U. S. History, 17A
Study Guide 6
 
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The Apotheosis of Washington
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Today in United States History

Study Guide 6
Nation of Nations
Chapter Nine
The Early Republic
Answer the following questions:
I. 1789: A Social Portrait
The first three questions can be found by clicking on the above link, 'The Apotheosis of Washington'.
4. According to the Census of 1790, what was the population of the United States and how was it divided north and south?
5. In 1800, what percent of Americn families were engaged in agriculture?
6. In this rural environment, what were people's experiences with the postal system, and newspapers?
7. The great majority of the American people were 'semisubsistence farmers' and not involved in a 'commercial economy'. Define these two terms.
8. In his book about Americans in 1783, 'Letters From an American Farmer', Hector St. John de Crevecoeur said that what distinguished American society was the ____. Crevecoeur noted that Americans were hostile to ___ and anything ____.  Crevecoeur also noted that the country promoted ___ because land was ___ and ___ .  In the America that Crevecoeur observed, wives and daughters had to be skilled in making ___ because ___.
9.  What 7 items would farmers in this barter (or semisubsistence) economy have to purchase? In this semisubsistence economy, if a farm family produced a surplus, they usually ___.
10. Outside the backcountry, Americans were tied much more closely to a ___ economy where even farmers did not subsist on what they produced but instead ___.
11. What was required for goods to flourish in a commercial economy? What provided the only means of cost-effective transportation?  Thus in 1790, American commerce was confined largely to ___ and to ___ .
12. Benjamin Franklin offered a vision of the new nation that contrasted with Crevcoeur's ideal of a subsistence America.  The kind of success preached by Benjamin Franklin depended on ___ . 
Please go to the site, The American Cincinnatus, and answer the questions there.

II. The New Government
16. What were the three provisions of the Judiciary Act of 1789? According to the Judiciary Act of 1789, what did the federal courts have the right to do?
17. What role did Alexander Hamilton play in Washington's administration? Hamilton believed that to succeed the government needed to ____. 
18. Hamilton had two goals for the new country. The first was to use federal (meaning national) power to ___ in order to ___
19. Hamilton's second goal was to link __ with those of ___ .
20. What did Hamilton propose for the federal and state debts?
21. Why did Jefferson and Madison of Virginia agree to support Hamiltons's proposal on the debts?
22. Another part of Hamilton's plan was to create or charter a Bank of the United States. What would the bank do?
23. The final piece of Hamilton's plan was for a tariff. What was a tariff? Answer: A tariff would put a tax on imported goods which would raise their prices to American consumers, thus making American products relatively cheaper.
24. From what source did most of the revenue for the new govenment come?
25. The passage of Hamilton's financial plan caused a permanent rupture among supporters of the new Constitution. The two warring factions in this rupture eventually organized themselves into political parties. What were the parties, and who were their leaders?
26. Hamilton's program promoted the ___ at the expense of ___. 
27. Who stood to profit if the government redeemed the debts?
28. Who were the 'paper men' Jefferson warned would be created if a national bank were established?
29. How many banks existed in the United States before the Bank of the United States was chartered?
30. Hamilton's program encouraged ___ and ___, developments that Hamilton's opponents, like Jefferson, suggested were incompatible with ___ and ___ .
31. What argument did Jefferson use to try to persuade Washington not to sign the bank bill?
32. What was the idea of 'strict construction' supported by Jefferson and Madison?
33. How did Hamilton counter this argument?
34. What clause in the Constitution did Hamilton particularly emphasize in his argument?
35. Hamilton also argued that the government needed flexibility in meeting its responsibilites because ___ ?
36. Who won?  In what 3 ways was Hamilton's economic program a success?
37. Who is being described:  He "cut a dashing figure with his . . . strutting manner, meticulous dress and carefully powdered hair."
38.  Who is being described:  He "was awkward, loose-jointed, reserved, and ill at ease in public".
III. The Emergence of Political Parties
39. What did American critics have to say in condemnation of political parties?
40. What did heroes of the revolution have to do with making politial parties legitimate?
41. How did Hamilton and his allies view the French Revolution?
42. How did Jefferson and his followers view the French Revolution?
43. What did Washington believe was the only way the U.S. could prosper? Consequently he issued a proclamation of ___ regarding the French Revolution and the war between Britain and France that resulted from it.
44. The Federalists believed that the government ought to use its power actively to encourage ___ while for the Republicans, ___ was the foundation of American liberty and virtue.
IV. The Presidency of John Adams
In order to suppress opposition to the war against France, the Federalists, led by the new president, John Adams, supported the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts by the Congress in 1798.
45. What was the Alien Act of 1798?
46. What was the Seditiion Act of 1798?
47. In opposition to these acts which they believed violated the first amendment to the Constitution, the Jeffersonians in Virginia and Kentucky supported legislation in respective state legislatures which challenged the validity of the Alien and Sedition Act. What was the doctrine of 'state interposition' expressed in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798? 
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Please click on the site, The Life of George Washtington, read the selection there, and then answer the following questions.
48. Why is it appropriate that Washington was born in America?
49. Why did George's father plant the cabbage seeds?
50. How did George's father react when George confessed to chopping at a cherry tree?

 
Assignments Page
Revised February 28, 2008

by Tom Gallup, e-mail address: [email protected]
West Valley College
http://www.westvalley.edu/wvc/ss/gallup/gallup.html