1776-17911776-1791

History’s first global war - The Seven Years’ War - would be fought on three continents simultaneously.

The French and Indian War

Though victorious, the cost of fighting such an expansive war left Great Britain with a huge war debt

From the war, Britain acquired significant new territories, including lands directly west of her thirteen American colonies.Expecting the citizens of these colonies to help Britain

pay-of its debts,…a series of taxes were placed on the American colnists,

…

significantly straining the relationship between the British gov’t and her American subjects.

Without representation in Parliament, the American colonists objected to Britain’s unfair taxation policies,…claiming that “taxation without representation” violated

their natural rights,…and failed to acknowledge their “general will.”

John Smith: leader of new colony in North America

Jamestown: First permanent English settlement in North America (1607)Disastrous start

Smith held Jamestown together until more settlers arrived in 1609

Tobacco grown in Jamestown

CASH CROPIndentured Servants:

4 to 7 year servantsworked to pay for

passage to America

Colonists wanted more land, but it was already occupied

Jamestown leaders demanded food and labor frm. Native Americans

English settlers took hostages:One hostage was

named PocahontasPocahontas married

John Rolfe & fighting stopped for a while

By 1644, 10,000 English lived in America

Puritans were a new religious group that wanted to break away from the Catholic church and the Church of England

In 1620, a small group of Puritans set up a colony in America

This group became known as the Pilgrims

Settled in Massachusetts

Mayflower Compact John Winthrop: first

governor of Mass. Bay Colony

Btwn. 1630-1640 about 20,000 colonists moved to the colonyThis movement was

called the “Great Migration”

Boston became the capital and a busy seaport

The Puritans came to America to escape persecutions

Ironically, they were intolerant of other religions in Massachusetts

Some Puritans felt that the govt.. should not punish people for their religion

Roger Williams was arrested and was to be deported to Englandhe escaped and

founded a new settlement

1636 Williams founded Providence(Which later became

capital of Rhode Island)

he purchased land from Native Americans

Other Puritans, like Anne Hutchinson moved to Providence too

Tension btwn. Colonists and Native Americans was building for 40 yrs

by the 1670s over 50,000 colonists lived in America

Chief Metacomb, nicknamed King Philip organized several tribes to fight

1675 war btwn. Colonists & Nat. Americans beganNative Americans

wore down with disease and starvation, colonists won

New Amsterdam was founded in 1625

The Dutch invited people of many nations to settle in New AmsterdamPeople enjoyed

religious freedoms

1644 England took over New Amsterdam and re-named it New York after its owner

The Duke of York then gave a portion of this land away and named it New Jersey

William Penn was given a large sum of land by English King Charles II

Land was named Pennsylvania (Penn’s Woods) after William’s father

Penn was a Quaker: a religious group that was radical for its time

Penn treated Native Americans fairly & paid for the land he took

Mercantilism: nations could increase wealth and power (1) by finding as much gold & silver as possible (2) by having a favorable balance of tradeColonies were the

key to mercantilism

England passed the Navigation Acts in 1651 to make more money from the colonies

Navigation Acts ordered the following:

1. All ships used for trade w/ the colonies must be built in England or the colonies

2. All crews on ships must be 3/4 English or Colonial

3. Colonists could sell certain products only to England

4. Almost all goods sent from the colonies to Europe had to go through an English port

The King chose a Governor for the colony

Governor appointed a council of advisors

male landowners elected a local assembly

From the 1600s to the early 1700s, most Colonists saw themselves as English citizens living in America

Ch. 2 sect. 1 p. 48-55

Proclamation of 1763 angered colonists

British govt. broke after French & Indian War, passed new taxes

10,000 British troops remained in America after war

British govt. saw this as protection for colonists

Colonists saw soldiers as a threat to their freedoms

British King George III taxed the colonies to balance his budget

The Sugar Act: 1764 designed to prevent smuggling in the colonies, lowered the tax on foreign molasses & it forced smugglers to be tried by British judges, not colonials

The Stamp Act: 1765, tax on legal documents like wills, marriage licenses, deeds to property & other things like newspapers & playing cardscolonists had to pay

for an official stamp on these things

May 1765 the Sons of Liberty formed in Boston

“NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION”

Oct. 1765 merchants in NY, Boston, & Philly boycotted Stamp Act

March 1766 British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act

The Townshend Acts: 1767, a tax on imports brought in to the colonies from Britain. 3-penny tax on tea (most popular drink in the colonies) Samuel Adams &

Sons of Liberty organized another boycott on British goods

Boston Massacre: March 5, 1770, conflict btwn colonists & British soldiers ends with 5 colonists shot & killed

Who was at fault?Was it really a

massacre?

Colonists furious over the event

Paul Revere’s engraving added to the outrage

New Prime Minister of Britain repealed Townshend Acts, (except the tea tax)

British tea companies were close to bankruptcy due to boycotts

1773 Tea Act allowed British tea companies to sell w/o tax, but colonial tea companies had to keep the tax

Colonial tea companies could not compete w/ lower British prices & were furious

Dec 16, 1773 Boston Rebels dumped 15,000 pounds of British tea in Boston Harbor

King George III was furious w/ colonists for the Boston Tea Party & passed a series of laws in responseThese laws were

called the Intolerable Acts (1774) by the colonists

Boston Harbor was shut down until colonists paid for the tea they destroyed

The Quartering Act forced colonists to house British soldiers

British General Gage was made governor of Massachusetts

Colonists formed Committees of Correspondence to write to each other about what to do next

Sept 1774, First Continental Congress met in Philly and drew up a declaration of colonial rightsthey agreed to stick

together & meet again in 1775 if things did not improve

After the First Continental Congress, colonists prepared to fight if necessary

Minutemen were civilians who were trained to be ready to fight at a minutes notice

General Gage learned minutemen were stockpiling weapons

Spring of 1775 Gage ordered British troops to Concord, Massachusetts to take weapons

Apr. 18, 1775 Paul Revere, William Dawes, & Samuel Prescott rode to alert Minutemen that 700 British soldiers headed to Concord

70 Minutemen cut the British off @ Lexington, MassBritish commander

ordered colonists to leave, somewhere a shot fired, eight Minutemen killed, nine wounded. One British soldier wounded

British army moved on to Concord, but weapons arsenal emptied by colonial militia

British soldiers marched back to Boston

Btwn 3,000 & 4,000 Minutemen ambushed the British during the march

May 1775, Delegates argued whether to declare independence, or to make up w/ Britain

the Congress decided to make the militia an official army

43 yr. old George Washington made commander of Continental Army

Also decided to print their own money to pay soldiers & begin relations w/ foreign nations

June 17, 1775 General Gage sent 2,400 soldiers to attack colonial army

Deadliest battle of the war: 311 colonists died, over 1,000 “redcoats” died

Despite losses, British army took the hill when Minutemen ran out of ammunition

July 8, 1775 Congress sent Olive Branch Petition to Britain as last attempt to avoid war

John Locke, an Enlightenment thinker frm. England reasoned people have a right to life, liberty, & property he said there was

a Social Contract that said a govt should protect peoples’ rights

Locke’s ideas would be used to build the USA

Thomas Paine wrote a 47 pg. pamphlet: Common Sense which criticized King George & encouraged independence

June 1776, a committee to prepare a formal declaration of American independence

Thomas Jefferson was chosen to write the declaration

Jefferson drew heavily on Locke’s ideas and the Enlightenment

“Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”

“all men are created equal”

The first draft included an attack on the evils of slavery South Carolina

and Georgia were offended & refused to sign the Declaration until it was removed

July 4, 1776 the American colonies declared independence frm. Britain

The United States of America was formed

Ch. 2 sect. 2 p. 59-65

Loyalists: colonists who opposed the revolution & sided w/ Britain

Patriots: supporters of the revolution, wanted the US to separate frm. Britain

Many Americans were neutral or switched sides during the war

Most Native Americans sided w/ Britain

Fighting began in New England, esp. Massachusetts

March 1776, Britain left Boston & moved to the Middle States

Summer of 1776, Britain took New York

George Washington was pushed into Pennsylvania

“These are the times that try men’s souls.” Thomas Paine

Christmas night 1776, Washington crossed the icy Delaware River in rowboatsHe & 2,400

soldiers then marched 9 miles to fight @ Trenton, New Jersey

Washington won @ Trenton in surprise attack

US won again @ Princeton, New Jersey

Spring 1777, Britain took US capital PhiladelphiaBrit. General

welcomed by loyalists

Oct. 17, 1777 US Continental Army won important victory @ Saratoga, NY

France gained faith in US & agreed to support the revolution openlyFeb 1778, France

signed alliance w/ US

Washington & his troops made winter camp @ Valley Forge, Penn.Harsh winter

conditions, little food, tattered clothing

2,000 of his 10,000 soldiers died. Survivors refused to give up

Foreign military leaders began to help the US Army

Fredrich von Steuben frm Prussia helped Washington train soldiers

Marquis de Lafayette joined Washington @ Valley Forgehe lobbied for more

French soldiers in 1779

he led a command of Virginia soldiers at the end of the war

May 1780 British General Cornwalis captured Charles Town, South Carolina & took 5,500 American troops as POWs

Jan. 1781 Americans won @ Cowpens, South CarolinaBritish leaders

expected outnumbered Americans to flee, but the US stayed and won

1780, 6000 French soldiers landed in America

American and French forces combined to attack Cornwalis @ Yorktown, VirginiaOct 17, 1781 US

forces won 1 month battle

Oct 19, 1781 Washington & the French Generals accepted Britain’s formal surrender

John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay demanded Britain recognize the USA

Sept. 1783 the US and Britain signed the Treaty of Paris

Treaty confirmed independence of the United States

Set the borders for the US: frm the Atlantic ocean to the Mississippi River & frm. Canada to the Florida border

Ch. 2 sect 3 p. 68-75

The US became a republic, a govt. where citizens elect their leaders

The Second continental Congress set up a new plan of govt. called the Articles of Confederation The Articles set up an

alliance among the 13 states in the US

The Articles set up a Congress where each state had one vote (regardless of population)

The Articles of Confederation was approved by all 13 states in 1781

The biggest problem with the Articles was that each state functioned independently instead of as one nation

There was no President to enforce laws either

The articles couldn’t be amended (changed) unless all 13 states agreed

After the war, the US was in serious debt, so the govt.. raised taxes

Americans couldn’t afford to pay taxes, some rebelled

Shay’s Rebellion: Jan 1787 1,200 farmers rose up against the govt. 4 farmers were killed by state militia.

May 1787, State leaders, alarmed by Shay’s Rebellion, met to fix the Articles of ConfederationThey met in

Philly & within 5 days, they decided to just start over

One big area of debate was representation in Congress

Big states wanted more reps. because of their population (VA Plan)

Small states wanted equal reps. regardless of population (NJ Plan)

The delegates argued for most of the summer of 1787, finally they agreed to compromise

The Great Compromise offered a 2 house congress:

Each state would have equal reps. in the Senate, the upper house

Reps. in the House of Representatives, the lower house, would be determined by population

Southern states wanted slaves to be counted in their population

Northern states argued that if they could not vote, they should not be counted

The Three-Fifths compromise called for three-fifths of a state’s slave population to be counted

The delegates created a government with three branches:A legislative

branch to make the laws (Congress)

An executive branch to carry out the laws (President)

A judicial branch, to hear court cases (Supreme Court)

They also set up a system of Checks and Balances, to keep any one branch from taking all the power (see p. 97)

Instead of choosing a President by a direct vote, the electoral college was created.Each state had a

number of electors equal to their number of reps in Congress

The Constitution was finished on Sept 17, 1787

Framers wanted the people of the US to ratify or approve their new government

Supporters of the Constitution were called Federalists

Opponents of the Constitution were called Antifederalists (they felt it made the federal govt. too strong)

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay wrote 85 essays in support of the Constitution

These were known as the Federalist Papers & they appeared in NY newspapers btwn 1787-1788

One of the most important essays in the Federalist Papers was Number 51

This essay explained the importance of three branches of govt with a separation of powers

Antifederalists were still not convinced, they wanted a Bill of Rights to guarantee their freedoms

Federalists compromised and agreed to add a Bill of Rights as soon as the Constitution was ratified

The new US govt became a reality in 1789 with 12 states ratifying

Rhode Island became the 13th state to ratify in 1790

By December of 1791 the first 10 amendments to the Constitution were finished

These amendments became known as the Bill of Rights

The First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion, speech, the press, & political activity

The Second and Third Amendments protects the right to bear arms & says the govt cannot house soldiers in citizens’ homes during peacetime

The Fourth Amendment prevents the search of homes without a warrant

The Fif through Eighth Amendments protect citizens accused of crimes

The Ninth Amendment says citizens’ rights are not limited to things specifically mentioned in the Constitution

The Tenth Amendment says the states have all powers not specifically given to the Federal govt

The US Constitution is the oldest written national constitution

Even though the US is one of the youngest nations in the world

The Constitution is a “living document” in that it can be changed or amended

In more than 200 years, however, only 27 amendments have been added to the Constitution.