Download Pre-Constitution: Unit 1

Unit 1: Pre-Constitution
I.
England Changes
A.
B.
Protestant Reformation
1.
Martin Luther attacks the Catholic Church
2.
King Henry VIII creates the Church of England
3.
Puritans wanted further changes from the Catholic Church and leave for America
Economic Changes in England
1.
Tenant farmers lost land and population increases lead to the need for colonies
2.
Many landowners created Joint Stock Companies
a)
Merchants join together, gain large amounts of capital ($), develop projects and
set up colonies.
II.
Colonization of America
A.
New England Colonies: MA, RI, CT, NH
1.
Geography: cold winters, rocky soil, mountains, forests, rivers, natural harbors
2.
Early colonists: English Pilgrims, English Puritans
3.
Economy: Small scale farming, fishing, fur trade, shipbuilding, lumbering, commerce,
crafts, and industry
4.
Lifestyle: high literacy level, protestant work ethic, town meetings, Colonial colleges
(Harvard, Yale, Brown and Dartmouth)
5.
B.
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Government influences: Mayflower compact, Fundamental orders of Connecticut.
Middle Colonies: NY, NJ, PA, DE
1.
Geography: Less severe winters, fertile soil, rivers, natural harbors.
2.
Early colonists: English , Dutch, Germans, Irish, Swedes, French, Scots-Irish, Welsh
3.
Economy: Medium scale farming of cash crops, fur trade, crafts, and industry
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Unit 1: Pre-Constitution
4.
Lifestyle: most diverse in religion and nationalities, Colonial Colleges (Princeton,
Pennsylvania, Columbia, Rutgers)
C.
Southern Colonies: VA, MD,NC, SC, GA
1.
Geography: long growing season, fertile soil, tidal rivers, wide coastal plain
2.
Early colonists: English, Enslaved Africans
3.
Economy: highly Agricultural, large plantations (slave labor) produce cash crops
4.
Lifestyle: self-sufficient planation life, least populated and developed region, small
farmers largest social group, Colonial Colleges (William and Mary)
III.
Structure of Government
A.
Athenian Democracy: Direct Democracy of Greece (500 B.C.)
1.
B.
All Citizens have a vote
Rome: Republic, representative democracy (509 B.C.)
1.
Senate: noble aristocrats
2.
Assemblies: committees of all citizens and councils of specific citizens
C.
Magna Carta: The King is limited by law and created the Great Council (1215)
D.
Petition of Right: (1628) establishes written basic rights and legal traditions,
1.
Includes the writ of habeas corpus- requiring a person be brought before a court with
evidence why a trial should be held.
E.
Mayflower Compact: Pilgrims sign the compact agreeing to a government that
they created with the consent of all males.
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F.
Virginia House of Burgess: Representative Legislature (English Parliament)
G.
Town meetings: citizens govern themselves through direct democracy
H.
Salutary Neglect: English policy of ignoring the colonies but gaining from their
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development and trade.
IV.
Enlightenment Philosopher: Belief in Government
A.
B.
John Locke: Two Treatises (1689)
1.
Natural Rights: Life, Liberty, and Property
2.
If the government does not protect Natural Rights the people have the Right to
Revolution
Baron De Montesquieu: The Spirit of the Laws (1748)
1.
2 types of governmental power existing:
a)
The sovereign: one lawmaking ruler
b)
The administrative : the executive, the legislative, and the judicial.
c)
Separate of Powers: the influence of any one power would not be able to
exceed that of the other two, alone or together
d)
Checks and balance: one branch has the power to stop abuses by another
branch
C.
Rousseau: The Social Contract, Or Principles of Political Right (1762)
1.
Social Contract: Laws created by the citizens, in order to found an ideal society in
which they are free from arbitrary power
V.
Suckle
French and Indian War
A.
Ohio River Valley includes three rivers leading to the Mississippi River.
B.
The French and British have claimed the land and built forts in the region.
C.
The Albany Plan of Union, created by Benjamin Franklin
1.
Unite the colonies together in an effort to defeat the French.
2.
Rejected by the colonies in favor of Sovereignty (power over themselves)
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D.
The 5 Iroquois nations join together with the French and Great Britain sent
troops to assist the colonists.
E.
British and Colonists win
1.
Proclamation of 1763: prohibited expansion west of the Appalachian Mountains in
order to avoid conflict with the Native Americans
2.
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British now give more attention to colonial government and expansion
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Unit 1: Pre-Constitution
VI.
The American Revolution
A.
Economic Causes: Colonists want a say in their economy
1.
Mercantilism: a stronger nation develops by increasing exports, protecting
industries and establishing colonies. Colonies were to supply raw materials and
markets for the mother country
2.
Taxation from Parliament: British government felt the colonists should assist paying
the debt from the French and Indian War.
a)
Sugar Act: tax on foreign goods including molasses
b)
Stamp Act: required a tax stamp on printed materials; contracts, letters, deeds…
c)
Quartering Act: required Colonists to house and supply British soldiers
d)
Tea Act: Colonists could only purchase tea from the East India Trading Company
e)
Writs of Assistance: give British custom officials the right to search ships and
homes.
f)
Townshend Act: Tax on all goods including those coming from England. They
were meant as a punishment for the Boston Tea Party and other uprisings of the
colonists.
g)
Intolerable Acts: British close Boston Harbor, forbid all Town meetings, and
remove local courts.
3.
Colonial reactions to taxation:
a)
No Taxation without Representation: colonists believed they should be given a
representative in Parliament chosen by them.
b)
Boston Tea Party: Revolutionary group “The Sons of Liberty” destroys three
shiploads of tea in the Boston harbor dressed in “disguise’ as Native Americans
Suckle
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B.
Political and Social Causes: Colonies had developed their own political and
economic independence
1.
First Continental Congress: 12 colonies sent representatives to Philadelphia to
discuss how to deal with the British Government
a)
Issued the Declaration of Rights and Grievances: enforcing a boycott of British
Goods but expressed loyalty to the King.
2.
Second Continental Congress: Adopted the colonial army assigning General
Washington to lead them, wrote the Olive Branch Petition asking King George to end
hostilities, King George refused to look at it.
3.
Thomas Paine: Common Sense: Pamphlet convincing the colonists that independence
was necessary, monarchies steal the people’s power, and Great Britain is too far away
to rule effectively.
VII. Declaration of Independence (written by Thomas Jefferson)
A.
Purpose: explain and justify the reasons for declaring independence
B.
Three parts:
1.
A Theory of Government: Thomas Paine
a)
People have Natural Rights of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness
b)
Governments receive the power from the” consent of the governed” to protect
the people’s natural rights.
c)
Right to Revolution: if the government does not protect the people’s rights, it is
the “right of the people to alter or abolish it.”
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2.
A list of grievances against the king
3.
A formal resolution declaring independence from Great Britain.
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Unit 1: Pre-Constitution
VIII. American Revolution
A.
Lexington and Concord: British troops were sent to retrieve the arsenal in
Concord. Massachusetts minutemen met the British in Lexington. The “shot heard round the
world” began the American Revolution with the British retreating back to Boston.
B.
Loyalist and Patriots:
1.
Loyalists/ Tories: Americans who supported the British side in the conflict
2.
Patriots/ Whigs: those who believed that the British had become tyrants
C.
Battle of Saratoga: American victory that leads to French alliance and troops
D.
Treaty of Paris: British signed the treaty recognizing the United States as an
independent nation.
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