Changes in the country after Declaration of Independence
The members of the Constitutional Convention divided the government's power into three parts, or branches. This is called separation of powers.
The legislative branch was the Congress. Its major job was to make laws. The executive branch was the President and his helpers. It was their job to carry out the laws the Congress passed. The judicial branch was the courts. They had to decide the meaning of the laws.
The Congress was divided into two parts. Regardless of size each state would send two representatives to the Senate, one part of Congress. States with more people would send more delegates to the House of Representatives, the other part of Congress. In order for a law to be passed, it had to go through both parts of Congress.
The new Constitution included a way to make changes, called amendments. If things didn’t work out, or if the USA grew or changed, the Constitution could be amended without being entirely changed. Many amendments were written that would make rights like freedom of the press, speech and worship part of the Constitution. Ten of these amendments were passed by the states. These first ten amendments to the Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights.
April 30, 1789 was Inauguration Day for the first President. The job of President was too big for one person alone. Congress formed three departments to help Washington. These departments went to work on three of the biggest problems. The State Department would work on relations with other nations. The War Department would build a national navy and army. It is now called the Department of Defense. The Treasury Department would handle the nation’s money problems. The leader of the department would be called a secretary. Each of these men advised the President. Final decisions were made by the President, however. The group of advisors became known as the Cabinet. Future Presidents would all have a Cabinet.
The nation also grew and expanded while Washington was President. The new states — Vermont, Kentucky and Tennessee — entered the Union.
In 1797 Washington retired. The second president became John Adams. He was a true patriot as well as a brave and stubborn man. Near the end of Adam's term as President, the government moved from Philadelphia to Washington, D. C. The most important of Adam's deeds was that he took responsibility of the peace with France in 1800.
The third president of the USA was a very remarkable man, Thomas Jefferson. He was a lawyer, who wrote the Declaration of Independence. He was the representative of the United States at the court of the king of France (a diplomat). He was the first secretary of state, second vice-president and third President of the USA. While he was President the size of the country doubled. (Haiti, Louisiana, Oregon were added).
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5. America in the 19th century
The British-American war began in 1812. Americans were angry about British conduct on the sea. There were many Americans who had opposed the war of 1812 from the start. Finally in December 1814, a peace treaty was signed. None of the problems that were reasons for the war were settled by the treaty. However, it was agreed as part of the treaty to work out future problems peacefully. The War of 1812 is often called “the Second War for American Independence”. After the War of 1812 Americans were much more united. New states were added. The young nation was sure of itself.
Women, black and Native Americans were not able to take part in government. In fact, in some cases, the government worked against them. In Jackson's time, some people were starting to oppose slavery. These people were called abolitionists.
Many roads, canals, steamboats and railroads were built in the early 1800s. And better transportation changed the U. S. Early roads were covered with stone and gravel. In spring they turned to mud. Most people were impressed by the railroad. It grew rapidly. England wanted to keep textile business for itself. But Slater built machines and set up the first American textile factory. Soon other factories were built. The rapid building of many factories became known as the Industrial Revolution.
An outstanding invention was made in 1844. Samuel Morse sent the first telegraph message from Baltimore, Maryland, to Washington, D. C. He used a code to send his message by wire. Now Americans were closer together not only by better transportation but also by rapid communication.
The USA was an exciting place to be. There were new jobs, new land and new opportunities because the Industrial Revolution and changes in transportation. Many people in other parts of the world wanted a new chance in life. Beginning in the 1830s, immigrants came to the U.S. by the thousands. Almost all of these immigrants came from the Northern Europe, mostly from England, Scotland, Ireland and Germany. People had many different reasons for coming to the U.S. (Texas, California, Oregon were added to U.S.).
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Struggle against slavery
The most troublesome question among the colonies was slavery. Originally all 13 American colonies had slavery. After the War for Independence, slavery slowly came to an end in the Northern states where slave labor, as part of the work force was not important. These became known as free states. Slavery was needed in the south, where slaves were a main part of the work force. They were one third of the population. Slaves were owned for life by their masters. They were forced to work without pay, receiving only food, clothing and housing.
Many slaves fought against slavery. Some fought openly, even though that meant almost certain death. This was the punishment set by law for any slave who raised a hand against a master. Slaves also ran away. There were also revolts in which people were killed. People who supported this idea called themselves abolitionists. Abolitionists held large meetings to win support for their cause. They sent papers to the South saying that slavery was evil. They asked Congress to do away with slavery, without payment to owners. Many of the leading abolitionists were whites. Free blacks and runaway slaves also joined the movement. They were active as officers, speakers and givers of money.
Blacks were free if their parents were free, or if their masters set them free. Sometimes relatives and friends bought their freedom. In 1860 about eight to ten per cent of blacks living in the USA were free.
Slavery was ended by a man who didn't like slavery but who opposed the abolitionists, Abraham Lincoln. In 1861 Lincoln became the President of the USA. The election showed that by that time the USA was divided into two big sections; the North and the South – those states that were against slavery and those that were for it. In the election Lincoln didn’t win in a single slave state. The candidate who was in favour of slavery didn’t win in a single free state. This showed how clearly the country was divided. The Southerners had said that if Lincoln won they would leave the Union. They would secede. Now that Lincoln was elected, they would act on that threat.
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South Carolina left the Union the month after Lincoln's election. By February 1861, six more states had seceded. At a meeting in Montgomery, Alabama, they formed the Confederate States of America and chose Jefferson Davis of Mississippi as their president.
War began on April 12, 1861. The Confederates attacked South Carolina. Northerners rushed to fight for the Union. After South Carolina, four more slave states joined the confederacy; the other four stayed in the Union.
The Union had far more states, people, money, factories, resources, railroads and ships. The Union had to beat Confederate armies and take over the Confederate states to force them hack into the USA. Confederates wanted only to depart from the Union in peace. Confederates had an easier time because they were fighting on their own familiar land, while Union troops had to fight on Southern soil.
Blacks tried to join the Union army. President Lincoln said that the war was “to save the Union”, not to end slavery. After a year he changed his mind. The President secretly wrote a proclamation, an order that would emancipate, set free, the slaves and led them join the Union army. He believed that black soldiers would help win the war. His Cabinet asked him to wait for a victory before announcing the new policy so that it would not look as if the government needed blacks to save the Union.
Lincoln waited three months until a Union army won an important victory. It was in September 1862. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, declared the slaves in all Confederate areas free forever. The Civil War ended four years after it began. The USA was one nation again. Slavery was about to be ended throughout the land.
Dozen years after the Civil War, from 1865 to 1877 were called Reconstruction. Four years of fighting had damaged factories and bridges torn up. Several cities, such as Atlanta, Georgia, and Columbia, South Carolina, had been burned. Many people had been driven from their homes. Some areas had very little food.
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Near the end of the war Congress set up the Freedmen's Bureau. It helped the poor and the homeless. It gave food, blankets, and housing to freedmen, persons just set free from slavery and to refugees, whites and blacks who fled from their homes because of the fighting. It also set up schools for black children.
From 1865 to 1870, three constitutional amendments changed life for blacks. The 13th Amendment, ratified late in 1865, ended all slavery everywhere in the USA. The 14th Amendment made black citizens of the USA equal in rights and status to any other citizen. The 15th Amendment gave blacks everywhere in the USA the right to vote.
In addition the South became more democratic during the Reconstruction period. More people took part in government than ever before.
Secret societies such as the Ku Klux Klan were formed. The Klan started in Tennessee in 1866. Members wore hoods. The Klan was against everyone and everything connected with Reconstruction. They beat and killed blacks. They burned schools and churches. They attacked people who had come to run to Freedmen's Bureaus and to teach in schools. They frightened people to try to keep them from voting or holding office. The Klan grew more violent as the Reconstruction governments grew stronger.
The Klan officially broke up in 1871. From 1890 to 1901 Southern states took steps to stop most blacks from voting. All voters had to pay a poll tax. Many blacks were too poor. All voters had to take a test to show they could read and understand the state constitution. Often, well-educated blacks were told they had failed, but whites with little education were told they passed. Most blacks had not been able to vote before March 1867.
Blacks also lost the right to use public places, such as trains, streetcars, hotels, theaters and restaurants freely. Southern states passed many laws to separate the races in such places.
The nation was reunited. The North and South stopped arguing in the 1890s over rights for blacks. The Civil War, 1861— 1865, had made clear that one part of the country could not pull out and form another country.
The end of the Civil war saw more and more people moving west. The west was seen as a place where a person could make a new life. The country of the Native Americans and the mountain men was being settled by miners, ranchers and farmers.
7. America in the second half of the 19th century
The transcontinental railroads finished the conquest of the West. Both coasts, Atlantic and Pacific, were tied firmly together. Railroads brought more settlers to the West. The untamed wilderness, loved and respected by the Native Americans, was taken from them to build western ranches, farms, factories, railroads and cities. The Native Americans fought for the land. They lost and were forced to live on reservations. New states were formed and added Union, completing the 48 mainland states.
The late 19th century was characterized in the USA by the evolution in farming which came with the use of machinery and science.
Such farm machinery as threshers, binders, rotary plows, and disc harrows became widely used. Later the combined harvester-thresher, or combine, replaced separate machines such as the reaper, harvester and thresher. The farm machines were at first pulled by horses. Later they were pulled by tractors or became self-powered with gasoline engines.
There have always been two major parties in politics in the U. S. Since I860 these parties have been the Republican and the Democratic parties. Sometimes a third party appears. One of the most important of these third parties was the Papulist party. Populist means "people". The party was started in 1892. The membership was made up largely of farmers and working people. They felt that the government did not think their problems were very important.
In the election of 1892 the Populist party suggested a number of changes. These changes seemed very revolutionary at those times. People who were against the populists said such changes would destroy the American way of life. Populist wanted:
1) an income tax that would rise as the amount of money a person had rose;
2) election of the U. S. senators directly by people;
3) the secret ballot — so no one could know how a person voted;
4) a shorter working day for labor.
These changes became law in time and some of the Populist ideas (1, 2) became part of the Constitution of the USA.
A revolution took place in industry as well as in farming. In the Industrial Revolution factory machines replaced handwork, simple machines and home crafts. The Civil War speeded up the growth of industry.
The most important changes in American life during the Industrial Revolution came about because of inventions. The typewriter, telephone, electric light, phonograph and automobile all brought changes in American life during the first 30 years after the Civil War.
The U.S. is a land of immigrants – people born in other countries. More people have come to the USA than to any other country. The original 13 colonies were settled mainly by people from England, Ireland and Scotland. Fewer than one million immigrants came to the U.S. in the 50 years from 1790 to 1840. In the next 80 years more than 35 million immigrants came.
Most people came because they believed that the U. S. was a land of opportunity — a land where they and their children would have a new start in life and a good chance to succeed.
About 17 million immigrants came to the U. S. from 1840 to 1900. About 18 million more entered between 1900 and 1920. These immigrants settled in cities for the most part. They tended to settle together in sections of the city where they could live among people from home. They kept their customs and their native languages alive.
QUESTIONS FOR CONTROL
1. Who were the first explorers of America?
2. When was America opened by Columbus?
3. What colony was formed in America first?
4. Why had people from England moved to America?
5. Why did people in America start the War for Independence?
6. When was Declaration of Independence adopted?
7. How many colonies were first united in one state?
8. Who wrote the text of Declaration of Independence?
9. What was stated in this Declaration?
10. What changes took place in the country after the Conventional Congress?
11. When was the first Inauguration Day for the President?
12. Who was the first President of America?
13. What departments were formed by the Congress to help President?
14. Name the second and the third President of America.
15. What do you know about the British-American war of 1812?
16. How had America changed in the 19th century?
17. What can you say about struggle against slavery? Who were abolitionists?
18. Tell about the Reconstruction period.
19. What amendments were added to Constitution about the blacks?
20. What political parties were formed in America in 19th c?
21. What can you say about America at the end of 19th century?
TASKS FOR SELF-CONTROL
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