Period 3: 1754-1800, Road to Revolution and Creating the Constitution

• This conflict arose through land disputes over the Ohio River Valley

• The French and Indian war led to the French giving up land. England now dominates the land east of the Mississippi River & parts of Canada.

• During the war, the patriotism of Americans to the British were at an all time high.

• The French and Indian war led to Britain needing to raise revenue for their standing army through taxes

• This will be a factor contributing to the American Revolution

• Forbade settlers from crossing the crest of the Appalachian mountains.

• The purpose of this was to avoid conflict between trans-Appalachian Indians & British colonists seeking cheap land.

• However, there was nobody to enforce this.

• The people saw this as an infringement on their right to take needed land.

• The purpose of this was to raise revenue to support British troops stationed in America.

• Issues raised from this: Does Parliament have the right to tax colonists, and can they truly reflect colonial interests?

• The colonists battle cry was “no taxation without representation”

• Importance of this: colonists used terrorism rather than legal means, the British felt that colonists had no rights to independence. Patriot colonial leaders felt that the tax denied them a legal British birthright and that all colonists had the same rights as British subjects.

• The tax was repealed because of a colonial boycott of British exports by the Sons/Daughters of Liberty.

• This was parliament's response to the Boston Tea Party.

• This was designed to punish the Massachusetts colony. They lost their charter rights, the port of Boston was closed until damages during the Tea Party were paid off, and Parliament replaced Massachusetts locally elected assembly and replaced them with British agents.

• A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine, inspired by Enlightenment thought.

• It called for independence from Britain.

• This opposed King George & favored a republican government.

• It defended republican principles.

• It helped people decide which side they favored (Parliament or Rebels)

• This used the bible to justify arguments.

• This was a 18th century philosophy stressing that reason can be used to improve the human condition.

• Thomas Jefferson stressed the idea of Natural Rights such as the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

• Franklin and Jefferson were American enlightenment thinkers.

• The idea that God created the universe governed by natural law, aka the clockmaker theory.

• Natural laws can be discovered by the use of human reason.

• The Declaration of Independence authors used the philosophy of natural rights derived from John Locke.

• Authors appealed to the sympathies of the English people.

• They accused King George III of being a tyrant. The Declaration included a list of grievances against the King.

• Colonists believed that the King was a tyrant.

• The colonists felt that Parliament wanted to control the internal affairs of colonists without their consent.

• The colonists felt that British ministers and government officials were corrupt.

• The colonists wanted greater political participation in policies affecting the colonies.

• The colonists resented the quartering of troops.

• The colonists wanted to preserve their local autonomy & way of life.

• The Battle of Saratoga convinced the French to declare war on Britain & support the American cause as it convinced the French that there was a chance that they could win the war against the British.

• The French gave both financial and military assistance to the colonists, enabling their victory.

• The French cared more about weakening the British Empire rather than their commitment to republicanism.

•  The French-American alliance forced the British to agree to generous terms.

• This gave America the land between Canada and the Great Lakes region in the North, and Florida in the South, all the way to the Mississippi River.

• In this agreement the U.S. agreed that loyalists or Tories would not be further persecuted.

• The writers of this were cautious to give the new government the same powers that they denied from parliament.

• Weaknesses: This has a lack of authority to tax in order to raise revenue, a lack of power to exercise authority over states.

• Important achievements of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787: This proved to be an orderly creation of new territorial governments and new states. The northwest territories and Ohio excluded slavery in new territories and supported public education

• After the Revolutionary War, Massachustes raised its taxes in order to pay off it’s war debts, however, the farmers weren’t able to pay their debts in hard money, meaning they would lose their land. In response, the farmers retalliated, closing the courts so that their lands couldn’t be taken

• Changes Sought by the leaders of the rebellion: End farm foreclosures, end imprisonment for debt, get relief from high taxation, and get increased circulation of paper money,

• 3. Leaders of Shay's Rebellion did not try to overthrow the government of Massachusetts.

• The rebellion helped leaders realize the weakness of the Articles of Confederation, causing the people to recognize that we needed a stronger centralized government.

• The authors of this made a series of compromises to create a government acceptable to both small and large states, as well as slave & free slaves.

• Provisions of the Constitution in 1787: 1) Separation of powers with 3 branches (Legislative, executive, and judicial). 2) Gave Congress the power to declare war. 3) Guaranteed the legality Of slavery. 4) The Electoral College was created to protect the presidency from direct popular election. 5) Created provisions for impeachment. 6) Created provisions for the State of the Union message. 7) Created provisions for the ratification of the Constitution (Had to be accepted by all 13 colonies) 8) Federalism led to bicameral legislature, which was created through the Great Compromise (Virginia and Jersey Plan mixed), 9) Created powers for Congress. 10) 3/5th clause, meant that slaves counted as 3/5th of a person.

• Provisions added after 1787/1788: Created a two term limit for the presidency 2) Added universal manhood suffrage 3) Created the presidential cabinet 4) Created the direct election of senators. 5) Guaranteed freedom of speech and the press (Bill of Rights), as well as the right to speedy and public trial (Habeas Corpus). 7) Led to the formation of political parties.

• Hamilton and Madison wrote the Federalist Papers to support the ratification of the constitution of 1787

• This asserted that a large republic offered the best protection of minority rights, saying that "the tyranny of the majority would be impossible".

• They believed in an economy funded by the federal government.

• They believed that only the wealthy should vote because they were more educated.

• They also believed in a strong central government.

• They will later become Democratic-Republicans

• They were the opposition to the Federalists, believing that a strong central government would become tyrannical.

• The opponents of Federalism did the following: 1) Drew support from rural areas. 2) Feared the president would have too much power. 3) Feared that Congress would levy heavy taxes. 4) Feared that the government would raise a standing army. 5) felt that the national government would overwhelm the states. 6) argued that individuals’ rights needed to be protected.

Hamilton’s Aims: Foster economic growth. 2) Strengthen the New Nation's finances. 3) Give financial interests (Such as Eastern merchants) a stake in the new government. 4) Believed that National debt is good to a point as it led to better relations with other nations.

• Hamilton's proposals: 1) The creation of a National bank. 2) Creation of protective tariffs to increase revenue. 3) Creation of a national debt. 4) That the government should bear state debts incurred during the Revolutionary War. 5) Taxing distilleries 6) Expanding domestic manufacturing. 7) Giving subsidies for domestic manufacturing, however, Congress Rejected this point because they didn’t want to the government in economics.

• Hamitton favored a loose interpretation of the Constitution, believing that a "necessary & proper" clause justified & permitted his proposals (Allows congress the ability to make laws or to act where the constitution doesn't give it authority to act)

• Jefferson favored a "strict" interpretation of the Constitution.

•  He warned of the danger of foreign entanglements

• Warned that commercial relations were okay, but that political alliances were not.

• Warned that America should have no Political parties.

• President Wilson’s opponents used this to justify not joining the League of Nations

• This was used to justify the Neutrality Acts of the 1930s