Colonial Foundations

Basic Geography (North vs. South)

 

Northern/New England Colonies  

  • Puritans/Pilgrims search for religious freedom  

  • Natural harbors, short growing season, colder climate, rocky soil, & navigable rivers   

  • Shipbuilding, whaling, hunting, & fishing   

  • Trading centers 



Southern Colonies 

  • Economic opportunities 

  • Longer growing season, fertile soil, & hot climate

  • Plantation systems develop 

  • Agriculture/agrarian society 

  • Cash Crops</strong></span><spanstyle="background−color:transparent;font−family:Arial,sans−serif;">(Cotton,Tobacco,Rice,Indigo)  </span></p></li><li><p><spanstyle="background−color:transparent;font−family:Arial,sans−serif;">Slavelaborused   </span></p></li></ul><p><br></p><p><spanstyle="background−color:transparent;font−family:Arial,sans−serif;"><strong>Mercantilism </strong></span></p><ul><li><p><spanstyle="background−color:transparent;font−family:Arial,sans−serif;">Economicpolicy </span></p></li><li><p><spanstyle="background−color:transparent;font−family:Arial,sans−serif;">Coloniesprovide</span><spanstyle="font−family:Arial,sans−serif;"><strong>rawmaterials</strong></span><spanstyle="background−color:transparent;font−family:Arial,sans−serif;">tomothercountry(England)→</span><spanstyle="font−family:Arial,sans−serif;"><strong>manufacturedgoods</strong></span><spanstyle="background−color:transparent;font−family:Arial,sans−serif;">inEnglishfactories→</span><spanstyle="font−family:Arial,sans−serif;"><strong>sellmanufacturedgoods</strong></span><spanstyle="background−color:transparent;font−family:Arial,sans−serif;">backtothecolonies </span></p></li><li><p><spanstyle="background−color:transparent;font−family:Arial,sans−serif;">FavorableBalanceofTradeCrops</strong></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> (Cotton, Tobacco, Rice, Indigo)  </span></p></li><li><p><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Slave labor used   </span></p></li></ul><p><br></p><p><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><strong>Mercantilism </strong></span></p><ul><li><p><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Economic policy </span></p></li><li><p><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Colonies provide </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><strong>raw materials</strong></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> to mother country (England) → </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><strong>manufactured goods</strong></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> in English factories → </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><strong>sell manufactured goods</strong></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> back to the colonies </span></p></li><li><p><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Favorable Balance of Trade$$ 

  • Navigation Acts- restriction on colonial trade, only trade with England 

  • All things go to MOM  

  • Increase mother country’s wealth 



Salutary Neglect 

  • Healthy Neglect 

  • Colonists began to self-rule

  • Virginia House of Burgesses, New England Town Meetings, & Mayflower Compact 

  • All forms of representative government, first steps toward self-government, representative democracy  



French and Indian War (1754-1763)  

  • French & Native Americans vs. British and Colonists  

  • Disputes over territory in North America

  • Ended with the Treaty of Paris  

  • Proclamation Line of 1763- colonists could not settle west of the Appalachian Mountains to avoid skirmishes with Native Americans 

  • Albany Plan of Union (1754), early attempt to unite the colonies, “Join or Die” cartoon Benjamin Franklin

  • TAXES imposed on the colonists because war is Expensive

  • END of SALUTARY NEGLECT 

Road to Revolution 

  • “No taxation without representation” 

  • Thomas Paine’s Common Sense 

    • Argument for why the colonies should break away from Great Britain 

    • Sold 150,000 copies 

    • Published in 1776 

    • Convinced Loyalists to join Patriots 

  • Boston Massacre (1770) 

  • Boston Tea Party (1773) 

  • Intolerable/Coercive Acts (1774) 

  • Quartering Act 

  • Battle of Saratoga (1777) TURNING POINT, the French join the war to help the Continental Army  

  • Victory at Yorktown (1781) Lord Cornwallis surrenders to George Washington  



Declaration of Independence (July 4th, 1776)  

  • Written by Thomas Jefferson 

  • Enlightenment Ideas 

  • John Locke 

  • Natural rights, consent of the governed, people can alter or abolish governments when rights are not protected

  • Listed grievances against King George III   

  • It is the job of governments to PROTECT Natural Rights 




Articles of Confederation

  • 1st constitution or plan of government for the United States 

  • Weak central government 

  • Too much power to individual states

  • Successes

    • Land Ordinance (1785) Surveyed the land 

    • Northwest Ordinance (1787) Add/admit new states in the Union  

  • Shay’s Rebellion

    • Farmers attack tax collectors and courts, farms in foreclosure, soldiers from Revolutionary war never paid    

    • Proved that the Articles of Confederation did NOT work 

    • Call for Constitutional Convention

    • Led to the creation of the US Constitution

    • Constitutional Convention → Meeting to create a NEW Plan of Government   



  1. Constitutional Foundations 



Constitutional Convention (1787)

  • New plan of government, the AOC were too weak 

  • Compromises

    • The GREAT Compromise

      • Representation in Congress  

      • Big States (Virginia Plan) 

        • Supporters of the Virginia Plan wanted Representation (Votes) in Congress to be based off of Population 

      • Small States (New Jersey Plan) 

        • Supporters of the New Jersey Plan wanted EQUAL Representation   

      • Outcome:Bi-Cameral Congress/Legislature 

      • Senate based on Equal Representation, 2 Senators per state 

      • House of Representatives based on population  

      • TWO Chambers/Houses of Congress are Established  

    • 3/5ths Compromise 

      • Should slaves be counted in the population to determine representation?

      • Solution: slaves would count as 3/5ths of a person for representation and taxation purposes  

    • The Electoral College

      • How to elect the president

      • Today, a presidential candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the presidency    

      • A presidential candidate can win the presidency without winning the Popular Vote 



Federalist vs Antifederalist “The Great Debate” 

  • Federalist 

    • Favored a strong central government 

    • Supported the Constitution 

    • Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, & John Jay

    • The Federalist Papers 

      • Reasons why the Constitution should be ratified  



  • Antifederalist 

    • Favored a weak central government 

    • More power to the individual states 

    • Did not support the Constitution 

    • Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, & Samuel Adams   

    • Would NOT RATIFY the Constitution without the inclusion of a Bill of Rights 



The Bill of Rights 

  • The first 10 Amendments of the Constitution 

  • Protect individual liberties/protect the people from abuse by the Federal Government

  • Added to the Constitution in order to get Antifederalist to agree to ratify the Constitution 











Branches of Government

  • Montesquieu, Separation of Powers, 3 Branches of Government 

  • Executive

    • The President 

    • Enforces the Law  

  • Legislative

    • Congress 

    • Make Laws   

  • Judicial 

    • Supreme Court 

    • Interprets the Law

    • Judicial Review: declare laws or actions of the president unconstitutional    








Federalism

  •  The sharing of powers between the federal, state, and local governments

    • Delegated Powers, powers given to the federal government  

    • Reserved Powers, powers given to the state governments 

    • Concurrent Powers, powers that are given to both the federal and state governments