APUSH Unit 2: Creating the American Republic, 1763-1820

APUSH Unit 2: Creating the American Republic, 1763-1820

Unit 2: Creating the American Republic, 1763-1820

Major Topics:

4. The American Revolutionary Era, 1754–1789

à  The French and Indian War

à  The Imperial Crisis and resistance to Britain

à  The War for Independence

à  State constitutions and the Articles of Confederation

à  The federal Constitution

5. The Early Republic, 1789–1815

à  Washington, Hamilton, and shaping of the national government

à  Emergence of political parties: Federalists and Republicans

à  Republican Motherhood and education for women

à  Beginnings of the Second Great Awakening

à  Significance of Jefferson’s presidency

à  Expansion into the trans-Appalachian West; American Indian resistance

à  Growth of slavery and free Black communities

à  The War of 1812 and its consequences

Reference Chapters (Henretta):

5.  Toward Independence: Years of Decision, 1763-1776 / 137-167 / ·  Imperial Reform, 1763-1765
·  The Dynamics of Rebellion, 1765-1770
·  The Road to Independence, 1771-1776
6.  Making War and Republican Governments, 1776-1789 / 169-200 / ·  The Trials of War, 1776-1778
·  The Path to Victory, 1778-1783
·  Creating Republican Institutions, 1776-1787
·  The Constitution of 1787
7.  Politics and Society in the New Republic, 1787-1820 / 203-235 / ·  The Political Crisis of the 1790s
·  The Westward Movement & the Jeffersonian Revolution
·  The War of 1812 & the Transformation of Politics
8.  Creating a Republican Culture, 1790-1820 / 238-267 / ·  The Capitalist Commonwealth
·  Toward a Democratic Republican Culture
·  Aristocratic Republicanism & Slavery
·  Protestant Christianity as a Social Force

Guiding Questions:

Loosening Ties, The French & Indian War

1.  What were the major consequences of the Great War for Empire on the imperial balance of power, British-colonial relations, Indian peoples, and Anglo-American settlers?

2.  How was Great Britain, with a depleted treasury, able to defeat the French in the Great War for Empire after having failed to achieve success against them in previous colonial wars?

3.  What impact did the Industrial Revolution in England have on the American colonies?

4.  What were the causes of unrest in the American backcountry in the mid-18th century?

5.  In the period from 1700-1750, did society in the northern colonies, middle colonies, and southern colonies become more alike or grow increasingly different?

6.  How were the American colonies administered by Britain, from Britain, during this period? What was the effect of this policy?

7.  What was the Albany Plan, and what did it reveal about colonial unity?

The New Imperialism

1.  What dilemma faced London policymakers at the end of the French & Indian War?

2.  What initial policy changes occurred when George III ascended the throne, and what were the king's motives in making these changes?

3.  Explain why the colonists objected to the writs of assistance and vice-admiralty courts?

4.  How were the policy changes cited in the previous question reflected in the acts passed under the Grenville administration? Deal with the specific acts as well as general policy objectives.

5.  What was it about post-1763 British policy that would cause colonists in every section to see the disadvantages rather than the advantages of being part of the British Empire?

Stirrings of Revolt

1.  Why did the Stamp Act so antagonize the American colonists?

2.  Who led the protests in Virginia over the Stamp Act? What reasons, other than those stated in the resolutions proposed, contributed to this action? What was the effect of the protests, and what were the results?

3.  What was England's response to the American protests over the Stamp Act? How did the taxation by Townshend attempt to anticipate American attacks on future acts?

4.  How did the policies of Lord North differ from those of his predecessors? In what ways were they alike?

5.  What role did Samuel Adams play in the American protests? How did his view of the need for American independence differ from those of most other colonial leaders at the time?

6.  How did the colonial view of the nature of the British Empire differ from the view by George III and his supporters?

7.  What were the theories of government advanced by John Locke, and how did the American colonist apply them to their struggle with England?

8.  How was tavern culture critical to the growth of revolutionary sentiment in the colonies?

9.  Why did many Americans see the Tea Act as a threat to themselves and their institutions?

10.  What were the Coercive Acts? How did the Quebec Act help to unite the colonists with Boston, in opposition to these acts?

Cooperation and War

1.  What role did Committees of Correspondence play in the American protests?

2.  What were the five major decisions made at the First Continental Congress, and what was their significance?

3.  What were the circumstances that led to the fighting at Lexington and Concord?

The States United

1.  List the divisions within the Second Continental Congress, and give the aim of each faction. How did they attempt to gain their ends?

2.  How did the pamphlet Common Sense address the problem of the aim of the war, and what was its impact on American opinion?

3.  What were the philosophical roots of the Declaration of Independence, and what effect did the Declaration have on the struggle?

4.  What problems did the Americans face in providing the necessary supplies and equipment for the war and in paying for them?

5.  What were the American advantages in the struggle, and why was George Washington selected as the best person to make the most of these advantages?

6.  Identify and explain the two broad schools of interpretation that emerged as historians debated the origins of the American Revolution. On what points do these interpretations differ?

The War for Independence

1.  What were the initial setbacks in the war during 1776, and what was the significance of the Battles of Trenton and Princeton in this regard?

2.  What was the initial plan for the British campaign of 1777? How was this altered, and what effect did this alteration have on the outcome?

3.  What were the American diplomatic goals at the start of the war? What problems did they face, and what efforts were made to overcome them?

4.  How did the victory at Saratoga affect American diplomatic efforts? How did England and France respond to this news? What was the result?

5.  Why did the British decide to launch a campaign against the southern colonies in 1778? What advantages and disadvantages did each side have in this region?

6.  How was the campaign in the South conducted, and why was the victory at Yorktown so significant for the Americans?

7.  What were the provisions of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, and how did the treaty affect relations among the United States, France, and Spain?

8.  What problems did the Treaty of Paris of 1783 fail to solve? What problems did it create?

War and Society

1.  Who were the Loyalists? What elements in America remained loyal to the king, and for what reasons?

2.  What impact did the American Revolution have on Native Americans?

3.  How did the Revolution affect the way American women thought about their status, and what changes resulted from this new awareness?

4.  What changes did the Revolution produce in the structure of the American economy?

The Creation of State Governments

1.  What was it about the concept of a republican government that so appealed to Americans?

2.  How did Americans propose to avoid what they considered to be the problems of the British system they were repudiating?

3.  What were the characteristics of the state constitutions written during the early years of the struggle? How did they reflect the general spirit of the Enlightenment—the belief that freedom was the natural state of humanity?

4.  What impact did the Revolution have on slavery in New England? In the middle states? In the South?

The Search for a National Government

1.  What type of government did the Articles of Confederation create? What were its major features?

2.  How did the Treaty of Paris of 1783 fail to resolve, or in some cases help to create, strain among the United States, England, and Spain?

3.  What commercial arrangements did American shippers and traders want above all others after the war had ended? Why did they feel this was needed, and how successful were they in accomplishing their aims?

4.  What effect did the American westward movement have on diplomatic relations with Great Britain and Spain?

5.  How did the Confederation Congress attempt to resolve the problem of the status of western territory the states had ceded to the national government? Which interest groups favored which plans for the sale and distribution of land?

6.  What were the sources of the Confederation's postwar economic problems, and how did the government attempt to solve them? What were the results?

7.  How was paper money seen as a solution to the economic problems of one element in American society? Who opposed this and why?

8.  How did the actions of Daniel Shays and his followers relate to the economic problem of the Confederation period? What was the significance of the movement he led?

Framing a New Government

1.  Who were the advocates of centralization, and why did they want to alter or abolish the Articles of Confederation?

2.  What did those who favored centralization see as the most serious problem of the Articles, and how would they have changed them? What had prevented these changes?

3.  What were the characteristics of the men who met at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia? Whose presence was essential to the meeting's success? Why?

4.  What were the two major points of view that divided the convention? What plans did each side propose to carry its view?

5.  How were the differences between the "large state" and the "small state" plans resolved? What other issues divided the convention, and how were they resolved?

6.  What was to be the role of various branches of government under the new Constitution?

Adoption and Adaptation

1.  Why did the supporters of the new Constitution call themselves "Federalists"? Were they actually Federalists, or did their philosophy of government reveal them to be something else? If so, what?

2.  What method did the Federalists employ to get their views across to the people? What were their arguments, and how did the "Antifederalists" respond?

3.  What was the process by which the Constitution was finally ratified? Which states supported it, by what margins, and which states did not? What objections were raised by the states?

4.  What was the process by which the new government set up operations? What were the initial matters discussed, and how were they resolved?

5.  In what way did Congress continue the work of the Constitutional Convention? What "gaps" in the Constitution did Congress fill?

6.  Who were the men Washington selected for his cabinet, and on what basis did he choose them?

Federalists and Republicans

1.  How did the divisions of the 1790s reflect the differences in philosophy that were at the heart of the debate over the Constitution?

2.  What was the view of society and politics held by Hamilton? Who did he feel should govern, and why?

3.  What was Hamilton's plan for paying the nation's debts and restoring credit on a sound basis? To which social, economic, and political groups would this have appealed?

4.  How did Hamilton propose to enact his programs? Who opposed him, and to what degree was Hamilton successful?

5.  How did political parties rise as a result of Hamilton's programs?

6.  What was the political philosophy of Jefferson and Madison? How did it differ from that of Hamilton?

7.  How did the French Revolution highlight the differences between the Federalists and the Republicans?

Establishing National Sovereignty

1.  How did Washington's reaction to the Whiskey Rebellion underscore the difference between the Constitution and the Articles of Confederation?

2.  How did the government under the Constitution guarantee that people on the frontier would be loyal to it? What was the impact on Native Americans?

3.  What diplomatic problem did the French Revolution and the war that followed pose for the United States? How did Washington and Congress deal with this problem?

4.  What were the circumstances that sent John Jay to England, and what were the results of his mission?

5.  How did Jay's Treaty affect American relations with Spain?

The Downfall of the Federalists

1.  Why was John Adams selected as the Federalist candidate in 1796?

2.  What circumstances led to an administration with a Federalist president and a Republican vice president?

3.  What caused the "quasi war" with France during the Adams administration? What as the result of this struggle?

4.  How did the Federalists attempt to silence those who opposed the undeclared war, and what groups did these attempts most affect?

5.  What gave rise to the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, and what attitude toward the nature of the federal government did these resolutions reveal?

6.  What were the issues in the election of 1800, and what were the reactions of the losers and the victors?

7. 

The Rise of Cultural Nationalism

1.  What effect did Republican ideology have on education in the United States?

2.  Explain the "cultural independence" that Jeffersonian Americans sought. What means of expression did this "independence" find?

3.  What were the obstacles faced by Americans who aspired to create a more elevated national literary life? What efforts were made to overcome these obstacles?

4.  How did the American Revolution affect traditional forms of religious practice? What challenges to religious traditionalism arose during this period?

5.  What caused the Second Great Awakening?

6.  Why were the Methodists, the Baptists, and the Presbyterians so successful on the frontier?

7.  What were the "message" and the impact of the Second Great Awakening?

Stirrings of Industrialism