Ford Pre-IB History 10 - GA through Constitution

Start of Unit -

Great Awakening (1740’s) - A series of revivals in the colonies.

Colonists loved to see traveling preachers because they didn't always live near a church. Christianity was still important to them.

The revivals brought in a very emotional response from the colonists fearing for their lives. People were genuinely worried for their souls.

This religion was more relaxed and you didn't have to be born pure to be a christian.

Church membership even gave people voting rights.

The clergy -

Less and less people were converting because religion was pretty strict and hard to follow. The clergy were worrying for the sake of the people as they saw a mass majority of people going to hell.

Key leaders -

Jonathon Edwards - Sinners in the hands of an angry god.

George Whitefield - could bring in thousands of people with his preaching.

Both had very high conversion rates and could speak to thousands. Now preachers did not have to have degrees to speak. Baptists and Methodists were the most accepting of this. The great awakening was respected more in the south than anywhere else.

Old Lights vs. New Lights

Old lights were literally like the older clergy type men who were stricter in faith and liked traditional style churches.

New lights were the newer usually itinerant preachers with heavily emotional sermons.

The Enlightenment

In our notes, the GA came first. However really the great awakening was a response to the preexisting enlightenment. The enlightenment was really a longer period of time.

The Enlightenment placed an emphasis on logic, reason, and thinking through things. In terms of religion these would be more deist point of views. John Locke is ultimately one of the most famous enlightenment thinkers.

John Locke wrote The Social Contract and he really just influenced a lot of ideas of government such as the right to revolt, a more democratic system, and power from the people.

What these enlightenment thinkers did ultimately influenced the American Revolution heavily.

Sir Issac Newton was a semi important enlightenment thinker who wrote Principia Mathematica. (Not quite as heavily influential besides a scientific perspective). Obviously he did heavily value logic and reason.

In terms of a more philosophical side, thinkers like Ben Franklin focused more on individual accomplishment. Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin were well known writers at the time. Eventually they would become key leaders of government.

The Seven Years War 1754-1763

Also known as the French and Indian War…

Around 1754 was when the war started. I do not believe the specifics of the fighting are super important. They are fighting with the French for mostly this rich territory(The Ohio River Valley).

Essentially Great Britain wins and they get the Valley which they fought for. The French are driven out of the Americas. However, the Spanish also get to keep land like louisiana.

The Natives in the territories do not like the British Rule. Pontiac's rebellion is when the Natives somewhat rebel but the Proclamation of 1763 settles it pretty quickly.

The proclamation of 1763 was a way to appease the Natives by not letting the colonists into basically any land besides the colonies.

The American Revolution

Essentially I am going to start with the first few acts that angered the Colonists and then explain some things that went between them.

After the Seven Years War, Great Britain was heavily in debt. The colonists refuse to help pay for it so Great Britain needs to implement taxes.

The Sugar Act of 1764

This is a tax on Sugar which really only affected a specific group of people in the middle-ish colonies. The most notable thing with the Sugar Act is definitely the amount of smuggling. Britain does not like Smuggling at all so they implement harsh punishments like unfair trials - “vice admiralty courts” - is a fancy way to say it.

Quartering Act of 1765

This isn't a super heavily talked about act but it is the first time we see quartering. The soldiers that the people were forced to quarter were left over after the war. Ultimately this number is gonna increase as Great Britain gets more angry with the colonists - trying to exert more control.

Stamp Act of 1765

This is a very important act because it was the first one that really affected everyone in the colonies. So many things like paper products got a stamp on them meaning there was an extra tax.

The Declaratory Act of 1766

This was basically just Great Britain - the angry king in particular- saying fuck all of you colonists. Great Britain basically said that the colonies are there and they can tax them however they want. Though they did just say this after repealing the Stamp Act.

I’m going to take a pause here with the acts to explain some protests.

First it is important to understand the Sons of Liberty. They are essentially a group of people who organize protests. They are those people who dressed up as native americans and started the Boston Tea Party(Not essential in this chronological order). Samuel Adams was a famous leader who was like the “Penman” for the Sons of Liberty. Some of the things they argue for are essentially against Taxation without Representation. Other things like the Acts are things they hated obviously.

Another important actual protest to keep in mind around this time is the Boston Massacre in 1770. As it says, this happened in Boston when really basically a riot between a couple people grew into this larger conflict. The colonists did threaten the British with snowballs filled with metals and glass. When the British shot though, ultimately the colonists were seen as the victims. When this news went public it was painted in a way where the British would be seen as like this predator to the innocent colonists. Paul Revere was the man who painted the image of the Boston Massacre.

If you look at the smuggling of items you could really view it as an act of protest. John Hancock is the man who had the ship painted Liberty on it.

Back to the Acts.

The next acts would technically be the Townshend Acts. These Acts ultimately were targeted towards richer colonists who could afford items such as lead, glass, paint, paper, and tea. Again these acts are resisted and the British repeal them.

After the Townshend Acts, the Tea Act was put in place in 1773. One of the reasons that Great Britain did this was simply because the British East India Company was not doing well. This tax was again heavily hated. The Tea Act is ultimately what led to the Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773.

The British were shockingly not happy with the Tea Party. They implemented the Coercive or Intolerable Acts in 1775 in order to punish the colonists essentially. A lot of different things came out of the Coercive Acts. The Quartering Acts were enforced even more. The colonists had even less power over their government. The Boston port was also closed.

Colonists Anger

The Governors were trying to keep the colonists powerless but people were so fueled with hatred towards the British. Propaganda increased and people were eager to find ways to retaliate.

At the first continental congress(Probably around December of 1774), 12 of the 13 colonies had delegates that met up in order to discuss certain issues with the coercive acts and their freedoms. These were elitist men such as Richard Henry Lee, Sam Adams, John Adams, and Patrick Henry calling for independence. These men essentially wanted Boston to be armed and ready at any moment and to start protesting the acts more heavily. The real reason the meeting was so important was because this was the first time the colonies had done any sort of unification. Patrick Henry even gives his famous “Give me liberty or give me death” speech.

The Join or Die cartoon with the snake was created by Ben Franklin in May of 1774.

The Actual War

Paul Revere is the man who rides out towards Concord warning that the British are coming. General Gage has sent a bunch of troops out to destroy forts with ammunition. In all the midst of this at Lexington, a shot is fired creating that “Shot heard around the world”.

The British are pushed back to Boston where they are surrounded. Eventually the British get to attack on Breed's Hill outside Boston where they lose a lot of men (1000) but ultimately win because the colonists have to retreat. The saying “don't shoot until you see the white in their eyes” comes from this battle as the colonists were low on ammunition.

Because the Colonists are actually doing well, General Gage is fired and Howe is sent in.

I am just going to cover the battles listed from the Battle Sheet later in the war.

The Second Continental Congress Happened around the year 1775. Washington was appointed as the head general for their fight against Great Britain. They really just discussed their taxes and plans for how they are going to win the war. It was mostly a response to the battles at Lexington and Concord.

At Trenton around Christmas of 1776, Washington takes advantage of the German Hessians who are relaxing by capturing them. Ultimately because they have done this, they are able to win at Trenton.

At Saratoga in 1777, the British were very weak and so the colonists were able to win. This win inspired the French to join the colonists. The British were also losing a lot more men than the Colonists.

At Yorktown in 1781, the British were surrounded on all sides after a decoy was set up north to make the British think they were not going to attack. With the French support coming in by the sea, Cornwallis and his men had nothing they could do but surrender after holding out for a month.

It is the Treaty of Paris 1783 that really marks the end of the war. Ben Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay were sent to negotiate terms of the treaty. The Colonists got their independence and the British had to leave America. The Americans ultimately kept most of the same in terms of the land but not the Ohio River Valley.

Now Some Famous Documents

The Declaration of Independence was written in July of 1776. It was written primarily by Thomas Jefferson who expressed his hatred towards the British. All in all there is really not a lot to be mentioned about it. The document is significant because these men signing it are literally laying down their lives to fight for their independence.

The Articles of Confederation were the first attempt at a government after the war. It was made to be really weak because the colonists had just fought super hard to get away from a powerful central government. States were given more individual freedoms. The central government could not tax the colonies which was a massive issue. Communication via postal service and trains was established in the colonies.

The AOC was weak because it couldn’t enforce much upon the colonies which is important when your country is heavily in debt. It took 9/13 consent in the colonies to get anything done. States began to create their own constitutions. The Bill of Rights also came with the AOC.

More problems arose when the Americans were giving away more money to other countries than was coming back into the colonies. Spain also closed access to the Sea for the American colonies.

A lot of inflation came about as a result of the colonies printing so much money.

Rich in Land

The Americans now have the Ohio River Valley which they need to sell in order to make money. The land ordinance of 1785 was basically a way for the land to be turned into town areas 36 acres wide.

Later when the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 came into effect it allowed these towns to actually become states once they reached a certain population. The Ordinance required that slavery would not be allowed in this new area. When a population reached 60,000, the people could write their own constitution.

Conventions

The Annapolis convention included representatives from 5 states to discuss inflation, trade, and taxes in 1786. Eventually a larger convention would be called for by Alexander Hamilton in Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia and Constitutional convention are the same thing. This is ultimately where they decide to create a new constitution. 55 representatives gathered in Philadelphia at different times to decide the fate of the Americans. It was sworn to secrecy because at this point people were still skeptical of a strong central government.

James Madison is the “Father of the Constitution” who wrote most of the constitution but also journaled about it.

The Controversy - The great compromise(Conneticut)

The Virginia Plan was written by Madison. It said that the Aoc needed to be scrapped and a new constitution to be written entirely. The Virginia plan said voting should be placed more on the actual population as opposed to colonies. It involved a Bicameral legislature.

The government needed the ability to regulate foreign and domestic commerce. The government would be able to tax the colonists as well.

The New Jersey plan only wanted to modify the AOC. The New Jersey Plan wanted to give more power to the states instead of a central government. It was a unicameral legislature meaning one house. Each state was equally represented. They had the power to tax and regulate trade. William Patterson wrote the New Jersey Plan

It is ultimately a combination of both that we have today.

Smaller states wanted protection from larger states in voting systems. The bicameral system had a senate and a house of representatives. The representatives were chosen by population and eligible voters whilst the senate were chosen by state legislatures.

Slavery

Some states wanted to end slavery whilst others were not at all accepting of this idea. Slaves counted as ⅗ of a person in the compromise. This was for population measures and representatives as well as taxes on slaves. Slaves got no rights and the slave trade was agreed to end by 1808.

Shays Rebellion

Many farmers were tired of paying with paper money as opposed to gold currency. In 1786 they rebelled but I don’t know much more than that. I know it disturbed many Americans because of how little control the government had of their people.