SS Study Guide
Lauren
Unit 1, Lesson 1
Q: In what ways were
the people's lives in
the British colonies of
the 1770s different
from those of people
living in Europe?
A:
1. Colonial families worked harder and had
higher living standards
2. They had better land for crops, so they
had a healthier diet than people in
Europe.
3. They were better educated than
Europeans. Four times as many
newspapers were published in the
colonies than in France.
4. The colonists were more diverse.
Q: What diversity of people
and ideas existed in the British
colonies in the 1770s?
A:
1/5 of the population were African
slaves. The other part of the population
were mostly of British and Irish descent.
Others came from the Netherlands,
Spain, France, Germany, and Sweden.
They all had different religious beliefs
and had different ideas about
governments and rights.
Q: What difference did
gender, race, and wealth
make to people in the
colonial society?
A:
1. Wealth did not make much of a difference in the
colonies. If you were smart and skillful, you could have the
opportunities to become wealthy. Men who were poor
were elected to government positions.
2. Gender and race did make a difference. Only adult white
males who owned property could vote. A person had to
own fifty acres of land to be able to vote, but there was a
lot of land.
3. Native Americans, blacks, women, and white men
without property weren’t allowed to vote. Women were
not allowed to own property because couples were
considered one person and the husband controlled the
property.
Q: What rights did the colonists value?
A:
Freedom:
1. Freedom of beliefs
2. Right to own property
3. Right to trial by jury
Note: The British tried to limit those
rights before the American
Revolution.
Q: Who were the Founders?
A:
– the political leaders of the colonies
– led the fight to free America from British rule
– created state governments and helped write
the Constitution
Note: Some of the Founders were
1. Ben Franklin
2. John and Abigail Adams
3. Patrick Henry
4. Thomas Jefferson
5. Mercy Otis Warren 6. George Washington
Unit 1, Lesson 1
Terms to Understand
Q: What are Founders?
A: The political leaders of the colonies.
Q: What is government?
A: The people/institutions
with the authority to
make and enforce the
laws and manage disputes
about the laws.
Q: What are indentured servants?
A: Men and women
who sold their labor in
exchange for the cost
of a trip from Europe to
the colonies.
Q: What does it mean to be
self-sufficient?
A: People had to provide for their own
needs. (Make clothes, grow food, etc.)
Q: What does it mean to be a subject?
A: To be a person under the rule of a
monarch.
Unit 1, Lesson 2
Q: What are natural rights? How do
people get their natural rights?
A:
Natural rights are the rights to life, liberty,
and property. John Locke wrote in his book
that they are the rights to life and are part
of the law of nature. All people should have
the rights to life, liberty, and property
because they are human beings.
Q: What might life be like living in a state
of nature? Explain.
A:
If the world was in a state of nature, I
think that living would be chaos. Laws
prevent people from harming others, and
punish people who do. If there was a
murderer loose around the place where
you live, it would be every family for
themselves for protection against threats.
We would not have evolved as much and
would not be civilized.
Q: Where does government get
its right to govern, according to
the natural rights philosophy?
A:
The government gets it right to
govern from the consent of the
people. Locke said that the only way
for people to get the right to govern
anyone else is if the people who are
being governed give their consent.
Q: What is a social contract?
A:
– an agreement in which each individual
agrees with others to create and live
under a government and give that
government the power to make and
enforce laws.
– The people promise to give up the
absolute right to do anything they want
to do. In return, they receive the security
provided by the government.
Q: What is the main purpose of
government according to John Locke?
A:
To protect the natural rights
that individuals cannot
effectively protect in a state of
nature.
Unit 1, Lesson 2
Terms to Understand
Q: What does Consent mean?
A: To approve of or allow something to
take place.
Q: What are natural rights?
A: The certain inalienable rights
that all human beings have to
life, liberty, and property.
Q: What is the purpose of government?
A: To protect the people's natural rights.
Q: What is a social contract?
A: An agreement in which each
individual agrees with others to
create and live under a government
and give that government the power
to make and enforce laws.
Q: What is a state of nature?
A: A condition in which no
government or laws exist.
Unit 1, Lesson 3
Q: What is republican government?
A:
A republican government is a type of
government in which:
– citizens have the power to govern
– citizens have the freedom to entrust
power to leaders and to elect people to
represent them
– citizens and representatives work
cooperatively to promote the common
welfare
Q: What are the advantages of
republican government?
A:
– representatives are elected to serve the
common good and to speak for the citizens
– people have a say in their government and
have the freedom to speak out and be
heard
– representatives make laws more efficient
because they can make the laws faster and
better
Q: What are the disadvantages of
republican government?
A:
– republican government works best in
small communities, while the colonies were
very large
– people in a republic had to be alike. The
people would not have much difference in
wealth, moral beliefs, or ways of life.
– people in a large diverse republic would
divide into factions and could possibly work
against other groups or the people instead
of for the common good
Q: What is the difference between
direct democracy and
representative democracy?
A: Direct democracy: the people control
government, create the laws for their community.
Works best in small communities, because if
they’re too large, there are too many different
opinions and it becomes hard to make decisions
working towards the common good.
A representative democracy is a government
where representatives chosen by the people make
the laws and administer them. The government is a
democracy that receives its right to govern from
the people.
Q: What is civic virtue? Why is
it important that citizens and
their representatives have
civic virtue?
A:
Civic virtue: both the citizens and their
leaders willingly set aside their personal
interests for the common good.
It is important for the citizens and their
representatives to have civic virtue because
people tend to act by their self-interests
and demote the common good. There
would also be more disagreements in
government if people only are interested in
themselves.
Q: How were the values of
republican government promoted in
the colonies? Why were these values
promoted?
A:
– Parents taught the values to their children,
teachers taught the values in their schools, and
clergy taught them in sermons and writings
– The values were promoted because citizens were
expected to set good examples for others and the
values were a part of the customs and traditions of
the people.
– the Founders thought it was important because
they believed that the Roman Republic failed
because its citizens lost their civic virtue.
Unit 1, Lesson 3
Terms to Understand
Q: What are Aristocrats?
A: the wealthy upper class
Q: What is civic virtue?
A: Both citizens and their
leaders are willing to set aside
their private interests for the
common good
Q: What is the common good?
A: That which is good for the community
as a whole
Q: What's a delegate?
A: A person sent to represent others
Q: What is a direct democracy?
A: a democracy in which
the people control
government, make laws,
and make decisions. They
work best in small
communities.
Q: What are factions?
A: Interest groups
Q: What is a representative?
A: A person elected by
the people to speak and
act for them
Q: What is a representative democracy?
A: a democracy in which
the people choose leaders
to make and administer
the laws for the country
Q: What's a republic?
A: a country that has a
government in which
power is held by the
people who elect
representatives
Q: What's a republican government?
A: a type of government where:
– citizens have the power to govern
– citizens delegate or entrust their
power to leaders they elect to
represent them and to serve their
interests
– citizens and their representatives
work cooperatively to promote the
common good rather than their own
interests
Unit 1, Lesson 4
Q: What is a constitution?
What can you learn about a
nation's government by
studying their constitution?
A:
A constitution is a legal framework for
government. By studying a nation’s
constitution, you can find out how
that nation’s government is organized
and run. You can also learn about how
the people play a part in the
government and about the citizens in
the nation.
Q: Explain the difference
between a constitutional
government and an autocratic or
dictatorial government.
A:
Constitutional government: a
government with limits on the powers of
the person/group running the
government, so the government doesn’t
have the freedom to do whatever it
wants to
Autocratic or dictatorial government: a
government with no limits to power, and
if it has limits, these limits are not
enforced.
Q: What are the characteristics
that define a constitution as
"higher law"?
A: A higher law is a set of laws that
limit and establish the power of
the government. All of the
government leaders and the
people have to obey the higher
law. The people who run the
government must do what the
constitution says.
Q: Identify an area of private life
in which you think government
should not interfere.
A:
religion
Unit 1, Lesson 4
Terms to Understand
Q: What's an autocratic or dictatorial
government?
A:
a government with either no
limits on power or with
limits that are not enforced
Q: What is a constitution?
A:
A legal framework for government
Q: What is a constitutional government?
A:
a government with limits on
the powers of the person or
group running the
government
Q: What does "higher law" mean?
A:
A set of laws that establish and limit the
power of government. The people in
the government must follow the laws.
Q: What are limits?
A: things that government
may not do or actions they
may not take
Q: What is a monarchy?
A:
A form of government in which
political power is held by a single
ruler such as a king or queen
Q: What is private domain?
A:
The part of a person's life that is
not the business of the
government