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History 151 Module 14 Final Paper
History 151 Module 14 Final Paper
Rebecca Trombley
History 151
America has been on an interesting journey for the past 241 years. At the nations birth,
several political parties began to evolve. Each group had ideas on how the country was to be
governed. They each had their strengths and weaknesses, but the Founding Fathers were
ultimately able to put aside their differences for the sake of our countrys development.
There are many lessons that can be learned from Americas beginning. The Founding
Fathers did much to shape the manner in which the individual citizen can contribute to society
and make their country a better place. Of course, those principles did not develop overnight, and
in order to properly understand the evolution of American government, one must firsts look at its
humble beginnings.
When the colonies were being formed, each of them had their own set of laws for how to
govern themselves. As mentioned in Module 4 of the E-Text, successful colonies require strong
leadership (Unknown). There were several men who rose to the occasion. William Bradford
was the first elected governor of the Plymouth colonies. In Massachusetts, Roger Williams
argued for separation of church and state, a principle later included in the Bill of Rights. The
government of Connecticut developed the first written constitution in the western hemisphere.
Once the colonies decided to work together to fight British oppression and monarchy,
various committees began to emerge. The Stamp Act Congress convened in 1765 to protest the
unfair taxes levied on printed goods. James Otis suggested to unite the colonies in making their
grievances known to the king. The Committee of Correspondence mentioned in Module 7, along
with the first Continental Congress, met Philadelphia in 1774. Their purpose was to argue their
case of unfair taxation and British rule before the king (Unknown).
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When the Continental Congress met for the second time in 1775, much was
accomplished. A continental army was formed, and money was printed to pay the expenses that
would be incurred by the impending revolution. Before they knew it, the foundation was laid for
the form of government that resembles the government in place today. In the Khan Academy
video from the Aspen Institute, President and CEO Walter Isaacson explained how men like
Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams discussed and revised key phrases in our
(Isaacson)
In Module 9, the focus was on changes in the political system (Unknown). Each colony
wrote their own constitutions. Legislative and judicial branches were developed to scale back
the power of the governor to ensure they did not have too much power like the monarchy the
colonists so desperately wanted to distance themselves from. People voted for their
representatives, but an individuals voting power depended on if they were a land owner. For
example, Pennsylvania mentioned in their state constitution that all men were able to vote
regardless if they owned land. The only requirement was that they were a taxpayer. By contrast,
South Carolina required white men to own a significant amount of property to vote as discussed
in Module 10 (Unknown). A pivotal decision came about in 1780 when Massachusetts presented
their constitution, which was ultimately rejected by the people. A convention was called, in
which the people determined the framework for the new state constitution. This practice would
ultimately prove instrumental in the ratification of the future Constitution of the United States.
The United States as a whole drafted a Constitution, and it proved difficult to ratify
amongst all the states. To plead the case, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay
collaborated to write a series of essays that would come to be known as The Federalist Papers.
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These essays helped to clarify the objectives of the Constitution. And just as todays Americans
look back on the Constitution or the The Federalist Papers for a glimpse into the ideas that
molded the government, the Founders did much the same thing. In his essay On the Rhetorical
Use of History to Understand the Present, Blair Hodges notes that Alexander Hamilton drew on
assumed common sense about the pasts of Sparta, Rome, Carthage, Venice, Holland, Britain,
etc. to provide perspective on the state of both politics and humanity in his own time (Hodges).
This offers to modern Americans the notion that we can look back on history to provide us with
With the pieces of the puzzle in place for the running of the government, it was time to
place someone in charge. George Washington, Americas first President, was very much against
the idea of separate political parties or factions in the government. Washingtons first cabinet,
consisting of a Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of State, Secretary of War, and Attorney
(Hodges). Despite Washingtons dislike of separate parties, John Adams and Alexander
Hamilton headed up the Federalist party in 1791, while Thomas Jefferson became the leader of
When Washington declined a second term as President in 1796, in his farewell address,
he emphasized the importance of national unity, stating, The name of American, which belongs
to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the pride of patriotism more than any
imposed term limitation, John Adams presidency was limited to one term by the will of the
people. His successor, Thomas Jefferson, implemented many policies that were at the same time
celebrated and condemned, including his ideas about westward expansion and the extension of
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slavery. These decisions call for an objective viewpoint when discussing how Jeffersonian
William McNeil, in his essay Why Study History? makes the fairly obvious point that
history offers innumerable heroes and villains (McNeil). While each of the Founding Fathers
were deeply flawed, each of them acted in the way that they thought best for the citizens, and not
out of selfish ambition. As it stands, America would not be the great nation it is today without
their leadership skills. Michael Postma asserts that historical narratives offer us stories of
the modern voter a story to reflect on. It, too, is one of hope and courage, highlighting the
importance of choosing candidates that hold fast to the ideals this country was founded on, and
Bibliography
Documents and Writings of the Founding Fathers. Birmingham: Race Point Publishing,
Hodges, Blair Dee. "On the Rhetorical Use of History to Understand the Present." Foundations
Isaacson, Walter. First Draft of the Declaration of Independence Sal Khan. 29 October 2013.
Video.
McNeil, William H. "Why Study History." American Historical Association (1985): 6. Essay.
Postma, Michael. What Can History Teach Us Today? Essay. Minnetonka: ASCD Express,
2011. Website.
Unknown. "History 151: Early America." Unknown. Early America: US History. Unknown. E-
Text.
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