America's Past
History Class
Chapter-1: America's Geographic Setting
Geography of the United States, Native Americans and their land, Native American Cultural Regions, How & Why Europeans came to the Americas? Routes of Exploration to the Americas
Chapter-2: Colonial Times
Compare & contrast six early English settlements and read about diverse historical perspectives. Conduct a deep study of primary sources related to the history of enslavement of Africans in the Americas. Visit exhibits depicting government, religion, and society in colonial Williamsburg. Conduct an inquiry to determine how geography affected the development of colonial America.
Chapter-3: The American Revolution
Analyze the cause and affects of events leading to tension with Great Britain. Conduct a debate between loyalists and Patriots. Study drafts of Declaration of Independence and re-write key passages in everyday language. Experience the Revolutionary War through a game of tug-of war. Conduct an inquiry to determine how the relationship between Great Britain and its American colonies frayed to the point of snapping like a rope.
Chapter-4: Civics and Economics in America
Create a graphic organizer to show how the US government functions. Perform mini dramas related to violations of a citizens right under the Bill of Rights. Study the civic values of early leaders and use them to create a community improvement plan. Complete puzzles related to economic concepts. Conduct an inquiry to determine how the Constitution and Bill of Rights provide Americans a foundation for success.
Chapter-5: Manifest Destiny to Today
Lesson - 1
Geography Of The United States
What can geography teach us about the United States?
Before we study the history of the United States, we need to know about our country's geography. The word geography comes from two Greek words - geo meaning "Earth," and graph, meaning "describing." Geography describes our physical world and how we interact with it. Geographers study Earth and its land, features, and people. Thinking like a geographer can help us locate places, find out how bodies of water affect people, and better understand landmasses, climate, and where plants grow.
Geographers also study how our physical surroundings affect us. For example, they look at the reason why mountains make it hard for people to move from place to place. They might also study how certain climates affect where people choose to live. Learning about the geography of the United States will help you better understand our country's history.
In this lesson, we will learn some geography skills for reading maps. First, we will learn what a globe is and how you can read it. We will then learn about latitude and longitude, so you can find a location on Earth. Next, we will learn about geographic terms that will help us describe different bodies of water and landmasses.
1. Understanding Latitude and Longitude:
Geographers begin to study a place by finding its absolute location, or exact "address" on Earth. To do so, they use two types and longitude. With these lines, they can pinpoint any place on Earth. Distances between these lines are measured in degrees.
The lines that run east and west around Earth are called parallels of latitude. These imaginary lines show how far north or south a place is. The distance between parallel lines is always the same.
The starting point for measuring parallels of latitude is the equator. The equator is halfway between the North Pole and the South Pole. It is at 0• latitude. All places located north of the equator are north latitude, and all places located south of the equator are the poles. The North Pole is at 90˙ north latitude, and the South Pole is at 90• south latitude.
Other parallels of latitude have special names. The Arctic Circle is located at 66.5• north latitude, also written as 66.5• N. The tropic of Cancer is at 23.5• N. The Antarctic Circle is located at 66.5• S. The Tropic of Capricorn is at 23.5• S. Find these special lines on the World Map: Latitude and Longitude. These lines also separate areas of Earth that receive different amounts of sunlight throughout the year. The closer a line of latitude is to the equator, the more sunlight a place can receive throughout the year.
The lines that run between the North Pole to the South Pole are called meridians of longitude. These imaginary lines show how far east or west a place is from the prime meridian. These lines are half-circles. They are not parallels because they are not always the same distance apart. They are farthest apart where they cross the equator. All lines of longitude meet at the poles.
The starting place for measuring longitude is the prime meridian or first meridian. It is numbered 0•. All lines to the east of this line are east longitude, and all lines to the west of this line are west longitude. There is one line that is the same distance east and west of the prime meridian. This line, at 180• longitude and the prime meridian - forms a circle that divides Earth into the Eastern and Western hemispheres.
Earth is a sphere or something that is shaped like a ball. Most maps that show Earth's surface are flat. But a globe is a type of map that is a sphere, and so it provides a more accurate picture of our planet.
Maps, like a globe, are important because they help people understand geography or the study of the world around us and its people. People can use a globe to find places around Earth.
The most northern point on Earth is the North Pole, and the most southern point is the South Pole. No matter where we are on Earth, the North is always in the direction of the North Pole, and the South is always in the direction of the South Pole. When we face north, east is to your right, and west is to your left. These four directions are the main points on a compass. These directions are called cardinal directions.
Points in between the cardinal directions are called intermediate directions. These directions include northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest. Many maps have a symbol that shows all or some of these directions. This symbol is called a compass rose.
An imaginary line circles Earth halfway between the North Pole and the South Pole. This line is called the equator, and it divides Earth into two half-spheres called hemispheres. The half of Earth north of the equator is the Northern Hemisphere.
Another special imaginary line runs from the North Pole to the South Pole. It forms half of a circle that divides Earth into two equal parts. This line is called the prime meridian. On the world map, half of the world is to the east of the prime meridian. This half of Earth is called the Eastern Hemisphere. The half of Earth that is to the west of the prime meridian is called the Western Hemisphere.
3. Political Geography of the United States:
Today, the United States is made up of 50 states, which you can see on a political map. People create states to support their needs. To do this, each state has its own government. The government of each state is found in its state capital.
4. Describing Water and Landforms:
Geographers use specific terms to describe the physical features of the land. A physical feature on Earth's surface is called a landform.Between ranges of mountains or hills are low areas called valleys. Geographers can describe a valley by its shape. Some valleys have a U-shape, while others have a V-shape. Glaciers carved out many of these valleys thousands of years ago.
Sometimes an area of land has water around it. Land that has water surrounding it on three sides is called a peninsula. A cape is a piece of land that juts out into the water and is usually smaller or narrower than a peninsula. Unlike a peninsula or cape, an island is completely surrounded by water. Many islands are found in the middle of rivers, lakes, seas, and gulfs. Another type of landform is a delta. A delta is formed when soil is deposited at the mouth of a river, and it is usually shaped like a triangle or a bird's foot.
Chapter- 2
Colonial Times
Word Meaning:
climate = weather elements, such as temperature, rainfall, and wind, that are measured over a period of time in an area
compass = a tool or instrument for finding directions
geography = the study of our physical surroundings and how humans interact with them.
auction = a public sale in which property is sold to the highest bidder
enslaver = someone who captures or holds another person for purposes of slavery, such as a plantation owner environment everything that surrounds a given area
Middle Passage = the voyage of ships carrying enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean, from West Africa to the West Indies and the American continents
overseer = a person who was in charge of the work of enslaved people and who could punish them for disobeying him
Vocabulary Activity:
1. The voyage of ships carrying enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean, from West Africa to the West Indies and the American continents, was the ……………………………………………..
2. An ………………………….. was a public sale in which people who were enslaved were sold to the highest bidders.
3. An ...................... was someone who captured or held another person for purposes of slavery.
4. An ……………………………………..was in charge of the work of enslaved people and could punish them for disobeying him.
5… ………………………………………..was the exchange of enslaved people and goods using shipping routes across the Atlantic Ocean between Europe, the Americas, and West Africa.
6. An ………………………………..was someone who captured or held another person for purposes of slavery.
Atlantic slave trade:
Many of the British colonies used the labor of enslaved West African people. Southern Colonies with large farms depended on enslaved people to grow crops.
People in West Africa had many different ways of life. Some worked as farmers in villages, while others worked as traders and lived in cities. The family was important to many West African cultures. They also spoke many languages, practiced different religions, and told tales and fables to one another.
Starting in the late 1400s, Portuguese traders traveled to West Africa. They brought guns and other goods with them. Leaders in West Africa wanted these things. In exchange for these goods, the leaders enslaved and sold people. It was common to enslave people during this time in history in many parts of the world. If the land was conquered, the people that lived there were sometimes enslaved too.
Early West African society:
West Africa stretches from modern-day Mauritania to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It encompasses lush rainforests along the equator, savannas on either side of the forest, and much drier land to the north. Until about 600 CE, most Africans living in this area were hunter-gatherers.
In the driest areas, herders maintained sheep, goats, cattle, or camels. In the more heavily wooded area near the equator, farmers raised yams, palm products, or plantains. The savanna areas yielded crops including rice, millet, and sorghum.
Africans organized their societies around the family unit, and gold supply often dictated which society held the most power—until the start of the Atlantic slave trade.
The beginning of the Atlantic slave trade in the late 1400s disrupted African societal structure as Europeans infiltrated the West African coastline, drawing people from the center of the continent to be sold into slavery.
New sugar and tobacco plantations in the Americas and the Caribbean heightened the demand for enslaved people, ultimately forcing a total of 12.5 million Africans across the Atlantic and into slavery.
Many Europeans justified their racist actions by claiming that West Africans were meant to be enslaved and serve them.
It was not long before other European countries began likewise enslaving Africans. The British enslaved African people and sent them to their colonies in North America. Newly enslaved Africans were forced to march across Africa to the western coast. They were put on ships and endured harsh conditions as they crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Those who survived were sold and auctioned off to plantation owners in North America. They were forced to work in miserable conditions.
Q.4. "Three Sisters" farming was an agricultural system of companion planting innovated by the Iroquois-speaking peoples of the Northeast; farmers planted corn, beans, and squash together. The beans used the cornstalks as a trellis to grow on, but how did beans benefit the other two plants in the system?
Ans: Bacteria on the roots of beans ‘fix’ nitrogen from the atmosphere into the soil, fertilizing the earth for the benefit of the corn and squash.
With soil fertilization provided by the bean roots, corn, and squash could grow easily without any added fertilizer or labor.
Q.1. Why is it important that the Three Sisters' agricultural system combined beans, corn, and squash?
Ans: The Iroquois and the Cherokee called corn, bean, and squash the three sisters' because they nurture each other like family when planted together. These agriculturalists placed the corn in small hills planting beans around them and interspersing Squash throughout the field.
Q.5. "Around 7,000 years ago, agriculture emerged in Mesoamerica, including the domestication of maize, beans, and squash, causing major changes in the plants that people cultivated. Three sisters' agriculture had spread across Mexico by 3,500 years ago, though they originated at different times."
-Source: Amanda J. Landon, anthropologist, "The 'How' of the Three Sisters," 2008
Why was this method of planting important?
Ans: These three crops mutually supported each other's growth, a system that spread from present-day Mexico northward into the present-day American Southwest.
The sharing of this valuable agricultural information sustained communities in present-day Mexico and the present-day American Southwest for centuries before the arrival of Europeans.
Q.2. Why did the Sioux live in structures like those depicted in the image?
Ans: Many types of Sioux people lived in teepees because they suited their lifestyle and the environment they lived in. The teepee was uniquely suited to a semi-nomadic existence on the American Great Plains. Teepees could be taken down and set up very quickly.
the conception of the city of Cahokia, near modern-day St. Louis. At its peak around 1100 CE, Cahokia had 20,000 residents.
Representative Government= a form of government where the citizens elect the leaders to make decisions on their behalf
democratic = relating to a form of government in which people have the power to rule themselves, often through elected representatives.
assembly = a body of lawmakers
economy = the way people use their resources to meet needs and want.
grant = to give something to someone of lower rank as a favor or privilege
indentured servant = a person who works for a period of time to pay off money owed for a debt
Plantation = a large farm on which crops are grown by free or enslaved workers.
protest = an action that shows disapproval or an objection to something.
Colonists grew crops and raised animals on a small farm
The first settlers to come to Massachusetts were the Pilgrims, who arrived in Plymouth in 1620.
Massachusetts had a more democratic government than most countries in Europe.
John Winthrop was elected governor 12 times between 1630 and 1649.
Pennsylvania's geography provided many resources. The Delaware River Valley had rich soil for farming. There were forests for timber. Other raw materials included coal and minerals such as iron and copper. Rivers offered easy transportation. Winters were cold and snowy, but the climate did not discourage colonists.
In 1681, England's King Charles II granted land in North America to Penn, which he used to find Pennsylvania.
The king approved Penn's appointment of the colony's governor.
An assembly met to pass or reject laws made by a council.
All men who owned property could vote for members of the General Assembly.
In 1696, the colony became more democratic when the elected members of the Assembly gained the power to write laws.
The New England, Middle, and Southern Colonial Regions
People came to each of the colonial regions for different reasons. Each region had its own geography. Each region offered settlers special choices and ways of life.
Plantations needed many workers. At first, landowners used Native Americans and indentured servants to plant and harvest plantation crops.
Indentured servants worked in other places in the colonies. Soon, southern landowners began to replace these workers with Africans they enslaved.
New York:
Middle Colony:
In 1664, the British took what would become New York from the Dutch. This allowed British settlers in the New England Colonies to move westward.
Rhode Island:
New England Colony:
Puritan leaders did not like the ideas that Anne Hutchinson preached. They put her on trial before forcing her to leave Massachusetts Bay. Rhode Island colonists welcomed her because they offered religious freedom.
What we'll discuss
What really started the Civil War?
What was the Civil War over about?
Who won the Civil War and why?
American Civil War:
Vocabulary:
Abolitionist = a person who wanted to end, or abolish, slavery
Civil War = The bitter conflict fought from 1861 to 1865 between the states that remained in the Union and the states that seceded and formed the Confederacy
Confederacy = The nation formed by the 11 states that left the Union
Secede = to officially withdraw from a government or a country
Sectionalism = strong concern for local interests
Underground Railroad = a system in which abolitionists secretly helped people who had escaped slavery reach freedom
Union = The United States as one country; during the Civil War, the government and the armies of the states that chose to remain a part of the United States
Draft= the selection of people to serve in an army whether or not they wish to serve
Emancipation Proclamation = President Abraham Lincoln's order to free people enslaved in states that were still fighting the Union, and to allow African Americans into the Union army and navy.
Technology= The use of scientific or mechanical knowledge to achieve a practical purpose, such as creating machines and weapons for use in war.
Tensions between the North and South eventually led to the Civil War. The main source of this tension was a difference of opinion over the issue of slavery. Northerners thought slavery was unconstitutional, whereas Southerners had made slavery an important part of their economy.
The Union & The Confederate Armies:
In 1861, neither the North nor the South was prepared to fight a long war. Both sides needed to build strong armies if they wanted to have a chance at winning any potential war.
In the North, President Abraham Lincoln asked men to fight to preserve the Union. He meant that he wanted to keep the Union States as one country. Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation.
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States.
It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states that had seceded.
The central cause of the war was the dispute over whether slavery would be permitted to expand into the western territories, leading to more slave states, or be prevented from doing so, which was widely believed would place slavery on a course of ultimate extinction.
Positive Effects:
Dissolution of the Confederacy
Re-uniting the country
Abolished slavery
Secession:
The action of withdrawing formally from membership of a federation or body, especially a political state.
The causes behind Southern states' decision to secede were complex and have been historically controversial; most academic scholars identify slavery as the central cause of the war.
The Union (also known as the North) won the American Civil War. The main reasons for the Union's victory were its superior resources (including manpower), transportation, and industrial capacity, as well as the effective leadership of President Abraham Lincoln and the military strategies of General Ulysses S. Grant.
President During the Civil War:
Abraham Lincoln:
Republican; ordered Union naval blockade of the South; delivered landmark Gettysburg Address; preserved the Union during the worst political and moral crisis in US history; abolished slavery; assassinated while in office; served one term.
Industrial Revolution:
Population shifted:
Goods were mass-produced
Increased efficiency, increased production, lower cost
Wages increased
Technology developments increased
Abraham Lincoln’s election in November 1860 was the final straw, and within three months seven southern states–South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas–had seceded from the United States.
United States History, Government, and Citizenship
A. European Exploration and Colonization
The European colonization of the Americas was the invasion, settlement, and establishment of control of the continents of the Americas by various European powers; Spain, France, and England. The motives ranged from finding riches to spreading religion. The main motive was to find the Northwest Passage which was believed to be a direct and efficient route to the Orient, where the European powers could claim spices, silks, and wealth.
Key Motives:
* Spanish - Gold, Northwest Passage
*French - Spread Christianity, Northwest Passage
* England - colonize, Northwest Passage
Explorers to Know:
* Christopher Columbus: Made one of the most famous voyages of exploration in 1492 when he sailed from Palos, Spain in search of a route to Asia and the Indies. Instead, Columbus found the New World - the Americas.
Hernan Cortes - In 1519, Cortes landed in Mexico with 600 men and fewer than 200 horses. Upon discovering the vast Aztec wealth, Corte's motivations quickly changed from colonization and Christianity to acquiring gold. Cortes began the first phase of the Spanish colonization of the Americas and conquered the Aztec empire.
Early English Settlements
What challenges did the first English colonies face?
Colonist = a person who settles in a colony
Representative government = a type of government that gives people the power to rule themselves, often through elected representatives
Monarchy = a form of government where the ruler is a king or queen
Democratic = a form of government where the citizens elect the leaders to make decisions and vote on their behalf
Settlement = a small community created by settlers in a new territory
Mayflower Compact = a set of rules written by the Pilgrims to help them live together peacefully.
European colonizers who settled in regions of the Americas paved the way for larger groups to follow. These groups left Europe for many different reasons, but they all shared the same goal of finding a better life. Each group made a difficult voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Then they built small communities called settlements. The first three English settlements were Roanoke, Jamestown, and Plymouth. The settlers in these places faced many challenges.
In 1585, Roanoke, an island off the coast of North Carolina, became the first English settlement. No one knows what happened to its settlers. Few signs of them remained when ships from England came to find them later. That is why, today, Roanoke is called the "lost colony."
More than 20 years after the attempt to settle in Roanoke, 105 Englishmen arrived in present-day Virginia seeking gold and other riches. They began a settlement called Jamestown. Despite many hardships, Jamestown became the first successful English colony in North America.
A few years later, a group of 102 English people arrived in present-day New England. They built a settlement called Plymouth, in what is now the state of Massachusetts. Most of these people had left England to seek religious freedom. They became known as the Pilgrims. A pilgrim is someone who goes on a religious journey.
As you learn about these communities, think about the hardships faced by these three groups of English settlers.
Why did some settlements survive while others did not?
The Lost Settlement of Roanoke
In the 1500s, Spain was a powerful nation. Its ships sailed to the Spanish colonies in the Americas and brought riches back to Spain.
Sir Walter Raleigh, a sea captain, and the soldier was a friend of Queen Elizabeth I. He believed that England could be more powerful if it had American colonies of its own. In 1584, he sent two ships to explore the coast of North America.
The ships landed on an island near present-day North Carolina. The sailors named the island Roanoke, for the Native Americans who lived there. The explorers soon returned to England and told Raleigh that the island had fish, animals, fruits, vegetables, and friendly people. It would be an ideal place to create a new community or a settlement.
The next year, Raleigh sent some men to start a colony. Unfortunately, few of the settlers were farmers, and supplies quickly ran short. When fighting broke out between the English and the Roanoke, the settlers gave up and went home.
In 1587, Raleigh sent more than 150 new settlers, consisting of farmers and skilled workers, to Roanoke. Later that year,, Captain John White went back to England for supplies. Because England was fighting a war with Spain, White's ships were not allowed to return to the colony.
Three years later, White finally returned to Roanoke, but there was no sign of the settlers. Everything, including their houses, was gone. The only clue White discovered was the word CROATOAN carved into the gatepost of a ruined fort. He thought the settlers might have moved to the island of Croatoan or joined a Native American group with that name. Before he could find out, however, the weather turned bad, and he could not search the area. Despite many efforts to solve the mystery, no one has discovered what happened to the colony.
Roanoke:
1. Why did settlers come, and what did they find when they arrived?
They came to visit this place and see what was there. They find this writing on the tree.
Jamestown:
Why did settlers come, and what did they find when they arrived?
In 1606, England was ruled by King James I. The English people did not choose him as their leader because England was a monarchy, a government in which the ruler inherits his or her power. During this time, King James I gave a group of wealthy men permission to start a colony in North America. The group sent 105 men to settle in Virginia. They hoped a colony would make them richer.
Westward Expansion:
Many factors contributed to the westward expansion, which was the movement of settlers into the American West from about 1840 to 1850. The primary factors for the expansion were population growth and the search for new land for economic benefit. The westward expansion was fueled by the Gold Rush, the Oregon Trail, and the benefit of Manifest Destiny.
Gold Rush: When gold was discovered in California in 1848, people from California were the first to rush to the goldfields. News quickly spread to Oregon and Latin America and eventually throughout the world.
Oregon Trail - A major route from Missouri to Oregon that pioneers used to migrate west.
Manifest Destiny - Belief that the United States was destined by God to expand control and spread democracy across the continent.
The Louisiana Purchase - The Louisiana Purchase was a land deal between the United States and France in which the United States acquired approximately 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million. The Louisiana Purchase occurred during Thomas Jefferson's team as president.
The Erie Canal (1825) - The Erie Canal is a man-made waterway that connects the Atlantic Ocean through New York City- to the Great Lakes. The completion of the Erie Canal was significant because it allowed people and freight to travel between the eastern seaboard and the Michigan port.
The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 - This treaty between the United States and representatives of several Native American tribes assigned each tribe a defined territory, where they were to remain. The Fort Laramie Treaty was later broken by the U.S. government when gold was discovered on the land that was assigned to the Native American tribes. The United States seized back the land and pushed Native Americans farther into isolated territories.
Chapter-3
American Revolution:
Use the vocabulary words to complete each sentence. Then use the words in red to create a newspaper headline that reflects what many colonists wanted.
Vocabulary Word Bank:
Act = a law
imported = to bring into a country, especially for sale
Protest = an action that shows disapproval or an objection to something
Boycott = to protest by refusing to use or buy a good or service
Massacre = the murder of several or many people who cannot defend themselves
Repealed = to cancel, or undo, a law
Delegates = people who represent others at a convention or conference
Parliament = the lawmaking part of the British government, similar to the Congress in the United States
First continental congress = the meeting of delegates from 12 colonies, held to present complaints to King George III, to set up a boycott of British goods, and to arrange a second meeting if needed
Proclamation = an official public announcement
Fill in the Blanks.
1. The colonists would...............................or destroy British goods as a form of ................................
2. Parliament passed taxation........................requiring colonists to pay for a stamp on printed papers.
3. King George III wanted no colonial representation in ......................................
4. There were 56 .............................. at the ........................................in 1774.
5. A............................. is an official announcement dealing with an important matter.
6. Colonists who wanted taxes to be ...................were often violent toward tax collectors.
7. A......................................is to purposely kill a number of people in a cruel way with no warning.
8. The Townshend Act taxed tea ..................................by the colonies without the colonists' consent.
The Quartering Act:
The British government kept thousands of soldiers in North America after the French and Indian War. Great Britain wanted to protect its colonies and keep them under closer control.
Great Britain wanted the colonies to help pay for the protection provided by its troops. In 1765, the British Parliament passed a new law called the Quartering Act. An act is a law. The Quartering Act ordered the colonists to provide quarters, or places to live, for British troops. The colonists also had to give the soldiers food, fuel, and transportation.
The Quartering Act angered the colonists, and they began to protest, or object to, this act. They did not want to pay for British troops in the colonies. Therefore, many colonists treated the soldiers badly.
The Stamp Act:
After fighting the French and Indian War, Great Britain needed money to pay its debts. In 1765, to raise money, Parliament passes a new tax law called the Stamp Act.
The Stamp Act said that colonists had to pay a tax on printed papers. Newspapers, pamphlets, marriage licenses, and playing cards were taxed. When a colonist paid the tas, an official would mark the printed paper with a large stamp.
In October of 1765, nine colonies sent delegates to a special gathering in New York. This meeting became known as the Stamp Act Congress. The delegates thought that all British subjects had a right to vote on taxes through representatives. But the colonies had no representatives in Parliament, so the delegates said that it was unfair for Parliament to pass tax laws like the Stamp Act. To them, such laws were an example of taxation without representation.
The colonists' angry protests surprised King George III and Parliament. However, British leaders knew that they could not force the colonists to obey the Stamp Act. In March of 1766, Parliament repealed the law. But Parliament let the colonies know that it still believed in its right to tax them.
Shaping America's Economy:
Vocabulary :
Consumer = someone who buys goods and services
Demand = the amount of a good or service that people will want at all prices
Free market economy = a type of economy where people decide what to buy and sell
interest = a small payment that is added for borrowed money
Producer = someone who makes goods or provides services
Specialization = a skill or knowledge in one job
Supply = how much of a good or service is available to buy at all prices
Tariff = a tax on goods from other places
After creating a powerful series of laws to protect the rights of citizens, the Continental Congress faced another difficult problem. It needed money to pay for the debts it ran up during its war with Great Britain. But since the nation was new, it did not have enough money to pay for the soldiers or supplies that it needed for the war. To solve this problem, the new nation had to borrow a lot of money from its citizens and from other countries.
The first economy of the United States was under the Articles of Confederation. However, the government did not have enough power to pay back money or protect the rights of its citizens. The Founding Fathers discussed how to fix this problem, and they used their ideas when they created the Constitution.
1. A Free Market Economy:
Throughout Europe in the 1700s, different countries tried to control trade so that they could gather gold, silver, and other goods. The governments of these countries tried to control what people bought and sold so that the nation could become rich. This type of economy was called a mercantile economy. In a mercantile economy, nations tried to control trade by taxing goods and limiting how much could be imported from other nations around the world.
In 1776, the same year that the Declaration of Independence was signed and the new nation was formed, a Scottish philosopher named Adam Smith wrote a book called An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
In a free market, people make their own decisions. They decide what to buy, what to make, and what to sell. People make decisions based on what is best for themselves. Producers and consumers interact in a free market. A consumer is a person who buys a T-shirt, you are a consumer. A producer is a person or company that makes a sells items. The company that made the T-shirt you bought from the store is a producer. In a free market, the consumer gets an item they want and the producer gets money. Both people get what they want from the trade.
Alexander Hamilton did not share the same opinions as Thomas Jefferson. He believed that government should take a larger role in the economy.
One policy that Jefferson opposed was the idea of taxing Americans. These taxes could be placed on the money people made and the goods and services they bought, like the Stamp Act had done to the colonists.
The Constitution & Money:
Alexander Hamilton was put in charge of the Department of Treasury. This department was given many different and important responsibilities within the Constitution.
The Treasury is able to borrow money in the name of the government. The government borrows money by taking out loans from people and other countries. Over time, the government pays back all the money it borrows, plus a little bit more. This extra money is called interest. This way, both the government and the people it borrows from gain something.
The Continental Congress listened to the opinions of both men. Over time, the two men worked together and made compromises about how the economy of the United States would work.
The Constitution & Trade:
Trade was very important to the new nation because of specialization. Some states may only produce certain types of goods, while other states produce other types of goods. Many states depend on one another to get the goods that they want. All states benefit from specialization.
Under the Articles, a state had goods from other states or countries. Some states used this power to try and make their own economy stronger. However, putting tariffs on goods created problems between the states because these tariffs did not allow some states to get the goods or services that they wanted.
The Founding Fathers decided to create a system of government that encouraged and protected a free market economy for the new nation. Through the Founding Fathers chose to encourage a free market economy in the new nation, and many disagreed about how large of a role the government should have in that economy. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton fought each other over this issue. They compromised with one another and made many new laws about the economy.
The Constitution also affects trade and businesses around the United States. It removed taxes on trade between states, prevented the government from taking property, and protected competition in the free market.
Manifest Destiny & Settling the West
Vocabulary:
Acquisition = something that is gained, or acquired
Annex = to add or incorporate into a country
Boundary = the geographic line between two places, such as two countries
Cede = to give up that is grown in large quantities for sale
Expedition = a group sent to explore unknown places
Manifest destiny = an American belief in the 1800s that it was the natural right of the United States to expand westward to the Pacific Ocean
Reservation = an area of land set aside by the United States government for Native Americans to live on
Territory = a large region of land
The United States in 1783:
When the American Revolution ended in 1783 the original 13 colonies along the Atlantic Coast became the United States. The new nation also decided to annex or add most of the land that stretched from the colonies to the Mississippi River, which had previously been under British control. Soon, more settlers began moving west into this territory, land belonging to Native Americans. Some settlers wanted to go even farther, across the Mississippi River. Most used horse-drawn wagons to make the trip west. Eventually, this method would give way to railroads and steamboats.
Americans were proud of their new country. Many Americans believed that it was their natural right to spread their religions, government, and ways of life westward across North America to the Pacific Ocean. In 1845, a newspaper writer called this idea the manifest destiny of the United States.
Louisiana Purchase (1803):
The first land acquisition for the United States was the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The United States bought most of the land between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains from France.
In the 1830s, the U.S. government forced several tribes from their homelands in the South. Thousands of the Choctaws, Creeks, Chickasaws, and Cherokees had to move onto reservations in what is now Oklahoma. Many starved, froze to death or died from diseases on the brutal trip west.
Lewis & Clark Expedition (1804 - 1806):
Shortly before he completed the Louisiana Purchase, President Jefferson made plans for an expedition to explore the huge territory, Two former soldiers, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, led the group. They would map the Louisiana Territory and would also look for the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean. Jefferson asked them to take notes on the soil, plants, animals, and Native American tribes that they came across in their travels.
In May 1804, Lewis and Clark started up the Missouri River from St. Louis, Missouri. They took more than 40 other men with them, including a man enslaved by Clark, York. York would become the first Black man recorded to cross North America.Florida Acquisition (1819):
In the early 1800s, most of the land we know today as Florida was under Spanish rule. Americans in the Southeast wanted this land. Enslavers in Georgia were angry because some people who had been enslaved had escaped to Florida.
In 1817, General Andrew Jackson marched his army into Florida. He captured two Spanish forts, including the one at Pensacola, the capital of Spanish Florida. President James Monroe did not fully support General Jackson. However, Monroe wanted Florida, so he did not stop Jackson.
Acquisition of Oregon Country (1846):
In 1844, James Polk was elected president of the United States. He promised to take control of all of Oregon Country, from the northern border of California to the southern edge of Alaska. This area's northern boundary was deep in British-controlled territory. The boundary was located at latitude 54०40՛ north.
Mexican Cession (1848) and Gadsden Purchase (1853):
In February 1848, Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The agreement required Mexico to cede around half of its territory to the United States. The territory was called the Mexican Cession. It included the present-day states of California, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada, as well as parts of four other states. Mexico also agreed to the Rio Grande as the border of Texas. The United States paid Mexico $15 million for this land - a region rich with natural resources, including silver and gold, and farmland.
The Modern United States
Industrialization = the process by which new inventions cause society to change from farm work to manufacturing goods
urbanization = the growth of cities
drought = a long period with unusually low rainfall, which hurts growing and living conditions
segregation = the separation of people, especially by race
Industrialization:
Before the 1700s, many people in the United States lived as farmers. They sometimes worked in small towns or villages. However, beginning in the late 1700s, the country went through a period of industrialization.
In 1793, a British textile factory worker named Samuel Slater brought steam and water power machinery to the United States. Over the next few decades, other industries used the technology that Slater brought. Canals, steamboats, and railroads transported people and goods more quickly over longer distances. Many Americans moved to cities and took jobs in factories and offices. The shift from farms to cities is called urbanization.
Progressive Era:
After industrialization, many people began to move close together, which caused some problems. During this time, people began to work together to fix the problems that many Americans faced. This movement to improve the lives of Americans was called the Progressive Era.
World War I
In the summer of 1914, a war broke out in Europe. Today, we call it World War I.
For years, the nations of Europe had built up their armies and navies. As tensions grew, friendly nations promised to fight together if war broke out. One such group of nations was called the Central Powers. It included Germany and Austria-Hungary. Another group was called the Allied forces, or the Allies. It eventually included Russia, France, Italy, Japan, and Great Britain. In 1914, Russia and Austria-Hungary had a dispute. Soon, this conflict drew in other nations. In all, 32 countries, including the United States, became involved.
New inventions gave the armies dangerous weapons, including machine guns, tanks, and poison gas. These weapons enabled troops to kill one another by the thousands. Soldiers on both sides fought from trenches. During weeks and months of bloody battles, armies sometimes moved their trenches just a few yards. When the war ended after four years, more than 8.5 million soldiers were dead. So were 13 million civilians, many from starvation and disease.
In 1917, the United States entered the war on the side of the Allies because German submarines, and underwater ships, were attacking U.S. merchant ships. American troops helped defeat Germany and the other nations of the Central Powers. After the war, the Allies forced a treaty that punished Germany. The treaty took land from Germany and made the German people pay huge sums of money for the damage done in the war. This treaty created great hardships for the Germans. In time, it would help lead to another costly war.
The Great Depression:
After World War I, the U.S. economy grew steadily. During the 1920s, many Americans put their money into stocks. Stocks are shares in the ownership of companies. When companies do well, the value of stocks goes up. If people sell their stocks at that time, they make money. Stocks are bought and sold on the stock market.
The Civil Rights Movement:
The Civil War ended slavery in the nation. However Black people still faced discrimination or unfair treatment. In the 1950s and 1960s, people worked to bring about change. This struggle for equal rights was called the civil rights movement.
The movement began as a fight against segregation in the South. Since the late 1800s, laws, and customs in Southern states had separated White and Black people. Each had their own schools, restaurants, hotels, and parks. Black people could not use water fountains or swimming pools provided for White people. They also had to sit in the back of buses and theaters. The facilities for Black people were not as nice as those for White people.
The U.S. Constitution
Some of the key events of the war as well as a brief summary of the components of the Declaration of Independence.
The Seeds of Government:
After the Revolutionary War, the newly formed United States of America needed to decide what would be its ultimate form of government. While fighting a long and hard struggle to free themselves from the control of the British crown, the colonists also struggled with the idea of a strong central government. The Second Continental Congress deliberated for one year before producing the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, which gathered the former colonies into a loose confederation with a weak central government and most of the power remaining in the hands of the states. Commonly referred to as the Articles of Confederation, this document seemed to the delegates to be the best idea at the time, but it would prove to be deeply flawed and would remain in force for only seven years before being replaced by the Constitution.
Finding Its Center:
After the war with Britain, the newly minted country needed to centralize its government. The Continental Congress had difficulty getting representation from each colony, which made for a painfully slow decision-making process. With such a loose form of centralized government, imposing taxes to pay war debts was also a difficult task.
In 1786 and 1787, delegates from around the country met in Philadelphia, ostensibly to revise the existing Articles of Confederation. However, the Congress agreed to create a constitution that would set the course for a new nation.
The U.S. Constitution:
Below is a review of the basic components of the Constitution.
The Preamble:
The preamble functions as an overview and mission statement for the entire document. Hover here to see the text of the preamble.
Articles:
The articles define the sections of the federal government and their attendant powers. This section establishes the
legislative, judicial, and executive branches of the government. Article Five explains the process of amending the document.
Amendments:
There are twenty-seven amendments to the Constitution; the first ten are known as the Bill of Rights.
Key Players
The signatories of the U.S. Constitution are some of the nation’s iconic figures. Here are some of the important figures who axed their signatures to the Constitution.
George Washington:
The first president, Washington was so revered that some Americans called for him to retain power for life. However, he stepped down after serving two terms as president, which set the tone for all subsequent presidents until FDR, who served four terms.
James Madison:
A protégé of Thomas Jefferson, Madison led the charge to replace the outdated Articles of Confederation. He was elected president in 1808.
Benjamin Franklin:
An American Renaissance man, Franklin was a member of the Continental Congress and a major contributor to the Declaration of Independence.
Review:
- The Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation and provided a more effective centralized government.
- The three branches of the government—executive, legislative, and judicial—are discrete and balance each other’s power.
- The Constitution comprises the preamble and the articles.