APAH Reading Guide
Chapter 5
Name: ______________________________________
Directions – After reading pp. 115-140, explain the significance of the following terms.
1. Articles of Confederation 2. Common Sense –
3. Daniel Shays –
4. George Washington –
5. John Locke –
6. Lord Cornwallis –
7. Abigail Adams –
8. Loyalists (Tories) –
9. Nathanael Greene –
10. The Battle of Saratoga –
11. The Battle of Yorktown –
12. Second Continental Congress –
13. Thomas Jefferson (Founding Father) –
14. Thomas Paine Directions: Read pages 115 – 140 and answer the following questions using many details and examples
from the text.
1. List the divisions within the Second Continental Congress and give the aim of each faction.
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. 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?
7. How did the victory at Saratoga affect American diplomatic efforts? How did England and France respond
to this news? What was the result?
8. Why was the victory at Yorktown so significant for the Americans?
9. What were the provisions of the Treaty of Paris in 1783?
10. Who were the Loyalists? What elements in America remained loyal to the king, and for what reasons?
11. What changes did the Revolution produce in the structure of the American economy?
12. What was it about the concept of a republican government that was so appealing to Americans?
13. How did Americans propose to avoid what they considered to be the problems of the British system they
were repudiating?
14. 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?
15. What impact did the Revolution have on slavery in New England, in the middle states, and in the South?
16. What type of government did the Articles of Confederation create? What were its major features?
17. 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?
18. Describe the most important aspects and primary accomplishments of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.
Who benefitted from the Ordinance and who did not benefit? How did the Confederation Congress attempt
to resolve the problem of the status of western territory the states had ceded to the national government?
19. What were the sources of the Confederation's postwar economic problems, and how did the government
attempt to solve them? What were the results?
20. How was paper money seen as a solution to the economic problems of one element in American society?
Who opposed this and why?
21. 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?
22. Complete the following chart regarding the roles of women, slaves, free Blacks, and Indians during the
Revolution.
Lives before the War
Role(s) during the War
How lives changed
after the War
Women
Slaves
Free Blacks
Indians
23. Why would the newly independent states reject the idea of a strong central government in 1776?
24. What did the founders mean by “republic”?
25. Justify Samuel Adams’ statement: “Rebellion against a king may be pardoned, or lightly punished, but
the man who dares to rebel against the laws of a republic ought to suffer death.”
26. What title is most appropriate: The American Revolution or the War for Independence? Why?
27. Historical Thinking: Read the section “Debating the Past: The American Revolution” on pages 118-119
and assess how historians have debated the origins of the American Revolution. How has the interpretation
of the origins of the war changed over time? What might account for the different interpretations? How has
history itself impacted the interpretation of American history?
28. Complete the following chart on the Articles of Confederation. You can find the primary source at the
following website: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/artconf.asp
Explicitly Stated Powers
Explicitly Denied Powers
Problems Faced by the New
Nation