References are to The American People: Creating a Nation and a Society, but questions address issues addressed in lecture as well as the main textbook.

See also the questions in Retrieving the American Past.

Chapter 1. THREE WORLDS MEET

1. What is meant by the term "Eurocentrism"?

2. What was Native American culture like before the coming of the Europeans? How did they live, work, worship, fight, etc.?

3. What happened to the Native American population in the 150 years after the coming of the Europeans? Why did it happen?

4. What was West African culture and civilization like circa the year1500?

5. What basic motives prompted Europeans to launch what they later called the "Age of Discovery"?

6. What was the Spanish colonial system like? In what ways did it differ from the English colonial system?

7. Should Christopher Columbus be remembered as a hero, a villain, a great explorer, or the man who helped unleash a catastrophe on the native peoples of America? Is it appropriate to make moral judgments about historical individuals or events? Why or why not?

Chapter 2. COLONIZING A CONTINENT

8. What were the two main motives for English settlement of North America? Identify three colonies closely associated with the first motive and three associated with the second one.

9. Explain the role of the London (Virginia) Company in establishing a colony in Virginia.

10. In its early years the Jamestown settlement struggled along. What important staple crop finally put it on its economic feet?

11. Beginning in 1618-1619, the London Company tried new measures to encourage large-scale immigration to Virginia. What were these measures? How did they work? Were they successful?

12. What were the main differences between the Separatists (Pilgrims) and the Puritans?

13. When and why did the Puritans decide to settle in America? What was the significant feature of their charter?

14. The government established by the Puritans was neither democratic--although it allowed many adult males to vote; nor theocratic--although the clergy exercised a great deal of influence over the colony. Explain how the Puritan system of government worked.

15. Who were Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson? What does their fate say about the nature of Puritan society?

16. What is the difference between an "indentured servant" and a "slave"? Why did these two systems of forced labor develop in the Southern colonies? Why did slavery persist even when indentured servitude declined? (For this question, see Chapter 3 as well.)

17. Compare and contrast the Puritans and the Quakers. In what ways were they alike? In what ways were they dissimilar?

Chapter 3. MASTERING THE NEW WORLD, and Chapter 4. THE MATURING OF COLONIAL SOCIETY

18. By 1700 the English colonists had begun to exhibit a distinctly "American" character. What were the main features of this character and how did New World conditions influence their formation?

19. New Englanders tended to live longer than persons in England (and, for that matter, the southern colonies). Why was this the case? What effect did this have on the creation of strong, stable communities? For what other reasons did New England tend to have stronger communities than other colonies?

20. What role did family life play in New England society?

21. The status of women in New England tended to be better than in Europe. Why was this the case? In what ways were women still restricted?

22. The high death rate suffered in early Virginia, more than any other factor, created a society far different from the one that evolved in New England. What were the main outlines of this society? Compare it to the society that evolved in New England.

23. How did the cultivation of tobacco prepare the way for the introduction of a slave system? How did tobacco cultivation influence population distribution in Virginia?

24. Until the 1670s, the legal status of slavery was somewhat murky. During that time new laws were established and African Americans increasingly were considered slaves for life. What were the other main features of the new slave laws?

25. What was it like to be a slave in colonial America?

26. What was mercantilism? How did the Navigation Acts relate to mercantilism, and what were these acts designed to accomplish?

27. What is the symbolic significance of the term "triangle trade"?

You do not need to invest much effort on the section of Chapter 3 called "An Era of Instability," except for the subsection on the Salem Witch Trials.

28. What can the Salem Witch Trials tell us about Puritan society in the late 17th century?

29. Between 1700 and 1770, the population of the colonies rose from 250,000 to 2,000,000. Where did all those people come from?

30. Colonists tended to resent English regulations on trade. Why?

31. What were the main hallmarks of the Enlightenment? What was its effect on American intellectual life?

32. What was "the Great Awakening"? What influence did it have on American society?

33. Explain the difference between "Old Light" and "New Light."

34. How did the English political system really work in the 18th century? How did the colonists think it worked?

35. American colonists liked to think that their own systems of government were similar to the British parliamentary system. They weren't. Why did the Americans believe this? In what ways were they mistaken?

Chapter 5. BURSTING THE COLONIAL BONDS, and Chapter 6. A PEOPLE IN REVOLUTION

36. What were the main results of the British victory during the Seven Years (French and Indian) War?

37. How did victory in the Seven Years (French and Indian) War contribute to tension between the colonies and Great Britain?

38. What is meant by "salutary neglect"? Why did the British government adopt this policy in the early colonial period? When and why did this policy end? What policy replaced it?

39. By 1765, American colonists had acquired a different view of the English government than the view possessed by the English. How and why did this different viewpoint evolve?

40. What is the difference between "virtual" and "direct" representation? What role did this difference play in the crisis of 1763-1775?

41. What was the Proclamation of 1763? Why did the British government believe it was wise? Why did the colonists dislike it so much?

42. Get to know the basic facts about the following terms: Stamp Act, Declaratory Act, Townshend Duties, Tea Act, Coercive (Intolerable) Acts. What was the British government trying to accomplish by the passage of these acts?

43. In what ways did the colonists resist the acts mentioned above?

44. The War for Independence began in April 1775 with the battles at Lexington and Concord. Yet it was more than a year--July 1776--before the Second Continental Congress declared independence from Great Britain. Why didn't this event occur sooner?

45. What role did Thomas Paine's pamphlet, Common Sense, play on the independence debate?

46. What was the main significance of the Battle of Saratoga?

47. What was the main significance of the Battle of Yorktown?

48. Who were the Loyalists? What happened to many thousands of them after the American Revolution?

49. What were the main provisions of the Peace of Paris, signed in 1783?

50. What was the impact of the American Revolution on Native Americans? African Americans? White women? White male laborers with little property?

Chapter 7. CONSOLIDATING THE REVOLUTION

51. What is meant by the term "republicanism"? [Note: Make sure you understand the difference between "republicanism" or "republican ideals"--terms that refer to a body of political principles or beliefs--and the Republican party created by the Jeffersonians.]

52. What was the impact of republican ideals on social and political reform? On slavery? On women?

53. Why did American states adopt written constitutions?

54. What provisions did the states make for the preservation of individual liberties?

55. Historically, what had been the fate of most previous republics? How did Americans hope to avoid that fate?

56. What were the Articles of Confederation?

57. Although the Confederation arrangement failed after a few years, it did boast one major achievement. What was it?

58. What were the main weaknesses of the Confederation arrangement?

59. How did Shays's rebellion illuminate one weakness of the Confederation arrangement?

60. What new powers did the Constitution grant the central government?

61. What was the Virginia Plan? The New Jersey Plan?

62. What was the Great Compromise?

63. What about the Three-fifths Compromise?

64. Who were the Federalists? The Anti-Federalists? [Note: Make sure you understand the distinction between the term "Federalist" as it applies to the ratification of the Constitution and "Federalist" as it applies to a follower of Alexander Hamilton.]

Chapter 8. CREATING A NATION.

65. What important precedents did George Washington establish as first President?

66. What were the main differences between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson in terms of their political philosophies?

67. In what ways did Hamilton believe a national bank would help the new government? Why did Jeffersonians oppose this plan?

68. What was the fate of Hamilton's Report on Manufacturing?

69. Why were Jeffersonians so uncomfortable with Hamilton's economic policies?

70. How did the French Revolution divide Americans and contribute to the development of party politics?

71. What were the provisions of Jay's Treaty (1795) and why was it so divisive?

72. How did Federalists and Jeffersonians view the Whiskey Rebellion?

73. What is revealed by the contrast between Shays's Rebellion and the Whiskey Rebellion?

74. What were the two main things that Washington warned against in his Farewell Address?

75. What was the XYZ Affair?

76. What were the main arguments in favor of the Sedition Act? How did Jeffersonians respond to them?

77. What was the most remarkable feature of Jefferson's election in1800?

Chapter 9. SOCIETY AND POLITICS IN THE EARLY REPUBLIC

78. What were three important measures taken by President Thomas Jefferson to cleanse the Federal government?

79. Why did Jefferson believe agricultural life was essential to political liberty?

80. What were the goals of federal policy toward Native Americans? In what ways did these goals conflict?

81. What was the significance of Marbury v. Madison?

82. Why were relations between Great Britain and the United States so tense during the period 1792-1812?

83. Was the Embargo Act of 1807 a success? Why or why not?

84. Who were the "War Hawks"? What did they hope to accomplish by declaring war upon Great Britain?

85. How did the Hartford Convention affect the Federalist Party?

86. What were the main outcomes of the War of 1812?

Chapter 10. CURRENTS OF CHANGE IN THE NORTHEAST AND THE OLD NORTHWEST

87. What three basic phases has the American economy gone through? What were the main features of each phase?

88. What was the "Market Revolution"? What were the five main developments that gave rise to it?

89. In what ways did western expansion influence the Market Revolution?

90. What was the transportation revolution and how did it affect the Market Revolution?

91. What is industrialization? In parts of the United States did industrialization take hold in the period between 1830 and 1860.

92. Why was the invention of the cotton gin so important?

93. What was the "Lowell system"?

94. In what ways did government (both federal and state) support the Market Revolution?

95. Was the Market Revolution a good thing for skilled craftsmen? Why or why not?

[Skip, for the moment, Chapter 11, SLAVERY AND THE OLD SOUTH.]

Chapter 12. SHAPING AMERICA IN THE ANTEBELLUM AGE

96. In what ways did the United States become more democratic during the early 19th century? Why did this happen?

97. What groups remained excluded from political participation?

98. Why is Andrew Jackson considered such an exemplar of the rise of democracy during this period?

99. What was the "Trail of Tears"?

100. What was the Nullification Crisis and how did it come about? What did the Nullifiers hope to accomplish?

101. In what way does nullification relate to the issues discussed by De Tocqueville in the packet selection?

102. What was the "Bank War" and what were the main issues involved? How did the Bank War contribute to the rise of the Second Party System?

103. In what main ways did Whigs and Democrats differ?

104. Why did the Market Revolution make Americans uncomfortable? How did they respond to their discomfort?

105. In what ways did the Second Great Awakening contribute to the reform movements of the early 19th century?

106. What changes occurred in marriage, sex roles, and family life during the early 19th century? How did the Market Revolution influence these changes?

107. Why did public education become important during the early 19thcentury?

108. What was the discovery of the asylum? What were the assumptions about people and society that influenced this discovery? What instititutions (e.g., prisons) did it affect?

109. Why did Americans drink so much during the early 19th century and why were women so involved in the temperance movement?

110. What was abolitionism? About how many Americans considered themselves abolitionists? What effect did the abolitionist movement have on women's rights?

SLAVERY (includes material from Nash, Chs.3, 6 and 11)

111. When and why did slavery originate in the American colonies?

112. How did it develop?

113. What was the effect of the American Revolution on slavery?

114. What economic factors reinforced the institution of slavery, especially in the Deep South?

115. What kinds of misgivings did Americans have about slavery?

116. When and why did the abolitionist movement emerge?

117. What effect did Nat Turner's Rebellion have on white Southerners?

118. How many Southerners actually owned slaves?

119. What was the political and social status of the large slaveholders--the planter class--in the South?

120. What is meant by "herrenvolk democracy"?

121. What was it like to be a slave?

122. How did slaves manage to retain a sense of community?

123. In what ways did slaves resist their enslavement?

THE SECTIONAL CONFLICT AND THE CIVIL WAR (Nash,Chs. 7, 9, 13, 14, 15)

124. At what points did the issue of slavery intrude into national political life (e.g., the Constitutional Convention, the Missouri Compromise)?

125. What efforts were made to keep the issue of slavery out of national politics?

126. Why was this considered of such importance?

127. What effect did the outcome of the Mexican War have on slavery as a political issue?

128. How successful was the Compromise of 1850?

129. What was "popular sovereignty"? What was its relationship to "Bleeding Kansas"?

130. What was the impact of the Dred Scott Decision? John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry?

131. Why did the South secede in 1860-1861?

132. Why did the Lincoln administration adopt a conciliatory policy toward the South during the war's first year?

133. When and why did the Lincoln administration emancipate the slaves?

134. What effect did emancipation have on the conductof the Civil War?

135. In what ways did the Union and Confederategovernments attempt to meet the demands of the Civil War in terms of manpower mobilization, financing and supplying the armies, and repressing dissent?

POSSIBLE 30-MINUTE ESSAY QUESTIONS:

SAMPLE ESSAY QUESTIONS

Think about the following essay questions. They may help you to focus on some of the larger conceptual issues involved in the course.

1. One of the most important outcomes of the colonial period was the development of a clearly distinguishable American character. Examine the conditions of North American life and the traits to which they gave rise. Why did America become more than just another Europe? Your answer should address such matters as the physical environment, the availabilityof natural resources, and new patterns of social interaction created during the period 1607-1740.

2. What were the origins of the American Revolution? Discuss British policies that antagonized the Americans, the British motives for instituting them, the colonists' motives and reasons for opposing those policies, and the methods used by both sides to "win" the conflict. Who, in your opinion, had right on its side: the British or the Americans? Or can blame for the conflict be assigned to both?

3. What, aside from producing American independence, was the significance of the American Revolution? Was it essentially a conservative rebellion designed to preserve American society as it had existed before Great Britain attempted to exert greater administrative control over the colonies? Or did it--as one historian has maintained--transform "a monarchical society into a democratic society unlike any that had ever existed"? In either case, which groups were included within the social and political order that resulted from the Revolution? Which groups were excluded? Why?

4. Assess the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, then explain how the framers of the Constitution sought to remedy these weaknesses. Using the concept of republicanism and the historical track record of previous republics as your guide, discuss the dangers inherent in a stronger central government. How did the framers attempt to address these dangers?

5. Compare and contrast Alexander Hamilton's and Thomas Jefferson's visions and programs for the new republic's society and economy. In what direction did each want the nation to move? What specific steps did each propose to promote his goals? Which do you feel had the most significant impact on the future development of the nation? Why?

6. During the 1820s and 1830s, "democracy" emerged as the term favored by most Americans to describe the ideal of their political system. Why were Americans uncomfortable with that description until the early 19th century? For what reasons did they become assured--even enthusiastic--about "democracy" as a guiding principle of American life? To what extent was the term an appropriate description of American life, and what were the main characteristics of American political values during this period?

7. Many Americans found the period between 1820and 1850 an exciting but troublesome time of rapid change in their society. Briefly describe some of the political, religious, social and economic changes that occurred during this period, the misgivings they aroused among a significant portion of American society, and the efforts made by reformers to address the problems generated by the period. Your response should display an understanding of the significant interconnections between the various reform movements.

8. Discuss the relationship between religion and reform in the antebellum period (1830-1860). Be sure to explain the reasons for the religious revival in the early 19th century, the reasons for the link between revival and the reform impulse, and the nature of the reformmovements involved. Which reform movements grew out of the religious revival of the antebellum period? How were they influenced by their evangelical origins?

9. During the period 1770-1830, the nature and importance of American slavery underwent a significant transition. What were the main political, economic and social changes in American life that contributed to this transition?

10. Many historians have argued that the collapse of the Second Party System in the 1850s was a major contributing factor in making further sectional compromise impossible and civil war inevitable. What were the main events that led to the collapse of this system? What new party system emerged from the collapse? Why was the new party system unable to avert civil war?

11. At the start of the Civil War, the United States government's announced purpose for fighting was to restore the Union. Later, emancipation of the slaves became a second war aim. Trace the evolution of Union war aims. Why was emancipation not an original Union objective? How and why did it eventually become one? What was its significance for the outcome of the war?

12. Most secessionists believed that the Confederacy embodied the true political, social and economic values of the original American republic. Do you think they were right? Your response should address the nature of that republic during the 1780s and 1790s and the ways in which it had changed by 1860, the year South Carolina voted to leave the Union. You will also need to address the nature of the antebellum South (i.e., the South during the period 1832-1860). In what respects was the antebellum South similar to the American republic as it originally existed? In what respects was it different?

13. A group of Union soldiers marching through South Carolina in 1865 halt for a lunch break beside a monument commemorating the Revolutionary War. They begin to discuss the cause for which they are now fighting in light of the cause for which their revolutionary forebears fought. What do you imagine them saying to one another? Your response should address republican ideology, "free labor" ideology, and the historical difficulties of maintaining a republic.

14. At his inaugural address on February 22, 1862,Confederate president Jefferson Davis noted that it was George Washington's birthday. He went on to say: "Fellow-citizens, after the struggles of ages had consecrated the right of Englishmen, our colonial ancestors were forced to vindicate that birthright by an appeal to arms. Success crowned their efforts, and they provided for their posterity a peaceful remedy against future aggression. . . . The tyranny of an unbridled majority, the most odious and least responsible form of despotism, has denied us both the right and the remedy. Therefore we are in arms to renew such sacrifices as our fathers made to the holy cause of constitutional liberty." Did President Davis's arguments reflect the views of Confederate soldiers? What was the "tyranny of the majority" that Davis spoke of, and how did it threaten white Southerners so greatly that many of them took up arms as their revolutionary ancestors had done?

15. Two Union soldiers are guarding two wounded Confederates after the battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, six months after the issuance of the final Emancipation Proclamation. One of the Confederates calls the Yankees "damned abolitionists." One of the Union soldiers threatens to strike him: "I'm opposed to slavery, but I'm no abolitionist." The other Northern soldier says, "I'm fighting to preserve the Union established by our revolutionary forefathers." The second Confederate points out that many of the "forefathers" owned slaves. What is going on here? Your response should discuss the way in which the revolutionary generation reconciled its ideals with the institution of slavery, the way in which Union and Confederate soldiers understood the role of slavery as a reason for the war, and the way in which Union and Confederate soldiers regarded emancipation as a Northern war aim.

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