E42ANY5 Civilisation US PDF

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E42ANY5

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E42ANY5 : CIVILISATION US [email protected] ! Programme : - genèse et naissance ( 1607-1776)! - Construction (1776-1823)! - Expansion (en 2 temps) (1840s-1900s)! - La crise ! - l’Amérique moderne ! Chaque semaine = ! => cours CM de 2H! => TP 1H travail sur les textes + corrigé envoyé par mail chaque semaine ! Pour la semaine prochaine lire le pdf de 17 page sur la méthodologie ! Un commentaire de texte pour la page 3 !

Chapter I. The Colonial Period (1607-1776) → The American continent was « discovered » in 1492, but the British colonization of North America started in 1607, with the creation of the 1st British settlement in Virginia. The colonial era ended in 1776 with the independence of the 13 states. ! • Reasons to migrate to the « New World » → Economic reasons : British merchants from the London Company settled in Jamestown (Virginia) and were looking for natural resources and new markets for English goods.# → Religious reasons : The Puritans (The Pilgrim Fathers settled in Plymouth (Massachussets) and were radical Protestants persecuted in Europe. They were looking for religious freedom,hoped to create a new society inspired by the Bible in America. ! • The 13 British colonies! # ◆ The New England Colonies : ! • → Economy : industry and trade # •

→ Society : urban civilization (villages), importance of religion, strong sense of # duty, hard work and discipline • #

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$◆ % The Middle Colonies : Varied economy (agriculture and trade),cosmopolitan society religious tolerance # #

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$◆ %The Southern Colonies :# → Economy: agriculture centered on one crop (tobacco, rice, cotton, etc) → Society : stratifed social organization, the plantation system and slavery Cultural disparities between Northern and Southern colonies #

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• « Salutary Neglect » and the development of self-rule « Salutary Neglect » = the fact that the British colonies in America were left in isolation,no direct control by the King in England = Free to organize as they wished locally, to develop forms of self- rule, as long as they continued to supply raw materials. ! • Forms of self-rule and political innovations : → House of Burgesses (1619), Virginia : Elected representatives, representative democracy ! → The Mayflower Compact (1620), New England : Town meetings,citizen participation, direct democracy ! • First salves in virginia # •

Introduced in America in 1619,the year the House of Burgesses were created. It shows how advanced forms of government co-existed with inhuman pratices = slavery. Contrast later known as « the American Paradox » #

• Colonial Economy Mecantilism (17è – 18è) : Economic nationalism adopted by Britain to develop its trade,exports + naval powers. ! → Colonies = economic rôle : supply raw goods in exchange of security and diplomatic protection. Raws goods fueled a lot of Birtain’s factories that produced manufactured goods and which were sold to colonies. ! • Conclusion : The Colonial Legacy →The political legacy : social contract and consent of governed Citizen participation and representation ! →The social legacy : emphasis on civil rights, freedom and religious tolerance →The cultural legacy : equal opportunity,social mobility !

The Road To Independence The 5 causes of the American revolution : ! - Diplomatic ! - Economic ! - Political ! - Social ! - Philosophical !

1. The diplomatic trigger : The Seven Years’ War ! The seven years’ war (1756-1763) was an imperial struggle for land. It opposed Britain, France and Spain. It was fought on the American continent. ! Britain was victorious, but, after the war, the King abandoned its policy of «% salutary Neglect%» towards the colonies and attempted to gain tighter control over them imposing new restrictions (on trad and expansion) and sending more officials in America. ! 2. Economic causes : taxation !

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In order to replenish its treasury after the war, Britain used the colonies as creditors to help pay the cost of the war. The British parliament passed new laws that imposed new taxes : ! - The Sugar Act, 1764! - The Stamp Act, 1765! - The Tea Act, 1773! +indirect taxation like the Townshend Acts, 1767 and Quartering act, 1765.!

3. Political protest ! In 1775, the colonies had no voice in the British Parliament. Since they were not represented, they refused to pay. They used the famous mottos: ! => «%no taxation without representation%»!

! => «%No legislation without representation%» ! 4. Social grievances ! Colonists also resented : ! - Imprisonment without trial ! - The «%Quartering%» of British Soldiers in colonists’ homes (1765)! - The forced enrollment of American sailors in the British Army/Navy!

5. Philosophical inspirations ! The influence of the Enlightenment and theories of republican government : !

- Thomas Hobbes, the leviathan (1651) => gov as a necessary evil - Jean Jacques Rousseau, Le contrat social (1762) => popular consent and general will ! - Montesquieu, De l’esprit des lois (1748) => Separation of powers, independent judiciary! The Escalation towards the revolution !

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1770 : The Boston Massacre ! 1773 : The Boston Tea Party ! 1774 : The «%Coercive/intolerable Acts%»! 1774 : The first continental Congress met in Philadelphia!

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The War of independence (1775-1783) ! => 1775 : first armed clashes ! - Battle of Lexington ( => British V)! - Battle of Concord (=> American V) ! 1776 : the second continental Congress met in Philadelphia !

4 July, 1776 The Declaration Of Independence => Written by a 5-man committee : Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Sherman and Linvingston ! => Adopted and signed by the Second Continental Congress!

«"Patriots"» VS «"Loyalists"»

Patriots, Rebels and Insurgents in favor of the revolution 40-45% of the colonial population. ! Royalists, Tories and The King’s Men Loyal to the British king => 15-20%! => The TWO Georges ! Georges Washington (left) ! King Georges III (right)!

Advantages and disadvantages of the 2 belligerents

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! + Allies : «"the treaty Alliance"» signed with France in 1778.

«"The Treaty of Alliance"» signe with France in 1778 Starting in 1778, French assistance proved essential. France provided official recognition of the US as a sovereign nation, together with naval forces, manpower, loans and equipments. It also brought new allies (Spain and Netherlands) and moved the American revolution to a global stage, keeping Britain without an ally of its own. ! The Treaty of Paris, 1783 The American revolution ended with this treaty of peace, but the Anglo-American relations remained tense. !

S TAT E-B UI L DI NG: T HE MAK I NG O F THE US Fro m th e confederation to the constitution In 1783, with the “Peace of Paris”, the American revolution came to an end and Britain recognized the independence of the 13 states, but many questions were left unsettled. The United States was at peace but with an unsettled governmental structure. What was missing was a national constitution. ! 1.

The Article of Confederation : the first national constitution and its failure failure

This constitution was written by the Second Continental Congress in 1777, but ratified by the states in 1781. It was later replaced by the current United States Constitution in 1788. ! Its purpose was two-fold :! - to create a national government - and to establish the union of the 13 states. !

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To that end, the first constitution established a simple confederate union. A confederation is a loose or very decentralized form of political association where each state retains its “sovereignty, freedom and independence”. This union was described as “a firm league of friendship” (Article III). ! There were 2 consequences: ! • 1) %most of the power was left to the state governments ! •

2) %the national government was very weak. !

Indeed, in this new confederation, there existed only one branch of government: a Congress with very limited powers (Article IX), which was the only national institution. There was no provision for an executive branch or a judicial branch: none was created. ! This congress very soon proved too weak to be effective:!

- it had some powers (for example, to declare and make war, to conclude treaties and ! alliances, to regulate Indian affairs, etc)! - BUT it could not levy taxes and regulate foreign and interstate trade. ! For example, it could only request money from the states, which usually refused to comply, because no law-enforcing powers were granted to Congress. ! It resulted in paradox : congress could make decision, but had no power to enforce them.!

CSQ : The individual 13 states followed their own state constitutions, were all-powerful and violated the Articles of Confederation recurrently. ! CCL: Therefore, the system quickly proved inadequate and ineffective. Historians generally agree that the Articles of Confederation were a spectacular failure in terms of workable governance. They did not give a strong political or economic base for the newly formed nation. ! The failure of the Articles of Confederation generated mounting tensions and problems on all fronts (political, constitutional, economic, social). ! Fundamentally, the Articles are a transitional text, a political experiment and a first attempt at a national government. In a way, it was a “necessary” failure which paved the way, through its very limitations and weaknesses, to the devising of a more balanced, workable, full-blown constitution. ! The document below shows how the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation were addresse d, redre sse d an d corrected in the new constitution : !

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2. The Philadelphia Convention, 1787. The failure of the Articles of Confederation eventually led to a Convention in May 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Each state (except Rhode Island) sent its delegates—55 in total, known as the Founding Fathers (Founders or Framers). This convention was called the Philadelphia convention, the “Grand Convention”, or the “Constitutional Convention”. The goal of the convention was initially to simply revise and improve the Articles of Confederation and create a stronger federal government, but in the end a new constitution emerged from the process, as the 55 delegates of the States decided in fact to draw up a totally new document. !

A. The Debates The 55 delegates opposed monarchy and were all committed to republicanism, with no ! inherited positions of authority permitted, and the protection of personal liberty. ! However, they had different notions about the forms this new republic government should take. They strongly disagreed about the nature of government : should it be loose (confederation) or cohesive (federation)? ! A series of rich and intense public debates took place during the convention, which laid the foundations for the American 2-party system, based on two original groups : the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists:

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T he debate convention revolve around gove rnme nt, pro pose d its government: !

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during the came to two models of as each group own plan for

B. The Compromises The result of the debates was a series of compromises, which were necessary to ensure the ! adhesion of the Anti-Federalist minority and their acceptation of the new Constitution: ! - The Great Compromise, between small and large states over the issue of representation in Congress. It resulted in the creation of two chambers: the House of Representatives (representation proportional to the states’ population) and the Senate (equal representation, with 2 Senators for each state). ! - The Presidency Compromise, between states’ rights supporters and federal power supporters. This compromise stipulated that the president would be elected indirectly by an independent body called the Electoral College, which would cast votes on the people’s behalf. ! • $ - % The 3/5th Compromise, between slave states and free states, which defined slaves as "three-fifths" of a person for calculations of each state's official population

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for representation and federal taxation. # •

$ - % The Ratification Compromise, also known as “Madison’s compromise”. Although the new constitution had been drafted in 1787, it took 2 years for it to be ratified by the states, because some Antifederalist delegates argued that “a list of rights” was missing. According to them, there were no limits on the authority of the national government and, hence, no protections from it for individual citizens. Therefore, they set their conditions and demanded that “an enumeration of rights” be added to the Constitution in order to counterweigh the expansion of governmental power. #

=> To satisfy his opponents, James Madison drafted the list of personal freedoms: the ten amendments were added to the Constitution and they became the Bill of Rights. ! ! The founding principles! The Constitution is based on five great principles designed to achieve the balance between # order and freedom: ! •

popular sovereignty—the people are the source of government's authority

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federalism—a division of governmental powers between the national government and the states

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separation of powers—power is separated among three branches of government; each has its own powers and duties and is independent of and equal to the other branches

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checks and balances—each branch is subject to restraints by the other two branches

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limited government—belief that government is not all-powerful; government has only the powers that are given to it. !

CONCLUSION : THE US CONSTITUTION Although it sparked controversy in the early years of existence of the newly formed country, the US constitution is defined as “the supreme law of the land” (article 6), which means it is the foundation and source of authority in the US. It is one of the 3

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founding texts, together with the Declaration of Independence (1176) and the Bill of Rights (1791). ! It is known to be “a living document”, characterized by its flexibility and adaptability: it provides a clear and stable framework, which can evolve, grow or contract as the people and the times change. ! James Madison famously called the constitution the “Political scriptures” of the nation (“bible politique”). Most Americans tend to revere the Constitution and to see it as a sacred document, which ensures political consensus, a strong patriotism and the persistence of shared values and principles, even in times of crisis. ! The sacralization of founding texts and founding figures (the Founding Fathers) is known as “civil religion”, which refers to the quasi-religious faith in the Constitution and its fundamental structures and principles. ! It can be connected to the idea of “American exceptionalism”, i.e., the sense of being unique, different and exceptional, while serving as a model for the rest of the world. !

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THE YOUNG REPUBLIC 1789-1816 Chronological recap ! 1775-1783 : the American revolution# 1776 : the Declaration of Independence# 1777 : the drafting of the Articles of Confederation, ratified in 1781# 1778 : The Treaty of Alliance with France# 1783 : The Treaty of Paris and the end of the war# 1787 : the Philadelphia Convention# "The US Constitution, written in 1787, ratified in 1788, implemented in 1789 ! 1789 : G. Washington proclaimed 1st president of the US# 1790 : Congress created Washington D.C, the national capital# 1791 : the Bill of Rights ! The phrase « YOUNG REPUBLIC » refers to the first decades of existence of the US under the new constitution. ! It corresponds to the presidency of 4 founding fathers : !

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George WASHINGTON (1789-1796)65 John ADAMS (1796-1800) Thomas JEFFERSON (1800-1808) James MADISON (1808-1816) All of them were from Virginia and belonged to the so-called “Virginia Dynasty”. ! Virginia (the first colony) was the cradle of many statesmen before the revolution, but this trend continued well into the 1800s. !

I. Georges Washington in power (1789-1796) When he was elected president, George Washington was already a prominent public figure, as he had served as : ! $ - %Commander-in-chief during the American revolution ! $ - %Chairman of the Philadelphia convention. # As the first president, he faced many challenges, both from inside and outside the country, which tested the solidity of the new American government and constitution, as well as his own abilities as a leader. # 1. The birth of the 2-party system! The early 19th century was a period rife with conflict and partisan passion. When George # Washington created his first cabinet (conseil des ministres), he chose:! - Alexander Hamilton, as his Secretary of the Treasury

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- Thomas Jefferson, as his Secretary of State ! There were, however, constant debates and disputes between Hamilton and Jefferson, who had two different visions for the new country. These personal and ideological differences literally split Washington’s cabinet in two, before it also created an antagonism in Congress, and ultimately in the nation at large. ! #

! The confrontation between the two men occurred in 1791, when Alexander Hamilton, as Secretary of the Treasury, wanted to establish a national Bank of the United States (following the British model). !

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This proposal infuriated Jefferson, who argued that creating a national bank would be unconstitutional because nowhere was it written in the Constitution that Congress had the authority to do so. ! Hamilton, on the contrary believed that the Constitution allowed many unwritten actions that it did not expressly forbid. !

# This is how Hamilton formulated the doctrine of "implied powers": Congress had the power to create a bank because the Constitution granted Congress to do anything "necessary and proper" to carry out its constitutional functions (in this case its fiscal duties). ! # In 1791, the first bank of the US was created and opened in Philadelphia. To the dismay of the Jeffersonians, the bank proved a success, as foreign investment began to boost the fledgling U.S. economy. ! These ideological differences within Washington’s cabinet formed the basis of what later became TWO FULL-FLEDGED POLITICAL PARTIES—THE HAMILTONIAN FEDERALISTS AND THE JEFFERSONIAN DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICANS. Though Federalists and Anti-Federalists had been formed earlier during the debate over ratification of the Constitution, they became full-fledged political parties when Hamilton and Jefferson POLARIZED political opinions in Congress and Washington’s cabinet meetings. ! #What was George Washington’s attitude towards his two secretaries ? Did he take sides ? Washington called the two parties “FACTIONS”. In the wake of the Revolution, political parties were viewed as undemocratic and even disloyal. Many, including Washington, believed that parties would only split the Union and destroy everything that Americans had worked so hard to achieve. ! This is why Washington constantly insisted on unity and neutrality. He officially did not take sides, although his refusal to assist France in the 1790s betrayed his federalist bias. ! 2. More domestic turbulence : tax protest In the year of 1791, Alexander Hamilton also passed the “Whiskey tax”, a federal tax on liquor in order generate revenue and to reduce the national debt. BUT this federal tax on a domestic product was seen as unfair (and a reminiscence of Brit...