...George Washington and John Adams were the first two presidents of the United States. They played vital roles in creating the American Republic, and had it not been for them, our current American Republic would be very different or possibly even nonexistent. Yet, despite the hard work they put into our nation’s beginnings, they were also very different. Both men came from the same era, but could one be considered better than the other? George Washington, born on February 11, 1732, in Westmoreland Country, Virginia was our nation's first President. Washington and his ancestors were quite influential in Virginia “The patriarch of the family, John Washington, had come over from England in 1657 and established the Washingtons as respectable, if not...
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...explaining the importance of the American Revolution. He starts off by stating that during the 1780’s everyone thought that it was only natural that America verge away from British rule. They all figured that it would be a gradual change; not a full blown revolution. Throughout the chapter, Ellis puts great emphasis on the many things that could have gone wrong during the revolution. He points all these negative events and set backs that he felt could easily have brought the developing America down to show just how great of an accomplishment the revolution was. The Founding Fathers were not completely oblivious to the severity of breaking away from Great Britain. Tom Pain states that, “it is only common sense that an island can not rule a continent (pg.3).” Many assumed that it was only natural that the thirteen colonies govern themselves. They figured that it would be a peaceful break such as the gaining of independence for Ghana or Canada. It was not until later on that the colonies realized that Britain would not easily hand over the land. What I find interesting is that only the Founding Fathers seemed to realize the great events taking place during their time. John Adams even instructed his wife to file and keep all of his records. It is as if he knew that hundreds of years from then, we the future Americans would look back at his notes and recognize his greatness. This makes me wonder why they were so sure of themselves. The Americans were at a disadvantage during the...
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...Over the course years after the American Revolution, Americans typically viewed the revolution as American colonies standing up to the “big bad bully” that is Great Britain and rebel for their freedom and rights and that “these years are the most important in American history, indeed in the history of the world”. That American colonist wanted to be viewed by Great Britain as an independent country. John Merrell thinks that the revolutionary period deserves to be looked at closer. Merrell insist that “the founding fathers would be surprised by our certainty, for they themselves were confused” confused about what they had started in the revolution. In the article merrell talks about how hard it was for john Adams and his friend, Jefferson, to make sense of their Revolution and that they “knew what generations since have largely forgotten” which is that the independence of America was unheard of and such a unbelievable event. Merrell suggest that we have to look past the American heroes to find the real reasoning behind it all. We can find the true impact of the revolution by looking deep into the social aspects in pre-Revolutionary and post revolution. With all the news about a rebellion against Great Britain more social groups started to come into play one of them being white women. In the 1700’s women were not considered a person but as a possession males had, but the boycotting of British goods gave women a bigger role. Merrell suggest that woman played a major role in the...
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... I do not want to leave,” cried John Hancock. “You must. It is the only way you will be able to become something in Boston or anywhere else,” his mother said sadly. As he sat in the back of the small carriage looking back he tried not to cry as he remembered what had happened in the last couple of sad days. John, only seven at the time, was so sad when his father died. He was sent to live with his wealthy uncle. He was a merchant that supplied people in many of the colonies as well as some in England. As he got older Christian values were strongly taught in addition to his study at the Boston Latin School. After finishing at Harvard in 1754 he continued to help his uncle and took over his company upon his death. Being one of...
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...have a curious thought of how Americans built their society. In this reading the reader will understand a historic timeline from 1780-1850. Learning the important information during certain years and how they overcome each event. The Agricultural Revolution of Europe started in the 1700’s; it was widely spread throughout Europe and America by the 1800’s. The results of the revolution, was the farming processes became more efficient, and productive due to several inventions, and discoveries. The Agricultural processes became faster, and less manpower is required in the field, as a result the population from the countryside had no means of supporting themselves. They were forced to move into the urban cities in search of factory jobs. The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain during the 1700s. The term Industrial Revolution refers both to the changes that occurred and to the period itself. During the 1700s and early 1800s, great changes took place in the lives and labor of people in several parts of the world. These changes resulted from the development of industrialization and it started spreading to other parts of Europe and to North America in the early 1800s. By the mid-1800s, industrialization had become widespread in Western Europe and the northeastern United States. America Transformed In 1781 Peace Commission occurred and what it meant was Congress appoints a Peace Commission comprised of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, and Henry Laurens. The...
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...APUSH Study Guide 8 A weak Confederacy and the Constitution, 1776-1790 Themes/Constructs: The federal Constitution represented a moderately conservative reaction against the democratilizing effects of the Revolution and the Articles of Confederation. The American Revolution was not a radical transformation like the French or Russian revolutions, but it produced political innovations and some social change in the direction of greater equality and democracy. The American Revolution did not overturn the social order, but it did produce substantial changes in social customs, political institutions, and ideas about society and government. Among the changes were the separation of church and state in some places, the abolition of slavery in the North, written political constitutions, and a shift in political power from the eastern seaboard toward the frontier. The first weak government, the Articles of Confederation, was unable to exercise real authority, although it did successfully deal with the western lands issue. The Confederation’s weakness in handling foreign policy, commerce and the Shays Rebellion spurred the movement to alter the Articles. Instead of revising the Articles, the well-off delegates to the Constitutional Convention created a charter for a whole new government. In a series of compromises, the convention produced a plan that provided for a vigorous central government, a strong executive, the protection for property, while still upholding republican...
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...Terrin Chacko HIST 1013.09 10/28/2012 Chapter 9 Guided Reading Questions 1. What changes did the Republicans bring to the federal government? a. The Republicans started by making fiscal policies. They “eliminated all internal taxes” in order to help people with large debt (Goldfield 224). Republicans tried to take all the offices they could be appointed to. After Jefferson finished his presidency, Republicans too almost all the appointive offices (Goldfield 224). Jefferson decided to reverse foreign policies in order to stop Napoleon from making a treaty with Spain which posed as a threat. Jefferson had a deal with Napoleon, which helped expand the size of the United States. Furthermore, it opened up another frontier for slaveholders south of the Mississippi Valley (Goldfield 226). b. How did their policies differ from those of the Federalists who came before them? Federalists wanted people to be in large public debt. Federalists tried to have a grip on federal offices; however Republicans managed to take over. Then the Federalists passed the Judiciary Act of 1801 (Goldfield 224). John Marshall, who was a Federalist, created a precedent of judicial reviews in the Marbury v. Madison case. c. What factors accounted for the Federalists’ inability to regain national power after they lost the election of 1800? Hamilton and his fellow Federalists wanted people to be in a large debt. They failed to keep hold of federal offices when Republicans simply used...
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...itself. The name of this great emancipation is the American Revolution. The American revolution took the first great strides towards a greater future. It turned thirteen colonies previously owned and controlled by so called “great“ Britain into a flourishing country...
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...George Robert Twelves Hewes Response Paper We’ve all heard, read, and learned about the first great Americans to step foot on the New World like John Adams, John Hancock, and even the great Paul Revere, but have you’ve ever stopped and wondered about the commoners during this period of time. What happened to their stories? Did they not count? Why, because they were poor? But George Hewes changed the perspective of many historians and inspired them to write biographies of Hewes; a simple poor shoemaker. You might be asking yourselves how did a simple commoner turn to be a somebody in society, that eventually for a long period of time Americans paid tribute to. George Robert Hewes was born in August 25, 1742, in Boston. In the beginning of...
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...Most Americans nowadays like to think that they have the American Revolution pretty well figured out. Conventional wisdom starts the saga in 1763 when Britain, saddled with debt at the close of the Seven Years' War, levied new taxes that prompted her American colonists to resist, and then to reject, imperial rule. Having declared independence and defeated the British, American patriots then drafted the constitution that remains the law of the land to this day. With George Washington's inauguration as president in 1789, the story has a happy ending and the curtain comes down. This time-honored script renders the road from colonies to nation clear, smooth, and straight, with familiar landmarks along the way, from Boston's Massacre and Tea Party through Lexington and Concord, then on to Bunker Hill and Yorktown before reaching its destination: Philadelphia in 1787, where the Founders invented a government worthy of America's greatness. Those Founders are equally familiar. Washington and Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and James Madison, Sam and John Adams, Patrick Henry and Alexander Hamilton: in the popular mind this band of worthies, more marble monuments than mere mortals, guides America towards its grand destiny with a sure and steady hand. "[F]or the vast majority of contemporary Americans," writes historian Joseph Ellis, the birth of this nation is shrouded by "a golden haze or halo."(1) So easy, so tame, so much "a land of foregone conclusions" does America's Revolution...
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...have any questions. Why did Washington reject the advice of both Jefferson and Hamilton and adopt a policy of neutrality? Washington wanted to stay neutral in everything. He knew they couldn’t afford another war after just finishing a war. Washington defended his policy and stood by it. This policy was to ensure there would not be any engagement between either side in the war. What were Washington’s views on foreign policy? Foreign policy is a nation's plan of action toward other nations. The way Washington had seen it was by staying neutral was the best thing to do. From how I see this is...
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...crusade and discuss the extent to which it accomplished its objectives. Why did it succeed or fail? Jonathan Riley-Smith, The Crusades: A Short History; Carole Hillenbrand, The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives; Christopher Tyerman, God’s War: A New History of the Crusades 2. How did anti-Semitism manifest itself in medieval Europe? Kenneth R. Stow, Alienated Minority: The Jews of Medieval Latin Europe; Mark R. Cohen, Under Crescent and Cross: The Jews in the Middle Ages; Solomon Grayzel, The Church and the Jews in the Thirteenth Century 3. What was the position of prostitutes in medieval society? Ruth Mazo Karras, Common Women; Leah Otis, Prostitution in Medieval Society; Margaret Wade Labarge, A Small Sound of the Trumpet: Women in Medieval Life 4. Why did the French choose to follow Joan of Arc during the the Hundred Years War? Kelly DeVries, Joan of Arc: A Military Leader; Bonnie Wheeler, ed., Fresh Verdicts on Joan of Arc; Margaret Wade Labarge, A Small Sound of the Trumpet: Women in Medieval Life 5. Discuss the significance of siege warfare during the crusades. You may narrow this question down to a single crusade if you wish. Jim Bradbury, The Medieval Siege; Randall Rogers, Latin Siege Warfare in the Twelfth Century; John France, Victory in the East: A Military History of the First Crusade 6. Why did the persecution of heretics increase during the high and later Middle Ages...
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..."As much as Americans like to think that we invented democracy, liberty, and freedom in the modern world, the reality is that almost every good idea of the founding period was stolen from European, and especially British, sources. Thus, America's founding ideas are really just the ideas of the English 'country party' put into action in British colonies. This is an achievement, to be sure, but it is in no way an especially or exceptional American achievement." There are many sources of influence for America’s ideals of liberty, freedom, and democracy in the modern world. Such as Democracy of ancient Greece, The Republic of ancient Rome, and the writings of Baron de Montesquieu. Many of these sources are distinctly English such as English common law, The Magna Carta. In regards to the specific comment above we look at the ‘Country Party’ and ‘The Cota Letters’. As an American I would like to think that our founding fathers’ have created something new and completely unique in t our country, however my readings have lead me to the understanding that the founding fathers had several sources of inspiration as to how to form and what kind of government to form in these states, united. The “Country Party” as mentioned in the quote above, is of particular importance to the ideas of Democracy, liberty, and freedom. The Country Party was especially inspired by political theorist, writer and philosopher Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke. Bolingbroke’s ideology was that of opposing...
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...Rinehart Miss Keener AP US History November 2, 2015 The Shaping of American Politics Some would say that American politics began September third 1783 when the American Revolution ended, or that they began the fourth of July 1776 with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Regardless of the starting date, it can be unanimously decided that the Federalist party was a major political influence during the beginnings of the country, especially after the signing of the Constitution. Even though it was not the only major political party in the United States at the time, the Federalists greatly shaped American politics during their reign of power through dominating government powers, using their beliefs to strengthen the central government,...
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...during his lifetime. He was General and commander-in-chief during the colonial armies during the American Revolution. Washington had impacted many lives before becoming president and changing the way things were ran in the White House. His family background was very rich, but lost it all during the Puritan revolution and when his grandfather migrated to Virginia in 1657. He was a very special president to American history. Washington did not get elected after a president he started the whole presidency. He served from 1789 to 1797. He was chosen unanimously at the Constitution Convention. John Adams was the vice president for Washington, of course he was the first one. Washington was intelligent, so he wanted to be surrounded by some of the most capable people. Therefore, he appointed Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of Treasury and Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State. The both men helped him do stuff during his two terms like a...
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