Period 3 (KCO Notes)

key concept 3.1

British attempts to assert tighter control over its North American colonies and the colonial resolve to pursue self-government led to a colonial independence movement and the Revolutionary War.

I. The competition among the British, French, and American Indians for economic and political advantage in North America culminated in the Seven years’ War (the French and Indian War), in which Britain defeated France and allied Native tribes.

A. Colonial rivalry intensified between Britain and France in the mid-18th century, as the growing population of the British colonies expanded into the interior of North America, threatening French-Indian trade networks and American Indian autonomy.

  • the French and Indian War
    • began in 1754
    • French/British land claims in North America overlapped
    • French maintained claims through forts/trading posts and Native alliances
    • French failed to maintain claims in Ohio River Valley
    • French-allied Native tribes driven out by Iroquois attacks but resettled there after 1720
    • Pennsylvanian British traders traveled down Ohio River in 1740s
    • Stole French-allied tribes away from French posts
    • Ohio Company grant threatened French claims
    • British allied with Iroquois
    • French built more forts from Lake Erie to Ohio headwaters
    • Washington’s troops started war
    • Iroquois believed British were neglecting them
    • Conflict spread to Europe
    • British forced French to give up forts and Quebec as well as French colonies outside the U.S.
    • Treaty of Paris (1763) ended the war and returned the islands to France
    • The French and Indian War was a key example of French/British conflict over territory in the New World - specifically the Ohio Valley. It caused Native tribes to reconsider their alliances with Europeans as well as become wary of European settlers as a whole.
  • Albany Congress (1754)
    • Iroquois were unsatisfied with their British alliance
    • Claimed that British were neglecting them
    • New York settlers were forcing their way onto Iroquois land
    • French, British and other Native tribes were acting in the Ohio Valley without consulting the Iroquois first
    • British Board of Trade called a meeting in Albany to mend Iroquois relations
    • Mohawk leader Theyanoguin wanted Britain to more vigorously defend its assets/interests
    • Benjamin Franklin proposed Plan of Union to oppose French expansion
    • Suggested central colonial government to defend colonies + manage trade/alliances
    • Franklin’s plan didn’t receive real consideration
    • The Albany Congress was a meeting in which Native Americans freely voiced their concerns to their colonist allies as well as strengthening their relationship to counter French expansion in the midst of the French and Indian War.

B. Britain achieved a major expansion of its territorial holdings by defeating the French, but at tremendous expense, setting the stage for imperial efforts to raise revenue and consolidate control over the colonies.

  • Great War for Empire
    • Stemmed from the French and Indian War after it spread to Europe (Britain and Prussia vs. France, Spain and Austria)
    • Britain began offensives in India, West Africa and the West Indies to try to seize French colonies
    • William Pitt led the British war effort
    • British colonists outnumbered French colonists 14:1 in North America
    • Pitt paid $1 million a year to cover 1/2 the cost of colonial troops, arms and equipment
    • Also sent 30,000 soldiers and a fleet of ships to the colonies
    • Aimed to motivate and mobilize the colonies in favor of the British war effort
    • National debt rose from £75 million to £133 million
    • The Great War for Empire ended up costing the British a lot of money in their war effort (in North America and beyond), which gave them good reason to want to tax the colonists to cover those costs later on.
  • George Grenville
    • In charge of managing ways to obtain revenue from the colonies
    • “One of the ablest men in Great Britain”
    • Passed the Currency Act of 1764 (banned the usage of paper money as legal tender in the colonies)
    • Also passed the Sugar Act of 1764 (set a 3 pence-per-gallon tax on French molasses) to replace the Molasses Act of 1733 (which set a rate so high it was unprofitable)
    • Sugar Act was extremely unpopular in America, especially with merchants (like John Hancock) who profited off of smuggling molasses
    • Merchants vowed to avoid the act by continuing to bribe officials
    • Colonists objected to the Sugar Act’s constitutionality
    • Enacted Stamp Act of 1765 to cover cost of British troops in America
    • Taxed all printed items
    • Bore more heavily on the rich
    • Quartering Act of 1765 forced colonies to help British troops
    • George Grenville led the effort to tax the colonies in order to cover various war-related costs with laws such as the Currency Act, the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the Quartering Act, which were extremely unpopular in the colonies.

C. After the British victory, imperial officials’ attempts to prevent colonists from moving westward generated colonial opposition, while native groups sought to both continue trading with Europeans and resist the encroachments of colonists on tribal lands.

  • Pontiac’s War
    • Started when a British commander ordered the execution of 2 Native slaves in the Great Lakes region
    • Tried to demonstrate British control over the Natives, who revolted at the notion of being controlled by the colonists
    • Also upset over British cutting off trade goods previously paid by French in exchange for occupying their land + colonists moving further onto their land
    • Many tribes joined the rebellion
    • Led by Ottawa chief Pontiac
    • Tribes captured many British forts in the Great Lakes/Ohio Valley area + raided settlements in Virginia, Pennsylvania + Maryland
    • British sought peace by making concessions
    • New boundary line drawn west of Appalachians (which angered colonists)
    • Pontiac’s War was an example of resistance to colonial expansion by Native American groups that eventually resulted in further trade/alliance between the Natives and the British, as well as colonial opposition to new British policy. Pontiac’s War was also extremely expensive.
  • Scioto Confederacy
    • Antagonized by westward expansion
    • Investors, ex-officers, traders + squatters all wanted to live beyond the Proclamation Line
    • Formed in the 1770s when the Shawnees invited various tribes to the town of Chillicothe on the Ohio River
    • Pledged to oppose further expansion into the Ohio Valley
    • The Scioto Confederacy was a Native group that pledged to resist continuing colonial expansion into tribal lands.
  • Lord Dunmore’s War
    • At least 10,000 people had traveled to the lands at the head of the Ohio River (near Pittsburgh) and staked land claims
    • Relied on Fort Pitt for protection from Native groups (followed Pontiac’s War)
    • In October 1772, General Gage had to pull down the fort because of the revenue crisis
    • Both Virginia and Pennsylvania claimed the area
    • Pennsylvania pacifist Quakers wouldn’t fight for the land
    • Lord Dunmore of Virginia led Virginia militias against the Ohio Shawnees at Point Pleasant
    • Many colonists felt neglected by the crown in the backcountry
    • Lord Dunmore’s War was an example of a fight between Natives (who were trying to protect their tribal lands) and colonists (who were disregarding the Proclamation Line while pursuing their desire to move westward).
II. The desire of many colonists to assert ideals of self-government in the face of renewed British imperial efforts led to a colonial independence movement and war with Britain.

A. The imperial struggles of the mid-18th century, as well as new British efforts to collect taxes without direct colonial representation or consent and to assert imperial authority in the colonies, began to unite the colonists against perceived and real constraints on their economic activities and political rights.

  • Stamp Act of 1765
    • Sparked first great imperial crisis
    • Levy to cover the cost of British troops in America (£385,000 a year - around $150 million a year today) that was 70% more than the initial estimate
    • Parliament aimed to collect around £60,000 a year
    • Law required a tax stamp on all printed items (court documents, diplomas, newspapers, playing cards, etc.)
    • Bore more heavily on the rich as certain less common items were more heavily taxed
    • Benjamin Franklin proposed American representation in Parliament in response to these taxes (idea was rejected as “too radical”)
    • Parliament argued that colonists already had virtual representation + asserted their “right to lay an internal tax upon the colonies”.
    • The Stamp Act of 1765 was an example of a highly protested colonial tax that caused colonial demands for legislative representation as well as protest over taxes in the colonies.
  • Boston Tea Party
    • Parliament passed the Tea Act in May 1773 to provide financial relief for the East India Company
    • Huge surplus of tea because high import duties made smuggled Dutch tea cheaper
    • Tea Act lowered the price of British tea (even with 3 pence-per-pound tax)
    • Patriots accused the British of bribing Americans with cheaper tea to make them buy it despite their moral opposition to the tea tax
    • Merchants angry because they were excluded from the profits
    • Sons of Liberty stopped tea-carrying ships from delivering their cargo
    • On December 16, 1773, Americans disguised as Natives boarded 3 ships in Boston Harbor and dumped $900,000 worth of tea into the ocean
    • Led to the Coercive Acts (forced Massachusetts to pay/submit to the British)
    • The Boston Tea Party was an example of a rebellion against British taxes and exclusion of American merchants from trade profits that united colonists in the name of preserving their economic rights.
  • Continental Congress
    • Patriot response to the Coercive Acts
    • Continent-wide body
    • 12 mainland colonies represented (Florida, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Georgia, and Newfoundland didn’t send delegates)
    • Southern colonies proposed economic boycott
    • New England delegates wanted political union + more military preparations
    • Middle colonies favored compromise with British
    • Failed plan similar to Franklin’s at the Albany Congress suggested colonial assemblies for local ordeals and a president-general (appointed by the king) to preside over a legislative selected by the colonies
    • Demanded the repeal of the Coercive Acts + British control limited to trade
    • Threatened to cut off exports to Britain + its colonies
    • The Continental Congress showed colonial unity in the face of economic injustice from their British authorities. They attempted to advocate for colonial interests in an organized fashion.

B. Colonial leaders based their calls for resistance to Britain on arguments about the rights of British subjects, the rights of the individual, local traditions of self-rule, and the ideas of the Enlightenment.

  • English common law
    • 1 of 3 intellectual traditions fueling Patriot writers
    • Centuries-old body of legal rules/procedures that protected the rights of the subjects of the British monarchy
    • Used in the Writs of Assistance case in 1761 and John Hancock’s trial in the late 1760s
    • Consisted of documents like the Magna Carta
    • Patriots argued that new laws violated rights in ancient British law
    • English common law was one argument used by Patriot writers/lawyers when attempting to defend the natural rights of colonists.
  • Enlightenment ideas
    • Philosophers like John Locke and Montesquieu
    • Rationale used by Thomas Jefferson + other leaders
    • Individuals have natural rights (life, liberty, property)
    • “Separation of powers” to prevent arbitrary control
    • Patriots used Enlightenment ideas that had recently caught on in Europe as rationale to uphold the rights of colonial citizens as naturally given them.
  • Republican/Whig politics
    • Many colonists praised the English Whig Party for creating a constitutional monarchy after the Glorious Revolution (1688-1689)
    • Prevented the king from imposing taxes, etc.
    • Some thought the Stamp Act was part of a British plot to force the colonies to rebel so military use against them could be justified (Joseph Warren)
    • Letters using this evidence as a reason to oppose taxes circulated widely and were key to the spread of the revolutionary movement
    • Several Patriot leaders were inspired by the politics of the English Whig party and used their actions in England as reasoning for their pro-revolutionary arguments.

C. The effort for American independence was energized by colonial leaders such as Benjamin Franklin, as well as popular movements that included the political activism of laborers, artisans, and women.

  • Benjamin Franklin
    • Protested Stamp Act
    • Argued that Americans were okay with external taxes (i.e. trade) but not internal ones
    • Proposed that Britain should give America representation in Parliament in exchange for those taxes (colonial leaders + Parliament members equally skeptical)
    • Argued taxation without representation made colonists the slaves of Parliament
    • Called for a return to the mercantilist system from before the French + Indian War
    • One of the most outspoken Patriots who refused to accept Parliamentary supremacy + claimed equality
    • Proposed system of government at Albany Congress in 1754
    • Declared that Americans never questioned Parliament’s right to tax the colonies before 1763
    • One of the drafters of Declaration of Independence
    • Benjamin Franklin was one significant Patriot leader who provided energy and support for the movement politically.
  • Sons of Liberty
    • New England Revolutionary group
    • Protested the Stamp Act when it went into effect on November 1st, 1765
    • Demanded resignation of stamp-tax collectors such as Andrew Oliver and Thomas Hutchinson
    • Burned, destroyed, looted, broke, etc.
    • Mobs usually led by artisans/minor merchants
    • Encouraged by wealthy merchants/Patriot lawyers (i.e. John Hancock + John Adams)
    • Nearly 3,000 shopkeepers, seamen, laborers + artisans rioted in the streets of NYC
    • Intimidated royal officials
    • Feared political liberty being undermined
    • Managed to mostly quell the Stamp Act by scaring collectors into submission
    • The Sons of Liberty was a popular New England-based movement that was mostly composed of middle/low class citizens who sought to maintain their political rights amidst British imperial reforms such as the Stamp Act.

D. In the face of economic shortages and the British military occupation of some regions, men and women mobilized in large numbers to provide financial and material support to the Patriot movement.

  • Massachusetts armed resistance
    • September 1774
    • Middlesex County Congress urged Patriots to transfer political allegiance to newly elected House of Representatives
    • Armed Patriots harassed Loyalists
    • Thomas Gage ordered British troops to seize Patriot armories
    • 20,000 militiamen quickly rose to guard remaining structures (minutemen in Concord)
    • Lord Dartmouth declared that Massachusetts was in open rebellion + ordered Gage to march against them
    • On April 18th, 1775, Gage sent 700 soldiers to capture colonial leaders and supplies in Concord
    • Paul Revere/other riders warned others and British were pushed back to Boston
    • 73 British dead, 174 wounded, 26 missing
    • Stemmed from economic + political conflict
    • Massachusetts armed resistance showed how Patriots materialized in large numbers to show their support for the movement while their armories were being seized by the British.
  • Continental Army
    • Consisted of 18,000 inexperience recruits
    • Initially defeated by the British in the Battle of Long Island + were pushed across New Jersey and into Pennsylvania
    • Able to surprise British when they customarily halted military action in the winter
    • Minor victories in December 1776 and January 1777 (Trenton + Princeton)
    • Supposed to be around 75,000 men; never even reached 1/3 of that
    • Survived partially thanks to Howe, who opposed the Coercive Acts and hoped for a political compromise
    • Many didn’t want to join because of long terms and removal from their farms/families
    • Recruits promised $20 cash bonus ($2,000 today) + 100 acres of land
    • Highly undersupplied
    • Held in suspicion by Radical Whig Patriots who believed a standing army threatened liberty
    • Many fled/deserted when times got tough
    • The Continental Army showed how thousands of people mobilized to support the Patriot movement, though it was highly undersupplied.

E. Despite considerable loyalist opposition, as well as Great Britain’s apparently overwhelming military and financial advantages, the Patriot cause succeeded because of the actions of colonial militias and the Continental Army, George Washington’s military leadership, the colonists’ ideological commitment and resilience, and assistance sent by European allies.

  • George Washington
    • Commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War
    • Hero on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean after the war
    • Led surprise attack on Hessian soldiers on Christmas night in 1776 that forced 1,000 of them to surrender
    • Acted cautiously to avoid defeat
    • Drew the British away from the coast (extend supply lines + decrease morale)
    • Led troops while having essentially no supplies
    • Had to take supplies from colonial villagers
    • Suffered alongside his 12,000 soldiers at Valley Forge and admitted the situation was lowering morale and sheer numbers of supporters
    • Assisted by Baron von Steuben to help whip the Continental Army into shape
    • Won support of Continental Congress + new state governnments
    • “Astutely deferred” to local governments
    • The leadership of George Washington helped the colonies and Continental Army when morale, supplies, and troops were running low.
  • Saratoga
    • Military campaign launched by British in 1777 to isolate New England
    • John Burgoyne led troops south from Quebec, Iroquois attacked from west, Howe supposed to lead troops from NYC
    • Howe decided to attack Philadelphia instead to target the Continental Congress
    • Howe’s plan worked initially but eventually led to Burgoyne’s troops’ defeat at Saratoga
    • British were winning until Burgoyne began pompously taking it easy
    • Army consisted of 6,000 British/German troops and 600 Loyalists/Natives
    • Beaten back from Bennington, Vermont by 2,000 American militiamen
    • 4,000 troops coming to help Burgoyne called back to assist Howe in Philadelphia
    • Burgoyne forced to surrender in October 1777
    • Turning point of the war
    • Patriot militiamen from New Hampshire, Massachusetts + New York captured over 5,000 British troops
    • American representatives in Paris gained U.S. a military alliance with France
    • The defeat of the British at Saratoga was a key example of action by colonial militias that led to colonial victory as well as a new military alliance with France that later helped them win the war.
  • French alliance
    • Started in 1778
    • France was the most powerful nation in Europe
    • Initially they had been enemies (French and Indian War)
    • Comte de Vergennes was determined to avenge loss of Canada (Great War for Empire)
    • Vergennes was the one who persuaded King Louis XVI to supply the colonies
    • Sought a formal alliance following the Declaration of Independence and the colonists’ victory at Saratoga (1776 and 1777)
    • Treaty of Alliance of February 1778 said neither side could agree to peace without United States liberty
    • Boosted morale in colonies; lowered morale in Great Britain
    • The alliance with France gave the colonies much-needed material and political support that helped them eventually win the war.

key concept 3.2

The American Revolution’s democratic and republican ideas inspired new experiments with different forms of government.

I. The ideals that inspired the revolutionary cause reflected new beliefs about politics, religion, and society that had been developing over the course of the 18th century.

A. Enlightenment ideas and philosophy inspired many American political thinkers to emphasize individual talent over hereditary privilege, while religion strengthened Americans’ view of themselves as a people blessed with liberty.

  • “The Rights of the Colonists”
    • Written by Samuel Adams in 1772
    • Important step towards rebellion
    • Natural right summarized as life, liberty and property
    • These rights were being threatened by British imperial policy
    • Adams acknowledged that the source of his ideas was John Locke (see below)
    • All men born free (“sole judge of his own rights and the injuries done him”) and enter into political society by agreeing to accept a civil government to defend his natural rights
    • Emphasized the importance of liberty and invigorated the American Revolution
    • “The Rights of the Colonists” by Samuel Adams drew from John Locke’s Enlightenment idea of natural rights to strengthen the Revolution.
  • John Locke (+ Lockean Liberalism)
    • Enlightenment thinker
    • Emphasized natural rights of life, liberty and property
    • Said government existed at the will of the people for the good of everyone who voluntarily submitted to its authority
    • Ideas influenced Thomas Jefferson, etc. and therefore the U.S. government’s origins
    • Right to liberty meant every human was born free and equal
    • Government must only exist with the consent of a group who wants protection for their natural rights
    • Citizens have the power to replace the government if it’s abusing its power
    • John Locke’s Enlightenment-era ideas and political theories were the basis for the U.S. government and enhanced the idea of one’s natural right to liberty in the colonies.

B. The colonists’ belief in the superiority of republican forms of government based on the natural rights of the people found expression in Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence. The ideas in these documents resonated throughout American history, shaping Americans’ understanding of the ideals on which the nation was based.

  • Common Sense by Thomas Paine
    • Written by Thomas Paine in January 1776
    • Sold 120,000 copies in 3 months
    • Argued that America was meant to be a place of civil and religious liberty that continued to be persecuted by England
    • Dependence on Great Britain was leading the colonies into political and military affairs that led to loss of life and liberty
    • Argues that “protection” from Great Britain wasn’t worth the cost
    • Unnatural for one country to rule over another (like in Locke’s writings)
    • Colonial attempts at peace weren’t working
    • Unnatural for a small body of land to rule a larger one (satellite doesn’t outsize the planet it orbits)
    • Injuries which nature cannot forgive
    • Hunting freedom
    • Natural rights (life, liberty, prosperity) in danger under Britain
    • Common Sense by Thomas Paine was an expression of the desire for American freedom from British rule in the attempt to preserve colonists’ natural rights (life, liberty and prosperity).
  • Declaration of Independence
    • Written by Thomas Jefferson (with assistance from other members of Congress)
    • July 1776
    • All men are created equal and with certain natural rights (same as those expressed by Thomas Paine and John Locke)
    • Claimed that the relationship between Britain and America was one where the government was harming the safety and happiness of their people
    • Listed examples of how the king had harmed America (refused to pass laws, influenced courts, dissolved governments, etc.)
    • King tried to control colonies too much + became a tyrant
    • Locke’s teachings said that a people could remove their ruler when they began to abuse their power
    • “Deaf to the voice of justice”
    • Many contributors helped revise the Declaration and Jefferson resented several of their revisions
    • The Declaration of Independence outright stated the desires of the colonists and led to popular sovereignty and republican government becoming cornerstones of American independence.

C. During and after the American Revolution, an increased awareness of inequalities in society motivated some individuals and groups to call for the abolition of slavery and greater political democracy in the new state and national governments.

  • Benjamin Banneker
    • Born in 1731 in Maryland
    • Attended a Quaker school
    • Developed irrigation system for his family farm at 15
    • Built his own clock from scratch
    • Caught the eye of a famous clockmaker who loaned him books to study math and science
    • Published Benjamin Banneker’s Almanac in 1792 (science, agriculture, politics)
    • Told Jefferson about evils of slavery via letters
    • Campaigned for abolition
    • Helped plan the Capital’s architecture (recreated stolen designs from memory)
    • Died in 1806
    • Benjamin Banneker’s Almanac became the first Farmer’s Almanac
    • First African-American scientist
    • Benjamin Banneker was an individual whose abilities gained him important connections that allowed him to more easily petition/advocate for abolition.
  • Petition to Massachusetts Governor Gage, His Majesty’s Council, and the House of Representatives
    • June 1774
    • Written by anonymous petitioners to Massachusetts governor Thomas Gage, His Majesty’s Council and the House of Representatives
    • Slaves demanding freedom
    • Claimed that being held in slavery violated the natural rights given to ALL men (not just white men of status)
    • Wanted liberty and the same privileges as regular British citizens
    • “No person can have any just claim to their services unless by the laws of land they have forfeited them, or by voluntarily compact become servants”
    • Used Enlightenment ideas (especially those presented by John Locke) to justify their request for freedom
    • This petition was an example of slaves applying the same logic used by the general American independence movement to justify their (completely valid) request.

D. In response to women’s participation in the American Revolution, Enlightenment ideas, and women’s appeals for expanded roles, an ideal of “republican motherhood” gained popularity. It called on women to teach republican values within the family and granted women a new importance in American political culture.

  • Republican motherhood
    • 20th century term
    • Describes attitude towards women’s societal roles in the U.S. before/during/after the American Revolution
    • Patriots’ daughters should uphold republican ideals to pass on to next generation
    • First appeared in works of John Locke (believed men/women had equal roles in marriage)
    • Since women were primary caretakers of children, they were expected to teach ideals to children (allowing them more education)
    • Promoted by ministers
    • Unite state and family
    • Private, not public
    • Educated women helped with abolition movement
    • Republican motherhood (as both a concept and a practice) enhanced the societal role of women in the Revolutionary era and provided them with more/better opportunities.
  • Women’s education
    • Women were becoming increasingly more educated as republican motherhood caught on
    • Educated so they could properly educate the next generation
    • Abigail Adams advocated for it in her letters to her husband John Adams
    • Subjects of “classical education” (i.e. math and philosophy) made available to women
    • New England writers (Lydia Maria Child, Catharine Maria Sedgwick, Lydia Sigourney) were respected advocates for women’s education in the 1840s
    • Mount Holyoke College
    • Helped women become active in the abolition movement
    • Republican motherhood led to more widespread education for women, which gave them more opportunities in general that led to assistance with the abolition movement and events like the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848.

E. The American Revolution and the ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence reverberated in France, Haiti, and Latin America, inspiring future independence movements.

  • French Revolution
    • 6 years after Treaty of Versailles
    • France’s national debt quadrupled after assisting the Patriots in the Revolutionary War
    • French peasants called for tax relief and political liberty (similarly to colonists)
    • Some Americans supported it because of the aligned ideology embedded in the reasoning of the rebels
    • Others opposed it because they feared social revolution at home and believed America wasn’t strong enough to support any other war regardless of morality
    • The French Revolution was inspired by the ideals of the American Revolution, proven by the connection between France and America during the Revolutionary War.
  • Haitian Revolution
    • Inspired by the French Revolution (Haiti was a French colony)
    • Small class of elite planters dominated population of 40,000 free whites and 500,000 slaves in the French plantation colony + 28,000 free men of color who were excluded from many careers, forbidden from taking the names of their white relatives and forbidden from presenting themselves in a similar manner to white people
    • French Revolution intensified conflict between white planters + free blacks which led to a slave uprising in 1791 and years of civil war/British and Spanish war
    • In 1798, black slaves led by Toussaint L’Ouverture seized the country
    • After 5 years of war (in 1803), Saint-Dominigue became Haiti, the first black republic in the Atlantic
    • The Haitian Revolution, inspired by the French and American revolutions, led to the formation of Haiti in 1803, the first black republic in the Atlantic.
II. After declaring independence, American political leaders created new constitutions and declarations of right that articulated the role of the state and federal governments while protecting individual liberties and limiting both centralized power and excessive popular influence.

A. Many new state constitutions placed power in the hands of the legislative branch and maintained property qualifications for voting and citizenship.

  • Pennsylvania constitution of 1776
    • Coalition of farmers, artisans + intellectuals (Enlightenment)
    • Ousted Penn family members
    • Got rid of property ownership prerequisite for voting
    • Granted all taxpaying men the right to hold office
    • Created a one-house (unicameral) legislature with complete power (no governor)
    • Mandated a system of elementary education
    • Protected people from imprisonment over debt
    • Alarmed many leading Patriots (i.e. John Adams) who wanted to keep only educated, wealthy men in power
    • Adams published Thoughts on Government to counter Pennsylvania’s constitution, adapting the idea of mixed government (sharing of power between the monarch + Houses of Lords/Commons) from the British Whigs to fit a republican society
    • Adams wanted separate institutions to preserve liberty
    • Many said Pennsylvania’s system was “too democratic” and rejected it
    • Pennsylvania’s constitution was one of the few that removed property ownership qualifications for voting, though it did place nearly all the power in the hands of its unicameral and extremely democratic legislative branch.
  • John Adams + Thoughts on Government (1776)
    • Inspired by the “overly democratic” Pennsylvania state constitution + legislature
    • Adams proposed a bicameral legislature with an elected governor and appointed judiciary modeled after the Whig concept of mixed government
    • Wanted to keep wealthy, educated men in office
    • Supported by conservative Patriots
    • Reflected in many new state constitutions
    • New York (1777) property qualifications excluded 20% of white men from voting in assembly elections
    • South Carolina (1778) excluded ~90% of white men from voting + required gubernatorial candidates/legislative candidates to own certain things
    • Massachusetts (1780) raised property qualifications + skewed lower house towards mercantile interests
    • Thoughts on Government influenced the outcome of many new state constitutions, such as those in New York, Massachusetts, and South Carolina.

B. The Articles of Confederation unified the newly independent states, creating a central government with limited power. After the Revolution, difficulties over international trade, finances, interstate commerce, foreign relations, and internal unrest led to calls for a stronger central government.

  • Articles of Confederation
    • Regulated affairs regarding trade, war, peace, alliances, etc.
    • Approved by Continental Congress in November 1777
    • Allowed for loose union that preserved states’ rights
    • Each state was given one vote no matter its size/population/wealth/etc.
    • Important laws required at least 9 out of 13 states’ agreement
    • Changes to the Articles themselves required all 13 states to agree
    • Had the power to declare war war, make treaties with other countries, manage disputes between states, print and borrow money, and take money from the states for common defense or general affairs
    • Didn’t have an executive or judiciary branch
    • Couldn’t enforce treaty provisions (states were sovereign)
    • Couldn’t tax the states or the people
    • Nearly bankrupt by 1780 (no tax money)
    • The Articles of Confederation were the original central government of the U.S., though its powers were at times too limited, especially in matters of taxation.
  • Robert Morris
    • Became superintendent of finance in 1781
    • Tried to expand the Confederation’s authority to save national finances
    • Persuaded Congress to charter the bank of North America (private institution in PA) because they thought its notes would stabilize continental currency after inflation
    • Morris created a central bureaucracy to manage the Confederation’s finances
    • Enacted a 5% import tax (rejected by Rhode Island + New York, who believed it was too similar to British taxes)
    • Congress sold western lands to raise revenue, claiming the Treaty of Paris invalidated Native land claims and gave them to the United States
    • Robert Morris was tasked with raising the Confederation’s revenue that had plummeted due to its lack of authority as superintendent of finance.
  • Shay’s Rebellion
    • Resembled Patriot resistance to the Stamp Act
    • Led by Daniel Shays (a former soldier in the Continental Army)
    • Rebels placed pine twigs in their hats like Continental troops to link themselves to the Patriot movement
    • Middle-class families felt oppressors had replaced British tyranny
    • Taxes raised after war which led to loss of property (and by extension, voting rights due to property requirements) for poor farmers
    • Western farmers vs. Eastern merchants/elite
    • Both sides believed they represented American Revolution ideals
    • First armed interaction on August 29th, 1786 at the Hampshire County Courthouse (protesters were blocking the way into the courthouse for judges)
    • Courthouse marches continued both inside and outside of Massachusetts
    • Government militia formed to counter rebels’ attack on September 26th, 1786 (5 had already been shut down)
    • On January 4th, 1787, the governor called for soldiers from eastern Massachusetts to defend against the rebels
    • 1500 men stormed federal armory in Springfield
    • Shay’s Rebellion was an example of internal unrest due to issues/disagreements over finances and interstate commerce following the end of the Revolutionary War.

C. Delegates from the states participated in a Constitutional Convention and through negotiation, collaboration, and compromise proposed a constitution that created a limited but dynamic central government embodying federalism and providing for a separation of powers between its three branches.

  • Constitutional Convention (Philadelphia)
    • May 1787
    • 55 delegates from every state but Rhode Island
    • Many were strong nationalists (42 served in Confederation Congress)
    • Delegates were typically educated, wealthy men
    • Some key leaders excluded (John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were abroad at the time, Samuel Adams’ views were too controversial, and Patrick Henry refused to come)
    • Madison/Hamilton demanded strong central government and increased national authority
    • Elected George Washington as presiding officer
    • Decided (initially) to revisit Virginia Plan instead of revising Articles, which rejected state sovereignty and called on people, not states + proposed 3-tier election (voters only select lower house, who then selects the upper house, and both houses select the other 2 branches)
    • Negotiations over states’ rights and slavery
    • Some delegates left because of overstepped boundaries
    • Representation of large/small states in legislature was hotly debated
    • The Constitutional Convention showed how negotiation and compromise were essential in creating the Constitution as many issues were extremely controversial but needed to be addressed.
  • Virginia vs. New Jersey Plans
    • Virginia Plan created by James Madison, who wanted to run national institutions under educated, wealthy men
    • Rejected state sovereignty in favor of national authority
    • Called for national government to be run by people, not states
    • 3-tier election system
    • Opposed by many state politicians/citizens because of power to veto state laws
    • Representation in lower house based on population
    • New Jersey Plan created by William Paterson
    • Preserved unicameral congress + states’ rights
    • Gave Confederation power to raise revenue, control commerce and make requisitions on the states
    • More populous states “vigorously opposed” New Jersey Plan
    • Bare majority agreed to adopt Virginia Plan on the basis of discussion
    • Others worried about power imbalance
    • The debate over the Virginia/New Jersey Plans led to several compromises in the later Constitution in order to preserve the interests of various parties.

D. The Constitutional Convention compromised over the representation of slave states in Congress and the role of the federal government in regulating both slavery and the slave trade, allowing the prohibition of the international slave trade after 1808.

  • The Great Compromise
    • Suggested by Connecticut delegates to solve the struggle for legislative representation between more/less populous states
    • Proposed that Senate have equal representation (2 members from each state) and House be based solely on population (determined by a national census every decade)
    • Other issues settled through the ambiguity of the extent of the central government’s authority (i.e. judicial power in one Supreme Court + no property requirement to vote)
    • The Great Compromise was a crucial agreement with regards to states’ representation in Congress as well as other state/central authority-related issues.
  • Luther Martin + article 7, sect. 4
    • Luther Martin was a delegate from Maryland
    • Proposed clause at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia to tax or prohibit the importation of slaves (article 7, sect. 4)
    • Believed it contradicted the Revolution’s principles + dishonored America’s character
    • Other delegates (mostly from the South) said that slavery had less to do with humanity/religion and more to do with economics
    • Still others said the issue of slavery should be left to the states to decide
    • Eventually they decided to keep the clause
    • Later challenged at Massachusetts Ratifying Convention
    • Luther Martin’s variation to article 7, section 4 was a key step towards the regulation of slavery in the colonies following the Revolution.
  • Constitutional protections/concessions on slavery
    • The word “slave” never appears in the Constitution because the framers thought it would sully the document
    • Included infamous 3/5 compromise (slaves counted as 3/5 of a person when determining congressional representation)
    • Prohibited Congress from outlawing Atlantic slave trade for 20 years
    • Included fugitive slave clause that required runaway slaves to be returned to their owners
    • Gave federal government power to put out domestic rebellions (this included slave uprisings/insurrections)
    • Concessions included to bribe Southern delegates to support Constitution/central government
    • Some had moral objections to slavery
    • Left issue for future conflict
    • The Constitution included various protections/concessions for slavery in order to appease Southern delegates so they would support a strong central government.

E. In the debate over ratifying the Constitution, Anti-Federalists opposing ratification Federalists, whose principles were articulated in the Federalist Papers (primarily written by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison). Federalists ensured the ratification of the Constitution by promising the addition of a Bill of Rights that enumerated individual rights and explicitly restricted the powers of the federal government.

  • Federalist Papers
    • Federalists supported new Constitution + a national union with a strong central government
    • Launched pamphlet campaign
    • Opposed by Anti-Federalists, who thought Constitution overly limited states’ rights
    • Federalists responded to Anti-Federalists propaganda with the Federalist Papers (85 papers defending the Constitution; 1787-1788)
    • Important treatise of practical republicanism
    • Drew on Montesquieu’s ideas + those presented by John Adams in Thoughts on Government
    • Challenged concept that republican governments only worked in small areas
    • In man’s nature to seek power/form factions, and a larger free society was more likely to keep all these parties in check with each other
    • The Federalist Papers were a key support for the Federalists’ argument when ratifying the Constitution became a hotly debated topic.
  • Bill of Rights
    • Many influential Patriots (i.e. Sam Adams, John Hancock, etc.) + followers of Daniel Shays opposed Constitution in Massachusetts where artisans supported it because they wanted tariff protection from British imports
    • Federalists assured delegates who were skeptical that they would recommend a bill of rights which led to the Constitution’s ratification (vote was 187-168)
    • First 10 amendments to the Constitution
    • Safeguarded personal rights (i.e. freedom of speech/religion) + mandate legal procedures
    • Eased fears of anti-Federalists by protecting individual rights to protect against an oppressive/tyrannical government
    • Addressed federalism (balance between authority of national/state governments)
    • Secured the legitimacy of the Constitution
    • The Bill of Rights helped ease the concerns of Anti-Federalists in regards to the protection against an oppressive government like the British monarchy was.
III. New forms of national culture and political institutions developed in the United States alongside continued regional variations and differences over economic, political, social, and foreign policy issues.

A. During the presidential administrations of George Washington and John Adams, political leaders created institutions and precedents that put the principles of the Constitution into practice.

  • Judiciary Act of 1789
    • Constitution mandated a Supreme Court
    • Philadelphia Convention said Congress had to create a national court system
    • Established a federal district court in every state + 3 circuit courts to hear appeals from those districts
    • Supreme Court made final decisions from there
    • Specified that cases in state courts that involved federal laws could be appealed to the Supreme Court
    • The Judiciary Act of 1789 was one law enforced during Washington’s presidency that put the Constitutional principle of justice into practice.
  • XYZ Affair
    • During John Adams’ presidency
    • Adams continued Hamilton’s pro-British policy + criticized French seizures of U.S. merchant ships
    • French foreign minister Talleyrand sent agents (dubbed X, Y and Z) to advertise a loan/bribe from American diplomats to stop those seizures
    • Adams said X, Y and Z insulted America’s honor
    • Congress cut off trade with France in response in 1798
    • Undeclared maritime war curtailed trade with French West Indies
    • Adams’ reaction to the XYZ Affair showed the actions he was willing to take to preserve America’s ideals and honor.
  • Naturalization/Alien/Sedition Acts
    • Federalists began to be more hostile towards their Democratic-Republican critics
    • Enacted 3 coercive laws limiting individual rights + threatening the new party system in an attempt to silence the critics
    • Naturalization Acts Act lengthened the residency requirement for American citizenship to 14 years (originally 5 years)
    • Alien Act authorized the deportation of foreigners
    • Sedition Act promoted the publication of insults or attacks on political leaders (president/Congressional members)
    • Under Sedition Act, many Democratic-Republican newspaper editors/politicians were convicted/jailed by Federalist prosecutors
    • Sparked Constitutional crisis
    • Democratic-Republicans looked to state governments
    • Set stage for election of 1800
    • These 3 coercive acts created by the Federalists sparked a Constitutional crisis that set the stage for the election of 1800. Counteracts defended key rights given to all by the Constitution, regardless of party affiliation.

B. Political leaders in the 1790s took a variety of positions on issues such as the relationship between the national government and the states, economic policy, foreign policy, and the balance between liberty and order. This led to the formation of political parties - most significantly the Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, and the Democratic-Republican Party, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

  • Hamilton’s financial plan
    • Hamilton was the secretary of the treasury
    • Outlined financial plan in 3 reports (1790-1791)
    • Program of national mercantilism
    • Asked Congress to redeem $55 million in confederation securities held by foreign + domestic investors (U.S. needed good credit to secure loans)
    • This would give profits to speculators which offended many Americans
    • Created a permanent national debt
    • Disliked by leaders such as Patrick Henry and James Madison
    • “Would prove fatal to liberty”
    • Madison wanted to recompense those who originally owned Confederation securities (rejected by the House)
    • Hamilton wanted the government to assume states’ war debts (cost around $22 million)
    • To appease Southern states who already paid off their war debts, those states were reimbursed + the permanent U.S. capital was built along the Potomac River so Southerners could watch it
    • National bank created (stability)
    • Plan worked; trade rose + debt dropped
    • Hamilton’s new financial plan was one highly controversial issue that led to formation of political parties.
  • Jefferson’s agrarian vision
    • Jefferson spoke for Southern planters + Western farmers
    • Believed that the human race was redeemable (Enlightenment optimist)
    • Doubted wageworkers had the economic/political independence to maintain a republican polity based on poverty of British workers (opposed Hamilton’s views)
    • Vision of an agriculture-based America
    • Democratic society of yeoman farming families
    • Wanted to trade raw goods for other necessary items with Europe
    • Chaos overseas made Jefferson’s vision possible (French Revolution)
    • First French Republic went to war with British-led monarchy coalition
    • Fighting disrupted European farming; meant prosperity for American farmers
    • Proved Jefferson’s plan could work just as well as Hamilton’s, further deepening party differences (economic/foreign policy)
    • Jefferson’s agriculture-and-foreign-trade-based vision for America’s economy proved plausible, though it deepened the differences in political views, leading to political parties.

C. The expansion of slavery in the deep South and adjacent western lands and rising antislavery sentiment began to create distinctive regional attitudes toward the institution.

  • Northern colonies
    • Great Lakes states banished slavery under Northwest Ordinance of 1787
    • Began abolishing slavery as a practice after declaring independence from Britain
    • Economy never relied on slavery as much (building, small farms, etc.)
    • Increased immigration led to decreased need for slavery in a more industrial economy
    • Petitioners (see claim 7C) against slavery
    • The Northern colonies began drifting away from slavery due to the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, increased immigration, and an economy with less need overall for slaves in its businesses.
  • Southern colonies
    • Articles of Confederation granted control over the “Old Southwest” to the Southern states, who quickly expanded slavery into modern-day Mississippi/Alabama
    • Plantation economies in the South meant higher need for slavery as a cheap labor force
    • Invention of cotton gin (Eli Whitney, 1794) made slaves’ work even more profitable
    • Deep ties to the institution of slavery in the South
    • White planters imported ~115,000 Africans from 1776-1808
    • Financed Mississippi/Alabama
    • The Southern colonies remained ties to slavery as an institution as its use led to increased profits thanks to the cotton gin and the South’s expansion westward.

D. Ideas about national identity increasingly found expression in works of art, literature, and architecture.

  • Mercy Otis Warren
    • 1728-1814
    • Poet/playwright during the American Revolution
    • Leading female intellectual
    • Outspoken historian/commentator who interacted with many leading figures
    • Early exposure to politics
    • No formal education (educated herself)
    • Hosted many anti-British leaders in her home
    • Friends with John Adams
    • Wrote political dramas that criticized the British government and their policies 4 years prior to the Declaration of Independence
    • First woman to publish a nonfiction book in America (History of the Rise, Progress and Termination of the American Revolution) + 3rd woman to publish a poem book
    • Some works were influenced by her firsthand war experiences
    • Embraced natural rights ideology
    • Supported egalitarian policies but not the formal education of women
    • Mercy Otis Warren published various works of literature influenced by her experience with the Patriot cause/Revolution as a whole.
  • Phillis Wheatley
    • Born in Africa + came to America at 7 as a slave
    • Slave of John Wheatley, a Boston tailor/businessman
    • Literate due to being tutored by her master’s children
    • Pointed out important/controversial social issues through her poetry
    • Earned praise/attention from several significant world leaders (like George Washington)
    • Writing style put slave owners at ease even when she was pointing out issues within the institution of slavery
    • One poem written to the Earl of Dartmouth explains her love of freedom as rooted in her enslavement
    • Wanted to promote freedom for everyone in the Revolution
    • Also part of female minority group
    • Courage required to speak her mind
    • Phillis Wheatley was a highly celebrated African-American poet whose experience as a former slave and writing style helped her convey messages about abolition to influential figures.
I. In the decades after American independence, interactions among different groups resulted in competition for resources, shifting alliances, and cultural blending.

A. Various American Indian groups repeatedly evaluated and adjusted their alliances with Europeans, other tribes, and the U.S., seeking to limit migration of white settlers and maintain control of tribal lands and natural resources. British alliances with American Indians contributed to tensions between the U.S. and Britain.

  • Handsome Lake
    • Seneca prophet
    • Encouraged traditional beliefs of animism along with Christian elements
    • Divided Seneca into factions
    • Chief Red Jacket condemned European culture as evil + demanded complete return to traditional ways
    • Inclusion of morality (to deter from alcohol/gambling/witchcraft) was highly controversial
    • Some Seneca were open to European culture, others resisted assimilation
    • Handsome Lake’s teachings, which combined traditional Native and Euro-American cultures/beliefs and led to division among Natives over assimilation.
  • Native military resistance
    • Some leaders (i.e. William Henry Drayton of South Carolina) wanted to destroy Native Americans completely
    • Other leaders (i.e. Henry Knox) wanted to force Natives to assimilate into white U.S. culture
    • Knox proposed division of tribal lands among individual families, who would then become citizens of the state in which their land was
    • New York land speculators used liquor/other bribes to take a million more acres than what they got in the Treaty of Fort Stanwix
    • Tribes like the Miami and Potawatomi, led by Little Turtle, defeated Washington’s American forces twice (1790 and 1791) after Natives were forced to give up land in the Northwest, Great Lakes, and Ohio River Valley regions
    • Natives resisted assimilation by fighting U.S. troops to protect their land after they were already forced to cede large plots in various areas.

B. As increasing numbers of migrants from North America and other parts of the world continued to move westward, frontier cultures that had emerged in the colonial period continued to grow, fueling social, political, and ethnic tensions.

  • Whiskey Rebellion (1794)
    • Hamilton sought revenue to pay interest on the national debt
    • Congress imposed excise taxes, including one on whiskey
    • In 1794, farmers in western Pennsylvania mounted the Whiskey Rebellion to protest this tax on alcohol because it cut demand for the corn whiskey they exported to the east
    • “Whiskey Rebels” attacked the tax collectors who sent their money to a distant government
    • Alcohol + taverns were key aspects of American culture at the time (Revolution organized in taverns) so tax on alcohol was extremely unpopular with Americans, especially those on frontiers who were farther removed from the government’s direct influence
    • The Whiskey Rebellion was an example of tension on the western frontier due to taxes on a prominent product in their culture for a relatively far-away government.
  • Yazoo land fraud
    • In 1795, Georgia legislators were bribed to sell the part of Georgia’s land claims that later became called Mississippi
    • Sold to 4 land companies for $500,000 (below its real value)
    • News of this deal aroused anger + resulted in changes in elected legislators the following year
    • New legislature rescinded the act, but most of the land had already been sold to third parties who refused to give it back
    • Fletcher v. Peck ruled that the rescindment was an unconstitutional infringement on a legal contract
    • Yazoo land fraud showed how the colonies’ attempts to further expand westward fueled political tensions.

C. As settlers moved westward during the 1780s, Congress enacted the Northwest Ordinance for admitting new states; the ordinance promoted public education, the protection of private property, and a ban on slavery in the Northwest Territory.

  • Ordinance of 1784
    • Written by Thomas Jefferson after 30,000 settlers moved to the Kentucky'/Tennessee area + established Franklin, seeking admission to the Confederation
    • Established the idea that territories could become states as their populations grew
    • The Ordinance of 1784 helped with the admittance of new states to the Confederation.
  • Ordinance of 1785
    • Provided a rectangular-grid system of land surveying
    • Minimum price of $1 per acre
    • 1/2 of the townships had to be sold in 23,040-acre blocks and the other half in 640-acre parcels (half for large-scale “speculators”; other half for better-off farmers)
    • The Ordinance of 1785 mandated that blocks of land be sold in certain ways at certain prices, effectively protecting private property.
  • Northwest Ordinance of 1787
    • Created territories in the Northwest (eventually became Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana)
    • Prohibited slavery in these areas
    • Funds raised to support schools (money from land sales)
    • Said Congress would appoint a governor + judges to control each territory until there were 5,000 free adult males in the population, at which point they could elect a legislature
    • At 60,000 they could form a republican constitution + apply to join Confederation
    • The Northwest Ordinance set laws for the Northwest territories that mandated their government/status, economy and slavery policies.

D. An ambiguous relationship between the federal government and American Indian tribes contributed to problems regarding treaties and American Indian legal claims relating to the seizure of their lands.

  • Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1784)
    • Britain gave up its North American land claims in the Treaty of Paris (1783) + left their Native allies to deal with the Americans
    • Many white Americans wanted to assimilate Natives into Euro-American culture/society
    • Natives resisted both strategies
    • U.S. asserted sovereignty/ownership over trans-Appalachian west, which was rejected by Natives as they hadn’t been conquered or signed the Paris treaty
    • U.S. commissioners forced pro-British Iroquois to cede huge plots of land in New York and Pennsylvania in Fort Stanwix treaty
    • The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was one treaty that forced Native Americans to hand large land plots over to the U.S. government following the end of the Revolution.
  • Treaty of Greenville (1795)
    • Washington doubled size of U.S. army + sent General Wayne to defeat the confederacy in the Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794) because they feared an alliance between British Canadians and the western Confederacy (Native Americans)
    • Continuing resistance from Natives forced compromise
    • In 1795, Americans acknowledged Native ownership of the land + Western Confederacy ceded most of Ohio + agreed to accept American sovereignty (placed themselves under U.S. protection)
    • Led to Britain’s agreement to reduce its trade/military aid to trans-Appalachian Native tribes in Jay’s Treaty in 1795
    • Sparked a wave of white migration
    • The Treaty of Greenville was a major treaty that led to compromise over land between the U.S. government and Native American tribes.
II. The continued presence of European powers in North America challenged the United States to find ways to safeguard its borders, maintain neutral trading rights, and promote its economic interests.

A. The United States government forged diplomatic initiatives aimed at dealing with the continued British and Spanish presence in North America, as U.S. settlers migrated beyond the Appalachians and sought free navigation of the Mississippi River.

  • Pinckney’s Treaty (1795)
    • Between U.S. and Spain on October 27th, 1795
    • Defined border between U.S. and Spanish Florida
    • Gave U.S. navigation rights on the Mississippi River
    • Tax-free deposit (temporary goods storage) in New Orleans, Louisiana
    • Each side agreed to contain Natives within its borders for mutual protection
    • Free overseas navigation
    • Pinckney’s Treaty effectively dealt with Spanish presence in America by drawing a border that allowed U.S. colonists navigation across the Mississippi without attack.
  • Jay’s Treaty (1795)
    • British maritime strategy divided America
    • British navy seized 250 ships carrying various goods beginning in late 1793
    • President Washington sent John Jay to Britain to try to protect merchant property through diplomacy
    • Jay returned with controversial treaty that ignored original American claim + accepted Britain’s right to stop neutral ships
    • Required U.S. government to fully compensate British merchants for pre-Revolutionary War debts
    • Allowed American citizens to submit claims for illegal seizures
    • Required British to take their troops + Native allies out of the Northwest Territory
    • Ratified by Senate in 1795 despite Democratic-Republican doubts
    • British stopped arming Native Americans as a result
    • Jay’s Treaty was another diplomatic asset used to control British presence and influence in North America (as well as their Native alliances).

B. War between France and Britain resulting from the French Revolution presented challenges to the United States over issues of free trade and foreign policy and fostered political disagreement.

  • Election of 1800
    • Candidates were Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Aaron Burr
    • Bitter, no-holds-barred election
    • Jefferson portrayed as “irresponsible pro-French radical” because of his experience as a diplomat in France and his support of the French Revolution
    • Democratic-Republicans usually supported France, Federalists preferred Britain (i.e. Alexander Hamilton wanted to declare war against France after XYZ affair, etc.)
    • Foreign policy up for debate in election (Federalists for U.S. independence, Democratic-Republicans for cooperation)
    • Trade affected by foreign policy/relations (see XYZ affair, etc.)
    • The election of 1800 proved how free trade and foreign policy, particularly regarding France, was a hotly debated issue in America.
  • Neutrality Proclamation
    • Issued by Washington during war between Britain and France following French Revolution
    • Allowed trade to continue with both sides
    • American economy was still recovering from the Revolution
    • America was officially allies with France (French helped us in Revolutionary War) but Federalists refused to help French because the king (who they had initially made the treaty with) was dead
    • Democratic-Republicans (especially Jefferson) were upset by this as they were pro-French
    • Federalists were pro-British
    • Washington’s Proclamation of Neutrality was a divisive issue among pro-French Democratic-Republicans and pro-British Federalists in the name of trade and American independence.

C. George Washington’s Farewell Address encouraged national unity, as he cautioned against political factions and warned about the danger of permanent foreign alliances.

  • U.S. unity (partisan/no political parties)
    • Washington’s support for Hamilton’s financial plan promoted partisan factions
    • Washington later condemned factionism in his Farewell Address + tried to rise above party conflicts (warned Americans to unite to keep their country strong and well, regardless of political beliefs)
    • “Unity of government” is what kept people together
    • “Inseparable from our nature” as it is part of the mind’s strongest passions
    • Washington warned Americans against infighting that would divide them and ultimately make the U.S. less strong overall.
  • American independence (no permanent alliances)
    • Believed partisanship (see above) would lead to “foreign influence and corruption”
    • Advocated for good U.S. relations with other countries (especially in matters of trade/economics)
    • Washington believed Europe had its own set of interests and issues that shouldn’t be the U.S.’ problem
    • Neutrality was the safest option for unity and stability
    • Permanent alliances dangerous
    • Washington argued the U.S. must maintain its independence to remain unified and stable as foreign nations has their own interests that would influence the U.S.