Notes on the Road to Revolution
The French and Indian War (Seven Years' War)
Conflict between British colonists and French over land in North America.
British colonists felt threatened by French encroachment on their western border, particularly the Ohio River Valley.
The French, in turn, felt threatened by British encroachment on their territory.
Early in the war, the British lost battles to the French and their Indian allies.
The British government called for a congress of representatives from the colonies to better organize defense, trade, and westward expansion.
Benjamin Franklin proposed the Albany Plan of Union for a more centralized colonial government to coordinate Western defense.
The plan was rejected because colonies didn't want to be taxed to raise troops.
Important as it laid the groundwork for future revolutionary congresses.
The British eventually won the war and signed the Peace of Paris in 1763.
France was removed from North America, and the Louisiana territory went to Spain.
Britain more than doubled its land holdings, gaining all land east of the Mississippi River.
Consequences of the War
Colonists pushed westward into the Ohio River Valley, leading to conflicts with American Indians.
Ottawa Leader Pontiac led raids against encroaching colonists.
Colonists were surprised by this aggression.
The British issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, forbidding colonists from taking land west of the Appalachian Mountains.
This frustrated colonists who felt entitled to the land after fighting in the war.
The war was expensive for Britain; their debt doubled, and the cost of running the colonies increased fivefold.
Taxation Without Representation
To pay for the French and Indian War, the British decided to tax the colonies.
The colonists resented this.
Britain had previously practiced "salutary neglect," allowing the colonies to manage their own affairs.
This neglect gave colonists a sense of self-governance.
The era of salutary neglect ended, and Parliament began stricter enforcement of the Navigation Acts.
The Quartering Act of 1765 required colonists to house and feed British troops.
The Sugar Act imposed taxes on coffee, wine, and other luxury items and enforced the molasses tax.
The Stamp Act of 1765 taxed all paper items and threatened colonists experiencing economic hardship.
Debate arose over the fairness of taxing colonists without representation in Parliament.
The British argued for "virtual representation," claiming that members of Parliament represented all British citizens.
Colonists were unconvinced due to their accustomed localized representation.
Groups like the Sons of Liberty and Daughters of Liberty formed to advocate for the repeal of the Stamp Act.
The Stamp Act Congress convened with delegates from nine colonies and sent a formal petition to Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act, arguing that taxation without representation was tyranny.
They still considered themselves loyal British subjects.
Parliament repealed the Stamp Act and the Sugar Act but passed the Declaratory Act, affirming their right to pass any law in the colonies.
In 1767, Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, taxing imported items like paper, glass, and tea.
Colonists organized protests and boycotts of British goods, with women playing a key role by spinning cloth and brewing herbal tea.
Escalating Tensions
Tensions reached a boiling point in 1770 with the Boston Massacre.
A group of colonists harassed British soldiers, who then fired, killing four colonists.
Six of eight soldiers were acquitted at trial, but colonists viewed the massacre as a sign of British tyranny.
The Boston Tea Party was a response to the Tea Act of 1773, which granted the British East India Company exclusive rights to sell tea in the colonies.
Colonists disguised as American Indians dumped tea into Boston Harbor.
Parliament passed the Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts) in retaliation, closing Boston Harbor and approving a new Quartering Act.
Colonists organized into armed groups and vowed to protect themselves against British tyranny.
Colonial leaders gathered in the Continental Congress of 1774 to resist further infringements on their liberties.
They still wanted to remain British subjects.
Enlightenment Thought and Revolution
Enlightenment thought influenced colonial leaders.
Belief in natural rights endowed by God, not government.
Belief in a social contract where the power to govern is in the hands of the people
Influenced by the superiority of a republican form of government and especially the separation of powers in a government
By 1776, the Continental Congress decided that independence was the only way forward.
Thomas Paine's pamphlet "Common Sense" argued for independence, convincing many colonists.
Thomas Jefferson was tasked with writing the Declaration of Independence.
The Declaration is influenced by Enlightenment thought.
Natural rights: "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
Social contract: governments derive their powers from the consent of the governed.
The Declaration was adopted on July 2, 1776, and made public on July 4, leading to the Revolutionary War.
Revolutionary War
Not everyone in the colonies supported independence; there were Loyalists who wanted to remain with Britain.
The Continental Congress formed the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as general.
The army was ill-equipped and ill-trained.
The Americans secured a crucial victory at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777, which convinced the French to ally with them.
Benjamin Franklin's diplomatic work in France helped with this.
The French provided guns, ships, and soldiers.
The British surrendered after their defeat at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781.
The American Revolution inspired similar revolutions in France and Haiti.
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation established a government with most power in the legislative body.
There was no executive office or judicial branch.
There was no national military force.
The federal government had limited power to tax.
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was a significant achievement, providing a plan for territories to become states and abolishing slavery in the Northwest Territory.
Shays' Rebellion exposed the weakness of the Articles of Confederation.
Farmers in debt rebelled, highlighting the lack of a national army or executive to respond.
Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention of 1787 was called to revise the Articles of Confederation, but it resulted in a new Constitution.
Federalists (urban, commercial) wanted a stronger central government, while Anti-Federalists (rural) favored state power.
The Virginia Plan (representation by population) favored larger states, while the New Jersey Plan (equal representation) favored smaller states.
The Great Compromise created a bicameral Congress: the House of Representatives (by population) and the Senate (equal votes per state).
The Three-Fifths Compromise counted three-fifths of the enslaved population for representation purposes.
The new Constitution established a system of checks and balances split into three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial.
Ratification and Early American Culture
The Constitution was sent to the states for ratification.
Federalists wrote the Federalist Papers to persuade the public to support the Constitution.
Anti-Federalists opposed the Constitution because it lacked a bill of rights.
The Federalists agreed to add a bill of rights, and the Constitution went into effect in March 1789.
A desire for a distinct American culture led to plans for public education and historical themes in art.
Republican motherhood assigned women the role of raising virtuous sons instructed in the principles of liberty.
Early Government Under the Constitution
George Washington was elected president, and John Adams was vice president.
Washington established the departments of the treasury, state, war, and justice.
Alexander Hamilton, as Secretary of the Treasury, introduced policies promoting federal assumption of state debts and the creation of a national bank.
Hamilton invoked the elastic clause of the constitution allowing congress to make laws when and .
Critics opposed the National Bank, arguing it was unconstitutional.
Hamilton's policies led to the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794, where poor farmers who were frontier farmers attacked tax collectors for whiskey, was put down by federalized state militias.
The Democratic-Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, opposed Federalist policies, seeing them as federal overreach.
In his farewell address, Washington cautioned against political parties and foreign alliances.
Adams' Presidency and Foreign Entanglements
John Adams became the second president.
War broke out between Britain and France, and the French seized American trade ships.
The XYZ Affair occurred when French diplomats demanded a bribe from American negotiators.
Adams passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which restricted immigration and made it illegal to criticize the government.
The Democratic-Republicans responded with the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, arguing that states could nullify unconstitutional federal laws.
Relations with Britain, Spain, and American Indians
Political elites were concerned about threats to U.S. sovereignty posed by Britain, Spain, and American Indians.
The Indian Trade and Intercourse Act regulated relationships between settlers and Indians.
Westward migration led to conflicts with American Indians who had the support of the British.
The Pinckney Treaty with Spain established the border between the U.S. and Spain at the 31st parallel.
Legacy of Slavery
Distinct regional attitudes toward slavery developed.
Northern states saw a rapid growth of free blacks, with some gaining the right to vote.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church was established in Philadelphia.
In the South, the enslaved population grew rapidly, and legislation made it difficult to free slaves.
Slaveholders migrated west, establishing slavery in new territories.