1. In both of the stories at the beginning of the chapter, school officials initially prevented the formation of the student groups. What reasons or arguments did they offer? How convincing do you find these arguments?

2. Think about your own discussions with your classmates. What rights do students believe they have? In what situations do they come up? How might each of these rights be limited?

3. Imagine you are describing American political culture to a person with little familiarity with the country. How would you describe it? What examples would you use to illustrate your view?

4. What does the word “equality” mean to you? How do other people see it? In what context do Americans expect equality? How might equality be limited in some contexts?

5. What does the word “liberty” mean to you? How do other people see it? In what situations do Americans expect liberty? How might liberty be limited in some contexts?

6. What does “the American dream” mean to you? How do other people see it? Why do some Americans think that it has become more difficult to attain in recent years?

7. Liberty and equality are two values that have the potential to come into conflict with each other. Why is that? In what political contexts might these values conflict? Which value seems more important to you personally and why?

8. What is American exceptionalism? Does this concept still hold? Why or why not? How does this view fit with some of the arguments in Common Sense?

9. The colonial reaction to the Stamp Act was very strong. Why might the colonial response have been so assertive? Is an opposition to taxes part of our political culture or was it something specific about these taxes?

10. The phrase “political propaganda” generally has a negative connotation but remind the class of Abernathy’s definition. In this view, is propaganda necessarily a negative thing? What might make it negative at times but not always?

11. Why was the Stamp Act Congress so important even if their actions did not directly lead to the repeal of the Stamp Act?

12. Given that General Washington and the colonists lost the majority of their battles, how did the Revolution succeed? What advantages did the colonists have? Disadvantages?

13. The text uses Lemuel Haynes, a minister from Massachusetts, as an example of an author who viewed American democracy as incomplete. In what other areas might American democracy be seen as incomplete or, at least, incompletely realized?

14. The author makes an argument that the American Revolution was a “one of ideas” and not exactly a political or military one. How convincing do you find that argument?

15. Recall the definitions of communist, socialist, and capitalist systems. Make an argument that the United States is purely or primarily one of those systems. What argument is there for it being more of a mixture of systems?