cma 6202 ue: civilisation du monde anglophone cma …
TRANSCRIPT
1
UNIVERSITY-YEAR: 2019-2020
DEPARTMENT OF EGNGLISH
AMERICAN CIVILIZATION
LICENCE 1 / FIP 1
CMA 6202 UE: CIVILISATION DU MONDE
ANGLOPHONE
CMA 6202.2 ECUE CIVILISATION AMERICAINE
DR. Yapo ETTIEN
2
SYLLABUS
CONTACT INFORMATION
Dr. ETTIEN Yapo
Associate Professor of American
Literature and Civilization
A. COURSE DESCRIPTION
This introductory survey of United States History explores how American society has been shaped while
putting the American experience into the contact of world history and comparative history. By laying
emphasis on the movement of people, money, goods, ideas, technologies, and cultural values across national
boundaries, the course highlights similarities and differences between nations. Many contemporary issues –
such as the environment and immigration – are discussed; so are the basic issues of conventional American
history, such as economic growth, racism, ethnic and racial identity, gender roles, and ideas of freedom and
equality.
B. INTERNATIONAL LEARNING OUTCOMES SUPPORTED BY THE COURSE
a. Written, oral and communication skills
b. Collaboration
c. Contemporary issues
d. Critical Thinking
e. Technology
C. Learning objectives: Students with an interest with other fields such as business, marketing,
accounting and finance, for example, can learn through history important lessons about how economies
and international trade change over time. Being “good” at History means being able to use many of the
same critical reading and writing skills that are important in other disciplines. By the end of this course,
students should be able to do the following:
* Establish the interconnectedness and relationships of major historical events
* Produce meaningful interpretation of major historical events
* Compare events in American history with those in other country
* Identify translational connections between America and the world that have been historically
significant.
D. Required Texts
Shi, David E, Tindall, George Brown (2016), America: a Narrative History, 10th Edition, New
York, Norton & Company.
George Brown Tindall & David Emory Shy, America: a Narrative History, Ninth Edition
George Brown Tindall & David Emory Shy, America: a Narrative History, Eight Edition
Michael P. Johnson, Reading the American Past; Vol II: From 1865, 5th edition
Outline of U.S. History, Bureau of International Information Programs U.S. Department of
State, 2011. EBook.
3
(https://ia801005.us.archive.org/25/items/OutlineOfUSHistory/Outline%20of%20US%20Hist
ory.pdf)
Hand out will be provided by instructor if necessary
E. Methodology Used
This course is taught via instructor’s lecture supported by presentations, interspersed on a regular basis
with in class readings from the textbooks and hand cuts. To keep discussion going students are required
to ask questions or provide comments on the issues covered in order to make things more relevant and
to generate more discussion, the issues are systematically transposed in our African context. Lectures
are now and then replaced by student presentations. Different groups of students are assigned questions
related to specific sections of the chapters to be covered and share their answers with their peers. This
allows them to teach one another. In addition, it not only gives them more confidence in addressing
each other in an academic context but it also enhances their reading and oral communication skills.
Note that at the end of each chapter there are focus questions that will help the instructor and
the students to discuss some relevant issues in tutorial classes.
F. Assessment
Grades will be based on individual exams and tests, pop-up quizzes, presentations and group work.
G- Course Outline
Chapter 1: The Collusion of Cultures
Chapter 2: England’s Colonies
Chapter 3: Colonial Ways of Life
Chapter 4: From Colonies to States
Chapter 5: The American Revolution
4
CHAPTER 1 THE COLLISION OF CULTURES
Objectives
This course testifies the presence of pre-Columbian American people by examining the collusion
of European and Native American cultures during the colonization of America that had been
developing differently since centuries.
Introduction
America was born in melting ice tens of thousands years ago during the Ice Age (a time in
the past when the temperature was very cold and glaciers covered large parts of the earth.)
The American past belongs to many different peoples.
Until recently, archeologists and anthropologists had assumed that ancients peoples,
risktakers from northeast Asia (aboriginal peoples, called Paleo-Indians (Old Indians),
crossed the Bering Strait connecting eastern Siberia with Alaska.
More recently, archeologists unearthed evidence of people dating back almost 16, 000
years.
Recent archeological discoveries, however, suggest that prehistoric humans may have
arrived much earlier from various parts of Asia.
Regardless of when humans first set foot in North America, the continent eventually
became a crossroads for various adventurous peoples from around the world: Asians,
Europeans, Africans and others, all bringing with them distinctive backgrounds, cultures,
technologies, religions, and motivations that helped from the multicultural society known
as America.
I – EARLY CULTURES IN AMERICA
Archeologists have labeled the earliest humans in North America the Clovis peoples,
named after a site in New Mexico around 9500 B.C.E (before the Common Era).
Indians developed nature-centered religions
They mastered the use of fire.
They grew maize (corn), beans, pepper, avocados, and pumpkins.
Often warred with one another.
They had distinctive social, economic, and political institutions
The distinct groups are the Mayas, Incas, and Mexica (Me-SHEE-ka) also called
AZTECS, Cahokia, Algonquians, Iroquoians, Adena-Hopewell.
II – EUROPEANS VISIONS OF AMERICA
The European exploration of the western Hemisphere resulted from several key
developments during the 15th century.
In Europe, dramatic intellectual changes and scientific discoveries transformed religion,
warfare, family life, and the economy (growing of trade-based economy in Europe).
In addition, the resurgence of old vices such as greed, conquest, exploitation, oppression,
racism, and slavery would help European expansion abroad.
5
The Voyages of Columbus
The rise of global trade by 1500 between western Europe nations and the Middle East,
Africa, and Asia prompted the Italian born, Christopher Columbus, to pursue his own
dream of finding a route to the Indies west across the Atlantic.
Christopher Columbus (Italian born in 1451), supported by the Spanish Monarchs (Isabella
and Ferdinand), arrived in the Bahamas (1492) (thought he was in India).
Amerigo Vespucci also went there in 1499. He sailed along the coast of South America
and said it must be a new continent.
In 1507, a German mapmaker paid tribute to Vespucci’s navigational skills by labelling
the New world using a variant of his first name: America.
III – RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS IN EUROPE
At the same time explorers were crossing the Atlantic, powerful religious conflicts were
tearing Europe apart in ways that would greatly influence settlement in the New World.
In 1492 when Columbus sailed in the New World, Roman Catholic held a religious
supremacy in Europe.
The catholic unity started to crack in 1517 when Martin Luther, a German priest, changed
the course of history by launching what became known as the Protestant Reformation (P.
25).
He accused the authority of the catholic church of corruption.
Soon after Martin Luther, John Calvin, a French scholar, began his revolt against the
shortcoming of Catholicism (P. 26).
His insistence on the freedom of individual believers help to contribute to the evolving
ideas of representative democracy, whereby the people elected their rulers, and the
importance of separating church power from State (governmental) power.
The Protestant Reformation, a 16th-century religious and political challenge to papal
authority promoted by Martin Luther, King Henry VIII and others, led to the Thirty Years
War and the Counter-Reformation. It played a major role in the colonization of America.
IV – THE SPANISH EMPIRE
During the sixteenth century, Spain was creating the most powerful empire.
It controlled much of Europe, most of the Americas, parts of Africa, and various outposts
in Asia.
The gold and silver looted from the Americas fueled Spain’s “Golden Empire”.
Spain planted Christianity in the New World by plundering, conquering, and colonizing
the Americas and converting and enslaving its inhabitants.
There was a Clash of Cultures: Violent encounter between Spaniards and Indians.
Hernan Cortes conquered Mexico with the Conquistadores (Conquerors) (Feb 18th
1519). It was a dramatic conquest.
Beginning in 1519 Spaniard Cortés attacked the Aztec empire (Today around Mexico
City).
The Aztecs believed in the cosmic forces of nature.
The Spanish (and later the French) launched a massive efforts to convert Indians into
Catholic servants.
By the end of the sixteenth century, there were about 300 monasteries and missions in the
New World and Catholicism had become a major means of Spanish imperialism.
6
V – THE COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE
The first European contacts with the Western Hemisphere began the Columbian Exchange
also called the Great Biological Exchange).
America gave maize, potatoes, beans, peanuts, squash, peppers, tomatoes, horse, pig,
sheep, goat, and chicken etc.
Europe: rice, wheat, barley, oats, wine grapes etc.
Transmission of diseases from Europe and Africa to the New World: smallpox, malaria,
yellow fever.
VI- THE SPANISH IN NORTH AMERICA
Throughout the sixteenth century, no European power other than Spain held more than a
brief foothold in what would become the United States.
Spain had the advantage not only of having arrived first but also of getting the quickest
profits from America.
St Augustine was founded in 1565 by the Spanish on the Atlantic coast of Florida. It
became the first European town in the present-day United Sates.
In the Southwest, the Spanish established other permanent settlements in what are now
New Mexico, Texas, and California.
The Mestizo Factor: Spanish soldiers and settlers often married Native Americans or
fathered Mestizos because there were few Spanish women in America.
The Pueblo Revolt: In 1608, the government decided to turn New Mexico into a royal
province and moved its capital to Santa Fe (“Holy Faith” in Spanish, the first permanent
seat of government in the present-day United Sates.
Resentment among the Indians increased as Spanish stripped them of their ancestral ways
of life.
In 1680, Popé, a charismatic Indian, organized a massive rebellion and destroyed all relies
of Christianity (burning of churches, torture, mutilation and execution of priests.
The Pueblo revolt of 1680 was the greatest defeat Indians inflicted to Europeans.
VII – CHALLENGES TO THE SPANISH EMPIRE
The success of Catholic Spain in conquering and exploiting the Western Hemisphere
spurred Portugal, France, England and the Netherlands (Holland) to begin their own
exploration and exploitation of the New World.
The French were the first to pose a serious threat with the conquest of Canada (New France)
From the mid-1500s, greater threat to Spanish power in the New World arose from the
Dutch and the English (P. 46).
VIII – ENGLISH EXPLORATION OF AMERICA
The English were driven by a desire to weaken Spanish control over the Americas.
In 1578, Queen Elisabeth had given Sir Humphrey Gilbert permission to establish a colony
in the “remote heathen and barbarous lands” of America.
In 1584, Queen Elisabeth asked Sir Walter Raleigh, Gilbert’s much younger half brother,
to organize a colonizing mission.
Walter Raleigh landed at Roanoke Island where the soil was fruitful and the Natives
friendly. The area was named Virginia in honor of Queen Elizabeth, the “Virgin Queen”.
New Spain, the Spanish settlement, declined because not only the Spanish empire declined
but also Spain never encouraged them to make a living in the New World.
7
Focus questions
1. Why were there so many diverse societies in the Americas before Europeans
arrived?
2. How were the Spanish able to conquer and colonize the Americas?
3. How did the Columbian Exchange between the “Old” and “New” Worlds affect
both societies?
CHAPTER II
ENGLAND’S COLONIES
Objectives
The objective of this lesson is to familiarize students to the English settlement in America.
I – RELIGIOUS CONFLICT AND WAR
England was a parliamentary monarchy.
Political considerations influenced many people to move to America. In the 1630s,
arbitrary rule by England’s Charles I gave impetus to the migration.
The subsequent revolt and triumph of Charles’ opponents under Oliver Cromwell in the
1640s led many cavaliers — “king’s men” — to cast their lot in Virginia.
The oppressive policies of various petty princes — particularly with regard to religion —
and the devastation caused by a long series of wars helped swell the movement to
America in the late 17th and 18th centuries.
II – AMERICAN COLONIES
II-1 People and profits
During the eventful years, all but one of England’s North American colonies (Georgia)
were founded.
England envied the riches taken from the New World by Spain, especially the enormous
amount of gold and silver.
The English colonies in America were quite different from the Spanish colonies because
Spanish settlements were royal expeditions whereas English colonization was led by two
different groups : those seeking for freedom from religious persecution (both Protestants
and Catholics) and those seeking land and wealth.
In addition, English colonies in America were private business ventures or collective
religious experiments rather than government enterprises.
The English formed profit joint-stock companies that represented the most important
organizational innovation of the Age of exploration, and they provided the first
instruments of British colonization in America.
II-2 Self-sustaining Colonies
The English settlements in America were much more compact than those in New Spain.
Most English settlers viewed the Indians as devilish threats to be removed as they created
family-based agricultural and trading communities.
English colonies were much more populous than the Spanish and the French colonies in
North America.
The English government and individual investors had two primary goals for their
American colonies:
8
(1) To provide valuable raw materials such as timber for shipbuilding, tobacco for
smoking, and fur pelts for hats and coats.
(2) To develop a thriving consumer market for English manufactured goods.
To populate the colonies, the English encouraged local rebels, religious dissenters, and
the homeless and landless to migrate to America, thereby reducing social and economic
tensions at home.
II-3 Virginia
In 1606, King James I chattered a joint-stock enterprise called the Virginia Company.
The Virginia Company planted the first permanent colonies in Jamestown, Virginia.
In 1624 Virginia became a Royal colony.
Colonists became farmers. They grew tobacco for valuable export.
The leaders of the company expected the Native Americans to submit to the authority of
the colonists. They were wrong.
Powhatan, their chief, stated an alliance with the English but later realized too late that
the new comers had come to seize his lands and subjugate his people.
The English ensued a state of “perpetual enmity” in which the Indians were killed.
II-4 Indentured Servants
The system of Indenture and Indentured servants was introduced in Colonial America to
meet the growing demand for cheap, plentiful labor in the colonies.
Indentured Servants were Europeans, contracted to work for a fixed period of time
usually from five to seven years in exchange for transportation and the prospects of a job
and a new life in the American colonies.
Indentured servitude became the primary source of laborers in English America during
the colonial period.
Not all indentured servants came to the colonies voluntarily.
II-5 Bacon’s Rebellion
It was an uprising in 1676 in Virginia led by a 29-year-old planter Nathaniel Bacon.
About a thousand Virginians rose because they resented Virginia Governor William
Berkeley's friendly policies towards the Native Americans.
He refused to retaliate for a series of Indian attacks on frontier settlements.
Rebels attacked Indians, chasing Berkeley from Jamestown, Virginia.
II-3 – Maryland
In 1634, in Maryland, a settlement appeared on the northern shores of Chesapeake Bay.
It belonged to Lord Baltimore who sought it as a refuge for English Catholics.
Colonists imported indentured servants.
III - SETTLING NEW ENGLAND
III-1 Plymouth
The first settlers were Puritan refugees heading for Virginia.
William Bradford, a passenger of the Mayflower (Sept 1620), was a founder and longtime
governor.
9
Since they were outside the jurisdiction of any organized government, the forty one
separatists on board of the Mayflower signed the Mayflower Compact, a covenant (group
contract) to form a church.
The Plymouth colonists settled in a deserted Indian village that had been devastated by
smallpox.
III-2 Massachusetts Bay
Plymouth was absorbed into its larger neighbor, Massachusetts Bay colony in 1691.
John Winthrop, a puritan leader, reflected the strengths and weaknesses of the puritan
movement.
He urged puritans to live in strict accordance with their religious beliefs and set an example
for all of Christendom.
III-3 Rhode Island
The Rhode Island Colony was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams (1603-1683), a
prominent puritan.
The Rhode Island Colony was one of the New England Colonies.
III-4 Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maine
Connecticut was founded by Massachusetts Puritans seeking better land and facilities.
Two small proprietary colonies were set up - one in New Hampshire and one in Maine.
New Hampshire was not truly a separate province from Massachusetts until after 1691.
III-5 The Carolinas (North and South)
Focused on producing commercial crops for profit
Planters used enslaved Africans and British indentured servants.
III-6 Enslaving Indians
Settlers used Indians to capture other Indians with guns provided by them and enslave
them.
IV. THE MIDDLE COLONIES AND GEORGIA
IV -1 New Netherland becomes New York
The Netherlands (Holland) was also there and had colonies
New Netherland was conquered in 1664 by the British that named it New York.
Here again there were Indians: The Iroquois.
They were enslaved and killed by infectious diseases and dissensions among themselves
made them vulnerable.
New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, Georgia (the last of the English colonies to be
established in 1732. It became a royal colony in 1754.)
V-NATIVE PEOPLES AND ENGLISH SETTLERS
V- 1 Native Americans and Christianity
Clash of cultures: the interactions of two cultures involved misunderstandings.
Native Americans believed that nature was suffused with spirits (Animals, plants, trees,
stones etc.).
The New England Puritans aggressively tried to convert Native Americans to Christianity
and “civilized” livings.
10
They insisted that Indian converts abandon their religion, language, clothes, names, and
villages, and forced them to move to what were called “praying towns” to separate them
from their “heathen” brethren.
V-2 The Pequot War
In the English colonies Indians who fought to keep their lands were forced out or killed.
Indians were viewed as domestic savages, “barbarous creatures”, and “merciless and cruel
heathens”.
In 1636, settlers accused a Pequot of murdering a colonist. The English took revenge by
burning a Pequot village.
The Pequot were defeated and were forced to sign the Treaty of Hartford in 1638. It
dissolved the Pequot nation.
V-3 King Philip’s War (June 1675-Aug 1676)
Also called Metacom's Rebellion, Metacom's War, or Metacomet War.
Located in the New England colonies of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
New Hampshire and Maine.
It opposed New England colonies and Native Indian Tribes
Two causes: Culture Clash (Distrust and hostilities between Natives and the
Europeans) and land (European practice of expansion).
Natives were defeated.
VI-Slavery in the colonies
Slavery (bondage, servitude): the first black Africans were brought to Virginia in 1619,
just 12 years after the founding of Jamestown.
VI-1 African Roots and Black Culture
In Africa, slavery was less brutal than in America.
Language: enslave Africans spoke Mandigo, Ibo, Kong, and countless other languages.
In the cohabitation with indentured servants, some succeeded in earning money and bought
their freedom.
Some rebelled against their masters.
Their diverse origins forged a new identity as African Americans
Creation of an African American culture seen through their influences in music, folklore,
and religious practices.
Religion: After 1642, Anglicanism predominated in Virginia and Maryland but there were
puritans, Quakers and Baptists.
VII - Thriving colonies
By 1770, after a late start, the British outstripped both the French and the Spanish in the
New World.
British colonists were successful but at the expense of Indians, indentured servants and
African slaves.
Focus Questions
1) What motivated England to establish American colonies?
11
2) What were the characteristics of the English colonies in the Chesapeake region,
the Carolinas, the middle colonies, - Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and
Delaware – and New England prior to 1700?
3) In what ways did the English colonists and Native Americans adapt to each other?
4) What role did indentured servants and the development of slavery play in colonial
America?
5) How did the English colonies become the most populous and powerful region in
North American by 1700?
CHAPTER 3
COLONIAL WAYS OF LIFE
Objective
The objective of this chapter is to present the participation of colonies in international and imperial
trade and to explore the effects of the enlightenment and the great awakening in America.
I – THE SHAPE OF EARLY AMERICA
1 - Population Growth
Many settlers died in the first years but after the last major Indian uprising in 1644, the
population quadrupled (8, 000 to 32, 000) over the next thirty years and doubled to 75, 000
by 1704.
Birth rate rose, death rate decreased in New England colonies but it remained higher in the
south owing to malaria, dysentery and other diseases.
2-women in the Colonies
Women were subjected to their husbands’ authority and they accepted their subordinate
status: their role was to obey and serve their husbands, and maintain their household. They
played restricted role in religion.
Women were confined in the “domestic sphere”.
During the 18th century, women’s work typically involved activities in the house, garden,
and fields.
Unmarried women often worked outside their home.
II – SOCIETY AND ECONOMY IN THE SOUTHERN COLONIES
II-1 Crops
Economic activities and trade depended on the environment in which the colonists lived
(considerable differences between the new England, middle and southern regions).
The southern colonies concentrated on agriculture and developed the plantations exporting
tobacco, cotton, corn, vegetables, grain, fruit and livestock.
The first English immigrants to Virginia and Maryland (the Chesapeake colonies) built
primitive one-room huts with dirt floors and little privacy.
III-SOCIETY AND ECONOMY IN NEW ENGLAND
Whenever New England towns were founded, the first public structure built was usually a
church.
By law, every town had to collect taxes to support a church.
12
The first colonists in New England initially lived in caves, tents, or cabins, but they soon
built simple wood-frame houses.
Concerning New England economy, early New England farmers and their families led hard
lives.
Many New Englanders turned to the sea for their livelihood.
They exported dried fish to Europe, with lesser grades going to the West Indies as food for
slaves
• By the of the end of the 17th century, New England colonies had become part of a complex
North Atlantic commercial network.
III- THE TRIANGULAR TRADE
The triangular trade is a term used to describe the trade occurring between England, Africa,
and the Americas. The trade fell into the three categories:
The raw materials and natural resources such as sugar, tobacco, rice and cotton that were
found in the 13 colonies - also refer to colonialism
Manufactured products from England and Europe such as guns, cloth, beads
Slaves from west Africa, many of whom toiled in the slave plantations
On occasion, circumstances forced women to exercise leadership outside the domestic
sphere.
During the colonial era, no domination allowed women to be ordained as ministers.
Black women (and men) were often excluded from church membership for fear that
Christianized slaves might seek to gain their freedom.
IV-RACE-BASE SLAVERY
The institution of slavery is central to the history of the American colonies.
The first Africans came as indentured servants.
During the late 17th century, slavery was legalized in all the colonies but was most prevalent
in the south.
The concept of “being white” and “better” was instituted and white colonists viewed
race-based slavery as a normal aspect of everyday life in an imperfect world.
The English associated the color black with darkness and evil.
13
The enslaved individual was regarded as an item of property, like a house or an ox, and
had no rights as a human being.
They lived under the slave codes which prohibited them from meeting in large groups or
from being legally married.
V- THE ENLIGHTENMENT
Late 1600s-1700s: an intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment began in
Europe. Later a religious movement known as the Great Awakening started in the
colonies.
The ideas of the Enlightenment, which emphasized science and reason over faith and
superstition, strongly influenced the American colonies in the eighteenth century.
Using the power of the press, Enlightenment thinkers like john Locke, Isaac newton,
and Voltaire questioned accepted knowledge and spread new ideas about openness,
investigation, and religious tolerance throughout Europe and the Americas.
Several ideas dominated Enlightenment thought, including rationalism, empiricism,
progressivism, and cosmopolitanism. Rationalism is the idea that humans are capable of using their faculty of reason to gain
knowledge. This was a sharp turn away from the prevailing idea that people needed to
rely on scripture or church authorities for knowledge.
Empiricism promotes the idea that knowledge comes from experience and observation
of the world.
Progressivism is the belief that through their powers of reason and observation, humans
can make unlimited, linear progress over time; this belief was especially important as a
response to the carnage and upheaval of the English civil wars in the 17th century.
Cosmopolitanism reflected enlightenment thinkers’ view of themselves as actively
engaged citizens of the world as opposed to provincial and close-minded individuals.
• The British colonist Benjamin franklin is an example of the enlightenment spirit in that
he used logic and reasoning to understand and improve his world.
He was the publisher of the Pennsylvania Gazette in the late 1720s. In 1732 he started his
annual publication Poor Richard: an Almanac, in which he gave readers much practical
advice, such as “early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”
He provided the foundation for the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1751, he helped
found Pennsylvania hospital.
Outcome: people are born with natural rights. Government has an obligation to protect those
natural rights. Kings have no right to govern people, people empower government.
VI- THE GREAT AWAKENING
The Great Awakening (1730—1740), a protestant revivalism, gave colonists a shared
national religious experience, known as the first Great Awakening (a second Great
Awakening took place in the 1800s).
Like the enlightenment, the movement stressed the importance of the individual.
Key people included: Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and the Wesley
brothers. The beliefs of the new lights (people could read and interpret the bible on their own)
of the first great awakening competed with the more conservative religion of the first
colonists, who were known as old lights.
• One outburst of protestant revivalism began in New Jersey, led by a minister of the Dutch
reformed church named Theodorus Frelinghuysen.
14
In Northampton, Massachusetts, Jonathan Edwards led another explosion of
evangelical fervor. Edwards’s best-known sermon, “sinners in the hands of an angry
god”.
The foremost evangelical of the Great Awakening was an Anglican minister named
George Whitefield (pronounced "whit-field")
He gave sermons in open areas (revivals) and preached that “good works” and “godly
lives” would bring you salvation.
Outcome: encouraged ideas of equality and right to challenge authority
Focus Questions 1) What were the major factors that contributed to the demographic changes in
the English colonies during the eighteenth century? 2) How did race-based slavery develop during the seventeenth century, and in
what ways did this impact the social and economic development of colonial America?
3) In what ways did the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening impact American thought?
CHAPTER 4
FROM COLONIES TO STATES
Objective
This chapter analyzes the British imperialism on the basis of the organization of its colonies. So
it will help students know how Britain administered and made its colonies thrive.
I-COMPETING NEIGHBORS
I-1 New France The actual French settlement of New France began in 1605.
In 1663, French King Louis XIV, changed struggling New France into a royal colony led
by a governor-general.
From their outposts along the Great Lakes, French explorers in the early 1670s moved
southward down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico.
Ohio and the Mississippi Valleys were conquered by French explorers and were named
Louisiana, after King Louis XIV.
New France had one important advantage over its British rival: access to the great inland
rivers that led to the heartland of the continent.
A powerful justification for revolution appeared in 1690 when the English philosopher,
which had an enormous impact on political thought in the colonies. John Locke
published his Two Treaties on Government. He rejected the “divine” rights of monarchs to govern with absolute power but insisted
that people are endowed with natural rights to life, liberty, and property.
II - AN EMERGING COLONIAL SYSTEM
The governors were appointed by the king or proprietor of colonies; had an absolute veto
over local assemblies; could appoint or remove officials.
The colonial assemblies were elected by popular vote.
15
They were called either House of Burgesses (Virginia) or Delegates (Maryland),
Representatives in Massachusetts or simply Assemblies. (Women, Indians, Africans
were excluded).
The most profound political trend during the early 18th century was the growing power
exercised by the colonial assemblies.
Throughout the 18th century, the assemblies expanded their power and influence,
sometimes in conflicts with the governors, sometimes in harmony with them.
III - WARFARE IN THE COLONIES
III-1 The French and Indian War (1754-1763)
The most important conflict between Britain and France (and its Indian allies) in North
America.
It is globally known as the Seven Years’ War.
It was sparked by French and British competition for the ancestral Indian lands in the vast
Ohio Valley.
Whoever controlled the “Ohio Country” would control the entire continent because of the
Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
In the Peace of Paris (1763), France relinquished all of Canada, the Great Lakes, and the
territory east of the Mississippi to the British. The dream of a French empire in North
America was over (France lost most of its possessions in North America).
IV - REGULATING THE COLONIES After 1763, Britain tightened its hold over its colonies.
IV-1 Grenville's colonial policy
In 1763 Grenville was A chief minister. He had complex problems with imperial
finances.
Grenville said that the prosperous Americans should share the costs of their own military
defense.
He insisted that the Americans, whom he called the “least taxed people in the world”,
must pay for the soldiers defending them.
Currency act of 1764 prohibited the colonies from printing their own money.
The Stamp Act: in 1765, stamps on printed matter and legal documents of all kinds. it
aroused fierce resentment and resistance.
IV-2 Protests in the colonies Came up with a slogan: “No taxation without representation”.
Colonial assemblies sent representatives to New York to discuss the matter.
Delegates argued that British parliament had no rights to levy taxes.
By November 1st 1765, the stamp act was a dead letter.
IV-3 Repeal of the Stamp Act In March 1768, parliament repealed the Stamp Act but passed the Declaratory Act, which
asserted the full power of parliament to make laws binding for the colonies “in all cases
whatsoever”.
IV-4 The Townshend Acts In 1767, Charles Townshend, chancellor of the exchequer (treasury) reopened the
question of colonial taxation.
Revenue act of 1767, duties on colonial imports of glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea.
16
V - THE CRISIS GROWS
V-1 The Boston Tea Party The protest against British taxes known as the “Boston tea party,” 1773.
England sent east India Company’s tea to Boston in the hope of collecting taxes from
Americans.
Colonists refused and destroyed the cargo.
V-2 The Coercive Acts (1774) Lost tea was paid for. (Boston port act).
Colony’s officers were now appointed rather than elected.
No town meeting without governor’s consent.
The colonies rallied to the cause of Boston. A continental congress was created.
George Washington, who represented Virginia said: “ the crisis is arrived when we must
assert our rights, or submit to every imposition that can be heaped upon us, till custom …
arbitrary sway.”
The colonial leaders who wanted freedom from British tyranny were however unwilling
to free their slaves.
V-3 The continental congress September 5, 1774 assembly in Philadelphia.
Adopted a declaration of American rights denying parliament authority with respect to
internal colonial affairs and proclaimed the right of each assembly to determine the need
for troops within its own province.
Adopted the boycott of all British goods.
Non importation of British goods.
Non exportation of American goods to Britain.
V-4 Lexington and Concord Americans started organizing their militias.
1775, first sites of clashes between the British army and the patriots.
V- THE SPREADING CONFLICT The revolutionary war had begun.
A second continental Congress met in Philadelphia.
On May 10, 1775, it assumed the role of the revolutionary government.
George Washington was appointed as the commander in chief of the army.
Common Sense by Thomas Paine: Thomas Paine's "common sense“, a pamphlet
published on January 10, 1776, was an effective and convincing summary of the many
reasons why the American colonies should not be controlled by a despotic ruler, King
George III.
VI – Independence
Thomas Jefferson's declaration. It was proclaimed on July 4, 1776 and was mostly written by Thomas Jefferson.
Focus Questions
I. In what ways did the British try to strengthen their control over the colonies after the French and Indian war? How did the colonies respond?
II. What were the underlying factors in the events of the 1700s that led the colonies to declare their independence from Britain?
III. Researches: 1) The declaration of independence contains a long list of grievances the colonies had with King George, in addition to the taxation issues we all know from the history books. Pick two of these grievances and, in about
17
one paragraph (100 words) each, give your thoughts why you think grievance was listed.
2) After defining “the natural rights”, list some of them contained in the Declaration of Independence.
CHAPTER 5
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 1776-1783
Objective: The chapter analyzes the causes and nature of the American Revolution and the
problems associated with the founding of the nation.
INTRODUCTION
• With the Revolutionary War, Americans forced the British to sue for peace and grant the
colonists their independence.
• It was an engine for political experimentation and social transformation.
I- 1776 GENERAL WASHINGTON’S NARROW ESCAPE Americans had many defeats in 1776 and they learned that they had to avoid major battles but
had to wear down the British in a long war of attrition and exhaustion.
II. AMERICAN SOCIETY AT WAR
II. 1 Choosing sides Patriots: (Whigs) The largest part of the population.
Loyalists: (Tories), 20% of American population.
Neutrals: Those who went to whoever appeared to be winning.
II-2 Militia and Army
The continental army: Washington's army was helped by militias that fought occasionally
II-3 Financial Strains and Smallpox
Times often got rough due to diseases, scarcity of supplies.
II-4 Behind the Lines
Prices skyrocketed families were devastated.
III. 1777: Setbacks for the British
III-1 American Saratoga Victory in 1777
The victory in Saratoga proved critically important to the Americans.
III-2 Alliance with France
France decided to help Americans through the Franco-American alliance this was decisive in
American victory.
IV. 1778: BOTH SIDES REGROUP
III-1 The Revolutionary Army at Valley Forge
Difficult situation (cold, hunger, disease).
III-2 Peace Overtures and the Evacuation of Philadelphia
Granting all the demands of American patriots by British parliament repeal of many acts (ex:
Townshend act).
18
III-3 Actions on the Frontier
American victories
V. THE WAR IN THE SOUTH
In the south, the war degenerated into brutal guerrilla-style civil conflicts between loyalists and
patriots, namely in the Carolinas.
V-1 The Carolinas
The most significant battle took place at Cowpens, south Carolina, in early 1781, where the
Americans soundly defeated the British.
V-2 Yorktown, Virginia
On Oct. 19, 1781, after being trapped at Yorktown near the mouth of Chesapeake bay, British
army led by Cornwallis was defeated.
VI. The Treaty of Paris
British government decided to pursue peace negotiations in Paris in early 1782, with the
American side represented by Benjamin franklin, john Adams, and john jay. With the Treaty
of Paris on sept 3, 1783 Great Britain acknowledged the independence, freedom, and
sovereignty of the 13 former colonies making up the United States.
VII. THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION
VII-1 Republican Ideology
Republicans wanted no monarchy, no aristocracy, but A republic. A republican form of
government supposed people animated by civic virtue and no corruption.
VII-2 State Constitutions
After the war the states had to get organized. They formed governments that looked like the
colonial administration but with selected governors and senates.
VII-3 The Articles of Confederation
America’s first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, was ratified in 1781.
VIII. THE SOCIAL REVOLUTION
VIII-1 Equality and Its Limits
There was a spirit of equality around. More people got the right to vote.
VIII-2 The Paradox of Slavery
Blacks fought on both sides. In the northern states, emancipation was almost automatic (during
and shortly after the war).
In the southern states e.g. South Carolina as in most southern state, whites refused to manumit
(free) slaves.
VIII-3 The Status of Women
Women were still confined in the domestic sphere although they had proved that they were
capable of doing things outside it.
VIII-4 Indians and the Revolution
They fought on both sides.
19
at the end of war, American whites continued to encroach on Indian lands, even of those who
had fought on their side.
VIII-5 Freedom of Religion
Religion was diverse but free/vs during colonization.
IX. THE EMERGENCE OF AN AMERICAN CULTURE
Celebration of American Independence Day July 4 (1776).
IX-1 America’s Destiny
Americans thought that they were a special people with a special mission in history.
Focus Questions 1) What challenges faced the British and American military leaders in fighting the
Revolutionary War? 2) What were some of the key turning points in the Revolutionary War? How did they
change the direction of the war? 3) In what ways did the American Revolution function as a civil war? 4) How was the Revolutionary War an “engine” for political and social change? 5) How did the Revolutionary War impact African Americans, women, and Native
Americans?