-SA+Responses+to+essential+questions-

8/28/09 Throughout the colonization of Jamestown, the colonists faced tragic and heart wrenching hardships. They could have had many reasons why they stayed. It could have been for individual liberty, the problems back in England, or the competition for new land with their hated rival Spain. The colonists in the new world had no set laws that they had to follow. England was funding their attempt to colonize the new lad but they were not helping them with the tasks at all. In the new world the new colonists had no one telling them, or setting guidelines for them to follow. They could make this new land what they wanted it to be. They had this new chance to be completely free of England’s grasp and wanted that chance. They toughed it out through all of the deaths, but in the end they succeed in being free from England and individual liberty. At the time the new colonists came to the new world there were a ton of different problems back home in England. There were no jobs in England at the time. Due to the unemployment rate, people resorted to theft. Once this happened, the crime rate sky-rocketed and things were being took so people could survive. One of the main contributors to the unemployment was the wool industry. The wool industry made up a huge percentage of the jobs in England. There was also overpopulation and people were becoming homeless very quickly. Maybe to these factors, the colonists thought of the new world as a getaway from all the trouble. During the time of the colonization of the new world, Spain England’s hated rival, was claiming new land in America. England sought to be better than Spain so they sent people over to the new world in search for new trading products and more importantly GOLD. The English heard that America was full of gold and they wanted in on the riches. Also, wanted new products to trade that were rare in England. They also wanted to claim new land to expand their great empire to make England bigger and more powerful. From all of these factors, the colonist stuck it out, suffered to make America what it is today. They should be remembered for all they accomplished and the tragedies they had to face so we could be free today.

9/5/09 If I were an Englishman coming to the new world and had to choose between the Pennsylvania colony and the Massachusetts Bay colony I would choose Pennsylvania. The social personality of the people in Pennsylvania would fit my personality. The colonists in Pennsylvania had the freedom to practice any religion that the wished. In the Massachusetts Bay colony, you could be only one religion and that was Puritan. I would like the freedom to practice my own religion that I believed was right when I moved to the new world. Since William Penn gave away land that attracted many other cultures to the area. I would like this because I could learn about others countries cultures. We could combine parts of our cultures together and learn new languages. The Economical status of Pennsylvania was flourishing. The relationship with the natives was positive. William Penn bought land instead of befriending them and brutally forcing them to give their land up. Since we had a positive relationship with the natives we could trade and receive essential utilities that the natives possessed. Economically, Pennsylvanian was doing great. Due to separation of church and state, there were no taxes that went to the church. The church did not control the power or the money and that allowed more money for the colony and the colonists. The trading with the natives helped us succeed in creating a successful economy because money was being spent. There were no slaves so there were a lot of jobs for everyone and most people were making money.

9/16/09 The French and Indian War was a major turning point in between the British and the colonists because it sparked the thought of revolution in the colonists mind. These ideas were sparked due to the acts such as the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Writs of Assistance. The Writs of Assistance gave the British government the right to give commanders the right to seize any ship they thought was smuggling sugar in from the Caribbean. If the British found that you were smuggling in sugar the commander of that ship was the jury, judge, and the executioner. Instead of innocent till proven guilty, you were guilty until you could prove your innocence. James Otis wrote that the Writs of Assistance was taking away the rights of Englishmen. The Stamp Act of 1765, was a direct tax. That meant that it taxed the colonist directly and there was nothing they could do about it. It didn’t matter to the lower classes or the middle classes, because Britain thought that they could silent them. It really got the colonists furious when the taxes affected the upper class which mostly consisted of lawyers. This was the only direct tax imposed by Britain and it affected the lawyers because you had to pay a tax for every document that was written. The Loyal Nine and the Sons of Liberty, were “terrorists” that were for the removal of the Stamp Act. These are some of the things that gave the colonists a bitter feeling about the Parliament of Great Britain.

9/22/09 I think that the colonists had every right to rebel and want freedom from Britain. Britain passed these acts to try and control the colonist and to collect revenue to pay off their debt they had. Some of the ridiculous acts that Britain passed were the Sugar Act 1764, the Currency Act 1764, and the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act really lit the fire of independence inside the colonists because it was a direct tax. Since it was a direct tax, this also affected the upper class and that was full of lawyers and you didn’t want to make them mad. England lost money because of this act and they repealed it. The very same day they passed the Declaratory Act which gave England the right to tax the colonists on whatever they wanted. This was unheard of in the colonies because for the past 150 years they have been living under salvatory neglect. During this time there was a terrorist organization forming named the “Sons of Liberty.” They were all for the independence of the colonies and acted out against any English authority. They were responsible for the Boston Tea Party. This act of treason is what made the English put Boston under Martial Law. The war started shortly after all of these incidents. So in a retrospect, I do feel that the colonists had the right to act out against the British.

10/11/09 The constitution allows for an enduring political debate because there are two arguments for each topic. The two political parties that are arguing their cases can both have opinions based on the context provided. During our mock debate in class, we saw that all of the topics we were supposed to defend had counter arguments that kept the debate going. For the National Bank of America, Hamilton wanted to take all of the colonies debt and have everyone pay it off together. He thought this to be a good idea because it would establish credit and get the “new” American economy going. Jefferson’s view on the idea was quite the opposite. It was brought up that to fund the National Bank of America we would have to borrow money from England. The people that we just fought our independence for. So to stat the new American economy off, we would be totally depended on England for a while. Jefferson thought that was a bad idea. The only reason he sided for it was because the said that they would move the capital to Virginia. As you can see, the Constitution can be debated over and over again and again because people will always have different view points.

10/25/09

The revolution of 1800 was in fact a revolution. Jefferson would look at the revolution of 1800 as his presidential election. When Jefferson was elected at the third president of the United States, he drove out the Federalist Party and took over as the head of the Democratic Republican party. This was the first time that the Democratic Party had the control of the country. During his election, the Federalists tried to vote for Aaron Burr. After eight days of voting, Thomas Jefferson had defeated Aaron Burr. Jefferson switched the views of Americans to Democratic Republican from Federalists. Thomas Jefferson believed in American liberties and rights that he promoted in his presidential campaign. Due to Jefferson’s, promised Americans were given all of the liberties and rights that were promised to them by their new president. So in all reality, the revolution of 1800, was indeed a revolution.