Unit 1 Test

Native American societies before and after European colonization

Short term:

Populations decreased due to disease brought by the Europeans, as well as fighting.

Highly diverse and complex → enslavement and labor systems put into place.

Many groups, many different areas occupied → Displacement and conflict between groups (strategy to pit groups against each other).

New crops, animals, plants, technologies were introduced.

Long term: Poverty, concentration camps/areas.

Spanish Colonization of the Americas

Religion: Catholicism

Time: 15th C to 19th C

Location: North & South America

The Spanish mainly formed alliances with people who wanted to defeat powerful enemies as one of their main strategies.

Encomienda System: Rewarded colonists for taking over and controlling groups of native people and forcing them to do work/collect tribute from them, no land ownership, and in exchange were meant to protect and educate them.

_{Labor Shortage: Major violence and disease and the Encomienda system caused a labor shortage, which caused the initiation of the Atlantic Slave Trade.}

_{Reform: Bartolomé de Las Casas changed the norm of accepting the inhumane Encomienda system and treatment.}

French colonization vs English colonization

Location: Canada (Quebec) and Northern North America vs. East Coast of North America (Jamestown) and some parts of the Caribbean.

Timing: 16th C primarily

Religion: Christianity vs. Catholicism

The French primarily focused on the fur trade, were well funded, and negotiated and generally nicer to the Indigenous peoples and more cooperative, marrying between groups, middle ground. A major figure was Samuel de Champlain, 70000 colonists, trading, established few permanent settlements, and created military and economic alliances with many tribes to help preserve French interests and trading routes.

The English were against the Spanish, and sent workers who experienced a population boom, but there was poverty in the colonies. They focused on exporting tobacco and sugar (farming) and enforced forced labor and exploited the people, and experienced high immigration (1mil settlers) and built infrastructure, and pushed westward.

What is the purpose of government?

To administer and regulate a country/group of people/Maintain order, protect individual rights, and provide essential services that communities cannot manage on their own.

State of Nature

An imaginary idea where humans lived entirely without government, laws, people just fend for themselves and have all possible rights without any laws or regulations.

Shays’ Rebellion

Location: Springfield Massachusetts

Time: 1786 and 1787

People: Daniel Shays, a former constitutional general in the revolutionary war and many farmers (1200).

What: Lots of war debt, the Massachusetts state government imposed heavy taxes and this heavily hit the farmers, who would end up being arrested and/or lose their land when they could not pay.

The rebellion closed down county courthouses and marched on the supreme state court, and were only later defeated when they intended to march for weapons by General Benjamin Lincoln and 4,000+ volunteers who opened fire killing 4 farmers and scattering the rest.

Exposed many severe limitations of the federal government with the Articles of Confederation, such as the lack of power to raise a national army and being unable to levy taxes on citizens.

Loyalists

Loyalists were supporters of England even after the colonies declared independence. Their primary arguments had to do with the military superiority of England, the cost of war, losing England’s support, and highlighting the prosperity of the colonists and that the taxation was a mistake that will be reversed if the colonists are patient and respectful.

However, they were often punished and fear of punishment was highly prevalent, such as by tarring and feathering.

French and Indian War

1754 to 1763

Also called the 7 years war, it was a war that essentially started due to the colonies and the native peoples and the french all beginning to bump elbows over territory. Mercantilism was heavily prevalent with finite wealth of gold and controlling trade networks, providing raw materials. Competition for land and resources.

The French mostly had territory to the left of the mountains, while the colonies essentially had the colonies, and the Spanish had Florida and Southern parts of the US. The primary fighting area was the Ohio River Valley (Canada and Louisiana, prime farmland)

Tribes were split to allied groups, and were more strong with France. Ohio Company of Virginia surveyed the land, most were interconnected and wanted protection.

Effect of the Seven Years War

Caused the Pontiac’s war, left behind a bunch of troops proclamation line of 1763 - 1766, negotiated with Native American groups.

This was very costly for the British, as well was the Seven Years War, this lead to them taxing the colonies a LOT, which the colonists did not like, especially as they did not receive representation in British Parliament.

July 4, 1776

The Declaration of Independence was adopted (approved by the second continental congress), the colonies formally announced (they were separating) independence from the British Empire.

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston.

Why did the colonies declare independence?

The most recent injustice they felt had been to reject unjust taxation, protest a lack of political representation, and assert their national rights, as well as ideas of natural rights and popular sovereignty. Common Sense early 1776. Either inspired by Enlightenment ideas, or that many of the leaders were wealthy merchants, lawyers, and landowners, who wanted greater political power, economic freedom, and protection of their own interests.

The mercantile system

This was based around mercantilism, and involved maximizing exports and restricting imports to build state power and accumulate gold and silver. Pay for less goods, instead get paid more to sell goods.

Great Britain used this to strictly control colonial trade and maximize its own wealth and power, the colonists would provide materials and buy manufactured goods.

What did Britain want from its colonies?

Essentially they wanted obedience, but primarily they wanted the colonies to gain territory, and thus resources to sell back to Britain for cheap and then buy back expensive manufactured goods. Also to pay them for their help in the war, primarily through taxes. They wanted money and resources from the colonies essentially.

Stamp Act

Essentially the Stamp Act was used to pay for the Seven Years War or at least used as justification for it. It was passed in 1765. It taxed anyone who bought a printed item like a newspaper. The taxes went back to England to help them out of debt, in exchange for winning the Seven Years War. It was during a time in which rebellion was brewing and intimidation was a major protest form, and supposedly the taxes went back to the colonies.

Why is April 19, 1775 considered the beginning of the Revolutionary War?

It was the shot heard round the world, with the battle of Lexington and Concord. It is debated who shot first, but turned political protests into open warfare. The British marched to concord to seize weapons but triggered the alarm systems and minutemen (militia of colonists) awaited them on the green. The British then faced a violent retreat after Concord against the minutemen who knew the land better, causing full scale escalation.

What does the Declaration of Independence basically say?

It essentially announces the thirteen American colonies were breaking away from Great Britain to form an independent nation. It focused on the ideas of human rights, a list of grievances by King George III against the colonies including taxation, tyranny, and standing armies.

Natural Rights

Universal and fundamental rights that every person possesses simply by virtue of being human, independent of any government, laws, or customs.

Primarily enlightenment ideals, the rights to life, liberty, and property (or the pursuit of happiness).

Why does the Declaration say that people can replace a government?

Governments exist to protect natural rights, and popular sovereignty and the social contract.

Popular sovereignty states that the true source of all political power is the people and requires people to have power, as well as the consent of the governed.

The social contrast is that if people give up a little bit of freedom and in return the government promises to protect their natural rights, and can result in the right to revolt when the contract is broken and there is a tyrant.

They can establish a new one that does not violate the social contract and is based upon popular sovereignty.

How did John Locke influence the Declaration?

He provided the core philosophical ideas of natural rights, the social contract, and the right to overthrow a tyrannical government (alter and abolish a government and create a new one), including the consent of the governed.

Life, liberty and property → life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Who was the intended audience of the Declaration of Independence?

King George III and the British Government, as well as more minimally the colonies to unite them against the British and the International Community a bit to help with alliances.

What were the Articles of Confederation?

They were the first constitution enlisted by the colonies after seperating from the British crown. 1781. It was created in direct contrast to the British Experience, it created a weak national government and reserved most power for the states, congress could not levy taxes and relied on the states for funding (but without taxes…), no president or executive branch was created, no national court system was established, states retained significant independence and controlled most domestic affairs, major changes required approval of all 13 states.

Why did Americans create a weak central government after independence/afraid of creating a powerful central government?

The Americans were breaking off from the horrible British crown, and they did not want to resemble them at all, they wanted to not be forced to obey laws from one group or even come close to a constitutional monarchy at all. So, they created a weak central government because they feared a powerful authority would lead to tyranny and the abuse of individual liberty. Opposite of the strong centralized government under the British.

How much power did individual states retain?

Significant independence and controlled the majority of domestic affairs. They retained the vast majority, in particular involving sovereignty, freedom, and independence.

How many votes did each state have?

1 vote in Congress, needed unanimous to change something.

What branches of government did the articles create?

One house, the confederation congress, which was the legislative branch. There was no executive branch or judicial branch.

The government under the Articles was denied the power to…

1. Tax citizens or states directly (ask for money nicely)

2. Enforce national laws (no national army or executive power)

3. Regulate trade (states passed their own tariffs and currency laws)

Thomas Hobbes

Hobbes believe people were basically selfish, cruel, and greedy by nature and thus untrustworthy by nature. He believed that life would be made up of people being lazy, untrustworthy, nasty to each other and fighting all the time. He believed the most important job of the government was to control people, otherwise they would spend all their time trying to kill each other, and thus government control created safety, and so they needed to give up most of their rights to a more-powerful person like a kind, external control for harmony. The Leviathan!!!

John Locke

Locke thought that people were generally good and wanted to do the right thing. In a state of nature people would interact peacefully and cooperate with one another. He believe people’s natural rights were to life, liberty, and property. People still needed a government however to make life better, using the social contract! Essentially for a little bit of freedom, the government protects and serves the people and does not dictate them! The government should do as little as possible and stay out of the way. Made up by the people and represent the people, and that the government should be changed if it did not serve the needs of the people.