unit 4

Conflict & American Independence (1754-1800)

1754 Albany Plan of Union - developed by Benjamin Franklin & proposed in Albany NY, where colonists prepared for the French and Indian War . called for a central government including all colonies, & taxing system to fund colonial defense. Rejected because colonists wanted rights to tax themselves, & werent prepared to unite under 1 legislature. Frustrated, BJ made “join or die” cartoon. 

1754 - 1763 Seven Year’s War/French & Indian War - caused by French encroachment on British Ohio River Valley. Britain allied with the iroquois, and fought france & its indian allies.

• British won, & battle ended with the Treaty of Paris 1763

  • French removed from North America, British doubled its land claims, & colonists moved west to Ohio River Valley

1763 Pontiac’s Rebellion - English were encroaching on native land in Ohio River Valley after 7 years war. They were very overwheliming compared to the French, so Ottowa war chief Pontiac rallied a group of tribed & attacked colonial outposts.

• As a result, british government issued the Proclamation line of 1763, which restricted colonial settlement west of the appalachian mountains. Marked end of salutary neglect, & pattern of distinguishing “Indian Territory”

Because of the Seven YEar’s war, British government was in debt. King George III & prime minister George Grenville wanted colonists to help pay this debt

1764 Sugar Act  - initiated by george grenville, a rigorous tax on French Molasses. Aimed to deter molasses smugglers. Angered colonists because it was strictly enforced, & violators were arrested & tried in courts, & judged by a single person without a jury. 

1765 Stamp Act - A tax stamp of all printed items, which brought universal protesting. James Otis claimed it was “taxation without representation”.

• Protests formed throughout colonies, like the Sons of Liberty took violent opposition

• 1766, Parliement repealed the Stamp Act, & George III replaced Grenville with Lord Rockingham

  • Rockingham passed the Declatory Act, assterint British government’s right to enforce binding laws upon the colonies

Townshend act of 1767 - parliament member Charles Townshend enforced a tax on goods imported to America, like paper, paint, & tea. It was the first tax on imports that included items bought directly from Britain. 

Nonimportation movement 1768 - colonial leaders rejected townshend act’s legitimacy. Promoted the domestic manufacturing of necessities. Women played  crucial role in making homemade goods.

1770 Boston Massacre  - Massachusettes condemned townshend acts. Britain stationed troops in Boston for crowd control. When a mob threw rock-filled snowballs at redcoats, they retaliated & shot into the crowd, killing 5.

• Labeled as a massacre & used to rally sentiment against imperial power

• Response to the Quartering Act of 1765, forcing the housing of British troops.

1772 Committees of Correspondance - allowed patriots to communicate with leaders in other colonies when problems about colonial liberties occurred

1773 Boston Tea Party - British granted the East India Tea Company a monopoly on the colonial tea trade. Undercut the business of colonial merchants, & colonists believed british were forcing cheap tea to make up for Tea taxes. A group of Sons of liberty disguised as natives boarded a ship & dumped tea into Boston harbor.

1774 Coercive/Intolerable Acts  - response to Boston Tea Party, restricted Boston Harbor to all but essential trade until the tea was paid for. Passed the Quartering act, which forced civilians to house british soldiers. 

1774 (late) First Continental Congress - mainland colonies sent representatives to philadelphia to discuss british oppression in the recent Coercive Acts. Agreed to boycott british goods until British addressed their grievances. Also formed a Continental Association, which set up committees of observation to enforce boycott.

1775 After the minutemen successfully repelled british troops at battle of Concord, the Second Continental Continental Congress was convened. There, they created the Continental Army and chose George Washington to lead it

• Adopted the Olive Branch Petition pushed for by John Dickinson, which pleaded George III to negotiate

1776 January - Thomas Paine published Common Sense, which advocated for colonial independence, and argued for republicanism over monarchy.

1776 Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, which highlighted the colonies grievances against the crown, & articulated the governments responsibility to serve the people & the rights of individuals.

1777 Battle of Saratoga  - NY. It was a turning point in the revolution because it was a victory for American troops against British forces. It ended british prominence in upstate NY, & the French agreed to ally with the Continental congress & send military aid.

1781 Battle of Yorktown - symbolic end to the American Revolution. Cornwaliss’ army was surrounded by French Navy and American troops on land. Conrwallis surrendered, and negotiations between British and American troops began.

1783 Treaty of Paris - granted the US independence

1777 Continental Congress sent the Articles of Confederation to the states to be ratified. This created a confederation of loose unions where states kept sovereignty. Some limitations were that 

• It could not enforce taxes or a military draft, not being able to levy taxes led to inflation

• It couldnt regulate interstate/international trade

• No executive/judicial branch

• Did not compensate for blacks/womens who supported war, Abigal Adams asked husband to “remember the ladies”.

1786-87 Shay’s Rebbelion - Daniel Shays was a Revolutionary war veteran who like other farmers, fell into debt while fighting & couldnt pay high taxes. In Massachusettes, shay gathered farmers & attacked courthouses. The Massachusettes government couldnt mobilize forces to stop this, showing weakness of Articles of Confederation.

1787 Northwest Ordinance - governed the sale of government land to settlers. Abolished slavery in the Northwest Territories, & set regulations under the conditions under which a territory can apply for statehood.

1787 Constitutionally Convention  - held in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation

• New jersey plan called for the power to taxt states, & equal representation from each state

• Virginia plan (James Madison) called for an executive, legislative, & judicial branch. It addressed the Ariticles of Confederaiton’s limitations, & used a system of checks and balances. It was heavy on a powerful national government.

  • Was criisied because representatives were determined by population, giving big states an advantage\

The Great Compromise - blended the Virginia & New Jersey plan, having a bicameral legislature & a constitution. Established 3 branches of government, & checks and balances

• Three-fifths compromise to give southern states proportional representation in congress, each enslaved person counted as ⅗ of a person

• Anti Federalists were against ratification, believing the constitution gave the government too much federal power

• Federalists wanted ratification, argued for it in Federalist Papers

• The Constitution went into effect in 1789, & the Bill of Rights  was added in 1791 to please antifederalists 

The Washington Presidency

GW selected Thomas Jefferson as his secretary of state, & Alexander Hamilton as secretary of the treasury

• Hamilton believed in a strong central government & weaker state governments. Favored loose interpretations of the constitution & a national bank

• Jefferson feared monarchy, favoring a weaker federal government & strong state powers. He believed in literal interpretation of the constitution, and was against Hamilton’s national bank.

Hamilton’s financial plan called for the feral government to assume the state’s debts

1789 French Revolution - Washington declared the US’ intention to remain impartial to belligerent powers in his Nuetrality Proclamation

First Party System:

Federalists - economy based on commerce & a strong central government

• Led by Hamilton, Washington, Adams

• Supported by wealthy northeasterns

• Sympathetic towards Great Britain

Democratic republicans - Economy based on agriculture, stronger state governments

• Led by Jefforson & Madison

• Supported by yeoman farmers & southerners

• Sympathetic towards france

1794 Whiskey Rebellion - pennsylvania farmers protested Hamilton’s tax on whiskey. Rebels attacked tax collecters, but were dispersed by George Washington’s militia force. Similar to Bacon’s rebellion & Shay’s rebellion, this portrayed class tensions between inland farmers & coastal elites who ran the new government.

1795 jay’s treay ratified - after the revolutionary war, Britain still had troops stationed in the Northwest territory. They also seized American ships who were trading with france, while they were in combat. As a result, John jay negotiated that Britain leave forts in the U.S., & the U.S. agress to pay pre-revolutionary war debts.

• This was contreversial because many pro france jeffersonian democratic-republicans beleived it was too sympathetic towards Britain.

1796 Farewell Adress - George Washiingotn urged future presidents to steer away from allying with foreign nations, & to avoid sectional divisions.

Republican Motherhood - women were excluded prom political activity, but were expected to be the teachers and producers of virutous male citizens. Emerged in the early 1800s

The Adams Presidency 

John Adams (federalist) succeeded Washongton, and his VP was Thomas Jefferson (democratic republican)

1797 XYZ affair - after Jay’s treaty, the french began seizing U.S. ships. Adams sent diplomats to Paris, but french officials demanded a large bribe before they could speak with the French minister.

• Previous pro-french Americans became anti-french and tensions with france arose.

1789 naturalization, alien, & sedition Acts - aimed to suppress democratic republican criticism ofederalist policies, & federalists feared french immigrant spies, & most immigrants who supported democratic republicans

• Naturalization Act - higher residency required to become a US citizen

• Alien Act - allowed the president to deport “dangerous” non-citizens

• Sedition Act - prohibited the publication of insults towards the president or congress members

  • In opposition, Thomas Jefferson & James madisons drafted the Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions which argued that the states had the right to judge the constitutionality of federal laws

    • Voided the alien & sedition acts