Reading
Assignment
Reading Quiz #1 - 25 pts - 13 multiple choice - 12 matching over Foner Chapter 5 - focus on vocabulary/terminology
1. Describe the roots and significance of the Stamp Act controversy.
2. Identify the key events that sharpened the divisions between Britain and the colonists in the late 1760s and early 1770s.
3. Identify the key events that marked the move toward American independence.
4. Explain how American forces were able to prevail in the Revolutionary War.
• Explain why colonists felt that the Stamp Act violated their liberty.
• How did the Stamp Act inadvertently serve to unite the colonies?
• How and why did many colonists come to believe that membership in the British empire was a threat to their freedom rather than the foundation of their freedom?
• Discuss Paine’s views on natural rights and the monarchy. What role did Common Sense play in American independence?
• What was the thesis or main argument of the Declaration of Independence? What evidence did it use to make its case? Why do you think so many colonists found it persuasive?
• How can Jefferson’s statement that “all men are created equal” be reconciled with the reality of slavery, social hierarchy, and mistreatment of Indians?
• Might the colonists have worked things out with the British, or was rebellion inevitable? What might the British have done to appease the colonists and avoid conflict?
• Discuss how the war affected slaves, depending on whether they fought for the British or the Americans. Also discuss the war’s effect on the particular states where slaves lived. How do you think the slaves could have brought themselves to fight for one side or the other?
• Imagine yourself as a leader in the United States between the revolution and the drafting of the Constitution. What were your considerations for things that needed to be addressed? Why?