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Essential Questions Assignment

Below is a list of twenty five essential questions associated with early American History. These essential questions are meant to engage students critically and thoughtfully to come to a better understanding of the country we live in today.

It's important also to understand that there are multiple perspectives and opinions to these questions. We will address, directly or indirectly, some of these questions throughout the course.

You will be expected to write a 3 page essay that addresses one of the questions below. Your essay should take a stance in the opening of the essay, and be supported by information(both text and non-text sources) in the body of your paper. You should also have a work cited page using a MLA format( 3 source min.)

1) Is America a land of opportunity?

2) Did geography greatly affect the development of colonial America?

3) Has Puritanism shaped American values?

4) Was colonial America a democratic society?

5) Was slavery the basis of freedom in colonial America?

6) Did Great Britain lose more than it gained from its victory in the French and Indian War?

7) Were the colonists justified in resisting British policies after the French and Indian War?

8) Was the American War for Independence inevitable?

9) Was the American Revolution a "radical" revolution?

10) Could the Constitution be written without compromise?

11) Is a strong federal system the most effective government for the United States? Which level of government, federal or state, can best solve our nation's problems?

12) Whose ideas were best for the new nation, Hamilton's or Jefferson's?

13) Are political parties good for our nation?

14) Does war cause national prosperity?

15) Should presidents' appointees to the Supreme Court reflect their policies?

16) Does a geographic minority have the right to ignore the laws of a national majority?

17) Was the age of Jackson an age of democracy?

18) Should the states have the right to ignore the laws of the national government?

19) Was slavery a benign or evil institution?

20) Was slavery the primary cause of the Civil War?

21) Was the Civil War inevitable?

22) Does Abraham Lincoln deserve to be called the "Great Emancipator"?

23) Does racial equality depend upon government action?

24) Was it possible to have a peace of reconciliation after the Civil War?

25) When should a president be impeached and removed from office?