Chapter 1 – A Nation is Born –
Beginnings to 1789
Why Do People Rebel?
Even today, Americans grow frustrated when the
government raises taxes. In the early colonial era,
Americans grew accustomed to running their own
affairs. So when Britain tried to reestablish
control, tensions mounted over taxes and basic
rights.
When do you think it is acceptable to rebel
against a government?
Converging Cultures
Contact
among the
cultures of
three
continents
changed the
society of
each culture.
The Earliest
Americans
Native
Americans
adapted to
their
environments
and developed
diverse
cultures.
The Earliest Americans (cont)
 Anthropologists think the earliest civilization in the
Americas arose between 1500 B.C. and 1200 B.C. among the
Olmec people in southern Mexico.
 Around A.D. 300, the Hohokam began farming in what is
today Arizona.
 The Hopewell of North America’s eastern woodlands
also developed their own culture around 1500 B.C.
 Between A.D. 700 and 900, the Mississippian people
created Cahokia.
The Native American cultures varied depending on the region.
 * Eastern Woodlands—hunting and fishing combined with farming
 * Southeast—women did most of the farming, while the men
hunted
 * Southwest—Zuni, Hopi, and Navajo farmed while the Apache
remained nomadic hunters
 * Western Great Plains—hunting while camping in tepees
 * Pacific Coast—fishing
 * Southern Pacific Coast—trapping small game and
gathering acorns
 * Far North—hunting seals, walruses, whales, polar bears,
and caribou
European
Explorations
European
countries
began to
explore the
world and
established
colonies in
the Americas.
Rulers of Portugal, Spain,
France, and England
wanted to find a sailing
route to Asia that would
bypass the merchants and
traders from Italy and the
Middle East.
In the early 1400s, Spain
funded an expedition by
Christopher Columbus to
sail west across the
Atlantic Ocean.
He landed on present-day
San Salvador Island, but
believed he had reached
Asia.
European
Explorations (cont.)
Native Americans
introduced the
Europeans to the
following:
New farming
methods
Corn, potatoes,
squash, pumpkins,
beans, and chocolate
Canoes
Snowshoes
Ponchos
European
Explorations
The Europeans
introduced the Native
Americans to the
following:
Wheat, rice, coffee,
bananas, citrus fruits
Domestic livestock
(chickens, cattle, pigs,
sheep, and horses)
Better metal-working
methods
New diseases
Early French and English Settlement
The French and English settled in North America, and English
colonists began their own local governments. In 1607 the
English established the colony of Jamestown in Virginia.
It was funded by a joint-stock company.
Virginia became a royal colony run by a governor appointed by
the king.
Early French and English
Settlement (cont.)
In 1620 the Pilgrims
landed off the coast
of Cape Cod in the
Mayflower.
They drew up a plan
for self-government
called the Mayflower
Compact.
Many more Puritans
fled persecution in
England.
Massachusetts set up
a representative
government with an
elected assembly to
make laws.
The Thirteen Colonies
As English
settlements
grew,
colonists
developed
different
forms of
government.
The New England Colonies
 Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson were both exiled from
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Massachusetts because of their religious views.
Rhode Island was eventually founded as a place of religious
freedom.
Reverend Thomas Hooker moved his congregation from
Massachusetts to Connecticut because he disagreed with the
political system.
The new colony adopted America’s first written constitution, the
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut.
New England Puritans valued the following:
Religious devotion
Hard work
Obedience to strict rules
Town life
The Thirteen
Colonies (cont.)
From Connecticut to
Maine, colonists
practiced subsistence
farming.
Maritime activity
brought prosperity to
New England.
A thriving lumber
industry developed as
well.
By the end of King
Philip’s War in 1678,
few Native Americans
were left in New
England.
The Middle Colonies:
 Charles the II seized New Netherland from the
Dutch and granted the land to his brother, James, the
Duke of York.
 He renamed it New York.
 The rest of the land became New Jersey.
 In 1681 King Charles gave William Penn permission to
create a new colony—Pennsylvania.
 Coastal land to the southeast of his land later became
Delaware.
 The Middle Colonies were blessed with fertile land
and a long growing season.
The Southern Colonies:
 Tobacco helped Virginia to thrive.
 Maryland was a proprietary colony, and passed the
Toleration Act of 1649.
 Agriculture was the focus of the Southern economy.
 There was plenty of land, but not enough people to work it.
 Many poor English people came to America as indentured
servants.
 Southern farmers also relied on the labor of enslaved
Africans.
 Southern society was organized in the following way:
 Large landowners—few in number, but dominated
Southern society
 Small farmers living inland in the backcountry—the
majority of Southern society
 Tenant farmers
Section 2 – A
Diverse Society
 The American colonies
experienced rapid population
growth. The importation of
enslaved Africans continued
even as colonists engaged in
philosophical and religious
discussions about the rights of
individuals.
Growth of Colonial
America
 Between 1640 – 1700 > 25,000
to 250,000
 2,500,000 by 1776
 Better housing and sanitation
plus high birth rates.
 Disease remained a constant
fear.
Growth of Colonial
America cont.
 Trade and the Rise of Cities:
 Triangular trade route –
Europe, Africa, Americas
 Colonial merchants grew
wealthy, built factories
 Colonial cities grew – 1760 >
Philadelphia 30,000 & New
York 25,000
 Social Classes developed.
Growth of Colonial
America cont.
 Immigrants
 1700 -1775 > hundreds of
thousands of free whites arrive
 Settled in Middles colonies, esp.
Pennsylvania
 Germans, Scotts, Irish
 Fleeing religious wars, high
taxes, poor harvests, and
religious persecution.
 1776 – 1,500 Jews lived in
colonies. Allowed to worship but
not allowed to vote or hold
public office.
Growth of Colonial
America cont.
 Women
 Not treated equally, esp. married
women.
 Married women could not own
property, make contracts or wills.
 Husbands were the sole guardians
of the children, could physically
discipline children and wives.
 Single women could own and
manage property, make contracts
and run businesses.
 1700’s hardships remained but
some improvements for married
women.
Growth of Colonial
America cont.
 Enslaved Africans
 10 to 12 million Africans enslaved
and sent to Americas. 2 million
died at sea.
 Of the 8 to 10 million that survived,
500,000 sent to British colonies.
 1619 - “Christian Servants” arrived
in Virginia
 1775 Over 500,000 throughout
colonies. 20% of total population.
 Slave codes greatly restricted
enslaved Africans.
 Most slaves in South, harsh and
brutal plantations.
New Ideas
 The ideas of justified
revolutions, the
Enlightenment, and the Great
Awakening made the colonists
question their role as English
subjects and their limited
freedom under mercantilists
policies.
New Ideas cont.
 Charles II
 Believed the colonies should be
used to generate wealth for
England.
 Navigation Acts – Laws passed
by Parliament that greatly
restricted colonial trade and
created revenue for England.
 Inflation in the colonies.
 Colonial merchants resort to
smuggling to avoid high taxes.
New Ideas cont.
 James II
 Succeeded brother Charles II
 Enacted several measures to
enforce English law.
 Took away Massachusetts
charter, became a royal colony.
 Created a royal province called
the Dominion of New England.
Would encompass 6 colonies.
 New taxes, greater enforcement
of Navigation Acts, Puritan
Church authority undermined.
New Ideas cont.
 The Glorious Revolution
 James II – Catholic in a Protestant
England.
 Parliament invited James’s daughter
Mary and her husband William to
throne – both Protestants.
 They had to accept the English Bill of
Rights before coronation.
 William and Mary restored colonial
freedoms and self-government.
 The Glorious Revolution and the
English Bill of Rights inspired the
colonists and the American
Revolution.
New Ideas cont.
 The Enlightenment (writers)
 John Locke – Natural rights (basic
human rights) and human
understanding ( born with ability
to improve one’s life)
 Jean-Jacques Rousseau –
Government should be formed by
the consent of the people, who then
make the laws they will live under.
 Baron Montesquieu – 3 branches of
government, separation of powers,
checks and balances.
Q. How did the Glorious Revolution affect the colonies?
A. When William and Mary assumed the throne, Parliament
required them to accept the English Bill of Rights, which granted
freedom of speech, banned excessive bail and cruel and unusual
punishments, and guaranteed every English subject the right to an
impartial jury in legal cases. As English subjects, these rights were
guaranteed to the colonists too.
William and Mary also restored the colonies right to resume their
previous form of government, and they stopped interfering in their
religion.
The Glorious Revolution also suggested to the colonists that a
revolution was justified if the government in power was violating
individual rights.
The English Bill of Rights was the foundation for many of the
colonists’ complaints against the King and it inspired our own Bill
of Rights.
Q. How (specifically) did the Enlightenment Thinkers inspire the Founding
Fathers.
A. John Locke’s theory of government and natural law influenced Thomas
Jefferson when he wrote about the rights of life, liberty, and happiness in
the Declaration of Independence.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Social Contract inspired the Founding Fathers to
assert that a government was only legitimate if it had the consent of the
people.
At the Constitutional Convention, our Founding Fathers were inspired by
Baron Montesquieu’s The Spirit of Laws, which suggested that there are
three types of political power and that power should be separated into
three branches of government and the branches should each check the
power of the other branches.
Section 3 –
The American Revolution
Growing Rebelliousness
 Escalating tensions over British control of the colonies
resulted in a true revolt against British rule. The
colonies established a new government for themselves
and won their independence.
The French and
Indian War
 1754 – 1759 > France and Great
Britain fought for control of the
Ohio Valley.
 France wanted to continue fur
trading while the British wanted
to establish settlements in the
region.
 Both sides allied themselves
with Native American tribes.
 Britain won the war and France
lost all its possessions in North
America.
Unpopular Regulations.
 Proclamation Act of 1763
 Sugar Act of 1764
 Quartering Act of 1765
 Stamp Act of 1765
 Sons of Liberty formed.
 Protests and boycotts.
 Stamp Act repealed in 1766.
 Townshend Acts of 1767
 Boston Massacre, 1770
The Boston Massacre
The Colonists Defy
Britain
 committees of
correspondence – inter-colony
communication
 Tea Act of 1773
 Boston Tea Party – 1773
 Coercive Acts of 1774
(Intolerable Acts)
 Quebec Act of 1774
 First Continental Congress –
September 1774
The Revolution
Begins
 Massachusetts militia – the minute
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men.
Loyalists or Tories (New England and
Virginia)
Patriots or Whigs (Georgia, North and
South Carolina, and New York)
April 1775 – Lexington and Concord
May 1775 – Bunker Hill
May/June 1775 – Second Continental
Congress meets.
George Washington named general
and commander in chief of the
Continental Army.
Decision for Independence
 July, 1775 – Continental Congress send King George the
Olive Branch Petition.
 King rejects OBP and declares the colonists “open and
avowed enemies”.
 January 1776, Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense
 July 4th, 1776 Declaration of Independence signed.
War for Independence
 British Advantages
 Money
 Size, discipline, and experience of army
 Navy
 Supplies
War for Independence
 Colonial Advantages
 “Home field advantage”
 Local support
 Guerrilla warfare
 Shorter supply routes
 A Greater Cause
 George Washington
Read pages 28 & 29 in the text and complete a
Key Battles of the Revolution chart
Battle
Date
Location
Result
The Northern
Campaign
 Under General Howe, Britain
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captures New York City
Dec. 25, 1776 Washington crosses
Delaware River and captures
Trenton, New Jersey
September 1777, General Howe
wins Battle of Brandywine Creek
and captures Philadelphia, but
Continental Congress escape.
January 1778, under General
Burgoyne, Britain loses Battle of
Saratoga (turning point of the war)
February 1778, France openly aides
America.
Fighting on Other Fronts
 America wins battles on Western frontier
 Britain has success in South, captures Savannah, GA
and Charlestown, SC
 October 7, 1780 Battles of Kings Mountain, Colonial
victory ousts British from South.
The American
Victory
 Fall of 1781, British General Cornwallis
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trapped in Yorktown, VA. Washington has
him surrounded by land and French navy
has him surrounded by sea.
October 19, 1781 – 8,000 British troops
surrender.
British Parliament votes to end the war.
April, 1782 Peace talks begin
September 3, 1783 Treaty of Paris is signed
 Mississippi River is western border
 Florida is given to Spain
 Canada remains in British control
 November 24, 1783 Last British troops leave
New York City
Section 4 – The Constitution
The states created
constitutions that
gave people more
rights, but the
national framework
could not address
all the problems of
the new nation.
New State Constitutions
/
Changes in Society
 Virginia and
 Expanded voting rights
Massachusetts set up 3
branch governments
with bi-cameral (2house) legislatures.
 Most state constitutions
included a bill of rights
 Separation of church and
state
and opportunities to run
for elected office (for
white, male taxpayers)
 Women and AfricanAmericans made no
gains in politics.
Weak National Government
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March 2, 1781 – The Articles of Confederation take effect.
A loose union of states under a federal government
Congress had limited power, 1 vote per state
Congress could negotiate with other countries, declare war
and raise an army.
Congress could NOT regulate trade or impose taxes.
Congress could not compel states to honor treaties made
with other countries.
Congress could not raise money to pay off war debts or the
expenses of running the government
States issued their own money
Shay’s
Rebellion
 States raised taxes to
increase their revenue,
small farmers were losing
property because they
couldn’t pay the taxes, led
to Shay’s Rebellion
 Rebellion put down but
made Congress realize
changes had to be made.
A New Constitution
 1787 Articles need to be revised
 May 1787, Every state sent representatives to Philadelphia to
“revise” the Articles, except Rhode Island
 The 55 delegates soon determined that they needed to
create a new government
 Meeting became the Constitutional Convention
 George Washington named Presiding Officer
Debate and Compromise
State Representation
Taxation and Representation
 Great Compromise
 The Three-Fifth’s Compromise
(Connecticut Compromise)
 Southern states wanted slaves to
 Legislative branch would
count towards the population
for representation.
have 2 chambers
 Senate would be equal
representation, 2 per state,
chosen by state legislatures.
 House representation would
be determined by population
and chosen by voters.
 Northern states wanted
slaves to count towards the
population for taxation.
 Every 5 slaves would count as
3 people when calculating
the population of a state.
Framework of Government
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Popular Sovereignty – Rule by the People
Representative Government- Elected Representatives
Federalism – Power divided between national and state governments
Power to levy taxes
All states had to follow Congress’s laws
3 Branches of Government – Separation of Powers/Checks and
Balances
Amending the
Constitution
Ratification of the
Constitution
 Delegates knew it might need to
 September 28, 1787 Congress
be revised over time but wanted
it to be a difficult process so it
wouldn’t change too much.
 2-step process – Proposal and
Ratification
voted to submit the
Constitution to the states.
 Each state held a convention
to debate and vote on it.
 9 of the 13 states were needed
for the Constitution to
become law.
 Delaware was the first state to
ratify the Constitution
(December 7, 1787)
1. Explain the points of view held by
the Federalists and the Anti-federalists
regarding the ratification of the
Constitution? (Explain the opinions
held by each side and why they held
those opinions.)
2. EXPLAIN which side you would have
agreed with. (Make your choice based
on either sides position.)
Debating the Constitution
Federalists (in favor of ratifying the Antifederalists (against ratifying the
Constitution)
Constitution)
Read pages 39 to 41. Make a chart like this in your Learning Log.
Identify which groups of people were Federalists and which groups
*
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were
Antifederalists Then, summarize
the key points in favor of, and
against ratification of the Constitution.
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*
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Debating the Constitution
 Federalists supported the Constitution
 Felt the Constitution was a good balance between State and
Federal governments.
 The Federalists – A collection of essays written by James
Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay in support of the
Constitution.
 Anti-federalists opposed the Constitution
 Worried the federal government could become too powerful
 Wanted a Bill of Rights included
 The promise of a Bill of Rights was enough to get the last
few states to ratify the Constitution.
 Rhode Island was the last, May of 1790
“We may be tossed upon an ocean
where we can see no land - nor,
perhaps, the sun or stars. But there is
a chart and a compass for us to
study, to consult and to obey. That
chart is the Constitution.” What did
Daniel Webster mean by this?
Chapter 1 Quiz Review
 Know how the arrival of Europeans to the America’s affected
both Native American culture and European culture. (pg. 15)
 Know how Enlightenment philosophers like John Locke, JeanJacques Rousseau, and Baron Montesquieu influenced our
nations Founding Fathers
 Considering the series of events that led the colonies to seek
their independence from England, suggest and explain a way
the colonies and England might have avoided the war, or,
explain why the irreconcilable differences were to great for them
to overcome and why war was inevitable.
 Be able to explain how and why compromise was an integral
part of the creation and ratification of our Constitution. Also,
comment on what today’s political leaders might learn from the
Founding Fathers.