American History Homework Three Answers - Student Fourteen

Duncan B.

1. Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress had virtually no real power. Nominally, it could raise an army, tax the country, and make laws which governed, but in reality it had no power to enforce the laws it made. The other problem was that the states kept most of the power which Congress should have possessed, and if a state did not like a law, the citizens simply ignored it—Congress could not do anything about it.

Good, but your two points seem to be only one point told from two different perspectives.

2. In Article I of the Constitution, the powers of Congress are defined. The President’s authority is established in Article II, and the Supreme Court’s power is laid out in Article III.

Excellent.

3. What I most admire about George Washington was his self-sacrifice. He did not really want to command the American army, or be President, or lead the Constitutional Convention, but he did so anyway because he knew it was for his country’s good. Unlike tyrants, such as Napoleon and Fidel Castro, he did not seize power for his own personal gain.

Superb!

4. The most important invention of the 1790’s was the cotton gin. This machine allowed the seeds to be removed from cotton, thus giving the South more cotton production and turning it into a powerful economic force. This gave Southerners a powerful financial weapon.

Correct.

5. This political cartoon represents the state of Massachusetts being pushed up by God to stand with the rest of the states (represented by pillars). The author was certainly pro-Federalist.

Good insights, but stand with the other states ... about what? The Constitution. (Minus 1).

6. The Northwest Ordinance did two major things: A. It allowed territories to become states by having a certain population and other things. B. It established freedoms (many of which were later put in the Bill of Rights) such as religious freedom, trial by jury, and habeas corpus.

Superb.

7. The most significant thing about John Adams’ presidency was probably the Alien and Sedition Acts. These were the first federal laws to be declared “unconstitutional” by the American people. The Alien Act allowed Adams to expel immigrants from the United States, and the Sedition Act made it a crime to criticize the President (a clearly unauthorized law.) These were declared unconstitutional by many American politicians, especially Anti-Federalists.

Excellent.

H2. The Anti-Federalists, who believed that a Bill of Rights was necessary to ratify the Constitution, had a genuine problem. Without rights clearly defined in the law of the land, what was to stop the government or anyone else from taking those rights away? Look what happens now, even with rights defined in the Constitution (gun ownership, for example.)

Superb, but your expression "had a genuine problem" is inartful. I think "identified a genuine problem" would be better.

H3. The central problem with debtor’s prison is that it gives the creditor no second chance to pay back his obligation. He cannot, because he is not making any money at all. For example, if a workman with debts to pay is laid off, and he cannot find a job quickly enough, off he goes to debtor’s prison, where he makes no money at all.

Good point. Unfortunately, many debtors who are not in debtor's prison do not pay off their debts anyway.

H5. When the Alien and Sedition Acts were passed, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison urged states and people not to obey those laws and to declare them unconstitutional. Under the laws of the United States Constitution, Jefferson and Madison were trying to persuade people to disobey a Federal law, a clearly illegal act. However, the Sedition Act (the Alien Act less so) was evidently unconstitutional, and should have been combated. Madison and Jefferson should have tried to get the laws officially described unconstitutional, rather than breaking our nation’s laws.

Good analysis, but they did have states "officially" declare the Acts unconstitutional.

Well done! 99/100.--Aschlafly 21:38, 3 October 2008 (EDT)