American History Homework Three Answers - Student Two

steven M is finished.

1. The Foreign policy under the Articles was as difficult for the colonies as it might be if the colonies were completely different soveriengties. There was virtually no centralized power for any of the states to answer to; the Fed could not levy any taxes so they had no money to control the people. the states became totally divided.

Good points.

2. I.gives power to a bi-cameral legislative branch, the Congress

II.gives power to the executive branch, the president.

III.gives power to the judicial branch, the Supreme Court.

Correct. "Judicial", not "judicial".

3. He led by example with his strong personality. and Although intelligent, he did not trust himself to be King giving up power to the less intelligent masses: thats humility!

Good points, but work on grammar. E.g., not "thats" but that's (note apostrophe).

4. The cotton Gin was a machine for refining raw cotto, removing the plant parts from the white fluffy part, taking care of hours of tedios work in minutes. This made the southern States very productive, the worlds wealthiest cotton exporter as a matter of fact. Prosperity contributed to the idea that the South could be independent.

Good points.

5. The pillars in the cartoon represent states supporting the Federal government. the hand in the cloud is the Hand of God saving Massachusetts during Shay's Rebellion.

The cartoonist, Ben Russell, was a federalist, favoring power to the federal government rather than States retaining power. Because the Rebellion took place under the Confederation, Russell held that it showed the need for a strong Constitution to stop insurrections like this quickly. Under the Articles, things were clearly getting out of hand.

Excellent!

6.the Northwest Ordinance told Europe they wanted to settle the territory. and established how new states were made.

Good, but work on grammar provide more detail. (Minus 1).

7. the Alien and Sedition Acts, and the nullifiying of them, were the most significant event, politically, during Adams' administration. this was the first time States declared a law of Congress unconstitutional.

Good. Note that it is "nullifying", not "nullifiying".

H2. The Anti-Federalists had some great points, particularly the Anti-Federalists during the presidency of John Adams. for one, The Alien and Sedition acts were bad laws, (thats a good point, right?).

Pertaining to federalism and the Articles of Confederation, the good that the Anti-Federalists stood for was almost as obvious. if too much power was diverted to the Federal government, a centralized system would soon grow and take control of the country. the principle of State Sovereignty is important, for every state is different and a law applying to California may not work for New Jersey. Today more than ever, this has happened. The federal government makes sweeping laws, acting in Education, civil rights, and many other issues we'd be better off if they would just keep their nose out of. The state governments are perfectly capable of deciding for themselves. Maybe if Thomas Jefferson could return from the grave....

Well done!

H4. In the Whiskey Rebellion, the presence of George Washington was obviously the primary reason that violence was halted. Why?

During Shay's Rebellion, only a few years earlier, several hundred soldiers could not in the least dissuade Daniel Shays or his followers. the soldiers and sergeant and Captains had more authority than the farmers. How can one voice have more effect than 100?

The President works in forien relations, appointing judges, vetoing legislation: these things do not make him irreplaceable, those jobs could be split up to other branches. What makes him so special? Why do we need a president?

He is one man. that makes the difference. he can make decisions faster than a group. he is one face; when other countries want to speak to America, they want to speak to the president. He's the face of the country, politically, militarily, economically.

He's is respected, his voice carries a lot of weight, people listen too him. I remember asking my mom when i was young "hey mom, can the president make laws?" "No," she said, "but he can suggest a law for Congress to make." Well a lot of good that does, i thought. Anybody can suggest a law for Congress to make. Why does every representative do what the president wants? Well part of the reason is because he is the head of the Party, so if a Congressman dosn't listen to the president he's less like to get funding from his party for his next re-election.

But i still haven't addressed why exactly we need a president. There is one thing a president does which I have not yet mentioned.

After the Whiskey Rebellion, those who were involved were tried and convicted. These men were criminals, murderers, thieves, traitors. But then Washington did something only he would have done. Something only a president could have done. He pardoned the whiskey rebels.

Now the power to pardon might be delegated to another authority. You might say we don't need a president to pardon criminals. But the only situation where you a convicted criminal would want to be pardoned, is if you knew something about the convict. Will the Chief Justice review every convict to see if there is one worthy of pardon? No. But a president, passing through, busy with affairs of state, quelling a local Rebellion soley with the sternness of his face, might notice on his way a dissident, in need of some mercy. The judge would not have stopped the whiskey rebellion, no lawyer of politician would have thought twice about convicting these men. General, or colonel perhaps, might have stopped the rebellion; Shay's Rebellion finally ceased after half the U.S. army came to halt them. But officers would not have the power to pardon those men. He would see the faces of those rednecks, living in a shack, their whiskey their only solace. Poor men, but there is nothing can be done for them but to be hanged.

All hail the wise and gracious President!

Excellent points about the power of the presidency!

H5. Jefferson and Madison arranged for laws to be passed in Kentucky and Virginia, pointing out the Acts were unconstitutional. Quiet frankly, I disagree with them. The Alien and Sedition Acts, although wrong, were an act of the Federal legislature, so the Federal Judiciary should have declared it unconstitutional.

Actually thats Judaical activism so maybe there's a better option. the solution, um, well maybe Jefferson and Madison were right after all. The whole point of dividing power between State and National levels is so one can check the other if they do something wrong, right? In this case, when the U.S. government acted out of turn, governments of two states corrected them. This seems like a good, innocent thing: whats wrong?

When states get too much power, they eventually want to seced, thinking they can make it out on their own. That might seem like an easier road but its catastrophic for everybody. The states cant be independent but they cant be one united conglomerate either.

Is there a equitable solution? What should have happened here? As far as can see there is no "good" option.

You're right about how difficult the question is. There does not seem to be an easy answer. Good analysis of the issues.

You may want to use Firefox to flag spelling errors before posting.

Grade: 99/100.