US History: BIG IDEAS for American self-conception and historical choices[edit | edit source]
Students may address historican themes, events, and periods using the various notions of self-conception of Americans across history. Note that these concepts change over time. A short list of topics/ core ideas includes:
the American Dream
American exceptionalism
Americanism (and What is it to be an American?)
Civil liberties
Civil Rights
"City on a Hill"
Debate
Dissent
Due process
Duty
E pluribus unam
Equality
Expansionism (including westerd expansion, overseas expansion; also economic)
In 1835, the French aristocrat, Alexis de Tocqueville published the first of two volumes, "Democracy in America". Tocqueville was intrigued by the social, cultural and political implications of a democratic society -- by which he meant, generally,
absence of social classes or heirarchies among citizens
members of that dominant social class consider themselves one another's equal
Tocqueville's analysis yields enormous insight into the American character of the 1830s as well as today:
notion of equality
individualism
emphasis on local governance
civic activity and associations
spirit of religion
These characteristics of a democracy can be applied to historical analysis on the AP exam and for understanding US History generally.
The pre-Columbian period is that period prior to the Spanish contact with the Americas starting in 1492. Having been peopled by hunter-gatherers during the late states of the last Ice Age, the Americas were subsequently isolated from the rest of the world (there was some continued migration back and forth between modern Alaska and Siberia). While there was contact with Viking explorers along the coast of northeastern North America, there was no continual European or other presence until Columbus.
As a result, the societies of the Americas evolved independently of the rest of the world. That is, they started with the same beliefs and technologies of hunter-gatherers, but developed from there entirely on their own, developing agriculture and complex governance in certain areas, principally Mesoamerica and Peru. When Columbus arrived, the Americas had not yet developed metallurgy, and because the original inhabitants had hunted them to extinction rather than domesticating them, as happened in Eurasia c. 3000 BC, they had no horses.
The "Columbian Exchange" was an uniquely accelerated moment of cultural, political, economic, technological, and biological exchange that was devastating to and/or massively transforming of the people of the Americas, who had never encountered many of the Afro-Eurasian diseases, technologies and political forms.
Algonquian
Cahokia
Hopewell tradition
indigenous
Iroquois
Iroquois Confederacy
Mississippian period/ culture
Mound Builders
Navajo
Pueblo culture
Plains Indians
reciprocal relations
"Three Sisters" crops
Woodland Period
Pre-Columbian Americas Timeline
Pre-Columbian Americas Timeline
Dates
Event
Notes
29,000 BC
Evidence of human activity of Yana River area in Siberia (regions not under the ice sheets due to lack of precipitation)
Near Baltic Sea
26,000-23,000
Last Glacial Maximum (greatest extent of ice sheets
24,000
Footprints dating
13,000-3,000
Peopling of the Americas
called the "first wave" (of three); most indigenous Americans in South, Central and North America are descended from these groups
12,000
Clovis culture introduced in North America
6,000
domestication of maize (corn) in Mesoamerica
600-1140 AD
Pueblo culture thrives in American Southwest; moved from cliff dwellings to complex villages, 700-900 AD;
droughts starting 1130 led to decline and abandonment of Chaco Canyon
1000-1350
Mississippian culture; decline in urbanization starting 1250, possibly as result of disease, warfare, deforestation, and climate change (Little Ice Age droughts)
1325
Aztec capital established at Tenochtitlán (modern Mexico City)
Britain held colonial possessions in the Caribbean region, as well as the thirteen colonies and portions of Canada
following smaller wars and the worldwide French-Indian War (Seven Years War), Britain sequentially took France's Canadian possessions as well as its landholdings between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River.
Levels of British control of the colonies rose and fell according to domestic British politics and its international priorities.
The American Revolution was largely the result of the exercise of direct control of colonial affairs that followed the French-Indian War.
Origins and indirect causes of the French-Indian War[edit | edit source]
Long term causes:
French colonial expansion across the Great Lakes, the Ohio Valley and along the Mississippi River
English colonial expansion in western New York and Pennsylvania
Indirect causes:
English v. French rivalry over easter and central North American lands and trade routes
Treaty of Utrecht, 1713: France ceded Nova Scotia to the British and abandoned its claims to Newfoundland
Indian rivalries and warfare, especially between French-aligned Algonquins and British-aligned Iroquois tribes and nations
Direct causes of the French-Indian War =[edit | edit source]
the immediate cause of the war was the growing presence of English colonials across the Appalachian Mountains and into the Ohio Valley
the French and their Indian allies opposed these settlements
1753-54: Virginia militia expeditions sent to challenge French expansion in the Ohio Valley via building of a series of forts
May 1754: fighting breaks out at Ft. Duquesne and Ft. Necessity
a site of considerable contention was Fort Duquesne at present-day Pittsburg, as the location was at the confluence of two major rivers leading into the Ohio River
sparked by an unsuccessful British and colonial attacks on French forts in Pennsylvania
in 1753, George Washington 1753 delivered a message to the French at another Fort in Pennsylvania demanding French evacuation from the region
on July 3, 1754, as a colonel in the Virginia Militia, Washington led an attack upon the French Ford Necessity; he lost and had to surrender
British regular Army, along with colonial militias (and including Washington), reorganized and attacked another French fort, Fort Duquesne on Sept. 14, 1758, and also lost
there were 500 French and Indian soldiers
and 400 British regulars and 350 colonial militia
the British eventually took Ft. Duquesne in 1758 (renaming it Ft. Pitt), and the focus of the war moved toward Canada and the St. Lawrence River waterways, particularly the French city Quebec.
the American-sparked war turned global as Britain and France squared off against one another and their allies in Continental Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, India and China
after going well for France and its allies at first, the British scored significant victories starting 1758 and, especially, in 1759 ("Annus Mirabillus") and 1762.
depleted financially and in resources, both France and England met at Paris to negotiate an end to the War, resulting in the Treaty of Paris of 1763, which divided up colonial holdings, giving Britain control of North America east of the Mississippi.
the French-Indian War and the British government response to its aftermath set the conditions for the American Revolution.
French and British positions at the start of the War British North America and New France and Allies. This Map also shows both the Iroquois and Wabanaki Confederacies, who were both influential in the war on the British and French sides respectively.
the "American Revolution" refers generally to the period between the French-Indian War and, either the breakout (1775/76) or end of the Revolutionary War (1781/83)
the war itself is called "The Revolutionary War"
the logic for the terminology is that the pre-War period was "revolutionary" in the sense that the colonists went from identifying as "Englishmen" (subjects of the King of England) to an independent "American" people;
their choices, rebellions, self-identity, philosophy, etc. went through a "revolutionary" change
"revolution" is from Latin revolvere for "turn, roll back" and in its political sense means a "great change in affairs" or "overthrow of an established political order"
students will be expected to evaluate the origins, causes and consequences of the American Revolution
and, less importantly but expected nonetheless, of the events and outcomes of the Revolutionary War
Influence of Enlightenment thought and thinkers[edit | edit source]
The laws passed by Parliament following the French-Indian War were designed for two primary purposes:
raise revenue from the colonies in order to defer the costs of the Seven Years War
exercise greater control over colonial affairs and governance
Notably, new taxes and rules marked a shift away from "mercantilism," which was designed to trade relations between the Britain and the colonies would benefit Britain. Instead, these new taxes were intended to maximize revenue, which meant many of them were actually lower than before (under the theory that lower taxes would result in greater compliance and less smuggling and corruption).
Chronology of Colonial Acts
Year
Act
1763
Sugar Act
1764
Currency Act
1765
Stamp Act
1765
Quartering Act
1766
Declaratory Act
1767
Townshend Acts
1767
Revenue Act
1773
Tea Act
1774
Quebec Act
1775
Coervice Acts
("Intolerable Acts")
Below are these acts, alphabetically. Students should memorize their dates and chronology (thus the definition list does not immediately show dates) in order to build a strong sense of causality between them and the larger context of the American Revolution as it turned into the Revolutionary War.
Creation of the United States: Articles of Confederation & U.S. Constitution[edit | edit source]
"united States" was first used (or prominently used) in the Declaration of Independence
but the term "united" was a modifier, not proper noun.
The Second Continental Congress officially adopted the name "united Colonies" (lower case "united") on Sept. 9, 1776,
as it was also termed in the Declaration of Independence (" The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America").
the Articles of Confederation, first drafted in June, 1776, then when adopted in 1781, stated, "The stile of this confederacy shall be 'The United States of America'" (capitalized "United", and so now a proper noun).
on March 4, 1789, when the Constitution was formally adopted , the named the country "United States" and called the Constitution, "this Constitution for the United States of America."
proposed in June, 1776, adopted by the various states starting with Virginia in Dec., 1777, officially adopted with Maryland's ratification on Feb 2, 1781 (Delaware ratified it Feb 1, 1779; all other states ratified it across 1778).
Following border tensions, frontier disputes over the British arming of native tribes, and outrage at British impressment of American sailors, American militia and naval forces attacked British Canada. The British attached Baltimore and Washington DC, which was burned in retaliation for American burning of the Canadian capital at Ottawa. The war ended a parity with not major advantage to either side. But despite a clear victory, the Americans considered it a great success for having fended off the strongest empire in the world, and the war led to greater American unity and the "Era of Good Feelings."
Battle of Tippecanoe
Hartford Convention 1814-15
impressment
Treaty of Ghent
War Hawks western Jeffersonians (Republicans) who blamed Britain for violating treaties and inciting indian attacks on American settlers and outposts; the British did arm tribes, including the Shawnee under chief Tecumseh
The Appalachian watershed provided almost unlimited opportunity for building of mills and dams to serve them. In Massachusetts,
commercial versus sustenance farming |into the 1800s, farming became more connected to markets and thus more specialized; rather than farming to meet a family's needs, which would require both crops and animals, farms increasingly specialized in one or the other, and sold their production in exchange for (via currency) other food and goods; canals, dams, mills, rivers and roads provided access for these farmers to markets for their goods
Commonwealth system| favorable laws, loans and public policy withing states towards transportation, industrial enterprises, etc. under the idea that such preferences were "for the common welfare"
dams
eminent domain
Lancaster Turnpike
mills| from 1809 to 1817, the number of "spinner mills" (just one type of mill) grew from 8,000 to 330,000; spinner mills created yarn from wool and replaced hand-run spinners
Mill Dam Act of 1795| Massachusetts law that granted dam owners rights to build dams that flooded farmland, forcing them to accept "fair compensation" for the lost land, without possibility of stopping the dam itself
U.S. presidential election popular vote totals as a percentage of the total U.S. population. Note the surge in 1828 (extension of suffrage to non-property-owning white men), the drop from 1890 to 1910 (when Southern states disenfranchised most African Americans and many poor whites), and another surge in 1920 (extension of suffrage to women).Bank War
By the 1840s, various reform movements arose, some of which combined or overlapped, such as women's rights and abolitionism (not all abolitionists supported women's rights, or in the same way). Other movements included religious and quasi-religious social movements, as well as artistic and literary movements, that reflected the spirit of reform and social and political transformation. These included the Second Great Awakening, Mormonism and other religious cults, and transcendentalism.
Other reform movements included improving education, prisons and treatment of the insane
Note that certain Christian ideology deeply influenced these movements, as well as abolition
Transcendentalism/ Second Great Awakening[edit | edit source]
Adventist/ Adventism| religious movement started in the 1830s by a Baptist preacher (William Miller) who claimed that Christ's Second Coming would occur in 1843 or 1844; the movement is reflective of the Second Great Awakening and its democratization of religious belief
The Antebellum period goes all the way to the Civil War, however in the 1850s decade leading up to the Civil War, events accelerated and more direct causes for the War become apparent
Seven southern states seceded before Lincoln's inauguration
Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina seceded after the battle at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861
The key border states of Kentucky and Missouri had secession movements and conventions but they did not control those states, which maintained representation in the US Congress.
South Carolina
Confederate States of America | formed on Feb 9 1861, prior to Lincoln's inauguration in March; Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was elected president; organizing states were, in order of secession, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas; the
Terms
Crittendon Compromise | to protect states from any federal interference regarding slavery as well as re-institute the 36/30 line to the west coast; Lincoln opposed it
Ft. Sumter | location of the first hostilities between the north and south on April 12, 1861, and was the trigger for the remainder of southern states to secede; the fort was located on an island at the entrance to the Charleston, SC harbor; it was considerable but incompletely built; Federal forces moved there from another more vulnerable island fort for better protection; SC demanded the forces surrender, but President Buchanan refused and tried to reinforce it; later, Lincoln sent warships to reinforce it, but on April 12 the Southern forces began a bombardment and the Union forces surrendered and evacuated the next day
The Civil War led to significant dispossession and forced migration of Indian tribes west of the Mississippi. With the US military focused on the War, settlers formed militia to fight hostile native tribes, which led to abuse and at least one massacre at Sand Creek, Colorado.
Comparison of post-Civil War Reconstruction Plans[edit | edit source]
Reconstruction Plans in US Government (not southern states)
President
Lincoln
Johnson
Radical Republicans
(in Congress)
Results in Congress
Degree of punishment of South
Lenient
Lenient
Punitive
Mixed
Plans
Lincoln proposed the "10 Percent Plan" under which, once 10% of voters, based on the 1860 election results, swore an oath of allegiance and accepted emancipation, the state could rejoin the union
Johnson wanted to follow Lincoln's plan but he also wanted to pardon former Confederates and allow them to reorganize their governments. He opposed the Civil Rights Act, which was passed over his veto
Wanted complete Northern military control of the south in order to establish new governments that ensured full civil rights and political freedoms for former slaves, while restricting the voting rights of Confederate leaders and soldiers
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 did not include the right to vote for freed male slaves, and along with the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which banned voting by Confederates soldiers, these acts had no meaningful enforcement mechanisms; by 1872, support for Reconstruction was waning, and Congress passed the Amnesty Act of 1872, which allowed former Confederate soldiers to vote
Results
Lincoln assassinated so we do not know what would have happened under his leadership
Johnson was a pro-Union, pro-slavery democrat, who did not care about the rights of the freed slaves
Radical Republicans were able to push through significant legislation and three Constitutional Amendments: 13th: abolished slavery; 14th: provided citizenship and protection of rights of freed slaves; 15th the vote for black men. However, southern whites were able to quickly erode the freedoms of the former slaves and the federal laws were enforced only as far as the US Army was present.
the value of the New York Stock Exchange was measured in value by the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA, also known as "the DOW"; it is still used, but among other measures);
the market rose from about 150 in January of 1927 to a peak of 381 in August of 1929.
it started dropping through September into October, before its precipitous drop to 237 on Oct 29
it stabilizied in early 1930, then in May continued a long drop to its low of 41 on July 8, 1932; the DOW did not reach 381 until 1954
WWII was the last conflict entered by official Declaration of War by Congress
all other post-WWII "wars" have been without actual declaration of war
the U.S. has entered most of these wars through a combination of Executive Action and Congressional approval, either for a military action or funding thereof
a key component of post-WWII US History for students to grapple with is the dramatic change to worldwide involvement and/or adventurism and the various justifications for them
students should understand American "hegemony" and reaons for American worlwdide dominance and the extent to which it may be considered economic, political cultural imperialism
third parties represent political movements that the major parties do not accommodate
or a split within them
elections through to the 1830s had multiple candidates from the same party, so were not technically "third parties)
or they were divided geographically and/or over a particular issue or political position
Party
Election
% of Popular Vote
Notes
Anti-Masonic Party
1832
7.8%
opposed "Freemasonry" (elitist secret society that was opposed by mainstream religous groups);
the movement started wit hthe "Morgan affair", when a former Mason show spoke out against the society was murdered
Freemasons were accused of secretly controlling the government
Liberty Party
1844
2.3%
abolitionist, anti-slavery party
Free Soil
1848
10.1%
opposed expansion of slavery into new territories
former president Martin Van Buren was candidate in 1848
formed after the Mexican-American War over concerns about the expansion of slavery
the Free Soil party was mostly former Whigs who joined the Republican Party when they merged in 1854
1852
4.9%
Know Nothing (American Party)
1856
21.6%
anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic
largely made up of Whigs after the collapse of that party
the party also appealed to reformers, standing for rights of women, regulation of industry and labor, prefiguring the progressive movement
former president Millard Filmore was candidate
Four-way split
1860
Republican (Abraham Lincolon): 39.8%
Southern Democrat (John Breckinridge): 18.1%
Constitutional Union (John Bell): 12.6%
Democratic (Stephen Douglas): 29.5%
Liberal Republican
1872
43.8%
candidate Horace Greeley, publisher of the New York Tribune
opposed President Grant as corrupt and his Reconstruction policies as too harsh (wanted removal of US Army from the South)
opposed the high tariff and promoted civil service reform
the Democratic party had no national organization, so Greeley hoped to attrack their vote, but failed
Greenback Party
1876
0.99%
soft money platform, originally associated with the Grange (agricultural organization, cooperative)
anti-monopoly, anti-railroads
1880
3.35%
Prohibition Party
1884
1.5%
single issue: temperance
persisted longer than most third-party movements and influenced larger politics, with ultimate victory in the 18th amendment
1888
2.2%
1896
.094%
1900
1.51%
1904
1.92%
1912
1.38%
1916
1.19%
Populist Party
1892
8.5%
agrarian, anit-business/railroad movement
pro-soft money
Socialist Party
1904
2.98%
Eugene Debs was the candidate in 1904, 1908, 1912 & 1920 elections
1908
2.83%
1912
6%
1916
3.19%
1920
3.41%
1932
2.23%
Progressive Party
1912
27%
Teddy Roosevelt's party after split with Republican Party following its convention in 1912
Roosevelt took more votes than the Republican incumbant Taft (23.2%)
with the Republican vote split, Wilson won with 41.8% of the popular voate
Progressive
1924
16.6%
a diferent orgniazaiton form the Teddy Roosevelt's Progressive Party, which he abandoned after 1912 (he was nominated in 1916 but refused)
former Republican Robert La Follette, a progressive how refused to back Roosevelt, reformed the party in 1924
Dixiecrat
Progressive
1948
2.4%
2.4%
independent movements that were splinter factions from FDR's Democratic coalition that fell apart under Truman
Dixiecrats were souther segregationists
Progressives were FDR Democrats led by his former Vice President Henry Wallace
American Independent
1968
13.5%
led by southern Democrat George Wallace, populist, segregationist governore of Alabama who opposed Johnson's support of the Civil Rights movement
John Anderson (Independent candidate)
1980
6.6%
Republican John Anderson split from the Republican Party and ran as a "moderate" alternative to Reagan
Ross Pero (Independent candidate/ Reform Party)
1992
18.9%
populist businessman Ross Perot opposed Bush and Clinton and gained widespread support
in 1996, Perot ran on the Reform Party ticket, which he formed after 1992
1996
8.4%
Green Party
2000
2.74%
Envronmentalist and consumer activist Ralph Nader ran on the Green Party ticket and likely threw the close 2000 election to Bush, as he drew support from the Democratic left
Libertarian
2016
3.28%
Libertarian party candidate Gary Johnson gained national support for his opposition to Obama's regulatory state and in opposition to Donald Trump's candidacy as a Republican
Robert F. Kennedy (independent candidate)
2024
?
son of former Senator and assassinated 1968 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy
running as a third-party alternative to Biden and Trump
French company had Royal grant for trading rights to French colonies in Americas
to cover French government debt over Louis XIV's wars, the government allowed the compan to issue paper money backed by national debt
speculation in shares of the company led to more paper money issued, which was then put back into company shares, which led to the second largest bubble in economic history ($6.5 trillion peak value in current dollars, behind only the Dutch East India Company bubble)
Panic of 1792
1792
Short-lived panic caused by sudden credit expansion following the formation of the Bank of the United States, which led to land speculation
a group of bankers tried to drive up pricies of securities (stocks, contracts) but failed to meet their loans, causing a bank run
Alexander Hamilton stabilized the market with stock purchases by the government
Land bubble 1796
1996
Land speculation bubble that collapsed following specie payments suspension by the Bank of England, caused by a rush of bank withdrawals in England out of fear of a war with France
the imnpact and connection of London banks to the American economy worried
Panic of 1819
1819-1821
Financial crisis sparked by land speculation bubble, excess paper money, and issuance of bank notes unbacked by gold by the Second Bank of the United States
after annulment of the First National Bank in 1811, states granted charters to banks, many of which were speculative and underfinanced
the Second Bank of the United States, established in 1816, reacted to the crisis by first expanding than drastically retracting credit, which exacerbated the crisis
as Europe recovered from the Napoleonic Wars, its agricultural product increased and led to price drops, which hurt American producers, who, in turn, were unable to pay back loans
the Panic came amidst implementation of the "American System" of canal and road building and tariffs, which were blamed for the downturn
Panic of 1837
1837-1843
Major depression in which prices, profits, wages, and financial activity was severely curtailed
led to mass unemployment
impacted westward expansion and led t collapse in agricultural prices, especially cotton
started with bank runs in New York when investors demanded their deposits from banks who could not back then in gold or silver
was the worst financial crisis up until the Great Depression
the panic followed a speculative boom that was fueled by land sales, cotton exports, and extensive inflows of silver from the US, Mexico and China
President Jackson's dismantling of the Second Bank of the United States led to a disorderly unwinding of its assets and operations;
however, the Bank itself contributed to the speculative bubble through issuance of paper money and loose oversight
the Jackson administration's "Specie Circular of 1836," which was intended to halt speculation in land sales, dried up credit and helped spark the Panic
Panic of 1857
1857-1859
National financial crisis sparked by British change in requirements for gold and silver reserves for paper money
the influx of gold from the California Gold Rush greatly expanded the money supply but was also inflationary and led to excessive speculation
in the US, a finanical panic followed the collapse of a major investment company (Ohio Life Insurance and Trust)
speculation in railroads had exploded, and many were fraudulent, and after the Ohio Life company failed, prices collapsed
grain prices also experienced a bubble in the mid 1850s, which led to farmland speculation, both of which also collapsed in the Panic
Crédit Mobilier scandal
1864-1867
A railoard company created by the Union Pacific Railroad to build the eastern portion of the transcontinental railroad inflated its costs by $44 million dollars and paid bribes to politicians for laws and regulatory ruilings in its favor
the scandal was broken by a newspaper during the 1874 presidential campaign and led to a political crisis for certain members of Congress and the Republican Party in general
which along with other
Panic of 1873
1873-1877
bank runs in New York
financial crisis due to inflation and speculative investments especially in railroads
huge discoveries of silver in the west led to decline in the value of silver and the "demonitization of silver" in 1873 (Coinage Act of 1873), which lowered silver prices and thus impacted anyone invested in silver and silver mining
it led to a reduction in the money supply and higher interest rates, which hurt debtors, especially farmers
impacted Europe
started the "Long Depression," 1873-1879
Panic of 1893
1893-1897
Econoic depression that was sparked by the failure of an Argentine bank, Baring Brothers, which collapsed over crops price collapse,
which led to a run on American gold reserves by European investors who were facing losses there and in South Africa and Australia
a railroad company collepse just before Grover Cleveland's 2nd inauguration led him to ask Congress to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, which had forced the Government to purchase Silver in order to prop up its value, which was depleting the Government's gold reserves
bank and railroad failures followed, with subsequent securities (stocks) and commodities price drops
in 1895 the Government issued "Treasury bonds" which were purchased, by arrangement, by banks, especially the Morgan Bank of New York, but which helped stabilize Government gold reserves and general economic confidence
