specifically delegated to federal government or denied to the states and the constitution rest with the state or the people.

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

White men with land.

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

It is a secret dinner decision between Jefferson, Hamilton, and Madison. Madison and wanted to insure that the capitol was close to Virginia to make sure that Virginia still had power Hamilton wanted the two to back his bank he didn’t care where the capitol was.

11) What did Jay's Treaty do?

It eliminated British control of Western Posts, increased trade between countries and averted another war until 1812.

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

The farmers rebelled because their whiskey was being taxed. George Washington led 13,000 troops to fight the rebels who were more then he had led in the revolution.

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

It was the tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, Hamilton persuaded one man to vote for Jefferson because he despised Jefferson but he despised Burr more.

14) Who was John Marshall?

John Adams placed him in the Supreme Court and he makes the supreme court what it is today. The people who held his position before were only there for a couple years but Marshall was there for 35.

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

After losing Haiti Napoleon realizes he needs to worry about affairs in Europe rather than creating colonies and fighting in America.

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

Jefferson sent them to explore the west. A French-Canadian trapper and his Indian wife Sacagawea who acted as guides and interpreters joined them. They went through present day Indiana and then headed up to Missouri and then went on to North Dakota, and continued exploring the west and then returned home.

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

He made Burr lose his spot as president and as governor, causing a successful political destruction of Burr. Well yes in a sense, challenging Hamilton should have been expected by what he did to Burr but Burr betraying the United States was not right. Hamilton was killed and Burr’s plan to take over and create a new empire failed.

18) What was Jefferson's Embargo Act? Why was it unpopular and what was it supposed to do?

The Embargo act prohibited all exports into America as economic retaliation for the British impressment policy and as a means to keep America out of the war. It was very unpopular.

19) What did Tecumseh try and do?

He tried to unite the native groups because he envisioned a vast Indian confederacy strong enough to keep the Ohio River as a border between Indians and White (prevent further westward expansion.)

20) Describe the Battle of Tippecanoe?

In occurred at the junction of Tippecanoe and Wabash Rivers, The Indians inflicted heavy losses but were eventually pushed and all of their recourses were destroyed. And the prophet’s use of invincible magic was destroyed.

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

Both sides agreed on a truce and neither side lost or gained anything.

22) Describe the Battle of New Orleans.

It was a very lopsided War. British suffered more than 2000 dead, while the US casualties were 8 dead and a small number wounded.

23) What did the Monroe Doctrine state?

It declared that the United States would not tolerate interventions in the Americas by European nations. Or that the US would not interfere with already established colonies or with government sin in Europe.

24) What was the Missouri Compromise?

Missouri would be considered a slave state even though it was in the north.

25) How was the election of 1824 decided? Why was it called a "corrupt bargain"?

It was between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, the head of the congress, pushed to Make John Quincy Adams president and when Adams won Henry clay received a spot in the presidents cabinet. So it seems like a bargain.

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

Trail of Tears, Jacksonian Democracy, Became the new idol of the American common man, Makes voting open to white men who didn’t own land as well.

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?

Yes he was he continued pushing the Indians westward making a ton of treaties which really didn’t help the natives at all it only helped the Americans. They called him long knife. He fought in the battle of 1812, and the creek war, and the first Seminole war. He told them that unless they completely adapt the American culture they must leave.

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

Jackson invited the new American spirit, and became idol of ambitious jingostick younger man who called himself a democrat. He came from poverty; he was an orphan at age 16 he was the last person to fight in the revolution because he was a runner and a spy as a child.

constitution questions

1) What are the three branches of government and what are the powers of each?

Legislative Branch: This is the law making branch. Congress is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. (each states representation is proportional the size of their population, and in the senate each state has 2 members.) Congress collects taxes, coins money, regulates trade, and can declare war and raises support for armies.

Executive Branch: Is headed by the president, to carry out the nations laws and policies. President is the commander and chief of armed forces and conducts relations with foreign countries. The president along with the vice president are elected by the electoral college made up of presidential electors.

Judicial Branch: It's the court system, resides in one supreme court and any other federal courts that congress establishes. These courts hear cases involving the constitution, laws passed by congress, and disputes between states.

2) How can these branches check and balance each other?

A bill must be passed before it can become a law. The president can check congress by vetoing, or rejecting, the bill. However, congress can then check the president by overriding, or voting down, the veto. And for the judicial system the president appoints the supreme court justices but the senate has to approve the appointments.

3) What were the compromises to the constitution?

Each Enslaved Person was counted for 3/5 of a person for both taxation and representation, there would be 2 house legislatures, not until 1808 could slave trade be interfered with, and there be a bill of rights.

4) Who wrote the Federalist papers?

James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay.

5) What was the Bill of Rights? Why did some states demand its inclusion before they ratified the constitution?

It was a bill that protected individual freedom, the Anti federalists believed that no government could be trusted to protect the freedom if its citizens without one.

6) What were the anti-federalists main fears about the constitution?

They thought it would take away the liberties Americans had fought to win from Great Britain. They thought it would ignore the will of the states and the people and favor the wealthy few over the common people.

Revolutionary War Questions

1) What rebel leaders does Paul Revere ride at midnight to warn?
He was an alarm rider, and it took him in the same direction that the British were going to march. He awoke every house until he go to Lexington where he found the friend he wished to warn.

2) In detail, describe how the battle of Concord looked?
The minute men were formed, 77 of the militia men and the minute men were ready to fight in Concord rather then Lexington, Someone fired a shot and the war was started, 8 colonists dies and 2 were wounded and none of the British were wounded. Militia Men and minutemen killed British soldiers on the Concord Bridge, but the real fight started on the way back to Boston. The British were fired on from all sides and the number of the Colonists were increasing while the British was decreasing.

3) Why was the Revolutionary War the most important event in U.S. History?
It not only legally created the nation in 1776 it formed the belief in freedom. It was the War of Americans independence and it also forms the aspects of how we are today. All of the wonderful attributes about the United States are represented in the Revolutionary war.

4) How many cities over 10,000 where there in America at the time of the Revolution?
4

5) Describe the country before the Revolutionary War? Why might not we, in the 21st century, recognize it?
It was completely wooded, the land was cheap and there was a lot of it. Spread out. Everything was next to the water.

6) Why was James Otis important?
Imposed taxes, his writings were the inspiration for john Adams and Sam Adams. He was the closest thing they had to a revolutionist. He inspired John Adams with his writing.

7) What was Samuel Adams known for?
Wanted to make it to the top of the political economic latter. Started a group called the Sons of Liberty.

8) Describe the Patriotic Leaders.
They did whatever they wanted and all they wanted. They were very ambitious and wanted to win.

9) What percent of the population, according to John Adams, wanted liberty?
Like 1/3 of the population.

10) Discuss how the events of the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party lead to the Revolutionary War.
The Boston Massacre was just a way to get more people on the colonists side. They Provoked the British to fire, which made them look bad. And British soldiers were removed from Boston. The Boston Tea Party Just made both parties extremely angry and kind of triggered the war because Britain wanted to fight back

Zinn post sorry its a little late.

In this chapter Zinn talks a lot about those in the war who weren’t as fortunate as the White Men, the Men who didn’t get the slack and the rewards as the white men did. There were many slaves and poor white men who never really got the reward for fighting the hardest in the war. During the revolution many poor white farmers left their farms to go fight in the war to just come home and be in debt. So pretty much the only people who came out of the war happy and rewarded were the Rich white men. Only the slaves in the North were allowed to fight and that where the majority of the war took place because the south didn’t really want to get involved. After the war ended slaves felt the need to start fighting for there freedom and getting more rights. Natives were pushed West and were facing terrible fates since the French and Indian war. This chapter also played into the Constitution when they wrote it they were really only writing it for the rich white men. Women, blacks, and Indians didn’t have any say. Which caused more conflict within the colonies. So even though they had gotten there freedom from the British things were not solved in the colonies.

Second question for the French and Indian war movie

1) Why do only the Mohawk agree to fight with General Johnson?
No other natives wanted to shed blood in a white mans war.

2) What are the results of the Battle of Lake George?
The Mohawks saw there fellow mohawks who were fighting with the French and they tried to prevent the war from happening but it was too late, and day long battle ended with the british forcing the French to retreat. 30 indians were killed and 150 colonial men. The mohwaks leave to mourn there dead.

3) For what purposes did the Native Americans take captive? (List three)
1. as ransom
2.a replacement for warriors killed in battle
3. weapon against encroachers

4) Why is the story of Mary Jemison presented? What purpose does it serve?
Her story was presented to show what happened to the captives that the natives took. For example if they felt they had to many they would scalp them like they did to Mary Jemisons family.

5) Do you agree with Washington's disciplinary practices on deserters? Why or why not?
I think that it was good that he was trying to earn his soldiers respect but i think that his way of going about it was a little extreme. I know things worked a lot differently back then but he could have found some other way to earn there respect and make them work harder.

6) Who is Montcalm and why doesn't he like the Natives?
He was a french commander, and he saw the natives as savages. The indians ways were so much more different then the french and he did not like that he also said that in order to work them you have to be extremely patient because they prepared for things slowly.

7) What are the Native Americans code of honor? How does this differ from the Europeans' Code of War?
They were supposed to take the victims captives in order to replace who they lost in battle and they also took belongings of the deceased as like a prize for there winnings. European ways were much more civil they just left the remnents of the soldiers which was much more respectful.

8) Discuss the culture clash that happens at Fort William Henry.
After the fight the french and the british had a banquet which upset the natives because that was not how they did things. The French were also not going to let the natives harass the British as they left the fort but the natives did anyway.

French&Indian War questions

1) Why is George Washington partially responsible for the start of the French and Indian War?
He attacked a group of French men who were on a diplomatic mission, and he didn't know there reasoning for being there he just attacked. That is what caused the war because the half king found a way to blame his massacre on George Washington because George Washington started it.

2) Who was Half-King?
Indian leader, who allied with the English and the beginning also allied with the french. he caused a massacre that George Washington started. He was called the half king because of his limited authority with the Iroquois nation. His people thought that he should ally with the French but he thought it would be more beneficial to ally with the British.

3) Why did Half-King murder/massacre the French?
He had agreed to give the English some land at the forks of Ohio but when the French found this out they forced them out which made the Half-King very angry. He was embarrassed and he wanted the french to back off so he sent them a message when he massacred those french men and he knew the blame would be put on George Washington because he started the battle.

4) Who was in the right? The French, The English or The Native Americans?
I would have to say that both the natives and the English were right. The half-kings actions were wrong when he was embarrassed but i think that the french didn't have the right to push the English out. The land belonged to the Natives and they agreed to give some of it to the English and it was there call.

Questions on page 113 and 106

So i thought i posted this on the blog but then i remembered that i couldn't because i couldn't but the chart on it so i am printing it out and giving it to you fielding. Sorry it is on my blog though as a draft.

Comprehension questions

3.) They left Europe and traveled to the new land because they disagreed with the religious choices in Europe. There intentions were to find a new place to practice there Puritan religion.

4.) The Puritans thought that the land belonged to who ever built a permanent settlement on it. The Puritan men did most of the labor and the food gathering, and the woman did the housework and the cleaning. The Pequot women did a lot of the labor like food gathering, the men and women were equal to the Pequots. The Puritan men thought that the men were lazy and the women did all the work and the Pequots thought that the puritans babied the women. The Indians did not practice genocide like the English did, they never kill everyone they spared woman and children, but the Puritans would kill everyone.

5.) In order for there to be trade there has to be some kind of relationship they can't absolutely hate each other or it probably won't work out. When it comes to land people get greedy and they just want more and more land so they just start taking over and in that they get more land. The Dutch purpose was to become friends with the natives so the trading would work out and the English's purpose was to get more land and not care who they push out of it.

12.) After the massacre the English wanted the Pequots to be completely gone from existence, and so they wrote a treaty that stated that. So far a long time there Pequots were supposedly not there when really there were Pequots still around, and then the remaining Pequots lived on a reservation that eventually grew and became its own society, so the Pequot rebuilt there culture and become an extremely successful society.

1.) John Winthrop wanted everything to be perfect, and he wanted everyone to agree with the puritan religion, which ment those who don't agree with it would be punished, i think you can't make everyone believe the exact same thing which makes it impossible. Everyone has to be the same.

2.) He has put the entire puritan society above everybody else, what they believe and what they think is right and everyone watching them should know that the eyes watching them are everyone not in the puritan society, watching them do the "right thing".

3.) I think that in this speech he was kind of talking about the natives. He wanted them to believe what they believed and since they didn't they were considered savages and pretty much terrible people since his plan of making everyone believe the same thing failed he had to completely wipe them out because they were supposedly wrong.

Extended Activities:

The Narragansetts escaped the epidemics for the most part. Smaller tribes suffered losses and the survivors became a part of the Narragansett tribe. The first documented contact with the Narragansetts took place in 1524 when Giovanni de Verrazano came to Rhode Island. The Narragansetts were one of the most powerful tribes in the area and offered protection to other tribes in exchange for goods or services. They had winter homes and summer homes. In the summer they would move inland for hunting, and in the winter they lived near the shore. Their culture was very similar to that of the Pequots, but they didn’t fare so badly in the wars. They tried to ally with the English rather than immediately being against them.
Scientific evidence shows Mohegan presence in Connecticut for over 10,000 years. At the time of European contact they were part of the Pequot tribe, but they soon separated. Mohegan means “wolf clan” in their language. Men were hunters and went to war. Women were farmers and also did most of the childcare and cooking. Both were storytellers and took part in art, medicine and music. Chiefs were men. Children had a lot of chores, and played games and with homemade dolls. The Mohegans favored collaboration with the English and became friends with them, starting an uneasy alliance. True to their word, they helped the English defeat the Pequots. This alliance kept the Mohegan people relatively safe during white vs. native wars.

Howard Zinn/ A Peoples History of the United States

All throughout school we have learned that Columbus was a courageous man who founded America which is why we celebrated Columbus day. Recently, thanks to Howard Zinn we have learned something new about Columbus. According to Zinn he was a greedy man who treated the natives terribly. In fact millions of the natives died because of Columbus's treatment; some couldn't handle the temperature change when taken back to Europe, other died working all the time, and then there were those who would rather kill themselves then die while working for him. Howard Zinn's objective for this book is to tell people what it was like for "the other guys". The people who our so called "heroes" were fighting against or mistreating. I really like the fact that we are going to learn about history from different perspectives. There is no way in telling that we are going to learn the whole truth in everything that happened but its nice to learn about how the other people felt.