Chapter 5 Sections 3&4

Section 3 Britain at Mid-Century

Setting the Scene ●Mercantilism found success in England ●Britain embraced Mercantilism ●Built a colonial and commercial empire that reached around the world ●Constitutional empire

Rise to Global Power ●England in position of control during renaissance ●Sent ships around the world and made outposts that they would gain control from ●On the winning sides of european wars ●Slave trade brought wealth to British merchants ●1763, Treaty of Paris ended the French and Indian War and the Seven Years War brought Britain all of French Canada

Growth of constitutional government ●Three political instituions arose Britain -Political parties, the Cabinet, the Office of Prime Minister ●Constitutional Governemnt; A government whose power is defined and limited by law ●Political parties emerged from England in late 1600s ●Cabinet system evolved in the 1700s ●Prime Minister was the head of cabinet

Politics and Society ●Age of Walpole, a time of peace and prosperity ●Oligarchy; Government where power belonged to a few people ●Landowning aristocrats were the natural ruling class ●Right to vote was limited to a few male property owners ●Small but growing middle class included merchants and manufacturers

George III Reasserts Royal Power ●1760, George III began a 60 year reign ●Wanted to end Whig Domination, choose his own ministers, dissolve the cabinet system, and make Parliment follow him ●Found seats for parliment and began to assert his leadership ●After Seven Years War, he decided English colonists in Norht America must pay the cost of their own defense ●The colonists protested. Trigured the American Revolution, Britain loss ●Loss discredited the king

Section 4 Birth of the American Repubic

13 English Colonies ●1750, 13 prosperous colonies were along the east coast of North America ●Britain applied mercantilism policies to colonies ●1600s, Parliment passed Navigation Acts to regulate colonial trade and manufacturing ●Government and society ruled by wealthy landowners and merchants

Growing Discontent ●After 1763, relations between Britain and 13 colonies were strained ●Seven Years War, and French and Indian War had drained British treasury ●Parliment passed new laws to increase tax ●Colonies saw it as a attack on their rights ●March 1770, British sodiers opened fire in Boston on a crowd ●December 1773, Colonists hurled a cargo of recently arrived tea into the harbor (Boston Tea Party) ●Popular Sovereignty; States that all government power comes from the people

American Revolution ●Loyalists; People who supported Britain ●America looked bleak ●Britain had professional soldiers and wealth ●1777, Americans triumphed over Britain at battle of Saratoga ●Victory persuaded French to join ●Winter of Continental troops at Valley Forge suffered from cold, hunger, and disease ●1781, Washington forced surrender of British Army at Yorktown Virginia

New Constituion ●National Government set up a document; Articles of Confederation too weak to rule the new united states ●They didn’t want a monarchy so they chose George Washington for the first president ●Frederal Republic; Power divided between the federal or national government and the states ●Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the constitution, recognized the idea that people had basic rights ●1789, Constitution became the supreme law of the land

Looking Ahead ●Constitution of United States created most progressive government of its day ●New Republic shone as a symbol of freedom ●Constitution would be copied or adapted by other lands ●1789, Revolution in France toppled monarchy ●Mid-1800s, Monarchs throughout Europe had lost lots of power