Linking to the Past

1. Americans fought against the French in the Seven Years’ War but welcomed them as allies during the Revolutionary War. Did either or both of those earlier experiences with France have any bearing on the sharp division in the 1790s between pro-French and anti-French political leaders in the United States? (See chapters 6 and 7.)

2. Shays’s Rebellion appeared to some in 1786 to underscore the need for a stronger national government. Compare the Whiskey Rebellion to Shays’s Rebellion. How were they similar, and how were they different? Did the Constitution of 1787 make a difference in the authorities’ response to rebellion? (See chapter 8.)