UPDATED: Unit 2: British Colonial America

What did colonial politics inherit from the UK government?

• rule of law (no one is above the law)

• trial by jury

• representative government (representative assemblies and local governments)

  • governors, the appointed council, the elected assembly

• concept of ‘natural rights’

What are the major events that shaped the UK Constitutional Government?

• began with the Magna Carta (1215)

• Stuart Monarchy (1600s)

• British Republic (1649 - 1660)

• Glorious Revolution (1688)

• William & Mary’s English Bill of Rights (1689)

Briefly summarize the Magna Carta.

• a document, established by Parliament on King John

• meant to keep royal power in check

  • no taxes w/o Parliament consent

  • land rights of barons

  • trial by jury of peers

  • royals are not above law

Briefly summarize the events of the Stuart Monarchy.

• Stuart dynasty began with James I

• Charles I creates problems for himself:

  • follows Divine Right of Kings claim

  • ignored Parliament

  • ignored judicial process under Magna Carta

• conflict erupts under Charles I and he gets beheaded

Briefly summarize the events of the English Civil War.

• Puritans (constitutionalism) vs Anglican/Catholics (absolutism)

  • Puritans want to create a new church in New England

  • Anglicans/Catholics want to follow the sovereign/monarch

  • Oliver Cromwell vs Charles I

• the war ends in the regicide of Charles I in 1649

Briefly summarize the British Republic.

• following Charles I’s execution, the monarchy is abolished

• the crown is restored in 1660

  • Charles II = Merry Monarch

• James II creates trouble for himself

  • follows divine rights claim

  • ignores Parliament

  • has a Catholic wife & kid (will he serve the people or the pope?)

• leads to the ‘Glorious Revolution’

Briefly summarize the English Bill of Rights.

• William and Mary were offered the throne on the following conditions:

  •  Parliament is the legislator

  • Monarchy is the executive

  • annual elections

  • trial by jury

  • right to bear arms

  • monarchs cannot be Catholic

What did Parliamentary sovereignty establish?

“triumph of constitutionalism (rule of law) over absolutism”

What ideas did John Lock defend?

• in his book Two Treaties of Civil Government

  • people consent to be governed and have natural rights

  • purpose of government is to protect natural rights

  • if gov. abuses its role, people have the right to withdraw their consent

What was the government hierarchy in the UK government?

• monarchy

• House of Lords (hereditary)

• House of Commons (elected)

What was the government hierarchy in the colonial government?

• Governor —> dealt with colonies, Britain, and Indian peoples

• The Council (appointed) —> worked with governor

• The Assembly (elected) —> day to day governance, passed local laws

What is the division of legislature and executive power known as?

separation of powers

Define mercantilism. Who runs it? Who profits from it?

• merchant capitalism

• directed by governments

• transacted by merchants

• both profit

How does mercantilism explain the warfare and religious conflict in Europe?

• the assumption is that wealth = gold. then, gold = basis of political power

• gold is a finite resource so if country A gains gold, country B loses gold

What was the goal of mercantilism?

• maximize inflow of gold, meaning you export more than you import

  • some resorted to smuggling and piracy to counter govt. policies

• to secure national economic independence by granting monopoly rights to approved companies (i.e. London Company and its Virginia monopoly)

What were examples of mercantilism in practice?

• 1651 Navigation Act

• 1699 Woolens Act

• 1733 Molasses Act

• 1750 Iron Act

Briefly summarize the Navigation Act.

• all goods shipped in and out of the colonies had to be on British/American ships and its crew had to be 75% British/American

• goal was to prevent outflow of gold to Britain’s competitors (i.e. Spanish, Dutch)

Briefly summarize the Woolens Act.

• outlawed export of finished woolen goods, wanted the colonies to focus on exporting the raw material

Briefly summarize the Molasses Act.

• imposed taxes on Spanish, Portuguese, and French sugar imports

• did not tax British sugar

• goal was to prevent outflow of gold to sugar-producing competitors

Briefly summarize the Iron Act.

• outlawed export of finished iron goods, wanted the colonies to focus on exporting the raw material

Briefly summarize benefits of mercantilism on economic relationships.

• Americans made money through bounties (bonuses)

• American had a monopoly on the British market

• American ships were guarded from pirates by British ships

• American shipbuilding was boosted by the Navigation Act

Briefly summarize drawbacks of mercantilism on economic relationships.

• since Britain was America’s only customer, America could not control their prices —> leads to increasing colonial debt to the British

• no representation in the English Parliament to change this situation

New England: States, Profile, Output, Best market

• States: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island

• Profile: mixed family farms (crops & livestock), waged labor

• Output: corn, livestock, dairy, fishing, lumber, iron, boats, rum, wool & linen, skins & furs

• Best markets: colonies, Caribbean, some UK

Middle Colonies: States, Profile, Output, Best market

• States: New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware

• Profile: mixed family farms (crops & livestock), waged labor

• Output: wheat, warehousing, insurance, money lending

• Best markets: colonies, Caribbean, some UK

Upper South: States, Profile, Output, Best market

• States: Virginia, Maryland

• Profile: plantations in tidewater areas, indentured servants, slaves

• Output: tobacco cash crop

• Best markets: to UK

Lower South: States, Profile, Output, Best market

• States: Carolinas, Georgia

• Profile: plantations in tidewater areas, indentured servants, slaves

• Output: rice, indigo

• Best markets: to UK

What were the two main reasons American used unfree workers?

1. Increasing demand for labor

   1. Growing food demand in the North required labor

   2. Growing international cash crop demand required labor (but waged labor was not attracted to their plantations)

2. Lack of people migrating to mainland American (most were headed for the West Indies)

What was the colonies’ solution to a growing demand in labor and not enough people?

• indentured servants

  • poorer people given free passage to American in exchange for up to 7 years of work on plantations bound by legal contract

• slavery

What was the origin of African labor involvement in early Virginia?

first-recorded African in VA came front Ndongo and were originally taken as POW by pirates and sold to tobacco planters as indentured servants

Were English social distinctions more based on class or race? Explain.

• class

• regardless of race, they all ‘served’ with labor

Who is the best known African indentured servant? Briefly explain his story.

• John Punch

• the VA court sentenced John P., a runaway slave to life servitude while his white companions only had their servitudes extended two years

What contributed to the transition to slavery?

• the VA House of Burgesses ruled that planters would not be responsible for the death of a ‘slave’

• Bacon’s Rebellion, an uprising of white indentured servants made employers gravitate more towards ‘less troublesome’ African slavery

• availability of African slaves in the Caribbeans

• shortage of indentured servants, rising tobacco demand

• 18th century racist attitudes

What was the significance of 1763?

• concluded two wars between Britain and France: Seven Years’ War (Europe) and the French & Indian War (North American)

Briefly explain the French & Indian War

• French and Americans/British fought over the lands west of the Appalachians for expansion

• British forces often suffered from French and Indian guerilla mabush attakcs

• Britain won in 1759 after capturing Quebec City

How was the conclusion of the French and Indian War a turning point?

• Parliament adopted a closer supervisory policy on the colonies

• Britain maintained a military presence in America

What laws were set in place after the French & Indian War?

• Land Proclamation

• Sugar Revenue Act

• Currency Act

• Stamp Act

• Stamp Act Congress

• Townshend Duties

Briefly explain the Land Proclamation.

outlawed American colonial settlement west of the Appalachians (British did not want to pay for costly warfare with the Indians in that region)

Briefly explain the Sugar Revenue Act.

parliament lowers tariffs to reduce smuggling incentive

Briefly explain the Currency Act.

parliament outlawed the new colonial paper money and forbade payments of debt to the British in paper money

Briefly explain the Stamp Act.

• sales tax on legal documents, printed materials

• Americans were more mad about the fact that it violated the Magna Carta (taxed w/o consent) than the tax itself

Briefly explain the Stamp Act Congress.

Nine colonies sent delegates to protest and boycott British imports. Parliament repealed the Stamp Act.

Briefly explain the Townshend Duties.

• the incoming Tory Party (aristocratic land owners, pro-monarchy) impose a tax on British imports like glass, paper, and tea

• this again was enacted w/o colonial representation