Study Guide for Unit 2 Test
#1: Why were Americans so reluctant to break with Britain? What was the tipping point?
• Second Continental Congress
• Changing Sentiments: 1. cost of the war, 2. hurt feelings (King recruited Indians, slaves, and Hessians), and
3. forcing independence (rejection of the Olive Branch petition & Prohibiting Act – blockade).
• the Failed Conquest of Canada
#2: What was Paine’s radical vision and why did that vision have such a strong appeal to many at the time?
Why did conservatives develop a different vision of America’s future?
• Loyalty to the Empire
• 1776 – publication of Common Sense
• Smaller body controlling the larger one?
• Creation of a “Republic” | NE town meetings
• Cultivation of Civil Virtue
• Natural Aristocracy – Stability of Social Order
#3: Does the Declaration of Independence clearly make the argument that the colonies “ought to be
independent”?
• Lee’s Formal Resolution
• The Committee of Five
• Natural Rights, the Social Contract, and the Right to Revolution
• Crimes of the Crown
• “We must hang together, or we will hang separately.”
#4: In what ways was the Revolution a civil war among Americans as well as a fight between Britain and
those Americans seeking independence?
• Minority Movement
• Patriots – characteristics of . . .
• Loyalists – characteristics of . . .
• The Loyalist Exodus
#5: What were the major turning points of the Revolutionary War?
• General Washington at Bay
• Burgoyne’s Blundering Invasion
• Strange French Bedfellows (Franco American Alliance of 1778) – Saratoga
• Colonial War becomes a World War
• Yorktown and the Final Curtain
#6: What were the terms of the Paris Peace Treaty? Were the American’s being fair in the way they handled
the peace negotiations?
• Collapse of Lord North’s Tory regime
• Franklin, J. Adams, and Jay
• The Terms of Peace
#7: What changes in American society did the revolutionary American ideas bring about in the years
immediately following the revolution?
• Evolution rather than Revolution?
• Pursuit of Equality: political, economic, and religious
• Abolition of Slavery
• Republican Motherhood
Study Guide for Unit 2 Test
#8: What were the strengths / weaknesses of the A of C? Were the social problems of the 1780’s really due
to the national government’s failings, or the aftermath of the AR?
• Constitution Making in the States
• Relocation of State Capitals
• Economic democracy proceeds political democracy
• Navigation Laws | Enterprising Yankees
• Unhealthy atmosphere
• Articles of Confederation | Western Territories
• No Power to Regulate Interstate Commerce
• No Power to Enforce Tax Collection
• Votes and Amendments
• Land Ordinance of 1785
• Northwest Ordinance of 1787
• Slavery in the NW Territory
• British Problems: no commercial treaty, shut off West Indies trade from US, continued fur trading with
Indians on northern frontier
• Spanish Problems: closed the Mississippi and territorial claims
• Pirates of the North African States
• Crisis in 1786: British flooding of the market & Shays’s Rebellion
#9: What really motivated the leaders who called the Constitutional Convention and worked out the essential
compromises?
• Control of Commerce
• Annapolis Convention
• Philadelphia Convention
• Patriots in Philadelphia
• Hammering Out a Bundle of Compromises
• Safeguards for the Constitution
• Conservative or Liberal Document?
#10: Who were the Federalist and the Antifederalist, what were the issues that divided them, and why did the
Federalist win?
• Characteristics of the Federalists . . .
• Characteristics of the Antifederalists . . .
• Criticisms of the Constitution
• Great Debate in the States
• The Four Laggard States
#11: Should the Constitution be seen as a conservative reaction to the Revolution, an enshrinement of
revolutionary principles, or both? What was most truly original about the Constitution?
#12: Explain the purpose and significance of the Bill of Rights. Did these Ten Amendments weaken or
strengthen the federal government?
• Ratification with understanding of . . .
• How to amend the Constitution – two ways
• Ninth Amendment
• Tenth Amendment
• Judiciary Act of 1789
Study Guide for Unit 2 Test
#13: What were Hamilton’s basic economic & political goals, how did he achieve them? Compare and
contrast the philosophical & political disagreements between Hamilton and Jefferson. Consequence of this?
• Revival of the Public Credit – why?
• Funding at Par | Assumption of State Debts
• Compromise Between States
• Customs Duties and Excise Taxes
• Bank of the United States
• Benefits and Constitutionality of the Bank
• Jefferson – strict interpretation “construction”
• Hamilton – loose interpretation “construction”
• Whiskey Rebellion
• Emergence of Political Parties
#14: What were the basic goals of Washington’s and Adam’s foreign policies, and how successful were they
in achieving them?
• Impact of the French Revolution
• Washington’s Neutrality Proclamation
• Embroilments with Britain
• Jay’s and Pinckney’s Treaties
• Washington’s Farewell
• John Adams and the High Federalists
• Unofficial Fighting with France
• X, Y, Z Affair | Convention of 1800
#15: What were the main domestic issues facing the Adams administration? How did he handle these and
what were the short term and long terms consequences?
• Alien and Sedition Acts (Naturalization Act, Aliens Friends Act, Alien Enemies Act, Sedition Act)
• Virginia (Madison) and Kentucky (Jefferson) Resolutions
• Election of 1800 – Adams v. Jefferson
#16: Is the phrase “Revolution of 1800” justified?
• Role of the High Federalists
• Jefferson’s Religious Views
• Burr Jefferson Tie
• Significance of the election?
• Responsibility Breeds Moderation
• Jeffersonian Restraint
#17: What were the political and economic consequences of the Louisiana Purchase?
• King of Spain cedes to Napoleon trans-Mississippi region of Louisiana, including N.O.
• James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston
• Why sell?
– Failed effort to re-conquer Santo Domingo
– Napoleon’s conflict to end with Britain
• Constitutionality of the Purchase
• Valley of Democracy: Lewis, Clark, & Sacajawea
Study Guide for Unit 2 Test
#18: Which event had the greatest impact on American society in the early part of the 19 th century?
• Jefferson victory in the Revolution of 1800
• Louisiana Purchase
• Defeat of Tecumseh’s Indian Confederacy
#19: Could it be argued that Jefferson ironically laid the foundations for an imperial U.S. and a powerful
federal government?
Vocab To Know:
Second Continental Congress
Lexington & Concord
Common Sense
Battle of Saratoga
Battle of Yorktown
Treaty of Paris
Articles of Confederation
Loyalist
Valley Forge
Bicameral Legislature
Northwest Ordinance
Shay’s Rebellion
Virginia Plan
Proportional Representation
New Jersey Plan
Great Compromise
Electoral College
3/5 Compromise
Federalists
Alien & Sedition Acts
Bill of Rights
National bank
Whiskey Rebellion
Election 1800
Marbury v. Madison
Judicial Review
Louisiana Purchase
Lewis and Clark Expedition
War of 1812
12th Amendment
Impressment
Embargo Act of 1807 & Non-Intercourse Act
Hartford Convention
Nullification Crisis
Study Guide for Unit 2 Test
Essay Question Prompts:
#1- The American Revolution was fought to give independence to the American colonies from England, yet
by 1812, America was once again in a war against England regarding its sovereignty. Compare and contrast
the War of 1812 and the Revolutionary War. Think about the strategies employed by the US and England,
think about the causes, the results, and the defeats.
#2- The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution were both the original founding documents in the
United States. Compare and contrast the two documents and explain how the Constitution has been able to
successfully be used to govern this nation for 200+ years.
#3- On his way out of the presidency in 1796, George Washington stated that America should not get
entangled in foreign affairs. Evaluate Adams, Jefferson, and Madison’s ability to follow this advice by
examining the development of American foreign policy from 1796-1816.