Quiz on Friday

1. Quiz on Friday Today is our Review

2. The American Population Before Columbus • No one knows how many people lived in the Americas in the centuries before columbus • Nonetheless, scholars have debated the question for more than a century

3. 2 Groups of Estimates in the Debate • In the 1830’s Scholars estimated that there were 1 million Indians in North America before the Europeans

4. More Recent View • In the 1960’s scholars estimated that there were around 10 to 12 million native Americans North of Mexico and 112 million in all of the Americas

5. Significance of Debate • The debate over the population is part of the debate over whether the arrival of Columbus was a great advance or a catastrophe in the history of civilization.

6. Upshot • In the end the question may be less a historical question than a moral one.

7. The Atlantic Context of Early American History • It is only recent that historians have stopped examining American History in isolation. • Scholars are now reexamining the American past from an international perspective.

8. What does that mean practically • It means that scholars are now examining what happened in the new world in the context of what was happening in the Atlantic World

9. The Atlantic World • The Atlantic World rests on the connections between the societies bordering on the Atlantic Ocean • It looks at the connections between Western Europe and the Spanish, French, British, Dutch colonies and the European and African immigrations to the Americas

10. Influences of Old World on the New • The Atlantic World was part of the creation of the empires of the European Civilizations • The European settlements in the Americas were part of the growth of commerce. • Commerce was responsible for the growth of trade and increases in migration.

11. Influences of Old World on the New • Religion was a binding force. The majority of European settler were Christians and maintained important ties to Europe. • The Great Awakening began in Britain and traveled to America.

12. Influences of Old World on the New • The History of European America is bound up with the intellectual life of Europe. • The Enlightenment from Europe in the 17th and the 18th centuries moved quickly to the Americas. • Scientific and technological knowledge traveled constantly across the Atlantic.

13. Upshot • The idea off the Atlantic World encourages us to think of early American History as a vast pattern of exchanges and interactions – trade, migration, religious and intellectual exchange and many other relationships.

14. Incentives For Colonization • Scarce Land • Mercantilism • Religious Motives

15. Europe’s Readiness to explore the New World • Changes in Europe that led to the age of Exploration

16. Changes in Europe • Advances in Military Technology (an incessant arms race) • New forms of social technology (bureaucracy, book-keeping, mechanical printing) • Ideological --Amassing wealth and dominating other people came to be positively valued. • The nature of European Christianity • Recent success in conquering island societies

17. The Way American history textbooks treat Columbus reinforces the tendency not to think about the process of domination.

18. The Empire in Transition • Up until the 1750’s Few objected to membership in the British Empire but by the 1770’s the relationship was strained.

19. A Decentralized Empire • After the Glorious Revolution the King’s power declined. • The Prime minister and his cabinet exercised executive power.

20. How was colonial administration decentralized? • The Prime minister and his cabinet declined to tighten control over the empire because they didn’t want to interfere with the colonial commerce • Prime minister and his cabinet (they depended on the merchants and landholders for political support)

21. Character of Royal Officials • The kinds of officials appointed to the colonies contributed to the looseness of the imperial system • The governors were not able men, they were corrupt and continued to accept bribes and some hired substitutes to take their place.

22. Assertive Colonial Assemblies • The colonial assemblies took advantage of the weak system • They asserted authority to levy taxes, make appropriations, approve appointments and pass laws. • They saw themselves as little parliaments

23. The Albany Plan • The Colonies felt weak ties to other colonies • In 1754 when they faced a common threat from the French and their Indian allies they were reluctant to cooperate with each other.

24. Albany Plan • To address the situation (threat from French) delegates from PA, NY, MD and New England met in PA to negotiate a treaty with the Iroquois and set up a general government to manage relations with the Indians. • The Colonial Assemblies rejected it.

25. 7 year War (French and Indian War) • Started in 1754 • 3 Phases • Phase One -- Local North American Conflict • Series of raids on western England settlements • Most tribes allied with French

26. Phase Two • 1756 fighting spread to West Indies, India and Europe. • England suffering defeats • William Pitt takes command • Impressment& quartering w/o compensation • Seizing supplies from farmers and tradesmen.

27. Phase Three • Pitt relaxes many of the policies the Americans found obnoxious • Returned recruitment to the colonial assemblies • Reimbursed colonists for supplies • This turned the tide of the battle to England’s Favor

28. Treaty of Paris • 1763 ,After fall of Quebec French formally surrendered • French ceded to England West Indian islands, colonies in India and Canada and all other French territory in North America east of the Mississippi, west of the Mississippi went to Spain.

29. British Resentment • The cost of the war greatly enlarged Britain’s Debt • English were contemptuous of American military ineptitude during the war • Angry that colonists made so few financial contributions • Bitter that colonial merchants continued trading with French throughout the conflice

30. Result • British believed the empire needed to be reorganized and authority over the colonies needed to be increased

31. War’s impact on the colonists • They acted in concert against a common foe • Pitt’s policy reversal vindicated their view that England’s interference in local affairs was illegitimate

32. Burdens of Empire • Britain had a staggering war debt • Many believed that only by taxing Americans could the empire meet its financial needs

33. George III • Two unfortunate qualities • Determined to reassert authority of the monarch (installed weak coalition) • Suffered intellectual and psychological limitations.

34. George Grenville Responsible for problems that emerged with the colonies He shared the prevailing opinion that the colonists should be compelled to obey the laws and pay a part of the cost of defending and administering the empire

35. Grenville’s revenue measures • Sugar Act 1764 -- raised duty on sugar, lowered duty on molasses • Stamp Act 1765-- imposed a duty on every printed document in the colonies (multiplied income 10x) • Currency Act 1764 -- required colonial assemblies to stop issuing paper money