Period Three: 1754-1800

events that led to the american revolution, formation of the united states, and early years of the republic

the seven years' (french + indian) war

• mutual conflict between british + french → british encroachment on ohio river valley

• british (+ american colonists) win war, french are ousted from north america, louisiana territory goes to spain

• paris treaty ends the war

• british double territory

• colonists move west, problems with indigenous peoples

• proclamation of 1763: no one can move past appalachians (proclamation line)

• viewed as unfair → colonists had shed blood for land they didn't get

• british debt 2x, cost of running colonies 5x → must raise taxes

the articles of confederation

• first + second continental congresses (1774, 1775)

• declaration of the causes and necessities for taking up arms

• george washington, benedict arnold

• called upon colonies to provide troops to congress

• states had already assembled their own constitutions + governments

• during the drafting of the articles, writers borrowed from state models (ratified 1781)

• put all federal power into legislature (only branch), no power to collect taxes or assemble a military

• one good thing to come from it – northwest ordinance of 1787: see immigration section

• salutary neglect: crown turns a blind eye when colonists ignore their laws; easier since communication is time-consuming + difficult

• period of salutary neglect ends, tensions rise

• proclamation of 1763: marked appalachian mountains as colonial divide, prohibited english colonists from settling on lands acquired by the french and indian war

• american revenue act (sugar act): curb smuggling of sugar + molasses by reducing previous tax rate + enforcing the collection of duties

• quartering act: required colonies to house british soldiers

• stamp act: placed taxes on newspapers, legal documents, + commercial documents → repealed in 1766 after colonial resistance

• declaratory act: stated that britain's taxing authority was the same in the colonies + britain

• townshend acts: imposed duties on british goods, led to colonists' boycott

• coercive (intolerable) acts: boston port bill (closed boston harbor until reparations for the boston tea party were made), massachusetts government act (abolished massachusetts' charter, replaced elected council with appointed), administration of justice act (british officials can go to britain/other colonies for trial)

• quebec act: gave quebec a governor + council

• olive branch petition: final peace offer to britain if they repealed the coercive acts + ended the taxation without representation

• prohibitory act: cut off all trade between the colonies + england, removed colonies from british protection

• representation issue

• colonists upset over taxes without representation in parliament

• british response: "virtual representation" → parliament represents all classes rather than all locations

• colonists disregard because of their own self-sufficiency and self-governing structures

policies leading to revolution

the american revolution

• stamp act congress (1765)

• assembled in response to the stamp act

• writing a petition to request its repeal → did so as loyal british citizens seeking rights as such, rather than independence

• colonists continued to boycott british goods following townshend acts

• boston massacre (1770)

• snowball fight, british soldiers kill 11 colonists (eg. crispus attucks)

• committees of correspondence (1772)

• first colonial institution of keeping contact; established by samuel adams to spread word of resistance effort among patriot leaders in the colonies

• the boston tea party (1773)

• protest against british taxes on tea → patriots dressed as native americans and dumped british tea into boston harbor

• declaration of independence (1776)

• written by the second continental congress, ratified in 1776; declared independence from england

• battle of saratoga + alliance with france (1777)

• divisive victory for americans that gained french support of the revolutionary war

• battle of yorktown (1781) end of war

• treaty of paris (1783)

• signed by king george iii and colonial representatives to end the american revolutionary war and guarantee independence for america

the creation + ratification of the constitution

• annapolis convention (1786)

• address the shortcomings of the articles of confederation; only five states represented

• connecticut plan — "great compromise"

• establish a bicameral branch of the federal government to compromise between the new jersey + virginia plans (establishment of the house + senate)

• three-fifths compromise

• enslaved people in the south would be counted as 3/5 of a person when determining population

• federalists + anti-federalists

• federalists in support of a strong national government, anti-federalists for states' rights and generally more of a direct interpretation of the constitution

• judiciary act (1789)

• establishes supreme court with one chief justice, five associates

• court can rule on constitutionality of state decisions

• provided system of 13 district courts and 3 circuit courts of appeals

developing an american identity

• ben franklin's albany plan

• create a unified colonial government → proposed at 1754 albany congress

• first continental congress

• philadelphia 1774; delegates from 12/13 colonies discussed increased british aggression + planned colonial response, agreed to reconvene

• common sense

• pamphlet by thomas paine suggesting that american independence was a matter of common sense → eg. Why should an island control a continent?

• combines bible with enlightenment, convinced colonists that independence was the only way forward

• the whiskey rebellion (1794)

• hamilton wanted to increase tariffs on crops used in production of whiskey

• farmers rebelled, attacking revenue collectors

• george washington sent in 15,000 troops to dissolve the rebellion (display of federal power)

• declaration of independence

• natural rights (life, liberty, pursuit of happiness), social contract (secure rights), government derives power from the governed, if it mishandles such power the people have the right to abolish/overthrow it

• george washington's farewell address

• remain neutral in foreign affairs (isolationism)

• enlightenment

• ideal 1: natural rights – people have inherent rights given to them by the almighty (life, liberty, property) → they don’t come from a government (can’t give them/take them away)

• ideal 2: the social contract – power to rule is in the hands of the people; people relinquish some individual freedoms to the government so that it can provide safety + ultimately protect their natural rights

• ideal 3: separation of powers in government [see constitution]

• evident in common sense + the declaration of independence

• xyz affair

• french seized american trade ships, adams sent a delegation, french demanded a bribe before discussion, led to general outrage

• both federalists + democratic-republicans agreed that this was an outrage

• alien + sedition acts

• made it legal + easy to deport any non-citizen of the us

• made it illegal to criticize the federal government

• squashed rights to freedoms of speech + press as stated in the bill of rights

• opposition from democratic-republicans: virginia + kentucky resolutions

• if the government passes a law that is clearly unconstitutional, the states can nullify it

immigration to + migration within america

• land ordinance of 1785

• passed under articles of confederation → how lands west of appalachian mountains would be surveyed/sold (townships + sections now standard)

• northwest ordinance (aka ordinance of 1787)

• outlined process for admitting new states; would be equal to original thirteen states, abolished slavery in northwest territories