Was Jefferson a Hindu? . . . of course not, but . . .

Suppose Thomas Jefferson had been a Hindu rather than a deist . . . as a scholar, he would have been a part of the highest caste, the Brahmans. Based on his deeds and words, would Thomas Jefferson have been reincarnated after his death on July 4, 1826 as a lower caste or life form (based on too many bad deeds or words), or would he have ascended to oneness with the universe/Supreme Being (based on his good deeds/words and his liberation from worldly desires)? In other words, do you think he would have been demoted and reborn as something like a fruit fly, or would he have been promoted and attained spiritual perfection, and not been reborn at all?

Support your answer with two (2) specific (names, dates, quotes, etc.) historical Jefferson quotes or deeds. Your support facts must be unique . . . choose well!

This is a 10 point assignment!  Post your answer in the comments to this post . . . first name, last initial, class period...due by 11/3/11 at 11:59pm.
Good Luck!

Thomas Jefferson Family Portrait . . .

The Sally Hemings connection? . . . hmmmm

It's Quarter One Comprehensive Test Time!

Wednesday 10/26! 

Study everything you've ever learned about US History . . . and then some!  (From the dawn of time to 1800 . . .  good luck!)

• Your test will be 65 multiple choice questions (from a variety of old Chapter tests and other sources) and one non-multiple choice chain-of-events. 

• The total points possible will be 70, but only your best 60 points will count . . . that means there are 10 bonus points possible.

• Below, you will find some interesting/intriguing quotes, etc. to ponder that may/will appear on the test . . . study well!

1) When was this snake first created?  Why?  Is the message threatening, encouraging, or pleading? 





 2) Read the quote below . . . to what region is it referring?  From what document is it?  What is its point?
“So soon as there shall be 5,000 free male inhabitants of full age in the district upon giving proof thereof to the Governor, they shall receive authority, with time and place, to elect representatives from their counties or townships to represent them in the General Assembly: Provided. That, for every 500 free male inhabitants, there shall be one representative, and so on progressively with the number of free male inhabitants shall the right of representation increase, until the number of representatives shall amount to 25; after which, the number and proportion of representatives shall be regulated by the Legislature….”

3) Read the quote below . . . who is the author?  What is the point he is making?  Why is he making that point?
“….Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor or caprice?
It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them.”

4) Read the Virginia Resolves below . . .when were these written?  Why were these written?  Who was meant to read them?

Resolved, That the first Adventurers and Settlers of this his majesty's colony and Dominion of Virginia brought with them, and transmitted to their Posterity, and all other his Majesty's subjects since inhabiting in this his Majesty's said Colony, all the Liberties, privileges, Franchises, and Immunities that have at any Time been held, enjoyed, and possessed, by the People of Great Britain.
Resolved, That by the two royal Charters, granted by King James the First, the Colonists aforesaid are declared entitled to all Liberties, Privileges, and Immunities of Denizens and natural Subjects, to all Intents and Purposes, as if they had been abiding and born within the Realm of England.
Resolved, That the Taxation of the People by themselves, or by Persons chosen by themselves to represent them, who could only know what Taxes the People are able to bear, or the easiest method of raising them, and must themselves be affected by every Tax laid on the People, is the only Security against a burdensome Taxation, and the distinguishing characteristick of British Freedom, without which the ancient Constitution cannot exist.
Resolved, That his majesty's liege people of this his most ancient and loyal Colony have without interruption enjoyed the inestimable Right of being governed by such Laws, respecting their internal Polity and Taxation, as are derived from their own Consent, with the Approbation of their Sovereign, or his Substitute; and that the same hath never been forfeited or yielded up, but hath been constantly recognized by the King and People of Great Britain.

Ch. 6-10 Non-Essay (6 Paragraph-Style) Assessment Hints... Testapalooza Round 2!

Potential Topics for Tuesday 10/18 (we will draw 2 to set up, but NOT write):

1) The Bill of Rights did not come from a desire to protect the liberties won in the American Revolution, but rather from a fear of the powers of the new federal government.

Assess the validity of this statement.

2) Evaluate the extent to which the Articles of Confederation were effective in solving the problems that confronted the new nation.

3) In what ways did the French and Indian War (1754-63) alter the political, economic and ideological relations between Britain and its American colonies?
Use your knowledge of the period 1740-1766 in constructing your response.

4) To what extent did the American Revolution fundamentally change American society? In your answer, be sure to address the political, social, and economic effects of the Revolution in the time period from 1775 to 1800.

5) Settlers in the eighteenth-century American backcountry sometimes resorted to violent protest to express their grievances. Analyze the causes and significance of TWO of the following:
March of the Paxton Boys
Regulator movement
Shays’ Rebellion
Whiskey Rebellion
6) Analyze the political, diplomatic, and military reasons for the United States victory in the Revolutionary War. Confine your answer to the period 1775-1783.

HInts, Tips, and Documents for Friday's (10/14/11) Ch. 6-10 Test!

61 points plus several bonus questions . . . review the following:
1) If "Continental Money" is paper money and "Specie" is gold/silver money, what is this document trying to say?
2) Who was printing "Continental Money?"

3) What is the purpose of this Proclamation?  Who said it, when did they say it, and why?

4) The intended audience for the Proclamation is whom (in general and in specific)?

5) Examine the graph of British Exports to the colonies...in what years were exports significantly decreased?

6) What specific events seem to have triggered a big decrease exports?

7) In the petition to the King, what are the colonists asking for?

8) What has happened that has caused the colonists to be petitioning the King?

To the King's Most Excellent Majesty:
MOST GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN: We, your Majesty's faithful subjects of the Colonies of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode-Island, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, the Counties of Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex, on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, in behalf of ourselves and the inhabitants of these Colonies, who have deputed us to represent them in General Congress, entreat your Majesty's gracious attention to this our humble petition….
…At the conclusion, therefore, of the late war, the most glorious and advantageous that ever had been carried on by British arms, your loyal Colonists having contributed to its success by such repeated and strenuous exertions as frequently procured them the distinguished approbation of your Majesty, of the late King, and of Parliament, doubted not but that they should be permitted, with the rest of the Empire, to share in the blessings of peace, and the emoluments of victory and conquest….
…Your Majesty's Ministers, persevering in their measures, and proceeding to open hostilities for enforcing them, have compelled us to arm in our own defence, and have engaged us in a controversy so peculiarly abhorrent to the affections of your still faithful Colonists, that when we consider whom we must oppose in this contest, and if it continues, what may be the consequences, our own particular misfortunes are accounted by us only as parts of our distress….
… We beg further leave to assure your Majesty, that notwithstanding the sufferings of your loyal Colonists during the course of this present controversy, our breasts retain too tender a regard for the kingdom from which we derive our origin, to request such a reconciliation as might, in any manner, be inconsistent with her dignity or welfare. These, related as we are to her, honour and duty, as well as inclination, induce us to support and advance; and the apprehensions that now oppress our hearts with unspeakable grief, being once removed, your Majesty will find our faithful subject on this Continent ready and willing at all times, as they have ever been with their lives and fortunes, to assert and maintain the rights and interests of your Majesty, and of our Mother Country.
We therefore beseech your Majesty, that your royal authority and influence may be graciously interposed to procure us relief from our afflicting fears and jealousies, occasioned by the system before-mentioned, and to settle peace through every part of our Dominions, with all humility submitting to your Majesty's wise consideration, whether it may not be expedient, for facilitating those important purposes, that your Majesty be pleased to direct some mode, by which the united applications of your faithful Colonists to the Throne, in pursuance of their common counsels, may be improved into a happy and permanent reconciliation; and that, in the mean time, measures may be taken for preventing the further destruction of the lives of your Majesty's subjects; and that such statutes as more immediately distress any of your Majesty's Colonies may be repealed…..
…That your Majesty may enjoy long and prosperous reign, and that your descendants may govern your Dominions with honour to themselves and happiness to their subjects, is our sincere prayer.

9) Examine Documents A and B...what are the two documents saying about the Constitution and the power of the federal government?
10) Who is George Clinton (no, not the one from Parliament/Funkadelic!), and who is Publius?
Document A: George Clinton, "In Opposition to Destruction of States' Rights"
The... premises on which the new form of government is erected, declares a consolidation or union of all thirteen parts, or states, into one great whole, under the firm of the United States... But whoever seriously considers the immense extent of territory comprehended within the limits of the United States, together with the variety of its climates, productions, and commerce, the difference of extent, and number of inhabitants in all; the dissimilitude of interests, morals, and politics in almost every one, will receive it as an intuitive truth, that a consolidated republican form of government therein, can never form a perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to you and your posterity, for to these objects it must be directed: this unkindred legislature therefore, composed of interests opposite and dissimilar in nature, will in its exercise, emphatically be like a house divided against itself...
From this picture, what can you promise yourself, on the score of consolidation of the United States into one government? Impracticability in the just exercise of it, your freedom insecure... you risk much, by indispensably placing trusts of the greatest magnitude, into the hands of individuals whose ambition for power, and aggrandizement, will oppress and grind you ¬ where from the vast extent of your territory, and the complication of interests, the science of government will become intricate and perplexed, and too mysterious for you to understand and observe; and by which you are to be conducted into a monarchy, either limited or despotic...

Document B: Federalist #1 (written October 27, 1787 under the pseudonym “Publius”)
You will, no doubt, at the same time, have collected from the general scope of them, that [these ideas] proceed from a source not unfriendly to the new Constitution. Yes, my countrymen, I own to you that, after having given it an attentive consideration, I am clearly of opinion it is your interest to adopt it….
…Happy will it be if our choice should be directed by a judicious estimate of our true interests, unperplexed and unbiased by considerations not connected with the public good. But this is a thing more ardently to be wished than seriously to be expected….
…It cannot be doubted that much of the opposition which has made its appearance, or may hereafter make its appearance, will spring from sources, blameless at least, if not respectable — the honest errors of minds led astray by preconceived jealousies and fears.

Also, know your:

• Whiskey Rebellion
• Jay's Treaty
• Pinckney's Treaty
• Alien and Sedition Acts
• X, Y, Z Affair

and how they relate to the strengths, weaknesses, and struggles of the young USA!

Good Luck!

The Greatest Alexander Hamilton/Aaron Burr Commercial Ever?