American Identity There wasn’t really any common identity, every state did their own thing B/c of French Indian war, colonies needed to come together The Albany Plan of Union (1754): Developed by Ben Franklin, and recognized the need for coordinating colonial defense among the colonies. It provided an intercolonial government and a system for recruiting troops and collecting taxes for their common defense Set a precedent for later, more revolutionary congresses in the 1770s
French and Indian War (Seven Years War-1754 to 1763) Britain (and Native Americans, specifically the Iroquois) vs. French (and Native Americans, specifically the Algonquins) and began in the colonies then spread to Europe Britain and France, as well as Spain, were always rivals in North America By 1754: war was brewing General Braddock: led 1,500 British regulars and troops, but got ambushed by French and Native Americans War ends, Britain wins, but it caused a bunch of debt for Britain Proclamation of 1763 (Proposed by Britain): Limited colonial expansion (colonists can’t move), tightening of control to avoid problems with Native Americans Britain gains French Canada and Spanish Florida through Peace of Paris
Colonists think they did well
Western Encroachments
George Washington
Effects of War Many colonists gained religious freedom and began to identify as British After the war, Britain got rid of salutary neglect and paid more attention the colonies Debt: The king and Parliament needed to come up with a plan to relieve debt, so they made the colonists pay up by implementing policies, angered the colonists
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Popular Movements (everyday people)
Taxation Without Representation Committees of Correspondence: coordinate inter-colonial opposition to Britain Stamp Act (1765): all documents, newspapers, pamphlets, and books are taxed Parliament passes Declaratory Acts emphasizing they can tax the colonies at will and Townshend Acts 1767 on imports of paper, paint, lead, glass and tea
Tensions Rise
Benjamin Franklin In 1720, two London journalists writing under the pseudonym “Cato”, introduced the idea that truth should be a defense against libel (a published false statement) Had a profound influence in the American colonies
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Enlightenment (Philosophical Foundations) Reason and Logic vs Tradition and Superstitions Six Patterns that were reformed Representative government, democracy, freedom of conscience, civil equality, centralized administration, and autonomy of individual
An expansion of the worldliness and secularism of the Renaissance (Scientific Revolution of Politics) Immanuel Kant was one of the philosophers during this revolution
Central Concepts The methods of natural science should be used to understand all aspects of life- through the use of REASON Discover the natural laws of human society as well as the natural world (social science) The idea of progress - the confidence in human power, human reason to improve society Rejection of superstition and tradition Tolerance and equality Deism - God does not intervene in the world through miracles; he created the world, and then removed himself from it
Philosophes: people of letters who wrote for public consumption, using humor, wit, satire Montesquieu - separation and balance of powers (no branch of government has more power than the other); admired the British model of government Voltaire: Freedom of thought and religion (toleration), separation of Church and State Jean-Jacques Rousseau (later Enlightenment) Society is artificial and corrupt - state of nature is better- education Valued impulse and emotion more than reason Believed in Social Contract (government and people have a contract; if government is evil, ppl can break contract
John Locke - people had natural rights given by God: “life, liberty, and property.”
Hereditary Privilege: Having a system of nobles, knights, royalty, etc. Nobles didn’t have to pay any taxes and were protected from everything.
Declaration of Independence (1776): Written by Jefferson, he got many ideas from Enlightenment. “Life liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, unalienable rights, laws of nature (Locke) “Governments are instituted among men”, “deriving their powers from the consent of the governed” (Rousseau)
Common Sense: Written by Thomas Payne, it is common sense for 13 colonies to be one country, challenging authority of british government and monarchy
Republicanism Rousseau: Republic as ideal government - “voice of the people” Choose people to govern in our behalf by means of election, and they serve the people
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Colonial Militias: A group of civilians that organized for the “patriot Cause”. A force of armed civilians pledged to defend their community during the American Revolution. Minutemen: A member of the colonial militia who trained to respond at a minutes warning Lexington and Concord: Sites in Massachusetts of the first battles of the American Revolution Paul Revere: A Boston silversmith who was changed with spreading the news about British troop movements.
Continental Army (the colonists) Strengths Weaknesses April 1775 “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” 2nd Continental Congress (1775) Battle of Yorktown (1781): Last battle, America and French corned British ships in Virginia Treaty of Paris (1783)
G. Washington Leadership: Influential in shaping the war
Ideological Commitment: Believe in the cause, thought it was a good idea
Loyalist Opposition: People who support England
Assistance from France: Gave money to colonists to fund war efforts
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Revolution (Huntington) Revolution: Knocking off the people on top, the lower classes move up and take power Lower classes unite against a common enemy, Britain, but it wasn’t necessarily a revolution, but a restoration
Inequalities: Some people are rich, some people are poor
Abolitionism (Anti-slavery)
Republican Motherhood: Part of the Enlightenment, opened more opportunities for girls to have an education |
Independence Movements (Latin America/French Revolution): Inspired by Liberalism and Self-Determination in the US Self-Determination: The right to choice sovereignty (country) and international political status with no interference. Basically means that they should be able to rule themselves and elect their own leaders.
Liberalism (Democracy): Political and economic ideology based on liberty, consent of the governed, and equality before the law. Both Democrats and Republicans are Liberals, however liberal (with a lowercase L) means being a Democrat/voting for the Left. A key, Western political value Free and open trade Govern with consent of the governed Laissez-faire (small government/has less power over certain things) Liberty meant you were not ruled by tyranny Republicanism Modern order of politics in which power flows from the people to their leaders
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Articles of Confederation (1781-1789): first American government, very weak Congress (Federal government) limited by common fear of tyrannical central power - states retain sovereignty Only state governments had power to tax - Federal government printed more money leading to inflation Could not regulate interstate commerce No power to draft troops - weak army dependent on militias
Shay’s Rebellion- Massachusetts farmers who were losing farms as states attempted to increase taxes to pay war debts Many of Shay’s followers were war veterans themselves Highlights the weakness of the federal government - no federal army to put down rebellion - had to raise a private militia Significance: leads to calls for a stronger federal government - the greater threat to liberty was anarchy caused by a weak force
Interstate Commerce: No power to levy tariffs - American merchants hurt by foreign competition No taxes to be payed, government was broke as heck Spain cut off Mississippi and France demanded repayment of loans
Northwest Ordinance (1787): settlement guidelines included creating schools; pioneers could purchase land from the federal gov and laid out the process for admitting new states to the union. Also forbid extension of slavery into Old Northwest |
Constitution (The rules of politics) 1787: The Constitutional Convention is convened in Philadelphia to create new government “A Bundle of Compromises” The Great Compromise: two chambers in Congress: The Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate would be based on equal representation for each state and the House would be based on population Three-Fifths Compromise: enslaved count as ⅗ of a person in a state’s population Tariffs: allowed on imports and not exports; interstate commerce would be regulated by the federal government Slavery: allow slave trade for the next 20 years, enact Fugivitve Slave Law President: a chief executive elected indirectly through the electoral college
Federalists/Anti-Federalists Federalists: want a strong national government to guarantee America’s power. Favored Constitution but against Bill of Rights. Antifederalists: want to keep as much freedom for the states and individuals as possible. Favored Articles of Confederation and for Bill of Rights
Bill of Rights (1st 10 Amendments) Freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition Right to bear arms Quartering of soldiers Arrests and searches Rights of persons accused of crimes Right of persons on trial of crimes Jury trials in civil cases Limitations on bail and punishments Rights kept by the people Powers kept by the states or the people
Separation of Powers: Checks and Balances in the Federal Government
Ratification (1788-1789): Not everyone was for the Constitution and for the new Constitution to become law, 9 of the 13 states had to ratify it (pass)
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Washington Administration (1789-1796) Federalists: wanted to be neutral; strong international commerce Anti-Federalists: want to support French revolution; agrarian society with limited tariffs Neutrality Proclamation (1793): America declares itself neutral
Precedents (examples) Washington Presidency (1789-1796) Washington begins by organizing the federal government and appointing the first “cabinet” of advisors Sets up the court system as well, including district+appeals courts
Washington’s Domestic Policy Washington’s Treasury secretary (Hamilton) proposes a financial program, which Washington approves Jefferson thinks this is a terrible idea - he think it gives the government too much power and hurts farmers and consumers
Political Parties: organized group of people who have the same ideology, and same political beliefs
Democratic-Republican Party (Anti-Federalist child)
Washington Farewell Address (gives up power, makes the presidency two terms) John Adams’ Presidency (1796-1800) The “Revolution of 1800” |