European New World Colonization PDF

European New World Colonization Begins I. Desire to trade with the East and European Exploration A) By the 15 th and 16 th centuries, many European countries looked enviously at the great wealth Italy and its merchants were attaining through trade with the Middle and the Far East. 1) Italy’s econom...

European New World Colonization Begins I. Desire to trade with the East and European Exploration A) By the 15 th and 16 th centuries, many European countries looked enviously at the great wealth Italy and its merchants were attaining through trade with the Middle and the Far East. 1) Italy’s economic advantages (over most other European countries) were in part the result of its desirable location in the Mediterranean Sea. B) Lacking Italy’s location, country’s such as Portugal and Spain began to seek alternative routes to the East and its riches. 1) By the late 15 th century, Portuguese navigators were sailing south from Europe and around Africa to reach the East (e.g., India & China). 2) Also in the late 15 th century, Spain sponsored an expedition by the Italian navigator, Christopher Columbus. a) Columbus had the idea of sailing west from Europe in the hopes of reaching the East. b) Columbus, of course, failed to reach the East. Instead, he banged into the Western Hemisphere (i.e., North and South America). i) Although Columbus claimed the land he reached for Spain—Spain, initially at least, saw North and South America merely as obstacles to their goal of finding a new route to the East. c) Spain largely ignored North and South America until—by the 1520s and ‘30s—Spanish conquistadores such as Cortez and Pizarro uncovered the tremendous wealth to be found in certain parts of the New World. d) Note: A conquistador is a Spanish or Portuguese military leader who carried out conquests and explorations, mostly in the Western Hemisphere, during the 16 th and 17 th centuries. II. Spanish Model A) As a result of the wealth achieved by Cortez and Pizarro, the Spanish began by the mid-1500s establishing colonies in the Western Hemisphere. 1) Focusing on the extraction of gold and silver, these colonies were very successful financially. a) These colonies came to be known as extraction colonies. i) The goal of these extraction colonies was less to establish a permanent settlement (though that often happened) than it was to extract whatever valuable resources they could find—preferably precious metals such as gold or silver. 2) Other European countries sought to duplicate Spain’s success. a) France, the Netherlands, and England (among others) each sought to found extraction colonies that would provide them with gold or other valuable materials. B) The Columbian Exchange 1) The interactions among the Europeans, Native Americans, and—in time, as demand for labor in the New World grew—Africans touched off the Columbian Exchange. 2) The Columbian Exchange was not a place but a reality that occurred in many places and through countless interactions. a) Starting in the 16 th century, people from four different continents (North and South America, Europe, and Africa) came increasing into contact with one another in the Western Hemisphere. 3) The result of this contact was, among other things/realities, the exchange of plants, animals, and diseases. III. Jamestown, Virginia: England’s First Permanent Colony in North America A) Jamestown was founded in 1607. It was funded by a joint-stock company known as the Virginia Company. 1) A joint-stock company was a company that brought investors together to finance various investment opportunities. a) Key Point: The Virginia Company sought to invest in founding a colony in the New World. In doing so, they had a simple purpose—they were wanted to make money. Specifically, they hoped to find gold. 2) Failing to find gold, the Jamestown colony and therefore the Virginia Company were not initially successful. A) In fact, the colony came extremely close to failing. (1609-1610: Jamestown population drops from 500 to 60 in one year.) 3) First planted in 1611, tobacco became the salvation of Jamestown. A) Nonetheless, tobacco created requirements for the settlers in Jamestown that caused problems. IV. Labor in Jamestown A) Tobacco is a “labor-intensive” crop: it requires many workers to plant and harvest it successfully. From an early stage in Jamestown, therefore, labor was a central issue. B) The earliest workers in Jamestown’s tobacco fields were known as Indentured Servants. Indentured servants were usually from Europe (specifically England). 1) Indentured servants agreed to work for a colonist (usually for a period of seven years) in exchange for having their transportation to North America paid. 2) Most indentured servants were young, unmarried men. a) They were willing to come to the New World because they were usually desperately poor and without prospects in England. b) Upon completing their seven years of service, an indentured would be given his or her “freedom dues.” --Freedom dues could include money, guns, supplies, and—most desirably—land. C) By the middle of the 17 th century (mid-1600s), land was temporarily becoming more difficult to take from the natives—making it difficult to give freed indentured servants land. 1) Without land, freed indentured servants found themselves poor and desperate. Not surprisingly, they caused trouble. 2) In 1676 Bacon’s Rebellion was a revolt of landless, ex-indentured servants. 3) Following Bacon’s Rebellion (1676), landowners in Jamestown (and throughout the colonies) decided not to use indentured servants anymore. a) The preferred source of labor became African slaves. V. Jamestown Establishes a Government A) In 1619, the House of Burgesses was established. B) The House of Burgesses was a legislative assembly to which representatives were elected by voters. 1) Only white, landowning men could vote for representatives to the House of Burgesses; only white, landowning men could serve in the House of Burgesses. 2) The House of Burgesses represented an early step toward democracy. C) As the House of Burgesses demonstrates, England mostly allowed the colonists to run their community as they pleased. So the colonists could establish their own governments and practice the religion of their choice. 1) This “practice” of the English government is known as Salutary, or Benign, Neglect. (Note: Salutary Neglect was never a stated policy of the English government. It was simply an approach to dealing with the colonies that emerged due to England’s lack of interest in and support for the colonies.) The Founding of New England I. The English (Protestant) Reformation A) In 1533, King Henry VIII of England, a devout Catholic, sought from the pope a divorce from his wife. 1) The pope refused to grant this divorce. 2) Henry then decided his kingdom would no longer be Catholic (and would, therefore, no longer be beholden to the pope). 3) Henry VIII created the Anglican Church—or, the Church of England. The English monarch, not the pope, was to be the leader of the Church of England. a) England was now a Protestant nation. 4) Not everybody in England was happy with the new church. Some wished to remain Catholic; others supported Protestantism but felt that the Anglican Church wasn’t Protestant enough. a) Similar to the Catholic Church, the Church of England emphasized the importance of religious rituals and maintained an elaborate clerical hierarchy. II. The Puritans A) Among those who felt that the Church of England had retained too many vestiges (i.e., aspects) of Catholicism were the Puritans. 1) Puritans were English Calvinists (i.e., they followed the teachings of the French protestant theologian, John Calvin). 2) Puritans believed that the Church of England was badly flawed and needed to be “purified” of the remnants, or vestiges, of Catholicism. B) Most basically, Puritans believed that the Church of England was not “saving souls,” not helping people achieve what many Christians call “eternal salvation.” 2 1) Puritans, similar to most Protestants, emphasized the believer’s individual relationship with God, the need to read the Bible, the limited importance of the clergy and religious ritual C) The Puritans attacks on the Church of England led to their persecution as religious dissidents. 1) (The Church of England was the official church in England. The monarch—the king or the queen—sat at the head of the Church. All English subjects had to belong to the Church. To question the Church was to challenge the king or the queen.) D) By the early 17 th century, many Puritans sought to leave England—rather than suffer the persecution they were facing there. They chose to go to North America where they could practice their religion freely. III. The Pilgrims A) The first group of Puritans to settle in the New World is called the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. B) The Pilgrims traveled aboard The Mayflower. C) During their voyage to the New World all adult males on The Mayflower signed The Mayflower Compact. 1) The Mayflower Compact was a simple agreement, signed by all adult males aboard the ship, to create a government and abide by its rules once they arrived in North America. a) Although the Mayflower Compact doesn’t provide for a specifically democratic form of government, the document was democratically created. In other words, it was democratic in spirit. D) Along with Virginia’s House of Burgesses, the Mayflower Compact is seen as a step toward establishing a democratic form of government in America. 3 The 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, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour 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 do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission 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 Domini; 1620. Mr. John Carver (and 40 more signatures) IV. Religious Tolerance A) Although the Puritans left England due to religious persecution, they were not tolerant of other religions. B) Puritans believed that everybody in their colony must practice the same religion in the same way. (They believed that differences in religious belief and practice would weaken their community.) V. Salem Witchcraft Trials A) In 1692 in and around the small farming village of Salem, Massachusetts --Approximately 100 people were jailed --20 people were executed In both cases the charge was “practicing witchcraft.” B) The primary category of evidence used against those accused of witchcraft was uncorroborated spectral evidence. (Spectral evidence is 4 evidence based on what a witness claims to have seen—such as “I saw John Proctor turn into a devil with long, sharp horns protruding from his head.”) C) Ultimately, the trials came to an end when --prominent citizens started to be accused of witchcraft --the courts stopped accepting spectral evidence VI. King Philip’s War (1675-76) A) King Philip (Metacom) was an Indian leader in the New England area. 1) In 1675, King Philip led a number of tribes in attacking white settlements throughout New England. --20 (out of 90) New England towns were destroyed --2000 (out of approximately 50,000 New Englanders) lost their lives 2) Panic spread throughout New England until King Philip was caught and killed in 1676. B) King Philip’s War was the result of Indian anger and desperation over 1) losing their land to whites AND 2) Whites forcing their culture on the natives. The Colonial Economy England Shows Interest in the Colonial Economy By the middle of the 17 th century (1650), it became clear that the English New World colonies would not only survive but actually thrive. England, therefore, sought to benefit from the colonies economic success... by establishing a mercantilist economy for the colonies. Mercantilism: An economic theory that holds wealth—and its ultimate source (i.e., precious metals: gold and silver)—to be finite. Therefore, the greater the wealth of one country, the necessarily lesser the wealth of all other courties. Many European countries embraced mercantilist economic theory during the 17 th and 18 th centuries. A mercantilist economy placed a notable emphasis on achieving a favorable balance of trade. Favorable Balance of Trade: the value of a country’s exports exceeds the value of its imports. (In other words, a country sells more than it buys.) Colonies were important in a mercantilist system as they provided their mother countries with cheap raw materials. These colonial raw materials—because they were inexpensive—helped manufacturers in the mother country lower their cost of production. A lower cost of production meant manufacturers from the mother country could sell their finished products at a lower price—thus increasing the likelihood that people in both domestic and foreign markets would buy them. When a country’s manufacturers make more sales in foreign markets—that country’s exports are obviously increasing. Remember: More exports means a country has a greater likelihood of achieving a favorable balance of trade—which, of course, is the goal of mercantilism. England was one of the European countries that embraced mercantilism. It enforced a mercantilist relationship on its North American colonies with a series of laws known as the Navigation Acts. The Navigation Acts were passed by Parliament (the English national legislature) during the second half of the 17 th century. Among other things these laws stipulated that tariffs (taxes on imports) would be placed on non-English manufactured goods entering the colonies, thus inducing the colonists to buy English-made goods. AND most colonial raw materials and agricultural products (e.g., tobacco, rice, sugar, furs, wood products) by law had to be sold in England—thereby diminishing the number of potential customers for colonial goods and reducing their price. (Keep the law of supply and demand in mind when considering the previous statement.) The Navigation Acts and the mercantilist economic policy they reflect represent departure from the practice of salutary neglect in economic matters. Nonetheless, salutary neglect continued to be practiced by the England with regard to governmental and cultural matters in the colonies. It is also important to note that while many colonists attempted to circumvent (i.e., get around) the Navigation Acts, they didn’t oppose these laws in principle. In other words, they didn’t believe Parliament had done something wrong when it passed these laws. Indeed, as part of the English empire, most colonists felt that laws that benefitted England’s economy benefitted them as well. Triangular Trade One important aspect of the colonial economy was the Triangular Trade. There are 3 steps or aspects of the Triangular Trade Sugar—grown in the Caribbean—was sent to distilleries in New England. (In these New England distilleries, the sugar was used to produce rum.) The Rum distilled in New England was then sent to Africa, where it was traded for slaves. The slaves purchased in Africa were sent to the Caribbean islands. There are actually two versions of the Triangular Trade. Both have 3 steps. The more general version follows. Sugar, tobacco, cotton from North and South America to Europe. Textiles, rum, other manufactured goods from Europe to Africa Slaves from Africa to North and South America The Middle Passage The Middle Passage refers to that part of the Triangular trade when individuals captured in Africa were transported to the Caribbean islands. The Middle Passage was dangerous and dehumanizing for the enslaved. The Importance of Bacon’s Rebellion Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676 demonstrated that Indentured Servants were an undesirable source of labor. (If they didn’t receive land upon becoming free, they became angry and dangerous.) Therefore, following Bacon’s Rebellion, English colonists turned to African-based slavery. Stono Rebellion, 1739 Adopting slavery (as opposed to indentured servitude) meant colonists grew to fear slave revolts. The first time such fears were realized was in 1739 near the Stono River in South Carolina. Approximately 50 slaves armed with guns killed more than 20 whites. After one week, the revolt was put down. The slaves involved were captured and executed. Following the Stono Rebellion (and most other slave revolts) laws were passed that led to the stricter control and supervision of slaves. The French and Indian War I. Population Growth and Western Expansion A) As the population of the British colonies grew—so did their need for land. Therefore, by no later than the early 18 th century, British colonists began to move westward into the interior of the North American continent. 1) By the 1740s, the colonists had begun crossing over the Appalachian Mountains and into the area just south of the Great Lakes—known as the Ohio River Valley (ORV). 2) This territory, however, was already claimed by a) the French and b) the Natives (of course) 3) As both France and Britain wanted the land—the stage was set for war in North America. 3) By 1754, the earliest battles in what would become known as the French and Indian War were being fought in the ORV between the British on one side and the French and the Indians on the other. (Note: Both the British colonists, from America, and the British army, from Britain, fought for “the British.” The same was true for the French military.) II. The French and the Indians A) Although both the French and the British had Indian allies during the war, more of the native tribes sided with the French. B) The French generally got along better with the natives than did the British. This was so because... 1) The French did not establish agricultural colonies—as the British did 2) Thus, the French did not take the natives land 3) Additionally, the French were more tolerant of Indian culture. III. The Albany Plan for Union A) In 1754, as war broke out in the Ohio River Valley, the British colonists in North America sent delegates (representatives) to Albany, New York for a meeting which became known as the Albany Congress. B) The Albany Congress adopted (endorsed) a document known as the Albany Plan for Union. 1) The Albany Plan for Union called for a) seeking the support of native tribes (in the upcoming war with the French) b) creating an intercolonial militia (note: a militia is a citizen army) C) Once created, the Albany Plan needed to be ratified (or, accepted) by the governments of the individual colonies. 1) Accepting the Albany Plan meant that individual colonies would have to agree to be taxed by the Albany Congress (rather than their own governments). The colonies were very protective of their ability to decide upon and create their own taxes. 2) Because the Albany Plan for Union would have limited the individual colonies ability to control their own taxes—the colonies rejected the Albany Plan. IV. British Victory—Treaty of Paris 1763 A) By 1763, the British had defeated the French in the French and Indian War. B) Britain and France agreed to end the war with the Treaty of Paris of 1763. C) The treaty required that 1) France give up all of its continental North American territory (Canada, ORV, the Louisiana Territory—including Mississippi River). 2) Britain gained Canada and all land on continental North America east of the Mississippi River. 3) Spain took control of the expansive Louisiana Territory, which extended from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west. a) Additionally, Spain ceded Florida to the British. D) In 1763, 1) The British empire was larger than the Roman empire was at its height. 2) The future looked very bright for Britain and its colonies. 3) BUT! The French and Indian War plunged Britain into significant debt. How to discharge this debt was a problem Britain needed to solve. The American Revolution Postwar Problems By 1763, although the French no longer had colonies in the North America, the British and their colonists still had to deal with the natives—particularly in the Ohio River Valley (ORV). In 1763, a number of ORV tribes united under a chief named Pontiac. In Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763), a collection of tribes attacked British settlements in the ORV. Although Pontiac’s Rebellion was eventually put down by the British Army—the prospect of future conflict was still very much alive. The natives in the ORV remained a threat to the British colonists there. Wishing to avoid more conflicts with the natives (such as Pontiac’s Rebellion), the British government (in London) issued The Proclamation of 1763. The Proclamation of 1763 stated that no colonists could settle west of the Appalachian Mountains. (Therefore, no colonists could settle in the ORV.) The Proclamation of 1763 was, however, virtually impossible to enforce. The colonists defied the Proclamation and continued to move into the ORV. More problems with the natives would emerge. The British government (in London) came to quickly realize that they would have to station troops in the ORV to protect their colonists—an expensive prospect. Britain’s Financial Problems Following the French and Indian War in 1763, the British government had two serious financial problems. First, Britain was in debt from fighting the war. Second, Britain was facing the unanticipated expense of protecting the colonists in the ORV (not from the French but from the natives). The question the British government had to answer was, who—the colonists or the mother country was responsible to pay for either or both The war debt? The cost of keeping troops in the ORV? Britain’s conclusion was that the colonists should pay for some significant portion of the war debt and troop expenses. Taxation Beginning in 1763 and continuing after that point, Britain began to reverse its practice of salutary neglect in their governance of the colonies. Most specifically, Britain began to tax the colonies in ways they never had before. Britain of course had placed tariffs on the colonists as part of the Navigation Acts. Britain (Parliament) had never, however, placed internal taxes on the colonists. An internal tax is a tax placed on economic activity within a given country (or—in this case—within the colonies). Examples of internal taxes include land taxes, sales taxes, and usage (or, excise) taxes. Prior to the end of the French and Indian War, Britain had never placed an internal tax on the colonists. The colonists placed such taxes on themselves, through their democratically elected colonial legislatures. In 1765, Parliament—the British national legislature—passed the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act placed a tax on the use of paper goods (e.g., newspapers, playing cards, legal documents, etc.) The Stamp Act was an internal tax. Since Parliament imposed the Stamp Act on the colonies--colonial legislatures obviously had no role in passing it. Further, since the colonists had no representatives in Parliament—the Stamp Act was seen as an example of “taxation without representation.” Colonists Respond to British Taxation/Britain Responds to Colonists Colonists began to unite in order to express opposition to the Stamp Act. In 1765, colonists sent delegates to The Stamp Act Congress, which adopted a document opposing taxation without representation. Also in 1765, a group of merchants, professionals, and artisans created the Sons of Liberty. The Sons of Liberty organized boycotts of British-made goods. Finally, and again in 1765, aggressive street protests (e.g., attacking the homes and offices of government officials, hanging such individuals in effigy) were witnessed first in Boston and then in other colonial cities. In early 1766, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act. Many colonists saw the repeal of this law as a triumph of political principle. Parliament, the colonists believed, had come to realize that the Stamp Act was a fundamentally unjust law. In actuality, Parliament had come to regard the Stamp Act as a bad law for the simple reason that it was difficult to enforce. In no way was Parliament conceding a point of principle to the colonists. Parliament’s position was made unambiguously clear shortly after it repealed the Stamp Act when it passed the Declaratory Act. The Declaratory Act stated that Parliament held the absolute right to make laws for the colonies on all matters whatsoever. Clearly, the dispute between the colonies and the mother country was not resolved. The Boston Tea Party In 1773, Parliament passed the Tea Act. The Tea Act was a complicated law—it actually reduced the cost of tea in the colonies. Nonetheless, the colonists opposed the Tea Act because it maintained taxes on tea which the colonists had always seen as unjust. In Boston on December 16, 1773, members of the Sons of Liberty (among others) expressed their opposition to the Tea Act... by dumping approximately $1 million (in today’s dollars) of tea into Boston Harbor. This event came to be known, of course, as the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party represented property destruction on a grander, more expensive scale than anything the colonists had ever done before. Britain responded aggressively to the Boston Tea Party. British Reaction to the Tea Party: The “Intolerable” Acts In response to the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passed a series laws known as the Coercive Acts to the British and the INTOLERABLE Acts to the colonists. These laws went beyond taxation and affected the basic rights of the colonists. For example, the rights of free assembly and of free speech were limited by a law that disallowed town meetings in Boston. the right to self-government was denied as British-appointed officials and the British military ran the government of Massachusetts and Boston. The right to privacy was denied as British troops were quartered (housed) in colonial homes—at the expense of the colonists. Additionally, the Intolerable Acts required that the port of Boston be closed until the city of Boston paid for the property its citizens had destroyed. Colonial Reaction to the Intolerable Acts: The Continental Congress In response to the Intolerable Acts, the colonists called for... the First Continental Congress, which convened (came together) in September, 1774. The First Continental Congress was a meeting, or conference, to which each of the colonies sent delegates. The First Continental Congress sought to limit trade with Britain (by refusing to buy from or sell to Britain). The First Continental Congress also urged the individual colonies to strengthen their militias. Lexington and Concord On April 19 th , 1775, British troops set out from Boston to capture weapons stored by the colonists in the town of Concord, Massachusetts. (The colonists throughout Massachusetts had taken the Continental Congress’s urging to strengthen their militias seriously.) On the way to Concord, the British passed through the town of Lexington where they were met by a small, unorganized group of colonists. A small-scale skirmish ensued. The colonists quickly and hectically dispersed. Later that same day, a colonial militia again battled British troops at Concord. At Concord, a larger and more well-organized contingent of colonists met the British. After searching for weapons (and finding some) as well as engaging in some direct conflict with the colonial militia, the British soldiers headed back to Boston. As they moved through the countryside from Concord to Boston (approx. 20 miles), the British soldiers were consistently shot at from the woods. Several hundred British soldiers were killed. Lexington and Concord would become the first battles of the American Revolution. IX. The Second Continental Congress When the First Continental Congress came to an end in September of 1774, it was agreed among the delegates that a second congress would be necessary to reassess the situation and review the effectiveness of tactics they had put in place during the First Continental Congress. It was agreed that the Continental Congress would meet again nine months after the first congress was dissolved. The Second Continental Congress convened in May, 1775, in the charged atmosphere that had been created by Lexington and Concord. Although the Second Continental Congress had been planned for at the end of the First Continental Congress—before anyone knew the battles of Lexington and Concord would take place—it quickly began responding to the new realities in which the colonists found themselves. Therefore, the Second Continental Congress begins to act like the government of the colonies. It collects taxes It establishes an army It seeks foreign support Although the Second Continental Congress began taking the actions of an independent government in the 1775, it would not officially declare independence until a year later. Common Sense By early 1776, many colonists are still not committed to independence. It is at this point that an essay written by Thomas Paine entitled Common Sense begins to circulate throughout the colonies. In Common Sense, Paine argues—in simple, emotional language—that the colonies must declare independence for Economic reasonsmercantilism hurts the colonial economy Military reasonsBritain, rather than protecting the colonies, gets them involved in wars Political reasonsmonarchs are not necessary The importance of Common Sense is that it helps the colonists break their remaining emotional ties to Britain. The Declaration of Independence In July of 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson. Purpose (of the Declaration): The Declaration of Independence announces and seeks to justify colonial independence. Argument: Human beings are endowed with what Jefferson and others called natural rights. (For Jefferson these rights included life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.) If governments denied or failed to protect these rights, then governments have broken the social contract. When governments break the social contract, the people have the right to protest or even rebel. The Influence of John Locke In composing the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson relied upon the ideas of English political philosopher John Locke. John Locke defined natural rights (which, for Locke, were life, liberty, and the property) as rights with which a human being is born. Natural rights are rights which all governments should acknowledge and protect (though not all governments do in fact acknowledge and protect natural rights). John Locke defined the social contract as a “contract” between the government and the governed. This “contract” (not an actual signed document) placed responsibilities on both parties to it: the government as well as the governed. The governed (the people) were required to obey a government’s laws. The government was required to acknowledge and protect the people’s natural rights. (So laws that violated people’s right to life, liberty, and property—violated the social contract.) According to Locke if either party broke the social contract, there were consequences. If people break laws, they face a penalty (e.g., prison or fines). If the government fails to acknowledge or protect natural rights, the governed (the people) have the right to protest or even rebel. i) Actually, Locke’s ideas regarding the social contract were more nuanced than the foregoing statement suggests. Locke acknowledged that in a society people don’t have—people can’t have—a right to absolute liberty. Such a right would simply mean that people could do whatever they wanted to, whenever they wanted to. In other words, if people in a society had a right to absolute liberty, chaos would surely ensue. Locke’s position was that governments must limit the people’s liberty only as much as is necessary to ensure order—and no more. Indeed, Locke would have argued that if a government took more of people’s liberty than was absolutely necessary, that government would have broken the social contract. And, of course, governments that violated the social contract could be justifiably overthrown. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson claims that governments “derive their just powers from the consent of the governed”. Jefferson borrows this idea from Locke and it means simply that a government’s power comes from the people (rather than, say, God or a given family’s hereditary right to be monarchs). The Enlightenment John Locke was part of a philosophical movement known as the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment took place in Europe during the 17 th and 18 th centuries. Enlightenment thinkers (e.g., John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, Baron de Montesquieu) emphasized the power of human reason. By using their ability to reason and think rationally on the basis of empirically observed and gathered evidence, Enlightenment thinkers believed human beings could substantially improve society. Therefore, Enlightenment thinkers believed human beings could use their reason to create things such as better legal, educational, and economic systems. Most importantly, Enlightenment thinkers believed reason could be used as a guide to create better governments. The Enlightenment tended to promote a secular world view, which is to say a world view that focuses on human’s ability to act on and improve this world. Compare a secular world view to a religious world view in which humans focus on the world to come (or the afterlife). Two Enlightenment thinkers who had a substantial impact on the government of the United States were John Locke (who influenced the Declaration of Independence with the ideas of natural rights and the social contract) and Baron de Montesquieu (who influenced the US Constitution with the idea of separation of powers). Separation of powers means that there should be three separate branches of government: the legislative (makes laws), the executive (enforces laws) and the judicial (interprets laws). American Revolution: Strengths and Weakness of the Colonists and the British The British Strengths: A large, well-trained and well-supplied military. Britain’s Royal Navy was the strongest navy in the world. Britain was a center of manufacturing and was the richest nation in the world. Weaknesses: The British did not know the terrain of North America as well as the colonists did. The British were not fighting for as compelling a cause as were the colonists. The British had a different military objective than did the colonists. The British had to defeat the colonists. Britain didn’t wish to add more debt. The Colonists: Strengths: Home-field advantage: the colonists knew the environment in which they were fighting. The colonists were fighting for a very compelling cause: Liberty. The colonists had a different military objective than the British. The colonists merely had to avoid losing. They didn’t need to defeat the British (they weren’t trying to conquer Britain). They simply wanted the British to go away. The colonists had foreign support. Following the colonists victory in 1777 at the Battle of Saratoga, the French decided to enter the war on the colonists’ side. The French provided the colonists with troops, supplies, officers (for training the inexperienced colonial troops) and most importantly a... navy. Following the France’s entry into the war Britain had to work much harder to defeat the colonists. Weaknesses: The colonists lacked supplies, money, and troops Supplieslittle or no manufacturing in colonies Moneyduring the war the colonists resisted paying taxes—even to their own government TroopsMost soldiers in Geo. Washington’s Continental Army were untrained farmers. Additionally, prior to the French entry into the war, the colonists had few officers to train the inexperienced colonists. The Treaty of Paris, 1783 The American Revolution was officially brought to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Paris of 1783. The Treaty included the following provisions: Britain agreed to acknowledge the unconditional independence of the United States. The United States would comprise all the land east of the Mississippi River that was south of Canada—save Florida. Florida transferred from the British back to the Spanish. Additionally, the United States agreed that its citizens would pay all of the numerous and cumulatively substantial debts owed to British businesses dating from before the revolution. Although it is not incorrect to say that Britain lost the war, it is more the case that they failed to win. Many historians have argued that, when Britain agreed to American independence, less were they admitting defeat than simply cutting their losses. Additionally, historians have noted that Britain continued to trade extensively and profitably with the United States after the war. From this perspective what Britain lost was the headache of trying to govern and defend a set of colonies located an ocean away from it. Articles of Confederation I. The First Constitution: The Articles of Confederation A) What is a constitution? 1) A document describing how a government operates: a) Its structure (or organization) b) Its responsibilities c) Its powers and restrictions (what it can and can’t do) B) The Articles of Confederation was the first (national) constitution of the United States. (In addition to the national constitution, each state—then as now—had its own constitution.) 1) The Second Continental Congress worked on (developed) the Articles of Confederation as the American Revolution proceeded. II. The Structure of the Government under the Articles of Confederation A) Under the Articles of Confederation, the national government had 1) No Executive Branch (no president) 2) No Judicial Branch (no supreme court; no national courts at all) B) While, under the Articles of Confederation, there was a Legislative Branch, that legislature was a uni-cameral (one chamber, or one house) legislature; rather than a bi-cameral (two chamber/house) legislature as we currently have. C) Each state received one vote on every issue decided by the Confederation Congress. Therefore, each state—regardless of its size/population—was equally represented and equally powerful. D) 3/4s majority of the states was required to pass legislation. III. The Articles of Confederation: Key Points A) The Articles of Confederation created a national government of (very) limited power. 1) Remember: The citizens of the new United States had just fought a revolution against a government, which they believed held too much power. Therefore, it wasn’t a surprise that they created a national government of limited power. 2) Under the Articles of Confederation, the state governments had more power than the national government. (This was very much by design: early Americans believed state governments were smaller and therefore easier to control than were national governments.) 3) Most importantly, the national government under the Articles of Confederation could not tax. This meant that, among other things, the national government could not a) Pay its debts b) Establish a sound, trustworthy currency c) Raise an army IV. Major Achievement : The Northwest Ordinances A) The major achievement of the national government under the Articles of Confederation was a series of laws known as the Northwest Ordinances. 1) The Northwest Ordinances allowed for the settlement of the Ohio River Valley (which was then the northwestern part of the country). 2) The significance of the Northwest Ordinances was that they established the process whereby states could be created and added to the Union (the country). a) This process for creating states and adding them to the Union would continue to be used even after the Articles of Confederation was no longer the nation’s constitution. V. Shays’ Rebellion A) Although the Articles of Confederation clearly created a very weak and ineffective national government, demands to amend or reject the Articles did not reach the critical threshold until Shays’ Rebellion in 1787 1) In January of 1787, Revolutionary war veteran Daniel Shays led a group of 1500 angry Massachusetts farmers in an attempt to take control an arsenal in Springfield, Massachusetts. 2) Shays and his followers were enraged not only by the taxes being placed on them by the Massachusetts state government but by the governments throwing citizens into jail or seizing their land (property) for failure to pay taxes. a) Shays and his men argued that—just as the British government had broken the social contract and denied natural rights prior to the war—the Massachusetts government was breaking that contract and denying those rights after the war. 3) Shays and his followers failed to take over the arsenal, but many people in the United States asked... What if they hadn’t failed? Had those farmers gotten their hands on guns which they would then give to other farmers angry about taxes... Shays’ Rebellion could have spread, potentially throughout the United States. 4) If Shays’ Rebellion had spread, it would have been very difficult to stop—there was no national army to put it down. 5) Following Shays’ Rebellion, many Americans believed that the national government would have to be made stronger—if only to field an army that would be able to prevent another Shays’ Rebellion from taking place in the future. 6) A national constitutional convention was planned for May of 1787—to be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Constitution of the United States of America--History I. The Constitutional Convention A) In May of 1787, 55 delegates from the original 13 states met in Philadelphia. 1) Their goal: strengthen the national government, either by a) amending (changing) the Articles of Confederation, or b) creating a new constitution II. James Madison: The Architect of the Constitution A) The most important individual at the Constitutional Convention was James Madison. 1) At the Convention, Madison proposed a) Creating an entirely new constitution and an entirely new national government. b) Unlike the Articles of Confederation, Madison’s proposed constitution will create a national government featuring i) Separation of Powers (i.e., a legislative branch, an executive branch, and a judicial branch) ii) A bi-cameral (two chamber, or house) legislature iii) Checks and Balances (i.e., each branch of Madison’s proposed national government would have the ability to check, or limit, the power of the other branchesthis limiting, or “checking” ability would ensure that the branches would each be balanced in terms of power.) III. The Plan for a New Constitution is Accepted A) The delegates at the Constitutional Convention ultimately accepted Madison’s plan to create an entirely new constitution (and therefore to create a new national government). B) Actually drafting (writing) and agreeing to the new constitution, however, was difficult. IV. Constitutional Compromises: The Great Compromise A) Before a new constitution could be agreed upon, several important compromises had to be reached. 1) Madison’s plan for a new constitution included the creation of a bi- cameral (two chamber, or house) legislature. This, of course, represented a change from the uni-cameral legislature that existed under the Articles of Confederation. 2) Additionally, there was substantial dispute in the convention between delegates from states with small populations and those from states with large populations regarding how states would be represented in the new bi-cameral legislature. a) Delegates from states with small populations favored equal representation for all states in the new national legislature. This meant that all states—regardless of their population size—would receive the same number of delegates (would be, that is, equally represented) in the national legislature. b) Delegates from states with large populations favored proportional representation. This meant that all states—depending on their population size—would receive different numbers of delegates (would be, that is, proportionally represented) in the national legislature. 3) This dispute had the potential to break-up the convention. But finally a compromise was reached that was acceptable to both the delegates of highly populated states as well as those of lightly populated states. B) It was agreed that there would be a bi-cameral legislature and that in one chamber (or, house) of that legislature, states would be represented equally; while in the other chamber, states would be represented proportionally. 1) Thus, to this day in the Congress of the United States, there are two chambers (the Senate and the House of Representatives). And in the Senate there is equal representation for the states (each state has two senators), while in the House of Representatives there is proportional representation (each state has a number of representatives that is proportional to its total population). 2) The compromise to, first, create a bi-cameral national legislature and, second, to allow for different modes of representation in either chamber of that legislature is known as the Great Compromise. V. Constitutional Compromises: The 3/5s Compromise A) Once it was decided that states would be represented proportionally in the House of Representatives, another issue arose around which another compromise would have to be forged. 1) The issue: would slaves be counted in state population totals for the purpose of determining the number of delegates any state would receive in the House of Representatives? 2) With regard to this issue the dispute was not between more and less populous states but between states located in the North and states located in the South. (Southern states had always had many more slaves than Northern states. And, following the American Revolution, Northern states began to abolish slavery—within their states.) a) Southern states wanted slaves to count toward their state population totals (on the basis of which, of course, a state would receive a certain number of delegates in the House of Representatives). b) Northern states argued that it was not slaves who were in fact being represented by delegates from Southern states. Indeed, the North argued, slaves were seen as property rather than full human beings. 3) Ultimately, a compromise was reached. It was agreed that when determining the population of a state, 3/5s—or 60%--of a state’s slaves could be counted. (So, if 100 slaves lived in a given state, 60 of them would be counted in that state’s population total on the basis of which delegation in the House of Representatives would be determined.) 4) Note: The 3/5s Compromise did not mean that 3 out of every 5 slaves could vote. There were no slaves who could vote! The 3/5s compromise only meant that 60% of a state’s slaves could be counted in that state’s population total—again for determining a state’s delegation in the House of Representatives. VI. Constitutional Compromises: Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise A) The Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise was yet another compromise brokered between Northern and Southern delegates to the Constitutional Convention. 1) Many delegates from Northern states were interested in ending the international slave trade (i.e., the importation of slaves). a) Note: This does not mean that they sought to end slavery in the United States. Such a development would not have been politically possible at the time when the Constitution was ratified. 2) Many delegates from Southern states were interested in making sure that no tax would ever be placed on exported goods. (They were concerned about a tax on tobacco exports.) a) Note: A tax on exports would not be a tariff. Tariffs are taxes on imports. 3) In order to satisfy both Northern and Southern delegates on these issues, the Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise was agreed to. B) The Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise was written into the Constitution. It stipulated that 1) 20 years following the ratification of the Constitution (1808), slaves could no longer be imported into the United States. (Again, slavery continued to be legal in Southern states.) 2) There would be no tax on exports. VII. Ratification A) After the Great and 3/5s Compromises are worked out, the Constitution is sent to the states in the fall of 1787. 1) The states will have the responsibility to ratify (accept) or reject the Constitution. VIII. Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists A) In the states, people debated over the Constitution. 1) Those who supported ratification were called the Federalists. 2) Those who opposed ratification were called the Anti-Federalists. B) Federalists supported a national government that could collect taxes, maintain an army, and establish order. C) Anti-Federalists feared that a strong national government would take away their natural rights—as they believed Britain’s had done. D) Ultimately, the Anti-Federalists accept ratification when it is agreed that... 1) A Bill of Rights will be added to the Constitution. 2) A Bill of Rights: A list of specific rights belonging to citizens that cannot be taken away by the government. a) Examples of these rights are freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, trial-by-jury, etc. IX. The Federalist Papers A) The ratification of the Constitution was aided by the publication of a group of essays written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay that came to be known as The Federalist Papers. X. The Constitution of the United States: Influences A) The Constitution reveals the influence of a number of forces. 1) The British Political Tradition As colonists of Britain, American colonists were influenced by British political history. a) The Magna Carta (1215) denied the king the power of “Taxation without Representation” and led to the creation of Parliament. b) The English Bill of Rights (1688) ensured that certain rights (e.g., trial-by-jury) were guaranteed to British citizens. 2) The Enlightenment the ideas of both John Locke (natural rights and the social contract) as well as those of Baron de Montesquieu (separation of powers) are reflected in the Constitution 3) Colonial Experience certain colonial events and experiences influenced the Constitution. a) The 1733 trial of publisher John Peter Zenger defended the rights of free speech. b) The decision of Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island (1636), to grant religious freedom to all settlers in that colony. Constitution of the US (Ratified in 1788 - Present) I. Purpose of the Constitution A. Analyze The Preamble (primary Source) 1. “We the People....” - Trying to imply that they represent the entirety of America - The ultimate source of power is the governed/people - Like the social contract 2. “In order to form a more perfect union” - There was a need to form this because the Articles weren’t able to collect taxes - Couldn’t pay debt, form an army, have a currency 3. “Insure domestic tranquility” - They are referencing Shays’ rebellion - It shook up the country 4. “Provide for the common defense” - They don’t have a military 5. “Promote the general welfare -Unbacked currency led to serious inflation 6. Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity (the generations that which will follow this writing of the constitution) - If the states become independent countries they could do anything - They may not live up to the Declaration of Independence - If you want to be sure that this idea that people have the right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, you have to create a government that can protect the young republic *The constitutions was broad enough that is could be applied to changing times and circumstances II. Structure of the document A. Articles (7 total) - Article 1 - How the legislative branch is composed, what it can and can’t do - about the legislative branch - Article 2 - Concerns the executive branch - Article 3 - Concerns the judicial branch - Article 4 - Describes the relationship among states - Article 5 - Lays out the amendment processdiagram 8C - Shows that there was anticipation that this document may need to change in order to last over time - The Bill of Rights were added to the constitution as quickly as they were because the promise of creating a bill of rights convicted the Anti Federalists to drop their opposition to this document - The creation of a bill of rights was so important to the Anti Federalists because it secured their natural rights (the Anti Federalists had fears of strong national governments) - Article 6 (a.k.a. “the Supremacy Clause”)diagram 2C - Relationship between the federal and state governments - The illustration shows that what article 6 says (the supremacy clause) is that the US constitution is the supreme law of the land - Each step of the ladder shows the hierarchy of powers (now the states have the least power and the national government the most) - People are going to think that they are giving too much power to the national government and the national government will abuse it’s power - Anti-Federalists and Federalists argue over this - Article 7 - Ratification process B. Amendments (27 total and the first ten are known as the Bill of Rights in 1791), diagrams 8A & 8B III. Basic Principles A. Popular sovereignty - The people are the ultimate source of authority under the constitution of the US (the power comes from the people) B. Limited Government - The constitution places specific limitations on the government’s power. (In other words, the nat’l government’s power is expressly limited by the Constitution.) - As a result of the commerce and slave trade compromise, the government cannot place a tax on an exported good and this is written in the constitution - The bill of rights (amended in 1791) is an example of limited government (there are limitations placed on the government to protect the people’s rights) CONSIDER: First Amendment - Britain’s limited monarchy (is an example of limited govenment) - There is limitation on the monarchs power - Britain had a limited monarchy because Parliament had power C. Separation of Powers - The essential functions of government are divided among several different branchesdiagram 3A - They did this to prevent the abuse of that power - Executive Branchfederal bureaucracy (Executive Branch departments AND major independent agencies)diagram 3B (NOTE: The directors, or secretaries of the Executive Branch departments are collectively known as the President’s Cabinet) - Legislative Branchcommittee systempage 5 & 9 - D. Checks and Balances see diagram 2B - Each branch of the national government has the ability to check the power of the other two - The goal was to make sure the branches remain balanced and one doesn’t get too powerful - Congress has power to override president veto - reject treaties and foreign policy (scroll down) -Impeach and remove - President has power to veto laws and make treaties - Appoint federal officials - Propose laws - Supreme Court has power to decide laws unconstitutional. This power is known as judicial review. -The Supreme Court first exercised the power of judicial review in 1803 in the Marbury v. Madison decision. - The power for the Supreme Court to exercise judicial review is not actually granted by the Constitution. The Supreme Court simply claimed it had this power, and –throughout American history—judicial review has come to be seen as a legitimate power of the Supreme Court. E. Flexibility - DEFINITION of “flexibility”: Constitution is designed to meet changing conditions over time - Examples of “flexibility” - Elastic Clause (Article I; Section 8) - Congress can make “all laws necessary and proper” to fulfill its function - The powers of congress are elastic (i.e., can be “stretched”) - Congress decides what is necessary and proper (they can basically pass any bill, which the president can of course veto) - Congress can define its powers (the range of legislation it will consider) very broadly -Amendment Process (Amending the constitution is a two stage process) (see 8C) 1. Proposal stage - An amendment has to be proposed by the national government to the states 2. Ratification/Rejection - The state governments are responsible for ratifying or rejecting - The first method of amendment process is the only one that was used in the US - First it is proposed by Congress (2/3 votes in BOTH houses) - Then ratified by the state legislature in 3/4s majority of the TOTAL state legislatures and can be added to the constitution - Judicial Interpretation (judicial review is a type of this) - Judges can decide on the same issues differently over time - 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson - Said you could have separate but equal facilities in public places - 1954 Brown v. Board of Ed - Said separate but equal is not okay in public education - These two decisions are opposites so, the new people, changing times, judicial interpretation of the constitution changed over time F) Federalism see 2D - Federalism: system of government that required power sharing between the national and state government - Constitution has strong federalism, AOC has weak federalism - * Delegated powers belong to the national government - * Concurrent powers belong to both the national and state governments - * Reserved powers belong to the state government - Denied powers belong to neither the state or national government - Implied powers (Elastic Clause) IV. Electoral College What is it? - Group of electors chosen from each state who are given the power to pick the leader of the nation - Reason for Electoral CollegeFRAMERS DIDN’T TRUST THE PEOPLE! V. Bill of Rights/Amendmentssee p. 8 --1 st Amendment--> Basic Liberties: Speech, Press, Religion, Assembly, Petition --2 nd & 3 rd Amendments--> Reflects fear of a standing military --4 th -8 th Amendments--> Citizens’ rights when dealing with legal system --9 th Amendment-->Individual rights not mentioned are assumed to belong to the people (e.g., right to travel, right to make decisions regarding one’s health) --10 th Amendment-->Rights not given to national government (i.e., delegated powers) belong to the states or the people (e.g., the right to run elections, the right to regulate public education) __________________________________________________ --13 th -15 th Amendments Civil War/Reconstruction Amendments --16 th -19 th Amendments Progressive Era Amendments --18 th & 21 st Amendments The creation and repeal of Prohibition VI. Unwritten Constitution: A. Definition: Powers and practices of the government that are not granted or acknowledged by the constitution (but are accepted as if they are) B. Examples of the unwritten constitution - Judicial review (when the Supreme Court declares a law unconstitutional and the law no longer exists) (type of judicial interpretation) - Marbury v Madison (1803) is the first time judicial review is used - President’s cabinet - Secretaries of executive branch departments - The president’s closest advisors (page 3) - Essential practice of the government - Committee System (in the legislative branch) (page 9) - Congress divides itself into committees that specialize in an area - Committees operate in both chambers of congress - Committees review legislation and make recommendations to the body as a whole - Essential practice of the national government (Scroll down) - Political parties - Lobbying - Entities (companies, industries) will hire lobbyists who represent the industry as a whole and try to influence legislatures to pass legislation or to not pass it - e.g., pharmaceutical lobby, banking lobby, gun lobby, etc. - Lobbies can represent groups - Lobbyists write legislation and submit it to people they have helped and ask them to submit the law - They have great influence on the government Two-term presidency?????--> part of the unwritten constitution until the ratification of the 22 nd Amendment (1951) VII. President’s Roles and PowersSee p. 10 in packet Early Republic: The Early Presidencies The Washington Administration: 1789-1797 Precedents As the first president in United States history, George Washington established a number of important precedents. (precedent: an earlier event or action that is regarded as an example or guide to be considered in subsequent similar circumstances.) Examples of important precedents established by Washington include: Title (by which the President is addressed): “Mr. President” Advice: Washington turned the heads (or the “secretaries”) of the executive branch departments (e.g., the Department of Treasury, the Department of State) as his advisors. This group of advisors came to be known as the president’s cabinet. Among the two most important members of Washington’s cabinet were his Secretary of the Treasury (Alexander Hamilton) and his Secretary of State (Thomas Jefferson). Length of Service: Washington established the precedent of the two-term presidency. This precedent lasted until 1940 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected to his third consecutive term. (Roosevelt would be elected to a fourth term in 1944.) The 22 nd Amendment to the Constitution limiting US presidents to no more than two terms in office was not proposed and ratified until 1951. Alexander Hamilton The most important member of Washington’s cabinet was his Secretary of Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton had served with Washington during the American Revolution. Hamilton believed that the national government should have substantially more power than the state governments. Even James Madison—the architect of the Constitution of the United States—did not believe that the national government should be as strong as Hamilton wanted it to be. Hamilton also believed that the nation needed to have a diversified economy. This meant that Hamilton wanted manufacturing (industry/factories) and finance (banking) as well as agriculture (farming) and commerce (trade) to be part of the nation’s economy. Many people, such as Thomas Jefferson, believed that the United States would be better off concentrating solely on agriculture. In 1791, Hamilton urged Congress to create a national bank in order to stabilize the nation’s currency. ("Stabilizing the nation’s currency" means preventing inflation. When inflation occurs prices for things--goods and services--go up. It is sometimes said that when inflation occurs, "money loses its value." This simply means that a certain amount of money, say $10, doesn't buy as much from one week, month, or year to the next.) Congress—following Hamilton’s advice—passed a bill to create a national bank. The bank bill, as it came to be known, was sent to President Washington. Washington, however, was uncertain whether to sign the bill into law or veto it. The Constitution neither gives nor denies Congress the power to create a national bank. Therefore, Washington had a problem: How to decide on an issue when the Constitution provides no guidance. Not surprisingly, Washington turned to his cabinet for advice. The Debate over the Bank Bill: Strict Construction Thomas Jefferson, the Secretary of State, advised Washington veto the bank bill. Jefferson argued: If the Constitution doesn’t specifically permit Congress to pass a certain type of law; then, Congress may not pass that law. This approach (Jefferson’s approach) to interpreting the Constitution is known as the Strict Constructionist interpretation of the Constitution. The Strict Constructionist interpretation is favored by people (such as Thomas Jefferson) who worry about how much power the national government wields (has). The Debate over the Bank Bill: Loose, or Broad, Construction Alexander Hamilton, the Secretary of Treasury, advised Washington to sign the bank bill. Hamilton argued: If the Constitution does not specifically prohibit Congress from passing a certain type of law; then, Congress may pass that law. This approach (Hamilton’s approach) to interpreting the Constitution is known as the Loose, or Broad, Constructionist interpretation of the Constitution. The Loose Constructionist interpretation is favored by people (such as Alexander Hamilton) who wish to increase power the national government wields (has). Washington sided with Hamilton and signed the bank bill. The Bank of the United States opened for business in 1791. Whiskey Rebellion (1791-1794) A) In 1791, Congress passed a tax on the production of whiskey. (In other words, this tax would be paid by the people who distilled, or produced, whiskey.) 1) The whiskey tax hit the western frontier settlements of the United States particularly hard. (The western frontier in the 1790s was western Pennsylvania, Western Virginia, Kentucky.) a) Farmers in the west frequently distilled the grain they grew into whiskey—in part because it was easier to transport whiskey than loose grain. B) Western farmers began protesting the whiskey tax shortly after it was enacted. 1) These farmers protested both a) Peacefully (making speeches, circulating petitions, engaging in protest demonstrations) AND b) Violently (attacking tax collectors, breaking-up court proceedings) C) Finally, in the summer of 1794, some 7000 protesters, bearing guns, clubs, torches, and other “weapons” marched on the city of Pittsburg. 1) Although these protesters were dispersed (i.e., broken-up) before they did much damage—President George Washington had had enough. 2) Washington (and Hamilton) personally led some 15,000 troops to Western Pennsylvania. D) Washington and his troops engaged in no battles—but Washington wanted to prove a point: the government cannot be violently opposed. 1) If the government is violently opposed, it will respond with military force. E) Thomas Jefferson—among others—believed that Washington had acted too aggressively. 1) Jefferson said that many of those who had protested the whiskey tax had done so peacefully and lawfully. a) Many protesters had, according to Jefferson, done nothing more than exercise their constitutionally protected 1 st amendment rights (e.g., freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of petition). The Emergence of Political Parties A) Events such as the Whiskey Rebellion as well as the debate over the proper way to interpret the Constitution (Strict-Constructionist vs. Broad Constructionist interpretation) contributed to the emergence of the nation’s first two political parties. 1) Political Party: An organization—dedicated to electing candidates and influencing the government—that adopts particular positions on a range of issues. B) By the middle of the 1790s, two distinct political parties had emerged: the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. 1) The leaders of the Federalists were George Washington and Alexander Hamilton. 2) The leaders of the Democratic-Republicans were Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. C) These parties opposed one another on a variety of issues such as 1) Strong the National Government a) Federalists: Yes b) Democratic-Republicans: No 2) The Desirability of Mass Political Participation a) Federalists: No b) Democratic-Republicans: Yes 3) Support for the French Revolution a) Federalists: No b) Democratic-Republicans: Yes 4) Tolerance of Dissent (such as the Whiskey Rebellion) a) Federalists: No b) Democratic-Republicans: Yes 5) Interpretation of the Constitution a) Federalists: Broad-ConstructionistGives gov’nmnt more power b) Democratic-Republicans: Strict ConstructionistGives gov’nmnt less power D) From the 1790s forward the United States has always had two major political parties. Washington’s Farewell Address A) In 1796—as his second term in office was coming to an end—George Washington decided not to run for re-election. 1) Washington chose not to run for a third consecutive term in office as he feared serving a third (consecutive) term would lead to his being too closely associated with the presidency. In other words, people would come to think that only Washington could be president. a) Washington knew the country wouldn’t last long if people thought this way. 2) Washington explained his reason not to run for re-election as well as his opinions on a number of other issues in a speech that has come to be known as Washington’s Farewell Address. B) The most significant piece of advice Washington offered to the nation in his Farewell Address was on the topic of foreign relations. 1) Washington advised the nations to “avoid permanent military alliances”—particularly with European nations. 2) A military alliance requires one nation to assist another during time of war. a) Washington feared that military alliances, especially permanent ones that extended from one year—or decade—to the next, would lead to the United States getting involved in wars in which it had no stake and which could imperil the country’s independence. C) It is said that Washington’s Farewell Address encouraged the nation to adopt a neutral or an isolationist position with regard to foreign wars. 1) The United States embraced and followed the advice contained in the Farewell Address until well into the 20 th century. 2) Washington’s Farewell Address is one of the most significant statements of foreign policy in United States history. The Louisiana Purchase: 1803 A) By the early 1800s, many Americans looked desirously at the massive Louisiana Territory that lay to the west of the Mississippi River. 1) The Louisiana Territory included most of the land in continental North America that lay south of Canada, west of the Mississippi River, and east of the Rocky Mountains. 2) NOTE: The Mississippi River was considered part of the Louisiana Territory. 3) Ownership/control of the Louisiana Territory promised... a) abundant land for settlement b) full access to the Mississippi River B) In late 1802, France closed the port of New Orleans—located at the mouth of the Mississippi River—to American ships. 1) This action hurt western U.S. farmers who used the Mississippi to transport their crops to market. C) President Thomas Jefferson offered to buy the port of New Orleans from France. 1) To Jefferson’s surprise, Napoleon and France offered to sell the entire Louisiana Territory to the United States for $15 million. a) The Louisiana Territory was over 825,000 square miles. b) France’s asking price of $15 million meant that the U.S. was paying 1-2 cents per acre. D) Although Jefferson was eager to purchase the Louisiana Territory—a problem existed. 1) The Constitution said nothing about buying land and adding it to the country. a) Jefferson’s strict-constructionist interpretation of the Constitution should have prevented him from buying the Louisiana Territory! E) Nonetheless, Jefferson did, obviously, complete the Louisiana Purchase. 1) He argued that the Constitution implied that the president had the power to add land to the country. a) Thus, for the purposes of purchasing Louisiana, Jefferson switched from a strict-constructionist to a broad-constructionist interpretation of the Constitution. F) The United States completed the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. 1) The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size to of the United States. The War of 1812 A) By the early 1800s, Britain was again at war with France (the Napoleonic Wars) 1) As part of its war strategy, Britain a) interfered with U.S.-French tradethis interference represented a violation of the principle of freedom of the seas AND b) impressed U.S. sailors into the British Royal Navy 2) Impressment: the act by which people are captured (kidnapped) and forced into naval service. While many nations at various times in history have employed a policy of impressment, the term is usually used in reference to Great Britain's Royal Navy. B) The United States initially protested Britain’s actions (trade interference and the impressment of American sailors), by limiting its trade with Britain by passing laws such as 1) The Non-Importation Actno imports into the U.S. from Britain AND 2) The Embargo Actno exports to Britain C) These laws, however, didn’t prevent the British from interfering with American trade or impressing American sailors. 1) And—to make matters worse—these laws actually harmed America’s economy. 2) Finally, in 1812, President James Madison asked Congress for a declaration of war against Britain. a) The War of 1812 had begun. D) Prominent among those who supported the war were Democratic- Republican congressmen known as the War Hawks. 1) The War Hawks believed Britain had a) disrespected the United States (with impressment and trade interference) b) encouraged Native Americans to attack U.S. settlements. E) The war itself was inconclusive. 1) Neither side had clearly won the war when the Treaty of Ghent (1814) a) ended the fighting AND b) normalized relations between the two countries. F) The most significant American victory occurred, ironically, after the war was officially over. 1) When, in early 1815, Andrew Jackson scored an overwhelming and surprising victory in the Battle of New Orleans a) the Treaty of Ghent (which ended the war) had already been signed. i) Ghent is a town in Belgium (Europe). ii) The news of the treaty had not yet made it across the Atlantic when the Battle of New Orleans was fought. 2) Yet, although the Battle of New Orleans was technically unnecessary, Jackson’s victory a) unleashed tremendous nationalist sentiment in the United States AND b) made Andrew Jackson a national hero the likes of which the country had not known since George Washington. G) There were a number of important outcomes to the War of 1812. 1) The war stimulated domestic manufacturing. a) Since trade with Britain was cut off during the war, the United States began to produce its own manufactured products i) Particularly cloth and (metal) tools. 2) Nationalist sentiment in the country increased. (See F) 2) above) 3) The Federalist Party—who opposed the war—lost most of their support. Early Republic: Post-War of 1812 I. Missouri Applies for Admission to the Union: 1819 A) Missouri’s application for admission to the Union in 1819 as a slave state created sectional (North vs. South) dispute for moral, economic, and political reasons. 1) Moral/Cultural reasons: Many in the North believed slavery was morally wrong because people should not be considered and treated as property. These people were known as abolitionists. Many in the South, on the other hand, argued that slavery was morally justified because slaves were child-like, lazy, and unintelligent and, thus, incapable of taking care of themselves. Slave holders took care of slaves, as a parent would a child. This was known as the Paternalistic defense of Slavery. Slaves, the South argued, actually benefitted from slavery. 2) Economic reasons: Once Eli Whitney invented the Cotton Gin in 1793, cotton could be grown profitably in the South. Cotton, however, remained a labor-intensive crop; therefore, slavery was more valuable than ever. In the North, many had come to see slavery as a force that weakened the economy. It was believed slave-holders would, in any economic situation, have an advantage over non-slave-holders. There were, however, many more non-slave-holders than slave-holders. Thus, many in the North reasoned, slavery limited economic opportunity for the majority of Americans. Without economic opportunity, average Americans wouldn’t work as hard, seek education/training, or want to improve themselves. The entire economy and country would suffer. Without economic opportunity, America wouldn’t be America. 3) Political reasons: Simply, both the North and the South sought to increase the number of states (and, hence, representatives in the national government) that supported their section’s view on slavery and opposed the other section’s. (In the context of this political conflict, Missouri’s application for admission as a slave state upset the North as Missouri’s entrance would give Southern states a 12-11 advantage in the Senate. Also keep in mind that the South was already benefitted in the House of Representatives by the 3/5s Compromise.) II. The Missouri Compromise: 1820 A) The Missouri Compromise temporarily settled the dispute that Missouri’s application for admission to the Union as a slave state unleashed. B) The terms of the Missouri Compromise were as follows: 1) Missouri entered the Union as a slave state. 2) Maine was carved out of Massachusetts and entered the Union as a free state. 3) Slavery was forbidden to exist in the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36* 30’ parallel of latitude. (Note: The 36* 30’ provision applied only in the Louisiana Purchase!) C) It is fair to say that the Missouri Compromise temporarily settled the political conflict over the spread of slavery. The moral and economic disagreements discussed above were in no way settled by the Compromise. 1) Indeed, those conflicts as well as the continuing political tensions to which they gave rise would ultimately prove insuperable. III. Monroe Doctrine--Background (1800-1825) A) From 1800-1825, many Latin American colonies won their independence (primarily from Spain). B) The United States applauded this development and wanted these new countries to remain independent. Why? 1) Trade opportunities. If Latin America was populated by independent countries rather than Spanish colonies... a) Spain would no longer be able to enforce a mercantilist economy on most of Latin America, AND b) The United States—by virtue of geographic proximity—would be in a strong position to expand its trade within the Western Hemisphere. 2) Additionally, if Spanish influence and power was diminished in the Americas, the possibility of US-Spanish conflict was greatly reduced. a) Due to the continued influence of Washington’s Farewell Address, such a development was very welcome by the United States. IV. Monroe Doctrine—The Document A) In 1823, President James Monroe issued the Monroe Doctrine. This doctrine sought to preserve the independence of the newly emergent Latin American nations. 1) The Monroe Doctrine demanded of the international community (and European nations in particular) both a) Non-intervention in the affairs of independent Western Hemisphere nations AND b) Non-colonization by foreign nations in the Western Hemisphere i) In demanding non-colonization—The US was not insisting that European nations give up their existing colonies in the New World, but that European (and all foreign) nations don’t establish any new colonies in the Americas. 2) The Monroe Doctrine also promised... a) Non-interference inasmuch as the United States would refrain from interfering with foreign nations (including any of their already established New World colonies). B) The Monroe Doctrine continued to influence US foreign policy well into at least the 20 th century. 1) Examples: a) The US entered WW I in 1917 due in part to Germany’s violation of the Monroe Doctrine. b) The US cited the Monroe Doctrine in 1983 when it invaded the Caribbean island of Grenada. Explanation: The term territory carries a specific meaning in the context of forming states that will join the Union. A prospective (possible) state is known as a territory. A territory in this context means a body of land with defined borders as well as a (territorial) government (legislative, executive, and judicial branches). Land within a territory can be sold by the (national) government to private entities such as individual citizens or railroad companies. Territories do not simply come into being. They must be organized by Congress. In other words, to create, or organize, a territory—Congress must pass a bill—which would then have to be signed into law by the president. Territories, once they have been organized and the process of settlement has begun, are meant to write a (territorial) constitution and establish a (territorial) government. It is important to note that the constitutions created by the territories would stipulate whether or not that territory would allow slavery within its borders. Once a constitution is written, a government is established, and the population of a given territory exceeds 10, 000—that territory can apply to Congress for admission to the Union. In other words, a territory applies to become a state. Congress must pass a bill, which the president must then sign into law, for a territory to become a state. Not surprisingly, territories that permitted slavery became states that permitted slavery. (All states—save for the original 13 as well as Texas and Maine, both of which entered the Union as already formed states—passed through the territorial phase before becoming a state.) NOTE: This process of organizing territories which in turn can apply to Congress to become states was established in the 1780s by the Northwest Ordinances. 2 nd NOTE: Territories seek to become states to gain representation in the national government. Territories don’t have senators in the US Senate, or delegates in the US House of Representatives, or Electors in the Electoral College—but states do. Age of Jackson (1820s/1830s) I. Andrew Jackson as President A) Jackson, hero of the Battle of New Orleans and focus of national pride, was twice elected President of the United States: in 1828 and in 1832. B) The country that elected Jackson was a changing and increasingly sectionalized one. 1) In the North a) Industries (manufacturing) strengthened during the War of 1812 had led to i) the emergence of cities and infrastructure ii) immigration—>stimulated manufacturing & urbanization iii) more distinct socio-economic classes “upper”; “middle”; “lower” 2) In the South a) the Cotton Gin had led to a “cotton boom” b) increased reliance upon slave labor c) increased commitment to slavery and agriculture. (There was very little investment in infrastructure and manufacturing in the South.) 3) The economic differences between the North and the South can be more fully grasped by using the terms economic growth, economic expansion, and capital to analyze the economies of these two sections. a) Economic growth refers to an increase in the value of goods and services produced by an economy over a given period of time (say, a year, or a decade, or a century). i) Both the North and the South experienced economic growth during the pre-Civil War 19 th century. 2 b) Economic expansion refers to an increase in the variety and number of goods and services produced by an economy over a given period of time. i) While the North experienced economic expansion during the pre-Civil War 19 th century, the South did not. c) Capital refers to money used specifically for investment—as opposed to money used to pay for, say, food or entertainment or taxes. i) Capital was invested in both the North and the South during the pre-Civil War 19 th century. In the North, however, capital was used to invest in a much greater variety of projects than it was in the South. ii) In the North, capital was invested in railroads, canals, bridges, stores and factories of many different kinds. iii) In the South, capital was invested overwhelmingly in only two things: land and slaves. C) Politics were changing also. 1) By the 1820s a) Most white men—regardless of whether or not they owned land—could vote. As a result of this change, politicians began seeking the support of the so-called common people. D) Hence, Andrew Jackson’s campaigns for president are often seen as the first modern political campaigns in American history. (Due to the success of this campaigning style, many other politicians copied Jackson’s approach.) Jackson’s campaigns included such modern tactics as: 1) slogans and simple messages 2) parades and rallies 3) barbeques 4) paraphernalia (e.g., buttons, mugs, pennants, etc.) 3 E) Additionally, upon winning election, Jackson sought to reward his supporters with government jobs and contracts, which—as President—Jackson was in the position to do. 1) This practice came to be known as the Spoils System, as in the phrase “to the victor belongs the spoils.” 2) Although it was controversial, the spoils system came to be widely practiced in American politics as a means of increasing support for a particular politician as well as increasing loyalty to a given political party. II. Nullification Crisis A) Following the War of 1812, the national government began passing protective tariffs. 1) “Protective” tariffs are taxes on imported goods that protect domestic products and industries from foreign competition by making foreign products more expensive. a) (For example, if Congress wants American consumers to purchase American-made cars as opposed to, say, German cars, it (Congress) can place a tariff on German cars imported into the United States. That tariff would be an example of a “protective” tariff as it would be “protecting” American-made cars from German competition.) B) The North supported protective tariffs, while the South opposed them. 1) Northern industries benefitted from reduced foreign competition. In addition, these industries provided jobs. 2) The South, on the other hand, saw tariffs only as a source of higher prices on goods and a higher overall cost of living. C) In 1828, Congress passed a protective tariff that increased tariff rates to such a high level that it came to be known as the “Tariff of Abominations” in the South. D) In response to the so-called “Tariff of Abominations,” South Carolina 4 claimed that states had the right to nullify federal, or national, laws with which they disagreed. 1) This argument (in favor of nullification) was put forth in an essay entitled Exposition and Protest, which was written by the sitting Vice President at the time, South Carolina’s own, John C. Calhoun. 2) In making this argument, John C. Calhoun (and South Carolina) was supporting an extreme form of states’ rights. (In actuality, South Carolina was supporting state sovereignty.) a) In the South, more and more people came to believe in states’ rights—if not outright state sovereignty. i) Including a “states right” to secede from the Union. 3) In 1832, South Carolina actually did nullify a federal law (specifically, the Tariff of 1832). a) Jackson did not particularly like tariffs, but he believed nullification could destroy the Union. (If states could ignore laws passed by the federal government, they—ultimately—could ignore the Constitution.) i) He was prepared to send the military to South Carolina. b) Ultimately, a reduced, “compromise” tariff was passed, which South Carolina did not seek to nullify. III. The Bank Controversy A) The Second National Bank (of the United States) was given a 20-year charter (i.e., license) in 1816. Therefore, the bank was set to be up for re- chartering in 1836. (In other words, in 1836 the bank could seek a another license to do business for another twenty years.) B) Andrew Jackson had long railed against banks in general (and the national bank in particular). He believed that the national bank served the interests of wealthy clients and investors--as opposed to the common people. 5 C) Senator Henry Clay and the president of the Second National Bank, Nicholas Biddle, decided that a bill calling for “early re-chartering” of the national bank should be introduced into Congress in 1832. 1) Clay and Biddle’s logic ran as follows... a) Jackson might sign the bill for early re-chartering (after all, the bank did provide a stable currency and did make loans to the government)—in which case he would be revealed as a hypocrite. OR b) Jackson might remain true to his stated opinion and veto the re- chartering bill—in which case, Clay believed his veto would be overridden by a 2/3 majority in both chambers of Congress. 2) In either case, Jackson would be made to look bad. a) Clay sought to make Jackson look bad because he was going to run against Jackson in the presidential election of 1832. b) Biddle sought to make Jackson look bad because he was tired of worrying about Jackson’s attacks on the national bank. D) Clay and Biddle miscalculated. 1) Jackson vetoed the bill... but Congress failed to override the veto. 2) Jackson had correctly calculated that increasing numbers of Americans (and their representatives in Congress) had come to resent the growing wealth and power of what Jackson called the aristocracy. a) The national bank, Jackson argued, protected and furthered the wealth and power of the privileged elite (the aristocracy). IV. Indian Removal/Trail of Tears A) In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. 1) The law gave the national government the money and the power to remove native tribes from areas east of the Mississippi River to areas west of that river. B) The Cherokee tribe decided to challenge the Removal Act in court. 6 1) In 1832, John Marshall and the Supreme Court handed down the Worcester v. Georgia decision. In the decision, the Supreme Court held that the Cherokee could not be forced to move off of their ancestral lands. C) Andrew Jackson, however, decided to ignore the Supreme Court ruling in Worcester v. Georgia. 1) From 1832-1838, the US military—under the direction, obviously, of the national government—forced 60,000 Cherokee and other tribes to relocate from areas east of the Mississippi to areas west of the Mississippi. 2) During this forced relocation—known as the Trail of Tears—over 15,000 natives, a quarter of those who were forced to move, died from exposure, exhaustion, and starvation. Antebellum Issues I. The Erie Canal A) Begun in 1817 and completed in 1825, the Erie Canal offered a water route linking Lake Erie (or, more generally, the Midwest) to the Hudson River (the mouth of which empties into New York City). B) The economic impact of the Erie Canal was extensive. 1) The canal dramatically reduced the time and cost necessary to ship goods between the Midwest and the Northeast. 2) The canal allowed increasing numbers of famers in the Midwest to shift from a subsistence-orientation (i.e., consume what one produces) to a commercial-orientation (i.e., sell what one produces and buy what one consumes). a) The canal also allowed manufacturers in the Northeast to produce for (i.e., sell to) people in Midwest. C) Simply put, the Erie Canal increased the scope of and participation in the market economy in United States during the 19 th century. 1) A market economy is one in which people sell what they produce (or, simply, their labor) and use the money they earn to buy clothing, food, houses, etc... 2) A subsistence economy is one in which people grow their own food, make their own clothes, build their own houses. a) Note: There is relatively little need for or use of money in a subsistence economy. II. Women’s Rights A) Many women were among the most committed supporters of abolition. 1) By the 1840s, some women began question their own lack of rights. 2 a) Most notably, women’s rights advocates focused on the fact that women weren’t guaranteed the right to vote. B) In 1848, the Women’s Rights Convention was held in Seneca Falls, NY. (This meeting is sometimes called the Seneca Falls Convention.) C) This convention represents the beginning of an organized women’s rights movement in the United States. 1) Among the leaders of this convention was Elizabeth Cady Stanton. 2) The convention adopted a document known as the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments. (This document is sometimes simply called the Seneca Falls Declaration.) 3) The Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments was adapted from the Declaration of Independence. III. Immigration A) After the war of 1812, immigration into the United States increased. 1) Immigration into the US prior to the Civil War is known as the Old Immigration. 2) Most of the immigrants who entered the US during the Old Immigration were from Europe—Ireland and Germany in particular. B) Examples of immigration throughout history can be analyzed in terms of both push factors and pull factors. “Push” factors are those that account for why people leave the country in which they are living. “Pull” factors are those that account for why people chose to move to a given country. C) During the first half of the 19 th century European people left, or were pushed out, of countries due to a variety of factors. Among those factors were 1) famine (particularly the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s) 2) wars 3) religious and political persecution 3 4) economic transformation (mechanization of agriculture and industrialization). D) During the first half of the 19 th century European people arrived in, or were pulled into, the United States for a variety of reasons. Among those reasons were 1) economic opportunity 2) political inclusion (after becoming citizens adult white men could vote) 3) social/cultural freedom (the basic rights and liberties of citizens were constitutionally protected). E) The majority of these immigrants settled in cities in the North where they found jobs in emerging industries. 1) Some immigrants, however, pursued agricultural work. 2) Many citizens of the United States—immigrant as well as native born—took advantage of the Homestead Act (1862). a) Through the Homestead Act the national government gave people 160 acres of land free of charge provided that the people lived and worked on the land. b) The purpose of the Homestead Act was to stimulate the settlement of western parts of the country. IV. Nativism A) Nativism is defined as the hatred of those who are not native-born to a given country, or—simply—hatred of immigrants B) European immigrants—especially the Irish (during the Old Immigration)—were often victims of nativism in the United States. 1) The Irish were discriminated against because they were a) Catholic (rather than Protestant) b) Competed with native born Americans for jobs—often working for lesser wages. 4 C) Not all immigrants to the United States were from Europe. In general, non-European immigrants (especially those who were seen to be “non-white”) were treated even worse than immigrants from Europe. 1) For instance, many Chinese people immigrated into California starting in 1848 to take advantage of the California Gold Rush. a) The California Gold Rush took place shortly after California became part of the United States as a result of the Mexican War. 2) Many of these Chinese immigrants were treated horribly. D) In 1882, the United States passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. 1) The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first US law to prohibit immigrants from entering the country. Territorial Expansion and Sectionalism I. Manifest Destiny A) By the 1830s, many Americans came to embrace the concept of Manifest Destiny. 1) Manifest Destiny: The concept that it was America’s fate to expand its borders across the North American continent. This right to expand was assumed to be sanctioned by God who sought to see the United States spread its culture, economy, and government. II. Texas A) In 1820, the newly independent nation of Mexico sought to entice settlers to its province of Texas by offering land on very generous terms. 1) Many American citizens—35,000 by 1835—accepted this offer. 2) The offer, however, came with certain conditions attached to it. a) All settlers in Texas were meant to i) accept Mexican citizenship ii) convert to Catholicism iii) not practice slavery 3) For the most part, the American settlers in Texas did not meet these conditions. a) By the mid-1830s, the Mexican government began to govern Texas more strictly. B) In the mid-1830s, American settlers in the Mexican province of Texas became unhappy with the Mexican government and revolted against it. 1) By 1836, Texas had won its independence. Many Texans, however, wanted Texas to become part of the United States. 2 a) Texas joining the United States was complicated by the fact that it would enter the Union as a slave state. 2) Due the controversy surrounding its status as a slave state, Texas would remain an independent country until 1845. a) In 1845, Texas was annexed (added willingly) to the United States. 3) America’s annexation of Texas angered Mexico, which had never reconciled itself to the loss of Texas and hoped to re-claim it for their own. III. The Mexican War (1846-48) A) In 1846, the United States and Mexico went to war over a border dispute involving the newly annexed state of Texas. The Mexican War is seen as a war emerging directly from the American belief in Manifest Destiny. B) The Mexican War ended when the United States defeated Mexico and won from that nation much of the land that makes up the present-day southwestern portion of the United States. (This land includes all or parts of present day California, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado.) 1) The transference of this massive amount of land (from Mexico to the US) is known as the Mexican Cession. C) After the war—unsurprisingly—disputes arose as to whether states carved out of the Mexican Cession would allow slavery or not. NOTE: The Missouri Compromise did not apply in the Mexican Cession! (See the “Addendum” at the end of these notes for treatment of the Missouri Compromise.) IV. The Mexican War and Sectionalism A) The Mexican War complicated as well as intensified sectionalism. 1) For instance, the president who led the United States into the war was James K. Polk—a slave-holding Southerner from Tennessee. 3 Polk was an ardent expansionist, who campaigned as someone who sought to expand in the North as aggressively as in the South. 2) When the Mexican War broke-out in 1846, many in the North noted that Polk was resorting to war in the southwestern portion of North America (where slavery was likely to expand), while he chose only to negotiate (with Britain), rather than fight, in the “Oregon Country” in the northwest (where slavery was unlikely to expand). a) NOTE: Prior to the US and Britain signing the Oregon Treaty of 1846, what was known as the Oregon Country (land extending from the modern-day US in the south into modern- day Canada in the north) was jointly controlled by the US and Canada.) b) Indeed, Polk had embraced the logic of the slogan “54’40’ or fight” when he campaigned for the presidency. This meant that the United States should demand—in negotiations with Britain—all of the Oregon Country. (The Oregon Country, as it was known, extended above the 54 th parallel of latitude—that is, well into modern day Canada, which was then a British colony). And if the US didn’t receive all of the Oregon Country—many in the North (especially) felt—it should go to war a