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Articles of Confederation Big Ideas   What issues divided the Continental Congress as it developed a plan for the national government?What were the…

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Articles of Confederation

Big Ideas

 

  • What issues divided the Continental Congress as it developed a plan for the national government?
  • What were the structure and powers of the national government under the Articles of Confederation?
  • What were the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?

People & Events to Know

  • John Locke 
  • Shay’s Rebellion

Terms to Know

 

  • state of nature
  • republic
  • Articles of Confederation

 

The Constitution

Big Ideas

 

  • How did the Great Compromise satisfy the concerns of the large and smaller states?
  • How did the Constitutional Convention reach a compromise on the issue of slavery?
  • What was the goal of the Federalists?
  • Why did the Antifederalists oppose the Constitution?
  • What goals are outlined in the Preamble to the Constitution?
  • How is the national government organized?
    • What are the three branches of government?  What is each branch in charge of doing?
  • What is the significance of the Bill of Rights?
  • What rights are protected by the Bill of Rights?    

People  and Events to Know

  • James Madison
  • Alexander Hamilton
  • George Washington

 

Terms to Know

 

  • Virginia Plan
  • New Jersey Plan
  • Great Compromise
  • Three-fifths Compromise
  • Congress
  • ratification
  • Federalism
  • Federalism
  • Antifederalists
  • Bill of Rights
  • amendment
  • Preamble
  • legislative Branch
  • judicial Branch
  • executive branch
  • suffrage
  • House of Representatives
  • Senate
  • popular sovereignty 
  • federalism
  • separation of powers
  • checks and balances
  • “rule of law”

 

 

The Early Republic

Big Ideas

 

  • What challenges did George Washington face as the first president of the United States?
  • What economic problems did the new government face?
  • What is the purpose of a tariff?  
  • Why did Alexander Hamilton favor imposing high tariffs and creating a national bank?
  • What are the two major ways of interpreting the Constitution, and how do they differ?
  • Why did Federalists pass the Alien and Sedition Acts?
  • What were the main parties in the election of 1800, and how did their views differ?

 

People  and Events to Know

  • George Washington
  • Alexander Hamilton
  • Creation of the national bank
  • Thomas Jefferson
  • John Adams
  • Marbury v. Madison

 

Terms to Know

 

  • Tariff
  • National bank
  • Alien and Sedition Acts 
  • Political parties
  • Democratic-Republicans
  • Federalists (the political party)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Expanding Toward War

Big Ideas

 

  • How did the United States acquire the land in the west?
  • What was the spoils system and how was it controversial?
  • How did the Indian Removal Act affect Native Americans in the Southeast?
  • How did the issue of tariffs divide the country?
  • Why did nullification threaten the nation?
  • Why did people move west?
  • How did Texas become a state?
  • How did Manifest Destiny impact westward migration?
  • What areas did the United States gain as a result of Manifest Destiny?
  • What goals did the Lewis and Clark expedition have?  What did it accomplish?
  • What were the causes and effects of the War of 1812?
  • What were the effects of the War of 1812? 
  • How did the invention of the cotton gin change Southern life?
  • How did economic differences lead to tensions between the North and South?
  • What were the terms of the Missouri Compromise?

People  and Events to Know

  • Thomas Jefferson
  • Louisiana Purchase
  • Lewis and Clark expedition 
  • Sacagawea
  • The War of 1812
  • Missouri Compromise
  • John Quincy Adams
  • Andrew Jackson
  • Cherokee
  • Texas Revolution
  • Mexican-American War
  • Mexican Cession
  • California gold rush
  • Forty-niners (49’ers) 

 

Terms to Know

 

  • Louisiana Purchase
  • Impressments
  • War Hawk
  • Cotton gin
  • Nationalism
  • Sectionalism
  • Trail of Tears
  • Jacksonian democracy
  • Indian Removal Act
  • Doctrine of nullification
  • Secession
  • Manifest Destiny
  • Oregon Trail
  • The Alamo
  • Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
  • Abolition

 

 

 

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