APUSH: Blizzard Bag Day 1
“Indifference to history isn’t just ignorant, it’s rude. It’s a form of ingratitude.”
– David McCullough
1. Read Chapter 9, The Confederation and the Constitution, 1776-1790
2. Answer the following questions for chapter 9:
Chapter 9 - The Confederation and the Constitution, 1776-1790
adapted from Downey HS
The Pursuit of Equality
Define: Leveling, Society of the Cincinnati, Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, Abigail Adams,
Republican Motherhood, John Singleton Copley
1.What social changes resulted from the American Revolution?
Constitution Making in the States
Define: State Constitutions, Fundamental Law
2. What was the importance of the state constitutions?
Economic Crosscurrents
Define: Navigation Laws, Empress of China, Speculation
3. What were the positive and negative effects of the war on America?
A Shaky Start toward Union
Define:
Natural Rights
4. Why was the end of the war difficult on the national government?
Creating a Confederation
Define:
Sovereignty, Articles of Confederation
5. What forces served to unify the separate states during the war?
The Articles of Confederation: America's First Constitution
6. What weaknesses plagued the Articles of Confederation? What was good about it?
Landmarks in Land Laws
Define: Old Northwest, Land Ordinance of 1785, Northwest Ordinance of 1787
7. Explain the importance of the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance.
The World's Ugly Duckling
Define:
Natchez, Dey of Algiers
8. Using examples, explain the title of this section.
The Horrid Specter of Anarchy
Define: Shay's Rebellion, Mobocracy
9. Were the United States of America in danger of falling apart under the Articles of Confederation? Explain.
A Convention of "Demigods"
Define: George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry
10. What kind of men gathered in Philadelphia for the "sole and express purpose of revising" the old
government?
Patriots in Philadelphia
11. How does George Washington's quote, "We have, probably, had too good an opinion of human nature
in forming our confederation." help to explain the purposes of our founding fathers.
Hammering out a Bundle of Compromises
Define:
Virginia (large state) Plan, Bicameral Legislature, New Jersey (small state) Plan, Great
Compromise, Electoral College, Three-fifths Compromise
12. Describe the compromises that were achieved by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention.
Safeguards for Conservatism
Define: Checks and Balances, Separation of Powers
13. How democratic was the Constitution as originally written?
The Clash of Federalists and Antifederalists
Define: Antifederalists, Federalists
14. Who were the antifederalists and why did they oppose the Constitution?
The Great Debate in the States
15. Did most of the states approve of the Constitution? Why?
The Four Laggard States
Define: Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison, The Federalist
16. Explain some of the opposition to ratification of the Constitution?
A Conservative Triumph
17. What does your text mean when it says that the Constitution, "...elevated the ideals of the
Revolution even while setting boundaries to them."?
The Constitution: Revolutionary or Counterrevolutionary?
Define: Nationalist School of Historians, Critical Period, Charles Beard, Gordon Wood
18. Why have historians disagreed about the reason why our Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution?
3. View Founding Brothers, A More Perfect Union” and answer the questions that
follow:
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcp8PLkCVEtVpMo7haTvB6LClXDJ_5ATa There are a total of 6 - 15 minute
segments to the video.
Questions for “Founding Brothers: A More Perfect Union”
Adapted from https://teacherweb.com/CA/SkylineCommunityCollege/.../F-Bros-sp11.do...
1. Why was Washington anxious while riding to NY to his inauguration writing to Henry Knox that he felt as
though he were “embarking upon his execution?”
2. What was the first dilemma Washington faced?
3. What problems did he immediately confront?
4. How did he respond to the task of solving the crises at hand?
5. What was different about this collection of men and this new country?
6. What position did John Adams first occupy and did he like it?
7. What position did Jefferson occupy and what did he want?
8. How did the French Revolution effect Jefferson and how did he feel about America when he returned from
France?
9. How did Jefferson drive himself into debt?
10. Describe Alexander Hamilton’s upbringing? What did he do when he came to America?
11. What did Hamilton do when he became Secretary of the Treasury?
12. Who opposed Hamilton’s economic plans and why?
13. What did Thomas Jefferson do to resolve the question of the debt?
14. What was the “ominous debate” that threatened to tear the country apart? Was this debate an issue at the
Constitutional Convention? Why had they not settled the issue?
15. What had the Quaker delegation from NY and Philadelphia demand in 1790? How did Madison respond?
What did Benjamin Franklin do?
16. Describe Benjamin Franklin. How did he feel about slavery and why? What did he do about it?
17. What happened, concerning the issue, after Franklin died?
18. What key questions led to the creation of the first political parties in the New Republic?
19. What were the first two parties called and who led them?
20. What did Alexander Hamilton envision for the country? What did Thomas Jefferson envision for the new
country?
21. Why was the creation of a national bank such a divisive issue?
22. What did Hamilton and Jefferson use to attack each other?
23. What did the political factions conclude when Washington’s first administration was ending?
24. How did the two factions feel about the war between France and England?
25. What did Washington decide and why?
26. How did the public feel about his decision?
27. What did Jefferson do as a result of the political dispute?
28. What happened in western Pennsylvania as a result of federal taxes?
29. What had Hamilton accomplished by the time he retired?
30. What was “Jay’s Treaty?” How did the Jeffersonians and the general public react?
31. What three things did Washington ask for in his “Farewell Address?”
32. Why was Washington’s stepping down from the presidency so unusual and important?