Unit 1: American Beginnings

The American Revolution

Those four patterns set by the early colonial leaders were filled with meanings for the future development of the United States. By the early 1760s, the 13 English colonies in North America had developed a similar American pattern in politics, economy and cultural life and enjoyed the same frontier environment. The English people and Europeans had become Americans and they were ready to separate themselves from the Old World. The American Revolution officially proclaimed the birth of a new nation of Americans.

On the eve of the American Revolution, while the 13 English colonies occupied the Atlantic coast, from New Hampshire in the north to Georgia in the south, the French controlled Canada and Louisiana. Between 1689 and 1815, France and Britain fought several wars, and North America was drawn into every one of them. In 1756, England and France began to fight the Seven Years' War, known in America as the French and Indian War. The English government invested soldiers and money in North America and won a great empire. The British forces captured several Canadian strong points such as Quebec and Montreal. The Peace of Paris, signed in 1763 between Britain and France, gave Britain title to Canada and all of North America east of the Mississippi River.

Britain's victory led directly to a conflict with its American colonies. The British government argued that Britain had spent large sums of money to defend their American colonies in those wars, and that the colonists therefore should pay a part of those expenses. As a result, the British government began to charge new taxes on sugar, coffee, textiles and other imported goods. For instance, with the passage of the Stamp Act, special tax stamps had to be attached to all newspapers, pamphlets, legal documents and licenses. The Quartering Act passed by British Parliament forced the colonies to house and feed British soldiers. But the Americans feared that new taxes would make trading difficult, and that British troops stationed in the colonies might be used to crush the civil liberties which the colonists had heretofore enjoyed. The colonial Americans insisted that they could be taxed only by their own colonial assemblies. "No taxation without representation" was their rallying cry. The colonists refused to obey the British laws, so British soldiers were sent to Boston.

In 1773, a group of patriots responded to the tea tax by staging the "Boston Tea Party". Disguised as Indians, they boarded British merchant ships and tossed 342 crates of tea into Boston harbor. British Parliament then passed the Intolerable Acts: The independence of the Massachusetts colonial government was sharply curtailed, and more British soldiers were sent to the port of Boston, which was now closed to shipping. In September 1774, the First

Boston Tea Party	Boston Port

The First Continental Congress

Continental Congress, a meeting of colonial leaders who opposed British oppression in the colonies, met in Philadelphia. These leaders urged Americans to disobey the Intolerable Acts and to boycott British trade. At the same time, the colonists began to organize militias and collect and store weapons and ammunition in order to defend themselves. On April 19, 1775, the first shot was fired when 700 British soldiers went to capture a colonial arms depot in a small town of Concord near Boston. Thus the American War of Independence began.

The Second Continental Congress

John Adams

Franklin

In May 1775, a second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia and began to assume the functions of a national government. It founded a Continental Army and Navy under the command of George Washington. On July 2, 1776, the Congress finally resolved that "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states." Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, assisted by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, drafted Declaration of Independence, which the Congress adopted on July 4, 1776. The Declaration officially proclaimed the independence of 13 North American colonies. It solemnly declared:"We hold these truths to be self—evident, that all men are created equal; that they were endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Most importantly, it explained the philosophy of governments:"to secure these rights, governments are instituted

Locke

among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed;" "whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." This theory of politics and a guiding principle of the American Revolution came from John Locke, an English political philosopher in the 17th century.

The War of Independence came to an end in 1781 with the victory of North Americans. The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783 and Britain had to recognize the independence of the United States. A new American nation was thus born.

The Statue of Liberty

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