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An American Nation is Born. Presentation created by Robert Martinez Primary Content Source: Prentice Hall World History Images as cited. www.reform-america.net. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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An American Nation is Born
Presentation created by Robert Martinez
Primary Content Source: Prentice Hall World History
Images as cited. www.reform-america.net
By 1750, a string of 13 prosperous
colonies stretched along the eastern
coast of North America. They were
part of Britain’s
growing empire.
wall-maps.com
Colonial cities such as Boston, New York, and Philadelphia were busy
commercial centers that linked North America to the West Indies, Africa, and Europe. Colonial shipyards produced
many vessels used in that global trade.
scripophily.net
Britain applied mercantilist policies to its colonies. In the 1600s, Parliament had passed the Navigation Acts to regulate
colonial trade and manufacturing. For the
most part, these acts were not enforced.
mrberlin.com
Smuggling was common and was not considered a crime by the colonists.
Even prominent colonists might gain part
of their wealth from smuggled goods.
revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com
By the mid-1700s, the colonies were home to diverse religious and ethnic
groups. Social distinctions were more blurred than in Europe, although
government and society were dominated
by wealthy landowners and merchants.
www.teachersdomain.org
In politics, there was a good deal of free discussion. Colonists felt entitled to the
rights of English citizens, and their colonial assemblies exercised much
control over local affairs.
fineartamerica.com
After 1763, relations between Britain and the 13 colonies grew strained. The Seven
Years’ War and the French and Indian War in North America had drained the
British treasury.
www.legacy-america.net
King George III and his advisers thought that the colonists should help pay for the war and for troops still stationed along the frontier. Parliament did
repeal some of the hated measures, such as a tax on all paper, but in general, it
asserted its right to impose taxes on the colonies.
southcarolina1670.wordpress.com
A series of violent clashes intensified the crisis. In March
1770, British soldiers in Boston opened fire on a crowd that was
pelting them with stones and
snowballs. Colonists called the death of five protesters the
“Boston Massacre.”web.utk.edu
In December 1773, a handful of colonists hurled a cargo of recently arrived British tea into the harbor to protest a tax on tea. The incident became known as the Boston Tea
Party. When Parliament passed harsh laws to punish Massachusetts for the destruction of the tea, other colonies rallied to oppose the
British response.
teachnet.eu
As tensions increased, fighting spread, representatives from each colony
gathered in Philadelphia. There, they met in a Continental Congress to decide what
action to take.
georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu
Carpenter HallPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Site of the First Continental Congress
Team Martinez Personal Photograph Collection
Among the participants were the radical yet fair-minded Massachusetts lawyer John Adams, who
had defended at trial the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre; Virginia
planter and soldier George Washington; and
political and social leaders from all 13 colonies.
www.bscc.edu rampartsofcivilization.com
The Congress set up a Continental Army, with George Washington in
command. In April 1775, the crisis exploded into
war. Although many battles ended in British victories, they showed that the Patriots were determined to fight at
any cost. www.oldgloryprints.com
In 1776, the Second Continental Congress
took a momentous step, voting to declare
independence from Britain. Thomas Jefferson
of Virginia was the principal author of the
Declaration of Independence, a
document that reflects the
ideas of John Locke. art-canyon.com
Independence Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Team Martinez Personal Photograph Collection
Team Martinez Personal Photograph Collection
The Declaration claimed that people had the right “to alter or to abolish” unjust governments – a right to revolt. It also emphasized the principle of popular
sovereignty, which states that all
government power comes from the people.
thespeechatimeforchoosing.wordpress.com
Jefferson carefully detailed the colonist’s
grievances against Britain. Because the king had trampled colonist’s natural
rights, he argued, the colonists had the
right to rebel and set up a new government
that would protect them. yjusisagip.zzl.org
Aware of the risks involved, on July 4, 1776, American leaders adopted the Declaration, pledging “our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor” to
creating and protecting the new United States of America.
www.writeawriting.com
At first, the American cause looked bleak. The British had professional soldiers, a
huge fleet, and plentiful money. They occupied most major American cities. Also,
about one third of the colonists were Loyalists, who supported Britain.
sweetcamp.se
The Continental Congress had few military resources and littler money to pay its soldiers. Still, colonists battling for independence had some advantages. They were fighting on their own soil for their farms and towns. Although the British held New York and Philadelphia,
rebels controlled the countryside.
richietruxillo.com/pewbowsonly/31/american-revolutionary-war-battles-timeline
To counteract these advantages, the British
worked to create alliances within the colonies. A
number of Native American groups sided with the British,
while others saw potential advantages in supporting the Patriot cause. Additionally,
the British offered freedom to any enslaved people who were willing to fight the
colonists. http://www.elec-intro.com/british-1763
A turning point in the war came in 1777, when the Americans triumphed over the
British at the Battle of Saratoga. This victory persuaded France to join the
Americans against its old rival, Britain.
dipity.com
The alliance brought the Americans desperately needed supplies, trained
soldiers, and French warships. Spurred by the French example, the Netherlands
and Spain added their support.
en.wikipedia.org
In the brutal winter of 1777-1778, Continental troops at Valley Forge suffered from cold,
hunger, and disease. Throughout this crisis and others, Washington proved a patient,
courageous, and determined leader able to hold the ragged army together.
samuelatgilgal.wordpress.com
Finally in 1781, with the help of the French fleet, which blockaded the Chesapeake
Bay, Washington forced the surrender of a British army at Yorktown, Virginia. With
that defeat, the British war effort crumbled.
www.english-online.at
Two years later, American, British, and French diplomats signed the Treaty of Paris ending the
war. In that treaty, Britain recognized the independence of the United States of America.
It also accepted the new nation’s western frontier as the Mississippi River.
www.hallharbor.com
The national government set up by a document that Americans called the Articles of
Confederation was too weak to rule the new United States effectively. To address this
problem, the nation’s leaders gathered once
more in Philadelphia.
www.themoralliberal.com
During the hot summer of 1787, they met in secret to hammer out the Constitution of the United States. This framework for a
strong yet flexible government has adapted to changing conditions for more
than 200 years.
www.fabuloussavers.com
The framers of the Constitution had
absorbed the ideas of Locke,
Montesquieu, and Rousseau. They saw government in terms of a social contract into which “We the
People of the United States” entered.
John Locke
ilustrazioa.wordpress.com
They provided not only for an elective
legislature but also for an elected president
rather than a hereditary monarch. For the first
president, voters would choose George
Washington, who had led the army during the
war. www.mark.stickels.org
The Constitution created a federal republic, with power divided between the federal
government and the states. The federal government included a
separation of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, an idea
borrowed from Montesquieu. Each branch of government was
provided with checks and
balances.
withfriendship.com
The Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to
the Constitution, recognized the idea that people had basic rights
that the government must protect. These rights included freedom of
religion, speech, and the press, as well as the
rights to trial by jury and to private property.
www.answers.com
In 1789, the Constitution became the supreme law of the land. It set up a representative government with an
elected legislature to reflect the wishes of the governed. Yet most Americans at
the time did not have the right to vote.
www.flprobatelitigation.com
Only white men who were able to meet certain property requirements could vote. Women could not cast a ballot, nor could African Americas – enslaved or free – or Native
Americans. It would take more than a century of struggle before the right to vote and equal protection under the law were extended to all
adult Americans.
www.history.org