1. Section 1: Colonial Resistance and Rebellion

3.  Four wars with France in 100 years=MASSIVE DEBT.  What to do about this debt? How do countries raise money?  Taxes  Who should they tax?  The Colonists

4.  Lowered taxes on imported sugar  Put new taxes on goods that hadn’t been taxed before  Smugglers are no longer tried by peers, but those strictly loyal to the crown

5.  Tax on documents and printed items  Paper would be stamped when tax was paid  First direct tax that effects ALL colonists  Before tax starts Sons of Liberty boycott British goods “No taxation without representation”

6. Declaratory ActTownshend Acts  Parliament had the right to bind the colonists and people of America in all cases whatsoever.  New tax on lead, glass, paint, paper and TEA!  Most popular drink in the colonies.

7.  March 5, 1770  Mob gathers and starts name calling soldiers and throwing things at them  Soldiers fire without orders and 5 colonists die as a result.  Paul Revere and other Patriots call it a “massacre” and propagandize the event

9.  Tea Act to save the British East India Company  They can sell their tea directly from India to colonists without paying taxes  Where does this leave colonial merchants?  Sons of Liberty gather to come up with a solution  At first colonists refuse to unload the tea, but as the deadline approaches (20 days) they must come up with a more dramatic solution.

10.  Meet at Old South Meeting House to discuss solution  “This meeting can do nothing further to save the country” – Adams  Signal for Sons of Liberty dressed as Indians to kindly dump 18,000 lbs of tea into Boston harbor.

11.  Shut down Boston Harbor  House soldiers in vacant colonial homes  Boston under Martial Law  Colonists react with First Continental Congress to declare colonial rights and threaten British with retaliation if they used force against the colonists.

12.  British general orders soldiers to march from Boston to Concord to seize weapons  Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride and the true story  The real story of Paul Revere The real story of Paul Revere

15.  700 British troops marching from Boston to Concord meet 70 minutemen at Lexington (5 miles from Concord)  Minutemen were told to lay down their weapons and leave, they left with their weapons and someone fired first so British shot the retreating men.  8 minutemen killed, ten injured  1 British soldier killed  Lasted 15 minutes and the British continue to march to Concord.  Had a skirmish with the minutemen  Found an empty arsenal and started marching back to Boston which becomes a slaughter  Minutemen surround Boston

19.  Second Continental Congress called to decide what to do next.  Independence or Reconciliation?  Either way they need and army so militia now becomes Continental Army and George Washington is appointed the commander  Always dress for the job you want

20.  Didn’t take place on Bunker Hill (Breed’s Hill)  British march on chilling minutemen because they are sick of waiting for action  2400 British march on colonial troops who hold fire until the last second and now down the British troops.  Because colonists retreat and British take the hill it is a British victory, but they lose 1000 vs 450 colonial loses.

22.  After Bunker Hill the Second Continental Congress was still hoping for peace.  Felt loyal to King George and angry at Gage’s men who started the fight  Sent Olive Branch petition asking the king for peace  King refuses and tells Parliament that the colonists are in rebellion=war

24.  Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia (kinda capital)  Declare Independence from England using British philosopher’s ideas (John Locke) printed in Thomas Paine’s Common Sense  Thomas Jefferson drafts it, changes are made and then the document is approved and signed July 4, 1776  Independence Video Independence Video

25. The War for Independence

26. LoyalistsPatriots  Opposed Independence  Loyal to British King  Joined because of pay, or fear of losing, or belief that Britain was stronger and could better protect their rights than the Colonial Government could  Support Independence  King George is a tyrant  Joined because they could make more money and have more opportunities in business if America was no longer tied to Britain

27.  British act quickly and take New York with a force of about 32,000 soldiers which included German mercenaries (soldiers who fight for any government that pays them)  Continental Army is driven across the Delaware river into Pennsylvania  On Christmas Eve Continental Army surrounds the drunk Germans for an easy victory in NJ (because of ending contracts)  British retaliate by capturing Philadelphia (they should win and war should be over)

28.  British General Burgoyne was supposed to come from Canada to Albany and meet up with other troops so the could isolate the rebellion in New England (Boston to New York), other troops were in Philadelphia waiting for surrender and couldn’t meet Burgoyne so he had to surrender Colonial troops at Saratoga  This win convinces the French to openly join the colonists so they can watch the British humiliation

29.  Where Washington’s troops spend the winter running low on supplies  Harsh condition cause 2000 soldiers to lose their lives

32.  Ran out of gold and silver to pay the troops so they start printing paper money called Continentals  Supply and demand causes inflation, rare things are valuable and common things are not  Continental has less value so you need more of them to buy stuff

33.  French General who helped whip the Continental Army into an effective fighting force

34.  Capturing the “capital” didn’t work  Isolating the rebellion didn’t work  New plan is to start in the South where the colonists are indifferent to the war and conquer one colony at a time as the British move north  Captures South Carolina moves north to capture North Carolina and then Virginia  Has the strategy to camp on a peninsula, fortify it, receive aid by sea. Ends up surrounded and has to surrender instead.

35.  Official end of the Revolutionary War after the surrender of Cornwallis  Peace talks in Paris in 1782-83  Confirmed independence and set boundaries of the new nation (Atlantic to Mississippi, Canada to Florida)

36.  Since the Americans won they became a symbol of egalitarianism (everyone’s equal)  Other nations all over the world begin rebelling against monarchies and oppressing governments too because they saw that like America they could win too.

37. Confederation and the Constitution

38.  New plan of government set up by the Second Continental Congress  Gives the federal government the power to declare war, make peace, sign treaties, borrow money, set coin standards, establish a postal service.  Weaknesses: Can’t tax, each state gets 1 vote no matter how many people, 9/13 states must agree on important laws, must be unanimous for amendment, no executive or federal legislative branches, 13 separate states and no unity.

40.  A bunch of angry farmers get together to protest rising taxes in their state.  The federal government has no power to help them in getting fair taxes, or to stop their rebellion when it turns violent.  This event shows that The Articles of Confederation gave too little power to the national government because they were so afraid it would turn into a monarchy.

41.  America gets a chance to peacefully come up with a better system of government, but everyone has different ideas.  Two main ideas are the Virginia Plan (calls for 2 house legislature based on population) and the New Jersey Plan (calls for 1 house legislature based on equal vote).  Great Compromise proposed which calls for two house legislature with one house based on population and other on equal vote.

42.  If representation is based on population in one house who should be counted in the population (slaves?)  North says slaves should not be counted because the South has so many it would give them more power. South suddenly decides in this debate alone that slaves are people not property and therefore should be counted in the population even if they are not represented in government.

44.  To make both the North and the South happy the Three-Fifths Compromise is proposed which says that 3/5 of the slave population of every state will count towards the number of representatives that state gets in the House.

45.  The new Constitution calls for 3 branches of government (executive, judicial, legislative) and a system of checks and balances to prevent any one branch from dominating the other two. (Like what happened in England)

46.  In order to adopt the new Constitution as the law of the land and get rid of the Articles of Confederation 9 out of 13 states need to ratify the document or agree to it.

47.  Federalists want to ratify the Constitution because it is better than Articles of Confederation  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay publish The Federalist to convince others.  Anti-Federalists do not want to ratify the Constitution because it does not include a Bill of Rights.  Patrick Henry, George Mason and Richard Henry Lee publish Letters from a Federal Farmer to convince others.

48.  Federalists agree to add a Bill of Rights to the Constitution so the Anti-Federalists will agree to ratify it.  Bill of Rights guarantee individual rights like freedom of religion, speech, press, political activity, rights to the accused, and rights to limit the federal government’s power.

50.  Our founding fathers realized they could not predict the future so they built in a way to change the Constitution to meet the changing needs of society.  Ours is the oldest Constitution because we allow for change when needed which makes it a living document.  In 200 years, there have only been 27 amendements.

52.  Establishes the Federal Court System  Supreme Court at the top, federal circuit courts, and district courts.  State decisions can be appealed to Federal Courts when constitutionality is questioned.

53.  Heads of the departments (State, War, Treasury)  Secretary of State (Thomas Jefferson)  Secretary of Treasury (Alexander Hamilton)  Secretary of War (Henry Knox)

54.  Federalist  Strong Central Gov  Only smart people get a say  Loose interpretation (if it doesn’t say you can’t, you can)  Trade economy  National Bank  Democratic- Republican  Strong State Gov  Everyone gets a say  Strict interpretation (if it doesn’t say you can, you can’t)  Farming economy  No National Bank

55.  Bunch of people get together and protested the new tax on whiskey (like in Shay’s Rebellion)  13,000 militiamen are sent by the federal government to put down the rebellion  Proves the government has power to handle problems

56.  Pinckney’s Treaty with Spain in 1795. Spain gives up East of Mississippi except Florida at the 31 st parallel.  Jay’s Treaty with Great Britain in 1794. British agree to evacuate their posts in the Northwest Territory, but continue their fur trade in U.S.

57.  Washington’s second term is up and he refuses to run for another.  Several people run including the former vice president John Adams against one of his closest friends (Thomas Jefferson)  They are from different parties. John Adams wins, Jefferson is runner up so President and Vice are in opposite parties which makes for inefficient government.

59.  U.S. Representatives go to talk with French foreign minister (Talleyrand) about French angry with Jay’s Treaty seizing our ships.  Instead of sending Talleyrand to talk with them, 3 zeros come (XYZ) and ask for bribe to talk with Talleyrand.  Huge insult to America, which becomes anti- French.

60.  Makes it harder and take longer to become a citizen.  Says people can be fined or imprisoned for speaking out against the government. (Clearly goes against our guaranteed rights to freedom of speech and political activity)

61.  These two states are the only ones gutsy enough to tell the federal government that what they are doing is unconstitutional and they refuse to obey the unconstitutional law.  This new idea is called nullification, where states can disregard new laws if they feel they go against the constitution