EK+Responses+to+essentional+questions-

In colonial America each colony was unique in its own way. Some colonies were strict on who they let stay there, others were not. One of the main distinctions between colonies was religion. Puritan Massachusetts was extremly strict on the people that stayed there. Pennsylvania on the other hand was open to anyone. Pennslyvania would provide a better, enviornment to live in with more freedoms. Pennsylvania would be a more pleasant place to live. Especially as a woman. In Massachusetts, everything was extremely strict and there was no freedom of individuality. In Pennsylvania one could be whom ever they wanted to be. There was complete toleration of religion, with the exception of Catholics and Jews who couldnt vote. As a woman one would have way more freedom. Women could vote and own land, something that was definitly not a reality in Massachussets. The entire atmosphere was completely and totally differnt in Massachssets. Any disregard of the law had extreme cases of punishment, most of the time death. That way of life would not be comfortbale by any means. The Pennsylvania way of life would definitly be extremely more comfortable. Not having to watch every move you make, because anything could get you banished or excicuted.

French and Indian War The French and Indian War was the first major step towards the American Revolution. The colonists sided with England in order to protect their families and way of life. There were also colonists that wanted to expand past the Appalachian Mountains. The English were in debt and relied on the colonists to relieve the burden of the war. __The French and Indian War was the first major turning point in the relationship between the colonists and England because in the aftermath of the war England encroached upon the colonists rights as Englishmen and exploited them for money to decrease England’s debt.__ England was suffering a major national debt at the time of the French and Indian War. After the war was over England had to pull itself out of debt and in order to do that King George used the Treaty of Paris to restrict the colonists from expanding past the Appalachian Mountains. The colonists fought along side the British because the Ohio River Valley was an interest of theirs. Many colonists died defending themselves and then King George sends the message that he doesn’t really care when the Treaty of Paris is signed. The Treaty of Paris was not the first infraction though. The Writs of Assistance of 1761 were set up to prevent smuggling of illegal goods into the colonies. If England lost trade with the colonies to France, Spain, or any other county they lost money. During the war the colonists only traded with England, and in order to keep it that way King George made it law that any person at anytime could be searched. The policy was that one was guilty until proven innocent. The colonists believed that their rights as Englishmen were not being observed and that was a major starting point in the tension between the colonies and England. England also set up all of these polocies to gain money from the colonists. This idea of taxing the colonists will eventually be more of an issue as time progresses. Because the colonies fought for England, yet didn’t receive what they fought for made the colonists bitter to England and develop negative emotions towards King George. And then when their freedoms as Englishmen were being restricted, they were well on their way to wanting nothing to do with England anymore. The French and Indian War sparked all of this by pulling England into a pit of debt, which lead to England asserting its authority over the colonies in a larger scale than ever before.

Justification for the colonists actions.

The colonists in the 1770's were beginning to feel that the British were restricting their unique lifestyle too much. The colonists had established unique lifestyles for themselves that had evolved over 150 years. They werent about to let the British make rules for them when the British were an ocean away. __The colonists actions can be justified becuase they were 13 unique colonies that wanted to protect thier way of life, and that had no say in thier political or ecomical futures.__ Every colony was different in their own unique ways. Some colonies' government functioned differently than one another. When Britain decides to enforce its authority they are trying to clump the colonies into having to follow rules, and pay taxes that do not apply to them. The colonists were justified in declaring independence becuase in order to be able to retain their new unique culture, they had to break away from the thing that was keeping them from functioning the way that they pleased. The colonists' futures economically and politically were totally out of their hands. They had no representaion in England, and no power to have any say on what went on politically. They didnt regulate the trade polocies, England did. In order to gain money and prosper, the colonies had to take things into thier own hands. England was draining them of money, and sine they had to representaion politically, they had to stop it somehow. The colonists were completely justified in breaking away from England becuase they were being completely walked all over. The colonists has a unique way of life to protect, and they had no say in their government, therefore had no way to protect thier way of life. Also the colonists needed to prosper economically. If they stayed under the rule of England they would have been run dry of money. The colonists actions were to protect what they had established over a century and a half and to ensure thier future in the world.

Why the Constitution is so easily debated.

The Constitution is the foundation of the entire nation. This building block is cause for much political debate. There isn’t one topic that isn’t debated in politics these days. __Since everything is open to interpretation, debates about the limits and meaning of the Constitution are easily sparked.__ The Constitution sets up restrictions on many different things, and of course the whole nation can never agree on just on thing so political parties form opinions and then take sides. This was the same way when the Constitution was first written. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton both had polar opposite views on issues of the time. Jefferson was all for power to the states while Hamilton wanted a strong central government. This still happens today. The political parties of Washington’s era have over time evolved into modern day Democrats and Republicans. But that doesn’t change that the Constitution is highly debated. There is always a debate between the two parties about whether or not something should be legal, or added to the constitution. It seems like there is never one issue that opposite parties can agree on. Because of the laws in the Bill of Rights certain people are going to believe things are unnecessary and others that there should be laws in there that are not. There will always be room for debate when it comes to anything to do with the constitution.

Revolution of 1800

The revolution of 1800 was when Thomas Jefferson became president and the control over the nation was now in the hands of the Democratic Republicans. Some would say that this change was a revolution. __The “revolution” of 1800 was a revolution because the voting was set up so that the Thomas Jefferson would win.__ Because the voting was set up so that Thomas Jefferson would receive one more electoral vote than Aaron Burr the “revolution” can be considered as such. The original Constitution left room for manipulation of presidential election. The fact that the Democratic Republicans found a way to make sure that Thomas Jefferson became president shows that there was a clear organization to make a change in power. Even Alexander Hamilton, who disliked Jefferson, liked him more than he liked Burr. The election came out in Jefferson’s favor, displaying that the efforts to make sure that Jefferson won were successful.