The War for Independence , The U.S. Political System & The Growing Country

United States History

What are the main reasons that the Declaration of Independence was written?

• Tariffs

• Lack of Representation

• Quartering of British Soldiers

• Boston Massacre

• The Intolerable Acts

Tariffs

Stamp Act

Townshend Acts

-taxes on imports, things that are coming in to the colonies, the Stamp Act taxed printed matter, the Townshend Acts were taxes on various goods such as tea, later they repealed these acts except for tea (leading to the Boston Tea Party)

Lack of Representation

“no taxation without representation” if we are going to pay these high tariffs, we should have representation in the British Parliament.

Quartering of British Soliders

Initially the colonists had to house the British soldiers because they got so much more territory from the French and Indian war and they needed soldiers there to protect and run the territories. 

Boston Massacre

British sent troops to New York and Boston because they felt that the colonists might rebel for independence, the citizens were taunting the troops in Boston and the troops fired on citizens, killing 5 people, and wounding more. This made the Colonists furious with the British. 

The Intolerable Acts

designed to punish the colonists, closed the port of Boston, increased power to the British Royal Governor in Massachusetts, increased amount of soldiers there to control the colonists

When did the colonists declare independence?

July 4th, 1776

Battle of Saratoga

was important because the Patriots won against the British which convinced the French to support the Patriots. This battle showed the French and the Patriots took a chance. Some people argue that without the French aid, the French army may not have defeated the British. 

Battle of Yorktown

was important because the Patriots won a decisive victory, which essentially ensured their victory in the war and the British surrendered after this battle.

Treaty of Paris

September 3rd, 1783

Ended the War - Britian recognized the USA as its own country

Articles of Confederation

-Created as a wartime document, and were too limited to serve as the basis for government. Initially unified to colonies to win independence over the British.

-Mainly aimed at settling the issues of: needing to create an army combined between the states, to fund the war effort with a common currency (print and borrow money), and to solve territorial disputes between the states.

The Constitution

The Constitution established the U.S. government as it exists today, and attempted to protect citizens’ freedoms through the Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments)

-Constitution has been amended throughout history.

What are the 3 branches of the US government?

Executive, Legislative, and Judicial

Legislative Branch

purpose is to create/write the laws

comprised of Congress, which has a Bicameral Legislature (2 Houses)

-House of Representatives: # of Representatives based on state population size

-Senate: 2 Representatives for each State

Executive Branch

The President and his cabinet

-purpose of executive branch is to enforce the laws

Judicial Branch

-The Supreme Court and lower courts

-purpose is to interpret the laws

Describe the system of checks and balances between the 3 branches of government

-A Bill written from the Legislative Branch can be passed to the President who can sign and pass it or veto it, then it goes back, then you need a ⅔ majority vote to override the President whereas for it to initially go to president you only need a 50% vote (system of checks and balances).

-Legislature has the power to impeach the executive branch (the president)

-President appoints the Supreme Court, but the Legislature has to approve this.

-If the Legislative passes a bill and the president passes it into law, the judicial branch has the power to declare a law unconstitutional and throw it out.

Marbury v. Madison

set up Judicial Review, which is the ability for the Supreme Court to declare a law unconstitutional. 

What were the first major political parties in the US?

Thomas Jefferson’s Antifederalists opposed Alexander Hamilton’s Federalists.

Federalists

favored a strong Federal/Central Government that would have a lot of power over the states.

Antifederalists

favored the states’ power, tended to be Southerners, wanted to make own laws about slavery. 

What were later political parties?

-Later, Andrew Jackson’s Democratic party opposed the Whigs.

-Later, we get the Republican party

Manifest Destiny

idea that the US wanted to expand from the Atlantic to the Pacific, expanding to the West

Louisiana Purchase (1803)

purchased for $15 million by Thomas Jefferson from the French (ruler was Napoleon), French had given this land to the Spanish to compensate them for the loss of the Florida region after the French/Indian War, but eventually it was too hard for the Spanish to manage, so they gave it back to the French, but the French didn’t want to manage it either so they sold it to the US which almost doubled US territory. 

Texas Annexation

Texas was part of Mexico, they left Mexico and started their own country, then decided to become a state of the USA

California Territory

(southwest): became part of the USA after the US won the Mexican-American War and signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848). Basically completed the US expansion (later Alaska and Hawaii).

How did the War of 1812 start and end? What was the result?

-USA was not respected as a global or seafaring power by French and English

-The British were impressing (taking them off their ships and forcing them to work on British ships) American sailors. The US pushed to go to war with England because of this, resulting in the War of 1812.

-The War was basically a draw but it established the the US as more of a naval/world power

-After the war, a strong feeling of nationalism was established in the US.

What led to the African slave trade?

-European desire for tobacco and cotton, and southern desire for cheap plantation labor, led to the African slave trade. 

What was the Middle Passage?

-The Middle Passage was the brutal and inhumane portion of the triangular trade route in which African slaves were brought to America.

The Missouri Compromise

when Missouri was going to enter the Union, it was going to offset balance between free and slave states, so they agreed to split off a portion of Massachusetts to become the state of Maine. Maine would be a free state and Missouri would be a slave state. 

The Compromise of 1850

When California came into the Union, it was very populated, so it was going to have a lot of power in the House of Reps. The compromise was that California would be a free state. But the new territories of New Mexico and Utah could choose if they wanted to be a slave state or not. Also put in strict laws for runaway slaves.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

When Kansas and Nebraska were joining the Union, they could choose if they wanted to be free or slave. When they were given that choice it made people angry. Became clear that despite the attempts to compromise, there was a huge conflict between North and South that might lead to a separation.

What other factors further enflamed the nation when it came to slavery?

Events such as the Dred Scott Decision (a slave escaped into a free state and the decision was that because a slave is not a human being and is property, he does not have the right to be considered free just because he is in the free state, this angered the abolitionist Northerners) and the election of Lincoln (whose party had a strong abolitionist stance) further inflamed the nation.