History 2600 Spring 2009 Notes

History 2600 Spring 2009 Notes

Jan 8 2009

Major Themes of US history

Individualism and group identity

liberalism and capitalism

religious influences

destiny and optimism

reform and progress - formation of a more perfect union

violence and inequities.

When Columbus lands and “discovers” America in 1492 North America was already a civilized land with an old and distinct culture.

Columbus and europe were motivated by the quest for gold and expanded trade and the innovations of the renaissance.

Native americans migrated from siberia 15000-40000 years ago.

People of the southwest

Anasazi - means Ancient ones. migrated from the four corners area of the US (Col, Utah, Arizona, NM) south to the banks of the rio grande. Had very advanced and sophisticated village architecture and irrigated agricultural practices.

The Anasazi and the Aohokam were very large tribes of non-nomadic (sedentary) people who traded extensively together and had sophisticated political systems.

People of the Eastern Woodlands

Mississippians - the first farmers in the US. the center of their culture was the city Cahokia which means city of the sun. at its hight 20000 people lived in its walls which made it roughly the same size as London. There was a large metropolitan area around the city that allowed the mississippians to dominate the surrounding areas. by the 1500’s mississippian culture had declined and the people had broken up into smaller tribes and villages.

first encounters b/w the europeans and the indians lead to the decimation of native populations.

b/c of european diseases large native tribes broke up into smaller ones for survival. About 90% of the native population died to european diseases.

The Columbian Exchange - the accidental and intentional exchange of plants, animals, people, and microbes b/w whites and natives

The Intro of horses and firearms radically changed how native groups travelled and conducted warfare. likewise the intro of new world plants like potatoes and tobacco forever changed european diet and habits.

Natives contracted small pox and typhoid among others and Europeans got syphilis from the natives.

At contact there were an estimated 8 million natives in north america

about 1.88 million europeans moved to british north america b/w 1492 and 1820

spanish colonization focused on the discovery of gold and the conversion of natives

by the 17th century europeans began to think about permanent settlements and the expansion of their empires. this was made easier by the fact that so many indians had died that they offered little resistance to european expansion.

b/w 1492 and 1808 b/w 8 and 10 million Africans were brought to the americas as slaves 5-20% died in transit. 6% were brought to the American mainland

Slave culture changed and was eventually absorbed into American culture. food, music and architecture.

Jan 13 2009

Puritan Theology

pilgrims - small sect of religious radicals

landed at Plymouth Rock Nov 1620

believed that the church of england was so corrupt that total separation both physical and religious was the only hope for salvation

Mayflower compact - an agreement to set up a civil government. Celebrated as the first system of self governance.

pilgrims were lead by William Bradford eventually the pilgrims were absorbed by the puritans

puritans - protestants that wanted to purify the church of england. they were Calvinists

majority didn’t want to separate from english society only wanted to reform it .

persecution lead to the migration of over 20 000 puritans to New England from 1630-1645

their first settlement was Salem Mass.

by 1640 settlement had progressed 75 miles inland

puritans believed in pre-destination the belief that before we were born God had decided if we were to go to heaven or hell aka the covenant of Grace

in the puritan church a public conversion was required this conversion was a statement of conversion to the congregation with reasons why you believed that God had chosen you

Puritans believed that God took a direct and active role in peoples lives

Every Puritan adult male was required by law to attend church and to give money to the church

The Mass Bay company was given Charter in 1629 and had the exclusive rights to settle and trade in Mass. the first first settlers arrived in 1630

Gov. John Winthrop outlined his goals for the colony in his sermon A Model of Christian Charity aka The New England Way. In it he suggested that New England could be a still influence England by creating an ideal model. he said that New England would become like a city on the hill and example for the rest of the world.

virtually all of the first puritans were subsistence farmers. Each family was given a land in the town for a house and garden and a plot of land outside of the Village to farm. This lead to very tight-knit communities

freemen - males and members of the church who could vote for government positions. they practiced direct democracy

the stability of the community rested on the stability of the family. Entire families migrated to New England which meant that there was a fairly equal ratio of men to women. This lead to the formation of more families.

continued family formation and high birth rate combined with a low death rate and economic stability lead to successful communities.

challenges to settlement

puritan relationships with natives was strained as natives didn’t use the land as puritans thought it should be used and they weren’t christians so puritans thought that they could simply kick the natives off the land and take it for themselves.

eventually the natives rebelled in the King Philip war from 1675-1676. 2000 puritans and over 4000 natives died. at the end of the war organized resistance to puritan settlement was extinguished.

1638 Anne Hutchinson was put on trial for heresy for questioning the authority of prominent clergymen. she was banished to quell internal divisions.

Salem Witch trials 1692 a group of girls claimed to have been bewitched by a group of older women. Old single women who had no one to fight for their rights were targeted and the community went witch crazy. 20 people were executed.

the witch trials mark the end of Puritan society as a theocracy.

When English Puritans seized control of the english parliament the New England puritans lost their mission

Puritan Children had different goals that their parents this lead to puritan society to stray from its original goals

in 1670 there are 70000 people in New England and by the 18th C only 20% of them are Puritans

Economic prosperity brought many different groups to the new world and the yankee trader replaced the Puritan minister as the community leader.

Settling Chesapeake Bay

Virginia Company of London settled and formed Jamestown in 1607. Jamestown was in a very bad location, on malaria swamps next to a river that when the tied came in was full of undrinkable salt water and located in the territory of the strongest native alliance on the eastern seaboard.

the men who went to Chesapeake with the stated goal of making money.

only 13 of the 67 men called themselves laborers and many of the men refused to do any manual labor . no crops were planted in the first year as men searched for gold. Only 38 survived the first winter.

When captain john Smith arrived the next year with the relief boats and the next group of settlers he took control of the situation and instituted martial law. Again the settlers didn’t plan ahead and after he left they went through the starving winter of 1609 only 100 of the 500 settlers survived.

tobacco saved jamestown as it became massively popular in europe.

early settlement of Chesapeake

unbalanced sex ratios (1 woman to 6 men) limited family formation and there was low birth rates in the community.

there was limited urbanization as people lived on their farm land often far apart from another farm.

plantation owners controlled society

indentured servitude - made up the majority of british settlers and had to work for 5-7 years to pay off the passage.

African slaves arrived to work on tobacco plantations in 1619 and at first their status was was similar to that of indentured servant. by 1680 the condition of slavery was inheritable based on race.

Chesapeake settlers established the Church of England in America

the colony was granted royal status in 1624 and with it came a stable British government. the plantation owners already had formed the house of Burgess and government body elected from land owners.

the Powhatan confederacy was a powerful group of natives that resisted settler demands.

Anglo-powhatan wars were an ongoing series of wars that by 1646 was wrapping up the third one. when it ended it was clear that the settlers would win and control the area.

Bacons rebellion 1676

a fall in tobacco prices lead to an economic depression that the settlers of Chesapeake bay blamed on the natives.

Nathaniel Bacon was at first granted the right to wage war on all indians but Gov. William Berkley reconsidered and forbade the war against indians. Bacon reacted by attacking Berkley but he died and the rebellion petered out

resulted in the solidification of slavery. the use of blacks slaves over indentured whites

jan 15 2009

NY, NJ, and Penn. are called the restoration colonies b/c they were formed after the restoration of the english crown

they were proprietary colonies. that is the land was given to individuals or groups as a reward for service to the crown.

these colonies embraced religious tolerance and self government

Proprietors promoted trade and liberal access to land

1664 NY, NJ founded. originally settled by the dutch and called New Netherlands. It had a hodge-podge of settlers from all over europe. The Dutch couldn’t maintain control over the area so when British warships sailed into NY harbor the settler surrendered without a fight.

Pennsylvania - founded by william Penn

settled by quakers as a holy experiment and money making venture

quakers migrated as a family unit and migrations were highly controlled

Penn formed orderly cities and governments. his Frame of Government of 1682 outlined religious freedoms, civil liberties and elections of government (it was ensured that quakers would dominate the government)

many persecuted sects moved to pennsylvania as it was a tolerant society

Penn had good relations with natives as he bought the land that europeans would settle on from the natives

pennsylvania became the breadbasket of america and a major of center for trade.

Penn’s sons converted to Anglicanism and the power of the quakers slowly declined

The Carolinas - est in 1663

North Carolina was settled by virginians. It had no natural harbor and relied on Virginia and SC for the import and export of goods

not very much tobacco was grown in NC as the geography wasn’t well suited for it.

South Carolina was settled by Caribbean Sugar planters looking to start plantations on the continent. they ended up growing rice instead as sugar wouldn’t grow

they had an intensely hierarchical society and by 1720, 76% of residents were slaves

Georgia was formed by a board of trustees headed by James Oglethorpe in 1732 and was the last of the original 13 colonies

it was created as a buffer b/w SC and Spanish Florida and as a refuge for debtors

originally georgia banned slavery but that was repealed in 1750 and after that the population exploded. Main crop was cotton.

spain claimed vast amounts of the South and Southwest seeking Gold and a harvest of souls

they didn’t settle very much and by 1700 there were only 4000 spanish settlers vs 250000 british settlers

France claimed northern territories and sought furs and fish. they relied on cooperation with the native populations

the government allowed only good catholics to go to new france (1660 - 1000 settlers)

the French embraced mercantilism in the colony to bring wealth to france

European wars in the colonies

War of spanish succession 1702-03 Britain gained part of Nova Scotia which lead to the french aggressively expanding in the interior and the gulf (New Orleans)

War of Austrian Succession 1744-48. A series of raids and skirmishes along the New france and Colonies boarder.

for 7 weeks a group of New English militia besieged and eventually captured Fort Louisbourg. The British traded it back to the french for some Indian bases. this really pissed the colonists off

Seven years war -1754-63. Lasts nine years in America. The french started building a series of forts on the edge of the ohio river valley. Washington fights a battle with the french but looses half his men

the British win by defeating the french on the battle of the Plains of Abraham

by the end of the seven years war America stayed part of the british empire b/c it wanted to

the Navigation Acts - a series of acts that clamp down on trade to and from the colonies. they become more and more mercantile and repressive on the colonies

jan 20 2009

the colonial population exploded in the 18th C and was increasingly diverse and urbanized.

with the increase in pop came an increase in the demand for consumer goods and services. This was the start of the consumer market economy in America

this lead to a growing trade network w/i the colonies and also to europe. roads, bridges and canals are built to better move goods in-between the colonies

even the poorest of colonists are better off materially and nutritionally than poor europeans. there was also greater class mobility

Tea drinking became an important ritual to show off your wealth

Craftsmen/artisans - owners of small family run workshops that were the most important economic unit in America

Apprentices - young people sent to and artisan to learn a trade. they worked not for wages but for food, shelter and an education for 4-7 years

journeymen - graduated apprentices

there was a growing gap b/w the rich and poor. it became harder for journeymen to make enough money to set up their own shop.

wealthy colonists attempted to set themselves apart from normal colonists by what they bought and what they owned

the refinement of america - the desire to replicate english culture

George Washington was a very wealthy landowner who tried to emulate a british gentleman

courtesy book- small books instructing people how to be more refined

As a Gentleman Washington served in the army and also had local political responsibilities

most english elite didn’t accept wealthy americans as elite men and that lead to wealthy americans creating their own distinct elite culture.

American enlightenment theorists Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson played a very important role in the enlightenment in american and and the creation and constitution of america

Benjamin Franklin - many consider him to embody the enlightenment in America. he was a scientist and inventor. he was the american ambassador to france during the american revolution and was also a delegate to the constitution convention

Thomas Jefferson - He was the author of the declaration of independence. Jefferson was a Diest and president of the USA from 1801-1809

the evangelical movement

the great awakening - waves of religious revivals that swept across the colonies. they combated ideas of the enlightenment such as dieism

Jonathan Edwards - from Mass. he and his followers believed that americans had strayed to far from the teachings of Calvinism and that man was a sinner in the hands of an angry God

those who embraced and took part in the great awakening were called the New Lights

Baptists lead the evangelical movement in the south. They welcomed blacks into the church and believed that all men were created equal

George Whitefield - one of the greatest preachers in the evangelical movement. He was from England but travelled and preached in the US. some of his meetings had over 30,000 people there. He used charisma and emotion to get his message out

The enlightenment led to innovations in science, education and politics. Evangelicalism led to changes in tradition and had a large impact on the establishment of educational institutes in the US

Jan 22 2009

French and native allies have early successes in the 7 years war by using guerilla tactics

William Pitt sent more troops to north america, replaced the english commander and promised to pay colonists who served for the crown

britain wins an expensive victory in the 7 years war and the issue over who should pay for it is one of the central issues of the struggle for american independence

Albany congress 1754 - colonial leaders meet b/c they are concerned w/ the chance of a union b/w the french and Iroquois . the Albany plan of the union is a plan to unite the colonies for protection and defense. doesn’t happen as the leaders are to suspicious of each other