Chapter 7

It was very unfortunate and sad to read about how the Native Americans, the Cherokees, kept getting their land taken away from them and how their population continued to decrease. If I was alive in the 1780’s, I probably would have been afraid of the president having too much power as well. Now I have a better understanding of why there is a Senate and Congress, which is separate from the President.

I also learned about the Bill of Rights, which gives people the most basic and necessary freedoms. I think we are very lucky and fortunate to have the Bill of Rights in this country so that we can do as we please, more or less, without being afraid of what might happen to us. I think 1790 was the beginning of when the United States started to accumulate debt, but little could they have predicted that it would still exist today, but to a much greater degree.

This sentence was particularly interesting to me, “Hamilton advocated a perpetual debt as a lasting means of uniting the economic fortunes of the nation’s creditors to the United States. This meant that there would continuously be debt and that it would never really get paid off. I thought this was very strange because I would want to get any debt paid off as soon as possible.

I agree with this sentence, “Madison and others maintained that to allow residents of the laggard states to escape heavy taxes was to reward irresponsibility.” I agree because it’s not fair to let states that owe money, get off easy without having to pay what they owe. Their irresponsibility is rewarded, which would make them think that it’s okay to be dishonest.

I was so shocked when I read that Americans drank “an average of six gallons of hard liquor per adult per year.” This is a lot of alcohol. I don’t know how people could function properly if they were drinking this much. Then I read about the Whiskey Rebellion, where people didn’t want to be taxed on their liquor so they burned buildings and attacked tax collectors.

This sentence made me feel somewhat upset and angry, ”Elected officials, they maintained, should rule in the people’s name but be independent of direct popular influence.” My understanding of this sentence is that Federalists believed that elected officials should not be affected by how popular they were among the general public. Why would you want someone to represent you or your city or state, if you don’t feel like they’re doing a good job in advocating for what you want?

I think that the Alien and Sedition Acts were very important because it meant that you had to “respect the rights of enemy citizens.” But this makes me think of Guantanamo Bay, which is very controversial. I think it’s could to keep enemies in a place separate from their homeland, if it is too dangerous for them to stay there. However, I don’t think that anybody should be tortured no matter what crime they may have committed. I do believe they should receive their fair punishment, but it should be humane and it’s important to not commit the same crimes that they may have committed otherwise, you are equal to them.