SG+Responses+to+Essentinal+Questions

9-6-09

The colonists coming to America choose where to live based on what they believed. Religion defined an area during the 17th century. Most of the colonies had one main religion in that area. Some of the settlers in these areas, like the Puritans in New England, were very intolerant of settlers who believed in other religions living in the same colony as them. The Quakers who lived in Pensylvania were some of the most tolerant people who came to New England. Every type of religion was welcome in Pennsylvania. I would have gone to live in Pennsylvania if I was a colonists coming to America. Pennsylvania was full of economical opprotunity and socially tolerant colonists. Some people ended up leaving England because they wanted to have a new start financially. William Penn promised every person fifty acres of land just for coming to Pennsylvania. Other colonies only offered land if they payed for another person to come over as their servant. Penn wanted people to come to Pennsylvania and have the opprotunity to make something of them. The Quakers was a very relaxed and peaceful religion. The main religion was Quakers, but everybody was allowed and welcome. The Quakers were very relaxed about their religion. They kept their hat on during church and thought that they were all children of God. Being more relaxed about religion is the way I would have liked to practice my religion. They were not as extreme as the Puritans were. The relaxed way that the Quakers practiced their religion would have deffinatly been a reason for me to go to Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania was one of the more tolerant and diverse colonies of the New World. The idea William Penn built Pennsylvania around attracted many different kinds of people. It was a place for religious misfits to go after being banished from other towns. The part that I like the most about what Pennsylvania was like back then is that slavery was not allowed. Since everybody in the New World was trying to make a civilization from scatch banning slavery was a big deal. Banning slavery meant that everybody had to pull their own weight. I would have gone to Pennsylvania because it had more freedom than the other colonies. There were not many places for people to go if they did not agree with the dominant religion in the area they were living in. Pennsylvania was a place for people to go when they were not accepted anywhere else. I would have gone to live in Pennsylvania because it seems very modern to me. The ideas of religious freedom and no slavery would have brought me there. I would have gone to Pennsylvania to setle because the ideas and even laws seemed to be very ahead of its time.

9-16-09

The French and Indian War was world war fought mainly between England and French and Spain. The most fought over area was the Ohio River Valley area. This was the key piece of land that kept France’s colonies in the south connected with the colonies in the north. It was also and important piece of landed needed for England to expand its empire west. This significant war put England and the English colonies into a massive debt. The relationship between the colonists and England changed dramatically after this war. The financial aftermath that was caused by the French and Indian War drastically changed the relationship between the English colonists and England. The French and Indian War was very expensive. Britain started off losing some battles against the French. They had to send more troups over to help them win the war in the end. Every soldier was being payed to fight in this war. There also was the cost of supplies. Every soldier needed a weapon, and most of the weapons were guns which required ammo. Every gun also needed gun powder. Other than weapons the army needed food, water, and other basic provisions. The war was very expensive for Britain. After the war the debt of England and the English colonies was extremely deepened. Even though Britain had won the war they still had to work hard to get over the aftermath of the war. After the war had ended Britain’s debt went up 50 million dollars from 72 million to 132 million. The debt in the colonies became 2 million dollars. All though the debt was being payed off by the British citizens the colonists still had to pay. Because of this massive debt King George did not want to spend any more money so he made the Proclamation Line. This imaginary line forbid the colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. He mainly made this line because settling new areas was very expensive. Making this line angered colonists because the Ohio Valley was west of the Appalachian Mountains. Not being able to settle the area many of them died fighting for made colonists angry. They started to defy the crown by purposly crossing the line. Another way George tried to get England out of debt was by taxing the colonists. He raised the tax on sugar and made it so they could only buy sugar from Britain. These new taxes that were being created without a representative for the colonies was making the colonist even more upset. All of these things Britain was creating to get them out of debt changed the relationship between Britain and the colonies negatively.

9-23-09

Britain had started to take more control over the colonies during the late 18th century. Britain had started to eliminate the idea of salutary neglect that had been established early on. The new laws that were being created were restricting the colonies so they were not able to reach their full potential. The colonists were starting to feel like Britain was taking away their rights as Englishmen. The colonists were totally right in their choice to fight for their independence, because Britain had started to take away their freedom. Parliament had started to come up with more taxes for the colonies. In most of these decisions the colonies were not represented. The colonists did not think this was fair. In Britain people were directly represented in Parliament. They were English and the colonists were too so they felt like some of their privaleges and rights were being taken away. Benjamin Franklin argued that there should be no taxation without representation. The unfair taxes gave the colonies cause to break away from Britain. In an attempt to control the colonies Parliament started to create acts and laws. Most of the acts were a way for Britain to get more money from the colonies, and some of the acts were more taxes. The Sugar Act was a tax on sugar, and it also stated that the colonists were only allowed to buy sugar from England. It was a way for Britain to gain even more money. The Stamp Act was a direct tax on all printed docuements. This act upset and affected every colonist. It affected family members who wanted to write letters to friends and family, and it affected lawyers the most. Lawyers had to use more paper than anybody for things like docuements. These acts upset the colonists because they felt like their rights as Englishmen were being taken away. Another act that took away the rights and freedom of the colonists was the Government Act. This act took away Massachusetts charter, making it completely under the king’s control. The acts that Parliament created for the colonies angered them because they took away whatever freedoms the colonists. After the French and Indian War, Britain had soldiers in the colonies. This was the first time that England had a direct authority force in the colonies. The colonists did not like the fact that they used to be able to have their own authority figures. The soldiers also got special treatment. The New Quarting Act stated that British soldiers had the right to kick families out of their homes and use it for shelter. The Administration of Justice Act said that soldier who breaks the law will not be tried in the colonies, but they will be sent back to England to be tried instead. The soldiers in the colonies made colonists want to be rid of Britain even more.

10-24-09 The election of 1800 was a truly momentous moment in American history. After John Adams’ failed Federalist presidency American’s were ready for a change. Because of acts like the Alien and Sedition Acts America’s were ready for a fresh start. They wanted a new government, because they now felt that Federalists were not a political party that was good for America. They wanted a new party and a new president and Thomas Jefferson was the best choose at the time. The election of 1800 was also called the revolution of 1800. It was a proper name because the election of 1800 was indeed a revolution. The election turned out to be a tie between Jefferson and his Vice President Burr. Alexander Hamilton ended up convincing congress members to change their votes to Jefferson. This was a change in character for Hamilton because he and Jefferson had never agreed on anything. They were considered enemies and Hamiltion helped Jefferson win the election. That alone was proof enough that America needed a change. Hamilton was revolted, so to speak, against his own political party. Without him the revolution never would have occurred. There is a reason why John Adams was the last Federalist president in the history of America. Adams and his cabinet made some fatal mistakes that turned many Americans against the Federalists party. They wanted a new type of government and Thomas Jefferson offered that. He was a Democractic Republican, or an Anti Federalist, so he was what the people wanted. A revolution is when there is a complete change in a government brought by the people being governed. The people wanted a change and they voted for a change. The election of 1800 was a revolution because the citizens of the United States wanted a complete change in government and it happened.

Sarah Goth 11-8-09 Up until Andrew Jackson became an American hero the United States had been mainly controlled by the “better sort”. The better sort was supposed to be rich white landowning men as opposed to the common man who up to this point had not been represented fairly. After Andrew Jackson’s rise to fame, the common man started to speak up and be heard more. Everything about the social and economical make up of America started to change, and after Jackson was elected president that change was recongized. __Jackson’s election inspired the common man to stand out and be heard.__ Everything in America was changing. This was a revolution greater than the eleciton of 1800. So many things where changing including the qualifications for voting. Most states were starting to change their voting restrictions from only allowing landowning white males to tax paying white males. All states still required voters to be white males, but the restrictions were started to lessen. This started to turn America into what we know it for today. The social make up of the United States made the most drastic change of all. Until this significant part in American history, the country had been controlled by the better sort. They were the rich white landowning men and were considered prestigious and above all others. Andrew Jackson was not considered to be one of these men. He was a nobody from Tennessee. People only started to recongnize his name after his accomplishments during the War of 1812. After his story and rise to fame more citizens of America started to speak up and have their voices heard. The common man started to become the majority that was recongized in America. More politicians were fighting for their rights. During thw Webster Hayne debate Robert Young Hayne tried to prevent a restriction from being put on western expansion. The western farmers were the common man and politicians fought for their rights to expand their farms and lives. Jackson had also started to put his friends in office instead of real politicians. The common man was what majority Jackson represented and it changed then whole social make up of America. The economy of America was also going through a drastic change with Jackson as the new president. During his presidency he made some decisions that completely changed the economic make up of the United States. One example was the nullification crisis of 1832. South Carolina decided to nullify the protective tariff Jackson aproved in 1832. The tariff put a tax on foreign goods so the soouth would have to buy their goods from northern factories instead. South Carolina refused to obey this act because they felt it was oppressive towards the south. To enforce where they stood South Carolina put together a state militia. Jackson responded by passing the Force Act which allowed him to use military force in South Carolina. He also started the Bank War. This was not an actual war. Jackson wanted to close the National Bank because he hated Henry Clay, who wanted the bank’s charter renewed. To close the bank he had all deposists put into smaller state banks. This eventually led to the end of the bank in 1841. In Jackson’s mind it was a victory. He completely changed the economic structure of the country. Jackson was very different from past presidents. He represented the common man, which had never been done before. In represented the common man he had the popular vote which may be why he was able to do everything he did. He completely changed the country’s economy in many different ways. By representing the common man he also changed the social structure of the country. Jackson completely reshaped the country.