Skip to Main Content

Unit 5: Early Republic DBQ Rotating Responses Handout

Analyze a political cartoon to build background knowledge for the deconstructed DBQ.

Guiding Questions

  • How did the Constitution influence decisions in the Early Republic?
  • How did the emergence of political parties influence the development of American democracy?

Directions: Read the background information, view the image, and answer each question. Then, follow up your answer with an additional question you could ask. Sample responses are provided on the first row as an example.

Background Information

Adapted from Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness Essay Political Parties

The leaders who helped create the United States worried about political parties. They thought parties might try to work against the Constitution or create problems by stirring up political conflict. They were also concerned that parties could cause trouble in the government. A president might do what his party wanted instead of what he thought was right. Members of Congress might vote the way their party wanted instead of what was best for the people.

Even with these worries, political parties started to grow early in American history. During George Washington’s time as president, two parties formed: the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. Even though Washington said he didn’t like the ”harmful spirit of parties,” he actually helped the Federalist Party. After Thomas Jefferson won the election in 1800, the Federalist Party became weaker. By 1816, the Federalists had lost most of their power. This led to a time without much party fighting, called the ‘Era of Good Feelings’ (1817-1824).

Smithsonian Institution. “Conspectus of American Politics, 1880.” National Museum of American History. Link to Original Source.

 

Questions

Question and Answer Follow-Up Question
1.          What is the title of the image?

 

The image is called “Conspectus of American Politics”

 

What is a conspectus and why might the creator have chosen that word?
2.        What does each of these parts of the image tell us?

 

 

a.     The far left

 

 

b.     The center

 

 

c.     From the center mark to the right side

 

 

d.     The colors

 

 

3.        What is the creator communicating when the red “Federal” line moves from top to bottom?

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.        After the “Era of Good Feelings,” the lines get significantly more tangled. Based on the reading, what do you think Washington would have said about this?

 

 

 

 


Additional Activities