Transcript Benjamin Franklin - U.S. History and AP Government Mr. Williams

For the EOCT.
Benjamin Franklin
 Was a writer, printer, inventor
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and small-businessman in preRevolutionary Philadelphia…
He became a symbol of
American “social mobility”…
In America, a person has the
ability to rise from poverty to
great wealth…
If they display intelligence and
hard work.
This is VERY different from Old
Europe…
Where a person’s class
depended upon the family into
which they were born.
Thomas Paine
 Published a pamphlet
entitled Common Sense…
 Which argued in CLEAR
and SIMPLE terms…
 That the American
colonies MUST break
away from Great Britain.
 Great numbers of
colonists read Common
Sense…
 And became strong
supporters of
REVOLUTION.
John Locke
 Was a British political
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philosopher…
Who identified the three
ESSENTIAL human
rights as those to…
LIFE, LIBERTY, and
PROPERTY…
His writings greatly
influenced…
Thomas Jefferson…
And the Declaration of
Independence.
Thomas Jefferson
 Author of the Declaration of
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Independence…
Which explained the REASONS for
America’s break from Great
Britain…
Identified the three ESSENTIAL
human rights as those to…
LIFE, LIBERTY and the PURSUIT
of HAPPINESS.
And argued that whenever a
government attempts to take
those rights away…
The people have a responsibility
to…
CHANGE the GOVERNMENT.
Benjamin Franklin
 Upon the outbreak of the
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Revolutionary War…
Franklin traveled to PARIS…
In order to convince the
FRENCH to join the war on the
side of the Americans.
After the Battle of Saratoga,
the French declared war on the
British…
Which meant military and naval
assistance to the Americans…
MONEY…
And forced the British to fight
on two continents.
Marquis de Lafayette
 Was a French military
officer…
 Who joined the
American Continental
Army during the
Revolutionary War.
 He was
TREMENDOUSLY
important in helping
George Washington
transform the
Continental Army…
 Into a professional
fighting force.
George Washington
 Was the commander-in-
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chief of the Continental
Army…
After several defeats, he
crossed the Delaware
River on Christmas Day
and led the Americans to
their first major victory…
He was responsible for
developing the Americans’
military strategy…
And immediately after the
American victory in the
Revolutionary War…
HE RESIGNED.
Lord Cornwallis
 Was one of the
leading British
generals during the
Revolutionary War.
 His LOSS and
SURRENDER at the
Battle of Yorktown…
 Resulted in the
American VICTORY
and the British
DEFEAT in the
Revolutionary War.
Alexander Hamilton
 As a leading
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FEDERALIST…
And a strong supporter
of the RATIFICATION of
the CONSTITUTION.
He believed in a
STRONG government…
Which led him to sharp
disagreements with
Thomas Jefferson…
Who supported the idea
of a WEAK government.
James Madison
 Was another strong
supporter of the
Constitution…
 He was known as
the “Father of the
Constitution”…
 He also wrote much
of the Bill of the
Rights…
 Which are the first
TEN amendments to
the Constitution.
Charles de Montesquieu
 Was a French political
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philosopher…
Who argued that
governmental power must
be DIVIDED…
In order to prevent takeover
by one person, or by a small
group of people.
His writings form the basis
of the concept of the…
SEPARATION of POWERS…
And this is the reason our
government is divided into
THREE branches:
The Legislative…
The Executive…
The Judicial.
President George Washington
 Was the first President
under the
Constitutional
government.
 He is important for
having INVENTED the
role of President…
 But his greatest
accomplishment as
President was his
decision to…
 WALK AWAY FROM
POWER after two terms.
President Thomas Jefferson
 Jefferson’s Presidency
contained TWO
important
accomplishments:
1. The LOUISIANA
PURCHASE from
France…
2. The LEWIS & CLARK
expedition…
 Which was sent to
explore the Louisiana
Territory.
Eli Whitney
 Was Civil War-era inventor…
 His COTTON GIN made the
growing of cotton wildly
profitable…
 Which increased cottonfarming, as well as the use of
slaves.
 His system of
INTERCHANGEABLE PARTS
allowed for the MASS
PRODUCTION of weapons…
 And was responsible for the
North being able to produce far
greater quantities of GUNS
than the South during the Civil
War.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
 Was a Civil War-era
women’s rights
activist…
 And the originator of
the women’s
SUFFRAGE
movement in the
United States.
 She also organized
the first women’s
rights conference
(Seneca Falls) in US
history.
Nat Turner
 Was an American slave
who received a “vision
from God”…
 That led him to
organize a slave
rebellion that resulted
in the deaths of 55
white slave owners and
their family members.
 The rebellion ended
when he was captured
and executed...
 And resulted in the
harsh limitation of the
privileges of slaves to
meet and travel.
William Lloyd Garrison
 Was an important
ABOLITIONIST…
 And the publisher
of The
Liberator…
 An abolitionist
newspaper.
The Grimke Sisters
 Were from a slave-
owning family from
South Carolina…
 And became both
early
ABOLITIONISTS
and supporters of…
 WOMEN’S
SUFFRAGE.
Frederick Douglass
 Was an escaped
slave…
 Who became a leading
ABOLITIONIST.
 His autobiography…

Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass…
 Was widely read and
cause many Americans
to turn against the
practice of slavery.
John C. Calhoun
 Was a US Vice
President and a
Senator from South
Carolina…
 He developed the
concept of
“nullification”…
 Whereby individual
states could refuse to
follow any federal law
with which they
disagreed.
 Supporters of slavery
used this idea to
argue against
abolitionism.
Ulysses S. Grant
 Took command of the
Union (northern) Army
during the last third of
the Civil War…
 Was willing to suffer
the deaths of
thousands of soldiers
in order to win the
war…
 And was eventually
responsible for
overseeing the Union
victory.
Robert E. Lee
 Was the top
commander of the
Confederate
(southern) Army…
 Although often
hugely
outnumbered…
 His tremendous
battlefield skills led
to dozens of
Confederate
victories.
Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson
 Was Robert E. Lee’s
most trusted
General…
 Responsible for the
Confederate victory at
the First Battle of Bull
Run…
 And numerous other
Confederate victories.
 Was killed by friendly
fire at the Battle of
Chancellorsville.
William T. Sherman
 Was responsible for the
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most successful Union
invasion of the South…
Practiced “scorched
earth” policy in the
invasion…
Lost the Battle of
Kennesaw Mountain.
Burned Atlanta to the
ground…
And captured the city of
Savannah.
Jefferson Davis
 Was a former US
Congressman
from
Mississippi…
 Who became the
President of the
Confederate
States of
America.
Andrew Johnson
 Was Lincoln’s
Vice President…
 And took the
Presidency upon
Lincoln’s
assassination.
 His soft attitude
toward the
Southern states…
 Led to his
impeachment in
1868.
John D. Rockefeller
 Was an American
businessman…
 Who became
INCREDIBLY
wealthy…
 With his
establishment of
the Standard Oil
Company…
 Which operated
as a monopoly
and kept oil
prices high.
Thomas Edison
 Was an American
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inventor…
Responsible for:
The light bulb…
The phonograph…
The motion picture…
The electric dog
polisher…
And the swivel chair.
These inventions had a
huge impact upon
American life.
Samuel Gompers
 Was an American
labor-union leader…
 Who established the
AMERICAN
FEDERATION OF
LABOR…
 A union that sought
to bring every
SKILLED worker in
the US into one
organization.
Sitting Bull
 Was a Sioux chief
and military leader…
 Who led the Lakota
Sioux to victory at
the Battle of Little
Bighorn (Custer’s
Last Stand)…
 Which was both the
HIGH POINT, and the
END of Indian
resistance to White
expansion.
Theodore Roosevelt
 Became President upon the
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assassination of William
McKinley in 1901…
Became a leader of the
PROGRESSIVE movement…
Which calls for GOVERNMENT
solutions to society’s
problems.
Was also an early
CONSERVATIONIST…
And was responsible for
numerous laws designed to
protect the natural
ENVIRONMENT…
And the creation of national
parks, etc.
Eugene Debs
 Ran for the US
Presidency as a
SOCIALIST in the
period before WW1…
 Spoke out against
WW1 and was thrown
in jail for violating the
ESPIONAGE ACT…
 Which prohibited any
activity which might
aid enemies of the US
during wartime.
Woodrow Wilson
 US President during
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the WW1 era…
Created the 14 Points
proposal…
Which was designed
to reshape the
western world after
WW1…
And which called for
the formation of an
international
peacekeeping
organization called
the…
League of Nations.
Henry Ford
 An American
businessman and
entrepreneur…
 Perfected the use of
the assembly line for
automobile
production…
 And lowered the price
of the automobile (the
Model-T)…
 To a price that was
affordable for nearly
every American family.
Louis Armstrong
 New Orleans born
trumpeter…
 Who is credited
for promoting jazz
as a form of
ARTISTIC
expression…
 And for bringing
international
popularity to jazz
music.
Langston Hughes
 A Harlem-based
poet and writer…
 Who became
famous as the
voice of the Harlem
Renaissance….
 And as an early
inspiration for the
civil rights
movement.
Irving Berlin
 Was a music
composer of the
1920’s…
 And a leader of the
“Tin Pan Alley”
collective.
 Much of the popular
music of this era
was composed by
him.
Huey Long
 A famous Depression-era
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politician…
The governor of Louisiana,
and later a US Senator
from that state…
He developed a concept
called “Share the
Wealth”…
Which would have
instituted a maximum
wage…
And guaranteed payments
to every American family.
He was assassinated while
considering a run for the
Presidency.
A. Phillip Randolph
 Was an early civil
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rights leader…
Who led a march on
Washington to protest
the segregation of the
US Army…
President Roosevelt
responded by issuing
the Fair Employment
Act…
Which banned
discrimination in war
industries…
But not in the US
Army itself.
Joseph McCarthy
 Was a Republican Senator
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from Wisconsin…
Who gained national fame by
accusing government figures
of communist activity…
During an era known as the
“Red Scare”.
Oftentimes, the accusations
were issued without any
proof…
But at the time, being
accused of communist
activity was usually enough
to ruin a person’s career.
Jackie Robinson
 Throughout the early 20th
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Century, Baseball was
segregated…
With black athletes confined
to the so-called “Negro
Leagues”.
In 1947, Robinson was
drafted to play for the
Brooklyn Dodgers…
Becoming the first black
player in MLB.
He was a six-time All Star;
an MVP and the Rookie of
the Year award is named
after him.
Martin Luther King
 Became active in the
national civil rights
movement after his role as
the spokesman for the
Montgomery bus boycott…
 His “Letter from a
Birmingham Jail” argued for
the importance of DIRECT,
NONVIOLENT protest…
 And his I Have a Dream
speech became one of the
most well-known addresses
in history.
 He was assassinated in
1968.
Robert F. Kennedy
 Was John F.
Kennedy’s Attorney
General…
 And later, a Senator
from New York.
 He ran for the US
presidency in 1968…
 And was
assassinated
immediately after
winning the
California primary.
Cesar Chavez
 Was a labor leader and
a civil rights leader…
 Who brought the
concept of nonviolent
protest to Hispanic
farm workers…
 Which ultimately led to
better pay, health care
and widespread
recognition of the
hardships faced by
that group of workers.
Barry Goldwater
 Was a Senator from
Arizona…
 And a Republican
presidential
candidate in 1964.
 He is credited for
the reemergence of
the conservative
movement…
 And was responsible
for the rebirth of the
Republican Party.