Unit 1: Development of Democracy in America

What is mercantilism?

exporting more than you import

France

Religion: not forced catholicism

Society: positive relationships; brought hierarchy

Spain

Religion: forced catholicism

Society: hierarchy based on faith and government

What was the original reason that Britain established colonies in N. America?

economic profit (Jamestown)

New England Colonies

Climate: cold, rocky soil, short growing season

People: subsistence farmers, merchants, ship builders, and whalers

Strictly religious

Familial

Mayflower Compact

not a constitution, but an agreement to form a government and submit to majority rule

* early example of self-government

“City Upon a Hill” meaning:

* speech about looking up to their city
* seen as a model community without other religious beliefs
* those with other beliefs were punished

Puritans

people that wanted to “purify” or reform England

Roger Williams

disagreed with Puritan lifestyle

Anne Hutchinson

believed that you didn’t need to church to love and have a relationship with God

Middle Colonies

Climate: moderate, fertile soil, large ports

People: subsistence farmers, what, merchants, craftsmen

Quakers

believed all were children of God and refused to treat the upper classes with deference (treat them as though they are higher in power)

Southern Colonies

Climate: hot, long growing season, and fertile soil

Large plantations with cash crops (tobacco, rice, and indigo)

Virginia House of Burgesses:

modeled English House of Commons

* maintained order + attracted settlers
* controlled finances and militia

early example of representative government

Why did Jamestown have a tough time establishing a permanent settlement?

sickness, starvation, mosquitoes, inability to tend to crops

Cash crop

tobacco aka “brown gold”

Why did slavery begin in the Southern colonies and not the other two regions?

The large plantations grew cash crops and needed labor

What country did the United States copy for its political ideas?

Great Britain

What did we copy from the Magna Carta (1215)?

* right to be consulted on taxes
* right to be tried by a jury of their peers

Rule of Law

every member of society must obey the law, even the king

What ideas are copied from the English Bill of Rights?

* king’s power is limited by the parliament
* people have religious freedom
* protection from cruel punishment from the government

Why were the Navigation Acts passed?

England viewed colonial sales to other countries a threat

Salutary Neglect

England left the colonists to govern themselves

The Enlightenment

movement in the 1700s that emphasizes reason and observation

* books + pamphlets
* natural rights

The Great Awakening

religious revival of the 1700s

* Native Americans, African Americans, and colonists join new organized churches
* protestants promote increased learning in schools
* puritans grip on Massachusetts weakens

How do these impact colonist’s relationship with the British?

* question authority
* individuality: human reason + faith
* emphasized church’s problems

Why do the British eventually have to end Salutary Neglect?

Imposed taxes on the colonists to pay for the French and Indian War

What does the Proclamation of 1763 do?

banned all English from settling west of the Appalachian

How do the colonists feel about this limitation?

upset

What are the Writs of Assistance?

passed by the British and allows the search of ships, businesses, and homes

What was the Stamp Act?

required colonists to get special stamped papers for documents

Why did the colonists not approve of this tax?

violated their rights as English citizens

ex: sons + daughters of liberty

For what reason were the colonists upset at the British troops in Boston?

competition over jobs arose between colonists and soldiers

Why is the Boston Massacre named in this way?

To stir tensions + spur ill feelings toward the British

After the Boston Massacre, Committees of Correspondence are formed. What was their purpose?

warn neighboring colonies about incidents with Britain in order to broaden the resistance movement

What did the Intolerable/Coercive Acts do?

* shut down the harbor
* Quartering Act: allowed soldiers to live in colonists’ home
* placed Boston under martial law- rule imposed by military forces

How did the colonists respond?

formed the First Continental Congress

Who are the Minutemen?

civilian soldiers

Lexington & Concord (April 18, 1775)

“The shot heard round the world”

Why did Thomas Paine write “Common Sense”?

* wrote for the common man
* declared the time had come to proclaim an independent republic
* convinced many colonists to support the cause

Who does Thomas Jefferson copy when creating the Declaration of Independence?

John Locke

Natural/Inalienable Rights

life, liberty, and the pursuit of happinesss

What principles do we get from the Declaration?

* principles of equality
* natural rights
* gov’t ensures these rights
* right of people to alter/abolish gov’t

Loyalists

supporters of the King

Patriots

supporters of Independence

Who was the leader of the Continental Army?

George Washington

What strategies did they use in the war?

* Attrition: wear the British down
* Guerrilla Tactics: hit and run
* Make an alliance: ally with France (British enemy)

What strategies did the British Army use?

* Break colonies in half: separate north and south
* Blockade the ports: prevent flow of goods and supplies from allies
* “Divide and Conquer”: use the loyalists to their advantage

Saratoga “Turning point of the war”

American troops surrounded the British

Yorktown “The world turned upside down”

* Americans, allies, and French close in on British
* 3 week siege
* British commander, Cornwallis, surrenders

The Treaty of Paris, 1783

all European nations recognize the United States as their own nation

Why did the states have a hard time under the new government, the Articles of Confederation?

* Colonies become states
* self-governing
* reluctant to unite with other states
* Differing ideas of republic
* gov’t succeeded if people place nation above interests
* gov’t succeeded if own interests are pursued
* State Constitution
* based on legislative and executive
* emphasize liberty but not equality
* varies state by state
* Political precedents
* no one to look up to cause no one had done this kind of government before
* Greek and Romans closest to democracy

What is a republic?

rule through elected representatives

What was complicated about each state creating their own form of government?

varies from state to state

How many votes did each state get?

1 vote

Why is this a problem?

Bigger states would want more representation because of more people, money, etc.

Sovereignty

where power resides

Why was the US worried about making a strong government?

They didn’t want the government to be similar to their relationship with Great Britain

How did that hurt the US?

The state government had more power than the federal government which means they were not united as a nation; federal government was powerless

List some problems with the structure of the US government under the A o C

* A unicameral congress (9/13 votes to pass laws)
* 13/13 must agree to amend the A o C
* No executive or judicial branches

What problem did the A o C create?

government could not tax

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

establishes the processes to become a state

The Land Ordinance of 1785

plan to survey what the new lands were to the west of the Appalachian mountains

Why were Daniel Shays and other farmers upset?

angered by the crushing debt and taxes

What did Shays’ Rebellion demonstrate about the A o C?

A o C weren’t strong enough to the control the people

What two changes were essential when creating a new government to replace the A o C?

1. Congress needs to be able to regulate commerce (trade)


1. Congress needs to have the ability to tax the people

Describe the type of people who were Framers of the Constitution

wealthy, well educated, white man

* Ben Franklin
* Alexander Hamilton
* George Washington
* James Madison (Father of the Constitution)

Ratified

approved

Virginia Plan

* Who: large states
* Problems: small states always lose
* Details of the Compromise:
* 3 separate branches
* Bicameral legislature
* Representation based on population

New Jersey Plan

* Who: small states
* Problems: large states feel like they lose
* Details of the Compromise:
* Gives Congress the power to tax
* Unicameral legislature
* Representation is equal no matter what

Great (Connecticut) Compromise

* Who: both sides deal with it
* Problems: N/A
* Details of the Compromise:
* 3 branches (VA)
* Congress to tax (NJ)
* Bicameral legislature
* House of Representatives based on population
* Senate is equal

3/5 Compromise

* Who: both agree
* Problems: forbid Congress from blocking the importation of slaves for the next 20 years
* Details of the Compromise:
* 3 out of 5 slaves count toward a state’s population for allocating representatives

Federalism

dividing power between the national government and state governments

Separation of Powers

power is divided between the three branches of government

Checks and balances

each branch has the power to make sure one branch does not abuse its authority

Limited government

the government should only have the power that the Constitution gives it

Federalists

* favor a strong national government
* mostly elites
* Alexander Hamilton
* believed the Constitution was perfect already

Anti-Federalists

* favor a strong state government
* mostly farmers
* Thomas Jefferson
* believed the Constitution gives too much power to the federal government

What are the first 10 Amendments of the Constitution?

Bill of Rights

What is the purpose of the Bill of Rights?

protects the rights of the people from the federal government

Who was the president of the United States?

George Washington

What did the Judiciary Act of 1789 do?

set up the supreme court, federal circuit courts, distinct courts

What does it say about the Supreme Court and federal laws?

allows state court’s decision to be appealed to the federal court system

What do Cabinet officials do?

act as advisors to the president

Thomas Jefferson

Department of State

Alexander Hamilton

Department of Treasury

Hamilton’s Economic Plan

1. Government pays off debt from the revolution by issuing bonds
2. Wanted the current bondholder’s to ave a stake in the new government
3. Federal government assume the debts of the states
4. Create a national bank to hold the nation’s revenue and to be a source of loans

Bonds

people loan to the government

Why did Jefferson oppose Hamilton’s economic plan?

thought that creating a national bank was giving the federal government too much power

What does the Necessary and Proper (Elastic Clause) allow the government to do?

grants Congress the powers that are implied in the Constitution

How did Alexander Hamilton use the Necessary and Proper Clause?

to create a national bank

What does a protective tariff do?

high tax on imports that causes consumers to purchase the lower priced goods produced in their own country

Whiskey’s Rebellion

* first challenge to the authority of the new government


* proved the federal government would back its laws
* showed division between Hamilton and Jefferson

Excise tax

tax on a product manufacture, sale, or distribution