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Unit #2: Causes of the American Revolution (1754-1800)

Vocab: 

Proclamation Line of 1763:
A proclamation from the British government which forbade British colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains, and which required any settlers already living west of the mountains to move back east.

Articles of Confederation:
Before the American constitution, this established the United States as a loose confederation of states under a weak national Congress, which was not granted the power to regulate commerce or collect taxes.

Enlightenment:
An eighteenth-century philosophical movement that began in Western Europe with roots in the Scientific Revolution.

Newburgh Conspiracy:
Near the end of the Revolutionary War, the Continental Army had not received pay for many years and threatened to abandon the fight if they were not compensated.

Patriot:(Rebels)
A colonist who rebelled against British rule.

Federalists:
Supporters of the new Constitution and a strong federal government. They fear a weak government. Generally very wealthy.

Albany Plan of Union:
Plan proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 that aimed to unite the 13 colonies for trade, military, and other purposes; the plan was turned down by the colonies and the (British) Crown.

Great Compromise:
The decision to have a bicameral legislature, one house based on population, and one house with an equal number of representatives for every state.

Tory: (loyalist)
A colonist who supported British rule.

Anti-Federalists:
Supporters of the Articles of Confederation, not the Constitution. They fear a tyrannical national government with too much power and strongly advocate for the Bill of Rights.

Northwest Ordinance:
One of the biggest accomplishments of the Articles of Confederation. This established a system for setting up governments in the western territories so they could eventually join the Union.

Three-Fifths Compromise:
Determined that each slave would be counted as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of apportioning taxes and representation.

Salutary Neglect:
A period from the early 1600s to the mid 1700s where British Parliamentary Laws were not enforced on the colonists.

Map: 

Lexington & Concord:
Where the battles that started the Revolutionary War between the American colonists and the British occurred. The battles resulted in a British retreat to Boston.

Yorktown:
Where the winning battle of the Revolution occurred. Colonists cornered the British by both land and by sea thanks to the French.

Saratoga:
Where the British were outnumbered and were forced to surrender. The colonist victory was a turning point in the war because it inspired the French to help the colonists fight the British.

Timeline:

 French and Indian War (1754–1763)
Part of the Seven Years' War in Europe. Britain and France fought for control of the Ohio Valley and Canada. The colonies fought under British commanders. Britain eventually won, and gained control of all of the remaining French possessions in Canada.

Boston Tea Party (1773)
A group of colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians board three British tea ships and dump 342 chests of tea into the harbor in protest of the British Parliament's Tea Act of 1773.

First Continental Congress (1774)
A Philadelphia meeting that brought together representatives from each of the colonies, except Georgia, to discuss their response to the British "Intolerable Acts."

Declaration of Independence (1776)
A resolution created by the Continental Congress, which broke all ties between colonists and the British, creating the idea in America that the colonies were now "states."

Shay’s Rebellion (1786–1787)
An uprising of rural, indebted farmers in western Massachusetts, against Boston creditors. It began in 1786 and lasted half a year, threatening the economic interests of the business elite and contributing to the demise of the Articles of Confederation.

Constitutional Convention (1787)
A Philadelphia meeting that brought together representatives from each of the colonies, except Georgia, to discuss the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.

Washington’s Farewell Address (1796)
Printed in newspapers, this was largely a warning against political parties and permanent foreign alliances.

French and Indian War-1754

• British (army)  and colony forces (people who volunteered to fight)

• fighting against the french and their Native American allies 

• Becomes part of a border global war in 1756= 7 years war (1754-1763)

Causes: 

• Competition over expanding into the Ohio River Valley (good farming and trading)

• Native Americans were already there and sided with the French to help them keep their land

Key Developments: 

• Early engagements did not go well for colonial militia 

• This only improved after WIlliam Pitt took control of British strategy 

WIlliam Pitt: 

• Gave the colonist greater control over forming and leading their own militia 

• Promised the colonist reimbursement for any military goods they provided for the war effort (crown reimburse them) 

•  He says the colonist will bare no financial burden for the war

Issues during the war: 

• British army members look down on and sometimes mistreated colonial militia (people who volunteered to fight)

• British army limited how high in rank a colonial military could rise 

• Early seeds of discontent between colonist and the British military  

Outcome: 

• With the help of colonist the Births are successful

• Debt and End of Salutary neglect 

• Treaty of Paris-1763

Big Impact: 

• French are kicked out of North America (lost)

• British greatly expand their land holdings (eastern present day canada, mississippi river valley to New Orleans) 

Changes in British Policies: 

• High level of debt occurred, looked towards the colonist to help pay off the debt 

• Increase area of land England was concerned on how to governor and protect it 

Pontiac's Rebellion- uprising in Native Americans against colonist pushing west

• lead to proclamation of 1763-stated that colonist could not settle west of the Appalachian Mountains

• Proclamation of 1763- Marks the end of salutary neglect

• Salutary Neglect: late 1600s until the aftermath of French and Indian war the colonies were doing their own thing and governing themselves

• Colonist did not get their reward of the land

Creating proclamation 1763

• Eliminate tensions with Native Americans 

• Keeping the colonies compact to provide protection and minister laws

• Mercantilism (mother country)- Keeping the population along or close to the east coast, made it easier to make money from the colonies, closer to port city

Road to Revolution

• Early warning of things to come from the British

Writs of assistance 

• introduced by parliament in 1760 passes during the French and Indian war

• allowed custom officials to search anywhere they wanted without probable cause (no warrant)

• Why establish the writs of assistance: British were smuggling goods with the French while in war (start control over the colony)

Sugar act (1764)

• First time england was trying to raise revenue and not just regulate trade 

• Only impacted colony merchants (importing sugar=external) 

• merchants complained but no widespread resistance 

1765 Stamp Act

• Required the use of special watermark paper for newspaper, legal documents (marriage, property), playing cards

• The stamp directly impacted the vast majority of colonist and led to a unified reaction

• Early gather of colonial leaders (stamp act congress), required the repeal of the act

• = england said no

• The colonist boycotted england 

• Internal tax (within colonies)

Formation of 2 Groups

• Sons of liberty and Daughters of Liberty: harassed tax collects, intimated fellow colonist 

• 1766 parliament repealed the Stamp Act

Declaratory act 1766

•  Stated the parliament could tax and regulate the colonies however they saw moving forward 

Townshend acts 1767

•  Tax on various products including tea, 

• resistance was successful again…expect the one on tea 

• As colonist continue to resit England= send more troops over 

• See the beginning of the committees of correspondence: first was created by Samual Adams (set up communication between all the colonies) 

• Allowed the colonist to put up a unified front against the British, growing sense of colonial unity 

Tea 

• Tax on tea remain, but lowered the price of tea 

• Forced colonist to buy it from the British east india company (save)

Colonist Upset: 

• undercut colonial merchants (a lot of people living there) , 

• seen as another example of control by the British 

Boston Tea party-1773

• Colonist dressed up Mohawk Indians and dumped 342 chests of tea

Response= intolerable acts (Coercive acts)

Intolerable acts-1774

• Shut down boston harbor 

• Banned town meetings 

• (major) Stated that british officials charged with a crime up to murder will be sent back to england= most likely found not guilty 

First continental congress-1774 

•  Draft declaration of rights and grievances and sent it to the king 

• King ignores it, and sends more troops over 

• (major) Call for a complete boycott of british goods (cut them off economically)

Lexington and Concord-shot heard around the world

• First military engagement (between 2 military units)

Second continental congress-mid 1775  

• Draft the olive branch petition (peace offering), sent to the king

• Put George Washington in charge, and created an army

Revolutionary war

British advantages 

• Population had a lot more people than the american colonies 

• Stronger military- Navy (a lot of overseas colonies)

• Established government that knew how to make decisions

British Weaknesses 

• Ran a supply chain across the ocean (hard to get more supplies and weapons)

• They could not fully commit their military against their fight with the colonist (had to protect their homeland and other colonies) 

• As the war continued a lot of british soldiers lost their commitment to the fight 

Colonist Advantages

• A clear goal they were fighting for 

• Fighting a familiar terrain (knew the way)

• They could wage a defensive war 

• Exceptional military leadership (Geroge Washington: could make tough and big decisions) 

• Lafayette: strong military leadership 

• Baron von steuben- Implanted discipline in the continental army

• Colonist were willing to use unconventional warfare tactics (ambush and attack at night and sniping British officers)=Guerilla warfare 

Colonist Weakness 

• Lack of an established central government (help dictate the decisions but did not have an idea of the process)

• Lack of a navy 

• Struggling to adequately supply the army (weapons, clothing, and food) 

Saratoga September 1777

• Colonial victory 

• Turning point of the war- convinced the french and the colonist had a chance to win

• Provided military support 

Battle of Yorktown-1781

• General Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington 

2nd Treaty of Paris-1783

• Ends revolutionary war 

• England formally recognizes the colonies as an independent country

• Established the original borders of the U.S (Atlantic Ocean to Mississippi River- east to west) 

• South to North (Spanish Florida to the Great Lakes) 

Articles of confederation

• Initial framework for central government for the colonies during the war and the new nation coming out of the war 

• Drafted in 1777, were not ratified until 1781 (4 years later) 

Big Picture 

• Majority of the power was left to the state governments 

• Federal/central government had very limited abilities 

Key Issues 

• No executive Branch to enforce laws 

• No national judicial system left up to the colonies/states

• 1 house of congress=each state gets a single vote 

• 9/13 to pass legislation

• To Change the articles of confederation had to be unanimous and 13/13 had to agree

• No power to regulate commerce  

• No power to enforce taxation with the states (during and after the war) 

• A lot of debt post war 

Good things 

• Best: Setting up for future westward expansion

• Northwest Ordinance- biggest accomplishment that established the specific pact to become a state (Northwest)

• No slavery would be allowed in the Northwest territory 

• Encourage communication between the states and help with a movement towards a more unified central government

Overall significance 

•  The flaws of the articles ultimately led to the creation of the U.S constitution (still in place) 

Shays Rebellion

• Led by Daniel shays

•  An uprising in massachusetts 1786-1787

• The militia was able to put down the rebellion

Why 

• Heavy taxation in massachusetts after the war

• If you could not pay the government could take your property 

• 4 farmers with 3 demands: Debt relief, lower taxes, protection against property seizure 

Significance 

• A lot of historians see this event as a key moment convincing people that a stronger federal government is needed 

Constitutional Convention- May 1787

• Original plan: Fix the Articles 

• Decided to make a whole new framework of government

• Turns into a series of debates and compromises

• Biggest debate/compromise: Dealt with representation and structure of congress 

Plans

• Virginia plan: Bicameral (2 houses) congress

• New Jersey plan: Unicameral (one house), one vote per state=equal 

Great compromise/Connecticut compromise 

• still in place

• congress has 2 houses

• senate: equal representation

• lower houses (house of representatives): based on population

• Second compromise: Southern states wanted to count their slaves as a part of the population

• Half million enslaved africans in the south

• Debate leads to the ⅗ compromise= granted the south extra political power  

• In the U.S constitution the importation of new slaves could not be banned until january 1, 1808

September 1787: Key takeaways

1. Congress can now levy taxes= raise revenue

2. Congress was given the power to control interstate commerce

3. Congress was granted the power to make treaties with other countries 

Structure

• Separation of powers was included in the constitution= allowed for a system of checks and balances

• Idea of federalism(sharing between national and states)was embedded in the constitution

• Example: The amendment process: has to involve the states

Anti Federalist vs Federalists 

Struggle over ratification: 

• Convince the states

• Led to the development of 2 FACTIONS (not political parties: federalist and anti federalist) 

Anti federalist 

• Opposed ratification 

Their Arguments: 

1. Gave too much power to national government, 

2. Not doing enough to protect individual rights

Federalist Arguments

• Federalist papers to gain support for federalist papers (Alexander hamilton, James madison, John Jay) 

1. Well written

2. Provides a balances of power 

3. Should be ratified 

June of 1788 New hampshire became of 9th state to ratify making this new official framework of government 

• Promise: Add a bill of rights