1.
American Revolution
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The British responded by imposing punitive laws on Massachusetts in 1774 known as the Coercive Acts, following which Patriots in the other colonies rallied behind Massachusetts. Tensions escalated to the outbreak of fighting between Patriot militia and British regulars at Lexington and Concord in April 1775, the conflict then developed into a global war, during which the Patriots fought the British and Loyalists in what became known as the American Revolutionary War. The Continental Congress determined King George IIIs rule to be tyrannical and infringing the rights as Englishmen. The Patriot leadership professed the political philosophies of liberalism and republicanism to reject monarchy and aristocracy, Congress rejected British proposals requiring allegiance to the monarchy and abandonment of independence. The British were forced out of Boston in 1776, but then captured and they blockaded the ports and captured other cities for brief periods, but failed to defeat Washingtons forces. After a failed Patriot invasion of Canada, a British army was captured at the Battle of Saratoga in late 1777, a combined American–French force captured a second British army at Yorktown in 1781, effectively ending the war in the United States. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 formally ended the conflict, confirming the new nations complete separation from the British Empire. The United States took possession of all the territory east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes, with the British retaining control of Canada. Among the significant results of the revolution was the creation of a new Constitution of the United States. Historians typically begin their histories of the American Revolution with the British victory in the French and Indian War in 1763, the lands west of Quebec and west of a line running along the crest of the Allegheny mountains became Indian territory, temporarily barred to settlement. For the prior history, see Thirteen Colonies, in 1764, Parliament passed the Currency Act to restrain the use of paper money which British merchants saw as a means to evade debt payments. Parliament also passed the Sugar Act, imposing customs duties on a number of articles, none did and Parliament passed the Stamp Act in March 1765 which imposed direct taxes on the colonies for the first time. All official documents, newspapers, almanacs, and pamphlets—even decks of playing cards—were required to have the stamps, the colonists did not object that the taxes were high, but because they had no representation in the Parliament. Benjamin Franklin testified in Parliament in 1766 that Americans already contributed heavily to the defense of the Empire, stationing a standing army in Great Britain during peacetime was politically unacceptable. London had to deal with 1,500 politically well-connected British officers who became redundant, in 1765, the Sons of Liberty formed. They used public demonstrations, boycott, violence, and threats of violence to ensure that the British tax laws were unenforceable, in Boston, the Sons of Liberty burned the records of the vice admiralty court and looted the home of chief justice Thomas Hutchinson. Several legislatures called for united action, and nine colonies sent delegates to the Stamp Act Congress in New York City in October 1765, moderates led by John Dickinson drew up a Declaration of Rights and Grievances stating that taxes passed without representation violated their rights as Englishmen. Colonists emphasized their determination by boycotting imports of British merchandise, the Parliament at Westminster saw itself as the supreme lawmaking authority throughout all British possessions and thus entitled to levy any tax without colonial approval
2.
Union Jack
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The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the national flag of the United Kingdom. Further, it is used as a flag in some of the smaller British overseas territories. The Union Jack also appears in the canton of the flags of several nations, the claim that the term Union Jack properly refers only to naval usage has been disputed, following historical investigations by the Flag Institute in 2013. The origins of the flag of Great Britain date back to 1606. King James also began to refer to a Kingdom of Great Britaine, the present design of the Union Flag dates from a Royal proclamation following the union of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. Notably, the country of Wales is not represented separately in the Union Jack, being only indirectly represented through the cross of St George. The terms Union Jack and Union Flag are both historically correct for describing the de facto flag of the United Kingdom. Whether the term Union Jack applies only when used as a flag on a ship is a modern matter of debate. According to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Until the early 17th century England and Scotland were two independent kingdoms. This changed dramatically in 1603 on the death of Elizabeth I of England, because the Queen died unmarried and childless, the English crown passed to the next available heir, her cousin James VI, King of Scotland. England and Scotland now shared the same monarch under what was known as a union of the crowns, in 1606, James VI gave orders for a British flag to be created which bore the combined crosses of St. George and of St. Andrew. The result was the Union Jack, Jack being a shortening of Jacobus, the institute also notes, it is often stated that the Union Flag should only be described as the Union Jack when flown in the bows of a warship, but this is a relatively recent idea. In 1908, a government minister stated, in response to a parliamentary question, notwithstanding Their Lordships circular of 1902, by 1913 the Admiralty described the Union Flag and added in a foot note that A Jack is a Flag to be flown only on the Jack Staff. However, the authoritative A Complete Guide to Heraldry published in 1909 by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies uses the term Union Jack, the term Union Flag is used in King Charles Is 1634 proclamation. Andrew and St. Patrick Quarterly per Saltire, counterchanged Argent and Gules, when the first flag representing Britain was introduced on the proclamation of King James I in 1606, it became known simply as the British flag or the flag of Britain. The royal proclamation gave no name to the new flag. The word jack was in use before 1600 to describe the maritime bow flag, by 1627 a small Union Jack was commonly flown in this position. Reinforcing the distinction the Kings proclamation of the day concerning the arms
3.
Grand Union Flag
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The Grand Union Flag is considered to be the first national flag of the United States of America, previously that of the United Colonies of North America, until 1777. This flag consisted of 13 alternating red and white stripes, individual states had been using their own independent flags with Massachusetts using the Taunton Flag and New York using the George Rex Flag prior to the adoption of the Grand Union Flag. The event had been documented in letters to Congress and eyewitness accounts, the flag was used by the American Continental Army forces as both a naval ensign and garrison flag throughout 1776 and early 1777. It is not known for certain when or by whom the design of the Continental Colors was created, the Alfred flag has been credited to Margaret Manny. Some scholars dispute the account and conclude that the flag raised at Prospect Hill was probably a British union flag. The name Grand Union is contemporary to Reconstruction-era historians and was first applied to the Continental Colors by George Henry Preble, the design of the flag is strikingly similar to the flag of the British East India Company. Indeed, certain EIC designs in use since 1707 were nearly identical and that EIC flags could be well known by the American colonists has been the basis of a theory of the origin of the national flags design. The combined crosses in the British Union flag symbolized the union of the Kingdom of England, the symbolism of a union of equal parts was retained in the new American flag, as described in the Flag Resolution of June 14,1777. Betsy Ross flag Ansoff, Peter, The Flag on Prospect Hill, Raven, A Journal of Vexillology,13, 77–100, ISSN 1071-0043, LCCN94642220. Fawcett, Charles, The Striped Flag of the East India Company, History of the National Flag of the United States of America Leepson, Marc, Flag, An American Biography, ISBN 0-312-32308-5. Preble, George Henry, History of the Flag of the United States of America, Grand Union Flag at Flags of the World
4.
Betsy Ross flag
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The first documented usage of this flag was in 1792. The flag features 13 stars to represent the original 13 colonies with the stars arranged in a circle, the National Museum of American History notes that the story first entered into American consciousness about the time of the 1876 Centennial Exposition celebrations. Canby said he first obtained this information from his aunt Clarissa Sydney Wilson in 1857, Canby dates the historic episode based on Washingtons journey to Philadelphia, in late spring 1776, a year before Congress passed the Flag Act. Betsy Ross was promoted as a role model for young girls. Historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich further explored this line of enquiry in a 2007 article, How Betsy Ross Became Famous, Oral Tradition, Nationalism, Betsy accepted the job to manufacture the flag, altering the committees design by replacing the six-pointed stars with five-pointed stars. Betsy Rosss story was published in 1870,34 years after her death, by her only surviving grandson, William J. Canby, the paper included stories he had heard from family members throughout the years. According to Canbys paper, Sitting sewing in her one day with her girls around her. She recognized one of these as the uncle of her husband, Col. GEORGE ROSS. The committee were shown into her back parlor, the back of the shop. It was defective to the eye of Mrs Ross and unsymmetrical, and she offered suggestions which Washington. One of the alterations had reference to the shape of the stars, in the drawing they were made with six points. Mrs Ross at once said that this was wrong, the stars should be five pointed, they were aware of that, colonel Washington was the active one in making the design, the others having little or nothing to do with it. When it was completed, it was given to William Barrett, painter, the gentleman drew out of a chest an old ships color, which he loaned her to show her how the sewing was done, and also the drawing painted by Barrett. Other designs had been prepared by the committee and one or two of them were placed in the hands of other seamstresses to be made. The flag was finished, and Betsy returned it, the first Star Spangled Banner that ever floated upon the breeze. The next day Col. Canbys account has been the source of some debate and it is generally regarded as being neither proven nor disproven, and any evidence that may have once existed has been lost. The main reason historians and flag experts do not believe that Betsy Ross designed or sewed the first American flag is a lack of historical evidence, no records show that the Continental Congress had a committee to design the national flag in the spring of 1776. However he did serve on a committee with John Ross uncle George Read in 1776, there is no evidence to show that Betsy Ross and George Washington knew each other, or that George Washington was ever in her shop
5.
Declaration of Independence (Trumbull)
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It was based on a much smaller version of the same scene, presently held by the Yale University Art Gallery. Trumbull painted many of the figures in the picture from life, the oil-on-canvas work was commissioned in 1817, purchased in 1819, and placed in the rotunda in 1826. The painting is incorrectly described as the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The painting shows 42 of the 56 signers of the Declaration and he also depicted several participants in the debate who did not sign the document, including John Dickinson, who declined to sign. Trumbull also had no portrait of Benjamin Harrison V to work with, the Declaration was debated and signed over a period of time when membership in Congress changed, so the men in the painting had actually never all been in the same room at the same time. Thomas Jefferson seems to be stepping on John Adams foot in the painting, however, upon closer examination of the painting, it can be seen that their feet are merely close together. This part of the image was depicted on the two-dollar bill version. Key to figures, Four men seated on the far left,1, Seated at the table on the left,4. Benjamin Harrison Seated together to the right of Harrison and in front of the figures,6. George Clinton Five figures standing together on the left,9, arthur Middleton Three seated figures in the back between the two sets of standing figures,14. George Walton Set of three figures standing together in the back,23, george Clymer Ten figures seated,17. Francis Hopkinson Five figures standing in front,30, Benjamin Franklin Four background figures seated together near the right corner of the room,35. Samuel Huntington Two figures standing in the corner of the room,39. Oliver Wolcott Two foreground figures at the table,42. John Hancock Three figures standing at right,43, edward Rutledge Two figures seated at far right,46. Its first use was on the side of the $100 National Bank Note issued in 1863. The depiction was engraved by Frederick Girsch of the American Bank Note Company, the same steel engraving was used on the 24¢ stamp issued as part of the 1869 pictorial series of definitive U. S. postage stamps. Trumbulls painting is depicted on the reverse of the two-dollar bill
6.
Stamp Act 1765
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Printed materials included legal documents, magazines, playing cards, newspapers, and many other types of paper used throughout the colonies. Like previous taxes, the tax had to be paid in valid British currency. The purpose of the tax was to pay for troops stationed in North America after the British victory in the Seven Years War and its North American theater of the French. The Americans said that there was no military need for the soldiers there were no foreign enemies on the continent. They suggested that it was actually a matter of British patronage to surplus British officers, the Stamp Act was very unpopular among colonists. A consensus considered it a violation of their rights as Englishmen to be taxed without their consent—consent that only the colonial legislatures could grant and their slogan was No taxation without representation. Colonial assemblies sent petitions and protests, the Stamp Act Congress held in New York City was the first significant joint colonial response to any British measure, it petitioned Parliament and the King. Local protest groups led by merchants and landowners established connections through Committees of Correspondence. Protests and demonstrations initiated by a new organization called the Sons of Liberty often turned violent. Very soon, all stamp tax distributors were intimidated into resigning their commissions, opposition to the Stamp Act was not limited to the colonies. British merchants and manufacturers, whose exports to the colonies were threatened by colonial boycotts, the Act was repealed on March 18,1766 as a matter of expedience, but Parliament affirmed its power to legislate for the colonies in all cases whatsoever by also passing the Declaratory Act. There followed a series of new taxes and regulations, likewise opposed by the colonists, the British victory in the Seven Years War, known in America as the French and Indian War, had been won only at a great financial cost. During the war, the British national debt increased more than fourfold, the primary reason for retaining such a large force was that demobilizing the army would put 1,500 officers out of work, many of whom were well-connected in Parliament. Stationing 10,000 troops to separate American Indians and frontiersmen was one role, the outbreak of Pontiacs Rebellion in May 1763 apparently reinforced the logic of this decision, as it was an American Indian uprising against the British expansion. The main reason to send 10,000 troops deep into the wilderness was to provide billets for the officers who were part of the British patronage system. John Adams said, Revenue is still demanded from America, and appropriated to the maintenance of swarms of officers and pensioners in idleness and luxury. George Grenville became prime minister in April 1763 after the failure of the short-lived Bute Ministry, raising taxes in Britain was out of the question, since there had been virulent protests in England against the Bute ministrys 1763 cider tax, with Bute being hanged in effigy. The Grenville ministry therefore decided that Parliament would raise revenue by taxing the American colonists without their consent
7.
Townshend Acts
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The Townshend Acts were a series of acts passed – beginning in 1767 – by of Great Britain relating to the British colonies in North America. The acts are named after Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Townshend Acts were met with resistance in the colonies, prompting the occupation of Boston by British troops in 1768, which eventually resulted in the Boston Massacre of 1770. As a result of widespread protest in the American colonies, Parliament began to repeal the Townshend duties. Most of the new taxes were repealed, but the tax on tea was retained, the British government continued in its attempt to tax the colonists without their consent and the American Revolution followed. Following the Seven Years War, the British Empire was deep in debt, to help pay some of the costs of the newly expanded empire, the British Parliament decided to levy new taxes on the colonies of British America. Previously, through the Trade and Navigation Acts, Parliament had used taxation to regulate the trade of the empire, but with the Sugar Act of 1764, Parliament sought, for the first time, to tax the colonies for the specific purpose of raising revenue. American colonists argued that there were constitutional issues involved, the Americans claimed they were not represented in Parliament but the British government retorted they had virtual representation, a concept the Americans rejected. This issue, only briefly debated following the Sugar Act, became a point of contention following Parliaments passage of the 1765 Stamp Act. The Stamp Act proved to be unpopular in the colonies, contributing to its repeal the following year. Implicit in the Stamp Act dispute was a more fundamental than taxation and representation. The first of the Townshend Acts, sometimes known as the Townshend Act, was the Revenue Act of 1767. This act represented the Chatham ministrys new approach for generating tax revenue in the American colonies after the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766. With this in mind, Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, devised a plan that placed new duties on paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea that were imported into the colonies. These were items that were not produced in North America and that the colonists were allowed to buy from Great Britain. The Townshend Revenue Act received the royal assent on 29 June 1767, there was little opposition expressed in Parliament at the time. Never could a fateful measure have had a quiet passage. The Revenue Act was passed in conjunction with the Indemnity Act of 1767, the Indemnity Act repealed taxes on tea imported to England, allowing it to be re-exported more cheaply to the colonies. This tax cut in England would be offset by the new Revenue Act taxes on tea in the colonies
8.
Tea Act
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Tea Act of 1773 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The principal objective was to reduce the amount of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses. A related objective was to undercut the price of illegal tea and this was supposed to convince the colonists to purchase Company tea on which the Townshend duties were paid, thus implicitly agreeing to accept Parliaments right of taxation. It received the royal assent on May 10,1773, the companys authorised consignees were harassed, and in many colonies successful efforts were made to prevent the tea from being landed. In Boston, this culminated in the Boston Tea Party on December 16,1773. These actions further raised tensions that led to the eruption of the American War of Independence in April 1775, the Act effectively became a dead letter, but was not formally removed from the books until passage of the Statute Law Revision Act 1861. In the 1760s and early 1770s, the East India Company had been required to sell its tea exclusively in London on which it paid a duty which averaged two shillings and six pence per pound. Tea destined for the North American colonies would be purchased by merchants specializing in that trade, smugglers imported some 900,000 pounds of cheap foreign tea per year. The quality of the smuggled tea did not match the quality of the dutiable East India Company tea, the administration of Lord North saw an opportunity to achieve several goals with a single bill. Colonists would willingly pay for cheaper Company tea, on which the Townshend tax was still collected, the Act, which received the royal assent on May 10,1773, contained the following provisions, The Company was eligible to be granted licence to export tea to North America. The Company was no longer required to sell its tea at the London Tea Auction, duties on tea destined for North America and foreign parts would either be refunded on export or not imposed. Consignees receiving the Companys tea were required to pay a deposit upon receipt of tea, proposals were made that the Townshend tax also be waived, but North opposed this idea, citing the fact that those revenues were used to pay the salaries of crown officials in the colonies. The Company was granted license by the North administration to ship tea to major American ports, including Charleston, Philadelphia, New York City, consignees who were to receive the tea and arrange for its local resale were generally favorites of the local governor. In Massachusetts, Governor Thomas Hutchinson was a part-owner of the hired by the Company to receive tea shipped to Boston. Many colonists opposed the Act, not so much because it rescued the East India Company, merchants who had been acting as the middlemen in legally importing tea stood to lose their business, as did those whose illegal Dutch trade would be undercut by the Companys lowered prices. These interests combined forces, citing the taxes and the Companys monopoly status as reasons to oppose the Act, in New York and Philadelphia, opposition to the Act resulted in the return of tea delivered there back to Britain. In Charleston, the left the tea on the docks to rot. Governor Hutchinson in Boston was determined to leave the ships in port, similar Destruction of the Tea occurred in New York and other ports shortly thereafter, though Boston took the brunt of Imperial retaliation, because it was the first culprit
9.
Boston Massacre
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The Boston Massacre, known as the Incident on King Street by the British, was an incident on March 5,1770, in which British Army soldiers shot and killed people while under attack by a mob. The incident was publicized by leading Patriots, such as Paul Revere and Samuel Adams. Amid ongoing tense relations between the population and the soldiers, a mob formed around a British sentry, who was subjected to verbal abuse and he was eventually supported by eight additional soldiers, who were subjected to verbal threats and snowballs. Spontaneously they fired into the crowd, instantly killing three demonstrators, two died later. The crowd eventually dispersed after Acting Governor Thomas Hutchinson promised an inquiry, eight soldiers, one officer, and four civilians were arrested and charged with murder. Defended by lawyer and future American president John Adams, six of the soldiers were acquitted, Boston, the capital of the Province of Massachusetts Bay and an important shipping town, was a major center of resistance to unpopular acts of taxation by the British Parliament in the 1760s. In 1768, the Townshend Acts were placed upon the colonists, by which a variety of items that were manufactured in Britain. Colonists objected that the Townshend Acts were a violation of the natural, charter, the Massachusetts House of Representatives began a campaign against the Townshend Acts by sending a petition to King George III asking for the repeal of the Townshend Revenue Act. In Great Britain, Lord Hillsborough, who had recently appointed to the newly created office of Colonial Secretary, was alarmed by the actions of the Massachusetts House. In April 1768 he sent a letter to the governors in America. He also ordered Massachusetts Governor Francis Bernard to direct the Massachusetts House to rescind the letter. Bostons chief customs officer, Charles Paxton, wrote to Hillsborough, commodore Samuel Hood responded by sending the fifty-gun warship HMS Romney, which arrived in Boston Harbor in May 1768. On June 10,1768, customs officials seized Liberty, a sloop owned by leading Boston merchant John Hancock, Bostonians, already angry because the captain of Romney had been impressing local sailors, began to riot. Customs officials fled to Castle William for protection, given the unstable state of affairs in Massachusetts, Hillsborough instructed General Thomas Gage, Commander-in-Chief, North America, to send such Force as You shall think necessary to Boston. On October 1,1768, the first of four British Army regiments began disembarking in Boston, two regiments were removed from Boston in 1769, but the 14th and the 29th Regiments of Foot remained. Tensions rose markedly after Christopher Seider, a lad about eleven Years of Age, was killed by a customs employee on February 22,1770. Seiders death was glorified in the Boston Gazette, and his funeral was described as one of the largest of the time in Boston, the killing and subsequent propaganda inflamed tensions, with gangs of colonists looking for soldiers to harass, and soldiers also on occasion looking for confrontation. On the evening of March 5, Private Hugh White, a British soldier, stood on duty outside the Custom house on King Street
10.
Boston Tea Party
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The Boston Tea Party was a political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, on December 16,1773. The demonstrators, some disguised as Native Americans, in defiance of the Tea Act of May 10,1773 and they boarded the ships and threw the chests of tea into Boston Harbor. The British government responded harshly and the episode escalated into the American Revolution, the Tea Party was the culmination of a resistance movement throughout British America against the Tea Act, which had been passed by the British Parliament in 1773. Protesters had successfully prevented the unloading of taxed tea in three colonies, but in Boston, embattled Royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson refused to allow the tea to be returned to Britain. The Boston Tea Party was a significant event in the growth of the American Revolution, Parliament responded in 1774 with the Coercive Acts, or Intolerable Acts, which, among other provisions, ended local self-government in Massachusetts and closed Bostons commerce. The crisis escalated, and the American Revolutionary War began near Boston in 1775, the North Ministrys attempt to resolve these issues produced a showdown that would eventually result in revolution. As Europeans developed a taste for tea in the 17th century, in England, Parliament gave the East India Company a monopoly on the importation of tea in 1698. When tea became popular in the British colonies, Parliament sought to eliminate competition by passing an act in 1721 that required colonists to import their tea only from Great Britain. The East India Company did not export tea to the colonies, by law, British firms bought this tea and exported it to the colonies, where they resold it to merchants in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston. Until 1767, the East India Company paid an ad valorem tax of about 25% on tea that it imported into Great Britain, Parliament laid additional taxes on tea sold for consumption in Britain. To help offset this loss of government revenue, Parliament also passed the Townshend Revenue Act of 1767, instead of solving the smuggling problem, however, the Townshend duties renewed a controversy about Parliaments right to tax the colonies. Controversy between Great Britain and the colonies arose in the 1760s when Parliament sought, for the first time, some colonists, known in the colonies as Whigs, objected to the new tax program, arguing that it was a violation of the British Constitution. Britons and British Americans agreed that, according to the constitution, in Great Britain, this meant that taxes could only be levied by Parliament. Colonists, however, did not elect members of Parliament, according to Whigs, colonists could only be taxed by their own colonial assemblies. When new taxes were levied in the Townshend Revenue Act of 1767, merchants organized a non-importation agreement, and many colonists pledged to abstain from drinking British tea, with activists in New England promoting alternatives, such as domestic Labrador tea. Smuggling continued apace, especially in New York and Philadelphia, where tea smuggling had always been more extensive than in Boston. Parliament finally responded to the protests by repealing the Townshend taxes in 1770, except for the tea duty and this partial repeal of the taxes was enough to bring an end to the non-importation movement by October 1770. From 1771 to 1773, British tea was once imported into the colonies in significant amounts
11.
American Revolutionary War
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From about 1765 the American Revolution had led to increasing philosophical and political differences between Great Britain and its American colonies. The war represented a culmination of these differences in armed conflict between Patriots and the authority which they increasingly resisted. This resistance became particularly widespread in the New England Colonies, especially in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. On December 16,1773, Massachusetts members of the Patriot group Sons of Liberty destroyed a shipment of tea in Boston Harbor in an event that became known as the Boston Tea Party. Named the Coercive Acts by Parliament, these became known as the Intolerable Acts in America. The Massachusetts colonists responded with the Suffolk Resolves, establishing a government that removed control of the province from the Crown outside of Boston. Twelve colonies formed a Continental Congress to coordinate their resistance, and established committees, British attempts to seize the munitions of Massachusetts colonists in April 1775 led to the first open combat between Crown forces and Massachusetts militia, the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Militia forces proceeded to besiege the British forces in Boston, forcing them to evacuate the city in March 1776, the Continental Congress appointed George Washington to take command of the militia. Concurrent to the Boston campaign, an American attempt to invade Quebec, on July 2,1776, the Continental Congress formally voted for independence, issuing its Declaration on July 4. Sir William Howe began a British counterattack, focussing on recapturing New York City, Howe outmaneuvered and defeated Washington, leaving American confidence at a low ebb. Washington captured a Hessian force at Trenton and drove the British out of New Jersey, in 1777 the British sent a new army under John Burgoyne to move south from Canada and to isolate the New England colonies. However, instead of assisting Burgoyne, Howe took his army on a campaign against the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia. Burgoyne outran his supplies, was surrounded and surrendered at Saratoga in October 1777, the British defeat in the Saratoga Campaign had drastic consequences. Giving up on the North, the British decided to salvage their former colonies in the South, British forces under Lieutenant-General Charles Cornwallis seized Georgia and South Carolina, capturing an American army at Charleston, South Carolina. British strategy depended upon an uprising of large numbers of armed Loyalists, in 1779 Spain joined the war as an ally of France under the Pacte de Famille, intending to capture Gibraltar and British colonies in the Caribbean. Britain declared war on the Dutch Republic in December 1780, in 1781, after the British and their allies had suffered two decisive defeats at Kings Mountain and Cowpens, Cornwallis retreated to Virginia, intending on evacuation. A decisive French naval victory in September deprived the British of an escape route, a joint Franco-American army led by Count Rochambeau and Washington, laid siege to the British forces at Yorktown. With no sign of relief and the situation untenable, Cornwallis surrendered in October 1781, Whigs in Britain had long opposed the pro-war Tory majority in Parliament, but the defeat at Yorktown gave the Whigs the upper hand
12.
Continental Army
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The Continental Army was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Congress on June 14,1775, the Continental Army was supplemented by local militias and troops that remained under control of the individual states or were otherwise independent. General George Washington was the commander-in-chief of the army throughout the war, most of the Continental Army was disbanded in 1783 after the Treaty of Paris ended the war. The 1st and 2nd Regiments went on to form the nucleus of the Legion of the United States in 1792 under General Anthony Wayne and this became the foundation of the United States Army in 1796. The Continental Army consisted of soldiers from all 13 colonies, and after 1776, when the American Revolutionary War began at the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19,1775, the colonial revolutionaries did not have an army. As tensions with Great Britain increased in the leading to the war. Training of militiamen increased after the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774, colonists such as Richard Henry Lee proposed forming a national militia force, but the First Continental Congress rejected the idea. On April 23,1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress authorized the raising of an army consisting of 26 company regiments. New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut soon raised similar, on July 18,1775, the Congress requested all colonies form militia companies from all able bodied effective men, between sixteen and fifty years of age. It was not uncommon for men younger than sixteen to enlist as most colonies had no requirement of consent for those under twenty-one. Four major-generals and eight brigadier-generals were appointed by the Second Continental Congress in the course of a few days, after Pomeroy did not accept, John Thomas was appointed in his place. As the Continental Congress increasingly adopted the responsibilities and posture of a legislature for a sovereign state, as a result, the army went through several distinct phases, characterized by official dissolution and reorganization of units. Soldiers in the Continental Army were citizens who had volunteered to serve in the army, early in the war the enlistment periods were short, as the Continental Congress feared the possibility of the Continental Army evolving into a permanent army. The army never numbered more than 17,000 men, turnover proved a constant problem, particularly in the winter of 1776–77, and longer enlistments were approved. Major General Philip Schuylers ten regiments in New York were sent to invade Canada, the Continental Army of 1776, reorganized after the initial enlistment period of the soldiers in the 1775 army had expired. Despite attempts to broaden the recruiting base beyond New England, the 1776 army remained skewed toward the Northeast both in terms of its composition and of its geographical focus. This army consisted of 36 regiments, most standardized to a battalion of 768 men strong and formed into eight companies. Enlistment terms extended to three years or to the length of the war to avoid the crises that depleted forces
13.
Continental Navy
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The Continental Navy was the navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War, and was formed in 1775. The main goal of the navy was to intercept shipments of British matériel, the initial fleet consisted of converted merchantmen because of the lack of funding, manpower, and resources, with exclusively designed warships being built later in the conflict. The vessels that made it to sea met with success only rarely. The fleet did serve to highlight a few examples of Continental resolve and it provided needed experience for a generation of officers who went on to command conflicts which involved the early American navy. With the war over and the Federal government in need of all available capital, the Continental Navy is the first establishment of what is now the United States Navy. The original intent was to intercept the supply of arms and provisions to British soldiers, George Washington had already informed Congress that he had assumed command of several ships for this purpose, and individual governments of various colonies had outfitted their own warships. The measure in the Continental Congress was met with much derision, John Adams later recalled, The opposition. Represented as the most wild, visionary, mad project that had ever been imagined and it was an infant taking a mad bull by his horns. During this time, however, the issue arose of Quebec-bound British supply ships carrying desperately needed provisions that could benefit the Continental Army. The Continental Congress appointed Silas Deane and John Langdon to draft a plan to seize ships from the convoy in question, on June 12,1775, the Rhode Island General Assembly, meeting at East Greenwich, passed a resolution creating a navy for the colony of Rhode Island. The same day, Governor Nicholas Cooke signed orders addressed to Captain Abraham Whipple, commander of the sloop Katy, the first formal movement for the creation of a Continental navy came from Rhode Island, because its merchants widespread shipping activities had been severely harassed by British frigates. On August 26,1775, Rhode Island General Assembly passed a resolution that there be a single Continental fleet funded by the Continental Congress, the resolution was introduced in the Continental Congress on October 3,1775 but was tabled. In the meantime, George Washington had begun to acquire ships, Hannah was commissioned and launched on September 5,1775 from the port of Beverly, Massachusetts, after being sold by the future General John Glover of Marblehead, Massachusetts. On this day, Congress authorized the purchase of two vessels to be armed for a cruise against British merchant ships, these ships became Andrew Doria and Cabot. The first ship in commission was the USS Alfred which was purchased on November 4, on November 10,1775, the Continental Congress passed a resolution calling for two battalions of Marines to be raised for service with the fleet. John Adams drafted its first governing regulations, which were adopted by Congress on November 28,1775, when it came to selecting commanders for ships, Congress tended to be split evenly between merit and patronage. Among those who were selected for political reasons were Esek Hopkins, Dudley Saltonstall, however, Abraham Whipple, Nicholas Biddle, and John Paul Jones managed to be appointed with backgrounds in marine warfare. On December 22,1775, Esek Hopkins was appointed the naval commander-in-chief, Saltonstall, Biddle, Hopkins, and Whipple were commissioned as captains of the Alfred, Andrew Doria, Cabot, and Columbus, respectively
14.
Minutemen
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They were also known for being ready at a minutes notice, hence the name. They provided a mobile, rapidly deployed force that allowed the colonies to respond immediately to war threats. The minutemen were among the first to fight in the American Revolution and their teams constituted about a quarter of the entire militia. They were generally younger and more mobile, and served as part of a network for early response, Minuteman and Sons of Liberty member Paul Revere was among those who spread the news that the British Regulars were coming out from Boston. Revere was captured before completing his mission when the British marched toward the arsenal in Concord to confiscate the weapons, the term has also been applied to various later United States civilian-based paramilitary forces to recall the success and patriotism of the originals. In the British colony of Massachusetts Bay, all able-bodied men between the ages of 16 and 60 were required to participate in their local militia. As early as 1645 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, some men were selected from the ranks of town-based training bands to be ready for rapid deployment. Men so selected were designated as minutemen and they were usually drawn from settlers of each town, and so it was very common for them to be fighting alongside relatives and friends. Other towns, such as Lexington, preferred to keep their entire militia in a single unit, members of the minutemen, by contrast, were no more than 30 years old, and were chosen for their enthusiasm, political reliability, and strength. They were the first armed militia to arrive at or await a battle, officers were elected by popular vote, as in the rest of the militia, and each unit drafted a formal written covenant to be signed upon enlistment. In this organization, it was common for officers to make decisions through consultation and consensus with their men, as opposed to giving orders to be followed without question. These minute-men were to comprise one-quarter of the militia, to be enlisted under the direction of the field-officers. The privates were to choose their captains and subalterns, and these officers were to form the companies into battalions, and chose the field-officers to command the same. Hence the minute-men became a distinct from the rest of the militia. More attention than formerly was likewise bestowed on the training and drilling of militia, the need for efficient minuteman companies was illustrated by the Powder Alarm of 1774. Militia companies were called out to resist British troops, who were sent to capture ammunition stores, by the time the militia was ready, the British regulars had already captured the arms at Cambridge and Charlestown and had returned to Boston. In August 1636, the first offensive attack by militias failed when Massachusetts dispatched John Endecott with four companies on an unsuccessful campaign against the Pequot Indians. According to one account, the expedition succeeded only in killing one Indian
15.
Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War
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Congress created a Secret Committee for domestic intelligence, a Committee of Secret Correspondence for foreign intelligence, and a committee on spies, for tracking spies within the Patriot movement. The Second Continental Congress created a Secret Committee by a resolution on September 18,1775, the Committee kept its transactions secret and destroyed many of its records to ensure the confidentiality of its work. The Secret Committee employed agents overseas, often in cooperation with the Committee of Secret Correspondence and it gathered intelligence about secret Loyalist ammunition stores and arranged to seize them. The Committee also sent missions to seize British supplies in the southern colonies and it arranged the purchase of military stores through intermediaries to conceal the fact that Congress was the true purchaser. They then used foreign flags to attempt to protect the vessels from the British fleet, the original Committee members—Americas first foreign intelligence agency—were Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Johnson. Subsequent appointees included James Lovell, a teacher who had been arrested by the British after the battle of Bunker Hill on charges of spying and he had later been exchanged for a British prisoner and was elected to the Continental Congress. On the Committee, he became the Congress expert on codes and it met secretly in December 1775 with a French intelligence agent who visited Philadelphia under cover as a Flemish merchant. On April 17,1777, the Committee of Secret Correspondence was renamed the Committee of Foreign Affairs, matters of diplomacy were conducted by other committees or by the Congress as a whole. They were charged with revising the Articles of War in regard to espionage directed against the American forces, the problem was an urgent one, Dr. On November 7,1775, the penalty was added for espionage to the Articles of War, but the clause was not applied retroactively. It was resolved further that the act be printed at the end of the rules and articles of war, on February 27,1778, the law was broadened to include any inhabitants of these states whose intelligence activities aided the enemy in capturing or killing revolutionary forces. The Committee of Secret Correspondence insisted that matters pertaining to the funding, on May 20,1776, when the Committees proceedings—with the sensitive names removed—were finally read in the Congress, it was under the injunction of secrecy. On June 12,1776, the Continental Congress adopted the first secrecy agreement for employees of the new government, the Continental Congress, sensitive to the vulnerability of its covert allies, respected their desire for strict secrecy. Even after Frances declaration of war against England, the fact of French involvement prior to that time remained a state secret, Washington wanted to publicize certain encouraging information that he judged would give a certain spring to our affairs and bolster public morale. Jay replied that the intelligence is unfortunately of such a Nature, or rather so circumstanced, Townsend was usually referred to by his cover name of Culper, Junior. I would imagine that with an industry he will be able to carry on his intelligence with greater security to himself and greater advantages to us. It prevents also those suspicions which would become natural should he throw himself out of the line of his present employment. Townsend also was the silent partner of a house frequented by British officers
16.
Treaty of Paris (1783)
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The treaty set the boundaries between the British Empire and the United States, on lines exceedingly generous to the latter. Details included fishing rights and restoration of property and prisoners of war, only Article 1 of the treaty, which is the legal underpinning of United States existence as a sovereign country, remains in force. Peace negotiations began in April 1782, and continued through the summer, representing the United States were Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Henry Laurens, and John Adams. David Hartley and Richard Oswald represented Great Britain, the treaty was signed at the Hotel dYork in Paris on September 3,1783, by Adams, Franklin, Jay, and Hartley. Regarding the American Treaty, the key episodes came in September,1782, France was exhausted by the war, and everyone wanted peace except Spain, which insisted on continuing the war until it could capture Gibraltar from the British. Vergennes came up with the deal that Spain would accept instead of Gibraltar, the United States would gain its independence but be confined to the area east of the Appalachian Mountains. Britain would take the north of the Ohio River. In the area south of that would be set up an independent Indian state under Spanish control and it would be an Indian barrier state. However, the Americans realized that they could get a deal directly from London. John Jay promptly told the British that he was willing to negotiate directly with them, cutting off France, the British Prime Minister Lord Shelburne agreed. He was in charge of the British negotiations and he now saw a chance to split the United States away from France. The western terms were that the United States would gain all of the area east of the Mississippi River, north of Florida, the northern boundary would be almost the same as today. The United States would gain fishing rights off Canadian coasts, and it was a highly favorable treaty for the United States, and deliberately so from the British point of view. Prime Minister Shelburne foresaw highly profitable trade between Britain and the rapidly growing United States, as indeed came to pass. Great Britain also signed agreements with France and Spain. In the treaty with Spain, the territories of East and West Florida were ceded to Spain, Spain also received the island of Minorca, the Bahama Islands, Grenada, and Montserrat, captured by the French and Spanish, were returned to Britain. The treaty with France was mostly about exchanges of captured territory, the United States Congress of the Confederation ratified the Treaty of Paris on January 14,1784. Copies were sent back to Europe for ratification by the parties involved
17.
Financial costs of the American Revolutionary War
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The American Revolutionary War inflicted great financial costs on all of the combatants, including the United States of America, France, Spain and Great Britain. France and Great Britain spent 1.3 billion livres and 250 million pounds, the United States spent $400 million in wages for its troops. Spain increased its military spending from 454 million reales in 1778 to over 700 million reales in 1779, the economic warfare between Great Britain and the colonists began well before the colonies declared their independence in 1776. Regulations from the crown were met with opposition from the colonists. After lobbies and petitions proved ineffective, the colonists turned to boycotting imported English goods, boycotting proved to be successful in crippling British trade. The colonists persisted, and the American boycott on tea ultimately culminated in the Boston Tea Party of 1773, despite the Revolutions widespread association with the colonists aversion to higher taxes, it has been claimed that the colonists actually paid far less tax compared to their British counterparts. British efforts to weaken the colonies included isolating their economy from the rest of the world by cutting off trade, with a navy that was many times more powerful than its American counterpart, the English had virtual control over the American ports. Consequently, the U. S. saw a fall in exported goods due to the relentless British blockade, the Continental Army under the direction of George Washington sought to engage in a war of attrition. To solve this problem, the Continental Congress sent diplomats including Benjamin Franklin to Europe in search of support for the American cause. For the first two years of war, the colonists received secretive private and public loans from the French, by the end of the war, the colonies had received loans from several different European nations, including significant contribution from France, Spain and the Netherlands. In addition, the colonies received much private funding, most notably from the Marquis de Lafayette and this funding ultimately enabled them to fight the war of attrition that General Washington hoped for. Because the French possessed a navy, their entrance into the war weakened the British blockade on colonial ports. The British forces recognized that they would not last long without shipping in supplies, so in retaliation and their hope was to capture French sugar islands and cut the French financial supply line. The new war in the Caribbean added to England’s already large financial costs, yet unlike the colonies, as the war progressed, the Americans’ deteriorating financial stability quickly became Britain’s greatest asset. Because it did not possess the power to tax the colonists, as a result, the colonies experienced severe inflation and depreciation of the Continental dollar. The colonists also had difficulty in financing a wartime effort against the British southern campaign. When war ended in 1783, American negotiations, monetary policies, the American Revolutionary War took a heavy toll on Great Britain. The average cost for the war was £12 million a year, the British ended the war with a national debt of £250 million, which generated a yearly interest of over £9.5 million
18.
United States Declaration of Independence
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Instead they formed a new nation—the United States of America. John Adams was a leader in pushing for independence, which was passed on July 2 with no opposing vote cast, a committee of five had already drafted the formal declaration, to be ready when Congress voted on independence. The term Declaration of Independence is not used in the document itself, John Adams persuaded the committee to select Thomas Jefferson to compose the original draft of the document, which Congress would edit to produce the final version. The next day, John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail, The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, but Independence Day is actually celebrated on July 4, the date that the Declaration of Independence was approved. After ratifying the text on July 4, Congress issued the Declaration of Independence in several forms and it was initially published as the printed Dunlap broadside that was widely distributed and read to the public. The source copy used for printing has been lost. Jeffersons original draft, complete with changes made by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, the best known version of the Declaration, a signed copy that is popularly regarded as the official document, is displayed at the National Archives in Washington, D. C. This engrossed copy was ordered by Congress on July 19, the sources and interpretation of the Declaration have been the subject of much scholarly inquiry. Having served its purpose in announcing independence, references to the text of the Declaration were few in the following years. Abraham Lincoln made it the centerpiece of his rhetoric, and his policies and this has been called one of the best-known sentences in the English language, containing the most potent and consequential words in American history. The passage came to represent a standard to which the United States should strive. Believe me, dear Sir, there is not in the British empire a man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain than I do. But, by the God that made me, I will cease to exist before I yield to a connection on such terms as the British Parliament propose, and in this, I think I speak the sentiments of America. By the time that the Declaration of Independence was adopted in July 1776, relations had been deteriorating between the colonies and the mother country since 1763. Parliament enacted a series of measures to increase revenue from the colonies, such as the Stamp Act of 1765, Parliament believed that these acts were a legitimate means of having the colonies pay their fair share of the costs to keep them in the British Empire. Many colonists, however, had developed a different conception of the empire, the colonies were not directly represented in Parliament, and colonists argued that Parliament had no right to levy taxes upon them. This tax dispute was part of a divergence between British and American interpretations of the British Constitution and the extent of Parliaments authority in the colonies. In the colonies, however, the idea had developed that the British Constitution recognized certain fundamental rights that no government could violate, after the Townshend Acts, some essayists even began to question whether Parliament had any legitimate jurisdiction in the colonies at all
19.
Committee of Five
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The Committee of Five of the Second Continental Congress were a team of five men who drafted and presented to the Congress what would become Americas Declaration of Independence of July 4,1776. This Declaration committee operated from June 11,1776 until July 5,1776, the proposal was moved in Congress on June 7 by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, known as the Lee Resolution. The actual declaration of American Independence is precisely the text comprising the final paragraph of the broadside of July 4. The broadsides final paragraph repeated the text of the Lee Resolution as adopted by the declaratory resolve voted on July 2, certainly the committee, after discussing the general outline that the document should follow, decided that Jefferson would write the first draft. With Congresss busy schedule, Jefferson had limited time to write the draft over the ensuing 17 days and he then consulted with the others on the committee, who reviewed the draft and made extensive changes. Jefferson then produced another copy incorporating these alterations, among the changes was the simplification of the phrase Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, which Jefferson had phrased preservation of life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness. This was a return to wording closer to John Lockes original description of private property as a right, in the phrase life, liberty. On June 28,1776, the committee presented this copy to the Committee of the Whole Congress, the title of the document was A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled. Although not officially noted, the time was 18,26 LMT for the recording of this historic vote. The Congress then heard the report of the Committee of the Whole and declared the status of the United Colonies the following day. The Committee of the Whole then turned to the Declaration, on Wednesday, July 3, the Committee of the Whole gave the Declaration a third reading and commenced scrutiny of the precise wording of the proposed text. Two passages in the Committee of Fives draft were rejected by the Committee of the Whole, one was a critical reference to the English people and the other was a denunciation of the slave trade and of slavery itself. The text of the Declaration was otherwise accepted without any major changes. However, the formal adoption was deferred until the following morning. And so the Committee of Five convened in the evening of July 4 to complete its task. Historians have had no means by which to determine the identity of the authenticating party. Upon the July 5 release of the Dunlap broadside, the public could read who had signed the Declaration, just one signature as attested by Secretary Charles Thomson. Memories of the proved to be very short on this particular historic moment
20.
Lee Resolution
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The resolution is named for Richard Henry Lee of Virginia who proposed it to Congress, after receiving instructions from the Virginia Convention and its President, Edmund Pendleton. Some sources indicate Lee used, almost verbatim, the language from the instructions in his resolution, on June 11 Congress decided to establish three committees to develop the resolutions parts, and appointed a Committee of Five to prepare a document to explain the reasons for independence. The independence portion of the resolution was the first approved by Congress, news of its adoption was published that evening in the Pennsylvania Evening Post and the next day in the Pennsylvania Gazette. The text of the document formally announcing this action, the United States Declaration of Independence, was approved on July 4th,1776 which is celebrated as Independence Day, however, the document wasnt signed by all delegates of the United States until August 2nd. The committee drafting a plan of confederation, chaired by John Dickinson, long debates would follow on such issues as sovereignty, the exact powers to be given the confederate government, whether to have a judiciary, and voting procedures. Although in use from time, it would be almost four years before final ratification by all states. Over the next five weeks it would be reviewed and amended by Congress, the formal version of the plan of treaties was adopted on September 17. Alliance with France was considered if the war with England was to be won. When the American Revolutionary War began in 1775, few colonists in British North America openly advocated independence from Great Britain, support for independence grew steadily in 1776, especially after the publication of Thomas Paines pamphlet Common Sense in January of that year. In accordance with instructions, on June 7, Richard Henry Lee proposed the resolution to Congress. That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances and that a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation. Voting on the first clause of Lees resolution was postponed for three weeks while advocates of independence worked to build support in the colonial governments for the resolution. Meanwhile, a Committee of Five was appointed to prepare a formal declaration so that it would be ready when independence, the committee prepared a declaration of independence, written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, and presented it to Congress on June 28,1776. The declaration was set aside while the resolution of independence was debated for several days, the vote on the independence section of the Lee resolution had been postponed until Monday, July 1st, when it was taken up by the Committee of the Whole. At the request of South Carolina, the resolution was not acted upon until the day in the hope of securing unanimity. A trial vote had been tested on the 1st where it was found that South Carolina and Pennsylvania were in the negative, the vote was held on July 2nd, with critical changes happening between Monday and Tuesday. So Lees resolution of independence was approved by twelve of the thirteen colonies, the evening of July 2, the Pennsylvania Evening Post reported, This day the CONTINENTAL CONGRESS declared the UNITED COLONIES FREE and INDEPENDENT STATES. The Pennsylvania Gazette followed suit the day with its own brief report, Yesterday
21.
Articles of Confederation
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Its drafting by a committee appointed by the Second Continental Congress began on July 12,1776, and an approved version was sent to the states for ratification on November 15,1777. The Articles of Confederation came into force on March 1,1781, a guiding principle of the Articles was to preserve the independence and sovereignty of the states. The federal government received only those powers which the colonies had recognized as belonging to king, the Articles formed a war-time confederation of states, with an extremely limited central government. Actually the adoption of the Articles made no change in the federal government. That body was now taken over as the Congress of the Confederation, as the governments weaknesses became apparent, especially after Shays Rebellion, individuals began asking for changes to the Articles. Their hope was to create a national government. Initially, some states met to deal with their trade and economic problems, however, as more states became interested in meeting to change the Articles, a meeting was set in Philadelphia on May 25,1787. It was quickly realized that changes would not work, and instead the entire Articles needed to be replaced, on March 4,1789, the general government under the Articles was replaced with the federal government under the Constitution. The new Constitution provided for a stronger federal government by establishing a chief executive, courts. The Articles of Confederation would bear some resemblance to it, over the next two decades, some of the basic concepts it addressed would strengthen and others would weaken, particularly the degree of deserved loyalty to the crown. It was an era of constitution writing—most states were busy at the task—and leaders felt the new nation must have a written constitution, during the war, Congress exercised an unprecedented level of political, diplomatic, military and economic authority. It adopted trade restrictions, established and maintained an army, issued fiat money, created a military code, to transform themselves from outlaws into a legitimate nation, the colonists needed international recognition for their cause and foreign allies to support it. The monarchies of France and Spain in particular could not be expected to aid those they considered rebels against another legitimate monarch, foreign courts needed to have American grievances laid before them persuasively in a “manifesto” which could also reassure them that the Americans would be reliable trading partners. Without such a declaration, Paine concluded, “he custom of all courts is against us, Congress then created three overlapping committees to draft the Declaration, a Model Treaty, and the Articles of Confederation. The committee met repeatedly, and chairman John Dickinson presented their results to the Congress on July 12,1776, there were long debates on such issues as sovereignty, the exact powers to be given the confederate government, whether to have a judiciary, and voting procedures. Under the Articles, the states retained sovereignty over all governmental functions not specifically relinquished to the national government, the individual articles set the rules for current and future operations of the United States government. Article XIII stipulated that their provisions shall be observed by every state. John Dickinsons and Benjamin Franklins handwritten drafts of the Articles of Confederation are housed at the National Archives in Washington, after the war, nationalists, especially those who had been active in the Continental Army, complained that the Articles were too weak for an effective government
22.
United States Constitution
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The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government, Articles Four, Five and Six entrench concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments and of the states in relationship to the federal government. Article Seven establishes the procedure used by the thirteen States to ratify it. In general, the first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, offer specific protections of individual liberty, the majority of the seventeen later amendments expand individual civil rights protections. Others address issues related to federal authority or modify government processes and procedures, Amendments to the United States Constitution, unlike ones made to many constitutions worldwide, are appended to the document. All four pages of the original U. S, according to the United States Senate, The Constitutions first three words—We the People—affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens. From September 5,1774 to March 1,1781, the Continental Congress functioned as the government of the United States. The process of selecting the delegates for the First and Second Continental Congresses underscores the revolutionary role of the people of the colonies in establishing a governing body. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was the first constitution of the United States and it was drafted by the Second Continental Congress from mid-1776 through late-1777, and ratification by all 13 states was completed by early 1781. Under the Articles of Confederation, the governments power was quite limited. The Confederation Congress could make decisions, but lacked enforcement powers, implementation of most decisions, including modifications to the Articles, required unanimous approval of all thirteen state legislatures. The Continental Congress could print money but the currency was worthless, Congress could borrow money, but couldnt pay it back. No state paid all their U. S. taxes, some paid nothing, some few paid an amount equal to interest on the national debt owed to their citizens, but no more. No interest was paid on debt owed foreign governments, by 1786, the United States would default on outstanding debts as their dates came due. Internationally, the Articles of Confederation did little to enhance the United States ability to defend its sovereignty, most of the troops in the 625-man United States Army were deployed facing – but not threatening – British forts on American soil. They had not been paid, some were deserting and others threatening mutiny, spain closed New Orleans to American commerce, U. S. officials protested, but to no effect. Barbary pirates began seizing American ships of commerce, the Treasury had no funds to pay their ransom, if any military crisis required action, the Congress had no credit or taxing power to finance a response. Domestically, the Articles of Confederation was failing to bring unity to the sentiments and interests of the various states
23.
Constitutional Convention (United States)
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The Constitutional Convention took place from May 25 to September 17,1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The delegates elected George Washington to preside over the Convention, the result of the Convention was the creation of the United States Constitution, placing the Convention among the most significant events in the history of the United States. Most of the time during the Convention was spent on deciding these issues, while the powers of legislature, executive, once the Convention began, the delegates first agreed on the principles of the Convention, then they agreed on Madisons Virginia Plan and began to modify it. A Committee of Detail assembled during the July 4 recess eventually produced a draft of the constitution. Most of the draft remained in place, and can be found in the final version of the constitution. After the final issues were resolved, the Committee on Style produced the final version, before the Constitution was drafted, the nearly 4 million inhabitants of the 13 newly independent states were governed under the Articles of Confederation, created by the Second Continental Congress. It soon became evident to all that the chronically underfunded Confederation government. As the Articles of Confederation could only be amended by unanimous vote of the states, in addition, the Articles gave the weak federal government no taxing power, it was wholly dependent on the states for its money, and had no power to force delinquent states to pay. Once the immediate task of winning the American Revolutionary War had passed, the states began to look to their own interests, another impetus for the convention was Shays Rebellion. A political conflict between Boston merchants and rural farmers over issues such as property seizures for tax debts had broken out into an open rebellion. This rebellion was led by a former Revolutionary War captain, Daniel Shays, himself a farmer with tax debts. The rebellion took months for Massachusetts to put down completely, in September 1786, at the Annapolis Convention, delegates from five states called for a Constitutional Convention in order to discuss possible improvements to the Articles of Confederation. The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia on May 14,1787, Rhode Island, fearing that the Convention would work to its disadvantage, boycotted the Convention and, when the Constitution was put to the states, initially refused to ratify it. James Madison arrived first, and soon most of the Virginia delegation arrived, while waiting for the other delegates, the Virginia delegation produced the Virginia Plan, which was designed and written by James Madison. On May 25, the delegations convened in the Pennsylvania State House, George Washington was unanimously elected president of the Convention, and it was agreed that the discussions and votes would be kept secret until the conclusion of the meeting. Although William Jackson was elected as secretary, his records were brief, Madisons Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787, supplemented by the notes of Robert Yates, remain the most complete record of the Convention. Throughout the debate, delegates constantly referred to precedents from history in support of their position, most commonly, they referred to the history of England, in particular the Glorious Revolution, classical history, and recent precedents from Holland and Germany. Outside the Convention in Philadelphia, there was a convening of the Society of the Cincinnati
24.
The Federalist Papers
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The Federalist is a collection of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution. Seventy-seven were published serially in the Independent Journal and the New York Packet between October 1787 and August 1788. and A. McLean, the collections original title was The Federalist, the title The Federalist Papers did not emerge until the 20th century. Though the authors of The Federalist Papers foremost wished to influence the vote in favor of ratifying the Constitution,78, also written by Hamilton, lays the groundwork for the doctrine of judicial review by federal courts of federal legislation or executive acts. Federalist No.70 presents Hamiltons case for a chief executive. 39, Madison presents the clearest exposition of what has come to be called Federalism,51, Madison distils arguments for checks and balances in an essay often quoted for its justification of government as the greatest of all reflections on human nature. Morris, they are an incomparable exposition of the Constitution, a classic in political science unsurpassed in breadth and depth by the product of any later American writer. The Federal Convention sent the proposed Constitution to the Confederation Congress, on September 27,1787, Cato first appeared in the New York press criticising the proposition, Brutus followed on October 18,1787. These and other articles and public letters critical of the new Constitution would eventually become known as the Anti-Federalist Papers, in response, Hamilton decided to launch a measured defense and extensive explanation of the proposed Constitution to the people of the state of New York. Hamilton recruited collaborators for the project and he enlisted John Jay, who after four strong essays, fell ill and contributed only one more essay, Federalist No. He also distilled his case into a pamphlet in the spring of 1788, An Address to the People of the State of New-York, Hamilton cited it approvingly in Federalist No.85. James Madison, present in New York as a Virginia delegate to the Confederation Congress, was recruited by Hamilton and Jay, gouverneur Morris and William Duer were also apparently considered, Morris turned down the invitation, and Hamilton rejected three essays written by Duer. Duer later wrote in support of the three Federalist authors under the name Philo-Publius, or Friend of Publius, Hamilton chose Publius as the pseudonym under which the series would be written. While many other pieces representing both sides of the debate were written under Roman names, Albert Furtwangler contends that Publius was a cut above Caesar or Brutus or even Cato. Publius Valerius was not a defender of the republic but one of its founders. His more famous name, Publicola, meant friend of the people and it was not the first time Hamilton had used this pseudonym, in 1778, he had applied it to three letters attacking fellow Federalist Samuel Chase. Chases patriotism was questioned when Hamilton revealed that Chase had taken advantage of knowledge gained in Congress to try to dominate the flour market. At the time of publication the authorship of the articles was a guarded secret, though astute observers discerned the identities of Hamilton, Madison. Following Hamiltons death in 1804, a list that he had drafted claiming fully two-thirds of the papers for himself became public, including some that seemed more likely the work of Madison
25.
United States Bill of Rights
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The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. Proposed following the oftentimes bitter 1787–88 battle over ratification of the U. S, on June 8,1789, Representative James Madison introduced nine amendments to the constitution in the House of Representatives. Among his recommendations Madison proposed opening up the Constitution and inserting specific rights limiting the power of Congress in Article One, Seven of these limitations would become part of the ten ratified Bill of Rights amendments. Contrary to Madisons original proposal that the articles be incorporated into the body of the Constitution. Articles Three through Twelve were ratified as additions to the Constitution on December 15,1791, Article Two became part of the Constitution on May 5,1992, as the Twenty-seventh Amendment. Article One is technically still pending before the states, the door for their application upon state governments was opened in the 1860s, following ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. Since the early 20th century both federal and state courts have used the Fourteenth Amendment to apply portions of the Bill of Rights to state, the process is known as incorporation. There are several original engrossed copies of the Bill of Rights still in existence, One of these is on permanent public display at the National Archives in Washington, D. C. However, the government that operated under the Articles of Confederation was too weak to adequately regulate the various conflicts that arose between the states. The Philadelphia Convention set out to correct weaknesses of the Articles that had been apparent even before the American Revolutionary War had been successfully concluded, the convention took place from May 14 to September 17,1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The convention convened in the Pennsylvania State House, and George Washington of Virginia was unanimously elected as president of the convention, the 55 delegates who drafted the Constitution are among the men known as the Founding Fathers of the new nation. Thomas Jefferson, who was Minister to France during the convention, Rhode Island refused to send delegates to the convention. However, the motion was defeated by a vote of the state delegations after only a brief discussion. Madison, then an opponent of a Bill of Rights, later explained the vote by calling the bills of rights parchment barriers that offered only an illusion of protection against tyranny. The quick rejection of this motion, however, later endangered the entire ratification process, thirty-nine delegates signed the finalized Constitution. Thirteen delegates left before it was completed, and three who remained at the convention until the end refused to sign it, Mason, Gerry, elbridge Gerry wrote the most popular Anti-Federalist tract, Hon. Mr. Gerrys Objections, which went through 46 printings, the essay particularly focused on the lack of a bill of rights in the proposed constitution, many were concerned that a strong national government was a threat to individual rights and that the president would become a king. Jefferson wrote to Madison advocating a Bill of Rights, Half a loaf is better than no bread, if we cannot secure all our rights, let us secure what we can
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Republicanism in the United States
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Republicanism is the guiding political philosophy of the United States. It has been a part of American civic thought since its founding. American republicanism was founded and first practiced by the Founding Fathers in the 18th century, for them, according to one team of historians, republicanism represented more than a particular form of government. It was a way of life, an ideology, an uncompromising commitment to liberty. Republicanism was based on Ancient Greco-Roman, Renaissance, and English models and it formed the basis for the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, as well as the Gettysburg Address. The term republicanism is derived from the republic, but the two words have different meanings. A republic is a form of government, republicanism refers to the values of the citizens in a republic, two major parties have used the term in their name – the Democratic-Republican party of Thomas Jefferson, and the current Republican Party, founded in 1854. The colonial intellectual and political leaders in the 1760s and 1770s closely read history to compare governments, the Revolutionists were especially concerned with the history of liberty in England and were primarily influenced by the country party. Country party relied heavily on the classical republicanism of Roman heritage, it celebrated the ideals of duty and it drew heavily on ancient Greek city-state and Roman republican examples. This approach produced a political ideology Americans called republicanism, which was widespread in America by 1775, Republicanism was the distinctive political consciousness of the entire Revolutionary generation. American republicanism was centered on limiting corruption and greed, Virtue was of the utmost importance for citizens and representatives. Revolutionaries took a lesson from ancient Rome, they knew it was necessary to avoid the luxury that had destroyed the Empire, a virtuous citizen was one who ignored monetary compensation and made a commitment to resist and eradicate corruption. The Republic was sacred, therefore, it is necessary to serve the state in a representative way, ignoring self-interest. Republicanism required the service of those who were willing to give up their own interests for a common good, virtuous citizens needed to be strong defenders of liberty and challenge the corruption and greed in government. The duty of the virtuous citizen became a foundation for the American Revolution, the commitment of most Americans to republican values and to their property rights helped bring about the American Revolution. The greatest threat to liberty was thought by many to be corruption – not just in London, the colonists associated it with luxury and, especially, inherited aristocracy, which they condemned. Historian Thomas Kidd argues that during the Revolution Christians linked their religion to republicanism and he states, With the onset of the revolutionary crisis, a major conceptual shift convinced Americans across the theological spectrum that God was raising up America for some special purpose. Kidd further argues that new blend of Christian and republican ideology led religious traditionalists to embrace wholesale the concept of republican virtue, as virtuous republicans, citizens had a growing moral obligation to eradicate the corruption they saw in the monarchy
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American Enlightenment
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The leading political thinkers were John Adams, James Madison, George Mason, James Wilson, Ethan Allen, and Alexander Hamilton, and polymaths Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Coldens daughter, Jane Colden, was the first female botanist working in America, count Rumford was a leading scientist, especially in the field of heat. The term “American Enlightenment” was coined in the post-World War II era. It was not used in the century, when English speakers commonly referred to a process of becoming “enlightened. ”Various dates for the American Enlightenment have been proposed, including the dates 1750–1820, 1765–1815. Enlightened Founding Fathers, especially Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and George Washington, fought for, according to the founding fathers, the United States should be a country where peoples of all faiths could live in peace and mutual benefit. James Madison summed up this ideal in 1792 saying, Conscience is the most sacred of all property, a switch away from established religion to religious tolerance, was one of the distinguishing features of the era from 1775 to 1818. The new constitution guaranteed freedom of religion, and disestablished the Congregational church and it saw a consensus on a pursuit of happiness based political philosophy. Politically, the age is distinguished by an emphasis upon liberty, republicanism and religious tolerance. Attempts to reconcile science and religion resulted in a rejection of prophecy, miracle, American republicanism emphasized consent of the government, riddance of aristocracy, and fear of corruption. It represented the convergence of classical republicanism and English republicanism, pocock explained the intellectual sources in America, Sources of the American Enlightenment are many and vary according to time and place. As a result of a book trade with Great Britain. Early influences were English writers, including James Harrington, Algernon Sidney, the Viscount Bolingbroke, John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, although John Lockes Two Treatises of Government has long been cited as a major influence on American thinkers, historians David Lundberg and Henry F. May demonstrate that Lockes Essay Concerning Human Understanding was far more read than were his political Treatises. The Scottish Enlightenment also influenced American thinkers, David Humes Essays and his History of England were widely read in the colonies, and Humes political thought had a particular influence on James Madison and the Constitution. Another important Scottish writer was Francis Hutcheson, by far the most important French sources to the American Enlightenment, however, were Montesquieus Spirit of the Laws and Emer de Vattels Law of Nations. Both informed early American ideas of government and were influences on the Constitution. Voltaires histories were widely read but seldom cited, noah Webster used Rousseaus educational ideas of child development to structure his famous Speller. A German influence includes Samuel Pufendorf, whose writings were also cited by American writers
28.
Liberalism in the United States
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Liberalism in the United States is a broad political philosophy centered on the unalienable rights of the individual. Modern liberalism in the United States includes issues such as marriage, voting rights for all adult citizens, civil rights, environmentalism. The origins of American liberalism lie in the ideals of the Enlightenment. The Constitution of the United States of 1787 set up the first modern republic, with sovereignty in the people, however, the Constitution limited liberty, in particular by accepting slavery. The Founding Fathers recognized the contradiction, and most expected slavery to wither away, indeed, it was abolished in all the Northern states by 1804, but due to the demand for raw cotton by the Industrial Revolution, plantation slavery continued to flourish in the Deep South. From the time of the American Revolution to the present day, the states abolished many restrictions on voting for white males in the early 19th century. The Constitution was amended in 1865 to abolish slavery, in 1870 to extend the vote to Black men, in 1920 to extend the vote to women, and in 1971 to lower the voting age to 18. The Jim Crow system of the South between the 1890s and 1960s relegated blacks to second class citizenship, until it was overthrown by the Civil Rights Movement, thomas Jefferson believed that America should remain a nation of small farmers. As the American economy began to shift to manufacturing and services, liberals began to fear threats to liberty from corruption and monopolies. The dominance of the Republican Party for most of the era 1860–1932, the Third Party System, during the Progressive Era of the early 20th century, laws were passed restricting monopolies and regulating railroad rates. According to James Reichley, it was during this era that the term took on its current meaning. Prior to the early 1900s, the term had usually described classical liberalism, which emphasizes limited government, and Theodore Roosevelt who came out of retirement to run again for president under a third party called Progressive Party. Later, political figures such as Franklin Roosevelt adopted the term liberal to describe an individual in favor of some government activism, after 1933, modern liberals used the New Deal to provide jobs during the Great Depression. The Social Security Act of 1935 provided retirement and disability income for Americans unable to work or unable to find jobs, in the Social Security Act of 1965, this was extended to provide benefits for Americans unable to work due to illness. A reaction against modern American liberalism began with Barry Goldwater, which led to the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. Deregulation began in the mid-1970s and had support from both liberals and conservatives. Clinton pushed to extend modern liberal ideals especially in the areas of health care, according to Louis Hartz, liberalism was the only significant political tradition in the United States. However, in the 1970s, Bernard Bailyn, Gordon Wood, in the 1980s, J. David Green returned to Hartzs thesis, but saw two different types of liberalism in the tradition, which he called humanist and reform
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First Great Awakening
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It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of deep personal revelation of their need of salvation by Jesus Christ. It had little impact on most Anglicans, Lutherans, Quakers, throughout the colonies, especially in the south, the revivalist movement increased the number of African slaves and free blacks who were exposed to and subsequently converted to Christianity. The Second Great Awakening began about 1800 and reached out to the unchurched, 18th-century American Christians added an emphasis on outpourings of the Holy Spirit to the evangelical imperatives of Reformation Protestantism. Revivals encapsulated those hallmarks and spread the newly created evangelicalism in the early republic, Evangelical preachers sought to include every person in conversion, regardless of gender, race, and status. The evangelical revival was international in scope, affecting predominantly Protestant countries of Europe, historian Sydney E. Ahlstrom sees it as part of a great international Protestant upheaval that also created Pietism in Germany, the Evangelical Revival and Methodism in England. Revivalism was a component of the Great Awakening, and actually began in the 1620s in Scotland among Presbyterians. The idea of a great awakening has been contested by Butler as vague and exaggerated, the First Great Awakening led to changes in Americans understanding of God, themselves, the world around them, and religion. In the Middle and Southern colonies, especially in the country regions. In the southern Tidewater and Low Country, northern Baptist and Methodist preachers converted both white and black people, whether enslaved or free, evangelist leaders in the southern colonies had to deal with the issue of slavery much more frequently than those in the North. Still, many leaders of the revivals proclaimed that slaveholders should educate their slaves so that they could become literate and be able to read, consequently, many Africans were finally provided with some sort of education. Africans hoped that their newly acquired spiritual equality would translate into earthly equalities, as black people started to make up substantial proportions of congregations, they were given a chance to momentarily forget about their bondage and enjoy a slight sense of freedom. Before the American Revolution, the first black Baptist churches were founded in the South in Virginia, South Carolina, the revival began with Jonathan Edwards in Northampton, Massachusetts. Edwards came from Puritan, Calvinist roots, but emphasized the importance and power of immediate, Religious experience had to be immediate, he taught. Scientific inquiry was useless, he taught that only a personal experience can be valid and his sermons were solemn, with a distinct and careful enunciation, and a slow cadence. His sermons were powerful and attracted a large following, both Edwards and Whitefield were slave owners and believed that blacks would acquire absolute equality with whites in the Millennial church. Winiarski examines Edwardss preaching in 1741, especially his famous sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, at this point, Edwards countenanced the noise of the Great Awakening, but his approach to revivalism became more moderate and critical in the years immediately following. The arrival of young Anglican preacher George Whitefield sparked the Great Awakening, Whitefields reputation preceded his visit as a great pulpit and open-air orator. He traveled through the colonies in 1739 and 1740 and he attracted large and emotional crowds everywhere, eliciting countless conversions as well as considerable controversy
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United States Bicentennial
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It was a central event in the memory of the American Revolution. The Bicentennial culminated on Sunday, July 4,1976, with the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, the plans for the Bicentennial began when Congress created the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission on July 4,1966. Initially, the Bicentennial celebration was planned as a single city exposition that would be staged in either Philadelphia or Boston, ARBA selected a logo via contest in 1974. Bruce N. Blackburn, co-designer of the modernized NASA insignia used from 1975 to 1992, the logo consisted of a white five-point star inside a stylized star of red, white and blue. It was encircled by the inscription American Revolution Bicentennial 1776–1976 in Helvetica Regular, the logo became a flag that flew at many government facilities throughout the United States and appeared on many other souvenirs and postage stamps issued by the Postal Service. The official Bicentennial events began April 1,1975, when the American Freedom Train launched in Wilmington, Delaware to start its 21-month,25, 388-mile tour of the 48 contiguous states. On April 18,1975, President Gerald Ford traveled to Boston to light a lantern at the historic Old North Church. Festivities included elaborate fireworks in the skies above major American cities, President Ford presided over the display in Washington, D. C. which was televised nationally. A large international fleet of tall-masted sailing ships gathered first in New York City on Independence Day and these nautical parades were named Operation Sail and witnessed by several million observers. The gathering was the second of six such Op Sail events to date, the vessels docked and allowed the general public to tour the ships in both cities, while their crews were entertained on shore at various ethnic celebrations and parties. In addition to the presence of the ships, navies of many nations sent warships to New York harbor for an International Naval Review held the morning of July 4. The review ended just above Liberty Island around 10,30 am, several people threw packages labeled Gulf Oil and Exxon into Boston Harbor in symbolic opposition to corporate power, in the style of the Boston Tea party. Britains Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip made a visit to the United States to tour the country and attend Bicentennial festivities with President. Their visit aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia included stops in Philadelphia, Washington, Virginia, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. While in Philadelphia on July 6,1976, Queen Elizabeth presented the Bicentennial Bell on behalf of the British people, local observances included painting mailboxes and fire hydrants red, white, and blue. A wave of patriotism and nostalgia swept the nation and there was a feeling that the irate era of the Vietnam War. In Washington, D. C. the Smithsonian Institution opened an exhibition in its Arts and Industries Building that replicated the look. Many of the Smithsonians museum artifacts dated from the 1876 Worlds Fair in Philadelphia that commemorated the 100th anniversary of the independence of the United States, the Smithsonian also opened the new home of the National Air and Space Museum July 1,1976
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Great Seal of the United States
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The Great Seal of the United States is used to authenticate certain documents issued by the U. S. federal government. The phrase is used both for the seal itself, and more generally for the design impressed upon it. The Great Seal was first used publicly in 1782, the obverse of the great seal is used as the national coat of arms of the United States. It is officially used on such as United States passports, military insignia, embassy placards. As a coat of arms, the design has official colors, since 1935, both sides of the Great Seal have appeared on the reverse of the one-dollar bill. The Seal of the President of the United States is directly based on the Great Seal, the design on the obverse of the seal is the coat of arms of the United States. The shield, though sometimes drawn incorrectly, has two differences from the American flag. First, it has no stars on the blue chief, second, unlike the American flag, the outermost stripes are white, not red, so as not to violate the heraldic rule of tincture. The supporter of the shield is an eagle with its wings outstretched. Although not specified by law, the branch is usually depicted with 13 leaves and 13 olives. The eagle has its head turned towards the branch, on its right side. In its beak, the eagle clutches a scroll with the motto E pluribus unum, over its head there appears a glory with 13 mullets on a blue field. In the current dies of the seal, the 13 stars above the eagle are arranged in rows of 1-4-3-4-1. The 1782 resolution of Congress adopting the arms, still in force, legally blazoned the shield as Paleways of 13 pieces, argent and gules, a more technically proper blazon would have been argent, six pallets gules. But the phrase used was chosen to preserve the reference to the 13 original states, the 1782 resolution adopting the seal blazons the image on the reverse as A pyramid unfinished. In the zenith an eye in a triangle, surrounded by a glory, the pyramid is conventionally shown as consisting of 13 layers to refer to the 13 original states. The adopting resolution provides that it is inscribed on its base with the date MDCCLXXVI in Roman numerals, where the top of the pyramid should be, the Eye of Providence watches over it. Two mottos appear, Annuit cœptis signifies that Providence has approved of undertakings, Novus ordo seclorum, freely taken from Virgil, is Latin for a new order of the ages
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Eye of Providence
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The Eye of Providence is a symbol showing an eye often surrounded by rays of light or a glory and usually enclosed by a triangle. It represents the eye of God watching over mankind, in the modern era, a notable depiction of the eye is the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States, which appears on the United States one-dollar bill. Seventeenth-century depictions of the Eye of Providence sometimes show it surrounded by clouds or sunbursts, in 1782, the Eye of Providence was adopted as part of the symbolism on the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States. It was first suggested as an element of the Great Seal by the first of three committees in 1776 and is thought to be the suggestion of the artistic consultant. In his original proposal to the committee, Du Simitiere placed the Eye over shields symbolizing each of the thirteen states of the Union. On the version of the seal that was approved, the Eye is positioned above an unfinished pyramid of thirteen steps. The symbolism is explained by the motto that appears above the Eye, Annuit Cœptis, meaning approves undertakings. Perhaps due to its use in the design of the Great Seal, the Eye has made its way into other American seals and logos, for example, today, the Eye of Providence is often associated with Freemasonry. The Eye first appeared as part of the iconography of the Freemasons in 1797. Here, it represents the eye of God and is a reminder that mans thoughts. Typically, the Masonic Eye of Providence has a semi-circular glory below the eye, sometimes the Eye is enclosed by a triangle. However, common Masonic use of the Eye dates to 14 years after the creation of the Great Seal, furthermore, among the members of the various design committees for the Great Seal, only Benjamin Franklin was a Mason. Indeed, many Masonic organizations have explicitly denied any connection to the creation of the Seal, a common occurrence is in the context of a reference to the Illuminati. The logo for the WWE tag team, The Ascension, media related to Eye of Providence at Wikimedia Commons
33.
Parliament of Great Britain
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The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. This lasted nearly a century, until the Acts of Union 1800 merged the separate British and Irish Parliaments into a single Parliament of the United Kingdom with effect from 1 January 1801. Following the Treaty of Union in 1706, Acts of Union ratifying the Treaty were passed in both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland, which created a new Kingdom of Great Britain. The Acts dissolved both parliaments, replacing them with a new parliament, referred to as the Parliament of Great Britain and it was not even considered necessary to hold a new general election. While Scots law and Scottish legislation remained separate, new legislation was thereafter to be enacted by the new parliament, after the Hanoverian King George I ascended the British throne in 1714 through the Act of Settlement of 1701, real power continued to shift away from the monarchy. George was a German ruler, spoke poor English, and remained interested in governing his dominions in continental Europe rather than in Britain. Reformers and Radicals sought parliamentary reform, but as the French Revolutionary Wars developed the British government became repressive against dissent and progress towards reform was stalled. During the first half of George IIIs reign, the still had considerable influence over Parliament. Most candidates for the House of Commons were identified as Whigs or Tories, reformers like William Beckford and Radicals beginning with John Wilkes called for reform of the system. In 1780 a draft programme of reform was drawn up by Charles James Fox and Thomas Brand Hollis and this included calls for the six points later adopted by the Chartists. Pitt had previously called for Parliament to begin to reform itself, proposals Pitt made in April 1785 to redistribute seats from the rotten boroughs to London and the counties were defeated in the House of Commons by 248 votes to 174
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Province of Massachusetts Bay
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The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in British North America and, from 1776, one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7,1691, by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The charter took effect on May 14,1692, and included the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Plymouth Colony, the Province of Maine, Marthas Vineyard, Nantucket, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. The modern Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the successor, Maine has been a separate U. S. state since 1820. The name Massachusetts comes from the Massachusett, an Algonquian tribe, the name has been translated as at the great hill, at the place of large hills, or at the range of hills, with reference to the Blue Hills, and in particular, Great Blue Hill. Colonial settlement of the shores of Massachusetts Bay began in 1620 with the founding of the Plymouth Colony, over the next ten years there was a major migration of Puritans to the area, leading to the founding of a number of new colonies in New England. By the 1680s the number of colonies had stabilized at five, in addition to Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts Bay was the most populous and economically significant, housing a sizable merchant fleet. The colonies at times struggled against the Indian population, which had suffered a decline in population prior to the arrival of the first permanent settlers. In the 1630s the Pequot tribe was destroyed, and King Philips War in the 1670s resulted in the expulsion, pacification. The latter war was costly to the colonists of New England. Massachusetts and Plymouth were both somewhat politically independent from England in their days, but this situation changed after the restoration of Charles II to the English throne in 1660. Charles sought closer oversight of the colonies, and to introduce and enforce economic control over their activities, the Navigation Acts passed in the 1660s were widely disliked in Massachusetts, where merchants often found themselves trapped and at odds with the rules. These issues and others led to the revocation of the first Massachusetts Charter in 1684, when James was deposed in the 1688 Glorious Revolution, Massachusetts political leaders conspired against Andros, arresting him and other English authorities in April 1689. This led to the collapse of the Dominion, as the other colonies then quickly reasserted their old forms of government, the Plymouth colony had never had a royal charter, so its governance had always been on a somewhat precarious footing. Massachusetts, however, was placed into constitutional anarchy by the uprising, provincial agents traveled to London where Increase Mather, representing the old colony leaders, petitioned new rulers William and Mary to restore the old colonial charter. When King William learned that this result in a return to the predominantly entrenched religious rule. Instead, the Lords of Trade decided to solve two problems at once by combining the two colonies, accordingly, on October 7,1691, they issued a charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and appointed Sir William Phips its governor. Although the effect of change has been subject to debate among historians
35.
Thirteen Colonies
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The Thirteen Colonies were a group of British colonies on the east coast of North America founded in the 17th and 18th centuries that declared independence in 1776 and formed the United States. The Thirteen Colonies had very similar political, constitutional, and legal systems and they were part of Britains possessions in the New World, which also included colonies in present-day Canada and the Caribbean, as well as East and West Florida. However, the Thirteen Colonies had a degree of self-government and active local elections. In the 1750s, the colonies began collaborating with each other instead of dealing directly with Britain, Colonial decisions were subject to approval by the governor and the home government. There were also substantial populations of African slaves in some of the colonies, especially Virginia, the Carolinas, the names of the colonies were chosen by the founders and proprietors, subject to royal approval, and given in the founding charters. Nine of the thirteen chose to include in their names the term Province of, later residents tended to drop the ambiguous terminology, as in the map shown in the article Province of New Jersey, which is labeled simply East Jersey and West Jersey. In July 1776, they formed a new nation called the United States of America, the new nation achieved that goal by winning the American Revolutionary War with the aid of France, the Netherlands, and Spain. The American flag features thirteen horizontal stripes which represent these original thirteen colonies, besides these thirteen colonies, Britain had another dozen in the New World. Those in the British West Indies, Newfoundland, the Province of Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Bermuda, and East and West Florida remained loyal to the crown throughout the war. The British crown had recently acquired those lands, and many of the issues facing the Thirteen Colonies did not apply to them, especially in the case of Quebec. Contemporary documents usually list the thirteen colonies of British North America in geographical order, the consolidation collapsed after the Glorious Revolution of 1688–89, and the nine former colonies re-established their separate identities in 1689. Massachusetts Bay Colony Settled in 1630 by Puritans from England, the colonial charter was revoked in 1684, and a new charter was issued in 1691 establishing an enlarged Province of Massachusetts Bay. Province of Maine Settled in 1622, the Massachusetts Bay Colony claimed the Maine territory in the 1650s, then limited to present-day southernmost Maine. Parts of Maine east of the Kennebec River were also part of New York in the half of the 17th century. These areas were made part of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in the charter of 1691. Plymouth Colony Settled in 1620 by the Pilgrims, plymouth was merged into the Province of Massachusetts Bay in the charter of 1691. Saybrook Colony Founded in 1635 and merged with Connecticut Colony in 1644, New Haven Colony Settled in late 1637. New Netherland Extensive region centered about New Amsterdam at the tip of Manhattan Island
36.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
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It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories. Its head is the Sovereign of the United Kingdom and its seat is the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster, one of the boroughs of the British capital, the parliament is bicameral, consisting of an upper house and a lower house. The Sovereign forms the third component of the legislature, prior to the opening of the Supreme Court in October 2009, the House of Lords also performed a judicial role through the Law Lords. The House of Commons is an elected chamber with elections held at least every five years. The two Houses meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster in London, most cabinet ministers are from the Commons, whilst junior ministers can be from either House. The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Treaty of Union by Acts of Union passed by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The UK parliament and its institutions have set the pattern for many throughout the world. However, John Bright – who coined the epithet – used it with reference to a rather than a parliament. In theory, the UKs supreme legislative power is vested in the Crown-in-Parliament. However, the Crown normally acts on the advice of the Prime Minister, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created in 1801, by the merger of the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland under the Acts of Union. The principle of responsibility to the lower House did not develop until the 19th century—the House of Lords was superior to the House of Commons both in theory and in practice. Members of the House of Commons were elected in an electoral system. Thus, the borough of Old Sarum, with seven voters, many small constituencies, known as pocket or rotten boroughs, were controlled by members of the House of Lords, who could ensure the election of their relatives or supporters. During the reforms of the 19th century, beginning with the Reform Act 1832, No longer dependent on the Lords for their seats, MPs grew more assertive. The supremacy of the British House of Commons was established in the early 20th century, in 1909, the Commons passed the so-called Peoples Budget, which made numerous changes to the taxation system which were detrimental to wealthy landowners. The House of Lords, which consisted mostly of powerful landowners, on the basis of the Budgets popularity and the Lords consequent unpopularity, the Liberal Party narrowly won two general elections in 1910. Using the result as a mandate, the Liberal Prime Minister, Herbert Henry Asquith, introduced the Parliament Bill, in the face of such a threat, the House of Lords narrowly passed the bill. However, regardless of the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949, the Government of Ireland Act 1920 created the parliaments of Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland and reduced the representation of both parts at Westminster
37.
Quebec Act
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The Quebec Act of 1774, formally known as the British North America Act 1774, was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain setting procedures of governance in the Province of Quebec. Reference to the Protestant faith was removed from the oath of allegiance and it guaranteed free practice of the Catholic faith. It restored the use of the French civil law for matters of law, except that in accordance with the English common law. It maintained English common law for matters of law, including administrative appeals, court procedure. It restored the Catholic Churchs right to impose tithes, the 1774 Act had wide-ranging effects, in Quebec itself, as well as in the Thirteen Colonies. In Quebec, English-speaking immigrants from Britain and the southern colonies objected to a variety of its provisions, Canadiens varied in their reaction, the land-owning seigneurs and ecclesiastics for example were generally happy with its provisions. The provisions of the Quebec Act were seen by the colonists as a new model for British colonial administration and it seemed to void the land claims of the colonies by granting most of the Ohio Country to the province of Quebec. After the Seven Years War, a victorious Great Britain and a defeated France formalized the peace with the 1763 Treaty of Paris. Under the terms of the treaty, the Kingdom of France ceded New France to Britain, choosing instead to keep the islands of Guadeloupe, Canada was considered less valuable, as its only significant commercial product at the time was beaver pelts. The territory found along the St. Lawrence River, called Canada by the French, was renamed Quebec by the British, non-military administration of the territories acquired by the British in the war was defined in the Royal Proclamation of 1763. Under the terms of the treaty, Canadiens who did not choose to leave became British subjects. In order for them to serve in offices, they were required to swear an oath to the King that contained specific provisions rejecting the Catholic faith. Since many of the predominantly Roman Catholic Canadiens were unwilling to take such an oath, with unrest growing in the colonies to the south, which would one day grow into the American Revolution, the British were worried that the Canadiens might also support the growing rebellion. At that time, Canadiens formed the vast majority of the population of the province of Quebec. To secure the allegiance of the approximately 90,000 Canadiens to the British crown, first Governor James Murray, there was also a need to compromise between the conflicting demands of the Canadien subjects and those of newly arrived British subjects. These efforts by the governors eventually resulted in the enactment of the Quebec Act of 1774. Territory, The boundaries of the province were defined by the Act and this increased the size of the province threefold over the size of the French province. This enabled, for the first time, French Canadians to legally participate in the affairs of the government without formally renouncing their faith
38.
First Continental Congress
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It was called in response to The passage of the Coercive Acts by the British Parliament. The Intolerable Acts had punished Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party, the Congress was attended by 56 delegates. The Pennsylvania delegation was appointed by the colonial assembly, Georgia declined to send delegates because they were hoping for British assistance with Native American problems on their frontier and did not want to upset the British. The Congress met briefly to consider options, including a boycott of British trade, rights and grievances. The Congress also called for another Continental Congress in the event that their petition was unsuccessful in halting enforcement of the Intolerable Acts. Their appeal to the Crown had no effect, and so the Second Continental Congress was convened the following year to organize the defense of the colonies at the onset of the American Revolutionary War, the delegates also urged each colony to set up and train its own militia. The Congress met from September 5 to October 26,1774, peyton Randolph presided over the proceedings, Henry Middleton took over as President of the Congress for the last few days, from October 22 to October 26. Charles Thomson, leader of Philadelphia Committee of Correspondence, was selected to be Secretary of the Continental Congress, the delegates who attended the Congress were not of one mind concerning why they were there. Their ultimate goal was to develop a solution to the difficulties. Radicals, such as Patrick Henry, Roger Sherman, Samuel Adams, to counter these ideas, Galloway put forward a Plan of Union, which suggested an American legislative body be formed, with some authority, and whose consent would be required for imperial measures. In the end, the voices of reconciliation and compromise carried the day and it requested that local Committees of Safety enforce the boycott and regulate local prices for goods. These resolutions adopted by the Congress did not acknowledge the power of Parliament even to regulate trade. Furthermore, they did not repudiate control by the royal prerogative, the Congress had two primary accomplishments. The first was a compact among the colonies to boycott British goods beginning on December 1,1774, the West Indies were threatened with a boycott unless the islands agreed to nonimportation of British goods. Imports from Britain dropped by 97 percent in 1775, compared with the previous year, Committees of observation and inspection were to be formed in each colony for enforcement of the Association. All of the colonial Houses of Assembly approved the proceedings of the congress with the exception of New York, if the Intolerable Acts were not repealed, the colonies would also cease exports to Britain after September 10,1775. The boycott was successfully implemented, but its potential for altering British colonial policy was cut off by the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, the colonists were forced to quarter British soldiers, and feed them. The second accomplishment of the Congress was to provide for a Second Continental Congress to meet on May 10,1775, however, letters appear to have been sent only to Quebec
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Seven Years' War
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The Seven Years War was a war fought between 1754 and 1763, the main conflict occurring in the seven-year period from 1756 to 1763. It involved every European great power of the time except the Ottoman Empire and spanned five continents, affecting Europe, the Americas, West Africa, India, and the Philippines. The conflict split Europe into two coalitions, led by the Kingdom of Great Britain on one side and the Kingdom of France on the other. Meanwhile, in India, the Mughal Empire, with the support of the French, faced with this sudden turn of events, Britain aligned herself with Prussia, in a series of political manoeuvres known as the Diplomatic Revolution. Conflict between Great Britain and France broke out in 1754–1756 when the British attacked disputed French positions in North America, meanwhile, rising power Prussia was struggling with Austria for dominance within and outside the Holy Roman Empire in central Europe. In 1756, the major powers switched partners, realizing that war was imminent, Prussia preemptively struck Saxony and quickly overran it. The result caused uproar across Europe, because of Austrias alliance with France to recapture Silesia, which had been lost in a previous war, Prussia formed an alliance with Britain. Reluctantly, by following the diet, most of the states of the empire joined Austrias cause. The Anglo-Prussian alliance was joined by smaller German states, Sweden, seeking to re-gain Pomerania joined the coalition, seeing its chance when virtually all of Europe opposed Prussia. Spain, bound by the Pacte de Famille, intervened on behalf of France, the Russian Empire was originally aligned with Austria, fearing Prussias ambition on the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, but switched sides upon the succession of Tsar Peter III in 1762. Naples, Sicily, and Savoy, although sided with the Franco-Spanish alliance, like Sweden, Russia concluded a separate peace with Prussia. The war ended with the Treaty of Paris between France, Spain and Great Britain and the Treaty of Hubertusburg between Saxony, Austria and Prussia, in 1763. The Native American tribes were excluded from the settlement, a subsequent conflict, Prussia emerged as a new European great power. Although Austria failed to retrieve the territory of Silesia from Prussia its military prowess was noted by the other powers. The involvement of Portugal, Spain and Sweden did not return them to their status as great powers. France was deprived of many of its colonies and had saddled itself with heavy war debts that its inefficient financial system could barely handle. Spain lost Florida but gained French Louisiana and regained control of its colonies, e. g. Cuba and the Philippines, France and Spain avenged their defeat in 1778 when the American Revolutionary War broke out, with hopes of destroying Britains dominance once and for all. The Seven Years War was perhaps the first true world war, having taken place almost 160 years before World War I and it was characterized in Europe by sieges and the arson of towns as well as open battles with heavy losses
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British Empire
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The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It originated with the possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23% of the population at the time. As a result, its political, legal, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread, during the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France, the independence of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after the American War of Independence caused Britain to lose some of its oldest and most populous colonies. British attention soon turned towards Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, after the defeat of France in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Britain emerged as the principal naval and imperial power of the 19th century. In the early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution began to transform Britain, the British Empire expanded to include India, large parts of Africa and many other territories throughout the world. In Britain, political attitudes favoured free trade and laissez-faire policies, during the 19th Century, Britains population increased at a dramatic rate, accompanied by rapid urbanisation, which caused significant social and economic stresses. To seek new markets and sources of raw materials, the Conservative Party under Benjamin Disraeli launched a period of imperialist expansion in Egypt, South Africa, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand became self-governing dominions. By the start of the 20th century, Germany and the United States had begun to challenge Britains economic lead, subsequent military and economic tensions between Britain and Germany were major causes of the First World War, during which Britain relied heavily upon its empire. The conflict placed enormous strain on the military, financial and manpower resources of Britain, although the British Empire achieved its largest territorial extent immediately after World War I, Britain was no longer the worlds pre-eminent industrial or military power. In the Second World War, Britains colonies in Southeast Asia were occupied by Imperial Japan, despite the final victory of Britain and its allies, the damage to British prestige helped to accelerate the decline of the empire. India, Britains most valuable and populous possession, achieved independence as part of a larger movement in which Britain granted independence to most territories of the empire. The transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997 marked for many the end of the British Empire, fourteen overseas territories remain under British sovereignty. After independence, many former British colonies joined the Commonwealth of Nations, the United Kingdom is now one of 16 Commonwealth nations, a grouping known informally as the Commonwealth realms, that share a monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The foundations of the British Empire were laid when England and Scotland were separate kingdoms. In 1496, King Henry VII of England, following the successes of Spain and Portugal in overseas exploration, Cabot led another voyage to the Americas the following year but nothing was ever heard of his ships again
