Transcript An American Nation is Born

An American Nation
is Born
Presentation created by Robert Martinez
Primary Content Source: Prentice Hall World History
Images as cited.
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By 1750, a string of
13 prosperous
colonies stretched
along the eastern
coast of North
America. They were
part of Britain’s
growing empire.
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Colonial cities such as Boston, New
York, and Philadelphia were busy
commercial centers that linked North
America to the West Indies, Africa, and
Europe. Colonial shipyards produced
many vessels used in that global trade.
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Britain applied mercantilist policies to its
colonies. In the 1600s, Parliament had
passed the Navigation Acts to regulate
colonial trade and manufacturing. For the
most part, these acts were not enforced.
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Smuggling was common and was not
considered a crime by the colonists.
Even prominent colonists might gain part
of their wealth from smuggled goods.
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By the mid-1700s, the colonies were
home to diverse religious and ethnic
groups. Social distinctions were more
blurred than in Europe, although
government and society were dominated
by wealthy landowners and merchants.
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In politics, there was a good deal of free
discussion. Colonists felt entitled to the
rights of English citizens, and their
colonial assemblies exercised much
control over local affairs.
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After 1763, relations between Britain and
the 13 colonies grew strained. The Seven
Years’ War and the French and Indian
War in North America had drained the
British treasury.
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King George III and his
advisers thought that the
colonists should help pay
for the war and for troops
still stationed along the
frontier. Parliament did
repeal some of the hated
measures, such as a tax on
all paper, but in general, it
asserted its right to impose
taxes on the colonies.
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A series of violent
clashes intensified
the crisis. In March
1770, British soldiers
in Boston opened fire
on a crowd that was
pelting them with
stones and
snowballs. Colonists
called the death of
five protesters the
“Boston Massacre.”
In December 1773, a handful of colonists
hurled a cargo of recently arrived British tea
into the harbor to protest a tax on tea. The
incident became known as the Boston Tea
Party. When Parliament passed harsh laws to
punish Massachusetts for the destruction of
the tea, other colonies rallied to oppose the
British response.
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As tensions increased, fighting spread,
representatives from each colony
gathered in Philadelphia. There, they met
in a Continental Congress to decide what
action to take.
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Carpenter Hall
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Site of the First Continental Congress
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Among the participants were the radical yet fairminded Massachusetts lawyer John Adams, who
had defended at trial the British soldiers
involved in the Boston Massacre; Virginia
planter and soldier George Washington; and
political and social leaders from all 13 colonies.
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The Congress set up a
Continental Army, with
George Washington in
command. In April 1775,
the crisis exploded into
war. Although many
battles ended in British
victories, they showed
that the Patriots were
determined to fight at
any cost.
In 1776, the Second
Continental Congress
took a momentous step,
voting to declare
independence from
Britain. Thomas Jefferson
of Virginia was the
principal author of the
Declaration of
Independence, a
document that reflects the
ideas of John Locke.
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Independence Hall
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Team Martinez Personal Photograph Collection
The Declaration claimed that people had
the right “to alter or to abolish” unjust
governments – a right to revolt. It also
emphasized the principle of popular
sovereignty, which states that all
government power comes from the people.
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Jefferson carefully
detailed the colonist’s
grievances against
Britain. Because the
king had trampled
colonist’s natural
rights, he argued, the
colonists had the
right to rebel and set
up a new government
that would protect
them.
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Aware of the risks involved, on July 4,
1776, American leaders adopted the
Declaration, pledging “our lives, our
fortunes, and our sacred honor” to
creating and protecting the new United
States of America.
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At first, the American cause looked bleak.
The British had professional soldiers, a
huge fleet, and plentiful money. They
occupied most major American cities. Also,
about one third of the colonists were
Loyalists, who supported Britain.
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The Continental Congress had few military
resources and littler money to pay its soldiers.
Still, colonists battling for independence had
some advantages. They were fighting on their
own soil for their farms and towns. Although
the British held New York and Philadelphia,
rebels controlled the countryside.
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To counteract these
advantages, the British
worked to create alliances
within the colonies. A
number of Native American
groups sided with the
British, while others saw
potential advantages in
supporting the Patriot cause.
Additionally, the British
offered freedom to any
enslaved people who were
willing to fight the colonists.
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A turning point in the war came in 1777,
when the Americans triumphed over the
British at the Battle of Saratoga. This
victory persuaded France to join the
Americans against its old rival, Britain.
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The alliance brought the Americans
desperately needed supplies, trained
soldiers, and French warships. Spurred
by the French example, the Netherlands
and Spain added their support.
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In the brutal winter of 1777-1778, Continental
troops at Valley Forge suffered from cold,
hunger, and disease. Throughout this crisis
and others, Washington proved a patient,
courageous, and determined leader able to
hold the ragged army together.
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Finally in 1781, with the help of the French
fleet, which blockaded the Chesapeake
Bay, Washington forced the surrender of a
British army at Yorktown, Virginia. With
that defeat, the British war effort crumbled.
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Two years later, American, British, and French
diplomats signed the Treaty of Paris ending the
war. In that treaty, Britain recognized the
independence of the United States of America.
It also accepted the new nation’s western
frontier as the Mississippi River.
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The national government set up by a document
that Americans called the Articles of
Confederation was too weak to rule the new
United States effectively. To address this
problem, the nation’s leaders gathered once
more in Philadelphia.
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During the hot summer of 1787, they met
in secret to hammer out the Constitution
of the United States. This framework for a
strong yet flexible government has
adapted to changing conditions for more
than 200 years.
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The framers of the
Constitution had
absorbed the ideas
of Locke,
Montesquieu, and
Rousseau. They saw
government in terms
of a social contract
into which “We the
People of the United
States” entered.
John Locke
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They provided not only
for an elective
legislature but also for
an elected president
rather than a hereditary
monarch. For the first
president, voters would
choose George
Washington, who had
led the army during the
war.
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The Constitution created a
federal republic, with power
divided between the federal
government and the states. The
federal government included a
separation of powers among the
legislative, executive, and
judicial branches, an idea
borrowed from Montesquieu.
Each branch of government was
provided with checks and
balances.
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The Bill of Rights, the
first 10 amendments to
the Constitution,
recognized the idea that
people had basic rights
that the government must
protect. These rights
included freedom of
religion, speech, and the
press, as well as the
rights to trial by jury and
to private property.
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In 1789, the Constitution became the
supreme law of the land. It set up a
representative government with an
elected legislature to reflect the wishes of
the governed. Yet most Americans at the
time did not have the right to vote.
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Only white men who were able to meet certain
property requirements could vote. Women
could not cast a ballot, nor could African
Americas – enslaved or free – or Native
Americans. It would take more than a century
of struggle before the right to vote and equal
protection under the law were extended to all
adult Americans.
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