American History Homework Three Answers - Student Seventeen

Katie B.

1. A) the percentage of states required to pass legislation and amend the Articles was much too high, making it nearly impossible to get anything done. And B) Congress had the power to makes business treaties, declare war, borrow money, control currency and raise an army, but it didn’t have the authority to tax the states, thereby making it incapable of raising the money to exercise any of its monetary powers.

Excellent.

2. The first three Articles of the Constitution are Article I. The Legislative Branch- this established Congress to pass legislation. Article II. The Executive Branch – this established the President’s powers so carry out the laws. Article III. The Judicial Branch – this established the courts, the Supreme Court in particular, and gave them the job to interpret the law.

Correct.

3. What I liked the most about George Washington is his humility. He refused kingship when it was offered it to him and he willingly left his executive office after just two terms. He did many difficult tasks, being the general of the Continental Army, presiding over the Constitutional Convention and serving as the first president, and after accomplishing so much he still didn’t see himself worthy of great honors.

Superb.

4. The most important invention of the 1790s was made by Eli Whitney in 1793. He built a machine called the cotton gin which mechanically separated cotton from its thorny branch and seeds. This machine could do the work of fifty men and the South’s cotton production was monumentally greater than before. This made the South an economic force to be reckoned with, and made the South believe itself to be invincible by the time the Civil War rolled around.

Terrific - will use as a model answer.

5. This cartoon illustrates the Constitution as a building, slowly coming together as each of the states ratify it. As shown, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia and Connecticut had already ratified. Massachusetts was just being lifted into place by a giant hand from the sky, possibly God’s. This could mean that the cartoonist was a Federalist because he saw the Hand of God in the making the United States and in the creation of the government.

Terrific answer again!

6. One of the achievements of the Northwest Ordinance was that it provided for the splitting of the ‘northwest’, between the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and south of the Great Lakes, into no less than three and no more than five states, and a way for them to join the Union. A second accomplishment was that it was the first legal document to protect land from being seized by the government without just compensation.

Superb. I particularly like your reference to how it was the first legal document to protect land from seizure by government without just compensation.

7. I think the most significant thing that happened during John Adams’ presidency was the signing of the Alien and Sedition Acts, though mainly the Sedition Act, which was blatantly unconstitutional because of its oppression of freedom of speech and press. When Jefferson and Madison lashed back, declaring that other states didn’t have to obey a federal law that was unconstitutional, laying the groundwork for the Southern states to attempt to nullify certain federal laws that didn’t coincide with their plans, which resulted in the Civil War.

Good, but the last sentence has a grammatical problem. Also, saying this "resulted in the Civil War" is a bit overstated.

H1. This still applies to our nation today because of its urgings to avoid conflict and division. More relevant, however, was his reminder that religion and morality are the pillars our nation is supported by if we wish to flourish.

Excellent.

H3. A state should not be allowed to secede from the rest of the United States because, first, the states and the whole government was established to work only if we all stood together as one nation. If just one state withdrew then it wouldn’t be capable of sustaining itself because of its previous dependence on a higher government. Also, most of the states that joined the Union later were purchased by the United States, and therefore that individual state doesn’t have a right to say it’s an individual nation because it physically belongs to the country as a whole, and not just to the people who live in it.

Very well done, with a good point about being purchased. But some states could sustain themselves after withdrawing. Will use part of this for model answers.

H5. Jefferson and Madison responded harshly and immediately, drawing up state resolution that declared the Acts unconstitutional. They also said that a state doesn’t have to obey an unconstitutional federal law. I agree with their deliberate action, letting Adams know right away that he was overstepping his bounds. That is a part of checks and balances, and nobody should be required to abide by something unconstitutional. However, without taking first steps to overturn the law or whatever oppressive legislation has been enacted, it is not the states’ right to just decide not to follow laws. We are one nation, and it is when we are united we stand, but divided we will fall.

Excellent.

Superb answers! One of the rare perfect scores: 100/100.