American Revolution and Early Republic

Stamp Act Congress and Colonial Response

• American colonists felt underrepresented, leading to the rise of groups like the Sons of Liberty and Daughters of Liberty.
• These groups advocated for the repeal of the Stamp Act.
• Stamp Act Congress (1765):
  • 27 delegates from nine colonies met in New York.
  • They issued a formal petition to the British Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act.
  • The main argument: "Taxation without representation is tyranny."
  • Despite rejecting the Stamp Act, the Congress affirmed loyalty to the British crown, and it was not a bid for independence but an appeal for the rights of British citizens.
• Parliament repealed the Stamp Act and the Sugar Act the following year, likely due to colonial protests and threats to tax collectors.
• Declaratory Act: Passed alongside the repeals to assert Parliament's right to legislate for the colonies in all cases, which was viewed as a symbolic assertion of authority.

Townshend Acts and Further Resistance

• Townshend Acts (1767): Imposed new taxes on imported items like paper, glass, and tea.
• Response: Highly organized protests and boycotts of British goods involving all levels of colonial society.
• Women played a crucial role by spinning their own cloth and brewing herbal tea to replace British imports.

Boston Massacre

• Boston Massacre (1770):
  • British troops stationed in colonies to enforce British law.
  • A group of colonists harassed British soldiers, throwing snowballs and stones.
  • Shots were fired, resulting in 11 colonists wounded and four dead.
  • Six out of eight soldiers were acquitted at trial, but the event was viewed by colonists as a sign of British tyranny.

Boston Tea Party and Coercive Acts

• Tea Act of 1773: Granted the British East India Company a monopoly on tea trade in the colonies.
• Boston Tea Party: Colonists disguised as American Indians dumped approximately 45 tons of British tea into Boston Harbor in December 1773.
• Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts): Passed by Parliament in response:
  • Closed Boston Harbor until the tea was paid for.
  • Colonists began to organize armed groups to protect against British tyranny.

Continental Congress and Enlightenment Thought

• Continental Congress (1774): Leaders from the colonies met to resist violations of their liberties while still desiring to remain British subjects.
• Enlightenment Thought Influence:
  • Natural Rights: Belief that all humans are endowed with rights by God, not government, which cannot be taken away.
  • Social Contract: The power to govern resides in the people, who give power to a government to protect their natural rights. If the government fails, the people have the right to overthrow it.
  • Republicanism: Preference for a republican form of government with separation of powers to check and balance governmental power.

Path to Independence

• By 1776, the Continental Congress was in its second meeting.
• Decision: Independence from Britain was necessary for the nation's survival.
• Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" (1776):
  • Argued for independence using allusions to the Bible and Enlightenment principles.
  • Convinced the majority of colonists that independence was the only option.
• Declaration of Independence:
  • Written by Thomas Jefferson.
  • Adopted by Congress on July 2, 1776, and made public on July 4.
  • Rooted in Enlightenment thought:
    • Natural rights: "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"
    • Social contract: Governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed," and the people have the right to alter or abolish a destructive government.

American Revolution

• Not all colonists supported independence; Loyalists wanted to remain loyal to Britain.
• Continental Army:
  • Approved by the Continental Congress, with George Washington as general.
  • Ill-equipped, ill-trained, and ill-paid.
• American needed foreign support due to British military superiority.
• Battle of Saratoga (1777): A decisive victory for the Patriots.
  • Convinced the French to ally with the Americans against the British, with aid from Benjamin Franklin's diplomacy.
  • French provided guns, ships, and military support (Marquis de Lafayette).
• Battle of Yorktown (1781): British army surrendered after defeat.

Articles of Confederation

• States created their own constitutions, placing power in the legislative body.
• Articles of Confederation: Adopted as the constitution of the new United States.
• Provisions:
  • All power vested in the legislative body (no executive or judicial branch).
  • No national military force.
  • Limited power to tax: federal government had to request revenue from the states.
• Northwest Ordinance of 1787: Most significant achievement.
  • Established a plan for territories to become states.
  • Abolished slavery in the Northwest Territory.
• Shays' Rebellion:
  • Farmers in debt, led by Daniel Shays, rebelled in Massachusetts.
  • Highlighted the weakness of the Articles of Confederation because there was no president to call and there was no national army to come help quell the rebellion and restore order.

Constitutional Convention of 1787

• Called to revise the Articles but resulted in drafting a new Constitution.
• Factions:
  • Federalists: Wanted a stronger central government.
  • Anti-Federalists: Favored states' rights.
• Representation Debate:
  • Virginia Plan: Representation based on population (favored larger states).
  • New Jersey Plan: Equal representation for each state (favored smaller states).
  • Great Compromise: Bicameral Congress:
    • House of Representatives: representation based on population.
    • Senate: equal representation, two votes per state.
• Three-Fifths Compromise: Three-fifths of the enslaved population would be counted for representation.
• The new Constitution established a robust central government with three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial.

Ratification and the Bill of Rights

• Federalists wrote persuasive essays (The Federalist Papers) to advocate for the Constitution.
  • Federalist Papers: Written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison.
• Anti-Federalists opposed ratification without a bill of rights to protect individual liberties.
• Federalists agreed to add a bill of rights after ratification.
• The Constitution took effect in March 1789.

Distinctive American Culture

• Desire to define a distinct American culture after the Revolution.
• State and national leaders proposed plans for public education.
• Artists, such as Charles Wilson Peel and Samuel Jennings, focused on historical themes.
• Republican Motherhood: Women's role was to raise virtuous, liberty-minded sons, influencing politics through moral education rather than direct participation.

Early Government Under the Constitution

• George Washington elected president, John Adams vice president.
• Washington established departments of Treasury, State, War, and Justice.
• Alexander Hamilton: First Secretary of the Treasury, introduced sweeping policies:
  • Federal government assumed state debts to bind the nation and improve its credit.
  • Creation of a national bank (Bank of the United States).
  • Elastic Clause invoked. Since Congress was responsible for taxation and the regulation of interstate commerce, they could create a bank, which was "necessary and proper".
• Whiskey Rebellion (1794):
  *Tax on whiskey led frontier farmers to attack tax collectors, and Washington federalized state militias to suppress the rebellion, demonstrating federal authority.

Political Divisions and Washington's Farewell

• Federalist policies generated opposition, leading to the rise of the Democratic-Republicans led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
• Washington's Farewell Address: Cautioned against political parties and foreign alliances.

John Adams' Presidency

• War between Britain and France; Adams insisted on American neutrality.
• XYZ Affair: French diplomats demanded a bribe before negotiations, leading to outrage.
• Alien and Sedition Acts:
  • Alien Act: Allowed deportation of non-citizens.
  • Sedition Act: Made it illegal to criticize the government publicly.
• Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions: Argued that states could nullify unconstitutional federal laws.

Relations with Britain, Spain, and American Indians

• Concern among political elites about threats to US sovereignty.
• Indian Trade and Intercourse Act: Regulated relationships among settlers and Indians but was largely ignored.
• Tension with Spain on the southern frontier; resolved with the Pinckney Treaty, establishing the border at the 31st parallel (31° N latitude).

Legacy of Slavery

• Distinct regional attitudes towards slavery emerged.
• Northern states: Rapid growth of free black population; some granted voting rights.
• Southern states: Predominantly enslaved population; new legislation made it harder to free slaves.
• Slaveholders expanded slavery into western territories.