Acfaucquez.files.wordpress.com



WEEK 8-9-10CHAPTER 3?: THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND THE BUILDING OF THE BRITISH EMPIREMost historians agree that the modern world (also known as the industrial world) developed from the 1750s onwards. They use the term ‘modern world’ to describe this period mainly because the developments that took place from this time onwards have shaped our modern Western societies?:the mass production of goods in factories the mass movements of people to cities and towns the establishment of trade unions and workers’ rights the mass migration of people from across Europe to colonies in the New World the start of rapid transport and mass communication organised public education and schools. I. The Industrial RevolutionThe IR had its origins after the 1688 "Glorious Revolution" when the British kings lost power at the expense of the aristocratic landholders, starting a farming revolution.The landholders tried to rationalize their landholdings and started the Enclosure Movement: the fencing off of thousands of small areas of common land that had previously been used by local farmers to grow food. These smaller areas of land were joined to create larger farming areas. This process benefited wealthy people who were granted rights to farm these larger areas of land. This policy had two main effects: it increased the productivity of the land, and transformed the people who used to work land into an unemployed, labor class of poor in need of work. The enclosures, together with innovations in farming machinery and animal breeding, meant that more crops could be grown and animals could be raised by far fewer people. Overall, farming became much more efficient but this took place at the expense of poor people who relied on common land for their daily needs. Thus, the first factories had a ready labor-supply in Britain that was not available in other nations. Key inventions and innovations of the Industrial Revolution The first industries that were transformed by innovations in the Industrial Revolution were related to the production of iron, coal, cotton and wool. New spinning and weaving machinesSteam enginesNew modes of transport: steam-powered trains and ships.Development of the banking system : the London stock exchange appeared in the 1770s, Adam Smith (The Wealth of the Nation in 1776 = defense of the economic liberal system, free enterprise, the private ownership of means of production, and lack of government interference.)The negative impacts of the IRWages for those who labored in factories were low and unskilled workers had little job security and were easily replaceable.Working conditions for British factory and mine workers in particular were harsh and demanding. Men, women and children worked in unsafe conditions and for many hours – six days a week and up to 16 hours a day. One had to wait for the 19th century to see a series of government inquiries and legislation that regulated the minimum employment age, wages and the length of the working week. By the 1870s, for example, no child under 10 could be employed in factories and education for children under 10 was compulsory. Living conditions for factory workers were appalling. Many workers lived in slum areas close to the factories where they were employed. Families had no choice but to live in overcrowded conditions, often with no access to fresh water or proper sewerage. Consequences of these unhygienic living conditions included regular outbreaks of disease, a low life expectancy (just 29 years, in Liverpool in 1865) and a high infant mortality rate. Many writers of the time were appalled by the plight of the working poor whose work seemed unrewarding and whose lives were cut short by poverty, disease and injury. This period led to calls for social reform and also saw the formation of workers’ groups, such as trade unions. Towards the end of the period, conditions improved for many people. Slums were torn down to be replaced by new houses that provided heating, running water and sewerage systems. The benefits of the IRIt transformed Britain’s economy, which became (for a time) the world’s leading economic and industrial power. Britain’s population quadrupled from an estimated 6.5 million people in 1750 to more than 27.5 million in 1850 as living standards improved and death rates decreased. There were also a number of other benefits for workers in cities brought about by the Industrial Revolution. For example: improvements in farming made food cheaper and more plentiful mass produced goods such as clothing and furniture became more affordable improved public transport allowed workers to live away from factories in the newly developed suburbs street lighting transformed city life, encouraging people to enjoy entertainment at theatres and in music halls at night. Britain changed from an agricultural society to an urban society, with most people living in towns and cities where work could be found. In the growing towns and cities, a ‘middle class’ emerged: people who were neither landowners nor workers, such as bankers, shopkeepers, teachers and administrators. Suburbs surrounding the cities later developed. The Industrial Revolution represented a shift in influence away from the traditional power-holders in England: aristocratic rule was no longer supreme, manufacturers were now often more wealthy and more important to the nation's overall well being than the landed gentry (supported by the Whigs).II. The expansion of the British Empire From the late 16th century onwards, major European powers – such as Britain, France, Spain and Portugal – all competed to increase their control of new territories across the globe – a practice known as imperialism. A comparison of world maps in 1750 and 1900 reveals how quickly European empires expanded their territories over a period of 150 years >> PPAt the end of World War I in 1918, the British Empire reached its peak. By that time, it controlled approximately a quarter of the world’s population and land mass. The long 18th century, from the Glorious Revolution until Waterloo, was the period in which Britain rose to a dominant position among European trading empires in comparison to her rivals France and the Netherlands, as well as Spain and her client state, Portugal.Colonisation and trade went hand in hand: trade developed because of a larger market in the colonies which in turn kept attracting people (some 350,000 people had emigrated from England across the Atlantic by the end of the 17th century, by 1775 Britain possessed far more land and people in the Americas than either the Dutch or the French - who were the two main northern European rivals for international power and prestige). Overseas commerce was conducted within the mercantilist framework of the Navigation Acts, which stipulated that all commodity trade should take place in British ships, manned by British seamen, trading between British ports and those within the empire.Colonies were valued not only for the additional power and military advantages they could provide, but also because they delivered access to a range of raw materials like timber, cotton, coal and gold. These materials became the driving force behind the development of a range of industries in Europe. They also made imperial powers extremely wealthy. Raw materials from colonies across the British Empire fuelled the Industrial Revolution. These materials included wool and gold from Australia; cotton, sugar and tobacco from the Americas; gold and diamonds from Africa; and spices, fabric and tea from India. In addition to raw materials, the overseas colonies became valuable markets in which to sell the products manufactured from those raw materials (e.g. cloth made from cotton and cigarettes made from tobacco). In fact, the colonies were not allowed to manufacture their own goods. They had to buy these goods from the mother country. In this way, European empires profited not once, but twice from their colonies around the world. The colonies were used as a way for the mother country (England) to increase its wealth and become more powerful by maintaining a favorable balance of trade by exporting more than it imported.By 1797-8, North America and the West Indies received 57 per cent of British exports, and supplied 32 per cent of imports.Trade and settlement also occurred in Asian waters. This was mainly based around the activities of the East India Company, a large joint-stock company based in London. The ships of the East India Company fleet traded mainly in bullion, textiles and tea with Bengal.After the Royal African Company's monopoly was rescinded in 1698, the British became the largest and most efficient carriers of slaves to the New World. Private merchant houses provided the capital for this business activity, and Jamaica, the largest British slave colony, was also the wealthiest colony in the British Empire.The loss of the thirteen mainland American colonies in the War of Independence was a major blow to British imperial strength, but Britain recovered swiftly from this disaster, and acquired additional territories during the long war years with France from 1793 to 1815. The new colonies included Trinidad, Tobago, St Lucia, Guyana, the Cape Colony, Mauritius and Ceylon. Various Indian states were also subjugated.By 1815, Britain possessed a global empire that was hugely impressive in scale, and stronger in both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and around their shores, than that of any other European state. The impact of imperial trade : which came first?To what extent were these changes between 1688 and 1815 a case of trade stimulating empire, or of empire stimulating trade? The answer is that trade and empire went hand in hand, with a symbiotic relationship to each other.Growing overseas commerce with colonies stimulated merchants to provide ships, as well as goods for expanding settler societies. The slave trade also became a vehicle for establishing an empire of slavery in the Caribbean and southern American colonies, and emigrants sailed to the colonies in search of better material conditions. Rapid population growth in 18th-century North America provided a large market for British exports. In the quarter century before the American Revolution, British foreign trade changed its commodity composition to provide a wider range of textiles, notably linen and cotton fabrics. + a range of metalware and hardware, fabricated to meet the demands of a burgeoning colonial population with less advanced industrial processes than were current in the home country, and with some restrictions on their own manufacturing.The current consensus is that trade and empire were significant for British economic growth in the Hanoverian period, but this would not have been achieved without the strong support provided by the 'military-fiscal' state and the superiority of the Royal Navy over other European navies. The expansion of British imperial endeavors was accompanied by many years of warfare: over half of the 18th century saw the British at war, principally against France.THE TRIANGULAR TRADESlavery was part of this very complex economic system that involved 3 continents and had a long-lasting impact on many countries.STAGE 1?: From Europe to AfricaSlave ships from Britain left ports like London, Liverpool and Bristol for West Africa carrying goods such as cloth, guns, ironware, brandy, and gunpowder that had been made in Britain.Later, on the West African coast, these goods would be traded for men, women and children who had been captured by slave traders or bought from African chiefs.STAGE 2?: From Africa to AmericaBetween 1650 and 1900, 10.24 million African slaves arrived in the Americas from the following regions in the following proportions1. Senegambia (Senegal and The Gambia): 4.8% 2. Upper Guinea (Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Sierra Leone): 4.1% 3. Windward Coast (Liberia and Cote d' Ivoire): 1.8% 4. Gold Coast (Ghana and east of Cote d' Ivoire): 10.4% 5. Bight of Benin (Togo, Benin and Nigeria west of the Niger Delta): 20.2% 6. Bight of Biafra (Nigeria east of the Niger Delta, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon): 14.6% 7. West Central Africa (Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola): 39.4% 8. Southeastern Africa (Mozambique and Madagascar): 4.7% 1. ENSLAVEMENTIt is commonly thought that most slaves were captured by Europeans who landed on the African coast and kidnapped people. It is important to understand that Europeans were incapable, on their own, of kidnapping 20 million Africans?!African slaves were sold to Europeans. Yet rulers or merchants were not selling their own subjects, but people they regarded as alien.Forms of slavery existed in Africa before Europeans arrived. People were enslaved as punishment for a crime, payment for a debt or as a prisoner of war. However, African slavery was different?from what was to come later.Most enslaved people were captured in battle.In some kingdoms, temporary slavery was a punishment for some crimes.In some cases, enslaved people could work to buy their freedom.Children of enslaved people did not automatically become slaves.The issue of enslavement in Africa has long been debated. Apologists for the African slave trade long argued that European traders purchased Africans who had already been enslaved and who otherwise would have been put to death, claiming that the slave trade actually saved lives. YET= Africans were purchased in exchange for firearms and other goods. If slavery existed in Africa before the arrival of Europeans, it changed nature. The massive European demand for slaves and the introduction of firearms radically transformed west African societies. The number of religious wars increased with the goal of capturing slaves and European weapons made it easier to capture slaves.Some African societies like Benin in southern Nigeria refused to sell slaves. Others, like Dahomey, appear to have specialized in enslavement. Drought, famine, or periods of violent conflict might lead a ruler or a merchant to sell slaves. In addition, many rulers sold slaves in order to acquire the trade goods--textiles, alcohol, and other rare imports--that were necessary to secure the loyalty of their subjects.Once captured, enslaved were forced to march to the coast where they would be traded for goods. 15 to 30 percent died during the march to or confinement along the coast.On the African coast, European traders bought enslaved people from travelling African dealers or nearby African chiefs. Families were separated.The traders held the enslaved Africans until a ship appeared, and then sold them to a European or African captain. It often took a long time for a captain to fill his ship. He rarely filled his ship in one spot. Instead he would spend three to four months sailing along the coast, looking for the fittest and cheapest slaves.The voyage from Africa to America was called the ‘Middle Passage'= the middle leg of a three-part voyage from Europe to Africa, Zmerica and back to Europe.Again, at least 2 million people--10 to 15 percent--died during the journey across the Atlantic. Altogether then, for every 100 slaves who reached the New World, 40 died in Africa or during the Middle Passage.On shipboard, slaves were branded, chained together and crammed into confined spaces for more than 7 weeks. Men and women were separated, with men usually placed toward the bow and women toward the stern. The men were chained together and forced to lie shoulder to shoulder on sleeping shelves. The lack of standing headroom with little ventilation and, in some cases, not even enough space to place buckets for human waste increased the risks of disease. According to Equiano, "The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us. This produced copious perspirations, so that the air soon became unfit for respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died."They were usually fed only once or twice a day > suffered from malnutrition, dehydration, dysentery, diarrhea measles, scurvy, and smallpox. Some were forced to eat because captains did not want them to starve.Were brought on deck for limited times. Were whipped and forced to exercise = to reduce mortality rates.Many Africans resisted enslavement. On shipboard, many slaves mutinied, attempted suicide, jumped overboard, or refused to eat. Our best estimate is that there was a revolt on one in every ten voyages across the Atlantic.STAGE 3?: In AmericaIn the West Indies enslaved Africans would be sold to the highest bidder at slave auctions.Once they had been bought, enslaved Africans worked for nothing on plantations = 2/3 of the enslaved Africans ended up on sugar plantations. Sugar was used to sweeten another crop harvested by enslaved Africans in the West Indies - coffee.The majority of slaves stayed in the West Indies, only a minority was sent to Biritsh colonies in North AmericaSTAGE 4?: From America to EuropeWith the money made from the sale of enslaved Africans, goods such as sugar, coffee and tobacco were bought and carried back to Britain for sale. >>> The crops produced by slaves?: sugar, tobacco, coffee were not essential to subsistence.Slavery developed along an early consumer culture that revolved around pleasure and not sustenanceWho benefited from the Transatlantic Slave Trade?This Slave Trade was the richest part of Britain's trade in the 18th century. Between 1750 and 1780, about 70% of the government's total income came from taxes on goods from its colonies. 1/3 of London and 2/5 of Liverpool and Bristol’s economic activity was related to slaveryBritish slave ship owners - some voyages made 20-50% profit. Large sums of money were made by ship owners who never left England.British Slave Traders - who bought and sold enslaved Africans.Plantation Owners - who used slave labour to grow their crops. Vast profits could be made by using unpaid workers. Planters often retired to Britain with the profits they made?and?had grand country houses built for them. Some planters used the money they had made to become MPs. Others invested their profits in new factories and inventions, helping to finance the Industrial Revolution.The factory owners in Britain - who had a market for their goods. Textiles from Yorkshire and Lancashire were bought by slave-captains to barter with. One half of the textiles produced in Manchester were exported to Africa and half to the West Indies. In addition, industrial plants were built to refine the imported raw sugar. Glassware was needed to bottle the rum.West African leaders involved in the trade - who captured people and sold them as slaves to Europeans.The ports - Bristol and Liverpool became major ports through fitting out slave ships and handling the cargoes they brought back. Between 1700 and 1800, Liverpool's population rose from 5000 to 78,000.?Bankers - banks and finance houses grew rich from the fees and interest they earned from merchants who borrowed money for their long voyages.?Creation of the Bank of England.Ordinary people - the Transatlantic Slave Trade provided many jobs for people back in Britain. - Many people worked in factories which sold their goods to West Africa. These goods would then be traded for enslaved Africans. Birmingham had over 4000 gun-makers, with 100,000 guns a year going to slave-traders.- Others worked in factories that had been set up with money made from the Slave Trade. - People bought shares in slave ships. - Goods, such as sugar, were more affordable for people living in Britain.British North AmericaThe 1st settlements:1492: Christopher Columbus discovered the New World1565: 1st permanent settlement was founded in St Augustine, Florida by the Spanish1607: the English followed with the founding of Jamestown in Virginia1608: the Frenchman Samuel Champlain founded Quebec >>> the center of the colony of New France1620: Plymouth Colony (Massachusetts) was founded by the Pilgrims (On Sept. 16, 1620 the ship "Mayflower" set off from Plymouth, England to America. There were 102 passengers on board including 41 Christian Puritans who were fleeing religious persecution)1624-1664: the Dutch established the colony of New Netherland which was conquered in 1664 by England to become New York1638-1655: The colony of New Sweden remained for 17 years before it was absorbed by New Netherland>>> By the middle of the 17th century, England, France and Spain were the sole remaining European powers in North America:the English colonies on the Eastern CoastNew France covering the whole middle continent from North to South New Spain covering the Western Coast, Mexico and Florida Colonial America was first characterized by:2. Geographical ≠ ces >>> 3 main groups: ? the Northern colonies = New England: Maine (created as a state in 1820), New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut.the Plymouth Colony was founded by the 1st Pilgrims or Pilgrim Fathers (102 people among whom were 41 Separatists who found that the Church of England was too corrupted) the Massachusetts Bay Colony founded in 1628 by Congregationalists (Puritans who wanted to reform or purify the Church of England rather than abandon it). = both were fleeing religious persecutions in England as they were not able to worship freely.=very homogeneous pop, almost purely EnglishA system of gvt based on religion and the doctrine of predestination/election: God chose those who were destined to be saved: the elect. The elect dominated and ruled the colony = the elite. They refused any form of dissent and exerted great intolerance on other religions. This culminated in the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 where 19 men and women were hanged and between 175 and 200 people were imprisoned on suspicion that they committed acts of witchcraft.Yet, they were also the 1st to introduce the idea of a constitution: The Mayflower Compact (signed aboard the ship in 1620 by the Pilgrim Fathers): a social contract in which the settlers consented to follow the rules and regulations of the government for the sake of survival. The government, in return, would derive its power from the consent of the governed. It is said to be the origin of the Constitution of the US.>>> small farmers, fishermen (codfish), small manufacturersLife based on industry (hard work), thrift and austerity? the Middle Colonies: Pennsylvania, New Netherland/New York, New Jersey, and Delaware.Great diversity in the population and culture/religion/language: German people, Dutch (NY was 1st New Amsterdam), English, Irish/Scots, French, Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, Poles, Portuguese, and Italians + black slaves = 1720 = 15.5% of blacksJews, Quakers in Pennsylvania, Lutherans, Huguenots (French Protestants) >>> great tolerance and cosmopolitanismFar more liberal and less austere than NEAgriculture was more varied: variety of grains = The wheat basket of America, vegetables, livestock...Mix of small properties and large feudal-like estates. Ideal for poor people >>> easy access to land. + great number of merchants (trade in furs, lumber, grain)? the southern colonies: Maryland, Virginia, Nth/Sth Carolina, GeorgiaVery rural type of society = its tropical climate allowed the development of tobacco, rice and indigo (cotton came in the 19th c) and the plantation system with slaves.Sharp stratification of society into classes:at the top was the upper class composed of well-to-do and aristocratic planters living in mansions and large estates and who were part of the political leadership the middle class was made up of small planters and yeoman farmers (landholders who owned their own piece of land ≠ tenant farmers who farmed land owned by a landlord) the lower class: tenant farmers, poor whitesthe slaves = about ? of the pop, 2/3 in South Carolina≠ status in the population:°free people: most of them were poor, quite a few came from the merchant class, some were important aristocrats (for ex, Lord Baltimore owned the whole state of Maryland)°non free people: slaves (African and Native American) + indentured servants (unemployed poor people or convicts who remained under contract for 6 or 7 years in order to pay back the expenses of their journey from Europe. Their master provided little or no monetary pay, but was responsible for accommodation, food, and most important training as an apprentice. By the end of their contract they could buy land and start their life anew.)A. THE CHESAPPEAKE = Virginia and Maryland vs the LOWER SOUTH (CAROLINA, GEORGIA)- The Chesappeake developed a similar agricultural system that revolved around tobacco, which was later diversified with the introduction of cotton and indigo.- At first, Chesapeake farmers hired indentured servants. However, by the 1680s, fluctuating tobacco prices and the growing scarcity of land in the region + prosperity in England made the Chesapeake less appealing to men and women willing to indenture themselves. The scarcity of indentured servants meant that the price of their labor contracts increased, and Chesapeake farmers began to look for alternative, cheaper sources of bonded labor = African chattel slavery guaranteed a lifetime service of free labor. As the demand for Chesapeake cash crops continued to grow, planters began to increasingly invest in the Atlantic slave trade.Tobacco, unlike rice, required extensive and careful cultivation, and so required the need for direct supervision of the master or an overseer = the gang system. This is why tobacco tended to produce smaller plantations (20 to 30 slaves maximum). Slaves working on smaller farms found themselves working side-by-side with their white masters, who hired white laborers, and only a small number of slaves. Away from the unhealthy climate of the lowcountry, slaves on tobacco plantations were less sickly, and they were able to achieve a relatively robust rate of natural population increase > slave owners became less and less dependent on the slave trade > process of acculturation accelarated = creation of their own Afro-American cultureTHE SOUTHERN COLONIES (NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA, GEORGIA)South Carolina, later dubbed the "Rice Kingdom," was one of the first North American colonies to be deliberately founded on slave labor. In the 17th century, wealthy planters from Barbados, accompanied by their African slaves, immigrated to South Carolina looking for arable lands. The planters were well aware that African slaves had skills and attributes well suited to the semi-tropical environment of South Carolina. Hence, South Carolinian planters began importing Africans in large numbers, and in 1710, African-born slaves outnumbered American-born people. By 1720, South Carolina's population was 65% enslaved. Wealthy planters cultivated rice and other cash crops along the southeastern coast, because rice crops needed constant irrigation- Large plantations?: It took at least thirty slaves to set up a rice plantation. By 1750, one third of all low-country South Carolina slaves lived on units with 50 or more slavesYet because rice cultivation was not a particularly delicate process, it did not require intensive oversight from masters and overseers. Hence rice slaves worked on a "task" system by which each slave was assigned a specific task to complete on his or her own each day. This allowed them to leave the fields early in the afternoon to tend their own gardens and raise their own livestock, free from white supervision. The higher capital investment required of rice plantations, plus the reduced amount of labor supervision, made rice plantations far more profitable than tobacco plantations. Unhealthy environment for the slaves, who suffered terrible rates of sickness and death and who were barely able to maintain a natural rate of reproduction.THE NORTH (NEW ENGLAND, THE MIDDLE COLONIES)The overall percentage of slaves in New England was only 2-3%, but there were pockets of the North where slaves played key roles in the economic and social order: New York City and northern New Jersey (4,600 blacks were in New Jersey in 1745, 7.5 percent of the population; and nearly 20,000 blacks lived in New York in 1771, 12.2 percent of the population).rural Pennsylvania and Philadelphiathe shipping towns of Connecticut and Rhode Island (9.1 percent of the population; in cities such as Boston and Newport, 20-25% percent of the population Unlike in the South, northern farms were not large-scale enterprises that focused on producing a single cash crop; instead they were often smaller, more agriculturally diversified enterprises that required fewer laborers. Most slaves were engaged in farming and stock raising for the West Indies or as household servants for the urban elite.In cities, slaves were employed in a variety of other capacities: domestic servants, artisans, craftsmen, sailors, dock workers, laundresses, and coachmen. Particularly in urban areas, owners often hired out their skilled enslaved workers and collected their wages. Others were used as household servants. The average slave-owning household in New England and the Mid-Atlantic seems to have had about 2 slaves. Estates of 50 or 60 slaves were rare, though they did exist in the Hudson Valley, eastern Connecticut, and the Narragansett region of Rhode Island. But the Northern climate set some barriers to large-scale agricultural slavery. The long winters, which brought no income on Northern farms, made slaves a burden for many months of the year unless they could be hired out to chop wood or tend livestock. In contrast to Southern plantation slavery, Northern slavery tended to be urban.Slaveholding reflected social as well as economic standing. The leading merchant families and rural gentry used slaves as domestic servants. Their example was followed by tradesmen and small retailers until most houses of substance had at least one or two domestics.≠ motivations for immigrating: economic (poor people who wanted to succeed), political (fleeing oppressing, tyrannical monarchies) religious (religious persecutions against Protestants in Europe at the time) Political diversity: ? Charter or corporate colonies were set up by groups of economic speculators and investors organized in private corporations (companies)= Virginia Company of London 1606, Massachusetts Bay Colony 1629They were given a charter (a written constitution) by the King granting them sovereign power over a defined area of North America where they could found their colony. Cy was paying for the settlement and was ruling the colony.All of the colonial charters guaranteed to the American colonists the vague rights and privileges of Englishmen, which would later prove to be a critical point of contention, especially in Massachusetts, and one of the major causes of the American War for Independence.Examples of charter colonies: New Netherland founded by the Dutch West India Company, Virginia and Massachusetts Bay by the London Company.? Proprietary colonies were owned by one powerful individual who received authority from the Crown to found and administer a colony and was granted full rights of self-government. The British crown awarded their most loyal supporters with vast tracts of land in colonial New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the Carolinas. The proprietors were given the authority to supervise and develop the colonies into successful and profitable enterprises.Ex: Pennsylvania (William Penn) NY (Duke of York in 1664), Maryland (George Calvert, Lord Baltimore), Delaware ? Crown / Royal colonies were organized as direct possessions of the king, they were administered by a royal governor and council appointed by the crown. By the late 1600s, the king of England had taken control of most of the corporate colonies, including the Virginia, Plymouth, New York, and Massachusetts Bay Colonies. The king did this because the colonies had become too independent or were disobeying trade agreements and he felt he was losing control over them.Ex: New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia>>> With the Creation of the Board of Trade and plantations (1693) the Crown shows its will to reinforce its power on its coloniesBy 1763 most colonies surrendered their charters to the Crown and became Royal Colonies. Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania remained proprietary colonies and Connecticut and Rhode Island managed to retain their chartersPolitical Structure:GOVERNOR = appointed by the King = supreme authority = power to convene, or dissolve the legislature + to veto any of its lawsCOUNCIL = appointed, and they served at the governor's pleasure + served as the supreme court for the colony + had to approve new laws = the upper house of the legislature = the House of LordsLEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY = Members were elected annually, by the propertied citizens of the towns or counties = landowners = House of Commons >>> The most generous suffrage in the world = Fewer than one-percent of British men could vote, whereas a majority of American freemen were eligible.All laws passed by a colonial legislature? and approved by a governor, had to be sent to England to be examined by the King and could be vetoed by the King at any time within 3 years.Elected representatives learned to listen to these interests because 90% of the men in the lower houses lived in their districts, unlike England where it was common to have an absentee member of Parliament. All of this was very unlike Europe, where aristocratic families and the established church were in control.The first colony to have its own assembly was the colony of Virginia governed in its early years by the London (Virginia) Company which permitted colonists representation in the government?: free inhabitants of the plantations should elect representatives.From that time onward, it was generally accepted that the colonists had, a right to participate in their own government. Similarly, charters awarded to Cecil Calvert of Maryland, William Penn of Pennsylvania, the proprietors of the Carolinas, and the proprietors of New Jersey all specified that legislation should be with "the consent of the freemen." At first the right of colonists to representation in the legislative branch of the government was of limited importance. Yet, progressively, the elective assemblies, started to get control over financial matters. In one colony after another, the principle was established that taxes could not be levied, or collected revenue spent -even to pay the salary of the governor or other appointed officers -without the consent of the elected representatives. >>> Does it ring a bell??Unless the governor and other colonial officials agreed to act in accordance with the will of the popular assembly, the assembly failed to appropriate money for this or that vital function. Thus there were instances of independent-minded governors who were voted either no salary at all, or a salary of one penny. In the face of this threat, governors and other appointive officials rapidly tended to become pliable to the will of the colonists.In New England for many years there was even more complete self-government than in other colonies. They set up their own political organization. Aboard the Mayflower, they adopted an instrument for government called the "Mayflower Compact," Although there was no legal basis for the Pilgrims thus to establish on their own initiative a system of self-government the action was not contested and, under the compact, the Plymouth settlers were able for many years to conduct their own affairs without any outside direction or interference.The large degree of self-government which the colonies exercised did not go entirely unchallenged by British authorities. Court action was taken against the Massachusetts charter; in 1684, it was annulled. Then all the New England colonies were brought under royal control with complete authority vested in an appointed governor= NEW ENGLAND DOMINION. The colonists strenuously objected to this turn of events and, after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 in England which resulted in the overthrow of James II, they drove out the royal governor. The large measure of political independence enjoyed by the colonies naturally resulted in their growing away from Britain, in their becoming increasingly "American" rather than "English." And this tendency was strongly reinforced by the blending of other national groups and cultures which was simultaneously taking place. How this process operated and the manner in which it laid the foundations of a new nation was vividly described in 1782 by that shrewd French husbandman, J. Hector St. John Crêvecoeur. ">>> A very contrasted North America which came to distinguish itself more and more from its mother countryThe imperial crisis and the Revolution 1754-1775The rise of political independenceThe causes of independence were varied: -political: the parliament in London was taking political measures without consulting the colonies >>> “no taxation without representation”-economic: they had to pay too many tariff duties (droit de douane) -territorial: the Royal proclamation of 1763 prevented them from expanding West>>> Fear of French presence in the Ohio territory and had built forts all along the rivers from the St Lawrence to the Mississippi River In response to the French threat, delegates from 7 northern and middle colonies gathered and formed the The Albany Congress in June 1754:Their aim was to:persuade the Iroquois to abandon their traditional neutrality and to coordinate their defenses of the coloniesadopt a plan of Union drafted by Benjamin Franklin: = first attempt at uniting the colonies: they would have a president appointed by the king and a council of delegates chosen by the colonial assemblies, the number of delegates depending on the amount of taxes paid by each colony >>> the plan was rejected by the provincial governments who feared they would lose their autonomyWar was finally declared between Britain and France in 1756 and lasted 7 years = the Seven Years War or French and Indian War1763: A Turning Point : The Treaty of Paris sealed the British Triumph As a result, France relinquished all of Canada, the Great Lakes, and the territory east of the Mississippi to the British + Louisiana West of the Mississippi to Spain.The dream of a French empire in North America was over. Spain ceded Florida to Britain.>>> The Br controlled all the seacoast and had thus a monopoly over the fur trade.With France removed from North America, the vast interior of the continent lay open for the Americans to colonize. But the English government decided otherwise. To induce a controlled population movement (feared other Indian wars) GB issued a Royal Proclamation in 1763 that prohibited settlement west of the line drawn along the crest of the Allegheny mountains (colonists couldn’t move unto Indian lands until tribes had given up their lands by treaty) and to enforce that measure they authorized a permanent army of 10,000 regulars (paid for by taxes gathered from the colonies).This infuriated the Americans who, after having been held back by the French, now saw themselves stopped by the British in their surge west.Csq of the war: Br empire had doubled and had to deal with:A new diverse pop: A population that had been predominantly Protestant and English now included French-speaking Catholics from Quebec, and large numbers of partly Christianized Native Americans. The defense and administration of the new territories required huge sums of money and increased personnel.>>> Crown was going bankrupt (war had been costly) >>> needed to increase taxes+ it imposed a series of economic measures in order to suppress competition with other empires (according to the mercantilist principle, the colonies existed only to develop the wealth and power of England)>>> the crown introduced a series of new taxes + tariff duties (droit de douane)1764: Sugar Act: lowered the duty on foreign-produced molasses from six pence per gallon to 3 pence per gallon, in attempts to discourage smuggling. The act further stipulated that Americans could export many commodities, including lumber, iron, skins, and whalebone, to foreign countries, only if they passed through British ports first. 1765: Stamp Act: it required all newspapers, pamphlets, and other legal documents to bear revenue/tax stamps. The proceeds (le montant des recettes) would be used for "defending, protecting, and securing" the colonies. Affected the upper class: the elites and journalists, lawyers, clergymen, merchants and businessmen.1767: Townshend Laws: placed a tax on common products imported into the American Colonies, such as lead, paper, paint, glass, and tea. The money collected would be used in part to support colonial officials and maintain the British army in America. >>> strong reaction: call to boycott all British products, rise of a non-consumption movement: refusal of women to buy tea or other household goods = “the Daughters of Liberty” : They would encourage home manufacturing, spinning their own clothes instead of importing them from Britain. Repealed in 1770 except for the tea tax1773: Tea Act >>> East India Company (an English Cy) had the monopoly to sell tea to the American colonies. Yet tea was still taxed by the Townshend law. >>>Boston Tea Party: On the night of December 16, 1773, a band of men disguised as Indians and led by Samuel Adams (a radical patriot) boarded three British ships lying in the Boston harbor and threw their tea cargo into the sea.>>> reaction of England: 1774 The Coercive or Intolerable laws >>> against any autonomy of the coloniesthe Boston Port Bill: which closed Boston Harbor to all ships until Bostonians had repaid the British East India Company for damages. >>> Public sympathy for Boston erupted throughout the colonies, and many neighboring towns sent food and supplies to the blockaded city.restricted local authority and banned most town meetings held without the governor's consent. Beginning of active resistance against the Crown. Alliance of “merchants, militants and mobs” that organized and enforced non-importation movements against British products.American identity, which was unknown at the time, came out of a negative unity (against British mercantilism and the legitimacy of the Crown’s imperial authority.Formation of the 1st Continental Congress in Sept 1774 with delegates from 12 colonies (Georgia didn’t join because it feared a slave rebellion) >>> called for a boycott of British goods and for the establishment of revolutionary committees throughout the colonies. (Remember how the Albany Congress had been a failure but now they realized how necessary it was to unite and centralize the colonies)>>> Declaration of Rights and Grievances calling for the suppression of the Coercive ActsFirst battles were fought in Concord and Lexington in 17752nd Continental Congress met from May 10, 1775, to March 1, 1781 >>> Its role was to coordinate the war effort >>> Started to build up an army commanded by George Washington = the Continental ArmyThe Congress >>> the nucleus of a national governmentThe Revolutionary Committees >>> the nuclei of state governmentsIII. The Revolutionary War 1775-1783Am pop was divided between:- The Patriots or Revolutionaries (Whigs, Rebels, Congress Men or Americans)= yeoman farmers, members of dominant protestant sects, of the gentry, local merchants, city artisans, elected office-holders.- The Loyalists (also called Tories, King's Men, or Royalists) = about 1/5 of the popAll the groups who feared those who controlled the colonial assemblies+ British appointed gvt officials, members of the Anglican clergy, merchants whose trade depended on imperial connections) >>> 70,000 loyalists left the country to Canada, GB and the Caribbean.- Blacks (slaves and free) served on both sides. Black soldiers served in northern militias from the outset, but this was forbidden in the South, where slave owners feared arming slaves. In November 1775, Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor of Virginia, issued a proclamation promising freedom to runaway slaves who fought for the British (which they never did). Because of manpower shortages, Washington lifted the ban on black enlistment in the Continental Army in January 1776. >>> At least 5,000 black soldiers fought for the Revolutionary cause.-Most Native Americans joined the fight against the United States, since native lands were threatened by expanding American settlement. An estimated 13,000 warriors fought on the British side; the largest group, the Iroquois, fielded about 1,500 men. Landmark dates of the war:- 1st battle of Bunker Hill was fought between local British forces in America and the new Continental Army on June 17, 1775 in Massachusetts.- Jan 10th 1776: Thomas Paine published “Common Sense” = a call for independence.- July 4th 1776: Signature of the declaration of the independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson (from Virginia)The British sent around 30,000 British “redcoats” + some 200 Hessian soldiers (German mercenaries) to fight gal Washington’s meagre 19,000 irregular army = the Continental Army. (+ support of France; the Netherlands and Spain)The American cause was 1st thought hopelessly lost.Victory due to 3 factors: - intervention of 8,000 French soldiers (Lafayette) + millions of dollars in loans and giftsthe military strategy of Washington focussing on guerrilla warfare that he had learned from the Indiansthe Revolutionary “élan” of the Americans who successfully outlasted the British in a war of attrition. (guerre d’usure)1783: 2nd Treaty of Paris granting the Americans colonies their independence.Florida was then reverted to Spain (back to the US in 1819)IV The Confederation Period 1781-1787 >>> 1st attempt at establishing a national governmentExternal unity/local identityThe external resistance against Great-Britain shaped an external unity. But, the specific histories and characteristics of the “provinces” had given them a strong sense of local identity. (That was even stronger) With the coming of Independence, the right to local self-government, which Britain had always refused, now meant an unlimited sovereignty for each of the thirteen states.Establishment of state governmentsAfter the Declaration of Independence was adopted, the citizens of the thirteen states of the new United States of America began the process of creating state governments. The provincial govts had been dismantled (colonial governors were appointed by the King)>>> Strong desire of founding new, original and voluntary contracts between the people and their respective state governments. These governments varied widely in their framework, some drawing more upon the traditions established during the colonial period and some drawing more upon the rising tide of democratic republican ideology.- Eleven of thirteen state constitutions maintained bicameral legislatures (two-houses a lower and upper house); the majority of political officials were appointed rather than elected.- However, in keeping with the Republican ideology, nine of thirteen states reduced property requirements for voting. (Voting was reserved to property-owners)- They also sought to prevent political tyranny through written constitutions, and the adoption of bills of rights. - Their governments were organized in accordance with the principles of separation of powers, establishing three branches of government (legislative, judiciary and executive one.)Yet, the powers of the executive office of the governor were drastically limited. The governor became an elected official and elections were held annually in every state but South Carolina, where they were biannual. Governors had very few powers of appointment and were left only to make some financial decisions and control the militia.At US level: the ConfederationAnother step after the declaration of Independence was the creation of a new national government. A plan of union or a "league of friendship" between the states was proposed in November 1777 by the 2nd Continental Congress, the Articles of Confederation were only ratified in 1781. The Articles of Confederation reserved to each state "its sovereignty, freedom, and independence" within the national structure. The central government consisted of a legislative assembly without an executive. The Congress was the only common structure which was elected by the states. The Articles did not provide for a judicial system either.Each of the 13 States were given an equal weight and voice. The required majority of state votes in Congress was of 9 states out of 13. Yet there rarely were 9 states represented at the same time in Congress so it was difficult to have a decision voted + as each state had one vote: there was an imbalance between the 5 smaller states which could have a decision passed to the detriment of the 8 bigger states which accounted for most of the population. Congress could request funds from the states, but had no power of taxation. Similarly, Congress lacked the power to regulate interstate or international commerce.This system of extreme decentralization was adopted under the pressure of the patriots (small business men) who opposed the Conservatives (merchants, bankers..) who wanted a strong central government.Yet, the Confederation soon met its limits, as there was little political authority without a national executive (president or executive) and internal conflicts appeared between the states:- There was no uniform currency, the US paper money was practically worthless + Congress didn’t have the power to raise taxes on the states >>> The Confederation was bankrupt >>> couldn’t pay its soldiers after the war and have its own army to protect itself from neighboring enemies (Native Americans, New Spain...)- Congress was unable to overcome interstate rivalries and adopt a coordinated trade policy: Each state imposed its own tariff barriers. Ex: farmers from New Jersey had to pay tariff duties to sell their products in NY, just on the other side of the Hudson river - Weakness of the gvt concerning foreign trade: immediately after the war, Britain, France and Spain restricted American trade with their colonies in the West Indies.Pbl with neighboring nations: Spain closed navigation on the Mississippi in 1784 to prevent the republic’s expansion. - No national judiciary: each court had to interpret the laws passed by Congress Congress was also confronted to another issue being the status of land beyond the Appalachians. The question of territorial expansion also expressed the need for internal unity. Through the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, it was decided that the north west was a territory which belonged to all and had to be administered by Congress. (Congres would appoint a governor) When the territories reached 60,000 inhabitants, they could become states and ask to be incorporated into the Union.>>> yet the Confederation period was a time of great political and social instability: Economic depression hit soon after the American Revolution ended, as many people, especially farmers, could not pay off their debts >>> For ex on Jan 25, 1787, in Massachusetts, Farmers, led by Daniel Shays, a former officer in the Continental army, opposing high taxes (imposed to pay off war debts), they led an assault on the federal army at Springfield.Advocates of a reinforced US government (the Federalists) interpreted the threatening movement as a proof of the danger of democracy. The Confederation obviously needed expanded national powers to intervene in such cases. >>> Clear lack of unity of this Confederation because of the fear of a strong executive .The Declaration of Independence (1776)Drafted by Thomas Jefferson, a Virginia lawyer and plantation owner, member of the Continental Congress (1774-1775), + also famous names like John Adams and Benjamin Franklinon June 28, 1776 it was finally adopted on July 4th. They came to be known as the “Founding Fathers”Context=American war of independence had started (1st battle on June 17, 1775)After Thomas Paine’s common Sense was published (10th Jan 1776)This draft appeared after King George III had proclaimed a state of rebellion in the colonies and Parliament had passed an act cutting off trade with the colonies in July 1775. This text announces de facto the state of war with GB.Vivid statement of the right to revolution, the equality of men and the right to self-determination.What are the Americans’ rights and how are they defended in this text?We= the representatives but also the American peopleEquality between men, rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, = ”men are created equal” = the colonies felt exploited by the mother countryLiberty = felt oppressed by the KingHappiness= the goal of immigration= these are natural rights, “unalienable” rights = absolute, not awarded by human power, not transferable to another power, and incapable of repudiation. Opposite to legal rights= Dictated by the “laws of nature and of nature’s God”, “created”, “Creator” = not the Christian God but Nature’s God in the Deist conception of Jefferson : Jefferson based his God on reason and rejected revealed religion. “self-evident truths” = that can be understood through reason The idea of natural law was common in the 18th c, influence of the φ of the Enlightenment.Idea of a natural equality. “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” was originally a citation from John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government (1689) = the supreme function of the state was to protect life, liberty and property = judged too materialistic. Thus, to fight for American independence was to fight on behalf of one's own natural rights.2. Right to self-determination“the consent of the governed” We= the people of the US and the framers“in the name and by authority of the good people of these colonies”The role of the gvt is to preserve the individual’s rights, it has to preserve the consent of the governed, power belongs to the individuals = they have the right to determine their own governmental forms and structures = the basis of democracyThis notion of a social contract established between the people and the government was radical for the time, because most Europeans believed that their monarchs’ power was granted by God.3. Right to Revolution: Rights to alter or abolish a non-respectful government.= “it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it” “ to throw off such Government”! Jefferson & the members of Congress were not extremists. Revolutionaries were middle-class people whereas they were high class people (rich planters).The rhetorics:“self-evident truths” = a statement, a declaration of principles“therefore”= logical conclusion= a structured declaration.It is presented as a necessity, almost an emergency >>> their security is in danger = eagerness, anxiousness, = repetitions “it is their right, it is their duty” Feeling of sufferance of the colonists: “the patient Sufferance”What is the purpose of this document and why did it provoke war?To break any link with the mother countryTo declare themselves independent: “United colonies” >>> “States”To clarify the identity of the new nation, as well as defining the powers granted to the new government / To list their new rights as an independent country = to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce... = in a state of war >>> to establish the authority of the Second Continental Congress over issues of international affairs, war and peace, and trade. With these powers in hand, the Congress is empowered to run the affairs of government related to the declared war.To explain the rebellious actions of the 13 colonies to the nations and statesmen of the world. Recognizing the importance of maintaining good diplomatic relations with European nations, Jefferson sought to explain the actions of the 13 colonies in rational terms. Anticipating that this document would influence rebellions elsewhere, Jefferson clarified that governments should not be overthrown for trivial causes. Instead, Jefferson explained that only "despotic" or totalitarian governments should be overthrown.+ They were especially concerned with enlisting the military help of the French in their war against Great Britain. They therefore thought it necessary to assert clearly that they had no allegiance or connection to Great Britain.How revolutionary was it?A revolutionary document which rejected any form of English rule- against despotism/ absolute monarchy- rejected the notion of primogeniture (droit d’a?nesse) privilege/feudalism which still existed: when the big planters & loyalists fled their estates were equally divided- disappearance of the idea of an established church to which every one had to pay taxes >>> recognition of all churches. Cf Locke, Letter Concerning Toleration(1689): the church and the government should be kept as separate institutions. The Church was a voluntary organization supported freely by its members and not by the taxing power of government.Indictment/Accusation of George III: “The History of the Present King of Great-Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.” Missing part = long list of accusations against The King of Great Britain, George III, who was guilty of 27 specific abuses: The King interfered with the colonists' right to self-government, levied taxes on the colonists, prevented them from trading freely...Yet limit of the revolutionary aspect: - exclusion of some groups: Black slaves ( a passage concerning slavery was suppressed Jefferson held the King accountable for maintaining and protecting slavery as an institution in the colonies. Not surprisingly, the moderate congress, already fearful of being too radical, removed all references to slavery from the document.)+ Native Americans (savages not concerned with human rights)equality professed was just moral and philosophical: no leveling tendency and economic equality : this is a middle class revolutionthe insistence on the individual and on the destruction of social classes contradicts the Marxist conception of revolution. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download