American History I Unit 2

1. American History IUnit 2 Colonial Life and the Road to Revolution

2. Objective Analysis Unit 2: Colonial Life and the Road to Revolution Time Frame: 1700 – 1776 Objective: The Learner will evaluate the events that would lead the American Colonies to declare independence and rebel against English authority

3. Unit 2.1: The Learner will analyze the effects of Mercantilism on both the Center Nation and the Colonial Possessions. • Almost all of colonial life was affected by the concept of Mercantilism (1). • Mercantilism is an economic system that bases the power and status of a nation on the size of its imperial possessions (colonies and empire). • A colony’s value is based on the raw materials that can be acquired from it and its ability to serve as a market for the imperialist’s overproduction. • The colony also helps the imperialist nation maintain a favorable balance of trade (2), but only if the imperialist can closely manage what products are produced by the colony and with whom the colony is trading. • One of the earliest examples of British Mercantilism was the passage of the Navigation Acts (3) in 1651. • These Acts were designed to make sure that the colonies were profitable for England. • They required that all American products be shipped on British ships, certain products could be sent only to England or other British colonies, all goods had to pass through an English port so that a tax could be collected, and tax collectors were sent to the colonies to begin collecting duties (taxes) from merchants for certain “enumerated goods”. • The cost of enforcement would lead to loose enforcement of most of these regulations.

4. Unit 2.1: The Learner will analyze the effects of Mercantilism on both the Center Nation and the Colonial Possessions. • Puritan reaction to the Restoration of King Charles II caused the Crown to “crack down” on New England. • During the English Civil War and the Rule of Oliver Cromwell as Lord and Protector of England, the British were too preoccupied to worry about enforcement of the Navigation Acts. • When King Charles II (4) was “restored” to the throne many New England Puritans refused to recognize him as their rightful King. • They began to compete with English fishermen in New England waters • They started the first American Iron works at Saugus, Massachusetts • Smuggling activities ramped up steadily. • King Charles II responded to these rebellious actions by revoking the Massachusetts Charter and making it a Royal Colony. • King James II tightened control over Massachusetts still further • He created the Dominion of New England, a sort of “supercolony” to be ruled over by Governor Sir Edmund Andros (5). • Andros angered colonists by placing restrictions on religion, strictly enforcing the Navigation Acts, and placing new taxes on land and liquor.

5. Unit 2.1: The Learner will analyze the effects of Mercantilism on both the Center Nation and the Colonial Possessions • The Glorious Revolution (6) and the adoption of the English Bill of Rights (7) caused a strong reaction in the American Colonies. • After deposing King James II, the new rulers William and Mary signed the English Bill of Rights, which turned over the majority of power in the English government to Parliament. • Colonial leaders reacted by quickly arresting Governor Andros and sent him packing back to England. John Adams saw this a part of the Glorious Revolution and believed that the English Bill of Rights then naturally applied to the Colonies as well. • New York also rebelled against English authority and established an elected assembly.

6. Unit 2.1: The Learner will analyze the effects of Mercantilism on both the Center Nation and the Colonial Possessions • The resulting period of Salutary Neglect (8) allowed the colonies to move closer and closer to “self-rule”. • The English Civil War played a major role in causing the neglect of the American Colonies by English authorities. • Massachusetts coined its own money • The New England Colonies were also making moves toward a greater unity. • The New England Colonies formed the New England Confederation (9) to run their internal affairs and plan for their own defense. • The Glorious Revolution placed much of England’s real governing power in the hands of Parliament and Parliament was generally more concerned with issues related to England herself. • England created the Board of Trade (10) to regulate colonial affairs, but they only loosely governed the Colonies. • Edmund Burke coined the term Salutary Neglect to describe the condition of indifference toward colonial issues from which the American Colonies profited greatly.

7. Unit 2.1: The Learner will analyze the effects of Mercantilism on both the Center Nation and the Colonial Possessions. • Through the course of the 1700s the Colonies began to develop Colonial Governments that were quickly becoming more influential than the English officials that were thousands of miles away. • Many colonists viewed the elected assembly (11) as a basic right of citizenship. • The town meetings of New England would become a crucial part of the revolutionary process later in the 1700s • These elected assemblies often modeled Parliament with a bicameral (12) legislature (an upper [Governor’s Council] and lower [elected assembly] house) • The Colonies each had a Governor: appointed by the King in Royal Colonies and by the Proprietor in Proprietary Colonies. • The Governor had great power on paper, but the memory of the arrest and deportation of Edmund Andros had to be in the consciousness at all times.

8. Unit 2.2: Students will investigate the root causes of how two distinctly different economies would emerge in the North and the South. • Economies of the Northern Colonies • Farming in the North • Most farms in the North were subsistence (family) farms (13) growing only what the family needed to survive. • The Middle colonies were best suited for agriculture producing enough wheat to both meet domestic demand and export abroad. • The most productive farmers in the North were the Pennsylvania Dutch. • Colonial Industry • Under Mercantilism the English deliberately discouraged the development of colonial industry fearing that competition would undermine the imperialist economy. • Early domestic industries included Grain Mills, Rum distilling, Iron Works, and Cloth production. • Emphasis on Trade • New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia became thriving centers for trade. • The American Colonies were an important stop on the Triangle of Trade (14) over which Rum, Molasses, and Slaves were traded. • Slavery in the North • Although the population was much smaller, there was a significant population of slaves in the North by 1776, many working as servants and artisans and enjoying some degree of freedom in their movement and ability to contract out their labor. • Of the northern colonies the slave population was highest in New York and New Jersey.

9. Unit 2.2: Students will investigate the root causes of how two distinctly different economies would emerge in the North and the South. • Economies of the Southern Colonies • The Plantation System • The need for workers on these large corporate farms drove the demand for slaves. • The Plantations typically focused on production of one cash crop (15) such as Tobacco, Rice, Indigo, and later Cotton. • The further south the Plantation and the greater the difference between the white population and slave population the harsher slaves tended to be treated. South Carolina had a reputation as the worst living conditions for slaves on the plantations. • The vast majority of the Southern white population were subsistence farmers and owned few or no slaves, but they also had very little political power. • Impact of Slavery • Why did slavery continue despite obvious moral conflicts • The “economic benefits” of slavery convinced many that slavery was a “necessary evil” (16) that must be maintained at the peril of the Southern Economy. • Some justified slavery by rationalizing that Africans themselves had sold their own people into slavery or by citing the existence of slavery in the bible. • Still others saw slavery as a natural manifestation of racial superiority and that slaves lived a much better life than wage earners in the North. • Slave resistance • Many slaves resisted their condition by working slowly, sabotaging equipment, or trying to escape the plantations. • Others resorted to outright rebellion as was the case in the Stono Rebellion (17) in South Carolina which had actually been encouraged by the Spanish in Florida as a precursor for a potential Spanish invasion of South Carolina. • Emergence of African American Culture • Despite the harsh conditions of slavery, African American culture began to emerge, especially in South Carolina. • Many different African groups came together to form the Gullah language (18) and develop a shared culture on the plantations of South Carolina.

10. Unit 2.3: The Learner will investigate the role played by new social, political, and economic philosophies in the growing tension between England and the American Colonies. • The Enlightenment: • John Locke (19) • Inalienable rights: Rights that each of us are born with that no government can take away from us without due process of law: Life, Liberty, and Property. • Expressed that a social contract exists between a people and their government by which the people give their consent to be governed in exchange for the protection of their inalienable rights. If this contract is violated the people have the right to rebel and create a new government that will protect their rights. • Locke described his theories on government in his work Two Treatises of Government • The Baron de Montesquieu (20) • Established the principle of a Republican Democracy based on Separation of Powers to prevent any one part of the government from becoming too powerful and oppressing the people. • Montesquieu authored The Spirit of the Laws • Jean-Jacques Rousseau • Believed that a true democracy required many people to share power • Authored The Social Contract • Ben Franklin • Of all the early American political figures Franklin was most associated with the Enlightenment. • Thomas Jefferson • Jefferson’s writing of the Declaration of Independence was deeply influenced by the Enlightened Philosophies of these men.

11. Unit 2.3: The Learner will investigate the role played by new social, political, and economic philosophies in the growing tension between England and the American Colonies. • The Great Awakening (21) • Through the 1700s Americans began to worry that increased business prosperity was causing materialism and consumerism to replace spiritual values in American culture. • The result of these fears was a religious revival that swept through the colonies that would become known as the Great Awakening. • The Great Awakening helped reinvigorate church membership and helped to establish the Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian Churches in America. • Religion would become an important unifying force in the Colonies. • Jonathon Edwards (22) • A Puritan minister who emphasized a direct personal relationship with God • Influenced by the Enlightenment, Edwards emphasized the logic that sinners would spend eternity in the agonies of Hell. • His fire and brimstone sermons stirred the fears of many into repentance. • George Whitefield (23) • A British Methodist minister, he placed less emphasis on fears and eternal damnation, but his powerful voice and effective public speaking skills swayed the crowds and produced repentance and confession of sins.

12. Unit 2.3: The Learner will investigate the role played by new social, political, and economic philosophies in the growing tension between England and the American Colonies. • Life in Colonial America • Increasing American diversity • One of the largest and most important non-English colonial groups was the Scots and Scots-Irish (24) (from Northern Ireland). • The settled in the Middle Colonies and in the Carolinas and pioneered the mountainous backcountry. • They hated the English, a hatred that dated back to the brutal invasion of Ireland led by Oliver Cromwell that featured the taking of land from Irish nobles, forced deportation, and the slaughter of innocents. • Other important groups included French Huguenots, Germans, and Jews. • Life in Colonial Cities • Colonial cities were thriving, exciting places, not yet the corrupted overcrowded slums that they would become by the end of the 1800s. • Colonial Communication • Communication between the Colonies would soon become a crucial part of the road to revolution. • As the nation’s first Postmaster General, Ben Franklin (25) would develop an efficient means of sending correspondence. Communication between Colonies was much more efficient than communication with England. • After his arrest for criticizing the Governor of New York, John Peter Zenger (26) won a critical victory for freedom of the press in the American Colonies.

13. Unit 2.4: The Learner will assess the impact of the French and Indian War on the growing conflict and path to revolution • Causes for the Conflict • The French and Indian War was simply the North American part of a larger European conflict known as the Seven Years War (27). • The primary source of conflict between the British and French in North America was the Ohio River Valley. The French were opposed to the British efforts to expand the American Colonies. The British were opposed to French efforts to encroach on the fur trade in the Ohio River Valley. • The War began after a failed attempt by Colonial Militia led by George Washington to capture Fort Duquesne (28) (a heavily fortified French position near Pittsburg). • Importance of the Native American Allies • The French had already aligned themselves with many of the Northeastern Native American tribes and the British worried that these Native allies could tip the balance of power in this conflict to the French. • The British took steps to ensure the loyalty of the Iroquois League (29) (a powerful confederation of six tribes that had successfully resisted white expansion) • The British pushed for greater inclusion of the Iroquois League in policy decisions in an effort to appease the Natives and maintain their alliance. • Impact on Colonial unity • Ben Franklin proposed the Albany Plan of Union (30), which would create a Grand Council to deal with military defense, Native American relations, and western settlement. • Although this plan was never approved it was an important first step towards uniting the Colonies as one entity.

14. Unit 2.4: The Learner will assess the impact of the French and Indian War on the growing conflict and path to revolution • Major military “turning points” of the French and Indian War • The war took a dramatic turn for the better after the appointment of William Pitt (31) as Secretary of State. • Pitt placed a greater focus on securing colonial participation in the war, increasing the supplies delivered to the military, and increasing the British military presence in the American Colonies. • Led by George Washington (32), British forces finally captured Fort Duquesne. • General James Wolfe’s capture of Quebec was the “turning point” of the war and France surrendered the next year. • How the French and Indian War becomes a “dress rehearsal” for the American Revolution. • The Colonists were able to witness firsthand the effectiveness of Native American guerilla tactics, the logistical nightmares faced by the British Army trying to fight a war 3000 miles away from England, and the humanity of the British Redcoat who was previously believed to be invincible. • The French and Indian War gave many opposition leaders hope that revolution was a viable option for securing self-rule and independence from the British. • The Treaty of Paris of 1763 (33) • England gained all French land east of the Mississippi River including much of Canada. • Spain gained the entire Louisiana Territory from the French including the important port city of New Orleans.

15. Unit 2.4: The Learner will assess the impact of the French and Indian War on the growing conflict and path to revolution • Lingering effects of the war • Pontiac’s Rebellion (34) • Pontiac initially welcomed British and Colonial troops into what is today Michigan, but he soon discovered that the British were not as friendly to the Native Americans as the French had been. • Pontiac devised a plan to drive the British out of his lands. Pontiac organized nearly every tribe in the Midwest and tried to coordinate attacks on British forts that would then lead to raids on colonial settlements. • Pontiac’s plan hinged on the arrival of French support, which never came and his plan fell apart. • Nevertheless, Pontiac’s Rebellion proved costly for the British and led them to discourage colonial expansion efforts. • Other effects on the Native American Population • The French and Indian War was a disaster for the Native Americans, even the Iroquois League who had sided with the victorious British.

16. Unit 2.4: The Learner will assess the impact of the French and Indian War on the growing conflict and path to revolution • The Proclamation of 1763 (35) • Discouraged by the potential cost of fighting more “Pontiac’s Rebellions” Parliament created the Proclamation of 1763 banning colonial expansion beyond the Appalachian Mountains. • The Colonists viewed the Proclamation of 1763 as a massive violation of their rights. • They believed they were being deprived of the opportunity to cash in on the bounty won by the French and Indian War. • The Ohio River Valley (36) was a rich center for the fur trade. • In true revolutionary spirit many Americans simply disregarded the Proclamation of 1763 and moved west anyway. • The British were worried about unregulated westward migration, paying to fight conflicts with the Native American population of the Ohio River Valley, and potential depopulation of the vital Cities that were trade centers and important sources of revenue.

17. Unit 2.4: The Learner will assess the impact of the French and Indian War on the growing conflict and path to revolution • New Laws and Taxes that followed the French and Indian War • The biggest problem facing England following the French and Indian War was the incredible debt they had built fighting in America and having to maintain a 10,000 man army after it was over. • Sugar Act (37) • Placed a tax on Sugar and Molasses shipped from the West Indies. • Many colonists believed this would be detrimental to the Rum Distilleries (a major colonial industry in that time) • Still others saw a more sinister issue. Led by Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry the cry of “no taxation without representation” (38)began to ring out from town meetings all over New England. • Stamp Act (39) • This act would require that a government stamp be placed on all legal documents. • Protests of the Stamp Act provoked both violent threats on Tax Collectors and a non-violent boycott of British products known as the.Non-Importation Act (40) • Massachusetts formed the Stamp Act Congress (41) and sent a petition to Parliament stating they had no right to tax the American Colonies if the colonies were not granted representation in the legislative body. • The protests of the Stamp Act would give rise to a revolutionary group (domestic terrorist group) known as the Sons of Liberty. • Townsend Acts • Along with more new taxes, the Townsend Acts revived Writs of Assistance (42) which allowed British customs agents to search Colonists’ homes without a warrant for smuggled goods. Just another sign of rising tyranny to the Colonists. • Tea Act • The British restructured the tax on tea in order to give the British East India Tea Company (43) a monopoly on the tea trade in the Colonies. This tax had the potential to destroy local tea merchants.

18. Unit 2.4: The Learner will assess the impact of the French and Indian War on the growing conflict and path to revolution • Colonial response to the new laws and taxes: • Boston Massacre (44) • On March 5, 1770 a crowd of Colonists began throwing snowballs (rocks and bricks) and taunting British soldiers guarding the local customs house in Boston. • During the skirmish someone yelled “fire” and the British began shooting into the crowd killing 5 Americans, among them CrispusAttocks an African American sailor who may have been leading the group. • Samuel Adams and other radicals played up the skirmish as a massacre of innocent colonists and used the event as a source of pro-revolutionary propaganda. Paul Revere made a famous engraving of the Boston Massacre. • Boston Tea Party (45) • In response to the Tea Act, the Sons of Liberty (46) boarded British East India Tea Company ships in Boston Harbor and dumped roughly $1 million worth of Tea into the harbor. • Other protests of the Tea Act were more peaceful, such as the Daughters of Liberty’s boycott of tea based out of Edenton, North Carolina. • The protest provoked Parliament to pass the Intolerable Acts (Coercion Acts) (47) to punish the Colony of Massachusetts and send a warning to the others. • In response to the Intolerable Acts the Colonies formed the First Continental Congress and began taking steps toward Revolution.

19. Unit 2.5: The Learner will examine the events leading up to the Declaration of Independence and how the Declaration addressed the concerns of the Colonies. • Road to Revolution • Meeting of the First Continental Congress (48) • The Colonies drafted a Declaration of Rights based on a set of resolutions known as the Suffolk Resolves produced in Virginia to protest Parliaments over-aggressive response to the Boston Tea Party. • The Declaration of Rights (49) called for the recall of British Troops, the repeal of recent taxes, and the repeal of the Intolerable Acts. • The Congress also implemented a boycott of British products and authorized the Colonies to begin forming Colonial Militias known as minutemen (50). • Battles of Lexington and Concord (51) • The first calling out of the minutemen in response to a British expedition to seize illegal weapons stores in Concord, Massachusetts. • Although the minutemen represented little threat to the Redcoats in pitched battle, they successfully withered the British on their return trip by ambush and sniper attacks.

20. Unit 2.5: The Learner will examine the events leading up to the Declaration of Independence and how the Declaration addressed the concerns of the Colonies. • Meeting of the Second Continental Congress (52) • The Colonies met again, this time they rejected Parliament’s right to tax them, began the process of commissioning a Continental Army, drafted the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, and sent the Olive Branch Petition to King George III. • They named George Washington Commander of the newly commissioned Continental Army • The Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (53) explained why Americans were at war. • The Olive Branch Petition (54) was a final gesture of peace. The Congress hoped that King George III would sympathize with their struggle with Parliament and grant the American Colonies Home Rule. • Battles of Fort Ticonderoga and Bunker Hill • After Lexington and Concord the Colonial Militia took up positions on the high ground threating the Redcoats in Boston. • General Gage dispatched a force of Redcoats to dislodge the militia threatening Boston but were repulsed on two failed and bloody charges up Breed’s Hill only taking the hill on the third charge because the colonists had run out of ammunition and Colonel William Prescott was not foolish enough to fight the Redcoats hand-to-hand. • After the “victory” at Bunker Hill (55), the Colonial Militia moved 40 cannon won in the siege of Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York to surround the British and force them to evacuate Boston. • It was now officially “put up or shut up” time for the Continental Congress

21. Unit 2.5: The Learner will examine the events leading up to the Declaration of Independence and how the Declaration addressed the concerns of the Colonies. • Precursors to the Declaration of Independence • The Colonial “double standard” • The Colonists, even after Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill still viewed themselves as British citizens and due the rights that came with that. Many still did not support independence. • Two factors began to erode resistance to independence • The Colonists learned that the British were actively recruiting Native Americans and African Americans to fight against them. • It was becoming obvious in Parliament’s recent laws that the British were clearly differentiating between British citizenship and Colonial citizenship, and the latter was becoming a “second-class citizen” • Publication of Common Sense (56) • Thomas Paine published Common Sense in 1776 calling for the Colonies to rebel against unfair taxation and declare their independence from England. • Paine’s pamphlet became the mode widely read document in the Colonies, short only of the Bible. • His words would prove extremely persuasive • The Virginia Declaration of Rights (57) • Issued in May 1776, this was the first official call for Independence in the Colonies. • The Colonies should declare independence • The Colonies should seek out foreign allies • The Colonies should form a plan for unification

22. Unit 2.5: The Learner will examine the events leading up to the Declaration of Independence and how the Declaration addressed the concerns of the Colonies. • Writing the Declaration of Independence (58) • Jefferson’s inspiration • Jefferson was heavily influenced by the Enlightenment philosophies of John Locke. • Key components of the Declaration • The vast majority of the Declaration is a list of complaints against King George III. • There is also a section that makes a statement about the goals for independence, the establishment of the hope for American liberty. • There is a section that essentially lays out the case that the colonists have done everything they could to avoid revolution, but that Britain’s tyranny has forced their hand. • Reaction to the Declaration • The signatories to the Declaration were now all viewed as criminals by the British. • Many Americans living on the western frontier feared a revolution in the East would leave them vulnerable to Native American attacks in the west. • Many in the east (particularly in the South; particularly in North Carolina) remained loyal to the King and would wage a civil war during the revolution.

23. Unit 2.5: The Learner will examine the events leading up to the Declaration of Independence and how the Declaration addressed the concerns of the Colonies. • Loyalists vs. Patriots • Loyalists (59) • Generally, those that held some measure of power while under British control or those who stood to lose money in blocked trade sided with the British. • Reaction to the Loyalists was often brutal (seized or destroyed property, many were forced to move to Canada or England, others were stripped • The Treaty that ended the Revolution was supposed to protect the property and rights of Loyalists, but that provision was largely ignored. • Patriots (60) • Those who supported independence and were celebrated as heroes by many Americans.