Do-Now Questions for Week of 1/14/13

MONDAY:
Why do both statues by Jean-Antoine Houdon (1791) and Horatio Greenough (1840) include Greco-Roman elements? What Greco-Roman elements do you see in the buildings below?

Both Houdon and Greenough's statues include Greco-Roman elements because the sculptors wished to convey that the United States got its philosophy of government from the great civilizations of Ancient Greece and Rome. The buildings above (Capitol Building and the Supreme Court) feature Greco-Roman elements such as columns, symmetry, statuary, decorated friezes, domes, and arches. 

TUESDAY:
None

WEDNESDAY:
None

THURSDAY:
What is the difference between a "strict constructionist" and a "loose constructionist" and how do these two kinds of people relate to Alexander Hamilton's plan to establish a National Bank in 1791?

Strict constructionists like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison believed that the federal government should not have any powers that are not directly stated within the Constitution. Alexander Hamilton and the loose constructionists believed that the elastic clause gave the federal government the right to broad powers needed to govern effectively. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that the national government can form a National Bank, but Hamilton saw it as a way to help the government execute its given power to collect taxes.

FRIDAY:
Explain what a tariff is and why Alexander Hamilton chose this option for raising money for the federal government. Also, explain why our national capitol was moved from New York City to Washington D.C.

Tariffs are taxes on imported goods. They work for two reasons. First, they raise money for the national government, and second, they encourage people to buy things made domestically. For instance, if a foreign car costs $18,000 and an American car costs $20,000 people would be tempted to purchase the foreign car. If they buy the foreign car, $18,000 of American money is shipped overseas and disappears from the American economy. If the U.S. government places a $4,000 tariff on the foreign car though, American consumers would opt to buy the $20,000 American car to the now $22,000 foreign car. In this case, $20,000 is spent on a domestic product and so 100% of that money reenters the American economy. On the off-chance that someone still chooses to go with the foreign model, $18,000 does in fact disappear to overseas trade, but the $4,000 tariff is paid directly to the American government. By and large, this is a win-win situation for American government AND industry.

The reason that our nation's capitol was moved from New York, NY to Washington D.C. is that southern states like Virginia and Georgia that had already repaid their war debts resisted helping northern states pay off theirs until the capitol was located in a more central place. Land was taken from the states of Maryland and Virginia to create a capitol that could not be claimed by any state.