Background Knowledge
This unit will teach the students about a revolution that was unlike others. Previous revolutions involved economically struggling people rebelling against the wealthy class. In the American Revolution a majority of privileged colonists rebelled for principles and sought the approval of the world. The American Revolution started as an idea, but has led to the birth of a nation and a document that has been significant in the history of the United States for over 200 years.
Causes of the Revolutionary War
The colonists' original intent was not to break away from England. Students will learn the causes of the war. Going back to the French and Indian War students will learn how the colonists relied on their mother country for protection. This protection came with a price. Following the French and Indian War, King George III issued the Proclamation of 1763 on October 7, 1763, limiting western settlement to the Appalachian Mountains. The proclamation was designed to keep the colonists safer from Indian attack and avoid having to spend more money to protect them. Eventually the colonists began to think King George III was tyrannical.
Then, England felt that the colonies should pay their debt. Thus, England imposed many taxes on the colonists. The Stamp Act, The Townshend Acts, and the Sugar Act will be addressed in this unit.
The Stamp Act (1765) required all paper documents including playing cards and dice to have a revenue stamp from a royal stamp agent. The Stamp Act is particularly important because it resulted in a boycott of British trade. This is significant because the boycott united the colonies and gave them an "American" identity. Another important result of the Stamp Act was the emergence of the secret society known as the "Sons of Liberty". Interestingly, the name emerged from a speech given by Isaac Barre, a member of British Parliament. 2 The Sons of Liberty set out on a mission to harass the tax collectors, forcing them to resign.
The Townshend Acts (1766) were three acts passed by Charles Townshend. The Revenue Act, which taxed lead, glass, paint, tea, and paper was one of the three acts. The other two acts passed new customs regulations and suspended the New York Assembly. Basically the former created a corrupt customs system and the latter made it so that colonial governors and judges answered to the Crown and not to local legislatures. The colonies once again united and boycotted British goods. This time the boycott was very effective and by 1770 all of the duties were repealed except the one on tea.
Additionally, the Sugar Act (1764) essentially taxed goods imported from countries other than Britain. Items taxed included refined sugar, textiles, coffee, indigo, and wines. These taxes served to restrict the colonies' free enterprise and limited them to buying and selling their goods only to Britain. These restrictions led to a growing feeling of economic oppression.
James Otis from Massachusetts gave a speech on February 24, 1761 in which he first declared, "Taxation without representation is tyranny". 3
This would become a rallying cry. On top of all of this England kept armed troops in the colonies. The colonists had to pay these soldiers and provide living quarters for them too. These armed soldiers were also involved in the Boston Massacre that added fuel to the fire. Fed up with the situation, the colonists had two choices: see if England would grant independence to the colonies or start a revolution.
Ironically, "The American Revolution was started, really, by the very people who most wanted to prevent it". 4
The American Revolutionary War
In this daring experiment, the American colonies took on England. This was a real David versus Goliath battle. The colonies had the potential to raise an army of about 30,000 men while the British had an army of 55,000 men, a navy of 28,0000 sailors, and the Royal Navy with 270 ships. 5 To overcome this deficit individual colonies united for a common cause and patriots convinced other countries that this was a revolution of the world. Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, Thomas Paine's Common Sense, and Benjamin Franklin's negotiating skills all helped to convince other countries to buy into this revolution. Thomas Paine stated that all of Europe would benefit to have America a free port. The colonies successfully lured resources and military minds from Prussia (Friedrich Wilhelm Augustus von Steuben), Poland (Tadeusz Kosciuszko and Casimir Pulaski), France (Marquis de Lafayette), and Germany (Hessian soldiers). Without these resources the war may not have ended with a British surrender at Yorktown.
The Constitution
In 1783, the war was over. This new, independent nation followed the Articles of Confederation and the direction of Congress. In May of 1787, fifty-five delegates met for the Philadelphia Convention to recommend ways to improve the Articles of Confederation. Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine did not attend since they were in France at the time. John Adams was also across the big pond in England. Another important American and Virginian, Patrick Henry, did not participate because he strongly opposed a strong national government. Despite the absence of these key figures, the group was still very impressive.
"The Philadelphia Convention itself had attracted some of the continent's greatest statesmen to draft a new plan of government". 6
There was some debate over whether to revise the articles or to do away with them completely. Under the Articles of Confederation, the states were supreme and the federal government was purposely very weak. Congress had no way of collecting money or enforcing laws. While the delegates intended to strengthen and modify the articles, it soon became apparent that the articles were flawed. Finally, the decision was made to do away with the Articles of the Confederation and to create a new document. This was exactly the suspicion Patrick Henry and he was right.
Equal Representation or by Population
Two plans were proposed for the new government: the Virginia Plan (James Madison's plan) and the New Jersey Plan (William Paterson's plan). This conflict threatened the adoption of the Constitution. Some of the key features addressed in these plans were the election and role of the president, the selection and role of the courts, and the structure of congress. They had many differing features, but the major conflict between these two plans centered on how representation should be handled in congress. Under the Virginia Plan the large states benefited from proportional representation and under the New Jersey Plan equal representation favored small states. The Virginia Plan proposed a bicameral congress and the New Jersey Plan proposed a unicameral system. On June 19, 1787, the greatest debate took place. In the end the Virginia Plan would win, but the Constitution would reflect "The Connecticut Compromise" or "The Great Compromise" as suggested by Connecticut's famous delegate, Roger Sherman. The compromise set up a bicameral congress. The senate would have equal representation and the House of Representatives would have proportionate representation based on population.
Three-fifths Compromise
Another important issue is the conflict over slavery and how slaves would count in terms of taxation and representation. The southern states wanted slaves to count towards representation, but did not want slaves to count for taxation purposes. Madison explains why it is important to have the slaves count equally for representation and taxation in Federalist Paper #54 with the following argument.
Were their share of representation alone to be governed by this rule, they would have an interest in exaggerating their inhabitants. Were the rule to decide their share of taxation alone, a contrary temptation would prevail. By extending the rule to both objects, the States will have opposite interests which will control and balance each other and produce the requisite impartiality. 7
This quote not only illustrates the compromise, but also the wisdom of Madison as he negotiated the terms of the Constitution.
The Bill of Rights
Another important issue was how could changes be made to this document. The statesmen knew that The Articles of Confederation had required a unanimous vote for changes to take place. Since a unanimous vote could never be achieved the document was never modified. Learning from prior mistakes the Founding Fathers eventually decided that an amendment could be made when proposed by 2/3 of each house and ratified by ¾ of the states. 8 The first ten amendments, or the Bill of Rights, were written and proposed for ratification at the same time as the Constitution. The Bill of Rights was designed to protect the rights and freedoms of the people. George Mason's document, the Virginia Declaration of Rights, was the basis for the Bill of Rights. Another Virginian, Thomas Jefferson, wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which was the basis for the first amendment. The first amendment states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." There are two important ideas regarding freedom of religion in this amendment. First, government cannot adopt a religion and second, it cannot prohibit a religion.
Ratification
The daunting task of creating a government for the people was finally on paper. The next step was ratification by the states. Throughout this process a series of essays describing how and why the Constitution was written appeared in newspapers across the United States. The Federalist Papers, or The Federalist were written by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison and published under the pseudonym Publius. This series of essays are numbered from one through eighty-five. The Federalist Papers are "accepted as the best guide not only how the framers had understood the Constitution when they wrote it, but also to how the people of the United States had understood the Constitution when they ratified it." 9 Two of the most famous were Federalist #10 and #51.
Federalist #10 was written by Madison and shows his fear of tyranny of majority. Tyranny of the majority results when a minority is always excluded. The group will become disenfranchised and become non-participatory. Federalist #10 also shows Madison's concern for factions and the instability of democracies. Madison describes a faction as a number of citizens either a majority or a minority that are held together by a common passion. Madison argues that by having more factions the democracy will be more stable.
Extend the sphere and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests, you
make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to
invade the rights of other citizens; or if such a common motive exists, it will be
more difficult for all who feel it to discover their own strength and to act in unison
with each other. 10
Madison's concerns provide insight into the reasons he favored a large republic with a strong sovereign government.
In Federalist #51, Madison speaks about human nature and the need to limit government in his classic quote.
But what is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions, 11
Madison's view of human nature sheds light on why the founders set up three branches of government with a system of checks and balances.
The Federalist Papers played a crucial role in convincing the people to support the Constitution. In order to ratify the Constitution nine of the thirteen colonies needed to give their approval. This process proved quite difficult, and in the end it was barely passed. On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire ratified it becoming the ninth state. A few days later, Virginia approved it and another key state, New York would say yes in late July. The last two states, North Carolina and Rhode Island would not give a nod of approval until 1789 and 1790 respectively.
The way the Constitution can change is by passing an amendment. The Constitution has changed very little since its inception. It has only been changed 27 times in 200 years. Twelve of the 27 amendments took place in the first fifteen years of its existence. 12
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