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Creating A Nation
Unit Two
I. Causes of the American
Revolution

For 150 years, the English citizens in the 13
colonies “had it made”
Being 3,000 miles away, they enjoyed a
lot of self-governing freedom
They paid very little tax to England
England offered protection from other
nations

Two events played a key role in laying
the foundation for the Am. Revolution.
(They did not cause the Revolution but did
move the people in that direction):
1) The Enlightenment: a time that featured
new ideas in philosophy and political thought
using science and reason
 John Locke believed that people were
born with certain “natural rights” that no
gov’t could take away (“life, liberty, and
property”)
 Locke believed that if the gov’t failed to
protect these rights it was the duty of
the citizens to overthrow the gov’t
 His views were used later to justify the
Am. Revolution
2) The Great Awakening: a religious
movement beginning in the 1740s
 Ministers like Jonathan Edwards and
George Whitfield taught that people
could/should have a personal relationship
with God rather than obeying religious
traditions/rules
 Many colonists began believing that if
they could decide how to worship God,
they could also decide how to govern
themselves

Both the Enlightenment and the Great
Awakening influenced the Am.
Revolution.
The Enlightenment led to new ideas about
the role of gov’t
The Great Awakening inspired the common
people
So, what changed? What turned this peaceful
relationship upside down? What caused the
American Revolution?
1) French and Indian War (1754-1763)
 British and Colonists vs. French and
Indians
 The final struggle for control of eastern
North Am.
 British won the war with the capture of
Quebec
 Problem: the war doubled Eng.’s debt
and Parliament wanted the colonies to
pay new taxes to help the empire
2) Proclamation of 1763
 Eng. prohibited the colonists from
settling the lands west of the
Appalachian Mts.
 This angered many of the colonists.
3) New Taxes Imposed by the British
Sugar Act (1764): a tax on imported
sugar and other goods from Eng.
Stamp Act (1765): taxed all legal
documents in the colonies – colonists
formed the Sons of Liberty and the
Daughters of Liberty to organize protest
– act eventually repealed
Townshend Acts (1767): taxed a
number of imported items, including tea
– colonists boycotted (refused to buy)
those goods and others – repealed after
five colonists were killed in the Boston
Massacre in 1770
However, Parliament did not repeal the tax on
tea – resulted in the Boston Tea Party in
1773
 Intolerable Acts (1774): passed in response
to the Tea Party to punish the colonists – closed
the Boston Harbor and placed a military
governor over Mass.

II. The American Revolution

1774: In response to the Intolerable Acts,
representatives from every colony except
Georgia gathered for the First Continental
Congress
1. Wrote to the King stating the colonies
had a right to be represented in their
gov’t
2. Also, called for the people to arm
themselves and form militias (civilian
armies)


Eng. responded by sending even more troops
(esp. to Boston)
April 1775: 700 British troops marched
toward Concord, MA (20 miles from Boston)
to seize a stockpile of weapons
In Lexington (5 miles from Concord),
they met 60 protesting and armed
colonists and ordered them to give up
their guns (many refused)
No one knows who fired the first shot (“the
shot heard around the world”) – 8 Americans
died and 9 others injured
 The British moved on to Concord to seize the
weapons, but they had been moved
 As the British were returning back to Boston,
4,000 Patriots had gathered along the road
and ambushed the British troops
 This event is known as the Battles of
Lexington and Concord
 The Revolution had begun!


Delegates met again less than a month later
for the Second Continental Congress to
discuss what to do next
Some called for a war for independence
– Patriots
Others wanted to compromise with the
British to prevent war – Loyalists


The Congress decided to do 2 things…
1) Create a Continental Army – led by
George Washington
2) Offer an “Olive Branch” Petition to
King George III to convince him to
compromise
King George refused to compromise!


Jan. 1776: Thomas Paine: published
Common Sense in an effort to convince
people to support independence
Declaration of Independence (July 4,
1776) – drafted by Thomas Jefferson
Listed all the wrongs committed by Eng.
and King George III
Remember, this was an act of treason
against the “Crown”
Jefferson was influenced by John Locke in
stating that all men are created equal and
have certain “inalienable rights” (natural
rights that gov’t can’t take away)
 “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”
were among those rights
 Over time, this document served as a model
for other nations seeking independence

King George III and Eng. did not expect a
long war
British troops were better trained and
better equipped
 However, the colonists had some advantages
the British did not have
The war would be fought on their turf
They were fighting for their
independence, which made them fight
with determination



The British made several military mistakes
during the course of the war because they
underestimated the Patriots
1777: The colonists won a major victory at
Saratoga, NY
This victory convinced the French to ally
themselves with the colonists

After years fighting, victories and defeats for
the colonists, the war came to an end at
Yorktown, VA
British General Lord Cornwallis had
retreated to the coastline to wait for
British supply ships
Yorktown is on a peninsula
French ships blocked off the British
supply ships
Washington moved in on Yorktown and
trapped the British Army
Cornwallis was forced to surrender and
the war basically came to an end

Treaty of Paris (1783): officially ended the
American Revolution
The US became an independent nation
The border between the US and Canada
was outlined
III. Establishing a Government

Articles of Confederation (adopted in
1781): the first federal (national)
constitution
Failed because it did not give enough
power to the federal government

Weaknesses of the Articles…
1) No President or national leader
2) Congress had no power to tax
3) Congress had no power to control trade
among the states
4) No national army
5) No uniform currency
6) Congress had little power to pass laws
7) No national court system
8) No national law enforcement officials

Shays’ Rebellion (1786): Daniel Shays led a
number of farmers in rebellion against taxes
imposed by the state of Mass.
Mass. was forced to deal with the situation
on their own because the national gov’t
had no power to do anything
Rebellion was crushed but showed the
weaknesses of the Articles

Constitutional Convention (1787):
delegates met in Philadelphia to revise the
Articles
George Washington chosen as President of
the Convention
Delegates decided to throw out the Articles
altogether and write a new set of laws
The result was the United States
Constitution
James Madison referred to as the “Father
of the Constitution” because of the role he
played in writing the final document

How the national government should be
reorganized caused a lot of debate
 This led to a number of compromises
between the states…”Bundle of
Compromises”
1)
The Great Compromise: solved the
issue of representation in Congress
 Large states wanted the number of
representatives to be only based on
population (Virginia Plan)
 Small states wanted an equal
number of representatives (New
Jersey Plan)
Delegates compromised by creating two
houses (bicameral legislature): one house
based on population, one house would have
equal representation
2)
The Three-Fifths Compromise: solved
the issue of counting slaves or not for
representation purposes
 Northerners argued that slaves should
not be counted as part of the pop.
since they were not voting citizens
Southerners had far more slaves and
wanted to count them (would equal more
representatives)
Delegates agreed that all whites plus
three-fifths of the slave pop. would be
counted for rep.

Federalists: those who favored a strong
federal gov’t and the Constitution
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison,
John Jay
 Anti-Federalists: those who opposed
ratifying (approving) the Constitution
Thomas Jefferson

Federalists Papers: a series of essays
written to rally support for the passage of
the Constitution
signed by “Publius”…Hamilton,
Madison, Jay
 A number of states refused to ratify the
Constitution until a Bill of Rights was
added to the document
 Enough delegates agreed to ratify the
document in exchange for a guarantee
that the Bill of Rights would be added
later on

When Congress met in 1789, one of its first
orders of business was to pass the Bill of
Rights
The first 10 Amendments (additions) to
the Constitution – heavily influenced by
the Declaration of Independence

Principles of the Constitution
1) Popular Sovereignty: People are the main
source of the govt’s authority (“the people
rule”)
2) Limited Government: The gov’t has only
the powers that the Constitution gives it
3) Federalism: The federal gov’t and the state
gov’ts share power
4) Separation of Powers: Power is divided
among three branches…legislative,
executive, judicial
5)
6)
7)
Checks and Balances: Each branch has the
power to limit the actions of the other two
Representative Government: Citizens elect
representatives to gov’t to make laws
Individual Rights: The Constitution protects
citizens’ individual rights, such as freedom of
speech and religion
IV. The New Republic

President Washington appointed Alexander
Hamilton as the Secretary of the Treasury
 Hamilton came up with an economic plan
to deal with the nation’s debt (many
opposed it, including Thomas Jefferson)
1) A tax on whiskey
2) Taxes on imports (tariffs)
3) A national bank


Southerners opposed the plan because they
believed other countries would tax our
goods if we taxed theirs (would hurt the
South’s economy)
The whiskey tax was very unpopular among
farmers who grew the wheat that was sold
to make whiskey

Whiskey Rebellion (1794): PA
farmers refused to pay the tax and
resorted to violence
Washington sent military forces to put
down the revolt
This showed the strength of the new
Constitution

When Washington gave his farewell address
before leaving office, he emphasized 3 key
points:
1) The US should stay neutral and avoid
alliances with other nations (would pull us
into war)
2)
3)
Good gov’t is based on religion and
morality
Warned that political parties were
dangerous (people would work for their own
interests rather than for the public good)

Despite Washington’s warnings, opposing
political parties did form – First two parties
in the US:
1)
Federalist Party: (Hamilton)
a. believed in a strong national gov’t
b. power should be in the hands of
the educated upper-class
c. supported business over agriculture
2. Democratic-Republican Party:
(Jefferson)
a. favored stronger state gov’ts and
a weaker national gov’t,
b. supported farmers over business

Marbury v. Madison (1803): established
the power of judicial review – gives the US
Supreme Court the power to declare a law
unconstitutional

1)
Territorial Expansion (late 1700s-early
1800s)
Mississippi Territory
 Included southern lands west of GA all
the way to the Miss. River
 Both the US and Spain claimed ownership
 Spain gave up its claim in 1798
 A large portion of this territory became
the states of AL and Miss.
2)
The Northwest Ordinance
 1794: US defeated a group of Native
Am.’s at the Battle of Fallen Timbers
 Treaty of Greenville: allowed the
US to claim most of the Indian land in
the Northwest Territory
The Northwest Ordinance divided the
Northwest Territory into smaller
territories
Also provided guidelines under which
new states could be admitted to the
Union (based on population)
Eventually resulted in the formation of 5
states: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan,
Wisconsin
3)
The Louisiana Purchase (1803)
 President Thomas Jefferson sent
James Monroe to Paris to buy the city
of New Orleans
 He could pay up to $10 million for the
city
 Napoleon offered to sell all of the
French land (known as Louisiana) to
the US
 Monroe offered $15 million for it all
and Napoleon took it
Doubled the size of the US
 Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to explore
the land and look for a water route to the
Pacific (1804-1806)
 Zebulon Pike explored the Rocky Mts. and
southward into Spanish held territories
(1806-1807)


The War of 1812: US vs. England
 Caused
by England’s interference with US trade
ships and encouragement of Native Am’s to
resist settlement of the West
 August 1814: British invaded and burned
Washington DC (including the White House)
 Francis Scott Key wrote the Star-Spangled
Banner after a victory at Fort McHenry



Andrew Jackson became an American hero
following the Battle of New Orleans
The war ended with the Treaty of Ghent in
which all old boundaries were restored
Four results of the war:
1) Showed the world the young US could
defend itself
2) Led to a rise in nationalism (pride in one’s
nation) in the US
3) US manufacturing increased
4) The Federalists Party disappeared (had
opposed and protested the war)


1819: The Adams-Onis Treaty allowed
the US to acquire Florida from Spain
1823: President James Monroe issued the
Monroe Doctrine
 This
was a warning to European nations
 Declared the Americas “off-limits” to
European colonization
 This was a bold statement for such a young
nation and an example of the growing spirit
of nationalism

1828: War hero Andrew Jackson became
President of the US
 The
“Age of Jackson” was characterized by
conflict with Native Americans

Indian Removal Act (1830)
 Called
for the relocation of the “Five Civilized
Tribes” (Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw,
Chickasaw, Seminole) from the SE to Indian
Territory (present-day Oklahoma)
Many Natives were forced to march hundreds of
miles - conditions were terrible (starvation, disease)
So many Cherokee died that their journey became
known as the Trail of Tears
Some Seminole in FL decided to stay and fight and
were never completely defeated (some of their
descendants still live in FL today)