Summary and Activities for Period 3: 1754-1800

Summary and Activities for Period 3: 1754-1800

Period Summary

At the conclusion of the Seven Years War (1756-1763), Great Britain dominated North America. In the Treaty of Paris (1763), France surrendered all its holdings and the Spanish were forced to the western side of the Mississippi River. In addition, the American colonists seemed content in the British imperial system. Mercantilism rested lightly on them as they enjoyed a strong measure of home rule. George III and Parliament controlled external matters, but the colonial assemblies made many local decisions.

STATUTORY NEGLECT ENDS

All that changed in 1763; the war had doubled Britain’s national debt. It had started in America, and British leaders believed the colonies should pay the cost of their defense. Further, the Ottawa chief Pontiac went on a rampage and killed two thousand settlers. An inexpensive new Indian policy emerged with theProclamation of 1763, which forbade colonial settlement on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. The Americans ignored the restriction, however, because they believed it violated their rights to travel and property. This was the first overt breach between the colonies and their mother country.

The American mindset changed even more as Parliament modifiedsalutary neglectafter 1763. For many years, English writers such as John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon warned that the Crown and Parliament were becoming too powerful and were encroaching on the liberty of the people. These ideas were an extension of the writings ofJohn Locke, who had warned of the dangers of an unrestrained government in the seventeenth century. The colonists increasingly accepted the Whig view of politics that placed Parliament in a conspiracy of oppression and tyranny. As Parliament took a more active role in colonial affairs, the colonists grew to believe their rights as Englishmen were under attack and must be defended.

Significant trouble began in 1764 over money and taxes. Parliament passed theSugar Act, which regulated trade and raised revenue. The next year, a bombshell exploded—theStamp Act. This law placed a tax on over fifty items, and the colonists reacted strongly. Some colonial leaders, such as John Dickinson, acknowledged Parliament’s authority to regulate trade but challenged its right to tax only for revenue purposes.Samuel Adams, a more radical leader, denied that Parliament had any rights over the colonies at all.

COLONIAL RESISTANCE

In response to the Stamp Act, the colonists organized. Nine of the colonies sent representatives to aStamp Act Congress, which petitioned the king and organized a boycott of British goods to pressure Parliament to repeal the tax. TheSons of Libertyformed to intimidate British officials, enforce boycotts, and destroy the property of people who supported the crown. Parliament repealed the act in 1766, after British merchants felt the financial hardship the boycott inflicted. The Stamp Act was a significant step towards separation. Revolutionary rhetoric emerged (“no taxation without representation,” etc.), and radicals such as Sons of Liberty were emboldened. Moreover, the face-saving Declaratory Act (1766) could not cover up that Parliament’s will had been tested and faltered.

The British quest to raise money in the colonies without provoking colonial resistance continued but failed. TheTownshend Acts(1767) taxed various imported items such as paper, paint, and tea. When the colonists protested and boycotted, Parliament repealed the taxes on all items except tea in 1770. However, the lawlessness and unrest these laws provoked prompted Britain to move troops into some colonial cities after 1768. This resulted in a confrontation and the death of five colonials at theBoston Massacrein March 1770.

In 1773, the final crisis arrived with theBoston Tea Party. Hoping to provoke the crown, the Sons of Liberty destroyed 342 chests of tea at the Boston Harbor. Parliament played into the radicals’ hands by retaliating with theCoercive Actsin 1774. This series of laws punished the entire colony of Massachusetts and unified the other colonies in defense of New England. During the next two years, the First and Second Continental Congresses met in Philadelphia, where they petitioned the king, called for boycotts of British goods, organized an army, and finally issued theDeclaration of Independence.

THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE

The British hoped to crush the rebellion with their 32,000-man army and the world’s strongest navy. They also counted on colonialLoyaliststo help subdue the rebels. Making up 20 percent of the colonial population, this group had enormous military potential. The British plan was to divide the colonies along the Hudson River Valley and cut off troublesome New England. This strategy resulted in spectacular failure at theBattle of Saratogain October 1777, where 6,000 British troops were trapped and surrendered to American forces.

Colonial military success hinged on two factors. First wasGeorge Washington’s ability to maintain his army until Great Britain grew weary and agreed to independence. In addition, the Americans needed foreign help. This was achieved after Saratoga when France signed a treaty with the colonies in 1778. This alliance doomed Britain’s hope of keeping possession of the colonies.

By 1781, the British had not crushed Washington’s army despite inflicting major defeats on him at New York City in 1776 and around Philadelphia in 1777. The British underestimated the colonials and were stretched too thin around the world after 1778. The English people became restless, and when another British army surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, independence seemed assured.

RESULTS OF THE REVOLUTION

The Treaty of Paris settled the American Revolution and marked another truce in the long struggle between England and France. The Americans achieved their goals: total independence, the right to settle most of the land west of the Appalachian Mountains and east of the Mississippi, and fishing rights off Newfoundland. All this was accomplished despite French and Spanish scheming to keep America pinned east of the Appalachian Mountains. American diplomats led byJohn Jaysucceeded in playing England and France off each other and gaining this diplomatic triumph.

While the Revolution marked a major political upheaval—the transition from monarchy to confederation—it had a muted social impact. African Americans played a small role in the conflict, with about 5,000 serving the colonial cause in return for their freedom. Despite Lord Dunmore’s similar attempt to recruit slaves for the British, only about 2,000 answered the call. Most significantly, the Revolution did not end slavery. Although all states north of the Mason-Dixon line began gradual emancipation between 1777 and 1804, the South made no wholesale changes. By the 1790s, revolutionary idealism was spent, and southern slavery seemed permanent.

Women also experienced little change in their lives after the Revolution. From 1763 to 1783, they supported boycotts, made homespun clothing, and nursed the troops. In 1783, however, they could not vote or hold office, nor did they have their sphere of activity expanded beyond the home. Overall, women and African Americans found little new in their day-to-day lives as a result of independence.

As they snapped their political bonds with England, the colonials constructed a new government to replace the monarchy. The product of this effort, the Articles of Confederation, was written in 1777 and ratified in 1781, after long wrangling over western land claims.

The new government was “a firm league of friendship“ that maintained individual state equality and sovereignty. Each state had one vote in Congress regardless of its size or population. In theory, the unicameral legislature could conduct foreign affairs, settle disputes between the states, and regulate commerce. Yet, in reality, the central government had very little authority, with true power remaining at the state level. There was no executive officer, and the government possessed neither the power of the purse nor of the sword. Its armed forces were minimal, and the government did not have direct taxing power. In addition, the Articles were inflexible. They required all thirteen states to approve major governmental change. Overall, the government created by the Articles lacked the powers necessary to protect the domestic tranquility or to conduct foreign relations.

PROBLEMS WITH THE ARTICLES

The inadequacies of the Articles became apparent shortly after the Revolution ended. A severe depression hit America and the per capita GNP declined over 50 percent in the 1780s. The country was awash in paper money, with all the states and the central government issuing currency to pay their debts. This lack of a stable monetary system retarded interstate commerce. Moreover, the central government was unable to negotiate agreements on international trade policy. Europe took advantage of America’s divisions to close its markets and flood the United States with European goods.

In foreign relations, Britain refused to evacuate forts around the Great Lakes, Spain closed the Mississippi River, and the Barbary Pirates made the Mediterranean Sea a war zone for American shipping. All this added to America’s economic woes and degraded its image abroad.

Most alarming to many, the government seemed unable to maintain order and protect the property of its citizens at home. A series of domestic disturbances in the mid-1780s culminated withShays’s Rebellionin 1786–1787. When the central government was unable to put down Shays and his rebels, many leaders became convinced the Articles must be radically changed.

SUCCESSES OF THE ARTICLES

The Confederation government was not a complete failure, however. The Congress created a systematic land policy for the national domain west of the Appalachian Mountains. With the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, a process to organize and admit new territories to full statehood was established and the nation’s future growth assured. In addition, theNorthwest Ordinanceprovided steps to limit the spread of slavery. Finally, the Articles outlined on paper the general powers a central government should possess.

CHANGING THE ARTICLES

By the mid-1780s, national-minded leaders such asJames MadisonandAlexander Hamiltonbecame convinced the Articles of Confederation must be replaced with a stronger central government. Starting at the Annapolis Convention in 1786, the nationalists began a campaign to revise the Articles of Confederation. With Shays’s Rebellion reverberating through the land, all the states except Rhode Island agreed to meet, and in May 1787, fifty-five delegates convened in Philadelphia to revise the Articles.

The delegates were national-minded as they quickly discarded the Articles and established a stronger central government. Both theVirginia Plan, favored by the large states, and theNew Jersey Plan, favored by the small states, greatly enhanced the powers of Congress. The disagreement between the two proposals was not whether Congress should have more powers but whether the big states or the small states would control its agenda. These lawyers, landholders, and slave owners wanted a government that could preserve the union, protect property, provide sound money, and promote liberty. They opposed universal suffrage and believed that owning property as a requirement for voting was a bulwark against anarchy.

The areas of greatest debate were over congressional representation, slavery, and the presidency. All were resolved by compromise. Congress would have two houses—one favoring large states and one favoring small states; slavery would not be touched; the slave trade would continue for twenty years; and the president would serve a four-year term and be eligible for reelection.

PUTTING THE CONSTITUTION IN PLACE

Ratification of the Constitution divided the nation into factions. TheFederalists, who supported the document, lived mainly around mercantile centers and owned substantial property. TheAnti-Federalists, who opposed the Constitution, feared the powers of the new government and were less commercial-minded. While the Constitution was approved, the Anti-Federalists did manage to get a Bill of Rights added to protect the people’s liberty.

First president George Washington confronted an immediate financial crisis. The combined national debt was $75 million, and the people had a long aversion to taxation. Washington tapped Alexander Hamilton to address the nation’s financial problems. In a series of controversial moves, Hamilton proposed a tariff, excise taxes, and a National Bank.

Thomas Jeffersonorganized opposition to Hamilton’s plan. Specifically, he objected to the National Bank. As astrict constructionist, Jefferson believed the new Constitution did not give Congress the powers to establish a bank. Hamilton, aloose constructionist, argued the Constitution’s “necessary and proper” clause provided the authority for the bank’s creation.

This dispute, along with disagreements over levying the excise taxes, crushing theWhiskey Rebellion, and funding the national debt, gave rise to the nation’s political party system. Jefferson’sDemocratic Republican Partysupported limiting the powers of the central government. Hamilton’sFederalist Partybelieved the government must have significant taxing and governmental authority.

FOREIGN PROBLEMS

A war between France and Britain in the 1790s further divided the nation. Jefferson argued that the United States should support France; however, Hamilton believed America needed Britain’s commercial support. Washington decided to remain neutral, and both nations retaliated by seizing American ships. He further angered the French and the Democratic Republicans by sending John Jay to England in 1794 to resolve problems over British forts in the Great Lakes region and shipping difficulties. The French, outraged overJay’s Treaty, stepped up their interference with U.S shipping. Before leaving office, Washington issued aFarewell Address, in which he advised the nation to maintain its commercial ties to Europe, to avoid entangling military alliances, and to reject divisive political parties at home.

John Adams inherited Washington’s foreign problems. As the undeclared naval war with France intensified, Adams attempted a diplomatic solution. The French, however, humiliated the American delegation in the XYZ Affair, and the two nations went to the brink of war. Adams dampened the war fever with a preparedness campaign, another diplomatic mission, and a series of repressive domestic measures highlighted by theAlien and Sedition Acts. While Adams avoided war and abrogated the American-French alliance of 1778, his actions cost him reelection in 1800.

Discussion Questions

1. What single action between 1763 and 1776 was most damaging to British-colonial relations? Defend your choice.
2. How did the struggle over the Ohio River Valley lead to war between France and England in 1754-1755?
3. How did the British victory in the Seven Years War help bring on the American Revolution?
4. What single action between 1763 and 1776 was most damaging to British-colonial relations? Defend your choice.
5. Which three individuals were most responsible for the rupture between Britain and the colonies? Defend your answer.
6. Why did Britain believe the military phase of the revolt would be brief?
7. How could one argue that the Americans did not win their independence but rather that the British lost the colonies?
8. Why did France help the colonies? How did this motivation cause friction in 1783 between France and the fledgling United States?
9. What conflicting interests appeared among the nations in settling the Revolution in 1783?
10. In what ways was the Revolution revolutionary? In what ways was it not?

11.How did the Articles of Confederation reflect America’s political experiences of the previous twenty years?

1. Who were the supporters of the Articles of Confederation throughout the 1780s? Why did they support them?
2. What groups opposed the Articles? Why?
3. Was the Constitution a betrayal of the American Revolution? Why or why not?
4. What factors were most important in creating political factions (parties) in the 1790s?
5. How did the Federalists look to the future economically but to the past politically?
6. How did Hamilton’s financial plan have both an economic and a political agenda?
7. As the 1790s unfolded, how did George Washington show himself to be a Federalist?
8. In what ways did John Adams help ensure a Republican victory in 1800?

Cause and Effect

Apply the skill of cause and effect. What was the most damaging and why?

1. Salutatory Neglect

Effects:

1. Seven Years War

Effects:

1. Sugar Act

Effects:

1. Stamp Act

Effects:

1. Stamp Act Congress

Effects:.

1. Townshend Acts

Effects: