1610------210
1640------27,950
1670------114,500
1750------1,207,000
1790------4,000,000
Order of readings is also the
time order of the writings
REASON AND REVOLUTION
1750 to 1800
1790 - 1st U.S. Census – 4 million
I.
This time period is call the ____________________________________________
Message: __________________________________
A. Strongly emotional
B. Time of history was _______________________________________________
C. Visions of liberty- expressed through writing
II.
Fifty years before the Revolution
A. Colonies were beginning to __________________________________________
B. Colonies were less like “dangerous settlements in the wilderness”
C. Colonies were _______________________________________ with each other
D. Colonies shared mutual _________________ and ________________________ concerns
E. Colonies shared ___________________ over policies of British Government.
III.
Examples of infuriating laws and taxes (England wanted income.)
A. Stamp Act of 1765 (Stamps required for purchases of newspapers, licenses, pamphlets)
B. Quartering Act of 1765 (Colonists had to house and feed British troops)
C. Townsend Acts of 1767 (Tax on tea, glass, lead, and paper)
IV.
Response of the Colonies
A. Decision to NOT follow new British laws
**England, in turn, dissolved or broke up American assemblies
B. Resulting violence
1.
______________________________ 1770 (British troops fired on taunting
crowd.)
2.
______________________________ 1773 (Colonists dumped tea in Boston
Harbor.)
C. Colonies sent petitions to George III
1. Desire to share in the government that controlled them
2. saying: “________________________________________________________”
D. Response from England
1.
Intolerable Acts 1774 (punishment for the Boston Tea Party)
2.
Removing of rights/privileges of the Colonies
3.
Seizing of Colonial weapons
E. Colonial Response to English Policies
1.
Continued discussion of break with England
2.
Skirmishes between British and Colonists
3.
Common Sense by Thomas Paine-(January 1776 — NOTE DATE:
__________________the Revolutionary War)
a.
Clearly addressed the idea of separation from England
b.
Greatly affected public opinion
c.
100,000 copies sold in 3 months (spoke ______________ and could
d.
V.
be ____________________ by the average person.)
American Literature at this time
A. 1770’s – _________________________________________________________________
B. __________________________________________ addressing issues of the time
C. Newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, letters
D. “___________________________”--- Section in the newspaper for locally written poems
and songs, issues of the day.
E. _____________________________________—sheets of paper tacked up around town.
Contained essays, poems, etc. written by people passionate on the issues of the time.
F. Emerging new sense of national identity
G. Literary heritage as extraordinary as political heritage
H. Declaration of Independence
1.
Voice of the people, not one person
2.
Explained to the entire world why we were leaving England
2.
Culmination of writing of the time, showing that King George was tyrannical
and deserved to be overthrown.
The Declaration of Independence states:
1. “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are
____________________________________________________________________________.”
2. Government obtains power by “ __________________________________________”
3. Government exists to protect the rights of the governed; it should be abolished or changed
if it fails to do so.
VI.
Thoughts to Remember- our way of government didn’t happen by accident.
A. Method of government—result of much thought and debate
B. Life or death time in history
C. Success of revolution was amazing; to successfully stand the test of time is even more so.
In the Library of Congress:
“My country, right or wrong
When right, keep it right
When wrong, set it right.”