Questions about history of America

According to Captain Preston, did the Bostonians have legitimate reasons for being unhappy about the fact that?

In one incident, when one of the officers tried to harass a civilian, the Bostonian mob continued to gather and grew in size as they harassed the British sentry Private Hugh White. Even when bells were rang to signify an outbreak of fire; the crowd continued growing larger and more threatening. The Bostonians continued harassing the soldiers and even threw snow balls and other objects at the soldiers. This clearly shows the Bostonians display of anger towards the British troops who were stationed in their city. They continued to display their anger and annoyance until the royal authorities agreed to remove all troops from the center of town to a fort on Castle Island in Boston Harbor in order to return peace (Gentlemen's Magazine 1770).

Judging from Preston's account, does the term Boston Massacre seem accurate?  Why or why not?

According to Captain Preston's perspective, the use of the term Boston Massacre is an exaggeration of the incident. First of all, it is controversial during this incident about how many soldiers were involved and how many shots were made. It was reported that 12 soldiers and Captain Preston and eight soldiers were. The number of dying soldiers and the wounded was 11. This shows that there was no immense killing that qualifies the event to be labeled a 'massacre'.

Since Preston would naturally be inclined to present his actions and the actions of his men in the best light, how believable is his account of what happened?

Captain Preston was heading a group that was later prosecuted and even punished. His opinion ought to be more scrutinized because he is bound to be bias at some point. As a Captain he could have tried to make his men look good and not as the courts said.

How thorough was the planning for the Boston Teas Party?

The Boston Tea Party had to be thoroughly planned and executed. This is shown by the step by step occurrences that saw the party happen. For instance, even with the authorities attempt to threaten people, the Dartmouth docked at the Boston harbor carrying Darjeeling tea on November 28; two more ships, the Eleanor and the Beaver docked with more tea cargos. The presence of a huge mob during the opening and spill of the 342 chests to brew the saltwater tea also showed the good planning of the activity.

Were the participants eager to have their names known? Why or why not?

The participants of the Boston tea party definitely wanted to be known. This is because they saw the incident as a principled protest that people used to defend their constitutional rights. For instance, even when it was not clear whether Samuel Adams assisted in the planning of the Boston Tea Party Adams, was fast to work in publicizing and defending the party. Hewes also identifies their commander of his division during the Tea Party as Leonard Pitt.

What, if any, specific rights does Hewes claim that he was trying to support by participating in the Boston Teas Party?

By being among the disguised Indian Mohawks, who risked entering the ships and destroying the tea, George Robert Twelves Hewes helped to stop the import of tea to the country. Importation of this tea was seen as a threat to the business of Dutch tea smugglers. The Tea Act had given a monopoly of trading tea to the East India Company and this left other merchants with no room for the same business. By helping to destroy this tea and stop the trade Hewes and others ensured that in future, the government did not extend that kind of monopoly on other goods.

The American Patriots were battered and they were made to suffer a great deal. These experienced British military personnel and Generals beat the American people at all turns, For instance, they had invaded Washington and went ahead to drive him across the river.

In what ways did Paine suggest that the war was an internal struggle as well as one against an external enemy?

Apart from the soldiers not having had properly prepared during the previous winter when they were in a dependent state. The British troops had a better army for enforcing her tyranny of not just taxing the Americans but also binding them all-round. The battle with the British was going to be had since the Americans had lesser ammunition, light weaponry and most of their stores had been grabbed. The internal struggle came especially when the General planned a secret plan of crossing the chilly Delaware River and invading the enemies by surprise, soldiers were surprised. Some had to struggle with their terrifying thought of what could happen is they did not succeed. Other soldiers struggled with wondering how to endure the long night in the stormy winter. The soldiers were also fighting with succumbing to the starvation and the fear of having inferior weapons.

In December 1776 the Patriot cause looked "objectively" hopeless. What hope did Paine hold out?

With all odds against the Americans, Paine held out some hope and in a message that he wrote on a drum so as to be read to the American troops, he confessed to have some positive superstition and a secret opinion in that God Almighty would not abandon the American people to be destructed by British military because they had solemnly and constantly tried to avoid war calamities.

Is the daily life of the western Indians as depicted in Lewis's journal entries what you expected? What challenges did both the Indians and the explorers face on the Plains?

The way of life of the Indians was very primitive and expected. The Indians would go to war against the Osages nation and some were always being punished. The Indians were frequently caused to leave the river and run to the mountains for be secure from their enemies who could invade them regularly. The explorer faced a Court martial at one time and was prone to other problems including; rain, which could extinguish there fires and leave them in cold; some sections of their exploration had no firewood for them to use fires. The bad weather and strain sometimes caused to suffer from sore throat and there were also constantly attacked by Mosquitos and ticks.

What were the goals of the Lewis and Clark expedition? What information from the journals do you think that Thomas Jefferson was particularly interested in?

The expedition by Lewis and Clark founded good relations with two dozens of indigenous nations. The key goals of the expedition included achieving scientific findings of the explorers on topics like; mineralogy, climatology, ethnology, botany and meteorology. The explorers were able to gather over 200 plants and animals that did not exist before in science. They also noted 72 different Indian tribes. Jefferson was interested with the expedition because it would demonstrate their military strength, ensuring that the native tribes would be subsidiary to the US.

What do we learn about the balance of power in the West from the journals?

This exploration was not just a scientific venture; it was a way of America to show their extension of power. All western nations want to outdo each other in terms of power. For instance, Jefferson wants to use the expedition to find subordinates for America the same way that European colonizers did.

Based on these calculations, at what age might a child have been expected to enter the industrial workforce? Given the fact that children since the colonial period had worked on farms and contributed to household production, was there anything novel here?

In the year 1801, the children's age ranged from the age of four to ten years. Later on, children above age of seven worked in factories for a full day. These were more valued due to the chimneys' narrowness. This was very different compared to other child labor instances especially when the machinery advertisers started to measure their products efficiency in terms of the boy or girl labor that they required to produce yarn. For instance, some machines with six and twelve spindles and required children of five to ten years of age.

The word 'statisticks' was formally incorporated into American English in the early 1800s and Niles' Weekly Register made statistical reports a regular feature in the 1810s. Does this essay tell us more about the writer or about American society by this time? What might account for this increasing interest in numbers?

The increased use of the term statistics was due to the measure of various variables during the industrial revolution, including; the number of employable children, the ages of children and the spindles of the manufactured machinery. This essay clearly tells us more concerning the American society during this period. We get to know how much the working conditions have changed and how much other labor laws have been bettered.

In 1791 the nation seemed unprepared for Hamilton's proposals, but his program may have appeared modest to some members of the next generation of American's. What benefits did this writer anticipate would accompany the implementation of his recommendations? Was there any hint of negative impact?

The nation was not positive about the Hamilton's proposal and many thought that the smart wealthy plungers who had others' debt certificates at huge discounts would profit from this. The writer anticipated that the nation who later reap large economic rewards if it followed Hamilton's efforts to improve credit. The writer was sure that with Europeans increasingly purchasing the bonds of the US government.

Jackson contended that the federal government's Indian policy to date (1829) had been counterproductive to its stated goals. What information did Jackson provide to support his position? Was his reasoning sound?

According to President Jackson, the Indian policy saw the removal many Seminoles with approximately 3,000 being killed together with the American soldiers. The policy stated that Indians could inhabit lands in the United States, but they were in no position to hold title deeds to these lands. Jackson argued that although the eviction was supposed to be voluntary, great pressure was applied in implementing the practice and coercing the Native American heads to sign removal treaties.

What did Elias Boudinot argue, and how did his position concerning federal Indian policy compare with Jackson's?

Boudinot was concerned about the increasing voices that were dismissing assimilation. Boudinot argued that Indian Removal was inevitable and tried to get a treaty for Cherokee before they were forcefully removed. He used his persuasion and writing skills influence Indian Removal (Boudinot, Perdue., 1996).

Do you think Jackson truly believed that the was helping the Indians? Or was Jackson's rhetoric merely a cynical cover for yet another white seizure of Indian lands? Explain.

Jackson was helping the Indians; he reassured the Indian tribes that his administration would treat them in a liberal way and in accordance with the American people's beliefs. Jackson also lay out and implemented a policy that would relocate Indians to regions in the west of the Mississippi.

Grimké said that it was unfair that widowed women were limited to either remarrying or joining the working world and thus considered education for such women. She argued that Northerners quietly exploited women through slavery and other economic exchanges. Grimké was very clear when she said argued that anything that is moral for a man is also moral for a woman.

The campaign to collect signatures on antislavery petitions to Congress was an important aspect of abolitionist movement in the 1830s. How did that campaign raise women's rights issues?

Since women had no right to vote, petitioning Congress was their only political means and it was also a way of finding a few cents for the slaves. The signatures would push for women's equality rights in the society.

How did Grimke differ with Beecher on the issue of women's rights? How did Grimke define the relationship between rights and duties?

Slavery is sin and must be ended immediately; and she is arguing that women not only can end it, but that they are duty-bound as Christians to do so. On the other hand, Beecher, a leading educator, even with their moral superiority, females should oppose slavery inside the domestic sphere but should avoid the public political sphere.