APUSH Unit 2 Chapter 5: The American Revolution
Thomas Paine's Common Sense
-A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775-76 advocating independence (radical idea at the time) from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Written in clear and persuasive prose, Paine marshaled moral and political arguments to encourage common people in the Colonies to fight for egalitarian government. He called for the creation of a republic (representative government) based on the natural rights of the people. His ideas were strongly influenced by the Enlightenment. -Common Sense made public a persuasive and impassioned case for independence, which before the pamphlet had not yet been given serious intellectual consideration. He connected independence with common dissenting Protestant beliefs as a means to present a distinctly American political identity, structuring Common Sense as if it were a sermon.
Virtue/Republicanism/Egalitarianism
-A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. Personal virtues are characteristics valued as promoting collective and individual greatness -Modern republicanism is the guiding political philosophy of the United States. It has been a major part of American civic thought since its founding. It stresses liberty and unalienable individual rights as central values, making people sovereign as a whole, rejects monarchy, aristocracy and inherited political power, expects citizens to be independent in their performance of civic duties, and vilifies corruption. American republicanism was founded and first practiced by the Founding Fathers in the 18th century. For them, according to one team of historians, "republicanism represented more than a particular form of government. It was a way of life, a core ideology, an uncompromising commitment to liberty, and a total rejection of aristocracy." -Egalitarianism is a school of thought that prioritizes equality for all people.
War and Slavery
-African Americans were eventually allowed to fight in the Continental Army. Some fought for the Revolutionary cause and some fought for the British. The royal governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, promised freedom to any slave who fought for the British. Unfortunately, that emancipation was not granted to the British loss. -Following the Revolution, there was gradual emancipation in the North and Middle colonies. For many there was a growing awareness of inequality in societies, the hypocrisy of 'all men are created equal', and the fact that slavery was not economically profitable in those regions. The Pennsylvania Gradual Emancipation Law of 1780 said that no more slaves could come into the state and children born to slave parents would be considered free. -Later on slavery expands in the south and western adjacent lands. Several reasons include: racist assumptions made among whites about the inferiority of blacks, the economic investments many white southerners had in their slaves, and the inability of mean such as Washington and Jefferson (who had their own moral misgivings about slavery) to envision any alternate to it. Few whites believed blacks could be integrated into society as equals. This leads to distinct regional identities and attitudes towards slavery developing in the north and the south: one slave, one free. However, slavery is protected in the Constitution.
France/Marquis de Layfayette
-French assistance was key to the American victory. France hoped to regain power in North America after losses in the French and Indian War. They sought the end of British mercantile policies, such as the Navigation Act, thus allowing free trade between France and the colonies. Some elements of French society were caught up in the idealism and Enlightenment ideas, in turn providing support to the colonies and their Revolutionary movement. Ben Franklin helped negotiate the formal treaty (French aide had been provided before in secret) in 1778 after an American victory at the Battle of Saratoga. The colonists receive money, weapons, naval support, and soldiers.
Loyalists
-Loyalty is deeply engraved in the colonists. They believe they are part of the British Empire and see themselves as British. -Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. They were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution and called them "persons inimical to the liberties of America". Prominent Loyalists repeatedly assured the British government that many thousands of loyalists would spring to arms and fight for the crown. The British government acted in expectation of that, especially in the southern campaigns in 1780-81. In practice, the number of loyalists in military service was far lower than expected. Across the colonies, Patriots watched suspected Loyalists very closely, and would not tolerate any organized Loyalist opposition. Many outspoken or militarily active loyalists were forced to flee, especially to their stronghold of New York City. William Franklin, the royal governor of New Jersey and son of Patriot leader Benjamin Franklin, became the leader of the Loyalists after his release from a Patriot prison in 1778. He worked to build Loyalist military units to fight in the war, but the number of volunteers was much fewer than London expected.
Abigail Adams/"remember the ladies"
-Recognized and admired as a formidable woman in her own right, the union of Abigail and John Adams persists as a model of mutual respect and affection; they have since been referred to as "America's first power couple." Abigail bore six children, of whom five survived. Abigail and John's eldest son, John Quincy Adams, served as the sixth president of the United States. -In a letter dated March 31, 1776, Abigail Adams writes to her husband, John Adams, urging him and the other members of the Continental Congress not to forget about the nation's women when fighting for America's independence from Great Britain. Nearly 150 years before the House of Representatives voted to pass the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote, Adams letter was a private first step in the fight for equal rights for women. -The future First Lady wrote in part, "I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation."
Land ordinance of 1785/Northwest Ordinance of 1787
-The Land Ordinance of 1785 was adopted by the United States Congress of the Confederation on May 20, 1785. It set up a standardized system whereby settlers could purchase title to farmland in the undeveloped west. Congress at the time did not have the power to raise revenue by direct taxation, so land sales provided an important revenue stream. The Ordinance set up a survey system that eventually covered over three-fourths of the area of the continental United States. The Land Ordinance established the basis for the Public Land Survey System. The initial surveying was performed by Thomas Hutchins. After he died in 1789, responsibility for surveying was transferred to the Surveyor General. Land was to be systematically surveyed into square townships, six miles (9.656 km) on a side. Each of these townships were sub-divided into thirty-six sections of one square mile (2.59 km²) or 640 acres. These sections could then be further subdivided for re-sale by settlers and land speculators. The ordinance was also significant for establishing a mechanism for funding public education. -The Northwest Ordinance (The Ordinance of 1787) was passed July 13, 1787. The ordinance created the Northwest Territory, the first organized territory of the United States, from lands beyond the Appalachian Mountains, between British North America and the Great Lakes to the north and the Ohio River to the south. The upper Mississippi River formed the Territory's western boundary. It was the response to multiple pressures: the westward expansion of American settlers, tense diplomatic relations with Great Britain and Spain, violent confrontations with Native Americans, the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, and the empty treasury of the American government. It was based upon, but more conservative than Thomas Jefferson's proposed ordinance of 1784. The 1787 law relied on a strong central government, which was assured under the new Constitution that took effect in 1789. In August 1789, it was replaced by the Northwest Ordinance of 1789, in which the new Congress reaffirmed the Ordinance with slight modifications.
The Enlightenment*
-The product of some the great scientific and intellectual discoveries in Europe in the 17th century, a school of thought that believed in human rationality and undermined authority, similar to the Great Awakening, except it encouraged people to look to themselves instead of God. -Enlightenment ideas of John Locke and Rousseau strongly influenced the colonists. Enlightenment ideas emphasized the individual over hereditary privilege; there was an emphasis on reason and science. Locke said that everyone has natural rights and the power of government is derived from popular consent.
Shay's Rebellion
Shays' Rebellion is the name given to a series of protests in 1786 and 1787 by American farmers against state and local enforcement of tax collections and judgments for debt. Although farmers took up arms in states from New Hampshire to South Carolina, the rebellion was most serious in Massachusetts, where bad harvests, economic depression, and high taxes threatened farmers with the loss of their farms. The rebellion took its name from its symbolic leader, Daniel Shays of Massachusetts, a former captain in the Continental army. he uprising in Massachusetts began in the summer of 1786. The rebels tried to capture the federal arsenal at Springfield and harassed leading merchants, lawyers, and supporters of the state government. The state militia, commanded by Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, crushed the rebels in several engagements in the winter of 1787. Shays and the other principal figures of the rebellion fled first to Rhode Island and then to Vermont. Although it never seriously threatened the stability of the United States, Shays' Rebellion greatly alarmed politicians throughout the nation. Proponents of constitutional reform at the national level cited the rebellion as justification for revision or replacement of the Articles of Confederation, and Shays' Rebellion figured prominently in the debates over the framing and ratification of the Constitution.
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation, formally the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement among the 13 original states of the United States of America that served as its first constitution. It was approved, after much debate (between July 1776 and November 1777), by the Second Continental Congress on November 15, 1777, and sent to the states for ratification. The Articles of Confederation came into force on March 1, 1781, after being ratified by all 13 states. A guiding principle of the Articles was to preserve the independence and sovereignty of the states. The federal government received only those powers which the colonies had recognized as belonging to king and parliament. The Articles formed a war-time confederation of states, with an extremely limited central government. While unratified, the document was used by the Congress to conduct business, direct the American Revolutionary War, conduct diplomacy with foreign nations, and deal with territorial issues and Native American relations. The adoption of the Articles made few perceptible changes in the federal government, because it did little more than legalize what the Continental Congress had been doing. That body was renamed the Congress of the Confederation; but Americans continued to call it the Continental Congress, since its organization remained the same. As the Confederation Congress attempted to govern the continually growing American states, delegates discovered that the limitations placed upon the central government rendered it ineffective at doing so. As the government's weaknesses became apparent, especially after Shays' Rebellion, individuals began asking for changes to the Articles. Their hope was to create a stronger national government. Initially, some states met to deal with their trade and economic problems. However, as more states became interested in meeting to change the Articles, a meeting was set in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787. This became the Constitutional Convention. It was quickly realized that changes would not work, and instead the entire Articles needed to be replaced. On March 4, 1789, the government under the Articles was replaced with the federal government under the Constitution. The new Constitution provided for a much stronger federal government by establishing a chief executive (the President), courts, and taxing powers.
Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 5, 1775 in a final attempt to avoid a full-on war between Great Britain and the thirteen colonies represented in that Congress. The Congress had already authorized the invasion of Canada more than a week earlier, but the petition affirmed American loyalty to Great Britain and beseeched King George III to prevent further conflict. That the petition was followed by the July 6 Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms made its success in London improbable. In August 1775, the colonies were formally declared to be in rebellion by the Proclamation of Rebellion, and the petition was rejected by Great Britain—even though King George had refused to read the Olive Branch Petition before declaring the colonists traitors.
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed in Paris by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States of America on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War. The treaty set the boundaries between the British Empire in North America and the United States, on lines "exceedingly generous" to the latter. The boundary of the US would extend to the Mississippi River to the Great Lakes to Florida. Details included fishing rights, loyalists rights, restoration of property and prisoners of war.
The Declaration of Independence
The United States Declaration of Independence is the statement adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as thirteen independent sovereign states, no longer under British rule. Thomas Jefferson drafted the formal copy- he was influenced by John Locke and Enlightenment ideas. Its goal was to justify independence by listing grievances against King George the III. There was one that Jefferson (ironically being a slave owner) wrote about slavery that was excluded from the final copy. It was also written to rally support among the colonies and in hopes of receiving assistance from foreign nations. It has a broad appeal by declaring "inalienable rights" (natural rights) and the power of the government rests with the people (popular sovereignty).
Virginia Statute of Religious Liberty
The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom is a statement about both freedom of conscience and the principle of separation of church and state. Written by Thomas Jefferson and passed by the Virginia General Assembly on January 16, 1786, it is the forerunner of the first amendment protections for religious freedom. Divided into three paragraphs, the statute is rooted in Jefferson's philosophy. It could be passed in Virginia because Dissenting sects there (particularly Baptists, Presbyterians, and Methodists) had petitioned strongly during the preceding decade for religious liberty, including the separation of church and state. Jefferson had argued in the Declaration of Independence that "the laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle [man]...." The first paragraph of the religious statute proclaims one of those entitlements, freedom of thought. To Jefferson, "Nature's God," who is undeniably visible in the workings of the universe, gives man the freedom to choose his religious beliefs. This is the divinity whom deists of the time accepted—a God who created the world and is the final judge of man, but who does not intervene in the affairs of man. This God who gives man the freedom to believe or not to believe is also the God of the Christian sects.