Barron's APUSH 4th Edition Flashcards

Pre-Columbian Peoples of the American Southwest

- era before 1492
- the Ancestral Pueblo people lived in areas of the current Southwestern United States
- the Spanish called them the Pueblo people because many lived in small towns (pueblos); they are also known as the Anasazi people
- they developed complex, technologically advanced societies and architecture
- they became increasingly dependent on the cultivation of maize
- climatic change and regional conflicts led them to abandon the civilizations they had developed over hundreds of years and join other Southwest groups

Pre-Columbian Peoples of the Great Basin and Great Plains

- era before 1492
- the Great Basin is a 400,000-square-mile area between the Rocky and Sierra Mountains
- peoples of the Great basin include the Shoshone, Piute, and Ute
- the Great Plains is a large area between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains
- peoples of the Great Plains include the Sioux, Blackfoot, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Osage, Wichita, and Omaha

Pre-Columbian Peoples of the American Atlantic Seaboard

- era before 1492
- hundreds of tribes along the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes make up the Algonquian people
- another group of tribes in present-day New York State formed the Iroquois Great League of Peace
- over time, the Iroquois grew more cohesive and became a powerful force in the pre-Columbian period

Christopher Columbus

- 1451-1506
- Columbus was an Italian-born navigator who landed in the Americas (October 12, 1492)
- he set sail on behalf of Spain with three ships: the Niña, the Pinta, and his flagship, the Santa María
- originally, he had sailed west across the Atlantic Ocean to find a water route to Asia
- Columbus was connived that he had found the waterway that he sought and that the Americas were actually an extension of China
- he returned from his expedition with gold, encouraging future exploration

Columbian Exchange

- 1492-1500s
- The Columbian Exchange was the transfer of new crops, livestock, culture, disease, technology, and ideas between Europe and the New World after Spanish settlement (named for Christopher Columbus)
- Europeans brought horses, goats, cows, chickens, coffee, and wheat, among other goods
- germs caused widespread disease and death in the New World
- Europe's population grew and its economy suffered from inflation during this time

Treaty of Tordesillas

- 1493
- The Treaty of Tordesillas was a treaty between Spain and Portugal
- the treaty created a Papal Line of Demarcation, which divided the New World; east of the line for Portugal and west of it for Spain
- Portugal also received the easternmost part of what is currently Brazil
- later, the Papal Line affected colonization in Africa and Asia

New Spain

- 1400s and 1500s
- New Spain was the Spanish Empire's tightly controlled territory in the New World
- mainly located in North and Central America, New Spain included the Caribbean and Spanish East Indies
- to deal with labor shortages, the Spanish developed a system of large manors (encomiendas) using enslaved Native Americans under conquistadors
- with the deaths of enslaved Native Americans, Spain began transporting enslaved people from Africa to supply their labor needs

Encomienda System

- formalized in 1503
- Spain developed the encomienda system to exploit Native American labor, often in a brutal way
- Spain granted tracts of land to Spanish settlers in the New World
- it gave settlers the right to use inhabitants for agriculture and for mining precious metals, a portion of which the settlers sent back to the monarchy
- Spain eventually reformed the governance of its colonies with the repartimiento and took direct control over their management

Social Structure of Spanish America

- 1500s-1700s
- some Spainards held traditional notions of the superiority of "pure-blood"
- this ideology was at odds with regular intermarriage in the colonial world
- the Spanish casta system defined the variety of multiracial people in the New World
- peninsulares (born in Spain) and creoles (born in the New World of Spanish parents) had the highest social status
- next were mestizos (children of Spanish men and Native American women) and mulattos (children of Spanish men and African women)
- Native Americans and Africans were seen as the bottom of the social pyramid

Bartolomé de las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda

- repartimiento instated in 1542
- Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas criticized Spain's brutal encomienda system and reported on atrocities against native peoples
- he initially advocated for using African slave labor instead but later came to believe that all slavery was morally wrong
- Spanish theologian Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda defended Spanish treatment of native peoples; he claimed that they were "natural slaves and that "natural law" and Catholic theology dictated that Spain should master and civilize them
- this debate led to limits on the encomienda system with the repartimiento system, though the major lasting impact was growth of the African slave trade

St. Augustine, Florida

- 1598
- French Protestants (Huguenots) went to the New World to practice their religion freely, and they formed a colony near modern-day St. Augustine, Florida
- Spain, which oversaw Florida, reacted violent to the Huguenots because they were trespassers and because the Catholic Church viewed them as heretics
- Spain sent a force to the settlement and massacred the inhabitants
- the settlement at St. Augustine, Florida is considered to be the first permanent European settlement in what would become the United States

Juan de Oñate and the Acoma War

- 1598
- Juan de Oñate was a Spanish conquistador
- his soldiers occupied Western New World lands where the Acoma Pueblo people lived
- the Acoma resisted an order to hand over supplies they needed to survive the winter
- the Acoma killed several of the Spanish soldiers, including Oñate's nephew
- Oñate's forces responded by killing more than 800 native people, putting the survivors on trial, and enslaving the remaining Acoma

Maroon Communities

- 1500s-1700s
- Maroons were Africans who escaped from slavery in the New World and established independent communities (many of them in the Caribbean and Brazil)
- Maroons tried to preserve memories of Africa by continuing certain traditions
- one significant community was Palmeres, established in Brazil
- other enslaved Africans fled and joined communities of Arawak Indians
- Maroons came to control large areas of the Jamaican interior

Joint-Stock Company

- popularized in the 1600s
- the joint-stock company was a type of business structure used by some colonial explorers to raise money for their expeditions
- these private trading companies sold shares to investors who provided start-up funding
- in return for taking on the risk of the investment, investors were paid based on the profits of the expeditions
- many modern business structures, such as the American corporation, are founded on principles of the joint-stock company

French Colonization in the New World

- 1500s-1800s
- colonies stretched from north of Quebec to the port of New Orleans and encompassed the Great Lakes, Great Plains, and Ohio River Valley
- the French employed diplomacy with Native Americans and adapted more than the Spanish or British
- Native Americans typically maintained control of these areas despite colonization

Métis People of the French Colonial World

- 1600s on
- in many French settlements in the interior of North America, French and Native American cultures intermingled
- children of marriages between Native Americans and the French were known as métis: an old French word for "mixed" or "mixed blood"
- métis communities combined Catholic and indigenous spiritual traditions
- these communities continued even after the French withdrew from North America

Dutch Colonization in the New World

- 1500s-1600s
- the first Dutch colonies functioned more as trading outposts than settlements
- the Dutch commissioned an expeditions by English explorer Henry Hudson to North America
- Hudson failed in his search for a Northwest Passage, but his reports of abundant resources created interest among Dutch merchants
- the Dutch West India Company was chartered to develop colonies in North America
- the company tried to attract immigrants with land grants, and a diverse group of European settlers slowly began to arrive
- its most important settlement was New Amsterdam, which became a center for trade

New World Fur Trade

- 1500s on
- the lucrative fur trade drew traders and colonies to the interior of North America
- it led Europeans to reach agreements with Native Americans, unlike the more aggressive relationships that agricultural settlements on the Atlantic Coast developed
- growth in the fur trade often caused Native American communities to extend their traditional territory, which create conflicts with neighbors
- in later centuries, Native Americans allied with different European powers to fight for territory and trading privileges

Mercantilism

- 1500s-1700s
- mercantilism was the prevailing economic philosophy of the 1600s
- it was founded on the belief that the world's wealth was limited and, therefore, that one nation's gain was another nation's loss
- each nation's goal was to export more than it imported in a favorable balance of trade; precious metals would provide economic and military strength
- colonies were to serve the ruling country by providing raw materials and purchasing manufactured goods instead of creating their own

Types of British Colonies in the New World

- 1600s-1700s
- in a charter colony, colonists were essentially members of a corporation, and electors among the colonists controlled the government based on an agreed-upon charter
- a royal colony had a governor selected by England's king; the governor served in the leadership role and chose additional, lower-ranking officers
- proprietary colonies were owned by individuals with direct responsibility to the king; each proprietor selected a governor, who served as the authority figure for the colony

Jamestown

- established in 1607
- Jamestown was named for James I (1566-1625), Queen Elizabeth's successor in England
- James I granted charters for charter colonies in the New World
- in 1607, the Virginia Company of London settled Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement
- its swampy location led to disease and contaminated water sources
- despite its location and hostile relation with Native Americans, John Smith's harsh, - charismatic leadership of the colony helped keep it from collapsing
- enslaved Africans arrived at Jamestown in 1619, marking a pivotal moment in the development of colonial slavery

"Starving Time"

- 1609-1610
- the Jamestown colonists endured a period of starvation
- the colonists depended upon trade with local Native Americans for food supplies; a series of conflicts limited their ability to trade and farm their own food
- many colonists died, and others tried to flee to England; however, English boats arriving with supplies intercepted the colonists and forced them to return to Jamestown
- additional support form England, the development of new industries, and the creation of new trade partnerships helped ensure the settlement's survival

Indentured Servitude

- 1600s
- poor workers, convicted criminals, and depots received immigration passage and fees in return for number of years of labor for a planter or company
- servants entered into their contracts voluntarily and kept some legal rights
- however, servants had little control over the conditions of their work and living arrangements and the system led to harsh and brutal treatment
- it remained the predominant system of labor until the 1670s
- Bacon's Rebellion made he practice seem riskier to planters and owners, and improving economic conditions in England limited the supply of servants

Headright System

- introduced in 1618
- the headlight system was used by the Virginia Company to attract colonists
- it promised them parcels of land (roughly fifty acres) to immigrate to America
- it also gave nearly fifty acres for each servant that a colonist brought, allowing the wealthy to obtain large tracts of land
- the system solidified the use of indentured servitude until elite planters began to turn away from the practice

Characteristics of New England Colonies

- 1600s on
- the New England colonies included present-day New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut
- the first colonists of the New England region, Puritans, were drive more by religious reasons than economic gain
- Plymouth was the first sizable New England colony, although it was not as successful as the - Massachusetts Bay Colony founded a decade later
- many towns sprung up in the colony; settlers wanted to establish permanent, cohesive communities rather than create a shortcut to wealth

English Puritanism

- 1500s-1600s
- English Puritanism was a movement by those who wished to reform the Church of England to be more in line with their ideology
- though King Henry VIII had set out to separate his own Church of England from papal authority, many Catholic traditions and practices remained
- Puritans rejected these Catholic holdover and sought to make the English Church "pure"
- Puritans held Calvinist beliefs, such as predestination and the authority of Scripture over papal authority
- Puritanism reverberates throughout American culture in the ideas of self-reliance and moral fortitude, and an emphasis on intellectualism

Characteristics of the Middle Colonies and Chesapeake Region

- 1600s on
- the Middle Colonies included present-day New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware
- Chesapeake Bay colonies included present-day Maryland and Virginia
- agriculture and exportation helped these colonies establish lasting settlements
- the practice of slavery grew from 1619 on as a source of labor for growing tobacco, corn, and other grains

Characteristics of the Colonies of the Deep South and the Caribbean

- 1600s on
- Deep South colonies included present-day North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia
- Barbados was the most profitable colony in England's New World empire; its wealth came from sugarcane, which received high prices in England
- plantation work in Barbados consisted of long, brutal hours of labor in the heat, and this form of slavery later influenced labor in Southern colonies

Catawba Nation

- 1600s-1700s
- the Catawba people lived in what would become South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia
- attempting to work with the European settlers, the Catawba sold goods such as moccasins and pottery
- settlers provided the Catawba with survival supplies and protection against warring tribes
- after years of European contact and influence, the Catawba eventually ceded their land to South Carolina in 1840

House of Burgesses

- 1619
- the House of Burgesses was a representative assembly in Virginia and the first representative body in America
- the House of Burgesses employed qualities of British parliamentary procedure
election to a seat was limited to voting members of the charter colony, which at first was all free men; later rules required that a man own at least 50 acres of land to vote

The Separatists and Plymouth

- 1620
- Separatists were Puritans who believed the Church of England was beyond saving and felt that they must break away from it
- one group of Separatists that suffered harassment from the government fled to Holland and then to America
- members of this group traveled on the Mayflower and became known as the Pilgrims, a term used for voyagers seeking to fulfill a religious mission
- before landing in present-day Massachusetts and creating the Plymouth colony, the Pilgrims agreed to abide by the Mayflower Compact, which established a government guided by the majority
- William Bradford (1590-1657) served as the Plymouth colony's first governor

Dutch West India Company

- 1621
- the Dutch West India Company was the joint-stock company that ran the colonies in Fort Orange and in New Amsterdam, which later became New York
- it carried on a profitable fur trade with the Native American Iroquois
- it instituted the patroon system, in which large estates were given to wealthy men who transported at least fifty families to New Netherland to tend the land (few seized the opportunity)
- conflicts between the Native Americans and the Dutch, including Kieft's War, grew from land rights issues and missing livestock

Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Bay Company

- 1629
- the Massachusetts Bay Company was the joint-stock company that a group of Puritans chartered to escape King James I
- it was led by John Winthrop, who taught that the new colony should be a model of Christian society ("A City Upon a Hill")
- these Puritans carefully organized their venture and, upon arriving in Massachusetts, did not undergo the "starving time" that had often plagued other first-year colonies
- the government of Massachusetts developed to include a governor and a representative assembly

Delaware

- 1631
- Dutch patroons established the first settlement in Delaware
the settlement was destroyed by Native American attacks
- the Dutch West India Company and Dutchmen, including Peter Minuit, began to trade and settle in Delaware during the mid-to-late 1630s
- the English took the land from the Dutch in 1664
- in 1704, Delaware was permitted to have an assembly of its own, though it shared a governor with Pennsylvania until the American Revolution

Maryland

- 1632
- Maryland became the first proprietary colony to serve as a refuge for English Catholics
- George Calvert (Lord Baltimore) applied for the charter to create the Province of Maryland
- Calvert's son, Cecilius, helped establish a representative assembly
- Maryland passed its Act of Toleration in 1649, guaranteeing religious freedom to all Christians in the color; this set an important precedent for the development of the United States and its Constitution

Chickasaw Wars

- 1636-1639
- the Chickasaw Wars involved the British-allied Chickasaw people and the Choctaw and Illini, who were allied with the French
- France wanted control of the Mississippi River, and when the Chickasaw refused to cooperate and continued to trade with the British, France waged war
- the Chickasaw eventually prevailed, but they suffered huge losses and had difficulty finding their place among regional power struggles

Anne Hutchinson

- 1638
- Anne Hutchinson claimed to have had special revelations from God that superseded the Bible, contrary to Puritan doctrine
- the leadership of New England accused her of antinomian teachings (antinomianism is the belief that salvation is attained through faith and divine grace and not through strict adherence to rules or moral laws)
- Hutchinson was tried and banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony
- with her followers, she found Portsmouth in the Aquidneck region (1638) in what is now known as Rhode Island

Beaver Wars

- 1640s-1701
- as the fur trade developed, tensions between the Dutch-allied Iroquois and the French-allied Algonquian-speaking tribes led to open warfare
- the introduction of European firearms and soldiers increased the level of violence
- after the British replaced the Dutch in New Netherlands, the British allied with the Iroquois
- the Beaver Wars ended with the Great Peace of Montreal
- the Iroquois people expanded their territory and influence
- contact between the Algonquian Huron tribe and French settlers created epidemics of measles and smallpox, decimating the Huron population

Rhode Island

- 1644
- Roger Williams was a Puritan preacher who fled Massachusetts after his views on religious observance became too extreme for the colonists
- Williams bought land from Native Americans and founded Providence in 1636; it was soon populated by his many followers
- Rhode Island formed as a combination of Providence, Portsmouth, and other settlements that had sprung up in the area
- the colony granted complete religious toleration, but it suffered from political turmoil

Navigation Acts

- 1650-1673
- the Navigation Acts dictated that certain goods shipped from a New World port were to go only to Britain or to another New World port
- the acts served as the foundation of England's worldwide commercial system; they came out of the economic philosophy of mercantilism
- though they were meant to benefit the whole British Empire, their provisions helped some New World colonies at the expense of others
- they were intended as a weapon in England's ongoing struggle against its rival, Holland
the acts led to increased tension between Britain and the colonies

Connecticut

- 1662
- Thomas Hooker led a large group of Puritans to settle in the Connecticut River Valley after they had religious disagreements with the leadership of Massachusetts
- the major colonies in the Connecticut River Valley agreed to unite as the Connecticut Colony
- the Connecticut Colony formed a set of laws known as the Fundamental Orders, which provided for representative government by those who were permitted to vote
- the Fundamental Orders are an example of the growth of political democracy

The Carolinas

- granted in 1663
- King Charles II rewarded loyal noblemen the Carolinas after the twenty-year Puritan revolution in England
- in hopes of attracting settlers, the proprietors planned for hierarchical society
- they experimented with silk manufacturing and with crops such as rice and indigo, but this proved unworkable, and the Carolinas are slowly as a result
- many colonists in the Carolinas came from Barbados; the form of slavery that they employed proved to be very harsh, with a small number of wealthy planters ruling over a large number of enslaved people
- North Carolina became a separate colony in 1712, and Britain intervened to make North and South Carolina royal colonies in 1729

New York and New Jersey

- established 1664
- the last Dutch governor of the colony of New Netherland was Peter Stuyvesant
- after the British took control of the Dutch lands in America, England's King Charles II gave the title of the lands between New England and Maryland to his brother, James, Duke of York
- James was adamantly opposed to representative assemblies
- residents continued to call for self-government until James relented, only to break this promise when he became James II, King of England
- the region that would become New Jersey was ruled as a separate proprietary colony; it eventually became a royal colony

Bacon's Rebellion

- 1676
- Virginia's royal governor, William Berkeley, received strict instructions to run the colony for Britain's benefit
- Nathaniel Bacon was a leader of colonial frontiersmen in Virginia, a group tat included former indentured servants
- Bacon objected to the rights granted to Virginia's wealthy inner circle; he was also angry about Berkeley's inability to protect frontiersmen from Native American attacks
- Bacon gathered his forces, opposed the royal governor, and set fire to Jamestown; Berkeley eventually ended the rebellion with the aid of British military forces
- to decrease future conflicts, planters turned to enslaved Africans for labor

Enslaved Africans in the 1600s

- 1600s
- in the early 1600s, Africans began to come to North America as indentured servants
- later in the century, the Southern colonies increased their importation and populations of enslaved Africans
- these enslaved people came to be sen as property, or "chattel," whose status would be inherited by their children

Slave Codes

- 1650s-1860s
- these dehumanizing laws were designed to control all aspects of enslaved people's lives
- slave owners were given authority to impose harsh physical punishment and to control the people they enslaved in any fashion they sought, without court intervention
- the codes prohibited enslaved people from owning weapons, becoming educated, meeting with other African Americans without permission, and testifying against white people in court

John Locke and Natural Law

- 1632-1704
- Locke was an important english political philosopher during the Enlightenment
- Isaac Newton theorized Natural Law in the realm of science, and Locke followed him, trying to identify Natural Law in the human realm
- prior to Locke, there existed a theory of social contract in which people would accept certain restrictions for the benefit of society, and a sovereign power would uphold these restrictions
- Locke's assertions changed the social contract theory; he held that if governments did not protect life, liberty, and property, the people had the right to overthrow them
- Locke's beliefs guided political activity for American leaders like Benjamin Franklin and influenced Thomas Jefferson in writing the Declaration of Independence

Atlantic Trade (Triangular Trade)

- 1600s
- the Atlantic Trade was created as a result of mercantilism
- European merchants purchased enslaved Africans with goods manufactured in Europe or imported from Asian colonies
- enslaved people were transported in horrible conditions to the Caribbean, where merchants sold them for commodities (i.e., sugar, cotton, tobacco)
- merchants later sold Caribbean commodities in Europe and North America

New Hampshire

- established 1677
- King Charles II established New Hampshire as a royal colony
- early settlers aimed to take advantage of the local fisheries
- the colonies remained economically dependent on Massachusetts, and Britain continued to appoint a single person to rule both colonies until 1741
- weeks before the signing of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress, New Hampshire established a temporary constitution for itself that proclaimed its independence from Britain

Praying Towns

- 1670s
- though some Native American groups in New England used armed resistance against British colonization, they usually lost decisively
- Puritan missionaries established praying towns for the Native Americans in New England who tried to coexist with settlers
- some of these native peoples converted to Christianity and settled on farms
- Puritans still treated "praying Indians" as second-class citizens, insisting that they wear European-style clothing and abandon their spiritual traditions

Pueblo Revolt (Pope's Rebellion)

- 1680
- Pueblo Indians in New Mexico grew resentful of Spanish rule
- a rebellion in State Fe killed more than 300 Spaniards
- Spanish authorities designated a public defender to protect native people's rights
- the Pueblo people were allowed to continue their cultural practices, and each family was granted land

Quakers (Society of Friends)

- around 1680
- Quakers believed human religious institutions were largely unnecessary
- they thought they could receive revelations directly from God and placed little importance on the Bible
- they were pacifists and declined to show deference to their alleged social superiors
- they referred to one another as Friend and believed in spiritual equality for all
- denouncing established institutions brought Quakers trouble in both Britain and America
they opposed slavery and urged decent treatment of Native Americans

Pennsylvania

- 1681
- William Penn founded Pennsylvania as a refuge for his fellow Quakers
- Penn advertised his colony widely in Europe and offered generous terms inland
- he guaranteed a representative assembly and full religious freedom
settlers flocked to Pennsylvania from all over Europe, and the colony established itself as one of the New World's largest food producers by the early 1700s
- Pennsylvania's mixture of liberal beliefs, religious diversity, and agricultural variety created its reputation as "the best poor man's country in the world"

Dominion of New England

- 1686-1689
- the Dominion of New England was an administrative body created by King James II that oversaw British colonies in the New England region
- its creation was precipitated by King Philip's War, as England was concerned about relations between colonists and Native Americans
- the Dominion Governor-in-Chief, Edmund Andros, outlawed town meetings, disputed titles to certain colonial lands, and proselytized on behalf of the Church of England
- New England's colonists had originally been in favor of voluntary association, but the Dominion was unpopular because of these impositions
- England's Glorious Revolution inspired New Englanders to topple the Dominion

Salutary Neglect

- 1721-1763
- salutary neglect was a relationship in which the British Parliament loosely oversaw the colonies
- in the absence of strict enforcement of British rules, the colonies developed their character without interference
- Britain followed the policy of salutary neglect partly because of the challenges of enforcing laws in a broad empire
- Britain also wanted to avoid actions that would impede the profitable trade North America produced

Georgia

- chartered in 1732
- James Oglethorpe, an English philanthropist and soldier, chartered the colony
- Mary Musgrove, daughter of a Creek Indian mother and a South Carolina trader, served as an interpreter for Oglethorpe and helped him negotiate treaties and land secessions
- some Georgia settlers were financed by the colony's board of trustees, including bands of prisoners from British jails
- after European empires began warring, the colony served as a buffer between South Carolina and Spanish-held Florida

John Peter Zenger

- 1697-1746
- John Peter Zenger was a German American newspaper publisher and printer
- his acquittal of libel charges in New York City (1735) established a legal precedent for freedom of the press
- the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Warren (1953-1959) would later reinvigorate free press rights
- the case of New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) strengthened the protection of the press against libel cases brought by public figures

First Great Awakening

- 1720s-1740s
- the First Great Awakening was a series of emotional religious revivals that occurred throughout the colonies (prevalent in New England)
- preachers spread a message of personal repentance and emphasized faith as a way to avoid hell
- colonists had more choices for where and how to worship as the number of churches in the colonies grew
- the First Great Awakening suggest equality between God and the Bible
- George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards ("Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God") became its most dynamic preachers
- while the Awakening generated debate over religion, its ideas helped build connections between the colonies

French and Indian War

- 1748-1763
- the French and Indian War was the result of a rivalry between France, Britain, and various Native American tribes over land in the Ohio region
- it was one of a series of conflicts fought between France and England throughout the world collectively known as the "Seven Years' War"
- the war proved to be a key turning point in the relationship between England and the colonies
- battles continued on European and American fronts until Britain gained control of Canada
the Treaty of Paris (1763) ended the war
- during these events, George Washington appeared as an able military leader

The Enlightenment

- 1700s
- according to Enlightenment philosophy, human reason is adequate to solve mankind's problems, so people need less faith in God as an active force
- Enlightenment philosophy inspired the idea of Deism, in which the universe was created by God and then abandoned and that there is no supernatural control
- the philosophy suggests the importance of individual talent over inherited privilege
- these ideas moved from Europe to influence the New World's culture and intellectual heritage
- important Enlightenment writers include Isaac Newton, John Locke, and René Descartes

Republicanism

- 1700s
- when the United States began down the road to independence, people generally agreed that it would become a republic: country in which people held power rather than a monarch
- a republic was a radical idea as nearly none had develop since Roman times
- some believed citizens of a republic should demonstrate civic virtue, put the interests of the community first, and lead simple, productive lives (a view similar to that of the Roman era)
- others were inspired by philosopher Adam Smith and the idea of economic freedom, and they argued that people should pursue their own self-interest
- these perspective shaped many of the debates in the early United States

Adam Smith

- 1723-1790
- Adam Smith was a Scottish moral philosopher and pioneer of political economy
- His An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations helped establish modern economic theory, and his ideas were central to the development of capitalism
- Smith offered a vision of a free market in which he argued that rational self-interest and competition can create economic prosperity
- these ideas promote the potential of the individual and contradict mercantilism

Albany Plan

- 1754
- during the French and Indian War, delegates of seven colonies met in New York to discuss plans for collective defense
- the Pennsylvanian delegate, Benjamin Franklin, proposed a plan for an intercolonial government, but the plan was rejected by the colonial legislatures as demanding too great a surrender of power
- even though the other colonies showed no support for Franklin's plan, it was an important precedent for the concept of uniting in the face of a common enemy

Impact of the French and Indian War on British Colonial Policy

- beginning in 1763
- after the French and Indian War, Britain set out to solve its large national debt
- it created a series of acts that raised or strengthened enforcement of taxes on American goods, leading to rebellious activities in the colonies
- acts included the Sugar Act (1763), Stamp Act (1765), Quartering Act (1765), and Declaratory Act (1766)
- the Sugar Act taxed goods imported to America such as wine, cloth, coffee, and silk
- the Stamp Act raised revenue to support British soldiers protecting the colonies
- the Declaratory Act reaffirmed Britain's power to tax and make laws for colonists
- the Quartering Act forced residents to house British troops

Benjamin Franklin

- 1706-1790
- Benjamin Franklin was a colonial writer, scientist, diplomat, printer, and philosopher
- he published the Pennsylvania Gazette and wrote Poor Richard's Almanac
- Franklin served in the Second Continental Congress and was a drafter and signer of the Declaration of Independence

Proclamation of 1763

- 1763
- the Proclamation of 1763 was a result of Pontiac's Rebellion, an Native American uprising against the British for their mistreatment
- it forbade white settlement west of the Appalachians to reduce friction between Native Americans and settlers
- it stated that Native Americans owned the land on which they were residing
- outraged colonists believed that the successful outcome of the French and Indian War should have allowed them to settle in the Ohio Valley

March of the Paxton Boys

- January 1764
- the middle colonies grew significantly through immigration in the eighteenth century
- the largest group was the Scots-Irish: Scottish and English Protestants from Northern Ireland
- a vigilante group of Scots-Irish farmers, the Paxton Boys, organized raids against Native Americans; they were fueled by resentment over the French and Indian War and Pontiac's Rebellion
- one such raid on Conestoga Indians resulted in 20 deaths
- about 250 Paxton Boys went to Philadelphia to present their grievances to the state legislature
- they felt bitterness against the Quaker leadership for what they perceived as its lenient policy toward Native Americans

Methods of Colonial Resistance

- 1760s-1770s
- British colonists reacted first with restrained and respectful petitions against the empire, suggesting "taxation without representation is tyranny"
- colonial governments organized "committees of correspondence" to share their view of - British actions with neighboring colonies and with foreign governments; this was the start of political organization among the colonies
- colonial merchants then boycotted British goods (nonimportation)
- colonists finally turned rio violence; crowds took action against customs officials and against merchants who violated the boycotts
- colonial women formed the Daughters of liberty and participated in spinning bees: events where they made homespun cloth to reduce the dependence on English goods
- some colonists continued to follow British command and felt that the political connection with England should continue, becoming English "Loyalists"

Stamp Act Congress

- October 1765
- delegates of seven colonies met in New York to discuss their objections to the Stamp Act and their other concerns with British policies
- the Stamp Act Congress adopted the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, which stated that freeborn Englishmen could not be taxed without their consent
- during this period, colonists began to unite and organize around a series of actual and perceived threats that British policies posed
- "no taxation without representation" became a rallying cry

Spanish Missions in California

- beginning in 1769
- Spanish Franciscan Catholics organized a series of missions in New Spain (including in present-day California) to spread Christianity among local Native Americans
- Catholic priest Junípero Serra was one of its most important figures
- missions were both religious and military communities and helped Spain maintain a presence along its borderlands
- Spanish missionaries tended to exploit Native American labor—sometimes brutally—and disease decimated native populations
- eventually, the mission project was abandoned, and the lands were sold

Virtual Representation

- 1770s
- virtual representation was the English principle that members of Parliament represented all of Britain and the British Empire, even though members were only elected by a small number of constituents
- British Prime Minister George Grenville responded to the colonial rallying cry "no taxation without representation" by claiming that Parliament represented those who were being taxed

Boston Massacre

- March 5, 1770
- the Boston Massacre occurred amid ongoing friction between the British and colonists, w ho represented the "standing army" in Boston and disliked tax measures such as the Townshend Acts
- a crowd of colonists surrounded British sentries, threatened them verbally, and threw objects at them
- the British soldiers killed five Bostonians, including Crispus Attucks, an American patriot and former slave
- future president John Adams provided the legal defense for the soldiers
- as a result anti-royal leaders spurred action in the colonies

Tea Act, Boston Tea Party, and Intolerable Acts

- 1773
- the Tea Act was a concession act that allowed the British East India Company to ship tea directly to America and sell it under a monopoly
- because the cheap eta undercut the costs of local merchants, colonists oppose these shipments; they turned back ships, left shipments to rot, and held ships in port
- the Tea Act led to the Boston Tea Party in December 1773, where citizens, dressed as Native Americans, destroyed tea on the British ships
- the British responded by imposing the Coercive Acts ("Intolerable Acts"), a series of actions that closed the Port of Boston to trade, increased the power of Massachusetts's royal governor, and allowed royal officials accused of crimes to be tried elsewhere

First Continental Congress

- September-October 1774
- the First Continental Congress was a meeting in Philadelphia of colonial representatives to denounce the Intolerable Acts and to petition the British Parliament
- a few radical members discussed breaking from England
- the First Continental Congress cerated the Continental Association and forbade the importation and use of British goods
- it agreed to convene a Second Continental Congress in May 1775

Battles of Concord and Lexington

- April 1775
- British General Gage suspected that a stockpile of colonial weaponry was housed in Concord
- Paul Revere, William Dawes, and other detected movement by British troops toward Concord; they warned the militia and gathered Minutemen at Lexington
- militia and Royal infantry skirmished in Lexington
- when the British moved on to Concord, they were confronted by a larger group of militia. and forced to retreat
- the poet Ralph Waldo Emerson described the opening conflict of the American Revolutionary War as "the shot heard round the world"

Second Continental Congress

- May 1775-March 1781
- the Second Continental Congress was a meeting of colonial representatives in Philadelphia over which John Hancock presided
- the group was torn between declaring independence and remaining under British power
- moderates forced the adoption of the Olive Branch Petition, a letter to King George III appealing one final time for a resolution to all disputes; the king refused to receive it
- the Congress sent George Washington to command the army around Boston
- American ports were opened in defiance of the Navigation Acts
- the Congress would go on to write and adopt the Declaration of Independence

George Washington's Leadership in the American Revolution

- 1775-1781
- George Washington was named Commander-in-Chief of Continental Forces in June 1775 by the Second Continental Congress
- he compelled the British to evacuate Boston in March 1776
- Washington defeated the British at Trenton, New Jersey after crossing the Delaware on December 25, 1776
- he survived the tough winter at Valley Force (1777-1778); Washington strengthened his troops during the winter and gained tremendous respect among the men
- British general Charles Cornwallis surrendered to Washington on October 19, 1781

Common Sense

- January 1776
- Common Sense, a pamphlet published by Thomas Paine, called for immediate independence from Britain
- it was sold throughout the colonies, gained popularity, and engaged average colonists in the political debate over the future of their government
- Common Sense helped increase support for independence in the Continental Congress

Declaration of Independence

- adopted July 4, 1776
- the Declaration of Independence is a document stating the political ideas that justified America's separation from Britain
- even thought the document lists grievances against Britain, Enlightenment thinking and John Locke's work shaped the Declaration's key concepts, particularly in its Preamble
- it asserts that "all men are created equal" and "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights," and that people have the right "to alter or to abolish" a government that violates their natural rights
- Thomas Jefferson and his committee drafted the document for the Continental Congress
- the Declaration has shaped democratic practices in the United States and beyond to modern times

Slavery and the American Revolution

- 1775-1783
- an early version of the Declaration of Independence included a passage written by Thomas Jefferson that condemned slavery; congressional delegates removed it to keep the colonies united in their war for independence
- enslaved people throughout New England filed freedom petitions with the government
- by the end of the Revolutionary War, an estimated 100,000 enslaved people had died in the fighting or had escaped to freedom
- while America sought and won liberation from England, it did not abolish slavery within its own country

Battle of Saratoga

- 1777
- the Battle of Saratoga was an American Revolution battle fought in northern New York
- the British planned to end the revolution by splitting the colonies along the Hudson River, but they failed to mobilize properly
- the British ended up surrendering, allowing the first great American victory

State Constitutions

- 1778
- by 1778, ten states had drawn up constitutions, and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island had updated their charters
- all thirteen constitutions and charters reflected the republican idea that government rests on the consent of the governed
- most of them emphasized smaller governing units to avoid the tyranny of a distant power
- some created forms of direct democracy that gave power to a lower legislative house; this body was supposed to be most responsive to the people and require frequent elections
- states often included lists of individual liberties that government was not to abridge; these measures influenced the drafting of the Articles of Confederation

Articles of Confederation

- ratified in 1781
- the Articles of Confederation were the framework for an American national government in which states held the most power
- it permitted the federal government to declare war, offer treaties, and create new states
- there were no federal powers to levy taxes, raise troops, or regulate commerce
- the Articles created a weak national government

Treaty of Paris 1783

- 1783
- the Treaty of Paris was the peace settlement that ended the Revolutionary War
- Ben Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay represented the United States
- Britain recognized the United States' independence and outlined its borders
- the United States received all lands east of the Mississippi River, north of Florida, and south of the Great Lakes
- the United States agreed that Loyalists (those who had supported Britain) were not to be persecuted
- European nations still maintained a presence west of the Mississippi, in Canada, and in Florida

Western Land Cessions

- 1781-1787; Georgia in 1802
- the original thirteen states ceded their western land claims to the new federal government
- the states that lacked western land claims feared that states with claims could grow in size, skewing representation in the federal government
- before signing the U.S. Constitution, these states demanded that those with claims cede the land
- ordinances in 1784 and 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance (1787) organized the ceded areas in preparation for statehood
- new states were organized and admitted to the Union
- this policy strengthened the ties of the western farmers to the central government

Land Ordinance of 1785; Northwest Ordinance of 1787

- 1785; 1787
- the Land Ordinance was an act of Congress that sold western lands to settle this territory and to earn revenue of the federal government
- the Land Ordinance organized the distribution of land into townships and set aside a section in each for public education
- the Northwest Ordinance described how land north of the Ohio River should be divided and set a precedent for how states could join the Union
- the Northwest Ordinance held that states would be admitted to the Union when the number of free inhabitants reached 60,000; slavery and involuntary servitude were not allowed in these states

Shays' Rebellion

- 1786-1787
- as settlement increased inland, tensions grew between elite property owners and farmers
- during a period of economic depression, Daniel Shays led a group of farmers to stop the courts from seizing land and enacting debt collection
- after several weeks, the governor and legislature took action, calling up an army to suppress the rebellion
- the rebellion motivated political leaders to strengthen the federal government with n entirely new framework, something that would go beyond the Articles of Confederation: the Constitution

- Constitution of the United States

- signed September 17, 1787 and ratified June 21, 1788
- the U.S. Constitution was drafted at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787
- it includes a Preamble and seven articles
- it created a stronger federal government
- the Bill of Rights constitutes the first ten amendments, which protect individual rights and freedoms
- James Madison, the "Father of the Constitution," helped create the Virginia Plan, which served as a framework for the Constitution, and he authored the Bill of Rights

Virginia Plan, New Jersey Plan, and the Great Compromise

- July 1787
- James Madison's Virginia Plan called for a bicameral legislature based on a state's population
- the New Jersey Plan called for a unicameral legislature with equal representation for states
- the Constitution united the plans with the Great Compromise, which met the demands of both small and large states for fair representation
- the Great Compromise established a bicameral system: the House of Representatives was based on population while the Senate had equal representation
- it included the Three-Fifths Compromise, which counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for purposes of apportioning representation
- bypassing the issue of slavery set up a future conflict between the states

Federalists

- 1788
- Federalists were political leaders who advocated centralized power and constitutional ratification
- they used The Federalist Papers to demonstrate how the Constitution was designed to prevent the abuse of power
- supporters of the Federalists platforms included Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay, and Northeastern business groups
- Federalists believed that the government was given broad powers that we're not expressly denied to it by the Constitution (they had a "loose interpretation" of the Constitution)

Anti-Federalists

- 1780s-1790s
- "Anti-Federalist" was the label appleid to those who were against the adoption of the Constitution
- they were suspicious of political actions that would limit freedom and give power to a centralized, distant government
- George Mason, Patrick Henry, and George Clinton were Anti-Federalists
- many of the Anti-Federalists would come to oppose the policies of Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists
- the Jeffersonian Republican Party absorbed many of the Anti-Federalists after the Constitution was adopted

Republican Motherhood

- gained prominence in the 1700s
- ideals of the American Revolution inspired writers to challenge traditional gender roles
- women's participation in the revolution create a sense of egalitarianism
- Republican Motherhood as an idea was based on Enlightenment thinking; John Locke had also challenged the traditional notions of the female role
- Republican Motherhood did not suggest political equality with men; it only claimed a role for women in civic life, such as raising the next generation of republican leaders

- American Responses to the French Revolution

- beginning 1789
- French revolutionaries found inspiration in the American model of government and the Enlightenment ideas that influenced America's revolution
- in the early stages of the French Revolution, France's national legislature fought against the absolute power of King Louis XVI, and many Americans supported this movement
- in 1793, the revolution turned into a "reign of terror" in which thousands of suspected enemies of the movement were killed; Americans grew divided in their support
- the Federalist Party tended to be more critical of the French Revolution, while Jeffersonian Republicans tended to be more supportive, at least in its early stages

George Washington

- 1789-1797
- George Washington was the first president of the United States
- he served two terms
- his leadership set the precedent for a strong executive branch with control over foreign policy and the power to veto Congress's legislation
- Washington declared the Proclamation of Neutrality in April 1793, keeping the United States neutral in the European wars
- his Farewell Addressing 1796 cautioned against entangling alliances, recommended isolationism, and warned of political party factions

Judiciary Act of 1789

- 1789
- the Judiciary Act of 1789 provided for a Supreme Court with a chief justice and five associates
- it established the office of the attorney general
- it created federal district courts and circuit courts

Revolutions in the Atlantic World

- 1791 (Haiti) and 1808 (Latin America)
- the Haitian Revolution broke out in the French colony of Saint Domingue, a sugar-producing slave society
- revolution took place in phases: white colonists resisting French rule, multiracial planters rebelling against their second-class status, and enslaved people rebelling against slavery
- Haiti established its independence in 1804 as the first African American republic in the Americas
- several Spanish colonies in Latin America decided to break free of their ruling powers, including Venezuela under the leadership of Simón Bolívar

Bill of Rights

- ratified in 1791
- one of the first acts of Congress was to pass the Bill of Rights: the first ten amendments to the Constitution
- much of the language, written by James Madison, comes from state constitutions
- the First through Fourth Amendments establish the basic rights of the people
- the Fifth through Eighth Amendments define e the rights of the accused in the legal system
- the Ninth and Tenth Amendments review the rights and powers of the government
- the Bill of Rights did not include the right to vote, leaving it to the states to determine; later, reform movements would push for constitutional changes, which successfully expanded voting rights

Elastic Cause and the Tenth Amendment

- ratified in 1791
- the Tenth Amendment restricts the federal government to those powers delegated to it by the Constitution and gives all other powers to the states, or the people
- Article I, Section 8 grants the federal government the power to make all laws "which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers"
- the framers of the Constitution included this clause to give the federal government the flexibility to deal with the country's changing needs
- this contradiction leaves open an issue that has influenced events throughout American history: whether the federal government or the states have the right to exercise powers not expressly delegated to the federal government

Alexander Hamilton's Financial Plan

- 1757-1804
- Alexander Hamilton was the first Secretary of the Treasury
- he proposed the federal assumption of state debts, the establishment of a national bank, and the federal stimulation of industry through excise taxes and tariffs
- opponents, including Thomas Jefferson, saw his programs as aiding a small, elite group at the expense of the average citizen
- Hamilton later died (in 1804) from wounds sustained in a pistol duel with Aaron Burr, Jefferson's Vice President

- Jeffersonian Republicans (Democratic-Republicans)

- 1792-1860
- the Jeffersonian Republican Party absorbed the Anti-Federalists
- proponents included Thomas Jefferson and James Madison
- they favored states' rights and power in the hands of average citizens and were supported by Southern agrarian interests and frontiersmen
- they believed that the federal government was denied all powers that were not expressly given to it by the Constitution (a "strict interpretation" of the document)
- they supported the French Revolution's ideals, but they were against the Revolution's bloody radicalism