Give Me Liberty! Cram Sheet – 75-Question Exam Prep

🗽 Core Themes

  • Freedom is contested, evolving, and shaped by social movements

  • Liberty often excludes women, minorities, and the poor

  • Expansion of freedom is uneven, often followed by backlash

🧭 Colonial & Revolutionary Era

  • Slavery, lack of rights for women/Native Americans limited freedom

  • British colonies had greater autonomy than other empires

  • Salutary neglect allowed self-government

  • Revolution expanded political participation, but excluded enslaved people

  • Republican motherhood: women raise virtuous citizens

📜 Constitution & Early Republic

  • Constitution redefined freedom via federal protections

  • Anti-Federalists feared centralized tyranny

  • Bill of Rights limited federal gov only

  • Hamilton favored strong federal power & elite ties

  • Marbury v. Madison established judicial review

💼 Market Revolution & Jacksonian Era

  • Market Revolution: more opportunity, more inequality

  • Jacksonian Democracy: expanded freedom for white men

  • Indian Removal contradicted democratic ideals

  • Second Great Awakening: moral reform linked to freedom

⚔ Slavery, Civil War & Reconstruction

  • Slavery framed as a "positive good" in South

  • Wilmot Proviso reignited slavery debate

  • Dred Scott: African Americans not citizens

  • Lincoln prioritized Union over abolition

  • Emancipation Proclamation made abolition a war aim

  • Reconstruction: amendments expanded rights, but land not given

  • Sharecropping trapped freedpeople in poverty

  • Supreme Court weakened protections post-Reconstruction

🏭 Industrialization & Reform

  • Capitalism emphasized contract rights, challenged liberty

  • Corporations limited autonomy

  • Labor strikes showed tension between capital & freedom

  • Immigration restriction: fear of change & competition

  • Progressives: freedom needs regulation & reform

🌍 Imperialism, WWI & New Deal

  • Imperialism: freedom vs. domination abroad

  • WWI: civil liberties restricted

  • New Deal: gov responsible for economic security

  • Critics: threatened liberty & free enterprise

🌐 WWII, Civil Rights & Social Movements

  • WWII: fought for freedom abroad, tolerated racism at home

  • Civil Rights: nonviolence + federal intervention

  • Brown v. Board overturned "separate but equal"

  • Great Society: healthcare, education, civil rights

  • Vietnam War opposition: gov deception & power misuse

  • Women's movement: equality in work, family, autonomy

  • Roe v. Wade: reproductive choice = freedom

🧠 Modern Themes & Foner’s Thesis

  • Globalization: opportunity + insecurity

  • Post-9/11: security vs. civil liberties

  • Freedom is redefined through struggle

  • Most consistent expansion: social movements

  • Capitalism often conflicts with equality

  • Rights need enforcement to be real

  • Democracy & freedom: intertwined but contradictory

  • Voter suppression = freedom needs vigilance

  • Healthcare debates = equality + gov role

  • Freedom is not linear, always contested

📝 Foner’s Overall Message

  • Freedom is dynamic, shaped by conflict and contestation

  • History must center marginalized voices and grassroots activism