Oct 9, 2006

OUTLINE

American Heritage 100

I.  The Colonial Status Quo 
  A.  Self-government 
 
II.  Provoking American Resistance 
  A.  Enforcement of Navigation Acts 
  B.  Restricting American expansion 
  C.  English legislation for the colonies 
 
III.  Colonial responses 
  A.  Riot and resistance 
  B.  Intercolonial cooperation 
 
IV.  Sources of American resistance 
  A.  History 
    1.  The English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution 
    2.  Puritan tradition:  God’s elect 
  B.  Culture 
    1.  The Commonwealth tradition 
  2.  Classical tradition of resistance to tyranny 
  C.  Identity 
    1.  Religious: Great Awakening 
    2.  Military:  French and Indian War 
    3.  Economic:  The American market 
 
IV.  Declaration of Independence 
  A.  Resolution of grievances 
    1.  The rights of Englishmen 
  2.  Representation 

LECTURE NOTES

Announcments:
1st midterm coming up next week

Read a selection of documents about the Loyalists in the American Revolution
"This is on blackboard under course documents"

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Breaking with Britain

Why did many Americans think Britain was tyrannical (abusing/misusing governing power)?

MEDIA CLIP: Samuel Adams
-he felt everything else (in the future) coming from britain would be also taxed

He called taxes britain put on american colonies: tyranny

Locke's 2nd treatise of government
1. man exists in a state of nature
2. people voluntarily agree to be governed via social contract/compact
3. government's purposes- protect citizens
4. government gains legitimacy through consent of the people
5. if government violate social contract/compact, people can rebel and get rid of government

What made Americans want to Rebel ()
1. Enforcement of Navigation Acts
- a violate of the rule of law, publicity
2. More bureaucracy (expanding government means more government officials)
- they paid local officials
3. Restricting American Expansion in 1763 (end of the french & indian war)
- british officials making a line colonists could not cross
4. A series of new laws passed in british parliament, on the american colonists
Sugar Act, 1764
Stamp Act, 1765
Declaratory Act, 1766
Townshend Revenue Acts, 1767
Tea Act, 1773

These taxes happened for a couple reasons
including..
-they could afford them (standard of living in america, higher than britian)

Colonists were in separate colonies (like separate countries)
but they started to unite against britain, to avoid taxation
increase inter-colony communication
saying things like, lets stop buying tea, so britain stops making money off of us.


Boston Tea Party, 1774
-boston people took tea and dumped it into the water from a ship in boston harbor
-90,000 lbs of tea were destroyed

Coercive Acts, 1774 (The Intolerable Acts)
-Boston Port Bill -shut down the port
-Massachusetts Government Act
-Administration of Justice Act
-Quartered Act
-Quebec Act

Media CLIP: Americans felt they started to have voice in government, then parliament laid taxes on colonists but america had no voice in the taxes, so they started to think about breaking away

Samuel Adams
-taxation without representation
-he led the resistance

History influenced the rebellion against england
-The English Civil War
-The Glorious Revolution
-The Puritan Tradition
--God's Elect

Culture
-Americans bought more books than all of England at the time
-books about freedom and commonwealth

Classical Tradition
-rome resisted the tyranny of caesar

"You should obey you leaders as long as they are just and look out for the welfare of their subjects, if not the people have an obligation and duty to rise up and overthrow their government..."
just means justice

Rebellion against tyrants is obedience to god

In order to rebel against britain you need unification of colonies against britain:
-french and indian war
-the great awakening (?)
-the revolutionary war
-unifying person: George Washington

Declaration of Independence 1776
-war started april 1776 (lexington massachussetts)

The didn't want to fight/war against england, they wanted to resolve the points of disafreement
-colonists thought they were englishmen and they wanted the 'rights' of the englishmen
-rights of englishmen:
--trial by a jury of peers
--taxation without consent
--representation (rule of law: consent) colonists wanted a voice in parliament

Parliament thought they because they were dependent (like children) on the mother country, then they could not govern themselves.

MEDIA CLIP: A declaration of independence,
-the figure of a man writing it...
-random people standing in a room, quoting parts of the independence
-random football players quoting other parts of the declaration of independence