Chapter 2.pptx

CHAPTER 2

COLONIAL RESISTANCE AND REBELLION

• _{Parliament and King George III passed a number of laws}

that were very unpopular with the colonies:

• _{The Sugar Act: reduced “duties” (a type of tax) on}

molasses to discourage smuggling; placed new duties on previously untaxed imports; and made violations punishable in an English military court, rather than colonial courts.

• _{The Stamp Act: all legal documents, newspapers, and}

other paper goods were taxed. Congress opposed on the basis of being taxed without representation.

• _{Townsend Acts: taxed goods like lead, glass, paint,}

paper, and tea.

• _{The Intolerable Acts: closed Boston Harbor in}

REBELLION CONT.

• _{English troops (called “redcoats”) were sent to pacify the area around Boston in}

Spring of 1775. While doing so, they came into conflict with Minutemen—civilian soldiers who pledged to fight the British at a minute’s notice.

• _{The first battle happened at Lexington on April 18th, quickly followed by a second clash}

at Concord. The redcoats were harassed all the way back to Boston.

• _{The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in May of 1775. They}

appointed George Washington as the Commander in Chief of the minutemen, now called the Continental Army.

• _{Further conflicts followed, such as the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775}

• _{Civilians aided the war effort by providing food, supplies, and money, while the wives}

INDEPENDENCE

•

_{Inspired by the philosophy expressed}

by John Locke in his “Two Treatises of

Government” (which claimed that

people had natural rights that

governments had to respect) and the

observations of Thomas Paine in his

pamphlet “Common Sense”, the

WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE AND THE

TREATY OF PARIS

•

_{Compared to the British, the American forces were poorly supplied,}

trained, equipped, clothed, fed, and had a weak navy.

•

_{After 6 years of fighting and numerous ups and downs, the Continental}

Army surrounded the forces of British General Charles Cornwallis at

Yorktown. With French and American troops on land and a French

naval blockade at sea completely cutting off Yorktown, Cornwallis had

no choice but to surrender.

CONFEDERATION AND CONSTITUTION

• _{The Second Continental Congress met in 1781 and drafted laws for a new national government.}

These laws were called the Articles of Confederation.

• _{In this system, the central government was very weak, and the states reserved a lot of power.} • _{In 1786, a group of farmers from western Massachusetts, led by Daniel Shays, rebelled against}

new state taxes. This incident highlighted the need for a stronger central government.

• _{In 1787, a new convention was called in Philadelphia to draft a new plan for a central}

government. James Madison was a major contributor to what became the Constitution. Many compromises had to be made to accept the document:

• The Great Compromise: the Senate would have two members per state, while the House of Representatives would be based on population size convinced smaller states to sign on.

• _{The Three-Fifths Compromise: slaves would be counted as three-fifths of a person for}

PREAMBLE (OR INTRODUCTION) TO THE

CONSTITUTION

•

_{“We the people of the United States, in order to form}

a more perfect union, establish justice, insure

domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense,

promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings

of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain

RATIFYING THE CONSTITUTION, AND THE

EARLY REPUBLIC

• _{Those who supported this new, stronger federal}

government were called Federalists, while those who disliked the increased central power, and thus opposed the Constitution, were called Anti-Federalists.

• _{Federalists argued that the stronger central}

government was necessary, and that it would be much better than the Articles of Confederation government.

• _{Anti-Federalists feared the abuses of a}

strong central government, and also noted that the Constitution did nothing to

BILL OF RIGHTS

• _{To assuage the fears of the Anti-Federalists, ten additions were made to the}

Constitution. These changes, called amendments, became known as the Bill of Rights. These amendments are:

• ₁st_{: Freedom of Speech, Press, Assembly, Petition, and Religion} • ₂nd_{: Citizen’s right to bear arms as members of a militia}

• ₃rd_{: Gov’t cannot quarter troops in homes during peacetime} • ₄th_{: No search without a warrant}

A NEW NATION

• _{George Washington was elected as the first president, and immediately}

collaborated with congress and his cabinet (especially Alexander Hamilton) to accomplish some important, practical goals:

• _{The Judiciary Act of 1789 set up the federal court system}

• _{Three departments were created in the federal government: the Departments of War}

(Henry Knox), State (Jefferson), and Treasury (Hamilton)

• _{In 1794, a group of Pennsylvania whiskey producers took up arms against the tax}

collectors. The federal gov’t sent in 13,000 troops to put down the Whiskey

Rebellion, as it became known. This was the first time the federal gov’t exercised armed force to support federal authority.

• _{Conflicts with Native Americans continued as white settlers continued to push to}