Colonial America: Overview and

Context

• Rival European nations establish small colonies along the

northeastern coast of today’s US.
• British defeat the Spanish Armada. English are now the dominant
naval power.
• English colonies become the most successful and England becomes
the dominant power in the New World (although French and
Spanish maintain presence in other parts of the continent).
• Steady growth of British colonies led to increasing tensions with
Great Britain and desire for autonomy culminating in the outbreak
of the American Revolutionary War: 1775-1781
 Reasons for British Expansion in the
New World

- Overpopulation: people were feeling overcrowded in towns.

Also, colonies were a good place to put prisoners, criminals and the
poor.
- Economic Opportunity: “free” land, dynamic commercial
prospects.
- Religious Dissent: Several Protestant groups felt that English
Protestantism was too close to Catholicism. These dissident minority
groups were persecuted in England. They were seeking religious
freedom (Pilgrims, Puritans).
- Mercantilism: (see next slide)
• Dominant economic system/theory of
the colonial era. Mercantilism
• Country’s wealth depends on trade.
• Colonies exist to bring wealth to
“Mother Country”:
• colonizing nation extracts gold, silver,
natural resources (timber, furs, fish,
tobacco) from its colonies and brings them
to Europe.
• Goods are transformed into manufactured
goods.
• Goods are sold back to colonies for at a
high price.
• Trade with colonies is extremely
restricted.
• Favorable balance of trade: import goods
at low cost, resell goods at high cost.
 • Between the British and French, part of a
The French And Indian War larger European conflict.
(1754-1763) • Fight was over control of the American
colonies
• Colonists fought with unity and new
American leadership emerged.
• Britain won and France lost all territories
in the New World
• War effort pushed Britain into debt.
• British attempts to increase revenue by
imposing taxes on colonies led to
tensions which resulted in the American
Revolution.
 Part 2
The American War for Independence and
the Founding of the Republic
 Road To Revolution: Sources Of
Tension

• British taxed colonies to raise money to pay off war debt.

• Colonists had no votes in British Parliament and could not vote on
laws/taxes which affected them.
• Colonists ultimately rejected being forced to pay taxes without
their consent: “No Taxation without Representation!”
• Colonial rejection of British taxation led to tensions then violence.
 Acts Imposed by Parliament (1764-
1767)

• 1764: The Revenue Act: raised or imposed taxes on sugar, wine, linen.
• 1765: The Stamp Act: taxed newspapers, playing cards and legal
documents such as diplomas and licenses.
• 1765: The Quartering Act: required colonists to provide housing for
British soldiers.
• 1766: Declaratory Act: Only Parliament had authority to make laws for the
colonies
• 1767: The Townshend Act: taxed paper, glass, paint and tea.
Tensions Rise: The Boston Massacre (1770)

• British soldiers opened fire on a

group of colonists who had been
harassing them, killing 5 and
wounding 6. The incident was
exploited by radicals and became an
example of British brutality.
The Tea Act and The Boston Tea Party

• 1773: Tea Act: required colonists to

buy tea only from Britain.
• 1773: The Boston Tea Party:
Reaction to Tea Act. Sons of Liberty
dressed as Indians dump 342 chests
of British tea into Boston Harbor.
Prime Minster Lord North, “The colonies
must either submit or triumph.”
 Fro m t h e I n t o l e r a bl e
Ac t s t o t h e Ou t b re a k
o f Wa r ( 1 7 7 4 - 1 7 7 5 )

• 1774: “Intolerable” Acts:

Port of Boston was closed,
rights of self-government
taken from Massachusetts,
crown-appointed governor
was installed, right to hold
meetings was suspended.
• Fall 1774: First Continental
Congress: 50 delegates from
12 colonies meet in
Philadelphia.
• Outbreak of War, April
1775: Advancing British
soldiers seeking to capture
rebel guns and ammunitions
were met by colonial
minutemen. Shots were fired,
and war had begun.
 The Revolutionar y
War ( 1775-1783)

• After six years of war, the

British surrender in
Yorktown, Virginia in
October 1781.
• Formal peace treaty, Treaty of
Paris, signed in 1783.
• British gave up all rights to
land from the Atlantic Coast
to the Mississippi River and
from Canada to Florida.
• Tens of thousands of men
lost on both sides from
fighting and disease.
Articles Of Confederation

• First governing document of the United States.

• This was a weak form of national government.
• Too much power left to each state.
• Lack of cohesion led to chaos and violence
• Federal government did not have the power to:
• collect taxes.
• regulate commerce between states (each state had its
own currency).
 Constitutional Convention (1787)

• Delegates called back to Philadelphia to find a

better way to govern the country.
• Need for a strong, unifying government that would
respect the autonomy of each state at the same
time.
• 55 delegates from the 13 states, George
Washington, chairman.
• Other delegates: Benjamin Franklin, James Madison,
Alexander Hamilton
• Met for 17 weeks. Resulting document: 7 articles
(and, later, 27 amendments).
• “Masterpiece of compromise”
 Power Sharing: Federal And State
Government
Federal Government Shared (Concurrent) Powers State Government

Maintain army and navy
Admit new states
Postal service and currency
Maintain law and order and
establish courts
Charter banks
Borrow money and collect taxes
Establish schools and local
governments
Regulate corporations and intra-
state business
Conduct elections and marriages

Declare war Build roads Other powers not given to

federal government and not
specifically prohibited
Regulate interstate commerce Protect citizens’ health and safety

Make other laws necessary for it to

function
 Three Divisions Of Federal Government

Legislative Branch Executive Branch Judicial Branch

(Congress)

Senate (2 senators from President Supreme Court

each state)

House of Representatives Executive Cabinet Other federal courts

(based on state population) (Secretaries)
 After The Convention

• Ratification:
• Constitution took effect in June 1788
• All states ratified the Constitution by 1790
• The Bill of Rights
• First 10 Amendments to the Constitution
• Added in 1789
• Specific rights and protections of each citizen
• George Washington unanimously elected
president in 1789