Early American History Quiz

Early American Development

• Puritans sought religious freedom but established strict, theocratic colonies, impacting early American identity through hard work and community values.
• The Great Awakening, a religious revival, challenged traditional authority, encouraging emotional faith and paving the way for questioning political authority.
• The Enlightenment emphasized reason and science; thinkers like Locke and Montesquieu influenced the Declaration of Independence with concepts of natural rights and separation of powers.

American Revolution

• Key acts like the Sugar, Stamp, and Townshend Acts fueled colonial resentment due to taxation without representation.
• The Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party (and subsequent Intolerable Acts) intensified colonial resistance and spurred unified action.
• The Continental Congresses (First and Second) led boycotts, petitions, and ultimately, declarations of independence.
• Articles of Confederation formed the first U.S. government but proved too weak, leading to issues like Shays' Rebellion.

Founding and Expansion

• The Declaration of Independence, written by Jefferson, asserted unalienable rights (Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness) while justifying rebellion.
• The Constitution established a stronger federal government, though it avoided directly addressing slavery to maintain unity.
• Territorial expansion, including the Louisiana Purchase, boosted the U.S. but also fostered disagreements over slavery.
• Manifest Destiny, the belief in westward expansion, further divided the nation.
• The Missouri Compromise aimed to balance free and slave states but only temporarily resolved the conflict over slavery's future.

Civil War and its Aftermath

• Disagreements over slavery and federal overreach fueled the Civil War. The South feared loss of slavery; the North initially fought to preserve the Union, then for abolition.
• Key documents and leadership during the Civil War included Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation (freeing slaves in Confederate states) and the Gettysburg Address (highlighting the nation's unity and freedom values).
• The 13th Amendment abolished slavery, and Reconstruction efforts aimed to rebuild the South and integrate freed people into society.
• Despite successes in granting African Americans political and civil rights, Reconstruction's failures led to the Compromise of 1877, which ended Reconstruction and allowed Southern segregation and disenfranchisement to rise.

Post-Civil War Challenges

• The Freedmen's Bureau provided aid to freed slaves; however, sharecropping often trapped them in cycles of poverty.
• Jim Crow laws and Black Codes limited freedoms and opportunities.
• Ultimately, the gains of Reconstruction were short-lived, highlighting the continued struggles for equality.