History 407/607: Midterm Examination Study Sheet

 

Possible Identifications

 

Outpost of Empire                              Democracy in Early America                                   

Eroding Independence                       Rough Music

Men and Patriarchy                           Women and Patriarchy

Colonial Slavery                                 Playoff System

Challenge of Great Awakening

French and Indian War                      Paying for Britain’s War

Stamp Act Revolt (1765)                   Farm Uprisings

Indians and Proc. Line                       Townshend Acts (1767)

Coercive Acts (1773)                         Republicanism

1776 State Constitutions                   Organizing Independence

Lexington and Concord                     The Long Retreat

Victory at Saratoga                            Citizen Soldiers

Continental Army                               Problems Waging War

British Blunders                                 Southern Strategy                             

 


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Possible Essay Questions

 

1)      What caused the American Revolution?  Some scholars see the Revolution as the product of cultural factors such as religion.  Others see it as an ideological movement inspired by beliefs in rights and principles.  Some see it as a response to long-term demographic trends (i.e. changes to population, land holding).  Still others have argued that Revolution represented an economic struggle that was primarily about class.  What do you think?  Was the Revolution mostly about culture, ideas, demographic trends, or class? [YOU NEED TO MAKE ONE OF THESE POSITIONS YOUR CENTRAL ARGUMENT].  How do the other factors relate to the one you have chosen?  Or do the factors not relate to one another? [The more detailed your answer and the specific examples you cite from lectures and readings, the better your grade will be]

 

2)      In telling the story of the Revolution through 1776, historians usually depict two American Revolutions: a revolution to establish “home rule” (the anti-colonial struggle against Britain) and one to decide “who shall rule at home” (the internal revolution over the distribution of power within America).  What was the relationship between these two revolutions? How did the revolution for “home rule” spur the revolution over “who shall rule at home”? Likewise, how did the internal revolution help fuel the anti-colonial struggle against Britain? [The more detailed your answer and the specific examples you cite from lectures and readings, the better your grade will be]

 

3)      A friend of yours says that the colonial victory against Britain was “not as big a deal as people have made it.  Americans in the colonies were completely united against England and totally motivated throughout the war with the citizen soldier fighting for their farms; they had the help of France; and Britain had inept generals.  If you think about it, Britain really didn’t stand a chance.”  Given what you and your fellow students have learned about the Revolutionary War, how would you respond? (Be sure to address each of your friend’s assertions. You need not argue that your friend is either all wrong or all right in their assertions.) [The more detailed your answer and the specific examples you cite from lectures and readings, the better your grade will be]