American Ideals, Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation
For the test on this unit, you will need to review your class work and notes (especially the notes on the
Articles of Confederation case studies) and homework from Chapter 5 Section 1 of your textbook. The
following concepts and terms will be included (you should know the meaning of the terms and their
significance to American History). The questions at the end must be answered in thorough paragraph
answers and turned in BEFORE the test, if you want the ability to retest when you are unhappy with
your test grade!
Equality
Opportunity
Natural Rights
“Consent of the Governed”
Democracy
Checks and Balances
Judicial Branches
John Locke
Articles of Confederation
Bicameral legislature
Coup d’ etat
Treaty of Paris 1783- who failed
to uphold it?
confederation
Rights
Democracy
Social Contract
Justice
Common Good
Executive Branch
Legislative Supremacy
Thomas Jefferson
federal
Inflation
Tariff
Shay’s Rebellion
Liberty
Enlightenment
Popular Sovereignty
Republic
Separation of Powers
Legislative Branch
Bill of Rights
Declaration of Independence
Unicameral legislature
Deflation
Barbary Pirates
Northwest Ordinances
Review Questions: Must be answered-carefully and completely- and
turned in before the test if you want to be able to retest.
1. Why was the Declaration of Independence so important?
2. What were some of the features of the early state governments? Why did most choose a
bicameral legislature? Why did most states not want to grant poor men the right to vote?
3. What form of national government did the Patriots create at first? What was its structure? Why
did the Patriots create this type of government?865465
4. What were the weakness of the Articles of Confederation? Which weakness do you consider to
be the greatest- and why?
5. What were the plans for settling and governing frontier lands in the Northwest Territory under
the Articles of Confederation?
6. What Spanish and British Actions showed that they did not take the new American nation
seriously?
7. What problems faced farmers, who were most Americans, in the new nation? What money
policy did they want?
8. What events suggested that a stronger national government was necessary?