Module 18 and 22

Thursday, May 16, 2024 7:48 PM

Module 18: American Revolution

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- British Colonies to form themselves in a grand nation by the 1600s and 1700s. British colonists started to form and enlarge the
area. When George III (King of Great Britain at the time) became king, the population grew tremendously.

- During the process of the grand nation they were forming in America for trade to other Europe countries, every colony had its
own government, but they had to rule by Britain's orders. Slowly British colonists started to feel more as Americans than
British.

- A law was applied called the Navigation Act which was a British Parliament trade law that included the prevention of colonists
from selling their most prized possessions to any other country except Britain. To add a bit more, colonists also had to pay
taxes in regarding to imported French and Dutch goods.

- Besides the trade restrictions, this benefitted the colonies and Great Britain itself. Britain bought American raw materials and
sold manufactured goods to the colonists for a profit, while colonial merchants also made money when they sold British-made
goods to the colonists. This connection caused an industrialization rise in Britain around the 1700s. Inventions such as the
spinning and weaving machines made it easier for the production and selling of cloth, using the cotton supply from America
that was sold to Britain, to make cotton textiles making Britain a worldwide leader.

- Around 1754 a war broke out in the North American continent between the English and the French. The French had owned
some colonies from North American as well at the time. This war was called the French and Indian War (This name was based
on the fact that the French made Native American tribes fight on their side during the battle.) Around 1763 the war had ended,
and the British and its colonies had won victoriously, seizing all of France's former land in North America.

- Even though they were victorious, complications started to arise between Britain and its colonists, for the they had a huge debt
to pay. Even though American colonists were benefitted with the victory, Britain expected them to help pay for the costs of
war and damage.

- The Britain Parliament had added a law called the Stamp Act, which included that colonists had to pay for an official stamp for
their rights, wills, deeds, etc. Due to this they were enraged because they had to directly give taxes to the government before.
Colonial lawyers had argued that this went completely against colonists natural rights, and the accused for taxation without
representation.

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- Around a decade later, both sides started to get brusque with each other, to the point that colonists leaders started to wish for
independence. In 1773, based on the import tax of tea, a group of colonists had thrown a large load of tea into the Boston
Harbor as a way of rebellion. The King, George III furious at this act which was called the Boston Tea Party, the Boston
Harbor and its port was later closed by orders from the king.

- This started to get even moderate colonists infuriated by this act, closing the Boston port made the representatives of each
colony (except Georgia) to discuss this matter in Philadelphia to form the First Continental Congress. They had done a protest,
not receiving any feedback or attention from the king which led them to their Second Continental Congress. Gunfire started to
arise as colonial militiamen and British soldiers started to battle in Lexington, Massachusetts. Then the Second Continental
Congress agreed to raise an army all under the control of the Virginian George Washington.

- American colonists started using Enlightment ideas to justify their independence from Britain, saying that they should have
the same political rights as those from Britain. This was stubbornly refused by the king which meant they have had enough and
declared independence from a document that Thomas Jefferson (Author who was a true figure of the Enlightment, he supported
free speech, religious freedom and other civil liberties. He was also a slave owner at the same time as well. He was remembered
for being the author of Declaration of Independence, author of the Statue of Virginia for Religious Freedom and founder of the
University of Virginia.)

- He wrote called the "Declaration of Independence" Which included: The argument of natural rights quoting in the beginning
"We hold these truths to be self-evident", "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." This document also refers to George's III list

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 unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." This document also refers to George's III list
of abuses. It had also mentioned, "are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown.

- After Britain had received the document, they weren't about to let them go without going with a fight. With some
complications, the colonists had finally won due to some reasons: their spirit and motivation in battle was much more stronger
than those from Britain. Second, the overconfidence of generals in Britain. Third, time was the colonists' side. Britain could
have won battle after battle but still lose the war. Due to expenses for fighting overseas, the Britain had called for peace.

- Americans had fought alongside with the French, Britain's rival. They had trapped an army commanded by Lord Cornwallis
near Yorktown, to the point he had also called to surrender. Americans had shocked the world and won their independence.

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- Later after their independence they realized they needed an established national government. So they went based on ancient
Greek laws: constitutionalism (developing a plan for a state or country) and republicanism (establishing a system with the
consent of its people). They were later recognized as the United States as a republic. With a government in which citizens rule
through elected representatives.

- Some states in America needed money to operate, leading them to have a weak national government.

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- Recognizing they needed a stronger government, the soon created a new system of government: The Federal System which was
the combination of the general government with the regional government. Delegates distrusted a powerful ventral government
controlled by one person or group. So therefore they establish three separate branches: legislative, executive and judicial. This
was called the checks and balances which was basically where each branch would check the actions of the other two.

- Example: The president received the power to veto legislation passed by Congress. However, the Congress could override a
presidential veto with the approval of two-thirds of its members. The Supreme Court could check that laws passed by Congress
or actions taken by the president were constitutional.

- To place the federal system as a law, the new Constitution requested the approbation of 9 states, using conventions as debates.
People who supported the federal system were called Federalists, who argued with their famous work "Federalist Papers" which
consists that the new government would balance the power of national and states powers. People who opposed to this,
Antifederalists disliked and feared the idea of giving more power to the general government and wanted for an applying the
need for a bill of rights to protect the rights of citizens.

- The Federalists agreed to add a Bill of Rights, which made the federal system to get approved. The Bill of Rights protected the
basic rights as freedom of speech, press, assembly and religion for all citizens.

Module 22: War and Expansion in the United States

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- In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson bought Louisiana from France, which doubled the size of the new republic and the
territory was extended till Rocky Mountain.

- In 1819, Spain gave up Florida to the U.S.

- In 1846, Great Britain had given a part of Oregon to the United States. Therefore, the nation now stretch from the Atlantic to
the Pacific oceans.

- The Americans believed in something called "manifest destiny" which the idea or belief that they had the duty to rule North
America from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans, which gave them the right to evict Native Americans in the area.

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- This eviction made native groups have to move from the east from the west. A tribe in Georgia called the Cherokee tribe has
challenged the law and refused the Supreme Court. But in the end, they had to move, because their argument wasn't valid. So
they had to travel on foot around 800 miles, calling it the Trail of Tears, for some had died on the trip. Once they reached, they
were left in the inferior land, while white settlers lived, the government continued to push them out of the land.

- Mexico had gained independence from Spain. Its territories included west of Louisiana and Texas. American settlers with
permission, started to settle within Texas, unhappy with Mexico's rule. Texans had revolted against Mexican rule leading to an
annexation as an act of war. Mexican obviously losing the war and surrendering gave in Texas and a cession of Mexico which
included California and a huge area in the Southwest. Later the U.S also bought another territory from Mexico called Gadsden,
a lower region.

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 a lower region.

- The north and south of the U.S had different ways of viewing things. The North implemented a lot of farms and industry which
depended on free workers. On the other hand, South only depended on cash crops such as cotton, and they depended of slave
labor. Northern saw this as morally wrong, while Southern saw this as necessary for economy which started quite the war. They
also wanted to implement slavery in the West as well, to raise cotton on fertile soil there.

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- As the war broke out and reached a climax in 1860. Abraham Lincoln was elected president, detested by the southern because
he promised to stop the spread of slavery in the Union, making southern states leave the Union and make a new group called
the Confederate States of America. Abraham Lincoln's goal was to stop this and bring the states back into the Union. This war
was called the U.S Civil War.

- As the U.S Civil War continued for 4 years, the South finally surrendered even though they had a stronger military force. The
North had more population, more factories, better transportation and greater resources.

- As it ended. Abraham Lincoln has declared the end of the war would approve the saving of the Union and not the end of
slavery. Later he proposed the ending of slavery would save the union by creating the Emancipation Proclamation which
meant all slaves from the Confederate states would be let free, which the South states didn't agree to this law at all. The
disagreement of this law, led to at first to slaves to be free. They later freed the slaves in the areas they conquered. This was
overlooked by European nations finding out that this war was about the freedom of slaves, which with no prevail wouldn't send
any money to the South for the supplies used.

- They had added a new law, called The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments which extended the rights to all Americans and
former slaves to the right to citizenship and right to vote.

- After this, the South started to implement segregation also known as separation regarding black people and white people, which
made them have complication when voting. Black people also had some discriminatory issues within the North as well.

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- Industrializations started to speed up and grow during the Civil war and even after causing people to immigrate there from
Europe and even Asia, from the Northeast to the Midwest.

- As more immigrants started to arrive, the idea of railroads soon came too, approved by the Congress. They had built tunnels for
seven years, as well as bridges and laid tracks, as well as immigrants and other workers. This system linked city to city, farm to
farm, and it boosted trade and industry. It as well would carry materials like steel, coal, iron, corn, wheat and even cattle. These
developments soon made the U.S a world leader.

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