Chapter 4: Imperial Wars and Colonial Protest

Empires at War

• Late in the 17th century, war broke out involving Great Britain, France and Spain

• Wars had high stakes bc the winner would stand to gain supremacy in the West Indies and Canada to dominate lucrative colonial trade. These wars included:

  • King William's War (1689-1697) and Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713)

    • British launched expeditions to capture Quebec but failed in both events

  • King George’s War (1744-1748)

    • British colonies were under attack from their perennial rivals, the French and the Spanish

    • James Oglethorpe led a colonial army that managed to evade Spanish attacks

  • The Seven Years War (French and Indian War)

    • North American phase is often referred to as the French and Indian War

    • British POV: French provoked this war by building a chain of forts in Ohio River Valley, halting the westward expansion of British colonies

    • The Governor of Virginia sent a small troop of militia led by George Washington to win control of the Ohio River valley, in which the colonies were successful, sparking conflict between Britain and France

    • After years of fighting, first in North America, then in Europe, British were named victorious with the Peace of Paris (1763), which basically gave Britain a lot and France got next to nothing.

    • Britain was established as the dominant naval power in the world and walked away from the war with a low opinion of colonial military abilities.

    • Colonies thought the opposite and felt confident that they could provide or their own defense.

• Albany Plan of Union

  • British govt. called for representatives from several colonies to meet at a Congress in Albany

  • Delegates adopted a plan developed by Ben Franklin that provided for an intercolonial govt. (Specifically to recruit troops and collect taxes)

  • Unfortunately this plan wasn’t put into action because colonies didn’t want to give up their rights to tax

  • Albany Congress, while unsuccessful, set a precedent for more revolutionary congresses in the 1770s

Recognition of the British Empire

• Britain had previously exercised “salutary neglect” with the colonies and used little control, but these policies shifted following the Seven Years War

• Since these wars had been costly for Britain, Parliament wanted to compensate for war efforts without raising taxes at home, so a bulk of taxes were bestowed upon colonists.

• Pontiac’s Rebellion

  • First major test of the new British imperial policy

  • Chief Pontiac led a major attack against colonial settlements on western frontier

  • Rather than relying on colonial forces to retaliate, British sent their own troops to put down the uprising

• ●Proclamation of 1763

  • In an effort to stabilize the western frontier, the British prohibited colonists from travelling west of the Appalachian Mountains

  • British saw this as a way to limit hostilities with Natives

  • Americans reacted with anger and defiance bc they felt that these lands should be theirs to explore following their victory in the Seven Years War

  • Many defied the prohibition and traveled West anyway

British Actions and Colonial Reactions

• The Proclamation of 1763 was the first of a series of acts passed by Parliament that angered colonists.

• While the British saw these acts as justified for protecting the colonial empire and making them pay for protection, the colonists felt that their liberties were being threatened.

• Some of these acts included:

  • Sugar Act (1764)

    • Placed duties on foreign sugar and certain luxuries

    • Also provided stricter enforcement of Navigation Acts to stop smuggling

  • Quartering Act (1765)

    • Required colonists to provide food and living quarters for British soldiers stationed in the colonies

  • ○Stamp Act (1765)

    • Required that revenue stamps be placed on most printed paper in the colonies (This was the first direct tax collected from those who used the goods and paid by ppl in the colonies as opposed to taxes on imported goods, paid by merchants)

    • Patrick Henry - Spoke for many in the House of Burgesses to demand that the King recognize the rights of all citizens including the right to not be taxed without representation

    • James Otis - Initiated a call for cooperative action among the colonies to protest the Stamp Act by meeting with representatives from nine colonies to form the so-called Stamp Act Congress

  • Declaratory Act (1766)

    • Followed the repeal of the colonial resented Stamp Act

    • This act asserted that the Parliament had the right to tax and make laws for the colonies “in all cases whatsoever”

    • This declaration would soon lead to more conflict between Britain and the colonies

  • Townshend Acts (1767)

    • Parliament enacted new duties on colonial imports of tea, glass and paper

    • Also provided for the search of private homes for smuggled goods

    • John Dickinson of Pennsylvania - Wrote that Parliament could regulate commerce but still could not tax without representation in his Letters From a Farmer in Pennsylvania

    • James Otis and Sam Adams jointly wrote the Massachusetts Circular Letter urging colonies to petition Parliament to repeal the Townshend Acts

    • Repealed in 1770 and ended the colonial boycott (However Parliament retained a small tax on tea as a symbol of its right to tax colonies)

• Boston Massacre

  • Protesters, who called themselves Patriots, were protesting occupation of British soldiers in their city who were sent to enforce taxation in colonies

  • An altercation occurred and guards fired into the crowd, killing five people

  • John Adams defended the soldier in court and they were acquitted

  • Sam Adams denounced the shooting as a “massacre” to create anit-British sentiment and propaganda for Revolution

• Committees of Correspondence

  • Initiated by Sam Adams in 1772 to keep anti-British views alive

  • These committees would organize and regularly exchange letters about British activity that was suspicious

  • Virginia House of Burgesses took the concept a step further when they organized intercolonial committees in 1773

• ●Boston Tea Party

  • Colonists continued their refusal to buy British tea bc they insisted on taxing

  • Americans dumped tea imported by the British East India Company into the Boston Harbor dressed as Natives bc there were no buyers

Intolerable Acts

• News of the Boston Tea Party angered the king and Parliament so they enacted a series of punitive acts in retaliation

• Known as the Coercive Acts (1774), these acts were:

  • Port Act - Closed the port of Boston, prohibiting trade in and out of the harbor until the destroyed tea was paid for

  • Mass. Gov. Act - Reduced power of Mass. legislature while increasing power of royal governor

  • Administration of Justice Act - Allowed royal officials accused of crimes to tried in Great Britain instead of the colonies

  • Expanded Quartering Act enabling British troops to be quartered in private homes

  • Quebec Act (1774) - Technically not a Coercive Act, but organized Canadian lands from France so that Roman Catholicism was the official religion of Quebec, and extended Quebec’s boundary to the Ohio River (Colonists resented this act bc it took away lands they had claimed along the Ohio River and Protestants resented the recognition given to Catholicism)

  • Intolerable Acts intensified the conflict between colonies and many Americans reached the conclusion that the only solution was to cut ties with the British government

Chapter 5: The American Revolution and Confederation

First Continental Congress

• ●Goal was to protest parliamentary infringements of their rights and restore the relationship with the crown prior to the Seven Years War

• The Delegates

  • A diverse group whose views about the crisis ranged from radical to conservative

  • Most Radical → Patrick Henry of Virginia, Sam and John Adams from Mass.

  • Moderates → George Washington of Virginia and John Dickinson of Pennsylvania

  • Conservatives → John Jay of New York and Joseph Galloway of Pennsylvania (preferred a mild statement of protest)

• ●Actions of the Congress

  • Joseph Galloway proposed a plan in which relations with Parliament would have been reordered and a union of colonies would have been formed (similar to Albany Plan) but it failed by one vote

  • Instead, the convention adopted these measures:

    • Endorsed Suffolk Resolves, which called for the immediate repeal of Intolerable Acts and for colonies to resist them by boycotting and making military preparations

    • Passed Declaration and Resolves, which urged the king to redress colonial grievances and restore colonial rights (backed by moderates)

    • Created Continental Association, a network of committees to enforce the economic sanctions of the Suffolk Resolves

    • Declared that if colonal rights were not recognized, delegates would meet again in May 1775

  • Petition of the First Continental Congress was dismissed by King, and more troops were sent to combat “rebellion” which led to the American Rev.

Fighting Begins

• ●Lexington and Concord

  • On April 18, 1775, commander of British troops in Boston sent a large force to seize colonial military supplies in the town of Concord.

  • Paul Revere and William Dawes, two riders, warned the militia of Lexington that the British were coming helping them set up their defense.

  • “The Shot Heard Round the World” - the first shot of the American Revolution (we don’t know who fired first)

  • British continued marching through Concord and winded up losing 250 men, which was considered humiliating considering the amateurity of the militia men

• Bunker Hill

The Second Continental Congress

• Soon after fighting broke out in Mass., delegates met in Philadelphia in May 1775

• Military Actions

  • The congress adopted a Declaration of the Causes and Necessities for Taking Up Arms and called on colonies to provide troops

  • George Washington - Appointed commander-in-chief of colonial army

  • Benedict Arnold - Had an authorized force to raid Quebec

• Peace Efforts

  • ○Delegates sent “Olive Branch Petition” to King George III, in which they pledged their loyalty and asked the King to intercede with Parliament to secure peace and the protection of colonial rights

  • ○Obviously he said no

• Thomas Paine’s Argument for Independence

  • Common Sense - Pamphlet written by Thomas Paine advocating for colonial independence and breaking all ties with Britain

  • Paine argued that it was contrary to common sense for a large continent to be ruled by a small and distant island who’s King did not grant them rights

• ●Declaration of Independence

  • After meeting for more than a year, the congress gradually began to favor independence over reconciliation

  • Thomas Jefferson wrote grievances against King George III’s government and also expressed basic principles of justified revolution in his Declaration of Independence, which was adopted on July 4, 1776

The Revolutionary War

• Patriots → Those who actively participated in the struggle against Britain

  • Mostly from New England states and Virginia

  • Would serve in local militia

• Loyalists → Those who sided with the British government

  • Those who pledged allegiance to the King also called Tories

  • The Tories would fight alongside British in American Rev.

• ●Initial American Losses and Hardships

  • First three years of the war were rough (1775-1777) for Washington’s poorly trained and poorly equipped army

  • Long winter suffering at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania

• ●Alliance With France

  • Turning point = Victory at Saratoga

  • This win convinced France to join in the war against Britain

  • French alliance proved to be a large asset in the war, forcing British to divert military resources away from America

• ●Victory

  • Yorktown → Last major battle of revolution … Cornwallis surrendered!

  • Treaty of Paris (1783)

    • Britain would recognize the existence of America as independent nation

    • Mississippi River would be the western boundary of nation

    • Americans would have fishing rights off the coast of Canada

    • Americans would pay debts owed to British merchants and honor Loyalist claimed for property confiscated during the war

Organization of New Governments

• State Governments

  • By 1777, 10 of the colonies had written state constitutions

  • Each constitution began with a “bill” or a declaration listing basic rights and freedoms, such as a jury trial and freedom of religion, that belonged to all citizens by right and state officials could not infringe on

  • Separation of Powers → Legislative, Executive and Judicial

  • Voting rights extended to all white males who owned some property

  • Office-Holding - Those seeking elected office were usually held to a higher property qualification than the voters

• Articles of Confederation

  • In Philadelphia in 1776, John Dickinson drafted the first Constitution

  • This document (Articles of Confederation) was adopted by Congress in 1777

  • Articles established a central govt. that consisted of just one body, a congress (unicameral legislature aka one-house) with each states having one vote needing 9 out of 13 votes to pass an important law

  • Gave Congress the powers to:

    • Wage war, make treaties, borrow money etc.

    • Did not have the power to regulate commerce or collect taxes

  • Despite its weaknesses, the Articles succeeded in:

    • Winning the war

    • Land Ordinance of 1785 (Congress established a policy for surveying and selling Western lands and setting aside a section of land in each township for public education)

    • Northwest Ordinance of 1787 (Law that sets the rules for creating new states: granted limited self-government to territory between Great Lakes and Ohio River and prohibited slavery in the region)

  • Problems with the Articles

    • Financial → Most war debts were unpaid

    • Foreign → European nations had little respect for a nation that couldn’t pay debts nor take action in a crisis

    • Domestic → Shay’s Rebellion

• Captain Daniel Shays, a Mass. farmer and Revolutionary war veteran, led other farmers in an uprising against high state taxes, imprisonment for debt, and lack of paper money

• This event demonstrated that there wasn’t enough federal power within the US government

Social Change

• ●Abolition of Aristocratic Titles → No legislature could grant titles of nobility and any nobility that existed in Europe did not exist in America

• Separation of Church and State → Refused to give financial support to religious groups

• Women → Made contributions to the Patriot effort but still were treated as second-class

• Slavery → Received some controversy due to “all men are created equal” but ultimately, landowners needed enslaved people for their society and made justifications for the enslavement of Africans and other minorities

Chapter 6: The Constitution and the New Republic

Background

• The United States Under the Articles (1781-1787)

  • Four years separated the time between the signing of the Treaty of Paris and the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia

  • During this period, the US gov. operated under the Articles (one-house congress, no separate executive, no separate judiciary) and the US faced many problems:

    • States failed to adhere to Treat of Paris (debts)

    • Economic depression due to reduced foreign trade and limited credit

    • Interstate quarrels over economic advantage

    • The Annapolis Convention

• George Wasghinton hosted a conference in Mt. Vernon, VA

• Problems discussed warranted a further meeting in Annapolis

• Eventually decided another convention should be held in Philly

Drafting the Constitution at Philadelphia

• The Delegates

  • All 13 states sent delegates to revise Articles of Confederation

  • George Washington unanimously elected chairperson

• ●Key Issues

  • ○Great Compromise

    • Proposed by Roger Sherman

    • Provided a two-house Congress

    • Senate would have equal representation while House of Reps would be represented based on population

  • ○Slavery

    • Should enslaved people be counted in state populations?

      • Three-Fifths Compromise → Counted each slave as ⅗of a person

    • Should slave trade be allowed?

      • Delegates permitted that slaves could be imported for 20 years longer

  • ○Trade

    • Commercial Compromise → Allowed Congress to regulate interstate and foreign commerce, including placing tariffs on imports (not exports)

  • ○The Presidency

    • Debates over President’s term of office (Some thought life)

    • Limited term to four years with no limit on Preseident’s number of terms

    • Granted President power to veto acts of Congress (didn’t want to give too much power)

  • ○Ratification

    • September 17, 1787 → Philadelphia Convention approved a draft of the Constitution to submit to the states for ratification

    • 9 out of 13 states would ratify the Constitution

Federalists and Anti-Federalists

• ●Federalists → Supporters of the constitution and a strong federal government

• ●Anti-Federalists → Opposed the ratification of the Constitution and favored small localized government

• The Federalist Papers → 85 persuasive essays from James Madison, John Jay and Alexander Hamilton that presented reasons for believing in the practicality of each major provision of the Constitution

• Debating the Constitution

Adding the Bill of Rights

• ●Arguments for a Bill of Rights → Anti-Federalists argued that strong central gov. could turn into a tyrannical gov. like in Britain

• ●Arguments Against a Bill of Rights → Federalists argued that since members of Congress would be elected by the people, they didn’t need to be protected against themselves (Winded up agreeing to win vote for Constitution)

• The First Ten Amendments

  • 1. Freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly and petition

  • 2. Right to bear arms

  • 3. Citizens do not have to house soldiers

  • 4. No unreasonable search or arrest

  • 5. No double jeopardy or no witness against yourself

  • 6. Rights to a speedy and public trial

  • 7. Trial by jury

  • 8. No excessive bail, fines, or cruel and unusual punishment

  • 9. People get rights not listed in Constitution

  • 10. Any rights not given to federal government are given to the states and people

Washington’s Presidency

• Organizing the Federal Government

  • Checks and Balances

    • Executive → President

    • Legislative → Congress

    • Judicial → Supreme Court

• Executive Governments

  • Four Heads of Departments

    • Secretary of State: Thomas Jefferson

    • Secretary of the Treasury: Alexander Hamilton

    • Secretary of War: Henry Knox

    • Attorney General: Edmund Randolph

  • These four men met with Washington regularly to discuss major policy issues

• Federal Court System

  • Judiciary Act of 1789 → Established a supreme court with one chief justice and five associate justices

  • Supreme Court empowered to rule on the constitutionality of decisions made by state courts

  • 13 District Courts and three circuit courts of appeals

• Foreign Affairs

  • The French Revolution

    • US were technically still allies with France, and Jefferson and his supporters sympathized with them

  • Proclamation of Neutrality (1793)

    • George Washington believed that the young nation was not strong enough to engage in a European War and Jefferson resigned from the Cabinet in disagreement with this policy

  • “Citizen” Genêt

    • French minister to the US who objected to Washington’s policy by appealing directly to the American people to support the French cause and therefore was removed

  • The Jay Treaty (1794)

    • Washington sent Chief Justice John Jay to negotiate with Britain about seizing American ships and impressing seamen into the British navy

    • Was unpopular among American supporters of France because it was in line with Neutrality Policy

  • The Pinckney Treaty (1795)

    • Thomas Pickney, US minister to Spain negotiated a treaty in which Spain opened up the lower Mississippi River and New Orleans to trade

    • Also known as the Treaty of San Lorenzo, this signified an agreement between Spain and America, which identified the southern boundary of the United States, and established commercial arrangements that were favorable to America.

Domestic Concerns

• Battle of Fallen Timbers

  • General Anthony Wayne led American troops to victory against Native Americans for land west of the Ohio River. This event is also known as the symbolic last battle of the American Revolution.

• Treaty of Greenville

  • A treaty that aimed to end the Northwest Territory Indian Wars, where Native Americans ceded much of their land to America after the Battle of Fallen Timbers.

• Whiskey Rebellion (1794)

  • An uprising against the liquor tax, showcasing the federal government's authority to tax citizens and use military force.

• Western Lands

  • The Jay Treaty and the Battle of Fallen Timbers gave the federal government control of vast lands, leading to rapid settlement through the Public Land Act of 1796.

Political Parties

• Origins

  • Hamilton → Federalists

  • Jefferson → Democratic-Republicans

• Washington’s Farewell Address

  • Advised Americans to:

    • Not get involved in European affairs

    • Avoid permanent alliances in foreign affairs

    • Not form political parties

    • Avoid sectionalism

• Differences Between the Parties

  • Federalists → Northeastern states; advocated for federal power growth

  • Democratic-Republicans → Southern states & western frontier; supported states' rights

John Adams Presidency

• The XYZ Affair

  • Incident that resulted in increased tensions between the US and France

  • France seized US supply ships supporting Britain in 1797

  • French agents X, Y, and Z demanded a bribe from US diplomats

  • US refusal led to the Quasi-War

• The Alien and Sedition Acts

  • Laws passed by Federal Congress under President John Adams

  • Aimed to protect America from dangerous aliens

  • Included deportation powers and restricted foreign voting

  • Used by Federalists against Democratic-Republicans

• The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions

  • Response to Alien and Sedition Acts violating First Amendment

  • Kentucky by Thomas Jefferson, Virginia by James Madison

  • Asserted states' right to nullify federal laws breaking the compact

  • Crisis resolved after Federalists lost the 1800 election

The Election of 1800

• Jefferson victory in the “Revolution of 1800”

• Federalists rapidly lost popularity and power in Congress

• Peaceful Revolution

  • Passing of power from one party to another was done without violence, indicating the endurance of the US constitutional system under strains.