US History and Government

This continent was settled by Indians before the Europeans arrived. By the 1400s, there were about 15 million Indians in the US. The Indians lived a lifestyle defined by nature and geography and their religion was a nature-based religion. The Indians lived in family based tribes, which developed as families grew. Some Indians formed alliances with other tribes to keep strong. The Iroquois formed the Confederacy, which kept the Europeans at bay for a period of time.

As various Europeans arrived, their relationship with the Indians varied among:
1. Trade
2. Alliance- the Photon Confederacy helped form the state of Virginia by giving the Europeans food and teaching them which crops grew well. Alliances serviced both sides over the years.
3. Warfare- the Europeans had many wars and made many attempts to push the Indians out until the late 1800s when the Europeans got rid of the Indians for good.

The Europeans and the Indians had cultural differences- the Indians understood that land is not to be bought and sold. Land is here for the common and is to be shared.

The first European settlement was formed in 1565 in St. Augustine, Florida. However it was not one of the thirteen original colonies so it doesn’t go down as the first settlement. The European settlement of Jamestown, Virginia was settled in 1607. By 1732 Georgia, the last of the thirteen colonies, was settled.

Many indentured servants, people who sold themselves as slaves in order to pay for their passage overseas, came over from Europe to America. A majority of the people who came over were British, therefore we speak English in America. They also brought over their culture, therefore our cultures are linked.

Why did people come over?
1. Economic opportunities- to make money. This also benefited the kings. For example, Georgia was formed by debtors. King George opened up the doors of the debtors prisons and told them to go. As thanks, they named their colony after him.
2. Religious reasons- people came to practice religion freely. The pilgrims, for example, came to escape religious persecution.
3. Political reasons- people came to escape political persecution.

Geography shaped their experience in the colonies so much so that the thirteen colonies were divided into three groups:
1. New England colonies- these were the north-most colonies such as Massachusetts and New Hampshire. These colonies experienced cold and hardships in farming and planting cash crops. Many went into ship building and trade. The ports of Salem and Boston, Massachusetts were the most famed ports in the colonies.
2. Middle colonies- such as New York and Pennsylvania. These colonies had very diverse populations. They also had the ability to farm because of the fertile soil. They grew corn and wheat, which they exported. Trade helped build the New York and Pennsylvanian cities.
3. Southern colonies- had a warmer climate where agriculture flourished. The rich soil grew tobacco, rice and indigo, which were grown for export. Many of the colonists were very rich.

At first the colonists used indentured servants to work the land for them. However after so many years, there were no indentured servants yet. To replace them, the colonists attempted to use Indians. The Indians didn’t prove to be as hearty as the Africans, so the idea of enslaving Africans began and the slave trade grew steadily.

Some trades were two way trades. The slave trade though was a triangular trade. The New England merchants traded rum for slaves (who resisted) and then the slaves were sold to people who needed them in the West Indies for molasses or sugar.

The idea of bringing Africans over to work didn’t originate in the colonies. It evolved over time. The horrific voyage from Africa over the Atlantic Ocean was known as the Middle Passage.

African culture leaked into the US such as:
1. Music
2. Food
3. Literature
4. Folk Art
5. Architecture

Historical influences on the American government:
1. Athens, Greece- supported the first democracy. It was a true democracy where everyone got the right to vote.
2. Rome- was a republic. Rome had a representative democracy, which is what we have today. People elected people to vote for them.
3. England became a limited democracy through-
a. Magna Carta- allowed trial by jury for the nobles. This was massive because it limited the king’s power.
b. 1628, Petition of Rights- King Charles was forced to agree to the writ of habeas corpus- people can’t be thrown into jail without being told why.
c. 1689, Bill of Rights- by the Glorious Revolution. This was the start of parliamentary government in England.
4. Enlightenment thinkers-
a. John Locke (England) - came up with the idea that if there are systems to nature, man has a part in it. He said man has natural rights of life, liberty and property. Locke also had the Social Contract theory- the government and the people make a contract and if either side breaks the contract, there are repercussions.
b. Baron de Montesquieu (France) - felt parliamentary was successful because of the division of power. He said division of power is a great thing.
c. Rousseau- said people rule by the consent of the governed.
d. Voltaire- he defended the right to speak and all other intolerances.
5. The colonists own experiences here- most of the colonies got a charter and started with some measure of self government. In 1619, the Virginia House of Burgesses agreed to govern themselves and govern fairly- they copied England. In 1620, before the Pilgrims even got off the Mayflower, they signed the Mayflower Compact. All the colonies knew that whatever they set up would be a limited government which would protect the rights of the people to make charters, have property… An early example of freedom of speech was the German newspaper publisher, John Peter Zenger. He wrote against the governor of New York, and when tried, he was found not guilty. This helped establish the idea of freedom of the press.

Causes of the American Revolution:

The British didn’t hover over their colonies; they displayed a policy of salutary neglect- ignored the colonies somewhat, but in a healthy manner. Because of this policy, the colonies had many years of self government under their belts.

The English and the French were age old rivals, and their wars spilled into the colonies. In 1763, the Seven Years war, also known as the French and Indian war broke out, and ended with the British victorious over the French. The Treaty of Paris was made between the English and French- it gave England all the land up until the Mississippi river.

The colonists began to move out west. The English didn’t want this so they issued the Proclamation of 1763, which stated that no one could move past the old boundary of the Appalachian Mountains. This bothered the colonists.

As a result of the war, the English treasury was depleted so they began to tax the colonists because they felt the colonists should be paying for their own protection:
1. Sugar Act- on imports
2. Stamp Act- on written documents
This annoyed the colonists deeply. They felt there should be “no taxation without representation”. These taxes were repealed, and then came another tax:
3. Townshend Act

The colonists had developed independent thoughts about government. About ninety percent of the colonists were land owning, white males and would’ve been able to vote in England.

The English went ahead and placed another tax on the colonists: the Tea act- this gave the British merchants in England much of the control over the tea industry. They made it cheap, but the colonists were unable to buy other teas. The colonial response to this act was the Boston Tea Party. As a result to the Boston Tea Party, the British placed the Intolerable act on the colonists:
1. Shut down the Boston Harbor
2. Didn’t allow for town hall meetings
3. Shut down the legislature in Massachusetts

Delegates from each of the colonies met in Philadelphia to decide what to do. This became known as the First Continental Congress. They sent a declaration to King George stating their unhappiness. The delegates decided to meet again if the situation wouldn’t improve.

As time passed, the colonists began to stash weapons just in case they would be needed. News leaked out through Paul Revere that the British were headed for Concord, Massachusetts to raid the arsenals. Some colonists met them at Lexington, Massachusetts (before they reached Concord). A shot was fired and about twenty four colonists were killed. The battle lasted for about fifteen minuets, and then the British moved onto Concord. There were no weapons there, but the British were met by a large group of colonists. There were some British casualties. These battles at Concord and Lexington go down as the first battles of the American Revolution.

In May of 1775, the Second Continental Congress met and decided to set up an army with George Washington as general. The Second Continental Congress was the official government body until after the war.

In June of 1775 was the Battle of Bunkerhill, with 311 colonial and 1000 British casualties.

In July of 1775, they sent the Olive Branch Petition to King George, asking to work things out. The king said since you are rebellious colonies, you’ll be treated as such and he blockaded their waters.

The thoughts towards independence began to grow:
1. Patrick Henry
2. The Sons of Liberty- under Samuel Adams
3. Thomas Paine- wrote Common Sense. This had the greatest impacts on thoughts of independence.

The delegates tried to draft a Declaration of Independence. Its foremost writer was Thomas Jefferson and it was signed by the colonial delegates in 1776.

The Declaration of Independence had three parts:
1. Preamble- it stated our theories of government:
a. Government by consent of the governed
b. Belief that all men are created equally
2. List of all their grievances against the king
3. The declaration of independence

Soon after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the colonists lost more battles.

In late 1777, was the turning point of the war at the Battle of Saratoga. The colonists won a decisive victory and some European nations such as France and Prussia decided to help the colonists.

Then came the difficult winter at Valley Forge. It was very cold and hard for the troops, but General Washington stayed with his soldiers to give support. The army had also excelled because of the help they received.

In October of 1781, was the final battle in Yorktown, Virginia. It was here that the British surrendered and the war was over.

They went to Paris to sign the treaty in 1783. The United States of America received all the land up until the Mississippi river.

How did the colonies win?
1. Foreign help
2. They were fighting a desperate cause and they had inspirational leaders.

During the war, the British didn’t behave in a proper manner and many loyalists came over to the patriot side. Many women also went out to the battlefield where they mended, helped and even fought.

The United States of America decided to set up a confederation- a bunch of loosely linked states. The National government is going to be even looser than the state government.

A list of laws known as the Articles of Confederation was written up:
1. No executive branch
2. No main leader
3. Every state got one vote so they were all equal in power.
4. If anyone wanted something changed in the Articles of the Confederation, all thirteen states had to agree.
5. The federal government can’t tax the people. If the federal government wanted money, they had to borrow from the state.
6. Every state could coin their own money.
7. The federal government can’t regulate trade between the colonies.
8. No federal justice- no court system.

The Articles of Confederation did some positive things too:
1. Worked out the Treaty of Paris
2. Passed the Land Ordinance Act of 1785 and again in 1787- set up a system of how new states could be admitted into the union.

The states weren’t governing themselves so successfully; there were issues with in every state. The event that made everyone realize this wasn’t going to work was Shays’s Rebellion- Daniel Shays was a farmer who fought during the war. When he came home he and other farmers had accrued debts and Massachusetts was taxing them. They didn’t find this fair so they marched to the town hall with pitchforks.