History 217 Discussion 4 & 5
Discussion 4
Answer at least three of the following with a short paragraph for each:
1. According to the lecture, what were the four main motivations for the American Revolution?
2. What was The Great Awakening and how did it help lead to the revolution?
3. What did the term equality mean when it was used in the Declaration of Independence? What was “classical liberalism” and how did that ideology motivate the revolution?
4. What was the Seven Years War and how did it contribute to the coming of the revolution?
5. Why and how was the Stamp Act Crisis significant?
6. What was a shivaree?
7. Who were the Sons of Liberty?
8. How could one see the Boston Tea Party as an act of terrorism? Why were the Sons of Liberty so opposed to the Tea Act?
9. Do you believe the story of the dog who started the revolution? Why or why not? Why do you think it continues to be told?
10. According to the lecture, what was probably the most important thing that Paul Revere did on the night of his famous ride?
Discussion 5
Based on the lectures, The War for Independence and “We The People,” answer at least four of the following questions (at least two for each of the lectures):
1. Was George Washington “the indispensable man” for American independence and the early republic? Why or why not?
2. Who was the Swamp Fox and how was a symbol of the Revolutionary War?
3. According to the lecture, who was the best field commander the Americans had in the War for Independence?
4. What was the first regime of the United States called and what kind of government did it allow?
5. Who were the Federalists/Nationalists? What did they want?
6. What kind of government was established under the U.S. Constitution and how do you define that government?
7. What was the “filtering process” found in the U.S. Constitution and why was it significant?
8. Who was the “Father of the Constitution” and why was he called that? What kind of man was he?
9. How was the Constitution ratified? Explain how it worked in one of what the lecture called “the big three states.”
