Causes of the War
The American Revolution
How the 13 Colonies Were Able to Win Their Independence
• Anglo-French wars of the previous thirty years, in particular the Seven Years War
(1756-63)
• Conflict had been in North America, where it was felt that the colonials had failed
to play their part either financially or in the fighting…
• The army in North America consumed 4% of British government spending….
• Increased British interest in their colonies…
• Removed the fear of French – removed by 1763…
• At the heart of the division between the colonists and Britain was a fundamentally
different concept of the purpose of the colonies….
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GB saw the colonies as a source of raw materials
Stamp Act
Sugar Act
Declaratory Act
Revenue Act
Massachusetts Samuel Adams issued a circular letter calling for common action against
the Act
A campaign of non-importation
Spread of lawlessness
The boycott on Tea
These acts united the colonies in protest
Quebec Act - allowing Catholics
The colonial response was the first Continental Congress, which met in Philadelphia in
September 1774.
Independence
• The Common Sense
• Declaration of Independence
– 7 June a motion to declare independence came before
Congress
– Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Robert Livingston,
– Draft finished the draft on 28 June
– the states apart from New York had approved
independence although Pennsylvania was also
unconvinced….
– Congress finally approved a slightly modified declaration
on 2 July.
– On 4 July the Declaration of Independence was approved
by Congress, although New York did not sign until 15 July.
At issue is the basic question of just “how revolutionary was the American Revolution,” and in
the failure of historians to agree on an answer to that question lies the source of
controversy….. And so the great debate continues.
• The dictionary description of a revolution as a “total or radical change”…
• By its very nature, a colonial society must be, in certain vital ways, unstable.
– Unable to exercise complete political control, subject to continual external intervention and negative
interference, a colonial society cannot achieve effective “maturity” — that is, cannot create and control a
political system that will be suited to the requirements of the interests indigenous to that society….
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A colonial society is an “incomplete” society, and consequently an inherently unstable
society.
– This was as true of American society prior to 1776 as it is today of the colonial societies left in our world.
And, consequently, if instability is the given fact in American society at the beginning of the imperial crisis,
it is hard to see how the classic pattern of “stability replaced by instability” can be imposed upon it…
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The first problem is to achieve: - self-determination and organization
British Empire:
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emphasis on commercial growth rather than on imperial efficiency, its loose organization, and the high
degree of self-government allowed to the colonists
– Americans had developed effective political units which commanded the allegiance of most inhabitants
and served as adequate vehicles for the transition from colonial status to nationhood.
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Colonists:
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a common English inheritance and a common struggle against British “tyranny,” these states made the
transition with a minimum of disagreement and dissension.
– the American case was not a matter of an indigenous native society being expropriated and exploited by
outsiders
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A tightening of English imperial authority after the last war with France brought about a
reaction within the colonies toward complete self-determination, which was achieved finally
through military success.
John Adams and a New America
• John Adams viewed American development like this:
– Contrasting the New World with the Old, he found the former far superior.
– The settlement of America had produced men who “knew that government
was a plain, simple, intelligible thing, founded in nature and reason, and quite
comprehensible by common sense. They detested all the base services and
servile dependencies of the feudal system . . . and they thought all such
slavish subordinations were equally inconsistent with the constitution of
human nature and that religious liberty with which Jesus had made them
free.”
– The problem was that this purity of mind and behavior was always threatened
by contact with the corruption of the Old World.
– Specifically, subordination of Americans to a distant Parliament which knew
little of their needs and desires was not only frustrating but dangerous to the
American experiment:
• “A legislature that has so often discovered a want of information concerning us and
our country; a legislature interested to lay burdens upon us; a legislature, two
branches of which, I mean the lords and commons, neither love nor fear us! Every
American of fortune and common sense, must look upon his property to be sunk
downright one half of its value, the moment such an absolute subjection to parliament
is established.”
– Independence was a logical capstone to such reasoning, although it took
Adams some time to take that final step.
Social and Political Impacts of the
American Revolution
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Liberty for the colonists was not won on the battlefield, nor was it gained when ink marked parchment
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The colonists prior to The Revolution enjoyed a nearly unprecedented amount of freedom
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the dawn of true freedom for America came from a fundamental shift of values and desires deep within the fabric of
society.
their society as a whole had much greater freedom of press, assembly, and speech than in Europe, and their colonial
institutions provided for a relatively high degree of religious tolerance, educational opportunity, and economic
egalitarianism.
The Anglican Church was seen as a vehicle of oppression by England…
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Freedom of religion
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Liberty, republicanism, and independence
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"No Lords Spiritual or Temporal in New England!"
they desired both individual freedom and civic freedom, both freedom from the laws and freedom to arbitrate over those
laws
English traditions such as land inheritance laws were swept away almost immediately…
The Revolution brought myriad consequences to the American social fabric.
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There was no Reign of Terror as in the French Revolution.
There was no replacement of the ruling class by workers' groups as in revolutionary Russia.
How then could the American Revolution be described as radical? Nearly every aspect of American life was somehow
touched by what some term: THE REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT…
States experimented with republican ideas when drafting their own constitutions
From slavery to women's rights, from religious life to voting, American attitudes would be forever changed.
Social Effects:
• Resulted from the imbuement of revolutionary ideals of social
egalitarianism and democracy within society.
– Social democracy flourished as values fundamental to liberalism
pervaded society:
• most states lowered their property holding requirements for voting,
eradicated any traces of European inheritance laws by banning
primogeniture, and allowed for the formation of strong artisan and laborer
trade organizations.
• colonists feared the despotism of George the III,
• they also grew weary of the intimacy between Church and State
• Jefferson wrote in his Statutes at Large or Virginia passed in 1789
– “no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place,
or ministry whatsoever…but that all men shall be free to profess, by argument to
maintain, their opinion in matters of religion.”
• In fact, social democracy had such momentum that in 1787, the
Pennsylvanian Northwest Ordinance – perhaps the most important piece
of legislation passed by the Continental Congress, established the first
organized United States’ territory around the Great Lakes as one free from
slavery or involuntary servitude (except in the case of punishment).
• Land Ordinance of 1784 –
– Proposed by Thomas Jefferson just a month after Virginia
officially handed over western lands to congress, this
ordinance established the process by which new lands
would be divided into states, the process for surveying and
sale, and the qualifications of new states to enter into
Congress.
– This ordinance set the precedent to prohibit any attempts
to colonize newly ceded lands.
• Northwest Ordinance –
– A revision of the earlier Land Ordinance of 1784, the
Northwest Ordinance of 1787 refined some of the earlier
qualifications for statehood.
– It further provided that a certain amount of land had to be
reserved for public education, and that slavery was to be
prohibited in this territory north of the Ohio River.
• The Northwest Ordinance
– officially known as the Ordinance of 1787, created the Northwest Territory, organized its governing
structure, and established the procedures by which territories were admitted as states to the
Union.
– It was derived from a proposal by Thomas Jefferson concerning the formation of states from the
territory acquired as a result of the Revolutionary War.
– The territory stretched from the Ohio River to the Mississippi River to the area around the Great
Lakes and encompassed what is today Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of
Minnesota.
– The reaction to Jefferson's proposal was mixed, and it was only when the Ohio Company of
Associates expressed interest in purchasing the land that Congress took action.
– The ordinance, passed by Congress in July 1787, was significant in providing a framework for the
admission of territories into the Union as states.
– A government composed of a governor, a secretary, and three judges appointed by Congress was
established in the region north of the Ohio River.
– When the population of the territory reached 5,000, the inhabitants were authorized to elect a
legislature and to be represented in the House of Representatives by a nonvoting member- When a
designated area of the territory had 60,000 residents, that area could seek to become a state by
complying with the requirements of the ordinance.
– Congress required that the territory be divided into at least three but not more than five states:
• Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin
– Aside from the provisions concerning statehood, the Northwest Ordinance had two distinct
prohibitions: There was to be no Slavery within the boundaries of the territory, and no law could
be enacted that would impair a contract.
• The Northwest Ordinance was important because it provided the foundation for
the creation of later territories within the Union and established the process by
which territories became states. http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Northwest+Ordinance+of+1787
ORIGIN OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. mad.
mss. A SKETCH NEVER FINISHED NOR APPLIED. 1 James Madison, The Writings, vol. 2 (1783-1787)
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http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=1934&chapter=118616&layout=html&Itemid=27
• The year was 1787.
• The place: the State House in Philadelphia, the
same location where the Declaration of
Independence had been signed 11 years earlier.
• For four months, 55 delegates from the several
states met to frame a Constitution for a federal
republic that would last into "remote futurity.“
• This is the story of the delegates to that
convention and the framing of the federal
Constitution.
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/
Anti-Federalists
• As opposed to Federalists, people that feared a strong central
government, supported states' rights, and opposed ratification of
the U.S. Constitution.
• The Bill of Rights:
– Anti-federalists insisted that a Bill of Rights must be included in the
Constitution to protect individual's rights against a powerful central
government.
• Anti-federalists typically were members of the poorer classes,
but also included patriots Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, James
Monroe, and Richard Henry Lee.
• Anti-federalists strongly opposed the ratification of the U.S.
Constitution in Virginia and New York.
Articles of Confederation
• The document that served as the first official constitution of
the United States from 1781 through 1789.
• The Articles of Confederation dictated a loose organization of
13 independent states, joined together with equal
representation in a Congress, in order to provide for the
common defense.
• The Articles proved too weak to effectively govern the young
nation, however, and delegates meeting at the Annapolis
Convention in 1786 recommended that a new convention be
called to discuss revision of the Articles.
Why The Constitution?
• There are in fact two levels of explanation for the
Constitution, two different sets of problems, two distinct
reform movements in the 1780s that eventually came
together to form the Convention of 1787.
– One operated at the national level and involved problems of the
Articles of Confederation.
– The other operated at the state level and involved problems in
the state legislatures.
– The national problems account for the ready willingness of people
in 1786-87 to accede to the convening of delegates at
Philadelphia.
– But the state problems, problems that went to the heart of
America's experiment in republicanism, account for the radical
and unprecedented nature of the federal government created in
Philadelphia.
The Federalist Papers
• Series of eighty-five essays urging the citizens of New
York to ratify the new United States Constitution.
• Written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and
John Jay, the essays originally appeared anonymously
in New York newspapers in 1787 and 1788 under the
pen name "Publius."
• The Federalist Papers are considered one of the most
important sources for interpreting and understanding
the original intent of the Constitution.
James Madison
• Explained his involvement with the Federalist Papers in
a letter to Thomas Jefferson dated August 10, 1788.
• Madison wrote,
– "I believe I never have yet mentioned to you that
publication. It was undertaken last fall by Jay, Hamilton,
and myself. The proposal came from the two former. The
execution was thrown, by the sickness of Jay, mostly on the
two others. Though carried on in concert, the writers are
not mutually answerable for all the ideas of each other,
there being seldom time for even a perusal of the pieces by
any but the writer before they were wanted at the press,
and sometimes hardly by the writer himself."
Hamilton's Financial Plan
• A major problem facing the first federal government was how to deal with the
financial chaos created by the American Revolution.
• States had huge war debts - There was runaway inflation - Almost all areas of the
economy looked dismal throughout the 1780s.
• George Washington chose the talented Alexander Hamilton, who had served with
him throughout the Revolutionary War, to take on the challenge of directing
federal economic policy as the treasury secretary.
• A Self-Made Man: The American Dream:
– Hamilton is a fascinating character whose ambition fueled tremendous success as a
self-made man.
– Born in the West Indies to a single mother who was a shopkeeper, he learned
his first economic principles from her and went on to apprentice for a large
mercantile firm.
• http://www.ushistory.org/us/18b.asp
• Hamilton's influential connections were not just
with Washington, but included a network of
leading New York merchants and financiers.
• Married into money and power:
– His 1780 marriage to Elizabeth Schuyler, from a
wealthy Hudson River valley land holding family,
deepened his ties to rich and powerful leaders in New
York.
• His innovative financial policies helped overcome
the fiscal problems of the Confederacy, and also
benefited an economic elite with which he had
close ties.
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1757 - July 12, 1804) was one of the
most important, and most conservative and nationalistic, of the
Founding Fathers of the United States.
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After wartime service as chief of staff to
General George Washington, he became a
leading lawyer in New York.
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He called for a strong new constitution to
replace the weak national government:
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in 1788 he wrote half the Federalist Papers,
which mobilized supporters of the
Constitution and continues to be the single
most influential interpretation of
republicanism and what the Constitution
means
He was a leading intellectual of his time,
and the driving force of the Washington
Administration that shaped the young
nation:
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Confederacy
secretary of the treasury
public credit
securities
Bank of the United States
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Hamilton realized that the basis of British
power was its system of centralized tax
collection and its funded national debt
together with its sophisticated banking
structure and its open market in public
securities.
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For a state to wage war successfully, it had
to tax efficiently and borrow cheaply--To
become a powerful nation, America had
to follow the British financial example.
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Hamilton's conclusion horrified Jefferson
and his followers--they saw a deliberate
adoption of British methods as an evil
corruption--a betrayal of the values of
Republicanism inherent in the American
Revolution.
Hamilton played a key role in:
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the continued success of George Washington as his top aide
the ratification of the Constitution in 1788
the interpretation of the Constitution to this day
the policies that made the United States an economic power
writing George Washington's Farewell Address, which
remains one of the finest statements of conservative
principles
• the compromise that placed the nation's capital at
Washington, D.C.
• the election of Thomas Jefferson as president rather than
Aaron Burr in 1801
• As the nation's first Secretary of the Treasury:
– far reaching vision put the United States on an stable financial basis and promoted national unity.
– His Treasury took over state debts as well as debts owed by the national government, and funded
them with long-term national debt, which in turn was paid by a new tariff on imports and a tax on
whiskey.
– set up the Bank of the United States, a central bank to make liquidity in financial markets possible.
– The nation's business and financial communities for the first time became united in a single
economy, and provided critical support for Hamilton.
• Founded the Federalist Party which operated in every state.
– It was the first popular political party in the world, but soon had competition from the
Democratic-Republican Party founded by his great adversary Thomas Jefferson.
– foreign affairs - strong supporter of Britain - & well-balanced British political system.
– Working closely with Washington, Hamilton in 1795 secured the critical Jay Treaty over the intense
opposition of Jeffersonians who favored France in its war with Britain - orchestrated the creation of
a powerful national army in 1798, which he and Washington were to head.
– Adams' achievement of peace with France frustrated Hamilton's plans, so he sabotaged Adams'
reelection in 1800.
– Nevertheless he helped Jefferson become president when it appeared the scoundrel Aaron Burr
might take the office.
– sex scandal: He was killed by Burr in a duel, and for most of the 19th century was a target of
attacks by Democrats as undemocratic and even pro-monarchy.
Alexander Hamilton
• Hamilton is considered to be one of the great expositors
of the American political creed of Republicanism, and set
up programs that proved a strong, effective government
of the people could be made operational without an
aristocracy or monarch.
• His practice and policies continue to be attrative to
conservative groups:
• By the Progressive Era after 1900, however, Hamilton's
nationalism, financial wizardry, and promotion of business and
banking increasingly appealed to conservatives, who made
Hamilton into a hero of their own.