Representative Viewpoints in U.S. Political History from Pre-Columbian to 1789 - SAT Subject Test in United States History

It must first be stated that it is hard to generalize about the opinions of the framers, however almost exclusively they believed that the existence of political parties would be detrimental to the growth of freedom and liberty in the Union. George Washington spoke out against political parties when he stepped down from power; Alexander Hamilton and James Madison wrote extensively against political parties in The Federalist Papers.

The framers generally felt that the common man was unprepared for ultimate control of government, so they allowed for a group of electors to dilute the democratic process. In addition, whilst many framers abhorred the immorality of slavery, many others were slave holders themselves and actively sought to protect the institution, at least for the remainder of their lifetimes. Finally, the framers believed that no single branch (executive, legislative or judicial) should have complete control over the government and sought to institute a system of checks and balances to prevent this.

Parliament’s insistence that virtual representation was sufficient to adequately represent the interests of the colonists in British policy making was a major ideological problem for the colonies. Virtual representation rested on the theory that since Parliament protected the interests of all British citizens and subjects, it was not necessary for colonists to directly elect representatives. Colonists, on the other hand, believed that such a policy meant their interests were second to those of the actual electorate and, in the years leading up to revolution, demanded fair and equal representation.

The Anti-Federalists opposed ratification of the Constitution on a number of issues that centered on the fear that the power of the Federal government had been increased too heavily, at the expense of the States, and would lead the power of the centralized government to keep growing and growing. Further, to the point of preventing a possible rise of tyranny the Anti-Federalist demanded that prior to ratification the Constitution have included a Bill of Rights that would forever codify into law the individual freedoms and liberties of all Americans. The central argument of the Anti-Federalists was that, as written, the Constitution did not do enough to prevent the possibility of an autocratic President, or Congress, gaining power and using it to subjugate the people.

The British government, and Prime Minister George Greenville, issued the Stamp Act to help raise revenue for the indebted Crown. Although many in British society felt that the colonists owed a debt to the British public for protecting them during the French-Indian wars, and many in the colonies felt that this was meant as a demonstration of the Crown’s ultimate dominion the primary reason was simple “dollars and cents”. The government needed more money and was willing to incur the colonists’ wrath in order to get it. The Stamp Act was passed in 1765 and required colonists to purchase heavily taxed stamps for all post and newspapers. The passage of the Act promoted widespread indignation and some protests in the colonies.

William Penn was granted a proprietary colony from the English Crown in 1682 and endeavored to set up a colony that granted political freedom to all and, also, to provide a colony for the “Holy Experiment” of the Quakers – who were disparaged and persecuted in Europe. Penn’s intentions were somewhat democratic, but the most pertinent reason was the provisions guaranteeing Quaker religious freedom.

At the Constitutional Convention, the Northern and Southern states could not decide on how to account for the slave populations when considering how Congressional representatives should be divided. The North favored a system where slaves did not count at all, conversely the South favored a system where each slave was equivalent to one free man. In an attempt at compromise, the Convention passed the Three-Fifths Compromise - which stated that, for the purposes of representation, a slave was to be equal to three-fifths of a free man.

Here the information on George Washington is correct. He strongly supported Alexander Hamilton in his creation of a national government and national bank.

Thomas Jefferson rejected the divinity of Jesus Christ and the Bible, and argued for laws to protect religious freedom.

Benjamin Franklin did not write the Federalist Papers, which were written by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton.

Alexander Hamilton did believe the federal government should assume the war debts of the states, and as secretary of the Treasury pushed Congress to form a national bank for this purpose.

Finally, James Madison did not believe the US should have a standing army. In fact, he feared that the United States would become an oppressive government if such a thing happened.

Anti-Federalists opposed the ratification of the United States Constitution on the grounds that it gave too much power to the Federal government, did not include a Bill of Rights providing for individual liberty, and took too much power away from the states. As a result of this knowledge, we can reasonably conclude that Anti-Federalists would have objected to the creation of a National Bank and to the imposition of tariffs, because both of these measures strengthened the power of the Federal government. In addition, Anti-Federalists would have objected to George Washington calling in the militia to deal with the Whiskey Rebellion; however, they would have approved of the idea of nullification, as it represents a clear improvement to the power of states to resist Federal authority.

The Connecticut Compromise was proposed, in 1787, as a solution to a disagreement between the larger and smaller states as to how representation should be appropriated in the newly formed United States. The smaller states desired that representation should be equal for all states, regardless of population size. The larger states desired that representation should be proportional to population. As a compromise the Union enacted a bicameral legislature whereby the lower house (House of Representatives) was to have proportional representation and the upper house (Senate) was to have equal representation for all states. The agreement persists to this day.

The Mayflower Compact was signed by some of the original settlers of the Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, in 1620. Having been bound for Virginia, their ship was forced to change direction by a violent storm, ending up in Massachusetts. The Pilgrims took this as a sign from God that this place was where they were to make their new community. They signed the Mayflower Compact shortly after arriving and dictated that the government of this new territory would adhere to majority rule of the members of the church (despite the fact that slightly less than half of the people on board were Pilgrims). In order to vote, an individual needed to be white and male, own land, and be a recognized member of the church community.

Pontiac’s Rebellion, also called Pontiac’s War, was launched following the culmination of the Seven Years' War in 1763. It was waged between Native Americans and British settlers. Native Americans from the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley were the primary aggressors, at least directly, in the conflict. They attacked colonial settlements throughout the region, reaching as far as Central Pennsylvania. Eventually, the Native American alliance began to fracture and the full might of the British Empire was directed at the conflict. The combination of these two factors caused the Native people to accept a peaceful resolution and to concede ultimate British sovereignty over their lands.

The New Jersey Plan was one of two plans put forward at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The other was the Virginia plan. The Virginia plan called for two houses of Congress, both elected with proportional representation. This plan would place the majority of influence in the hands of the more populated states. The New Jersey Plan was an attempt by the smaller states to counter this proposal. It argued that representation should be left how it had been under the Articles of Confederation—namely that each state, regardless of size, get an equal share of representation. The controversy was eventually solved by the Great Compromise, which created a bicameral legislature. The upper house was to follow the New Jersey Plan, the lower house the Virginia Plan.

The Constitutional Convention of 1787 was convened originally with the intention of amending the decidedly unworkable Articles of Confederation. Several incidents since the break with Britain had demonstrated that the Articles were too loose and weak of a governing body to adequately manage the affairs of a young, large and growing nation. Many politicians, most notably James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, argued for the abandonment of the Articles of Confederation and the creation of a new government and constitution.

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay wrote a series of eighty-five articles arguing in favor of ratification of the Constitution. All three wished to remain anonymous, writing under the pseudonym Publius, but the identities were discovered after their deaths. The collection of their work is called The Federalist Papers.

The Virginia Plan was written by James Madison, a Virginia farmowner himself. In it, a lot of the legislative power was give to the southern, farming states. This was done through population based apportionment, the southern states where larger both in size and population, so they would very easily control Congress.

In response, William Patterson penned the New Jersey Plan, in which each state got a single vote in Congress.

These plans were resolved by the Great Compromise penned by Roger Sherman. The Great Compromise, or Connecticut Plan, called for a bicameral legislature with a population based House of Representatives, and a Senate in which each state had equal representation.

In order to answer this question, you must have remembered the meaning of virtual representation—the belief held by Grenville and others in the British political elite that the members of parliament accurately represented all citizens of the Empire, regardless of their actual physical representation (or lack thereof). This, of course, was one of the biggest matters of disagreement in between the Brits and colonists: the colonists disagreed with the so-called virtual representation—the colonists believed that the only fair representation would be actual, physical, representation in Parliament (hence “no taxation without representation”).

This question requires relatively little explanation, given that the answers are all explanations. That said, one of the answers—fear of diminished state power—may require some explanation. Some of the more entrenched and powerful state governors stood to lose much power if the Constitution was ratified. Do you understand why?

Answer: The individual states, and thus the heads of state (i.e. governors), gave up the nearly-unlimited power under the Articles of Confederation for the unity and protection of the Constitution.