Transcript American History--UNIT 2 Revolutions and New Government

Revolutions and
New Government
A ME R ICA N HISTO R Y U NI T 2
Our English
Heritage
Our English Heritage
 Many
of the rights that
American citizens enjoy
today can be traced back
to the political and legal
traditions of England and
the ideas of a cultural
movement called the
Enlightenment.
Our English Heritage
• The Enlightenment was an
European intellectual
movement of the late 17th
and 18th centuries
emphasizing reason and
individualism rather than
tradition. It was heavily
influenced by 17th-century
philosophers such as John
Locke and Isaac Newton as
well as Voltaire, Rousseau,
and Adam Smith.
Colonial Government

When the English began settling
here in the 1600s, they brought
with them a history of limited and
representative government.

They also brought with them new
ideas about law, society, and the
rights people possessed.
Colonial Government
• During the colonization of the British
colonies, Great Britain was controlled
by a monarch.
• A Monarchy is the ruling by a king or queen.
• Colonist understood that they were
under the authority of the crown
however events will soon transpire
that will push them to revolt.
Settling the Colonies
 By
1733, there were 13
colonies along the eastern
seaboard under English
control.
Each of which were founded
in a variety of ways for a
variety of reasons.
 Although each colony was
different they each had their
English heritage on common.

New England Colonies
 By
the mid-1600s, the
New England colonies of
Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, and
New Hampshire had
been founded.
The Middle Colonies
 South
of the New
England Colonies, New
York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, and
Delaware all made up
the Middle Colonies.
Southern Colonies
• The Southern Colonies
were comprised of
Maryland, Virginia, North
Carolina, South Carolina
and Georgia.
Birth of a Democratic Nation
CO LO NIA L R E SIS TA NCE A ND OT HE R T E NS I O NS
Colonial Resistance



When English people began
settling here in the 1600s, they
brought with them a history of
limited and representative
government.
They also brought with them
new ideas about law, society,
and the rights people
possessed.
The American people were
able to gain the idea of selfgovernment because they were
separated from Great Britain
by nearly 3,000 miles.
Colonial Resistance
• Americans were learning how
to manage their own affairs and
started practicing the idea of
“healthy neglect” towards
British control.
Mercantilism

When King George III took
the throne around 1760,
Britain’s policy toward the
American colonies began to
change.

They adopted a policy called
Mercantilism the theory that
a country’s power depends on
its wealth.


A nation should sell more goods
to other countries than it buys.
This is a favorable balance of
trade—more exports than
imports.
Mercantilism
 For
mercantilism to be
successful:

Great Britain needed the
colonies to be a source of
cheap, raw materials.
AND

The British passed a series of
laws called the Navigation
Acts.
Mercantilism and the Navigation Acts
• The Navigation Acts were a band of
laws that restricted the use of
foreign shipping for trade only
between England and its colonies.
• It is a process which started in
1651.
• Their goal was to force colonial
development into lines favorable
to England, and stop direct
colonial trade with the
Netherlands, France, and other
European countries.
The Navigation Acts
• The Navigation Acts affected
the colonists because they
could not sell things to other
countries besides England.
• This meant less money in the
colonists’ pockets because England
paid a lower price for products.
• England would then turn around
and sell the product to other
countries for a higher price.
Albany Plan
In 1754, at a conference in
Albany, New York colonists along
with Benjamin Franklin came up
with the Albany Plan.
 The Albany Plan was a proposal
to unite the 13 colonies under a
more centralized government.


Although rejected, this plan showed
that many colonists were already
thinking about joining together for
their common defense.
The French and Indian War
From 1754-1763, Great
Britain fought a long—costly
war against the French—the
French and Indian War—
winning French territory in
North America.
 The war consisted of Britain
fighting against the French
and Indians.

• The French and Indian war was
the beginning of the conflict
between the colonists and Great
Britain.
The French and Indian War
• The colonies were wholly
interested in overcoming the
French in North America and
appealed to the King for
permission to raise armies and
monies to defend themselves.
• Despite sincere petitions from
the royal colonial governors,
George II was suspicious of the
intentions of the colonial
governments and declined their
offer.
The French and Indian War – the beginning
• The PROS
• The colonies experienced
remarkable growth of the
population from 250,000 in 1700,
to 1.25 million in 1750.
• Britain required raw materials
and so they wanted all of these
American products be shipped
exclusively to England under the
Navigation Acts.
• The CONS
• Colonists were not allowed to
fight along side other
Englishmen. Their rightful duty
to defend homeland of Great
Britain.
How the French and Indian War
led to the American Revolution
The French and Indian War
• A negative aspect for the colonists
concerning the war was the Proclamation
of 1763.
• The Proclamation of 1763 forbid colonists
to settle west of the Appalachian
Mountains.
• It was created to protect colonists from the
Indians
• Many colonists reacted with anger
toward the Proclamation. They did not
like being told what to do or where they
could live.
Revolution Bound
When the war was finally over and Great
Britain claimed VICTORY the country needed
a war to pay off it’s war debt.
To pay off its heavy war debts, Britain
placed steep taxes and new restrictions
on the American colonies.
The French and Indian War
• The first tax was the Sugar
Act of 1764. It placed a tax
on molasses and sugar
imported by the colonies.
The French and Indian War
•
Another restriction was the
Stamp Act of 1765 which
required colonists to attach
expensive tax stamps to all
newspapers and legal
documents.
• Stamp Act of 1765 placed a tax on all printed material, such as
newspapers and playing cards.
• This tax upset the colonists even more.
The Quartering Act
• The Quartering Act was originally
intended as a response to issues
that arose during the French and
Indian War and soon became a
source of tension between the
inhabitants of the 13 colonies and
the government of Great Britain.

The Quartering Act required the
colonies to provide barracks and
supplies to the British troops.
• These tensions would later fuel
the fire that led to the
Revolutionary War.
Colonists Start to Fight Back
Relations Worsen
 In
protest of the new
laws that had been
placed on the colonists
many decided to
boycott, or refuse to
buy British goods.
The Sons of Liberty
• In early 1765, The Sons of
Liberty, originally known as The
Loyal Nine were preparing for
agitation against the Stamp
Act.
• The men that made up this
group were from Boston and
were artisans and shopkeepers.
• Within a very short time the
Sons of Liberty grew to a group
of 2,000 men.
The Son’s of Liberty
• The first widely known acts of
the Sons of Liberty was when a
“model” of Andrew Oliver (who
was to be commissioned
Distributor of Stamps for
Massachusetts) was found
hanging in a tree on Newbury
street, along with a large boot
with a devil climbing out of it.
• Others that were against the
Sons of Liberty would often
times find themselves tarred
and feathered.
Stamp Act Congress
 In
October of 1765, 9 of
the 13 colonies sent
representatives to the
Stamp Act Congress held
in New York City.

The delegates prepared a
declaration against the new
British actions, and sent it to
King George III.
The Stamp Act Congress
• “No Taxation Without Representation” was the cry of the Stamp Act
Congress.
• In the end, the Congress humbly acknowledged Parliament's right to
make laws in the colonies. Only the issue of taxation was disputed.
• The Stamp Act Congress was a tentative but essential step toward
the unity that would be necessary for the colonies to declare boldly
their independence from mother England.
Controversy on the Rise
The Townshend Acts

In 1767, Parliament passed a set of laws that came to be
known as the Townshend Acts.
• Originally the Acts started out as a revenue tax act.
• Taxes were placed on glass, paint, oil, lead, paper, and tea.
The Townshend Acts
•
One of these acts legalized the
use of writs of assistance to
assist customs officers in
arresting smugglers.
•
The writs were general search
warrants that enabled customs
officers to enter into any
location and look for evidence
of smuggling.
The Townshend Acts
 Colonists
were angered by these
laws and caused many problems
for the British officials.
 The worst incident of violence
took place in Boston.

On March 5, 1770, British soldiers
fired a crowd, killing 5. The
shootings became known as the
Boston Massacre.
Townshend Acts
 The
colonists resented the new taxes. Because they had
no representatives in Parliament, as people living in Great
Britain did, the colonists believed that Parliament had no
right to tax them.
“No taxation without
representation!”
The Tea Act


In 1773 Parliament passed
another measure The Tea
Act.
The Tea Act gave the British
East India Company the right to
ship tea to the colonies
without paying most of the
taxes usually placed on tea.

This made the East India
Company tea cheaper than any of
the colonies, giving the British
company an advantage over
colonial merchants.
 In
December 1773, a
group of angry colonists
dressed as Native
Americans dumped 342
chests of British tea into
the Boston Harbor.
England’s Reaction
 In
reaction to the protest,
Parliament passed the
Coercive Acts, which
Americans called the
Intolerable Acts.

These laws restricted the
colonists’ civil rights,
including the right to trial by
jury.
The Colonist Respond
The First Continental Congress
• The first Continental
Congress met in
Philadelphia, in 1774.
• All of the colonies except
Georgia sent elected
delegates.
The First Continental Congress
• Although the objectives of the body were not entirely clear but, it was agreeable
to all that the King and Parliament must be made to understand the grievances of
the colonies.
• Especially those of the Intolerable Acts.
• At the convention Colonists agreed to:
•Boycott British goods
•Arm themselves and form militias
•Appeal to the king
King George III Responds
• King George refuses to:
•Allow American
colonist representation
in Parliament
•No respond to
colonists’ complaints
and official grievances
The Start of the Revolution
Second Continental Congress
• Prior to the meeting of the
Second Continental Congress
there were revolutionary
battles happening.
• Minutemen as well as other
Patriots were already standing
their ground and fighting for
their beliefs.
Second Continental Congress
•During their meeting the
Continental Congress decided to
officially separate from Britain
•The committee selected to draft
the reasons for separation and
elected Thomas Jefferson to
write the document.
The Declaration of Independence
• The Declaration was written
by Thomas Jefferson and it
listed rights and grievances
against King George III
• There were 4 main parts:
1. Preamble
2. Declaration of rights
3. List of Grievances
4. Resolution
Choosing Sides
• The Patriots—
Supported the
revolution.
The Loyalists—
Americans who
supported the crown
• Redcoats/
Lobsterbacks –
The British Army
The American Revolution
•Your turn! You will finish a webquest
looking at American Revolution Battles.
The Treaty of Paris
• The Treaty of Paris of 1783,
was negotiated between the
United States and Great
Britain
• It ended the Revolutionary
War and recognized
American independence.
The Treaty of Paris
• The primary provisions of the Treaty of Paris established the
independence of the United States and ended hostilities between
the two nations.
• Other provisions dealt with the defining of borders, restitution
for Loyalist property confiscated by Americans during the war,
the return of slaves confiscated by the British, and the removal of
British troops from American soil.
America—Post Revolution
L A UNCHING A NE W NAT I O N
Launching a New Nation
• Prior to the American Revolution British settlers had founded not one
colony but many, each with its own governor, council, and colonial
assembly.
• This system encouraged people to think of the colony as a primary
political unit.
• Because of this, most people’s allegiance was to the colony in which they
lived. The Revolutionary War gave the colonies a common goal, but as
these colonies became states, they remained reluctant to unite under a
strong central government.
THE CHALLENGE
• The challenge was to
develop a system of
government that
balanced the interests
of the several states
with those of a nation.
Launching a New Nation
• Eighteenth-century Americans believed that a democracy, or
government directly by the people, placed too much power in the
hands of the uneducated masses.
• Therefore, they favored a republic—a government in which citizens
rule through elected representatives.
The Continental Congress Debates
• During the debates of the Continental
Congress there was much disagreement
over the role of the national
government and there were many
questions they had to consider.
• How would the states be represented?
• Although the states were equal as political
entities, they were unequal in size, wealth and
population.
The Continental Congress Debates
• Congress decided to propose a
new type of government in a
set of laws called the Articles of
Confederation.
• The Articles of Confederation
was one in which two levels of
government shared
fundamental powers.
The Continental Congress Debates
• The Articles of Confederation gave the new national government power to
declare war, make peace, and sign treaties.
• It could borrow money, set standards for coins, establish a postal service
and deal with Native American peoples.
• The articles however, created no separate executive department to enforce
or carry out the acts of Congress and no national court system to interpret
the meanings.
The Continental Congress Debates
• The Confederation Congress then faced
the question of how to govern public
lands west of the Appalachians and north
of the Ohio River.
• Congress passed the Land Ordinance of
1785, which established a plan for
surveying the land.
• In 1787, they passed the Northwest
Ordinance which divided the land into
territories.
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787
• The Northwest Ordinance set requirements for the admission of new
states.
• To become a state:
• Congress would appoint a territorial governor and judges
• When a territory had 5,000 voting residents, the settlers could write a temporary
constitution and elect their own government.
• When the total population of a territory reached 60,000 free inhabitants, the settlers
could write a state constitution, which had to be approved by Congress for statehood.
The Land Ordinance and the Northwest
Ordinance
• The Land Ordinance
and the Northwest
Ordinance became
the Confederation’s
greatest
achievements.
• They established a
blue print for the
growth of the nation.
The Confederation
• After its success in dealing with the Northwest Territory, the Confederation
encountered several problems such as:
• Economic issues—such as taxation and the national debt
• Political issues—such as congressional representation
• National Unity
The Confederation and National Unity
• National unity was the
Confederation’s most serious
problem.
• Each state functioned
independently by pursuing its own
interests.
• Also, regardless of population
each state only had one vote in
Congress.
• Georgia—23,375 population had the
same political power as
Massachusetts with a population of
235, 308.
The Confederation
• The most serious economic problem was the huge debt that the
Congress had amassed during the Revolutionary War.
• The Confederation had borrowed from foreign countries and printed its own
paper money.
• Now that the war was over, Continental currency became worthless.
The Confederation’s Economic Problems
• The Confederation lacked the ability to tax, so Congress requested
the state’s approval to impose a tariff, or tax on imported goods.
• Although the tax was going to be used to repay foreign loans not all states agreed
so the tax was not adopted.
The Confederation’s Problems
• America’s fear of giving the national government too much power had
resulted in a government that lacked sufficient power to deal with the
nation’s problems.
Drafting the Constitution
Conflict Leads to Compromise
• Most delegates realized there was a need to strengthen the central
government.
• One big issue the delegates faced was giving fair representation to both large
and small states.
• James Madison proposed the Virginia Plan. It proposed a bicameral, or two house
legislature, with membership based on each state’s population.
• William Patterson’s New Jersey plan proposed a single-house congress in which weach state
had an equal vote.
The Compromise
• Roger Sherman proposed the
Great Compromise.
• The compromise offered a two-house
Congress to satisfy both small and big
states.
• Each state would have equal
representation in the Senate, or upper
house and the House or
Representatives, or lower house would
be based on each state’s population.
The Compromise
• Representation based on
population raised the question
of whether or not slaves should
be counted as people.
• Delegates finally agreed to the
Three-Fifths Compromise which
called for three-fifths of a state’s
slaves to be counted as population.
Creating a New Government
Creating a New Government
• After reaching agreement on
questions of slavery and
representation, the delegates
dealt with other issues.
• They divided the power between
the states and the national
government’s power between into
three branches.
• The new system of government was
a form of federalism that divided
power between the national
government and the states.
Federalists and Anti-federalists
• After spending months drafting the Constitution Americans were shocked
with the radical changes it proposed.
Federalists and Anti-federalists
• Supporters of the Constitution
called themselves
FEDERALISTS.
• Federalists liked the balance of
power between the states and the
national government.
• Those that did not support the
Constitution were called ANTIFEDERALISTS .
• They opposed the strong central
government.
Federalists
• Federalists insisted that the division of powers and the
system of checks and balances would protect
Americans from the tyranny of centralized authority.
Anti-federalists
• Anti-federalist feared that a strong central government would lead to
abuses of power and that the government would serve the interests
of the privileged minority and ignore the rights of the minority.
• They were also fearful that a single government could manage the
affairs of a large country.
• **The main issue the anti-federalist had was the Constitution’s lack
of protection of individual rights.
Common Ground
• Both the Federalists and Antifederalists continue to argue
their points.
• They finally reached a
compromise with the
introduction of the Bill of
Rights.
The Bill of Rights
• The Bill of Rights are our personal liberties. They also impose limits of
the federal government.
• In the beginning, the Bill of Rights did not protect nor apply to all living
in America.
• Native Americans and slaves were excluded.
• Originally, women were not mentioned in the Constitution.
• Although some northern states permitted free blacks to vote, the Bill of Rights
offered no protection against whites’ discrimination and hostility.
Launching a New Nation
Launching a New Nation
• After the American Revolution
George Washington was
elected as the nation’s 1st
President.
• Washington along with
Congress faced the intimidating
task to create an entirely new
government.
Washington’s Thoughts

Washington wanted to
base a government on
the ideals of the
Enlightenment.

Republican rule and
individual rights
The Judiciary System

One of the firsts tasks
Washington and
Congress tackled was
the creation of a judicial
system.
The Judiciary System

The Constitution had authorized Congress to
set up a federal court system, headed by the
Supreme Court, but failed to set up the details.

The Judiciary Act of 1789 answered these
critical questions, creating a judicial structure
that has remained essentially intact.
Judiciary Act of 1789

It set up 3 federal
circuit courts and 13
federal district courts
throughout the
country.
Washington Shapes the
Executive Branch
At the same time Congress shaped the
judiciary branch Washington was shaping the
executive branch.
 The Executive Branch was going to be used
to help him make policies and carry out laws
passed by Congress.

The Executive Branch
Originally, the executive branch consisted of
only the President and the Vice-President.
 To help those leaders Congress created the
executive branches:

 The
Department of State
 The Department of War
 The Department of the Treasury
The
Department
of State

The Department
of War
• Was created to handle military matters
Created to deal
with foreign
affairs.
The Department
of the Treasury
• Was created to manage finances.
Foreign Affairs Trouble the
Nation
U S R E SPO NDS TO E VE NT S I N E U R O P E
US Responds to events in Europe
• The American Revolution not only inspired a positive change for the
colonies but it also impacted many in France.
• The success of the American Revolution led to the start of the French
Revolution.
The FRENCH REVOLUTION
 The most important
foreign policy question
young America faced was
whether or not they
should support the French
Revolution.
 Americans were split over
their decision because
French Revolution, like
the American Revolution
was inspired by the idea
of republican rule.
What is FOREIGN POLICY?
  a policy pursued
by a nation in its
dealings with other
nations, designed to
achieve national
objectives.
Parties are split
• Democratic-Republicans
wanted to support the French.
• Federalists wanted to back the
British.
Washington Responds
 President
Washington took the
middle road and on
April 22, 1793, he
issued a declaration
of neutrality.
Neutrality
  Being Neutral—staying out of other’s
conflict and business.
 By being neutral Washington was saying that
United States would support neither side of the
war and by doing so was in the new nation’s
best interest.
Treaty With Spain
Treaty with Spain
• The United States wanted to
secure land claims west of the
Appalachian Mountains and to
gain shipping rights on the
Mississippi River.
• To do this, it needed to come to
an agreement with Spain.
Treaty with Spain
• Spain currently held Florida and the Louisiana Territory.
• Negotiations between the US and Spain stalled due to events taking
place in Europe and Spain signed a treaty with France.
Treaty With Spain
• Agreements were finally met
when Spain agreed to meet
with US Minister to Great
Britain, Thomas Pinckney.
• Pinckney’s Treaty of 1795
included land east of the
Mississippi River (except
Florida) and recognized with
31st parallel as the southern
boundary of the United States
and the northern boundary of
Florida.
Native American –Group
Reading Activity
NAT IVE A ME R ICANS R E S I S T WHI T E S E T T L ERS