Politics and Government

Read Zinn 96-102

Answer the following questions. Use the vocabulary list to assist you as you read.

1. Discuss the right to vote in the new Constitution.

2. Zinn suggests that there is more to democracy than voting. What does he mean?

3. What was the basis for the "factionsal struggles that were developing?"

4. Why does Zinn seem to doubt that the "government...maintain[s] peace...as a referee between two equally matched fighters"?

5. Discuss the quote from Madidison in Federalist #10. What does he want people to know, think believe?


6. Discuss the compromise between Northern business and Southern slaveholders.

7. Why do you think the Constitution protected "life, liberty and property" instead of the pursuit of happiness?

8. Write several sentences to describe the following terms. Include a quote for each.
a) Bill of Rights
b) Sedition Act
c) Whiskey Rebellion

popular election: universal suffrage (also universal adult suffrage, general suffrage or common suffrage) consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens (or subjects) as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens.

tumultuous: disruptive, characterized by unrest or disorder or insubordination; "effects of the struggle will be violent and disruptive"; "riotous times"; "these troubled areas"; "the tumultuous years of his administration"; "a turbulent and unruly childhood"

faction/factional: in politics, a political faction is a grouping of like-minded individuals, especially within a political organization, such as a political party, a trade union, or other group.

unison: corresponding exactly; "marching in unison"
occurring together or simultaneously; "the two spoke in unison"

apt: naturally disposed toward; "he is apt to ignore matters he considers unimportant"; "I am not minded to answer any questions"

pervade: to be in every part of; to spread through

tempestuous: stormy, characterized by violent emotions or behavior; "a stormy argument"; "a stormy marriage"

repress: put down by force or intimidation; "The government quashes any attempt of an uprising"; "China keeps down her dissidents very efficiently"; "The rich landowners subjugated the peasants working the land"

insurrection: rebellion, organized opposition to authority; a conflict in which one faction tries to wrest control from another

delusion: a fixed belief that is either false, fanciful, or derived from deception. Psychiatry defines the term more specifically as a belief that is pathological (the result of an illness or illness process). ...

lament: a cry of sorrow and grief; "their pitiful laments could be heard throughout the ward"

illicit: contrary to accepted morality (especially sexual morality) or convention; "an illicit association with his secretary"

delegate: a person appointed or elected to represent others