THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 1492-1865

SEMINAR 3From colony to revolution

REVIEW QUESTIONS

• Describe the conditions of the settlement of the Jamestown colony

• What was the role of John Smith?• Why was 1619 a turning point in the history of

the colony?• What is the covenant?• What was the role of William Bradford?

COMPARE AND CONTRAST

• JOHN SMITH WILLIAM BRADFORD• Personal background, previous history• Role as historian• Legacy in American history• Role of religion in their lives• View of America

DATE AND CONCEPT RECOGNITION

• 1607• 1619• 1620• 1630• Civil body politick• Covenant and combine• Mixed multitude

SALUTARY NEGLECT

• 1714-1763• Political developments: self-governing colony• Powers of the executive: governor, control

over militia, courts, suspends assembly• Assembly: power of the purse

SALUTARY NEGLECT

• Ideological developments:• From Mayflower Compact to Leviathan (state

of nature)• To John Locke (natural, inalienable rights)• Political contract: governing is seen as a

contract between governed and leader

SALUTARY NEGLECT

• Economic developments• Colonies, especially New England region

develop their own trade routes (Triangular Trade)

• Navigation Acts• Lords of Trade

FROM COLONY TO REPUBLIC

• Change of British colonial policy following French and Indian War

• Stamp Act (1765)• Boston Massacre (1770)• Boston Tea Party (1773)• Early battles, Lexington, Concord (1775)

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

• Preamble: cosmopolitan, addressing the whole world ”When in the course of human events”, laws of nature, nature’s God

• Declaration of rights: influence of Locke and Hobbes, the expression of the American Ideal

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

• In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776,• The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united STATES of AMERICA,• When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one

people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

• We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

• List of grievances:The king:• Frustrated the work of colonial legislatures• Ignored colonial laws• Deprived colonists of the rights of Englishmen• Dissolved lawmaking bodies• Obstructed colonial administration of justice• Taxation without consent

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

• Main features: reflects the achievements of the Enlightenment

• Covenant, consensual government• Political contract• Conativity: willing a world into being• Action pattern: breakaway , self-doubt,

reaffirmation

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

• INFLUENCE:• Seneca Falls Convention (1848)• Gettysburg Address (1863)• Martin Luther King: I have a dream speech

(1963)

THE EXPRESSION OF THE AMERICAN IDEAL

• Individualism: pursuit of happiness• Democracy: consent of the governed• Liberty: natural rights• Equality: all men are created equal