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Jamestown
Reason for establishment- Virginia company invest in the colony to produce more money in hopes of gold mining. The -
Pilgrims/Puritans
The city on a hill was John Winthrop's hope for his society. "City on a hill" is an allusion to the bible and the city on the hill is the promised land. Once the Puritans were established in America after fleeing religious persecution.
Mayflower compact - An agreement to self government in the colonies
Halfway covenant - allowed partial membership into the Puritan church -
Bacon's Rebellion
Bacon's rebellion was caused by anger towards the governor of Virginia, William Berkeley, because of friendly policies towards the Native Americans.
- A majority of the rebels were former indentured servants who had moved out west.
- all levels of society even slaves were joining together to rebel against Berkeley -
Mercantilism/ Salutary neglect
Mercantilism was the idea that a mother country could gain power from having more colonies to gain profit from. The more colonies producing the more money. Salutary neglect is the unofficial avoiding of strict British policy on the colonies. -
Great Awakening
The first great awakening was a product of Protestant religions adapting to North America.
- 1730's to 1740's
Had an impact on reshaping churches and made smaller denominations stronger -
Deism
Belief that the Christian god created the universe and then let it run to natural laws. A majority of the founding fathers were Deists such as Jefferson and Franklin -
French and Indian war effects
End of the Seven years war gave Britian an unchallenged supremacy in N. America. Now Britain was starting to note that some colonies were not following policies from the war effort.
Britain employs the proclamation of 1763 hoping to settle disputes between the Natives and colonists but goes ignored and causes further discontent from the colonists.
Britain enacts different tax laws to compensate for war costs which angers colonists -
Revolutionary War
First fight at Lexington and Concord
Patriots V. Tories
News of patriot victory at Saratoga persuaded France to join the war effort. France helped Americans in the last battle against Cornwallis -
Declaration of Independence
The declaration included the claim that the colonies were no longer part of Great Britain and were not willing to negotiate reconciliation. It included a list of grievances in which the king had done to the colonies. -
Articles of Confederation
originally protected the powers of the individual states
Congress established with 1 vote per state needing 9 to pass important laws
shays rebellion - uprising consisting of veterans caused by economic and political injustices. Veterans also rebelled because of not being paid for serving
- Flaws : war debts unpaid, no respect from European nations, and lack of paper money -
British violations of Treaty of Paris
Britain still kept fortifications in North America as well as arming natives. This went on for several years fueling American hate for Britain. Britain also continued to impress American sailors. -
Land Ordinance of 1785; Land Ordinance of 1787
The ordinance of 85' allowed for the purchase of land in the west and that land was to be politically incorporated. The ordinance of 1787 outlined the process for admitting new states into the union -
Constitution
Supporters were called Federalists and those who opposed were called Anti-federalists. A stronger federal government would help maintain order and preserve the union. It also addressed the weaknesses of the articles of confederation. Major amendments provided protection against abuses of power by the central government. -
Founding Fathers Attitudes Towards Political Parties
The founding fathers, especially Washington, were opposed to political parties. This was because they would cause strict divides in diplomacy and make it difficult to solve problems. -
Hamilton Economic Policies
Hamilton wanted to pay off all war debts and have the federal government inherit state debts. High import tariffs were to be used to generate revenue.
The bank of the U.S. was created to deposit national funds.
Jefferson was against the bank because he argued the constitution did not give the power to do that.
Arguments between Federalists and Anti-federalists marked the beginning of political parties -
Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments serve as a protection of rights of all men in the Union. Protects people's property as well as equal treatment in the eyes of the law. the Bill of Rights was needed because without it, those last states would not have ratified the constitution. -
Washington's neutrality proclamation
While great Britain and France were in War, Washington declared America neutral to avoid any involvement in the conflict -
Washington's Farewell Adress
- not to get involved in European affairs
- not to make permanent alliances in foreign affairs
- not to form political parties -not to fall into sectionalism Washington set the precedent to leave after two terms.
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Alien and Sedition Acts
Sedition act- illegal for newspaper editors to criticize the president or congress and imposed fines for those who did
Alien acts- allowed president to deport aliens considered dangerous and to detain enemy aliens in time of war
Kentucky and Virginia resolutions - if any act by the federal government broke the compact, a state could nullify that law -
Election of 1800
Federalists were losing popularity because of new taxes
A majority vote led to a draw which meant the house of representatives had to vote for the president. The Democratic-Republicans won and this signified a peaceful passing of power between parties -
Louisiana Purchase
Purchased from France for 15 million. France was in need of money because of war with Britain and a rebellion in Santo Domingo led to heavy losses. The Mississippi river started to be taxed to be used so Jefferson wanted the land therefore wanting negotiation for the land. -
Marbury V. Madison
William Marbury who was a justice was waiting on his commission.
Marbury had asked James Madison to deliver the documents but he refused. Madison's refusal was deemed illegal and the supreme court set a precedent for judicial review. -
Cult of Domesticity
A value system during the early 19th century in which a cult of womanhood emerged in the upper and middle class.
This cult idealized feminine behavior and an ideal womanliness. -
War of 1812 (Causes)
- Britain still had forts in North America and continued to arm natives -Continued impressment of American Sailors by British navy -Both Britain and France attempted to stop America from trading with the enemy. -Britain imposed trade restrictions on the U.S. which was hurting the economy
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Hartford Convention
A meeting in which the Federalist party met to discuss concerns with the ongoing war with Britain and the Federal governments rising power. -
Lowell System
A revolutionary new method of work in which low wage workers are used for extended periods of time in factories and work by the clock.
The Lowell women were referred to as Mill girls because the factories were powered by water mills. -
Compromise of 1820 (Missouri)
This compromise admitted Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. The compromise would make states that were below the 36'30 line slave states and those above would be free states.
This compromise fueled further slave disputes up until the Kansas Nebraska act and also started to split the country into the south and the North -
Eli Whitney
An American inventor known for his creation of the cotton gin which made it easier to pick the seeds out of raw cotton. Slavery started to not do so well but the introduction of the cotton gin boosted income for cotton slaves. Whitney also introduced the system of interchangeable parts which made manufacturing more efficient and quick. -
Monroe Doctrine
Since after the war of 1812, Europe continued to hold its grasp on the American continent. Newly independent countries in the South were susceptible to intervention so James Monroe created the doctrine to prevent that. The doctrine stated that if a nation did intervene, America would declare that an act of war and Britain would help. The Roosevelt Corollary was imposed by Roosevelt which allowed the United States to legitimize European efforts at power in South America -
American System/ Clay - Whig policies
-American system which was made to protect industry with Tariffs and promote roads, railroads, and the national bank
- Supported by Henry Clay of the Whig party
-Canals were built and they allowed for a cheaper and better method to move goods -
Emerson, Cooper, and 19th century authors
These 19th century authors were all catalysts for the transcendentalist movement.
- The movement protested against intellectualism and spiritualism
- The movement believes in the relationship between man and nature -
Tariff of Abominations/ Nullification crisis
- Passed by congress to protect industry (specifically in the North) -Set a 38% tax on 92% of all goods in the South
- The south called it an Abomination because it went against them
- The south then nullified the tariff which was unconstitutional -Calhoun was the representative of South Caroline and invoked the nullification Then S. Carolina threatened to secede
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Andrew Jackson
Jackson won the popular and electoral vote but still lost the election.
- Ran for re-election in 1828 and won
- Jackson was not fond of Native Americans and imposed the Indian removal act which forced Indians west leaving their homelands
- The defeat in his first election caused more voters to turn out for his re-run
-Jackson believed the Bank of the U.S. was only to help the wealthy and he vetoed the rechartering of the bank.
- Jackson withdrawed funds and moved them to state banks (Pet) -
Irish Immigration
- Potato famine in Ireland caused many Irish to flee poverty and hunger -Know nothing party - anti immigration and anti catholic. Lasted a short while because of weak leadership.
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Transcendentalism
-A form of Romanticism
- Argued a mystical and intuitive way of thinking as a means for discovering one;s inner self and looking for the essence of God in nature.
-Supported movements like antislavery -
Mexico
John Tyler rushed to annex Texas before his term ended leaving Polk to deal with Mexico's reaction
-Polk used an attack by Mexico as a reason for war
- American victories led to fall of Mexico city which made Mexico agree on the U.S.'s terms
-Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo - Mexico recognized border at Rio Grande -
Manifest Destiny
- Mainly promoted by James Polk who wanted to bring the whole continent together coast to coast. -Most Whigs opposed the expansion because they believed the young self government would not be able to handle all the territory
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Popular Sovereignty
Definition- Authority is granted by the people
Lewis Cass of Michigan proposed that the people who settled in a territory could decide whether or not the state would be a slave state or not -
Seneca Falls Convention
-First Women's rights convention
- partly organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
-Susan B Anthony also campaigned and fought for women's rights such as suffrage -
Compromise of 1850
-Admitted California as Free state
- Divided remainder of Mexican Cession int o Utah and New Mexico
-Banned slave trade in D.C
- Adopted a strict fugitive slave law
- Gave disputed lands between Texas and New Mexico to new territories in return for the federal govt. taking Texas's public debt -
William Lloyd Garrison
Author of "The Liberator" which was the most vilified abolitionist newspaper at the time
-Favored Northern secession
-helped found the American anti slavery society -
Kansas-Nebraska act
Devised by Stephen Douglas to persuade the south to accepting his railroad route.
-allowed slavery to spread North of the 36 30 line which was established from the Missouri compromise
- Settlers in the area were allowed to decide which was popular sovereignty -
Dred Scott Case
- Dred Scott had no right to sue in a federal court because the Framers of the Constitution did not intend Africans to be U.S. citizens
- Congress did not have power to deprive people of property without due process; slaves were considered property and there fore called the Missouri compromise unconstitutional
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John Brown
Attempted to start a slave uprising in Virginia
-Also, attacked a federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry hoping to arm slaves to revolt if successful
-moderates in the North condemned his violence
- Southerners saw the raid as proof of the North's intentions -
Lincoln/ Republican policy on slavery
-Lincoln won easy victory in Chicago
-Lincoln was moderate against slavery; he was against the expansion and spoke against slavery as a moral issue
- After Lincoln was elected the South treated his election as the final straw and states started to secede -
Civil War
-arguments about slavery fueled the fire between the North and the South
-Earlier tariffs and economic policies which promoted Northern economy and hurt the South.
-North had a better infrastructure which made it easier to supply the war effort
-South had an advantage of knowing the land and being able to defend
-Confederacy was fighting for independence while Union was fighting to rejoin the country
-South hoped cotton industry would cause Britain or France to help.
