Ana Sofía Hernández. 11°B Collections Grade 11 Guiding Questions Collection 2 “Thomas Jefferson: The Best of Enemies” by Ron Chernow Read the history article “Thomas Jefferson: The Best of Enemies” by Ron Chernow. Then, reread the lines indicated with each question below. Answer each question, citing text evidence. 1. Lines 1–6: Analyze why the writer might have chosen to start his account with a description of Jefferson’s return to New York. Because he was trying to explain how the story between Hamilton and Jefferson began, with the arrival of Jefferson to New York and both of the wit their new political status. 2. Lines 1–14: What evidence demonstrates the differences between the two men? The words the narrator uses to describe Hamilton are "brilliant", "intelligent", and "selfreliant". These words show how powerful of a man and how great of a man Chernow thought Hamilton was. Hamilton was very certain of himself and did not care to share his opinions to others. The text says he "served up his opinions promiscuously". This shows that he did not care who heard his opinions which means that Hamilton loved debates and non-private conversations. On the other hand, Jefferson was very softspoken and was a very private person. Jefferson liked writing papers whereas Hamilton liked speeches. 3. Lines 20–28: What evidence explains what was at the core of Jefferson and Hamilton’s disagreement about the role of the federal government? What caused the conflict between Hamilton and Jefferson to start was the debt of the American Rev. Chernow says, by then Hamilton was in the thick of a contentious campaign to retire massive debt inherited from the Revolution." This shows that the conflict began with the argument over debt. Because of this conflict, they then began fighting over whether or not there should be a bank. This caused them to then fight over all the rest of their beliefs 4. Lines 29–40: What is being compared in this paragraph? The differences between management from both Hamilton and Jefferson, they explain Jefferson has more of an upset attitude and that Hamilton has more glee and happiness. 5. Lines 58–62: What words and phrases in these lines signal the order of events? The levels of power and authority that they both had. 6. Lines 58–73: What is the point of comparison in this paragraph? The comparison is on the actions of Hamilton and in the circumstances, a comparison about war and how that was affecting the people. 7. Lines 88–91: Explain the comparison Chernow is making by using these related words to describe the two men. Jefferson retained the landed gentry disdain for vulgar realities of trade. Otherwise Hamilton dreamed of meritocracy. 8. Lines 92–110: Analyze the sequence of events and infer why Chernow included them in his piece. Ana Sofía Hernández. 11°B He begins to explain how the tension and discord between Jefferson and Hamilton worsened and how they’d retaliate against each other, yet Washington was not in agreement of how they managed things so he had to intervene. We believe he included this to give us a bit of an image on how complicated their relationships were. 9. Lines 124–141: Analyze the perspectives of each man on the French Revolution. How did one of the men’s views change as the French Revolution wore on? It analyzes the gift of Jefferson of writing poetic things and how Hamilton the other one, didn't. 10. Lines 142–151: What comparison is being made in these lines? The comparison is about what Jefferson thought and what he was doing about politics and the idea of Hamilton and his concern for the country overcame his personal feeling. 11. Lines 176–195: What two examples of situational irony are in these lines? Hamilton helped install his longtime foe as president in 1801. Hamilton opted for Jefferson as the lesser of 2 evils and also was forced into his most measured assessment of the man. 12. Rubric of the text: The characters of the book are… Washington, Hamilton, Jefferson all of them being the most important. The text is about... The epic battle between these two Olympian figures began not long after Jefferson came to New York City to assume his State Department duties in March 1790. By then Hamilton was in the thick of a contentious campaign to refute massive debt inherited from the Revolution. Describe the setting of the story…it’s all based in New York in the old times where all Washington, Jefferson and Hamilton lived and made their marks. I like when... the two men's views on the government. So that we can analyze the different points of views. Hamilton liberally interpreted the limits on the power of the President while Jefferson favored a stronger Congress. I don't like... In the first paragraph, the author says that Jefferson was "taken aback by the adulation being heaped upon the new Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton" and that he was "eclipsed" by the younger "wunderkind. Jefferson was jealous.
