Review Causes of the American Revolution American ... · • Review Causes of the American Revolution • American Revolution • U.S. Constitution . 1 . ... this blueprint for a

Today’s Topics

• Review Causes of the American Revolution • American Revolution • U.S. Constitution

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Problems

• Debt • Smuggling

– Writs of Assistance

• Colonial legislatures • Taxation

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The Revoluton • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MURmsXvcuY8

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Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826

• Virginia gentry • Man of contradictions • Influence by John Locke

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• Thomas Paine’s Common Sense – anti-British propaganda –Calls for independence – Links independence with a sense of

religious mission – Convinces delegates to the 2nd

Continental Congress to push for independence

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July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence • Who is accused of violating the rights of the

colonies? • Who is not mentioned in the Declaration of

Independence? What are the grievances?

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• Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776 – May 1776; New England and Rhode Island declared

independence – Continental Congress approves Declaration – Address King George III; does not mention Parliament – Influenced by Enlightenment thinker

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Map 3.2 European settlement and ethnic diversity on the Atlantic coast of North America, 1760

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Issue of Slavery 1770s Colonies: Slaves in Mass. petitioned their local

assembly Lord Dunmore, governor of Virginia, promised slaves

freedom to those who enlisted in the British forces.

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George Washington after 1775

• G.W. is against blacks enlisting & changes position

• 5000 blacks enlist as patriots

• Rhode Island Regiment all-black unit

• South, except SC &GA

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British surrender at

Yorktown (Virginia) in October 1781.

Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved. 13

• End of War – Cornwallis’ surrender forces British to

negotiate peace – Treaty of Paris 1783 ends the war:

• British promise to remove troops from colonies

• U.S. boundary Mississippi River East & West Florida go to Spain

• U.S. promises to compensate loyalists for property losses (states refused)

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Give Me Liberty!: An American history, 3rd Edition Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company Map 5.3 The North America, 1783

Loyalist migration to Canada

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– State Constitutions • Property requirements for voting (50 acres) • Many state constitutions include a bill of rights,

protection of certain rights

– Articles of Confederation 1781 (1st Constitution) • Each state is independent • 1 branch of government legislative • No executive branch, no judicial branch • Weaknesses

– Weak central government – Congress can not tax without the approval of the states

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1779 South Carolina Continental currency Every state issued paper money to finance its part in the Revolution. Because this currency had little solid backing, it lost value almost immediately. By the time these South Carolina notes were printed, their real value was only 10 percent of their face value. One outcome of such drastic drops in the value of money was that even inelegant dressers like patriot Samuel Adams had to pay $2,000 for a new hat and suit. (Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society)

1779 South Carolina Continental currency

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19

Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation were debated for almost as many years as they were in effect. Proposed in 1775, they were not ratified until 1781. Eight years later, the Constitution replaced them. Eighteenth-century citizens hotly debated the virtues and shortcomings of the Articles, and historians have continued to disagree over the merits of this blueprint for a first American government. (The National Archives of the United States published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Photograph by Jonathan Wallen.)

Articles of Confederation

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 20

– Shays‘ Rebellion 1786-

1787 • Depression 1786 MA

legislature passes a huge tax hike

• Many farmers begin to lose their homes to foreclosures

• Daniel Shays, veteran, leads 2000 farmers in a rebellion

• Need for a stronger national government

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The Constitutional Convention This painting of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 by an unknown artist shows George Washington presiding. Because the convention met in secrecy, the artist used his imagination to paint the scene.

Independence National Historical Park 22

– Philadelphia Convention Summer of 1787 • 2 groups: Nationalists versus localists • Constitution is finished on September 17, 1787, written mostly by James

Madison • Electoral College: a group of people chosen by states

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Struggle over Ratification

Federalist, support the Constitution Anti-Federalist

• U.S. Constitution 1787 • Argentina Constitution 1853, 1860, 1866, 1898, 1949, 1957 • Australia 1900 • Brazil, seven constitutions, 1988 • Canada 1982 • China, 1954, 1975, 1978, 1982 • France 1791, 1958 • Germany 1949 • Japan ,1947 • Mexico 1824, 1835, 1917 • Spain 1978

“We the People”

• National Identity – Indians – “Other persons,” – “People,” who were the only ones entitled to

American freedom

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• Slavery in the Constitution • Slave states had more power due to the three-fifths

clause.

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• Blacks and the Republic – The status of citizenship for free blacks was left to

individual states. – The Naturalization Act of 1790 limited naturalization

(the process by which immigrants become citizens) to “free white persons.”

• Jefferson, Slavery, and Race – Many white Americans did not consider blacks to be

rational beings. – Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia claimed blacks

lacked self-control, reason, and devotion to the larger community.

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