Essay - American History Question One: as a Generalization, it is My...

American History

Question ONE: As a generalization, it is my opinion based on the readings that ***** colonists who settled in the "new world" - most of them having immigrated from England to escape religious persecution or to start a new life - gr*****dually became weary of being dictated to by a dist*****nt king. As to specifics, one of the main causes of ***** American Revolution was the Br*****ish attempt ***** raise a lot of money from the ***** to keep *****ir empire going. The British did this fundraising through various taxes, starting with the Sugar Act. According ***** the text (Faragher, et al 2000) on page 148, the ***** Act not only placed a "prohibitive duty" (tax) on sugar imports, it also regulated American shipping, and in effect slapped controls on a new country that wanted to be free to trade w*****h whatever countries they wanted to.

The Stamp Act ***** 1765 was a further intrusion into American commerce, and in fact it seemed designed to but restrictions on pr*****ters, insurance companies, lawyers and other col*****ists, Faragher writes on page 148. Next came the Declaratory Act (1766) which basically "asserted the authority of Parliament" to hold power over ***** colonies. The Townshend Revenue Act of 1767 and the Tea Act 1773 put more pressure on the colonies ***** help put money into ***** c*****fers.

*****, the "Intolerable Acts" of 1774 were designed to "punish Massachusetts" ***** angered the colonists perhaps more than any ***** act the British had ***** on the colonists. On of ***** Intolerable Acts (called the "Coercive *****" in England) - ***** "Massachusetts Government Act" - made it illegal to have any *****wn meetings except once a year, unless the **********appointed governor approved. Town meetings ***** a vital part of the movement to resist British oppression, so when a law ***** passed that ********** to prevent the people meeting to discuss their political future, that ***** the colonists.

Would I have signed the Declaration of **********? Yes, certainly. But I would have taken Thomas Jefferson's side and insisted that slavery be addressed in the document. How can you say "...all men are created equal" and yet overlook the fact that thousands of people were being held as slaves, ***** help ***** grow *****ir crops and strengthen their econo*****?

Question TWO: ***** Andrew Jackson pre*****ncy brought in (***** 250) the "common man" for the first time in American politics. He had a "mass appeal" because he was himself a fighter who h*****d many experiences ***** the westward frontier, and he related to those people like no president before him. What was really important about Jackson's election ***** ***** he had put together a co*****lition ***** enough voters from the west, the south, and the north, to beat John Quincy Adams, whose strength was mostly in the east. This election was called the "common man" era ***** ordinary hard-working people took offense at some of the wealthy that had "special privileges" (Faragher 249) in Wash*****gton and other *****ern