A.P.U.S.H. 1776

Essential Questions 1. Why did Americans choose not only to break from Britain, but adopt a republican form of government in 1776? What Republican ideas did they share, and what did they disagree about? The Americans chose to break from Britain for a lot of different reasons. But the main reason was they wanted freedom from parliament; they did not want to be governed from overseas, they got sick and tired of the taxation and laws. They adopted the republican government because they did want to be a monarchy or dictatorship; America wanted the “people to rule” the country. They saw how a monarchy worked and did not want to be trapped in the same position Britain’s king was in. America and Britain had similarities and differences in this type of government too. The main difference was, America had the power of the people, while Britain had the power of a monarch. Thomas Paine said that a monarchy could lead to an easy way of a very corrupt nation! A big similarity that they both had was “hierarchy” which in Britain was from kings to nobles etc.; and for America T.Paine suggested levels of governments. 2. What role did France play in winning America’s independence? The French played a gigantic role in winning America’s independence. If it had not been for France’s money, weapons, powerful navy, and soldiers America would have definitely lost. In the battle of Yorktown George Washington would’ve definitely died and lost the battle against General Cornwallis. If it hadn’t been for the 5000-6000 French soldiers America might not have had its first president! The French did not come to help the U.S. because they wanted America to be free, but they did it for their own reasons. They wanted to crush the British for not only the French and Indian War but other external reasons. 3. Was the U.S. in a crisis under the Articles of the Confederations, or was the “crisis” exaggerated by the Federalists to justify their movements? Could the U.S. have survived if the