Unit 2 Notes Organizer: B. Building a Nation- (Enlightenment-American Revolution)
Vocab Terms
The Enlightenment
Benjamin Franklin
John Locke
Thomas Hobbes
Rousseau
Montesquieu
John Peter Zenger Case
Salutary Neglect
French and Indian War
William Pitt
Pontiac
Proclamation of 1763
King George III
Sugar Act
Stamp Act
Samuel Adams
Sons of Liberty
Boston Massacre
Committees of Correspondence
Boston Tea Party
Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts)
First Continental Congress
Lexington and Concord
Second Continental Congress
Olive Branch Petition
Thomas Paine
Common Sense
Thomas Jefferson
Declaration of Independence
Loyalists
Patriots
Saratoga
Valley Forge
Inflation
Marquis de Lafayette
Charles Cornwallis
Yorktown
Treaty of Paris
Egalitarianism
Republicanism
Republic
Articles of Confederation
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Shays’ Rebellion
James Madison
federalism
checks and balances
Bundle of Compromises
Federalists
Antifederalists
Bill of Rights
Judiciary Act of 1789
Alexander Hamilton
cabinet
two-party system
Democratic Republican
Protective tariff
XYZ Affair
Alien and Sedition Acts
nullification
Notes Organizer: 1. Colonization and Forging a New Nation
Core Content Notes / Key Events/People/Vocab / Content Linksf. Evaluate the influence of Enlightenment ideas on the development of American government as embodied in the Declaration of Independence
The Enlightenment: A change in outlook among scientists and philosophers that focused on reason/logic/science as a source for truth and optimism.
Fundamental figures of the Enlightenment: Isaack Newton’s Natural Law => Natural Rights
Thomas Hobbes:
- the best form of government is monarchy where the main job of the ruler is to maintain order
- Advocated the idea of popular sovereignty- people are the source of a government’s authority
- Government’s only have authority by the consent of the governed;
- Government’s purpose is to protect peoples’ natural rights (life, liberty, property)
- If government doesn’t protect natural rights, then the people can overthrow the government
- 3 branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial
- Separation of powers to avoid power in the hands of one group or person, which would then threaten the peoples’ liberty
- Strong advocate of freedom of speech “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
- Spoke against torture, secret trials, corrupt judges, and the death penalty
- “the punishment should fit the crime!”
- equal rights for women
Ben Franklin:
- scientist, inventor, diplomat
- “The Way to Wealth”- practices and behaviors that lead to betterment
- lawyer, statesman; wrote the Declaration of Independence
- “Notes on the State of Virginia”
- “Common Sense”- Pamphlet blamed King GeorgeIII for the colonies problems, urged Americans to declare independence and create a Republic
Separation of Powers, checks and balances, 3 branches of gov.
John Peter Zenger Trial______>
Declaration of Independence > / Locke’s ideas are found in the Declaration of Independence
Montesquieu’s ideas are the basis of our Constitution
Established the principle of freedom of the press
Ideas of John Locke heavily influenced
g. Identify and evaluate the ideas and events that contributed to the outbreak of the American Revolution, and determine the key turning points of the war
The French and Indian War (1754-1763): French and their Indian allies vs. the British and their Indian allies over control of North America
- First Battles over the Ohio River Valley area
1754-
- the French build Ft. Duquesne despite VA claims to the area
- VA sends militia, including young George Washington to secure their claim- they’re routed by French troops, sent scrambling home in defeat
- Immediate Goal- secure alliance with Iroquois Indians
- Long-term Goal- colonial unity
- Ben Franklin prints his “Join, or die” snake
- Gen. Braddock (Britain), Washington & 1500 soldiers try to take Ft. Duquesne
- Ambushed by French and Indians- defeated
- ***Colonists would learn that guerilla tactics are effective against British troops- this will be important during the American Revolution
- William Pitt takes control of British troops, they start winning battles
- British defeat French at Quebec, bringing victory in the war
Treaty of Paris
- France is basically kicked off the continent
- Britain gains control of all of N. America east of the Mississippi River
- Now has a HUGE empire in North America
- Ottawa leader, Pontiac, leas attacks on British forts
- Crushes all but 3
- Kills over 2000 troops
- Britain eventually puts down the uprising, partially through biological warfare (smallpox infected blankets)
-Proclamation of 1763: banned colonists from settling west of Appalachian Mts, temporarily, to prevent further fighting with the Indians
- Infuriates colonists, who defied the law
- ***Britain misjudged the extent of colonial opposition to their expansion
-Massive debt incurred during the war
- How will Britain pay for this? ***TAXES***
1764-
Sugar Act: Aimed at raising revenue mostly by stopping colonial smuggling
- Colonists cried foul over the raised tax on sugar, which is then cut in half by Parliament
Quartering Act: Law passed by Parliament that required certain colonies to house and feed British soldiers
Stamp Act: tax on documents and printed items such as wills, pamphlets, newspapers, and playing cards
- Colonial Reaction: colonists organized resistance groups (Sons of Liberty), cried “No taxation without representation!”, organized BOYCOTTS of British goods
- Parliament Reaction: repealed the Stamp Act in 1766, but passed the Declaratory Act>”Parliament has full right to pass binding legislation on the colonies”
Townshend Acts: port tax on goods imported from Britain such as lead, glass, paint, paper…and TEA!
- ***Townshend believed taxes on imported goods would not affect most colonists- it was paid at the port, not upon sale.
- Colonists’ reaction: Again “No taxation without representation!”, John Dickinson, in his book Letters From a Pennsylvania Farmer, wrote “Acceptance of any tax would establish precedent for more”; Again, colonists step up non-importation agreements (BOYCOTTS)
- Parliament’s reaction: suspended NY’s legislature for violating the Quartering Act; sent two regiments of troops to Boston in 1768 to maintain order
The Boston Massacre: taunted by ~60 angry colonists, British troops fired on the mob, killing 5 and wounding 6 others.
- Colonists’ reaction: colonists, like Paul Revere (engraving), sensationalized the event to take advantage of heightened tensions
- Parliament’s reaction: Repealed the Townshend Acts…except the tax on TEA.
The Tea ACT…and trouble brewing at a Party: Parliament passes the Tea Act, giving the near bankrupt British East India Company the monopoly on selling tea to the colonies at a lower price, even with the tax…this cuts out colonial tea merchants
- Colonists’ reaction: March 5, 1773- The Boston Tea Party! Sam Adams and 100 Bostonians dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston harbor (over $1million worth)
- Parliaments’ reaction…
The Intolerable (Coercive) Acts: aimed at PUNISHING Boston
Shut down Boston harbor, placed the city under martial law (control of British troops)
A new, more stringent Quartering Act
Placed General Gage as governor of Massachusetts and put restrictions on town meetings
- Colonists’ reaction: committees of correspondence assembled the First Continental Congress- met in Philly in Sept.-October, 1774.
- Sought redress of grievances to avoid revolution
- Drew up a declaration of colonial rights
- Created The Association to organize a complete BOYCOTT of British goods
General Gage ordered British troops to march from Boston to Concord to seize militia weapons and capture their leaders
April 19- “The shot heard ‘round the world!”
- 1st shots fired at Lexington, followed by guerilla attacks on British troops retreating to Boston
- Recognizes militia as the Continental Army
- ***appoints George Washington as commander
- Deadliest battle of the war: 450 Patriot, and over 1000 British casualties…but Britain takes the hill
- Confidence booster for the Patriots
- Pledges colonists’ loyalty to King George III, urges peace…he rejects.
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
- Blamed the King for the problems in the colonies
- Urged colonists to declare independence and create a Republic
- Reprinted during the revolutionary war to promote unity against British tyranny
Dec 26, 1776: Washington’s surprise attack on Trenton, NJ
- Defeated a garrison of Hessians (German soldiers hired by the British)
- This is Washington at his best
Oct. 1777- Saratoga
- Gen. Burgoyne (Britain) is forced to surrender
- ***this victory for the Americans, along with Ben Franklin’s diplomacy in Paris, convinces France to openly ally itself with the Americans. WE DON’T WIN THE REVOLUTION WITHOUT FRENCH HELP!!!
- With thousands sick, freezing, and starving to death, Washington keeps his army together with his leadership
- Baron von Steuben helps train the Continental Army
- Victories at King Mountain and Cowpens, and the whole Carolina campaign exhaust Cornwallis of men and supplies
- Trapped by Washington and LaFayette’s men by land, and a French blockade at sea, Gen. Cornwallis is forced to surrender
- The war is effectively over
- Britain formally recognized the independence of the US
- Set boundaries of the new nation: to the Mississippi in the west, to the Great Lakes in the north, and to Spanish Florida in the south
h. Identify the impetus for the Constitutional Convention (limitations of government under the Articles of Confederation), and analyze the events and outcomes of the Convention (i.e., the “bundle of compromises”)
Drafting our First Government- The Articles of Confederation
- Work on a written constitution started in 1776
- The finished Articles of Confederation were adopted by Congress in 1777
- Not ratified by all 13 states until March 1781- Why not?
- Distrust over control of Western lands (west of the Allegheny’s)
- Maryland was last state to ratify
- Congress pledged to sell land for “common good” – create new states
- Each state gets 1 vote
- Power divided between states & national gov. (States have more power)
- National government’s powers
- Declare war, make peace, sign treaties
- Borrow money, set standards for coins
- Establish postal service
*Land Ordinance of 1785*- plan for surveying and selling land of the “Old Northwest” in order to pay off national debt
- Largest revenue source for the national gov.
- No executive branch to enforce laws
- 9/13 states to pass important laws
- No national court system
- Congress could not enact and collect taxes
- *Congress unable to establish unrestricted free trade, hurting many merchants
Shays’ Rebellion (1786-87)- uprising of farmers, frustrated by tax policies, debtors prisons, and the feeling that Massachusetts gov. favored eastern bankers and elite.
- Led by Daniel Shays, 1200 farmers shut down courts, tried to take the arsenal at Springfield, Mass.
- Mass. Gov. appealed to the national gov. for help, but it was powerless to do anything in the states
- State officials, eastern bankers built an army, put down rebellion
- *Revealed the inability of the weak central gov. to maintain order
- *The revolt persuaded 12 of 13 states to send delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in May, 1787 (Rhode Island held out)
Question: How to strengthen the national government under the Articles of Confederation?
Answer: Scrap the Articles and write an entirely NEW constitution
Key Conflicts
1. Large states vs. Small states- How will representation in Congress be determined?
- Virginia Plan: Bicameral (two-house) legislature, representation based on population
- New Jersey Plan: Unicameral (one-house) legislature, equal representation per state
- *The GREAT Compromise: Bicameral legislature;
- House of Representatives (lower house)- representation based on population
- Senate (upper house)- equal representation, 2 per state
- North: Slaves SHOULD NOT be counted for congressional representation, but SHOULD BE counted for levying taxes
- South: Slaves SHOULD BE counted for representation, but SHOULD NOT be counted for levying taxes
- *The Three-fifths Compromise: each state’s slave counted as 3/5 of a person for representation
- *Federalism- power is divided between national government and state governments
- Regulate interstate commerce
- Coin money
- Establish post office
- Regulate intrastate (within the state) commerce
- Education
- Police power
Shared Powers
- Establish and collect taxes
- Setting up courts
- Enforcing laws
- Building roads
*Separation of Powers- limiting the powers of the Federal government and dividing them into three branches
- Legislative- Writes laws
- Executive- Enforces laws
- Judicial- Settles disputes regarding Federal laws
Federalists / Antifederalists
- Favored the Constitution
- Wanted a strong federal government
- Federalists Papers- series of essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay that urged citizens to support ratification of the Constitution
- Against the Constitution
- Favored strong states and feared the power given to the federal gov. by the Constitution
- Letters From a Federalists Farmer- essay opposing the ratification of the Constitution
- *Antifederalists called for the addition of a Bill of Rights
***With the promise of adding a Bill of Rights, the Constitution was ratified by the needed 9/13 states in June of 1788
i. Interpret the ideas and principles expressed in the U.S. Constitution
Separation of Powers into Three Branches
***“Let Congress legislate. Let others execute. Let others judge.”- John Jay***
Legislative Branch (Article I)- Congress writes laws
- House of Representatives (lower house)- representation based on population of state
- Senate (upper house)- equal representation, 2 per state
- Powers include: taxation, credit, coin money, post office, declare war, impeachment, raise army & regulated armed forces; advise and consent to presidential appointments
- *Elastic Clause- gives Congress power to make all laws “necessary and proper” to execute its powers
***The President is chosen by the Electoral College- The Founding Fathers distrusted direct democracy and feared the uneducated masses.
- Powers: Commander-in-chief of the armed forces; makes treaties (with advise and consent of congress); nominate to cabinet and court vacancies (w/ advise and consent of Congress); pass or veto bills
Powers: Try cases regarding law of the Federal gov. including cases regarding treaties, involving ambassadors, and controversies between two or more states
Checks and Balances- safeguards to ensure that no one branch of government has too much power.
Enumerated/Delgated Powers: powers specifically given to the federal government in the Constitution
Reserved Powers: powers not given to the federal government are reserved for the states
Implied Powers: powers not denied to the federal government
ex. The “Elastic Clause”
Interpreting the Constitution
Strict Interpretation- “What the Constitution does not specifically allow, it forbids”
ex. No power given to federal gov. to run public education- so that power is reserved for the states
Loose interpretation- “What the Constitution does not specifically forbid, it allows.”- uses the “Elastic Clause” as justification for “implied” powers.
ex. The Constitution does not specifically forbid Congress from creating a bank, so it created the Bank of the United States during the Washington administration
j. Explain the development of the Bill of Rights, and assess various debates of the day
The Bill of Rights- The first ten Amendments to the Constitution.
- A promise made to get states to ratify the Constitution
- ***Calmed the fears of people who believed the federal government had been given too much power***
Judiciary Act of 1789- provided for a Supreme Court, federal district and circuit courts
- Allowed for a system of appeals from state and lower courts
- ***Guaranteed federal law would remain the supreme law of the land
Secretary of State: Thomas Jefferson
Secretary of Treasury: Alexander Hamilton
Secretary of War: Henry Knox
Hamilton’s Economic Plan- His plan to get the young nation on sound economic ground. Using our debt as an asset.
- Funding at Par: Agreeing to pay in full, the nation’s debts with interest- the more creditors we owe, the greater the incentive to see the US succeed
- Assumption:taking on the debt of the states that they accrued during the war- drawing them closer to the national gov.
- ***Establishing a national bank to print money, handle nation’s finances- Hamilton believed in the concept of implied powers
- Tariff: a small tax on imported goods to raise revenue and protect US manufacturers
- Excise Tax: A small tax on a few domestic items, notably whiskey