• textbook --> pp. 190 - 198.
• AMSCO --> pp. 83 - 85.
• Articles of Confederation.

1. What were the generally held beliefs in America regarding who should vote and who should hold public office.  What were the differences in the qualifications for the two?
2. What limited gains did women make as a result of the American Revolution?
3. Why was the impact of the American Revolution mostly negative for Native Americans?
4. How did Americans propose to avoid what they considered to be the problems of the British system they were repudiating?
5. What were the characteristics of the state constitutions written during the early years of the American Revolution?  How did they reflect the general spirit of the Enlightenment?
6. How did the state constitutions differ according to region?
7. How did the states deal with the issue of slavery?  Was there a regional difference in approach to that issue?
8. What type of government did the Articles of Confederation create?  What were its major features?
9. Why did Maryland delay the ratification of the Articles of Confederation?  How were the obstacles to its ratification resolved?
10. Identify the major weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.

                          ASSIGNMENT 2:

• textbook --> pp. 199 - 208.
• AMSCO --> pp. 85 - 87.

1. Identify the major economic problems facing the new American republic.  How did the Articles of Confederation government initially attempt to solve them?
2. How did Robert Morris propose to improve the nation's financial condition?
3. What were the conflicting economic needs of debtors and creditors in the mid-1780s?  What did each group want the government to do to help them?
4. Why did Britain's trade policies cause particular suffering among New England merchants?  How were the economies of each region of the nation affected by these policies?
5. Who was Daniel Shays?  How did the action of Shays and his followers relate to the economic problems of the Articles of Confederation government?
6. Why to historians consider Shays' Rebellion to be a catalyst in the movement toward a new U. S. constitution?
7. How did the Articles of Confederation Congress attempt to solve the problems of the status of western territories the states had ceded to the national government?  Which interest groups favored which plans for the sale and distribution of land? 
8. What effect did the American westward movement have on diplomatic relations with Britain and Spain?

                         ASSIGNMENT 3:

• textbook --> pp. 208 - 214.
• AMSCO --> pp. 96 - 101.
• Federalist Papers #10 and #51.
• Heffner's Docs. --> pp. 14 - 30 [The United States Constitution]
• chart -- > "Demographic of the Framers of the Constitution"

1. What was the historical significance of the Annapolis Convention as a prelude to the Constitutional Convention?
2. What were the socio-economic backgrounds of the framers of the U. S. Constitution?
3. Identify the main positions of the Virginia and New Jersey Plans.  How did the Great Compromise draw from these other plans?
4. How did sectionalism and the issue of slavery impact on the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention?
5. What was the significant political precedents set by President Washington in the absence of specific instructions in the Constitution?  Describe the constitutional provisions for a national executive.
6. Explain the concept of federalism.  Which issue most directly challenged the ambiguity of federalism?
7. Why did the supporters of the new Constitution call themselves Federalists?
8. Which groups in American society tended to be Federalists?  which tended to be Anti-Federalists?
9. What method did the Federalists employ to get their views across to the people?  What were their arguments?
10. How did the Anti-Federalists respond?  What was the core of their displeasure with the new Constitution?

                          ASSIGNMENT 4:

• textbook --> pp. 220 - 232.
• AMSCO --> pp. 101 - 104;  106 - 108;  Docs. A & B on pp. 116 - 118.
• Heffner's docs. --> pp. 30 - 32 [U. S. Bill of Rights]

1. Create a CHART which shows the ethnic and religious diversity and the differences in political ideology and economic complexity in New England, the Mid-Atlantic states, and the South.
2. What were the "guidelines for presidential etiquette" established by George Washington?
3. Outline the provisions of the Bill of Rights.
4. How much authority could the President exercise over his Cabinet?
5. What was the purpose of the Judiciary Act of 1789?
6. Why were these pieces of legislation passed--the Tariff Act of 1789?   the Tonnage Act of 1789?
7. What was the view of society and politics held by Alexander Hamilton?  Who did he feel should govern and why?
8. Outline the components of Hamilton's plan for paying the nation's debts and restoring credit on a sound basis.  To which social, economic, and political groups would this have appealed?
9. How did Hamilton propose to enact his programs?
10. What was it in his motives that so upset Thomas Jefferson and James Madison?
11. How was a resolution of these differing views achieved?
12. What are the distinctions between strict and broad [loose] constructionism?

                         ASSIGNMENT 5:

• textbook --> pp. 232 - 239.
• AMSCO --> pp. 104 - 106;  108 - 110.
• Heffner's docs. --> pp. 61 - 69 [Washington's Farewell Address].

1. How did the French Revolution highlight the differences between the Federalists and the Republicans?
2. Who was Edmond Genêt?  What was his impact on the growing tensions between Federalists and Republicans?
3. What was the importance of grass roots organizations to the growth of the Republican Party here at the end of the 18c?
4. How did the U. S. secure the Ohio Territory in 1795?
5. What caused the Whiskey Rebellion?  How did Washington's reaction to it underscore the differences between the Constitution and the Articles of Confederation?
6. What diplomatic problem did the French Revolution and the European war that followed pose for the United States?  How did Washington and Congress deal with this problem?
7. What were the circumstances that sent John Jay to England?  What were the results of his mission?
8. Why was Jay's Treaty so poorly received in the United States?
9. How did Jay's Treaty affect American relations with Spain?
10. What dangers did George Washington warn the nation about in his Farewell Address?
11. Why was John Adams selected as the Federalist candidate for president in 1796?  What was unusual and problematic about the outcome of the 1796 election?

                         ASSIGNMENT 6:

• textbook --> pp. 240 - 245.
• AMSCO --> pp. 110 - 112.
• Heffner's docs. --> pp. 71 - 79 [Alien & Sedition Acts / VA & KY Resolutions].

1. What were the events surrounding the XYZ Affair?  How was it resolved?
2. What caused the "Quasi-War" with France during Adams' administration?  What were the results of this struggle?
3. How did the Federalists, especially the "High" Federalist supporters of Hamilton, attempt to silence those who opposed the undeclared war?  What groups did these attempts most affect?
4. What is the meaning of the terms "nullification" and "interpolation" as they relate to Jefferson and Madison's VA and KY Resolutions?  What attitude toward the nature of the federal government did these Resolutions reveal?
5. Why was the Direct Tax of 1798 passed?  What impact did it have on factionalism in the United States?
6. Describe the view of the army that many Americans had at the end of the 18c.  Why did they hold that view?
7. What were the terms of the Franco-American Accord of 1800?  How did it reflect Adams' split from the Hamiltonian wing of the Federalist Party?
8. How did the Accord affect the political bickering between the Federalists and the Republicans?
9. What role did religion play in the 1800 presidential election?
10. What were the key issues in this election?  What strategies did each party employ to get elected?
11. What was the outcome of the 1800 election?  Why is it sometimes called the "Revolution of 1800" by historians?