Exam II Study Guide Dr. Esparza
1. Discuss English colonial life during the 1700s. Discuss the impact of the
Enlightenment and the Great Awakening on colonial society. Explain why English colonists, by 1763, had become used to making their own decisions and taking care of their own needs. Describe also the efforts by the colonials to expand their own territories to the west and what that eventually resulted in. Include the following terms.
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Century Colonial Life: population growth, Transportation Act, economics i.e. diversified farming, city life, artisans, apprentices, the Great Awakening, the
Enlightenment, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Cotton Mather, education, the press, Ben Harris, Andrew Bradford, Deism, politics and government i.e. governor & assemblies, the west i.e. Daniel Boone, New Orleans, the French and
Indian War (Seven Years War) i.e. Virginia militia, Albany Congress, Albany
Plan, Ben Franklin, Treaty of Paris of 1763, public opinion i.e. loyalists, radicals, moderates, common wealth.
2. Explain the origins of the British tax system on the colonies. What were the main reasons for attempting to change its management over the American (English) colonies during the mid-1700s? Explain how the colonists responded to the taxes. Give examples and include the following terms.
Taxes and the Controversies: George Grenville, Sugar Act, Quartering Act, Stamp
Act, reasons why England raised taxes, radical protests i.e. Daughter’s of Liberty,
Sons of Liberty, Samuel Adams, Thomas Hutchinson, Stamp Act Congress,
Patrick Henry, no taxation without representation, boycotts, compromise that resolved the crisis, Declaratory Act, Charles Townshend, Townshend Act,
Massachusetts Assembly, standing army, Boston Massacre and aftermath i.e.
British response.
3. Trace the evolutionary process that brought the colonies closer to true rebellion. Trace the path to revolution; from the Townsend Act to the First Continental Congress to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Explain also how the American Revolution began and describe the first battles of the conflict. Include the following terms.
Taxes and Controversies Cont’d: Tea Act, East India Company, Boston Tea Party,
Intolerable Act (Coercive Acts), First Continental Congress & Declaration of
Rights, radical militias, Lexington, Thomas Gage, Paul Revere, Will Dawes, Sam
Prescott, minutemen, Concord, Second Continental Congress, Continental Army,
George Washington as general, Bunker Hill, causes of the American Revolution, shift in public opinion among colonists, loyalists, revolutionaries, republicanism,
Thomas Paine, Common Sense, Richard Henry Lee, Declaration of Independence,
Thomas Jefferson, votes, preamble, list of grievances, motto, the signing, why some folk remained loyalists.
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4. Discuss the various phases of the American Revolution and analyze the circumstances that eventually helped the colonies win. Assess the significance of the American
Revolution to the following groups: colonists, slaves, Native Americans, and women.
List examples and include the following terms.
The American Revolution: Continental Army, Washington’s strategy, central authority, the British Army, Oceanic Battles i.e. privateers, Middle State Battles i.e. NYC, Trenton, NJ, Hessians, Philadelphia, Far North State Battles i.e.
Canada, Saratoga, NY, France, Marquis de Lafayette, Spain, Bernardo de Galvez,
Valley Forge, Penn, British bribery policy, Benedict Arnold, Battles out West i.e.
Cherokee, Iroquois, Southern State Battles i.e. Charleston, SC, General Charles
Cornwallis, Slaves, Lord Dunmore, Liberty to Slaves, Nathaniel Green,
Yorktown, VA., end of war i.e. problems for the British, Treaty of Paris, negotiators, explain why the revolutionaries won the war.
5. Describe the first governing structures adopted after the U.S. declared its independence. Analyze the federal government as it existed under the Articles of
Confederation. Describe the most significant issues the U.S. had to deal with and explain how the government failed to live up to the needs of the new country. Include the following terms.
Articles of Confederation: structure, powers, problems, success, Congress, states, the debt, trade restrictions, British troops out west, status of American Indians in the west.
6. Explain the need for the Constitutional Convention that met in Philadelphia in 1787 and discuss the process of writing the U.S. Constitution. Describe and explain the major provisions of the new constitution especially concerning the separation of powers and rights given to individual states. Include the following terms.
Federalist Convention: new powers given to the national government, debates, compromise, the constitution, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Father of the
Constitution, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, taxes, Virginia Plan, Connecticut
Plan, the presidency, electoral college, supreme court, slavery, African Slave
Trade, 3/5ths Compromise.
7. Explain the procedure established for ratification of the constitution. Describe the actions of its supporters and opponents and explain how and why ratification was achieved. Include the following terms.
Anti-Federalists opposition to the constitution, Patrick Henry, why the Federalists defended the constitution, debates, Federalist Papers, final vote, George
Washington, Bill of Rights i.e. purpose, amendments, status of Anti-Federalists.
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