American History Homework Two Answers - Student Sixteen

DeborahB.

1.) What do you think were the three most important causes of the American Revolution? 1) Colonists accepted John Locke’s philosophy of natural rights and a social contract, which conflicted with rule by a monarchy. 2) Colonists were accustomed to much independence and self-determination, and Tory efforts to regulate and tax were bitterly opposed by the Colonies (and by Whigs in England). 3) British burdens hurt nearly all Colonists in all walks of life.

Excellent.

2.) Who used the phrase “taxation without representation,” and why? The phrase “taxation without representation” was used by Reverend Jonathan Mayhew in a sermon he delivered in Boston in 1750. But it is most of the time linked to James Otis, a Boston politician who said “taxation without representation is tyranny.” It was a term used by Colonists, that summed up, in a three word phrase, that the heavy taxes that British Parliament were laying on them left and right were unfair because they were NOT being represented in Parliament during their making. Because the Colonies could not elect people for Parliament, they had absolutely no say in the matter. Because they had no say, they were left helpless against the attacks of Parliament, hungry for more money and power.

Superb.

3.) What was the Boston Tea Party? The Boston Tea party was a late night expedition the Colonists set out to do one cold winter night. In the weeks before, England, furious that the Colonies were boycotting tea, passed the Tea Act of 1773, which would, in short, result in even more tax on the colonists. They tried to get the tea sent back to England, but the governor refused. So they decided something must be done. On December 16, 1773, a group of men dressed as Indians snuck onto the ships in the Boston harbor that were loaded with tea. They took the 350 chests of tea (in today’s dollars costing about 1.87 million dollars), and dumped them into the Boston Harbor. Thus this expedition was coined "the Boston Tea Party."

Excellent!

4.) Do you blame anyone for the Salem Witch Trials? Explain. Yes – I blame the legal system entirely for the unfair dealing of the “witches.” One of the major flaws during that time was allowing “spectral evidence" as a basis for convicting someone. In other words, they were convicting hundreds of women as witches only because one person, or, in this case a group of teenagers, claimed to have seen them “flying through the winter mist.” At that time, a statement as unreliable as “that women visited me one night, but in witch form! I KNOW it was the same person!” could almost instantly send an innocent person to jail, or worse, death. With no fair legal system that stayed away from the biased opinions of family members, or a Chief Judge stuck stubbornly in his ways, the helpless women's future was left in the hands of a legal system that was entirely unreliable and wishy-washy. The people deciding the case were accountable to no one. They could decide as they liked, and had no rules to stick to. And the people being tried had no rights whatsoever. As you can see from history, the results were catastrophic. Hundreds of innocent people were thrown in jail or killed, only because of the flaw of one system, which, in the long run, could have saved hundreds of innocent people.

Superb explanation.

5.) True or false: colonies having more religious freedom have less conflict with the King. Explain your answer. True. Without constant annoyance from a king, who potentially limited the freedom of the colonies, they actually had their OWN say in the laws, or in this case, religious freedom, that was allowed. A lot of the problems that caused tension between the king and the colonies were based purely upon the fact that the colonies were NOT allowed to make their own decisions. If they were able to run their own lives without the king interfering, they wouldn't need to turn to the king with their problems because the king wouldn't be the one causing the problems.

OK, but I don't see how you link greater religious freedom to less conflict with the King. (Minus 1).

6.) Briefly discuss (in a few sentences) any of the debate or discussion topics from the lecture, or mysteries (see H3 below for the link). Debate: George Washington. Was he great, and if so, why? George Washington was most DEFINITELY great! For just one aspect of his life, he was an outstanding general in the war because he never gave up, despite the almost seemingly impossible winter in Valley Forge. He kept his troops there, and trained them well (training which, in the long run, contributed greatly to their victory). He was clearly a superb leader because, despite the few that would abandon at any expense to themselves, the majority of the troops stayed during the winter and were loyal to George Washington. They knew, despite the intense hardships they were going through, that their general knew what was best.

Superb analysis, and great point about never giving up!

7.) Explain the meaning of the political cartoon on the right. As with all cartoons, pay particular attention to all of its details. Provide a rough estimate for its date. Some details of the cartoon that are very important in deciphering its meaning are as follows: 8 pieces of the snake, each one labeled with initials, standing for 8 colonies (S.C. South Carolina, N.C. North Carolina, V. Virginia, M. Massachusetts, D. Delaware, N.J. New Jersey, N.Y. New York, and N.E. New England). Something else to note is that New England is the head of the snake – obviously, the artist of the cartoon was either mocking New England for thinking it was the head of the colonies, or they actually thought that it was. All of the pieces are not connected, which is showing how all of them were separate and did not work together. But then, there are commanding words at the bottom of the cartoon: “JOIN, or DIE.” In the sense of the cartoon, it meant that unless the snake joined together to make one snake, it would die because of the separation. The literal meaning, though, was commanding the 8 colonies to JOIN together to fight against the greater evil. Contrary to popular belief, this specific cartoon was made to encourage uniting against the Indians during the French and Indian war, and the exact date of this cartoon is 1754. But it really became popular in the 1770s during the time of the Revolutionary War, when the Colonies were being encouraged to unite against England or eventually fade away and be overcome by their dominating power and rule.

Great analysis.

Superb answers! 69/70.--Aschlafly 23:10, 27 September 2008 (EDT)