AP U.S. History › 1755–1800
I have heard it asserted by some that, as America has flourished under her former connection with Great Britain, the same connection is necessary towards her future happiness, and will always have the same effect. Nothing can be more fallacious than this kind of argument. We may as well assert that, because a child had thrived upon milk, it is never to have meat, or that the first twenty years of our lives is to become a precedent for the next twenty. But even this is admitting more than is true. For I answer roundly that America would have flourished as much, and probably much more, had no European power taken any notice of her…
Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776)
Thomas Paine's writing style was primarily employed to achieve which of the following goals?
To render complex ideas in a way that was easily understood by average readers of the day by with clear, concise writing
To demonstrate his intelligence and refinement by using the formal, learned style favored by educated men during his time period
To appeal emotionally to his readership through impassioned language and religious metaphors
To target the colonial elites, whom he felt would be the only ones that could act responsibly in the face of Revolution
To address King George III directly and appeal to him to stop oppressive trade practices
Thomas Paine was a populist who wrote Common Sense, pioneering a style of political writing suited to the democratic society he envisioned. His goal was to break down and explain complex ideas in a way that the general population could understand.
On Reflection it now seems probable, that if the foregoing Plan or some thing like it, had been adopted and carried into Execution, the subsequent Separation of the Colonies from the Mother Country might not so soon have happened, nor the Mischiefs suffered on both sides have occurred, perhaps during another Century. For the Colonies, if so united, would have really been, as they then thought themselves, sufficient to their own Defence, and being trusted with it, as by the Plan, an Army from Britain, for that purpose would have been unnecessary: The Pretences for framing the Stamp-Act would not then have existed, nor the other Projects for drawing a Revenue from America to Britain by Acts of Parliament, which were the Cause of the Breach, and attended with such terrible Expence of Blood and Treasure: so that the different Parts of the Empire might still have remained in Peace and Union.
-"Remark on the Albany Plan of Union" by Benjamin Franklin (1789)
What was the purpose of Benjamin Franklin's Albany Congress meeting?
to unite the colonies for the purposes of defenses
to fight the British
to levy taxes against the French
none of these
The Albany Congress had two major purposes to gain help from the Iroquois and to discuss unification for defensive purposes. This congress would have had power to maintain an army, levy taxes, deal with Indian attacks and control westward expansion had it succeeded. This early attempt at unification was shot down by Britain and colonial legislatures as they felt that a union in the colonies would make them too strong. Individual colonies were unwilling to give up any of their powers to a grand council.
I have heard it asserted by some that, as America has flourished under her former connection with Great Britain, the same connection is necessary towards her future happiness, and will always have the same effect. Nothing can be more fallacious than this kind of argument. We may as well assert that, because a child had thrived upon milk, it is never to have meat, or that the first twenty years of our lives is to become a precedent for the next twenty. But even this is admitting more than is true. For I answer roundly that America would have flourished as much, and probably much more, had no European power taken any notice of her…
Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776)
Thomas Paine's writing style was primarily employed to achieve which of the following goals?
To render complex ideas in a way that was easily understood by average readers of the day by with clear, concise writing
To demonstrate his intelligence and refinement by using the formal, learned style favored by educated men during his time period
To appeal emotionally to his readership through impassioned language and religious metaphors
To target the colonial elites, whom he felt would be the only ones that could act responsibly in the face of Revolution
To address King George III directly and appeal to him to stop oppressive trade practices
Thomas Paine was a populist who wrote Common Sense, pioneering a style of political writing suited to the democratic society he envisioned. His goal was to break down and explain complex ideas in a way that the general population could understand.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or Ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.
Passage adapted from "Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom" by Thomas Jefferson (January 16, 1786)
Which document does not mirror the views found in this excerpt by Thomas Jefferson?
John Winthrop's "A City on a Hill" speech (1630)
The First Amendment of the US Constitution
Thomas Paine's The Rights of Man (1791)
Epperson v. Arkansas
John Winthrop was a Puritan governor of Massachusetts. The Puritans separated church and state, but they clearly thought the two institutions should work in tandem to support, protect, and promote "true" Christianity.
The First Amendment says that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Thomas Paine was firmly a part of the same school of thought as Jefferson and the other founding fathers, and believed in the separation of church and state. In The Rights of Man, he wrote that “Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law. Take away the law-establishment, and every religion re-assumes its original benignity.” Lemon v. Kurtzman held that states could not reimburse private religious schools for teacher salaries and materials. Epperson v. Arkansas struck down an Arkansas statute that prohibited the teaching of human evolution on religious grounds.
Passage adapted from Richard Allen's "To Those Who Keep Slaves, and Approve the Practice" (1794)
"The judicious part of mankind will think it unreasonable that a superior good conduct is looked for from our race, by those who stigmatize us as men, whose baseness is incurable, and may therefore be held in a state of servitude, that a merciful man would not doom a beast to; yet you try what you can to prevent our rising from a state of barbarism you represent us to be in, but we can tell you from a degree of experience that a black man, although reduced to the most abject state human nature is capable of, short of real madness, can think, reflect, and feel injuries, although it may not be with the same degree of keen resentment and revenge that you who have been and are our great oppressors would manifest if reduced to the pitiable condition of a slave.
We believe if you would try the experiment of taking a few black children, and cultivate their minds with the same care, and let them have the same prospect in view as to living in the world, as you would wish for your own children, you would find upon the trial, they were not inferior in mental endowments."
Allen's statements about educating slaves most directly foreshadows the beliefs of which African-American leader?
Booker T. Washington
Marcus Garvey
W.E.B. DuBois
Ida B. Wells
Allen asserts that if a group of black children were selected and educated to the standards made by plantation owners, then those black children would be shown to be just as gifted, bright, and achieving as white children. This line of argument directly foreshadows the reasoning used by Booker T. Washington in the late nineteenth century. Washington argued that education and self-improvement would change the lives of African-Americans for the better.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or Ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.
Passage adapted from "Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom" by Thomas Jefferson (January 16, 1786)
Which document does not mirror the views found in this excerpt by Thomas Jefferson?
John Winthrop's "A City on a Hill" speech (1630)
The First Amendment of the US Constitution
Thomas Paine's The Rights of Man (1791)
Epperson v. Arkansas
John Winthrop was a Puritan governor of Massachusetts. The Puritans separated church and state, but they clearly thought the two institutions should work in tandem to support, protect, and promote "true" Christianity.
The First Amendment says that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Thomas Paine was firmly a part of the same school of thought as Jefferson and the other founding fathers, and believed in the separation of church and state. In The Rights of Man, he wrote that “Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law. Take away the law-establishment, and every religion re-assumes its original benignity.” Lemon v. Kurtzman held that states could not reimburse private religious schools for teacher salaries and materials. Epperson v. Arkansas struck down an Arkansas statute that prohibited the teaching of human evolution on religious grounds.
On Reflection it now seems probable, that if the foregoing Plan or some thing like it, had been adopted and carried into Execution, the subsequent Separation of the Colonies from the Mother Country might not so soon have happened, nor the Mischiefs suffered on both sides have occurred, perhaps during another Century. For the Colonies, if so united, would have really been, as they then thought themselves, sufficient to their own Defence, and being trusted with it, as by the Plan, an Army from Britain, for that purpose would have been unnecessary: The Pretences for framing the Stamp-Act would not then have existed, nor the other Projects for drawing a Revenue from America to Britain by Acts of Parliament, which were the Cause of the Breach, and attended with such terrible Expence of Blood and Treasure: so that the different Parts of the Empire might still have remained in Peace and Union.
-"Remark on the Albany Plan of Union" by Benjamin Franklin (1789)
What was the purpose of Benjamin Franklin's Albany Congress meeting?
to unite the colonies for the purposes of defenses
to fight the British
to levy taxes against the French
none of these
The Albany Congress had two major purposes to gain help from the Iroquois and to discuss unification for defensive purposes. This congress would have had power to maintain an army, levy taxes, deal with Indian attacks and control westward expansion had it succeeded. This early attempt at unification was shot down by Britain and colonial legislatures as they felt that a union in the colonies would make them too strong. Individual colonies were unwilling to give up any of their powers to a grand council.
Passage adapted from Richard Allen's "To Those Who Keep Slaves, and Approve the Practice" (1794)
"The judicious part of mankind will think it unreasonable that a superior good conduct is looked for from our race, by those who stigmatize us as men, whose baseness is incurable, and may therefore be held in a state of servitude, that a merciful man would not doom a beast to; yet you try what you can to prevent our rising from a state of barbarism you represent us to be in, but we can tell you from a degree of experience that a black man, although reduced to the most abject state human nature is capable of, short of real madness, can think, reflect, and feel injuries, although it may not be with the same degree of keen resentment and revenge that you who have been and are our great oppressors would manifest if reduced to the pitiable condition of a slave.
We believe if you would try the experiment of taking a few black children, and cultivate their minds with the same care, and let them have the same prospect in view as to living in the world, as you would wish for your own children, you would find upon the trial, they were not inferior in mental endowments."
Allen's statements about educating slaves most directly foreshadows the beliefs of which African-American leader?
Booker T. Washington
Marcus Garvey
W.E.B. DuBois
Ida B. Wells
Allen asserts that if a group of black children were selected and educated to the standards made by plantation owners, then those black children would be shown to be just as gifted, bright, and achieving as white children. This line of argument directly foreshadows the reasoning used by Booker T. Washington in the late nineteenth century. Washington argued that education and self-improvement would change the lives of African-Americans for the better.
An act for granting certain duties in the British colonies and plantations in America; for allowing a drawback of the duties of customs upon the exportation, from this kingdom, of coffee and cocoa nuts of the produce of the said colonies or plantations; for discontinuing the drawbacks payable on china earthen ware exported to America; and for more effectually preventing the clandestine running of goods in the colonies and plantations.
WHEREAS it is expedient that a revenue should be raised in your Majesty’s dominions in America, for making a more certain and adequate provision for defraying the charge of the administration of justice, and the support of civil government, in such provinces where it shall be found necessary; and towards further defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and securing, the said dominions; we, your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the commons of Great Britain, in parliament assembled, have therefore resolved to give and grant unto your Majesty the several rates and duties herein after mentioned; For every hundred weight avoirdupois of crown, plate, flint, and white glass, four shillings and eight pence…
The Townsend Act, 1767
What was the purpose of the Townshend Act?
To raise revenue in the colonies to pay the salaries of governors and judges that were loyal to Great Britain
To house troops in the colonies
To stop the colonists from boycotting teas, paper goods and glass
To stop colonists from destroying English goods
The Townshend Acts were a series of acts passed, beginning in 1767, by the Parliament of Great Britain relating to the Colonies in North America. The purpose of the Townshend Acts was to pay larger salaries of governors and judges who would remain loyal to Great Britain. It was also passed to create a more effective means of enforcing compliance with trade regulations, to punish New York province for failing to comply with the Quartering Act, and to establish the precedent that the British Parliament had the right to tax the colonies.
The Townshend Acts were met with resistance in the colonies, prompting the occupation of Boston by British troops in 1768, which eventually resulted in the Boston Massacre of 1770.
An act for granting certain duties in the British colonies and plantations in America; for allowing a drawback of the duties of customs upon the exportation, from this kingdom, of coffee and cocoa nuts of the produce of the said colonies or plantations; for discontinuing the drawbacks payable on china earthen ware exported to America; and for more effectually preventing the clandestine running of goods in the colonies and plantations.
WHEREAS it is expedient that a revenue should be raised in your Majesty’s dominions in America, for making a more certain and adequate provision for defraying the charge of the administration of justice, and the support of civil government, in such provinces where it shall be found necessary; and towards further defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and securing, the said dominions; we, your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the commons of Great Britain, in parliament assembled, have therefore resolved to give and grant unto your Majesty the several rates and duties herein after mentioned; For every hundred weight avoirdupois of crown, plate, flint, and white glass, four shillings and eight pence…
The Townsend Act, 1767
What was the purpose of the Townshend Act?
To raise revenue in the colonies to pay the salaries of governors and judges that were loyal to Great Britain
To house troops in the colonies
To stop the colonists from boycotting teas, paper goods and glass
To stop colonists from destroying English goods
The Townshend Acts were a series of acts passed, beginning in 1767, by the Parliament of Great Britain relating to the Colonies in North America. The purpose of the Townshend Acts was to pay larger salaries of governors and judges who would remain loyal to Great Britain. It was also passed to create a more effective means of enforcing compliance with trade regulations, to punish New York province for failing to comply with the Quartering Act, and to establish the precedent that the British Parliament had the right to tax the colonies.
The Townshend Acts were met with resistance in the colonies, prompting the occupation of Boston by British troops in 1768, which eventually resulted in the Boston Massacre of 1770.