Test+Questions


 * TEST QUESTIONS....

What role did religion play in the founding of the 13 colonies?**

 Freedom of religion was the underlying reason for the first immigrations to the Colonies. The Puritans were escaping from the persecution of the Church of England, and wanted freedom to choose which religion to be part of. They began settlements in Massachusetts. As others migrated to the area, the Puritans became the persecutors, denying others the freedom that they sought. In order to make sure that Puritanism dominated the colonies, nonconformists were fined, banished, whipped, and even imprisoned. As a result, settlements were created in other colonies and outlying areas.

Areas outside of Massachusetts were soon settled based upon religious differences, often resulting in entire communities of the same religion. The Catholics in Maryland, the Quakers in Pennsylvania and Roger Williams (who was banished from Massachusetts) settling Rhode Island are good examples of this. Outlying groups like this were often more tolerant of different religious beliefs because they had been persecuted themselves.

As the settlements grew, the diversity in religions increased. Many of them began to exist side by side. This in turn attracted more immigrants who were also seeking religious freedoms. Anglicans, Baptists, Protestants and Lutherans were soon found sprinkled throughout the colonies. Some German religions existed in small numbers, and the migration of the Scotch-Irish showed the beginnings of the bigger migrations to come. As the diversity increased, religion began to play a part in politics. Local churches began to dominate local politics, supporting leaders and dictating voting patterns. Separating church and state became a growing idea. Important changes were made with religious freedom becoming part of the Bill of Rights.

Religion was a big part of the lives of the colonists. It was the basis for many of their daily activities. Events such as the Salem witch trials and the Great Awakening were based upon one person’s religious perception of another’s actions. Things like this just served to increase the religious diversity of the Americas and made it even more attractive to those seeking such freedoms.

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**Explain the differences between the early political parties -- the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans -- and how those differences played out before and after the election of 1800.**

The Federalists were very strong in New England, and also had large pockets of support in the middle states. They supported the British, and had strong ties with them. Federalists opposed the French and wanted to just trade with the British. They were supporters of the ratification of the constitution in the years between 1787 and 1790. The people who had objections to the constitution were labeled as “Anti-Federalists”. The Federalists believed in a strong central government and liked having a loose interpretation of the constitution, rather than a strict one. They saw industry and manufacturing as the best means of domestic growth and economic self-sufficiency. They also wanted to reimburse the revolutionary war debts.  The Democratic-Republicans (who were also known as the Jeffersonian Republican party) had completely different ideas and views than the Federalists. They supported the French, and opposed the British. They believed in states’ rights with a weaker central government. And instead of a loose interpretation of the constitution, they preferred a strict interpretation. They were very pro-agriculture, and believed in protecting the interest of the working classes—such as the merchants, farmers, and laborers. In addition to that, they also believed that an agrarian economy would best serve those citizens. They thought that only white males who owned property should vote, and that all men should own property.  In 1796, John Adams (who was a federalist) was elected as the nation’s second president. The relations with France were deteriorating quickly. The XYZ Affair was typical of what the Democratic-Republicans saw as the weakness of federalism. The XYZ Affair involved an unsuccessful attempt by a French agent to exact bribes in exchange for France’s cooperation in a negotiation of an international trade treaty. France was angered by the pro-British Jay’s Treaty, and started to interfere with American ships. An American delegate was sent to France, and the French demanded a loan to the French government, as well as a $240,000 bribe. The American public opinion began to harden against France. But Adams still tried to fix the situation diplomatically, which angered many of the Federalists, who though that declaring war on France was a better option. This split within the Federalist Party helped to ensure Thomas Jefferson’s victory in the presidential election of 1800. Jefferson’s victory was also due to 4 years of Party organizing, and sophisticated political campaigning by the Democratic-Republican Party.

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**Compare and Contrast the different settlement, such as Jamestown, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts**

The people who colonized Jamestown came over looking for gold, led by John Smith and several other people. Unfortunately for them, they never found any. They had a really hard time, because they were unfit to be pioneers. In the summer, the neighboring swamps gave them malaria. They didn’t plan very well to live in a land that they didn’t know anything about. And to make matters worse, they couldn’t grow anything. They were dying of diseases and starvation. Some Indians were nice to the settlers and taught them how to plant corn so it would survive. But not all of the Indians liked the newcomers. They attacked them several times, killing some and taking what little food they had. The settlers even had trouble building buildings. One of the first buildings they built was a church and a storehouse. But the church burned down. So they constructed another church. When John Smith left to go back to England in 1609, they had built a church, a store house and about 60 houses. When he returned to Jamestown in 1617, it was reduced to about only 5 or 6 buildings, and the church had decayed and fallen to the ground. They were having a horrible time, until they discovered tobacco, and they started selling tobacco to the rich people back in England.

Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn. His father was an admiral in the British army and the king was indebted to him 16000 pounds. When Will’s father died, he inherited the debt. He went to the king and told the king that he would rather have land than money. So the king gave him about forty thousand square miles of land in the new world. It was inhabited by Indians alone until the settlers showed up. But they didn’t have a lot of trouble with the Indians, most of the time they lived peacefully together. Pennsylvania was originally going to be lamed Sylvania, which is Latin for ‘forest’. Then they decided to combine that with the founder, William Penn. Thus was born the name Pennsylvania. It was a vast fertile region. It had beautiful rivers and mountain ranges, and had lots of natural minerals. And because the land was fertile, they could easily grow food to survive. William Penn was a Quaker. Since he was a Quaker, he decided that in Pennsylvania that everyone could worship the way they wanted to. Freedom of worship and religion was granted to everyone. It didn’t matter what religion you were, you could live in William Penn’s colony. Pennsylvania was well advertised, and it was so nice that a lot of people came over to live there. By the year 1700, Pennsylvania was the third biggest and richest colony in the new world.

Massachusetts was founded by the Puritans. The Puritans were a group of people that came over from England because they were being persecuted by the Church of England. They wanted freedom to choose which religion to be a part of. They began settlement in Massachusetts. As other people migrated to the area, the tables turned and the Puritans became the persecutors. To make sure that Puritanism dominated the colonies, nonconformists were fined, banished, whipped, and even imprisoned. The Puritans were very hypocritical in my opinion, because they left England to escape persecution, and then they turn around and persecute everybody else in the new world. As a result, settlements were created in other colonies and surrounding areas. According to some experts, Massachusetts was one of the most important colonies ever settled in the country. Massachusetts had very good leaders, which helped with its success. One of the rules they had was that no one was allowed to vote unless they were a member of the church (it didn’t say, but I think it’s a Puritan law because they wanted everyone to worship the puritan way and it sound like something they would do.).

The Jamestown, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts colonies are very different from each other. Jamestown had a really hard time when they came over, but Pennsylvania and Massachusetts didn’t have that bad of time. The people who migrated to Jamestown, the majority of them were looking for gold and riches. And people who came to Pennsylvania and Massachusetts were coming there for religious freedom. Jamestown had problems with Indians, but Pennsylvania and Massachusetts didn’t. One thing they all had in common was that they all wanted things their way. Jamestown wanted to come over for adventure and gold, Pennsylvania wanted freedom of worship and religion, and Massachusetts wanted everyone to be the same religion. Whatever they wanted, they wanted it their way. Some people may argue over which of these three colonies are the best. Personally, it doesn’t matter to me because they are all important and different in their own ways.