History of Britain
Coming to America
Revolutionary War
Gaining Independence
History of Britain
When, where and what was the Norman Conquest?
What was the significance of the Norman Conquest?
What was the Domesday Book? What was/is its significance?
Since Britain doesn't have a constitution, what is the basis of its government?
How did the Magna Carta come about?
With what issues does the Magna Carta deal?
What effect did the Magna Carta and other documents have on those who founded the government in America?
Where can we view a copy of the Magna Carta in the United States?
Who provided that copy of the Magna Carta?
What was the significance of the War of the Roses?
Who came to power? Who succeeded him?
What reason did Henry VIII give for wanting to get his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled?
How did the split with the Catholic church occur?
How did censorship begin in England?
How long did censorship last in England?
What role did the Stationers Company play in controlling printing?
What was the Star Chamber?
Why was it that during this time every political issue was a religious one and every religious issue was a political one?
Who developed printing, when and where? What was the first book printed?
Who was the first English printer and what did he print?
What did it mean that early printers were said to be "at liberty"?
Who was William Tyndale and what happened to him?
What was it that Sir Thomas More failed to do, and what happened to him?
What did John Milton say in Areopagitica?
What is habeas corpus? A loose translation of the term would be what?
Where do we find habeas corpus in America?
Give an example of the practical application of habeas corpus today:
What was the importance of the English Bill of Rights of 1689?
How did the term Fourth Estate originate? What are the four estates?
Who was Blackstone, what did he do, what is it so important?
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Coming to America
When and where was the first English settlement in America?
How was life in America in the 18th century?
What was going on in Britain at this time?
To quote Barbara Tuchman, how did Britain goof?
What was the rule of primogeniture?
In general, why did people come to America during this time?
Who were the Ulster Scots and why did they come?
Why did the Puritans come?
What was the significance of the Mayflower Compact?
Why didn't the British want Americans to move west, and what did they do to ensure that they wouldn't? Why did that have such a long-lasting effect in America?
Why did the British begin to levy taxes on America?
What did the Stamp Act tax? Why did Americans object so strongly to the Stamp Act? What happened to it?
What happened as a result of the Tea Act of 1773?
What was the accumulative effect of these various acts?
Who was Thomas Paine? What did he contend in Common Sense?
How does first essay of The Crisis begin?
What happened at the Boston Massacre? Who made the famous engraving of the massacre?
What was the name of the first newspaper in America? When was it published? Why did it come out only one time?
Why were the Dutch in New York in the 1730s?
What was seditious libel?
Explain the concept "the greater the truth the greater the libel."
What role did each of these play in the John Peter Zenger saga?:
Rip Van Dam, William Cosby, Andrew Hamilton, James Alexander
Zenger published some of Cato's essays. What were they?What did they contend?
Why was Zenger arrested? How were trials of this kind conducted?
What was the role of the jury?
What did Andrew Hamilton contend in his arguments to the jury?
What was the significance of the Zenger trial?
What did Anna Catherine Zenger do that made her the first?
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Revolutionary War
How would you describe to someone who didn't know anything about it what caused the Revolutionary War?
What various positions did Americans hold at the start of the war?
And what were these groups called?
Why did some people stick with the British, and where were they?
Who was the best-known radical in the colonies?
Which side did newspapers tend to support?
Who was Isaiah Thomas?
Who was the best-known Tory editor?
What was the great statement made by Patrick Henry before the war?
How does The Crisis begin?
Where and when were the first shots of the war fired?
[First at Lexington, then at Concord on April 19, 1775]
Why were the British going to Concord?
Why did they stop off in Lexington on the way?
Why did Paul Revere make his famous ride?
Who wrote the poem that was to immortalize the ride? How does it go?
Realistically, what chance did the Americans have of winning? Why?
Then, how was it that the Americans were able to win?
Why was George Washington chosen to lead the American forces?
Who won the most battles in the war, Americans or British?
What battles did the Americans win early in the war?
[They won at Trenton, Princeton and Saratoga.]
What has been the significance of Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze's painting?
Where (other than the Internet) can one see the painting?
When were the battles at Kings Mountain and The Cowpens?
[Kings Mountain was on October 7, 1780; The Cowpens was on January 17, 1781.] Where are these places? Why were they important?
How did the French contribute to the American victory? What did the French navy do to help bring the fighting to an end. What did the French army do at Yorktown?
When/where did the British surrender? [Yorktown, October 19, 1781]
When was the Treaty at Paris signed? [September 3, 1783]
When did the British leave New York City? [November 25, 1783]
How many soldiers and sailors were involved in the war on each side?
How many loyalists left America after the war and where did they go?
What happened to the Hessians?
Who did the painting of the surrender at Yorktown and where is it?
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Gaining Independence
What various writers and orators helped create a climate conducive to independence by many in the colonies?
What was the political compact that Locke believed in?
[Government has the right to govern because of the consent of the people.]
What was Locke's view of natural rights? [Life, liberty and property.]
How was the wording regarding natural rights changed in the Declaration of Independence? Why were they changed?
Cato's letters had called for three main things. What were they?
[Individual liberty, representative government, freedom of expression.]
What Congresses did Americans have before the First Continental Congress?
The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26, 1774. What did the First Continental Congress do?
[The Congress denounced the acts of Parliament, agreed not to import or export goods after certain dates, adopted 10 resolutions on self-government and authorized no obedience to the Coercive Acts.]
Second Continental Congress met from May 10, 1775, to March 1, 1781.
What action did it take after the British attack of April 19, 1775?
[It named George Washington commander in chief of the American army.]
In 1776 it took momentous action in June, July and August. What?
[The Declaration of Independence.]
Where did the idea of having a Declaration of Independence come from?
A committee was appointed to write the Declaration of Independence.
Who was on the committee?
Who did the painting of the presentation of the declaration?
Where is the painting? And where else, other than the Internet, can the painting be seen?
The preamble of the declaration was mostly the work of one person.
Who was that?
What does the preamble say? Other than the preamble, what does the declaration consist of? What was that modeled after?
On what date did the Congress vote for independence?
When was the declaration signed? Why, then, do we celebrate July 4?
What kind of government was in place after March 1, 1781?
[The Congress under the Articles of Confederation.]
What were the shortcomings of the government under the Articles of Confederation?
How long did the government last under the Articles of Confederation?
[It lasted until the new congress under the Constitution took over on March 4, 1789.]
How - and why - did Abraham Lincoln restate the Declaration of Independence in his speech at Gettysburg?
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