American History

week 3. The Founding of the U.S.

(1750 ~ 1800, Brinkley. Ch.4~6)

Hyun Song Lee

hslee@ hufs.ac.kr

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4. The Empire in transition
• War between England and France in Europe and North America broke
out at 1756, and England won in 1763. (Seven Years’ War, French-Indian
War).
- struggle for economic power, including colonial possessions around
the world.
- elevated Great Britain to undisputed preeminence among the powers,
while France lost much of its colonies.
- extended the dominance of Protestantism in Europe, while Catholic
lost its geopolitical influence since then.
- expanded England’s territorial claims in North America, while Native
Americans were severely weakened, because they fought on the side of
French.
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• Seven Years’ War (1756 ~1763)

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• French Indian War: 1756 ~ 1763

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• The war produced great debt, and England thought that the
American colonists – the principal beneficiaries of the war-
should help pay the debt.

• The new king of England (George III) tried to reassert the au-
thority of the monarchy over the colonies.
/ forbade settlers to advance beyond the Appalachian Moun-
tains.
/ British troops were stationed permanently in America, while
colonists were required to help provision
/ raised the duty on sugar, and stopped colonists’ issuing
paper money.

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- Stamp Act crisis of 1765.
/levied taxes on every printed documents including newspa-
per, collecting more than ten times of revenue.
/ “Virginian Resolves” was proclaimed, that Virginians should
pay no tax except those voted by their own representatives.
/ led by Massachusetts, inter-colonial congress was called to
take action against the tax.
/ Mobs rose up in several colonies.
/ Boycotts of English goods spread.
/ England repealed the Act in 1766.

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• The Townshend programs also brought resistance in 1767
/ levied new duty on imported goods from England
/ disbanded New York Assembly
/ established a new board of customs commissioners in Bos-
ton.

 threatened colonist merchant’s business, incurring resis-

tance across colonies both in the North and the South.

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- The Boston Massacre in 1770.
British soldiers clashed with a mob of dockworkers and fired
into the crowd to incur five deaths.
Colonists exaggerated and circulated the news widely in
pamphlets and newspapers.

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• Boston Tea Party and Coercive Act in 1773.
a group of colonists threw tea chests into the water in Boston
harbor resisting the Tea Act.
England responded with drastically reducing the power of self-
government in Massachusetts.
women’s groups mobilized to extend the boycott of English
goods, “Daughters of Liberty,” stop drinking tea.

- radical ideas of political opposition emerged in England, which

gave an ideological support for colonist’s resistance and defiance.
/ John Lock’s idea of people’s sovereignty and representation
/ “no taxation without representation”.

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Boston Tea Party in 1773

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- First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia in 1774.
/ delegates from all the colonies attended except for Georgia
/ endorsed a statement of grievances, recommending military
preparations for defense against possible attack, boycotting, etc.
/ formed a ‘Continental Association’ to see that the agree-
ments are enforced.

- First shots of the war were fired in the skirmishes at Lexington

and Concord in 1775.
/ British army attacked to hear the townspeople in Massa-
chusetts amassing arms and ammunition.

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5. The American Revolution
• When the British government blockaded ports and rejected all
efforts at conciliation, colonists concluded that independence
was the only remaining option.

• The idea of independence was instigated by Thomas Paine’s

pamphlet of “Common Sense”, which wrote that it was simple
common sense for Americans to break completely with a po-
litical system that could inflict such brutality on its own peo-
ple.
/ the pamphlet sold more than 100,000 copies.
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• the Declaration of Independence was approved by Second Conti-
nental Congress in July 4, 1776.
/ written by Thomas Jefferson with the help of Benjamin Franklin
and John Adams.
/ saying that the government was formed to protect “life, liberty,
and pursuit of happiness”, following the contract theory of John Lock.

• George Washington took command in the war.

• Congress financed the war mostly by borrowing from other nations.

- In 1777, the Congress adopted a plan for union, called “Articles of

Confederation.”

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Declaration of Independence, 1776

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• The independence war (for 7 years, 1776~1782)
/ the first phase: in New England, started in small scale, escalated
into a whole scale war.
/ the second phase: Mid-Atlantic Region
the Patriots obtained a major victory at Saratoga, NY.
-> the French started to engage in the war on the side of
colonists.
/ the final phase: in the South,
Britain tried to use the support of Loyalists, and slaves.

- in 1782, a peace agreement was signed in Paris.

/ a clear recognition of independence, and a large concession of
territory to the new nation including “Northwest Territory.”
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• Factors contributing to the colony’s triumph:

/ advantage of fighting on their home soil.

/ great commitment of average colonists to the cause of in-
dependence.
/ full support of French by men and provision.
/ strategic blunders of British army: overestimated the power
of Loyalist, underestimated the logistic problems.

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- Results of the war

/ while fighting the war, colonists formed a unity as a new

nation
/ many Loyalists fled the country to Canada or England.
/ exposed the continued tension between the nation’s com-
mitment to liberty and its simultaneous commitment to slavery.
/ greatly weakened the position of Native Americans, who
fought on the side of English.

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• Building a new nation started with a very weak government.

/ lingering fear of the concentrated and despotic government

/ Articles of Confederation placed limited power in the na-
tional government.
/ Congress remained the central institution of national author-
ity.
/ the government had no power to levy taxes, or regulate
trade, or draft troops.

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- Confusions on how to pay war debt,
Shays’ rebellion: war veterans rebelled on the collection of
debts.
-> added the urgency to establish an effective government.

• The Northwest ordinance of 1784 incorporated the West into

the political structure of the new nation.
/ set a procedure for a new statehood,
/ create a system for surveying and selling the western lands.

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• Impacts of American revolution abroad
--> brought out the “Age of Revolutions”.
/ French Revolution in 1789
/ American and French revolutions inspired uprisings in the At-
lantic World.
// slaves revolted in Haiti in 1791 and obtained independence
in 1801. An independent country of ex-slaves was established for
the first time in history.
// spread into Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Latin America
Mexico obtained independence in 1821, Brazil in 1822,
Venezuela, Peru,…
/ created nation states in Europe in early 19c.

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6. The Constitution and the new repub-
lic
• The Founding Fathers, fifty five delegates from all the states except
Rhode Island, convened in Philadelphia in 1787.
They unanimously agreed a need for a stronger central government.

- Divided between large and small states, on how to count slaves in rep-
resentation and taxation,
-> the “Great Compromise”
created a bicameral system of national assembly:
Senate: represented by two members for each state,
Congress: represented on the basis of the number of population.
/ slaves are counted by three-fifths of a free person.
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• The Constitution of 1789
/ federalism: division of power between the national and the
state governments
/ separation of powers by a system of checks and balances
among legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
/ limited democracy: democratic republic only for white people,
excluding Native Americans and African Americans.

- Naturalization Act of 1790 defined citizenry as a status available

only to white people.
/ Native Americans’ citizenship was granted in 1920s, African
Americans officially in 1862 during the Civil War, but actually in
1960s.
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US Constitution of 1789

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• the Constitution was ratified across the 13 states on the assump-
tion that a bill of rights would be added in the amendments.

- First election of president under the new constitution was held

in 1789, to elect George Washington.

- Political factions (parties) emerged surrounding the basic differ-

ence in the philosophy of government and society.
/ Federalists: prefer a strong central government, and urban in-
dustrial society. represented by Alexander Hamilton.
/ Republicans: prefer local control, agrarian and self-owning re-
public. represented by Thomas Jefferson.

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- Both parties reflected regional and economic differences.
/ Federalists were in line with the commercial centers of the
Northeast and Southern seaports.
/ Republicans were stronger in the rural area of the South
and the West.

- The Federalists, leading the government of the early period,

had serious struggles with the Republicans in early politics.
/ in the presidential election of 1789, the leader of Republi-
cans, Thomas Jefferson, was elected. Calling “Revolution of
1780.”

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