History 2301E Midterm: mIdterm #1 - study notes
2 May 2018
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➢ The Lost Colony of Roanoke
- Sir Walter Raleigh puts together an expedition to Virginia in 1585 and 1587
- war had broken out between the citizens of Roanoke and a neighboring tribe,
- john white, a British settler
o returns to England to get supplies (men and guns)
o returns in 1590
▪ disappearance of colonists and colony
o only remaining sign is “croaton” carved into a tree, name of the neighboring island
- explanations
o starvation
o Indian raids
▪ took the British alive and sold them into native slavery
o adopted by Indian tribes
▪ a voluntary move-in with the other tribes into the mainland
- impact
o instilled fear in future settlers
o shows that one man cannot fund colonization
➢ John Rolfe
- Arrived in Jamestown in the summer of 1608
- Ended the tension with the native by marrying pocahontas: stopped the ongoing war and established a
bloodline (stability)
- Also brought tobacco seeds
o Grew very well in Jamestown’s climate
o Had medicinal purpose
o Very popular and allowed the Virginia Company to gain back their investment
- Tobacco is very labor intensive; the settlers need a labor force (they were upper-class citizens)
o Indentured servants brought to the colony on 4-7 year contacts
o Soon this pool of voluntary indentured servants decreased
- Virginia, an economic colony, survived because of tobacco but it also introduced slavery
o The need for slavery created racism
▪ Is a psychological way to dehumanize human beings to own both their labor and children
- The Black Codes 1660s-1670; the intuition of slavery develops
o a series of laws and social customs enforced to further separate the whites and blacks
o no rights
o lifetime of service
o matrilineal: if mother is a slave, so are you
o not allowed to marry; marriage is a human function
o not allowed to own weapons
o travel passes must be issued
➢ The Mayflower Compact
- A social contract: a top-down and bottom-up form of government
- As free individuals, are coming together in a collective sense, willing to give up some of their freedoms for
other rights
o Very unique
- One of the first written down governing documents
- Is a living document: can be updated, edited and reinterpreted
- Is a model for the future constitution
➢ Roger Williams or Anne Hutchinson
- Williams in opposition with Winthrop and the Puritans
- John Winthrop thinks he’s not pure enough (The leader of the Massachusetts Bay Colony)
o Williams believed that the god of the bible was a loving god of equality
▪ Saw women and Native Americans as equals
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
- William escapes the colony and goes to Rhode Island (America’s third colony, what Massachusetts should
have been)
o Believes he had a right to practice his religion how he saw fit
o Providence is the capital
o Everyone is welcome
o Women have the vote
o Natives treated as equals
➢ Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, January 1776
- Pre-American Revolution: goal = unite colonists into going to war
o More than half were against
- Absurdity hereditary of kings
o Enlightenment ideals; insanity within the monarchy
- Economic benefits of independence
o No longer dependent on Britain and mercantilism
o No more British taxes
o Larger trade market
o Can become an economic powerhouse
▪ Build a manufacturing base of paper, ships and glass
- Cost analysis for American military
o Claims that they’ll be able to afford the war, in reality cannot
- History of the crisis
o The British are the ones at fault, they pushed America to the brink
o All the colonists wanted was representation and a voice
- Sold 150,000 copies
➢ The Articles of Confederation, 1782-1787
- The first federal form of government
- Every state had the same number of representation
- Power rests in the state
- Weak central government: congress deliberately made this way
- No executive, judiciary, or president
- A confederacy-based government that doesn’t work
o Problems
▪ Finance
• Major internal and international debts that Congress cannot pay
• No financial stability = cannot build a country
▪ Struggling economy
• Mercantilism was a guaranteed market
• Britain had cut ties and trading with others took time to be established
▪ Shay’s Rebellion, 1786
• Massachusetts government put taxes and duties on laborers and tenant farmers
(these people did not own any property)
• Parallel to Britain’s “Taxation Without Representation”
➢ Alexander Hamilton
- Was a self-made man: grew up in poverty and earned a scholarship to the U.S. for university
- Secretary of the Treasury (Cabinet position)
- A committed federalist; liked the aristocratic form (wealthy in charge) of government in England
- Submitted the Report on Public Credit, 1789
o To invest in the country’s economic development (achieve economic stability)
▪ Bonds refunded at face value
• Only the rich still had their bonds
▪ Government pay the outstanding state debts
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
• Southern states had already paid; saw this as the government helping the rich
northern states
▪ Creditors willing to give more money because people no longer have debt
- Killed by Aaron Burr after the two had a duel in July 1804
➢ The Report on Manufacturing, 1791
- Government invests in the entire country
o Tariffs on imported goods protects America’s domestic industry
▪ American goods cheaper than their foreign competitors
o Paying scientists so that they can contribute to a manufacturing revolution
o Internal development: infrastructure (building roads, canals and later on railroads)
▪ Very important for mover and distributing goods
o Federalists in congress saw it as the government having too much involvement in the economic
daily life of the country
➢ The State Compact Theory
- Thomas Jefferson, the vice-president was furious at the Sedition and Alien Acts and helped to write the
compact as a counter-response
o Jefferson was an Anti-Federalist
- As a resolution Virginia and Kentucky legislations created the compact
o Claims that states have the right to ignore any federal law that they see as unconstitutional
o Argued that the states came together voluntarily to ratify the conditions of the constitution,
allowing them to say yes or no if towards a federal law which oversteps the realms of authority
- Long term: basis of government that the confederacy will use to separate in 1861
➢ The Barbary Pirates
- The Barbary States, which are governed by princes, are located in North Africa
- Barbary pirates would capture European American trading vessels in the Mediterranean Sea, confiscate all
of the goods without compensation
- Also held crew members for ransom or sold the sailors into the African slave trade
- Europeans and Americans would pay tribute to make sure their trips were left untouched
o Cheaper than going to war or having to pay a ransom
- Escalation in 1801: Jefferson refused to continue paying because America is a sovereign state
- Congress didn’t want to go to war, Jefferson found a way around that by calling it a police action
- War between 1801-105
o Mostly naval
o No winners of losers
o America still has a naval presence in North Africa
- Significance: America’s first war on radical Islam: Jefferson never perceived it that way, was about foreign
policy
➢ The Louisiana Purchase
- Napoleon and France wanted to reclaim the lost French empire
- Jefferson realizes the threat and offers to buy New Orleans\
o Napoleon decline, he wants an empire and will not give up that central port city
- Napoleon had planned on using Haiti as an ally as a means to start a war
o However, the slave colony rebelled and won, gaining their independence
- Treaty between France and America signed in 1830
o Gained the Louisiana Territory for $15 million
o US doubled in size overnight
➢ Manifest Destiny
- Established by young congressmen in 1810
- Part of the conquest/conquering of Canada
- The U.S. should have control of the entire continent
- Need to conquer Canada and get the British out
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Sir walter raleigh puts together an expedition to virginia in 1585 and 1587. Indian raids took the british alive and sold them into native slavery adopted by indian tribes a voluntary move-in with the other tribes into the mainland impact instilled fear in future settlers shows that one man cannot fund colonization. Arrived in jamestown in the summer of 1608. Ended the tension with the native by marrying pocahontas: stopped the ongoing war and established a bloodline (stability) Also brought tobacco seeds: grew very well in jamestown"s climate, had medicinal purpose, very popular and allowed the virginia company to gain back their investment. Tobacco is very labor intensive; the settlers need a labor force (they were upper-class citizens) Indentured servants brought to the colony on 4-7 year contacts: soon this pool of voluntary indentured servants decreased. Virginia, an economic colony, survived because of tobacco but it also introduced slavery: the need for slavery created racism.
