History Assignment

DEFENITIONS QUESTION:

Instructions for terms from the Raphael book: {Source or book used “Ray Raphael, “Founding Myths”}

[1] Describe the facts relating to the event/place/person/group

[2] Describe the mythical version or mythical aspects of how the story was retold in later years

[3] Tell when & why Americans (or a specific sub-group thereof) promoted the mythical version instead of the facts.

a. Samuel Adams (1760s; British myth starting 1760s, US myth starting 1850s)

b. the “Massachusetts Revolution of 1774” (not a myth itself) vs. Battle of Lexington & Concord (1775; not a myth itself, myth starting 1830s)

c. Paul Revere and his “Midnight Ride” (1775; myth starting 1860)

d. Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen united States (popularly known as the “Declaration of Independence”, July 1776; not a myth itself; see also Trumbull’s painting “4 July 1776” at: http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/trumbull.htm]

e. “Molly Pitcher” (general term 1775-83; myth starting in 1850s & through 1920)

f. The “coldest winter” at Valley Forge (1777; myth starting during the War of 1812)

j. Dunmore’s & Clinton’s Proclamations (1775 & 1779; not a myth itself) vs. “patriot slaves” (myth 1780s-1960s)

h. Waxhaws “Massacre” (1780; myth starting same time)

i. Great Siege of Gibraltar (1779-83; not a myth itself) vs. Battle of Yorktown (1781; myth starting mid-1780s)

ESSAY QUESTION:

Background: The main character in the 1999 film The Patriot prophetically warned that replacing one tyrant 3,000 miles away (the King of England) with 3,000 tyrants one mile away (democratic rule) might only create a new form of tyranny; in practice, the first U.S. constitution (the Articles of Confederation, 1781-87) saw state governments dominate the federal government (Congress).

Question: BRIEFLY sketch why the United States needed to replace the Articles of Confederation, then describe IN DETAIL how the new Constitution successfully resolved these problems via a division of federal power into independent branches, with numerous checks & balances, plus the addition of the Bill of Rights.