MODULE 3 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
LECTURE 1 HISTORY OF THE USA (FROM FOUNDATION TILL XXTH CENTURY)
Plan:
1. Native Americans and first explorers of America.
2. First colonies in America.
3. War for Independence.
4. Changes in the country after Declaration of Independence.
5. America in the 19th century.
6. Struggle against slavery.
7. America in the second half of the 19th century.
Native Americans and first explorers of America
Native Americans were the first Americans. They were there long before any other people. The first Americans probably crossed over from Asia to America. There is proof that human beings lived in North America over 12,000 years ago. Small groups of Asian hunters came to America over a period of many hundreds of years.
These earliest Americans did not just stay in one place. They were looking for places where hunting was good. They divided into small groups, sometimes they moved to avoid war with another group. There were hundreds of tribes in America by 1492. That was the year Columbus arrived in America from Europe and called the people he found there Indians. These were the native Americans. But who were the first explorers to discover America?
Most people talked about the possibility of sailing around the southern tip of Africa and the northward across the Indian Ocean to India. From there ships could sail to China. Captain Columbus was much interested in finding a new route to Indies.
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain were very interested in Columbus's idea. His dream was going to come true. On October 12, 1492, the Spanish ship reached the land. Columbus went on shore and claimed the land he has found for king Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. He named the small island San Salvador.
Columbus made a mistake. He was sure that he had reached the East Indies, islands very close to Asia. He even called people he found on the island “Indians”. The islands became known as the West Indies. Columbus never knew that he had discovered the America. The new continent was not even named after Columbus. Instead it was called America after Amerigo Vespucci, a merchant from Florence, Italy, who realized that the cost he had scouted on a voyage in 1501 was “a very great continent”.
Many explorers and settlers came after Columbus. They claimed land for the countries that sent them. Spain explored and claimed almost everything in the southern part of America. Spain has almost complete control of Latin America by 1540. By 1580 thousand of Spanish people were living in America. Gold and silver from America were housing into the Spanish treasury.
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However, in 1588 the Spanish sent a group of armed ships to laid England. The English were able to crush the Spanish fleet. With this defeat Spain began to decline as a world power. Spanish growth in America slowed. The French, the Dutch and the English would soon be starting permanent settlement in America.
An Englishman Sir Francis Drake was an explorer, a sea captain and a great adventurer. In December of 1577 England sent Drake on a voyage of exploration to America. He was the first person in England to sail around the world. A few years later another Englishman, Sir Walter Raleigh started colony in North America. He called it Virginia.
First colonies in America
Many people wanted to come to the colony but they were too poor to pay the fare on the ship. So they came as servants. Someone in the colony would agree to pay the fare of the poor person who in turn would agree to work without pay for a certain time — (for about 7 years). The master would have to give the servant food, clothing and a place to live. When the time of service was up, the person was free.
In 1619 the colonists were given the right to make their own laws. They voted for representatives called burgesses. They met at the House of Burgesses.
In 1620 another group of people came to America. These were the Pilgrims. A pilgrim is a person, who travels for religious reasons. The story of the Pilgrims begins in England. There they were called Separatists because they had broken away from the English church. Because of this some of them were put in prison. Others lost their jobs or had to leave their homes. Things got so bad in England that the Separatists decided to move to the Netherlands first and then to Virginia. They called the area where they settled Plymouth Plantation.
Ten years after the Pilgrims started the Plymouth Colony, English Puritans started coming to America. Like the Pilgrims, the Puritans wanted to worship in their own way. But they did not want to leave the Church of England. Instead they wanted to "purify" it or change it. The Puritans in England were treated just as badly as the Pilgrims. They also came because they felt they could make a better living for themselves in America. The Colony the Puritans started was the Massachusetts Bay.
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Fishing and shipping soon became important ways to make a living. The early colonists found that the rocky soil and hilly land of New England were not good for large farms. But most families could grow enough food for themselves and their families. The settlers also found rapidly moving rivers. Fishing, shipping and trading soon became more important ways to make a living than farming. Towns quickly appeared along the rivers. The common land was owned by all the people in the town. Here they could put their animals to graze. At the edge of the common land stood the most important building in the town — the meeting house and the church. The meeting house was used for the town meeting. But only those men who owned property could discuss and vote on town business. But nevertheless the town meeting is one of the earliest forms of democracy in America.
Church was very important to the people of New England. No work could be done on Sunday. Worship services often lasted three hours or more. There were morning or evening services. The leader of the church was one of the most important people in the town.
By 1760 Virginia was the largest colony in America among 13 colonies. The other four Southern colonies were Maryland, North and South Carolina and Georgia.
Many Catholics settled inMaryland. It soon became a prosperous colony. The settlers grew many crops. The most important was tobacco. Many of these crops were sent back to England to be sold.
By 1760 the English were the largest group of people to settle in the American colonies. The second largest group was the Africans. The English came freely. After 1650 nearly all the Africans came as slaves.
There were slaves in every one of the 13 colonies by 1760. Because plantations were so large and needed so many workers, there were far more slaves in the southern colonies than in the middle colonies or New England.
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The worst thing about slavery was the lack of freedom. Food, clothing and shelter all came from the master. Slaves had no legal rights. They could not be taught to read and write in most colonies. They could not own property. They could not even marry legally. Other slaves worked as servants in the big house. The slaves worked six days a week. Many owners used force and punishment. Beatings, whippings, less food and threats of being sold away from family members were used to make slaves obey. Most slaves were very religious.
William Penn received land in America as payment for a debt owed by the king to Penn's father. He called the new land Pennsylvania, which means “Penn's woods”. He wanted to start a colony on this land where people of any religion would be free to worship as they pleased.
Philadelphia, the largest city in Pennsylvania, was becoming the leading city in the colonies. It was the chief port for newcomers to America. It was a center of trade for the many small farms. Philadelphia had public libraries, a fire department and the first hospital in America. The city had some well-lighted, paved streets, as well as police protection. There were three newspapers and a college.
War for Independence
In 1763 Britain and the colonies ended a seven-year war with the French and Indians. As a result of this war Britain would now rule Canada and other lands that had belonged to France. This brought peace to the American colonies. The Americans were happy to be a part of Britain in 1763. Yet a dozen years later the same people would be fighting for independence or freedom from Great Britain's rule. This war was called the War for Independence, or the American Revolution.
The British Parliament passed laws to tax the colonies. Britain thought the colonists should pay their share of the cost of the French and Indian War. British soldiers in America became special targets of the colonists' anger. They were constant reminders of British control.
The first meeting of the group of representatives from the colonists was called the Continental congress. It was held in Philadelphia on September, 5 1774. Efforts were made to keep peace with Great Britain. Parliament was asked to agree that the colonists had the same right as citizens who lived in England.
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Finally in June 1776 a committee was chosen to write a declaration of independence. Thomas Jefferson wrote the draft of the declaration based on the committee's suggestions. On July 4, 1776, after two days of discussion, Congress passed the Declaration of Independence.
There are four parts in the Declaration of Independence. They are the Preamble or introduction; a Statement of Rights, telling what rights all people should have: a list of wrongs done by King George III, and finally, a Statement of Independence.
Most of Washington's army thought they could go home after independence was declared. But the peace treaty was not signed for another two years. The turning point of the war was the battle of Saratoga in New York. The British were badly defeated.
The Americans won the war in spite of great odds against them. But some things favored the Patriots. They were fighting for their homes and families. They knew the land. Their sources of supplies and new soldiers were nearly. Perhaps the greatest strength of the USA was its people. The people's courage and belief in freedom started the country. Women played am important part in the American history. Some women ran farms and businesses while the men in their families went off to flight in the war. Others served as nurses. They made clothing and gunpowder. Women served as spies.
The peace treaty signed in 1783 said three things:
1. The USA was an independent nation bounded by the Mississippi River, the Great Lakes and Canada, and Florida.
2. The USA would have fishing rights off Canada's coast.
3. All war debts had to be paid by both sides.
The new states had met their goal. They were free and independent. But they were not united. With independence came many problems. The U. S. were joined together under one government by the Articles of Confederation. There was a national Congress made up of representatives from each state. But Congress had almost no power at all. The 13 states acted like 13 separate little nations. The U. S. was in danger of falling.
In May 1787 a meeting began in Philadelphia to change the Articles of Confederation. Representatives from all the states were present. It was soon decided that new constitution had to be written. This meeting became known as the Constitutional Convention. Washington, the leader of the army, was chosen president of the convention. The Constitution adopted by the Convention, has lasted to the present.
The delegates all agreed that the new government should continue to be a republic. This means that the people would elect representatives to manage their country. The delegates knew that they wanted a federal government. In such a government the power is divided between the national and the state governments. The national government would collect taxes and borrow money. It would control trade with foreign countries and between states. The national government would print or coin money. It alone could declare war. All other powers were left to the states. Matters within a state would be settled by that state.
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