Review: Colonial Era to the Revolutionary War: America from 1600s to 1783 Chapters 1-4

World Map: 1507

Exploration and colonization

n  Europeans began exploring the New World by the late 1400s q  Two motivations:

n  Find a sea route to Asia

n  Spread Christianity n  Columbus 1492 voyage

initiated a flood of exploration and established the first European colony in the New World (Hispaniola)

Empires

n  Reasons for empires: 1) Colonies brought wealth, power to nation; 2) new source of raw materials; 3) new markets for goods q  Spain had the oldest/largest empire by 1700’s; England needed more

land due to overpopulation; New World represented dumping ground for criminals, religious misfits

n  Why colonists left: 1) Economic opportunity; 2) America represented

abundance; 3) Religious persecution; 4) Forced to go (slaves)

Pilgrims come to America (1620): Mayflower lands at Plymouth Rock

It is estimated that 35 million Americans are descendents of the Mayflower: 10% of U.S. population

8

Mayflower Compact (1620) In the Name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honor of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid; And by Virtue hereof; unto which we promise all due Submission do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony and Obedience. In WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth and of Scotland, the fifty-fourth, Anno Domino, 1620.

13 Colonies

English Colonies: Regional economics

n  New England Colonies: soil, climate allowed only for subsitence farming; rich in timber and fishing; center of shipbuilding and commerce; religious (Massachusetts., Rhode Island, N. Hampshire, Connecticut) q  Pilgrims settled in 1620; Mayflower Compact became framework

for self-government n  Middle Colonies: Rich soil (‘Bread Basket’), mild climate, good

timber, diverse people (N. York, N. Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware); Promoted religious tolerance

n  Southern Colonies: plantation farming; rich soil, hot climate; good

coastal ports; (Maryland, Virginia, N. Carolina, S. Carolina, Georgia) q  Jamestown: first colony established in 1607 (John Smith) q  Dependent on slave labor

Slavery n  Portugal first to explore West Africa in the 1400s q  Slave trade brought great

wealth but depopulated interior Africa

q  Brought cheap labor to Europe

n  Family, farming, religion were the

center of African village life

n  Middle Passage: name of slave trade route q  Many died on voyage; 20

million slave were forcibly settled in America

q  Traditions and culture of slaves (music and dancing) survived well into the 1800s

Slave Trade

French and Indian War

n  French and Indian War (1754-1763): part of a larger war between France and Britain that broke out in the Ohio River Valley, spreading to Europe; French lost

q  Franklin proposed Albany Plan of Union to unite colonies, it failed but war taught colonists they could unite

n  Treaty of Paris (1763): Britain gained Canada, land east of Mississippi; French removed from America

America’s First Political Cartoon (B. Franklin)

Sideways- represents the Atlantic Coast

- Delaware excluded - Georgia excluded (relatively new and full of prisoners) - New England (four colonies) added into one large segment

British victory: Aftermath

n  England emerged as world’s sole great power but deeply in debt

n  Indians clashed with colonists in Ohio: q  Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763): Ottawa chief led tribes in killing

2000 people and destroying British forts

q  Proclamation of 1763: prohibited colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mts.; law angered colonists

q  England sent a 10,000 man standing army to enforce law and protect colonists, angering the locals; problem: financing army

n  King George III (anointed in 1760) wanted to raise colonial taxes

to pay war debt and fund colonial protection q  Stage set for conflict between England and America

Causes of the American Revolution

Economic reasons n  Britain increased taxes to fund

debt q  “No taxation without

representation”: colonists did not directly elect MPs

q  “Virtual Representation”: by virtue of being a British citizen, colonists WERE represented

n  Trade: enforcement of Navigation Acts restricted colonial trade q  Limited/prohibited trade with

other nations q  Seen as beneficial to England,

harmful to America Sons of Liberty

Samuel Adams

Political reasons n  Britain dissolved some colonial

assemblies, enforced laws; colonies claimed right to self-government (“statutory neglect”)

n  Quartering Act (1765): colonists must house British troops (“redcoats”)

n  Boston Massacre (1770): first

violent encounter between Britain & colonists

n  Boston Tea Party (1773): Protestors dumped tea to protest the Tea Act

Colonial outrage n  After Intolerable Acts (1774) are

passed, First Continental Congress (1774) is formed to unite against British rule q  Appeal of compromise sent to

King, who rejects offer

n  Lexington & Concord (April 1775): 1st shot fired, war begins

n  Second Continental Congress forms in 1775, debates independence, forms an army with Washington appointed as leader George III

24

Declaration of Independence

n  Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson and inspired colonists; some remained loyal to England and the war’s outcome was uncertain q  Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense, strengthening the

argument for independence

Thomas Jefferson

A New Government: Articles of

Confederation

n  Based on his Albany Plan, Ben Franklin proposes the Articles of Confederation (America’s first government): q  Confederal System: 13 sovereign states with a weakened

central government; as “sovereign” states did not have to answer to the central government (Congress)

q  Collective security: Congress could make war, raise taxes, regulate trade, enter foreign alliances, and enact laws “necessary to the general welfare”

“The World Turned Upside Down”

n  Battle of Saratoga (1778): American victory that secures alliance with France, brought French troops and loans

n  Battle of Yorktown (1781): battle that ends the war n  Treaty of Paris (1783):

q  America is free but would pay back war debts owed to British q  America receives all land east of the Miss. River, south of

Great Lakes to Florida; British to leave forts

Battle of Yorktown

America in 1783

n  Britain controlled Canada and was allied with Spain, who held Florida and Louisiana

n  America weakly held land beyond the Appalachians; population was only 3.5 million, located primarily on the East Coast

n  A new struggle emerges over America’s destiny and form of government

American Revolution: 1775-1783

Origins of U.S. Grand Strategy

n  Britain labeled America’s military leader a terrorist leading an insurgency against the British Empire q  Rebel leader was “elected” in 1789 with

2% voting and replaced in 1796 with another revolutionary

n  Thomas Jefferson ushers in an extended

period of one-party rule (1800-1828) n  Andrew Jackson became first “outsider” to

win presidency (1828) q  Women: 144 years to gain voting rights q  Slavery: ends after 89 years of

existence q  Blacks: 189 years to gain full voting

rights

Osama bin Washington?

American Colonies: Overview

The Road to Revolution: 1763-1774