Chapter 5 – You say you want a revolution?

 

  1. Washington’s army
    1. Comprised mainly of militia units – not regular army
    2. Militia were enlisted for short terms, and were undisciplined
    3. Washington depended on each individual state to supply him with troops
  2. Early action
    1. Congress invited Canada to join the new country and fight the British – they didn’t respond
    2. In the South an early victory was achieved at Charles Town
    3. In the North Washington surrounded British held Boston – the British and Loyalist colonist evacuated to Nova Scotia
    4. Parliament sent 45,000 reinforcements to N America (30,000 were paid mercenaries)
    5. Washington and 23,000 men were defeated in New York – retreated to Manhattan
    6. General Howe pushed Washington through New Jersey, and into Pennsylvania.  By this time (December 1776) Washington was down to 8000 men – he would lose most of his troops at the end of the year when their term expired.
    7. On Christmas day, Washington crossed the Delaware river and attacked the British at Trenton N.J., where he captured 900 surprised Brits
    8. He moved on to Princeton NJ and won another battle – Washington convinced many soldiers to stay on and wintered in Morristown NJ
  3. 1777
    1. Howe regrouped and moved toward Philadelphia – he captured it in September 1777
    2. General Burgoyne attacked from the North – his goal was to meet up with Howe, capturing territory as he went

                                                               i.      Burgoyne was continually harassed by General Benedict Arnold and General Gates – he surrendered to the US at Saratoga NY

                                                             ii.      The US victory was important to Europe – this gave France the idea that the US could win

                                                            iii.      London also offered to call off the war and return to the terms of 1763 – was turned down

    1. France and Spain had agreed to secretly supply the rebel army
    2. Franklin and Arthur Lee went to France to try to convince France to openly recognize the new nation
  1. 1778 - 1781
    1. When France heard of Saratoga, they openly recognized the United States and declared war on England.

                                                               i.      They renounced any claims to land in N America

                                                             ii.      They brought Spain into the war on their side

                                                            iii.      They sent Navy to help fight the British – not very successful at first

    1. Howe was content to sit in Philadelphia and let Washington’s army freeze in Valley Forge in 1777-78.
    2. In 1779 Washington felt he could not attack the British as he had no Naval support (the French Navy was protecting the French West Indies)
    3. The British pulled many of their troops from New England and moved them to the south
    4. Cornwallis and Clinton captured Charles Town and began to move north, while General Green moved south to capture Georgia.  Both armies were subjected to sneak attacks from the militias.  These attacks were not decisive, but weakened and dispirited the British army.
    5. In August 1781, the French navy returned to the Chesapeake Bay – Washington snuck down from NY to attack Cornwallis.  They defeated Cornwallis, who made a run for NY
    6. Cornwallis was surrounded by US and French troops at Yorktown VA and was forced to surrender
    7. In the peace treaty, John Adams forced England to recognize the new nation, and established its borders (see map p. 129).
  1. The Experimental Period – Americans had to decide how they wanted to live
    1. Separation of church and state?
    2. What to do about slavery
    3. Who can vote?
    4. Most states decided that people could specify which church their tax dollars would support, they decided to  limit the importation of slaves (but not to end slavery).  Each state lowered the amount of property needed to vote, Georgia and Pennsylvania allowed all men to vote.
    5. The purpose of the government was to serve the people, not vice versa
    6. Written constitutions would limit gov’t – the will of the people was shown in that most states included a bill of rights in their constitution.
  2. Articles of Confederation – the 1st national government – passed in November 1777
    1. Created a congress – each state had on vote
    2. The use of the word “state” is important.  State is the term used for independent nations.
    3. Each state would tax itself to pay for common expenses
    4. Each state was sovereign from the rest
    5. Rights of Congress

                                                               i.      Declare war

                                                             ii.      Ask for men or money

                                                            iii.      Send ambassadors and enter treaties with foreign nations

                                                           iv.      Coin money

                                                             v.      Settle disputes between the states

  1. Problems with Articles of Confederation
    1. Western problem

                                                               i.      Some states had rights to vast western areas, others had no land in the west or were landlocked

                                                             ii.      Maryland’s compromise – new states would be added to the union in the west when population reached that of the smallest state.  The new states would have equal rights and responsibilities of the older states.

    1. Congress could not force states to do anything

                                                               i.      Congress had less power than Parliament did in the 1760’s

                                                             ii.      States refused to cooperate with congress

                                                            iii.      Difficult to meet and decide matters

1.      Congressmen had very short terms

2.      There was no permanent capital

3.      Congress had no money

    1. Jefferson’s plan for Congress to raise money for the national treasury

                                                               i.      He had the west surveyed and divided up into lots and towns

                                                             ii.      The lots would be sold for at least $1 an acre and towns would be established

    1. The Ohio Company knew the federal gov’t desperately needed money and offered $.10 an acre for 5 million acres in the Northwest (what is now MI, OH, IN, IL, and WI)
    2. Congress agreed to the offer, but reserved the right to appoint a governor until population was large enough to warrant statehood
  1. Other nations and the United States
    1. Other nations notice how weak the US government was
    2. England

                                                               i.      Kept its military in Canada

                                                             ii.      Refused to send an ambassador to the new nation

                                                            iii.      Tried to entice Ethan Allen to attach Vermont to Canada

                                                           iv.      Allowed US merchants to buy from England, but did not buy anything from the US.  This crippled the young economy and almost caused it to become bankrupt.

    1. Spain

                                                               i.      Spain controlled the southern Mississippi river and New Orleans

                                                             ii.      They wanted Kentucky and Tennessee

                                                            iii.      In 1784 Spain closed the Miss. River to American trade

                                                           iv.      They hoped western Americans would leave the US and join Spain

                                                             v.      Spain tried to divide the US (and nearly succeeded) by offering the US territory up to the Miss. River – what they already owned from the treaty ending the Revolutionary War – in return for giving Spain the navigation rights to the Miss. River for 25 years.  Spain would also allow Northern merchants to trade with Spain.

1.      The North was for this, the south was against it.

2.      7 states voted for the deal, but 9 were needed for it to pass

3.      This was the first indication that the N and S might have different ideas for the nation

    1. Shay’s rebellion

                                                               i.      A group of western farmers in Massachusetts did not like how the state gov’t was being run.

                                                             ii.      Daniel Shay led a rebellion to not allow courts to be seated, this would prevent the collection of debt.

                                                            iii.      2000 farmers took up arms, they were easily defeated, but this alarmed the nation.

  1. A new constitution
    1. Most people agreed the Articles of Confederation did not work as written
    2. 55 delegates met in Philadelphia in 1787 to fix the Articles
    3. They felt that the national government had to be stronger

                                                               i.      Needed to be able to levy taxes

                                                             ii.      Build its own army and navy – not dependent solely on state militias

                                                            iii.      Needed to be able to regulate commerce

                                                           iv.      Must be able to force the states to follow its directives

    1. Fear of a strong national government

                                                               i.      The national government would take more power than was needed

                                                             ii.      The gov’t would fall into the hands of the wealthy

                                                            iii.      Each state was afraid of losing power, how should the power of the government be divided among the states?  Should big states have more power than little ones?

                                                           iv.      Should slaves be recognized as citizens when populations were counted?

    1. Instead of fixing the Articles, the delegates decided to establish a new government
    2. James Madison is the author of most of the Constitution
  1. Elements of the new Constitution
    1. Checks and balances

                                                               i.      The gov’t would be divided into 3 sections – each would prevent the others from getting too strong

                                                             ii.      There would be 2 houses in the legislature – each having different powers

                                                            iii.      In the upper house (Senate) each state would have equal representation

                                                           iv.      In the lower house (House of Representatives) states would have representation based on population with slaves counting as 3/5 of a citizen

1.      the lower house would be responsible for funding bills

2.      a census would be taken every 10 years to establish number of reps

    1. No Bill of Rights was originally included, but there was a method adopted to change the Constitution
    2. Ratification – it was decided that as soon as 9 states adopted the new Constitution it would take effect
    3. It was not apparent that the larger states would ratify the Constitution until a Bill of Rights was added.
    4. By January 1789 the new country was formed