FRQ
How does the Articles of Confederation provide the answer to what the Declaration of Independence argues is the American idea of a good government? Tell what the concept of a good government is and how the articles carves it out.
The Declaration of Independence defines a “good government” as one deriving its just powers from the consent of the governed and securing the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Articles of Confederation, adopted during the Revolution, reflect this philosophy by emphasizing limited centralized authority and safeguarding the autonomy of the individual states. Rooted in a deep distrust of tyranny, the Articles granted Congress authority over collective matters like war, diplomacy, and trade but left most powers to state governments, ensuring they retained sovereignty. This decentralized system embodied the ideal of a government close to the people and responsive to their needs. However, the Articles also revealed the challenges of this framework, such as the lack of enforcement power for federal laws or taxation, showing that while the concept prioritized liberty and self-governance, its execution proved insufficient for maintaining national unity.
Describe in detail the extent to which the institution of slavery played a role in the American Revolution
Slavery played a complex and significant role in the American Revolution, shaping political, social, and economic dynamics. Many enslaved individuals sought freedom by taking advantage of the conflict, with thousands escaping bondage or joining British forces after the Crown promised emancipation to those who fought for them. This intensified debates over liberty and equality, exposing contradictions in the rhetoric of freedom used by white revolutionaries who often defended slavery as an economic necessity. Southern colonies, in particular, were deeply invested in slavery and feared that British policies, such as Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation, might undermine the institution. Conversely, the Revolution spurred some Northern states to reevaluate slavery, leading to gradual emancipation laws. While the ideals of the Revolution highlighted the tension between liberty and slavery, the institution persisted, embedded in the new nation’s foundations and exacerbating sectional divisions that would eventually lead to future conflicts.
MCQ
This map could be used to support which of the following ideas?
- Burgoyne’s 3 pronged attack
- The military success of Benedict Arnold while fighting for the United States
- The effects of the French alliance on the American Revolution
Which of the following battles is evidence of the Americans finding military victory early in the war?
- Battle of Lexington
- Battle of Concord
- Battle of Quebec
- Battle of Bunker Hill
- All of the above
Which of the following is in the correct chronological order?
- Battle of Trenton, The Crisis, Battle of Saratoga, Battle of Princeton
- Declaration of Independence, Common Sense, Valley Forge, Treaty of Paris 1783
- Battle of Saratoga, Valley Forge, Battle of Monmouth, Second Battle of Trenton
- British conquest of Charleston, Battle of Guilford Courthouse, Battle of King’s Mountain, Seige at Yorktown
- None of the above
Use the following quote to answer the next question
Finding it indispensable to the attainment of this object, I did not hesitate to go to the full length of the powers vested in me, and to offer them free and independent states, by an article to be inserted in the Treaty of Peace. Provisional articles are agreed upon, to take effect whenever the terms of peace should be finally fettled with the Court of France.
Who would have said the quote?
- Thomas Paine
- Thomas Jefferson
- King George III of Great Britain
- King Louis XVI of France
- None of the above
The following map can best be used as evidence of:
- The Continental Army’s use of guerrilla tactics to achieve success
- How the French alliance contributed to the surrender of Cornwallis
- How the French successfully threatened the British in New York City
- The speed at which the Continental army could march
Britain’s southern strategy relied on support from a key demographic in those colonies. Which of the following effectively neutralized their effect?
- Battle of Yorktown
- Battle of King’s Mountain
- Battle of Cowpens
- Battle of Guilford Courthouse
- Battle of the Chesapeake
Use the following source to answer the question:
Who was Cincinnatus? A well-respected soldier and landowner from the patrician class, he served as consul in 460 BCE and as dictator in 458 and 439. Consuls were the chief military and civil magistrates in the Roman republic; two were elected annually to serve a year-long term. Dictators, on the other hand, were given absolute magistracy during military or domestic crises. Dictators were appointed to accomplish a particular task, usually to lead an army into battle, and were expected to resign once the task was completed.
During the reign of Caesar Augustus (63 BCE-14CE), the historians Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus used Cincinnatus in their works as an early model of civic virtue. In 458 BCE, Roman troops led by the consul L. Minucius Esquilinus were under siege by the Aequi tribe on Mount Algidus. According to Livy’s Ab Urbe Condita, Cincinnatus was called from his modest farm and appointed dictator, charged with the task of breaking the siege on Esquilinus. Within a fortnight Cincinnatus had assembled an army, defeated the Aequi and surrendered his office, returning to his farm. Livy contrasted Cincinnatus with the cautionary tale of Appius Claudius, whose reign Livy saw as a historical example of excess and abuse of power.
Which of the following figures could be considered an American Cincinnattus?
- Thomas Paine
- Thomas Jefferson
- Benedict Arnold
- George Washington
- All of the above
Use the following source to answer the next question:
And I do hereby further declare all indentured Servants, Negroes, or others, (appertaining to Rebels,) free that are able and willing to bear Arms, they joining His Majesty’s Troops as soon as may be, for the more speedily reducing this Colony to a proper Sense of their Duty, to His Majesty’s Crown and Dignity. I do further order, and require, all His Majesty’s Leige Subjects, to retain their Quitrents, or any other taxes due or that may become due, in their own Custody, till such Time as Peace may again be restored to this at present most unhappy Country, or demanded of them for their former salutary Purposes, by Officers properly authorised to receive the same.
Which of the following reversed what the source is communicating?
- The Declaration of Independence
- The articles of confederation
- The Treaty of Paris 1783
- The British evacuation of New York in 1783
- None of the above
Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress:
- Exclusively had the power to coin money
- Could regulate intrastate trade
- Solely had the responsibility to execute its laws
- Gave greater representation to more populous states
- None of the above
Use the following source to answer the next question:
Source: Joseph Plumb Martin, Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier, 1830
“I saw the plundering British bands,
Invade the fair Virginian lands.
I saw great Washington advance
With Americans and troops of France.
I saw the haughty Britons yield,
And slack their muskets on the field”
Which of the following is the source describing?
- Battle of the Chesapeake
- British march to Concord
- Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga
- Washington Crossing the Delaware
- None of the above
Use the following source to answer the next question:
Source: George Washington, May 30, 1779
The expedition you are appointed to command is to be directed against the hostile tribes of the six nations of Indians, with their associates and adherents.1 The immediate objects are the total destruction and devastation of their settlements and the capture of as many prisoners of every age and sex as possible. It will be essential to ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more.
To which of the following is Washington writing?
- Henry Knox
- Horatio Gates
- John Sullivan
- Nathanael Greene
- None of the Above
Use the following to answer the next question
But have we not enjoyed liberty even under the English monarchy? Shall we this day renounce that to go and seek it in I know not what form of republic, which will soon change into a licentious anarchy and popular tyranny? In the human body the head only sustains and governs all the members, directing them, with admirable harmony, to the same object, which is self-preservation and happiness; so the head of the body politic, that is the king, in concert with the Parliament, can alone maintain the union of the members of this Empire, lately so flourishing, and prevent civil war by obviating all the evils produced by variety of opinions and diversity of interests. And so firm is my persuasion of this that I fully believe the most cruel war which Great Britain could make upon us would be that of not making any; and that the surest means of bring us back to her obedience would be that of employing none. For the dread of the English arms, once removed, provinces would rise up against provinces and cities against cities; and we shall be seen to turn against ourselves the arms we have taken up to combat the common enemy. Insurmountable necessity would then compel us to resort to the tutelary authority which we should have rashly abjured, and, if it consented to receive us again under its aegis, it would be no longer as free citizens but as slaves. Still inexperienced and in our infancy, what proof have we given of our ability to walk without a guide?
Which of the following would the source’s author support?
- Olive Branch Petition
- Common Sense
- The Crisis
- Treaty of Paris 1783
- None of the above
Use the following source to answer the next question
A remarkable series of engagements and maneuvers that turned the fortunes of war that eventually resulted in this nation’s independence from English rule. It may be doubted whether so small a number of men ever employed so short a space of time with greater and more lasting effects upon the history of the world, the most brilliant in the world’s history, a military exploit of unparalleled brilliancy.
Which of the following is the source describing?
- The lasting legacy of the declaration of independence
- The importance of the Second Continental Congress
- The Ten Crucial Days
- Valley Forge
Who won the American Revolution?
- The United States
- Britain