Homework 10 - Chapter 5: A New Nation
Read pages 132 to 149. Answer all questions.
1. What were the two rules John Dickenson used to guide his political decisions?
2. Why was defining the relationship between state governments and national governments so
hard to do?
3. Why were the new states reluctant to unite under a strong central government system?
4. What is the difference between a republic and direct democracy?
5. Why do you think the founding fathers feared the uneducated masses?
6. How did the new state constitutions limit government and protect freedom?
7. Why did the founding fathers look to the Greeks and Romans for examples of government?
8. Why did the founding fathers decide 1 vote per state in Continental Congress?
9. What was the name of the new plan of government?
10. What powers did this new plan give Congress?
11. How did the western lands divide Congress?
12. What solution did the Land Ordinance of 1785 provide for western lands?
13. Why is the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 so important?
14. What political and economic problems did the nation face in the 1780s?
15. How did the debt/credit crisis threaten the nation?
16. Why did Congress fail to effectively deal with foreign nations?
17. Why did the Articles of Confederation prove to be a failed form of government?
18. Look at page 138 and 139. How did the Land Ordinance of 1785 prove to be an ingenious way to
divide and settle new lands?
19. What was the source of the problem faced by farmers during Shay’s Rebellion?
20. What did George Washington predict because of Shay’s Rebellion?
21. What did Hamilton, Madison, and Washington propose to do to address the problems from
Shay’s Rebellion?
22. What was the great contribution of Roger Sherman to the Constitutional Convention?
23. How did the founding fathers resolve the questions surrounding slavery?
24. What is federalism?
25. Why does it work so well in our form of government?
26. What do the separation of powers create and why is this essential to the US Constitution?
27. What was the purpose of the electoral college?
28. Look on page 145. What warning did John Jay give Americans?
29. Who were the Federalists and what did they stand for?
30. Who were the Anti Federalists and what did they stand for?
31. How did the Federalist Paper’s prove to be invaluable to persuading Americans to ratify the
Constitution?
32. What was the chief argument of Patrick Henry against ratifying the Constitution?
33. What was needed to guarantee all states would ratify the Constitution?
34. What are the essential freedoms protected under the Bill of Rights?