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[edit] Table of contents

• Preface

Colonial America

• Introduction
• Brief overview of European history (before 1492)
• Pre-Columbian America (before 1492)
• Vikings (1000-1013)
• Exploration (1266-1522)
• Early Colonial Period (1492 - 1607)
• The English Colonies (1607 - 1754)
• Road to Revolution (1754 - 1774)

The Republic until 1877

• The American Revolution (1774 - 1783)
• A New Nation is Formed (1783 - 1787)
• The Early Years of the Constitutional Republic (1787 - 1800)
• Jeffersonian Republicanism (1800 - 1824)
• Panic of 1819
• Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny (1824 - 1849)
• Friction Between the States (1849 - 1860)
• Intro to Secession
• Farewell to the Star-Spangled Banner (1860 - 1861)
• The Civil War (1860 - 1865)
• Reconstruction (1865 - 1877)

The Republic 1877 to 2000

• The Age of Invention and the Gilded Age (1877 - 1900)
• The Progressive Era (1900 - 1914)
• World War I and the Treaty of Versailles (1914 - 1920)
• The Roaring Twenties and Prohibition (1920 - 1929)
• The Great Depression and the New Deal (1929 - 1939)
• Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
• World War II and the Rise of the Atomic Age (1939 - 1945)
• Truman and the Cold War (1945 - 1953)
• Eisenhower, Civil Rights, and the Fifties (1953 - 1961)
• Kennedy and Johnson (1961 - 1969)
• Nixon presidency and Indochina (1969 - 1974)
• Ford, Carter and Reagan presidencies (1974 - 1989)
• Bush and Clinton presidencies,1st Gulf War (1989 - 2001)

2000 to the Present

• George W. Bush, September 11, 2nd Gulf War, and Terrorism (2001-2006)
• Growing Crisis with Iran (2006-)
• South Ossetia war
• 2008 and Beyond

Appendices

• Appendix Alpha: Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States
• Appendix Beta: Chief Justices of the United States Supreme Court
• Appendes Gamma: Supreme Court Decisions
• Appendex Delta: Famous Third Parties

Keywords (People, Events, etc)

Licensing and Contributors

• Authors

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[edit] Preface

This textbook is based initially on the College Entrance Examination Board test in Advanced Placement United States History. This seems to be the best reference on which to build a textbook, since it is a standard on the subject and covers what most U.S. history students study in high school and college.

It has been reorganized and re-edited in Nov 2008 to better meet the content and organization that the college board has defined for a course in AP U.S. History. The content of the book was carefully chosen for NPOV, significance and interest. We are very interested in the success of the book and any feedback and improvments would be greatly appreciated.

Enjoy! AP Course Description http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/history_us/topics_1_9.html?ushist

Introduction →

US History · Introduction →

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[edit] Colonial America

[edit] Introduction

[edit] Content and Contributions

This is, to the best of our knowledge, the world's first open content US History Textbook. The users are invited to tweak and refine this book until there is nothing better available. The authors are confident that this will happen because of the success of the Wikipedia site.

← Preface · Pre-Columbian →

← Preface · US History · Pre-Columbian →

[edit] Brief overview of European history (before 1492)

The peoples of Europe have had a tremendous impact on the development of the United States throughout the course of U.S. history. Europeans "discovered" and colonized the North American continent and, even after they lost political control over its territory, their influence has predominated due to a common language, social ideals, and culture. Therefore, when endeavoring to understand the history of the United States, it is helpful to briefly describe their European origin.

[edit] Greece and Rome

See also: Ancient History/Greece and Ancient History/Rome

The first significant civilizations of Europe formed in the second millennium BC. By 800 BC, the Greek city-states began to gain dominance over European civilization. By about 500 BC, the state of Athens had created a democracy, but one that differs from today's democracies in certain respects. The city-states of Greece became a province of the Roman Empire in 27 BC.

Meanwhile, the city of Rome was founded (traditionally in the year 753 BC). Slowly, Rome grew and built its empire, which at various points included most of present-day Britain (a large part of Scotland never belonged to the empire), France (then known as Gaul), Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Palestine (including the territory claimed today by the modern state of Israel), Northern Arabia, Egypt, the Balkans, and the entire north coast of Africa.

By 180 AD, the Roman Empire began to disintegrate. The Emperors were overthrown and anarchy resulted. But Diocletian (243 - 316), reinstated the Empire by 284. The Empire was restored and continued to regain territory until 395, when the Empire was so large that it had to be divided into two parts, each with a separate ruler. The Eastern Empire survived until 1453, but the Western Empire fell quickly. In 476, Germanic tribes rebelled against Rome and deposed the Western Roman Emperor, resulting in a long period of decline known as the "Dark Ages."

[edit] The Roman Empire to the Holy Roman Empire

After Rome's fall c.476, the remnants of the Western Roman Empire fell into the hands of several of Germanic tribes, such as the Visigoths, Anglo-Saxons, Vandals, and Franks. Among these, the Franks quickly rose to prominence.

Charlemagne (742 - 814), the King of the Franks, took power over great portions of Europe. He eventually took control of Rome, reestablishing the Western Roman Empire, which became known as the Holy Roman Empire due to its close association with the Roman Catholic Church. But "Holy Roman Empire" was a misnomer, famously neither Holy, Roman, or an Empire, because the Empire was actually a confederation of what was formerly known as Gaul with the early German states. Also, it was not exactly an Empire. Though the Emperor held great power, he could not control the Church, even in his own domain. This allowed the popes of the Church to exert great influence both in religious and political matters.

At the end of the eleventh century, prompted by Pope Urban II and calls for aid from the crumbling Eastern Roman Empire, some European kings and great nobles launched a century and a half of Crusades of hordes of Christians, first to reconquer, and then to hold, part of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from the Saracens (Arabs). The Crusaders ultimately failed in the face of powerful, resurgent, Muslim forces, but were recurrent disturbers of the Arab Empire. The Arabs were repeatedly torn by internal dynastic struggles such as Abbasides versus Fatimids, Shi'a versus Sunni, and numerous wars with the Turks (who succeeded them), Persians, and Mongols. The wars between Christian and Muslim empires lasted intermittently from the seventh century until World War I, and, to a degree, continue to the present in the Balkans, East Africa, Caucasus, East Indies, and Middle East.

[edit] Viking Exploration of North America

In the eighth century, pushed from their homes in Scandinavia by war and population expansion, Norsemen, or Vikings, began settling parts of the Faeroe, Shetland, and Orkney Islands in the North Atlantic. Then they began exploration of the west, moving first to Iceland in approximately 874 and, later, led by Erik the Red, to Greenland. Leif Erikson, son of Erik the Red, and other members of the family began exploration of the North American coast in 986. There was at least one camp founded by Vikings in the latter region, now named Newfoundland, and in the 1960's archaeologists discovered Viking remains at L'Anse aux Meadows dating back to about 1000 AD. For whatever reason, the Viking settlement of Newfoundland failed, perhaps because of violent encounters with native peoples and, by the thirteenth century, Iceland and Greenland had also entered a period of decline, resulting from the "Little Ice Age" and bringing the Viking exploration of the west to a standstill. Expansion of Scandinavian traders and warriors into Russia, France, Italy, the British Isles, and Sicily had a profound effect on politics and the ruling classes of Europe.

[edit] The Renaissance

See also: European History

Despite the Christian losses of the Crusades, the soldiers who participated had realized one major fact: Eastern civilization was far more advanced than its Western counterpart. Its technology and culture outstripped feudal life west of the Byzantine Empire. With this in mind, Europeans began to import these concepts into their own native lands. Thus, it was not long before the continent began to enter a period of revival.

Roman and Greek art and culture were rediscovered during a period called the Renaissance. The Renaissance started in the Italian city-states and spread throughout most of Europe. The Italian city of Florence was the birthplace of this intellectual movement.

Although Western Christians failed to conquer the Holy Land, they were able to use their new-found experience and knowledge of the Mediterranean, a region whose technology was at a time superior to that of western Europe. Chinese technology such as gunpowder, silk, and printing filtered in from traders, adventurers, and scholars. In the Mediterranean, Europeans encountered writings of the ancient world that had been lost in Europe, and acquired a taste for new foods and flavors.

In the fifteenth century, the Mediterranean was a vigorous trading area. Europe used this water highway to import goods of many sorts. Grains and salts for preserving fish, Chinese silks, Indian cotton, precious stones, and above all, spices. Yes, Europe obsessed over these new spices. New spices meant new drugs, new cosmetics, dyes, perfumes, even glue and sugar. Peppers, cinnamon, cloves and other condiments used for flavoring and preserving food, proved a welcome addition to the bland diets of Europe.

[edit] The Rise of Portugal

Italy dominated trade. Genoa and Venice in particular ballooned into massive trading cities, and Italy used its monopoly to raise the price of goods, which would have been expensive in any case, because they were often brought overland from Asia to ports on the eastern Mediterranean. The mad prices, in turn, increased the desire of purchasers to find other suppliers, and of potential suppliers to find new, cheaper, routes to Asia.

Portugal was just one of many potential suppliers, and its location was well positioned to extend its influence into the Atlantic and down, south and east, to Africa. Prince Henry, son of King John I (r. 1385 – 1433), led the way of exploring new routes to the east and, in 1415, supported Portugal's capture of Ceuta in Muslim North Africa. He also sponsored voyages that pushed even farther down the West African coast, all the way south to Sierra Leone by the time of his death in 1460.

Under Portugal's King John II, who ruled from 1481 to 1495, Bartolomeu Dias finally sailed around the southernmost point of Africa to the Cape of Good Hope (1487-|88). Then, in 1497-99, Vasco da Gama of Portugal, sailed up the east coast of Africa to India.

Africa supplied Portugal with many profitable by-products. The Portuguese colonized and settled many islands in the Atlantic, such as the Madeira, Cape Verde, The Azores, and Sao Tome. These islands supplied them with sugar, and gave them territorial control of the Atlantic. West Africa was even more promising, not only unearthing a valuable trade route to India, but also providing the Portuguese with ivory, fur, oils, black pepper, gold dust, and a supply of “black gold” -- i.e., dark skinned slaves who were used as domestic servants, artisans, and market or transportation workers in Lisbon. Later, they were used as laborers on sugar plantations in the Atlantic.

[edit] The New World

In Europe, the doctrines of the powerful Roman Catholic Church were timidly questioned by scientists such as Nicolaus Copernicus 1473 - 1543) and Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642), who suggested by way of careful observation that the earth revolved around the sun. At the time, the church supported the Ptolemaic planetary system, which placed Earth at the center of the universe.

Many Europeans dreamed of exploration. One, the Italian Christopher Columbus 1451 - 1506), born Christofo Colombo, decided to sail around the globe to reach India by way of the Atlantic, rather than to travel overland through Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

Contrary to popular myth, it was largely accepted in Europe during Columbus' time that the world was round, which was also central to either the prevailing Copernican or Ptolemaic models of the solar system. In fact, sailors feared sailing west due to the unknown distance and uncharted winds of the West Atlantic, not because they feared sailing off the "edge of the world." Columbus' inspiration for exploring westward was his 30 percent underestimation of the circumference of the earth.

First, Columbus needed to fund his voyage. He approached King John II of Portugal (1455 - 1495) for aid, but the King's Council of Scientific Advisers rejected Columbus' proposals mostly on financial grounds, but also because of his lack of academic knowledge. After all, Columbus didn't know where he was going when he set out, didn't know where he was when he got there, and didn't know where he had been when he got back. Columbus then looked to Portugal's rival on the seas, Spain. King Ferdinand V of Aragon (1452 - 1516), and his wife Queen Isabella of Castile (1451 - 1504), rejected Columbus's plan in 1491. The Spanish rulers felt that Columbus demanded too many benefits and powers in the lands he was proposing to explore, including a percentage of the riches found in these lands, as well as certain titles such as Viceroy and Admiral. But after much negotiation, Columbus received the support of the Queen and funding to sail in April 1492. In that same year, the last Muslims were forced out of Granada by the Christian army. With the reunification of Spain complete, attention and funding became available for exploration to form the basis for the Age of Exploration and the Spanish Empire of the Americas.

[edit] Religious Tensions

Despite the failure of the Crusades, militant Western Christianity persisted in Spain in an effort known as the Reconquista (the "reconquest"), which purged the land of Muslims who had arrived there in 711. By the fifteenth century, the Muslims were confined to the kingdom of Granada, which bordered the Mediterranean Sea in the southern side of the Iberian Peninsula. Granada finally fell in 1492 to the Spanish Christians, ending the reconquista.

Elsewhere in Europe, the Pope's powers continued to grow, and in protest to the Roman Catholic Church, several Protestant churches were founded in Germany and France under reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin. In England, King Henry VIII founded the Anglican Church. This division of Western Christianity caused much religious strife, and religious minorities were persecuted throughout Europe. This persecution created large amounts of people looking for a better life. Many of these people set out to create new homes in the Americas. One of the most notable of these groups were the Pilgrims.

← Pre-Columbian · Exploration →

← Pre-Columbian · US History · Exploration →

[edit] Pre-Columbian America (before 1492)

Human civilization in America probably began in the last ice age, when prehistoric hunters crossed a land bridge between the Asian and American continents. We see human civilizations begin throughout both North and South America with different levels of complexity, technology and cohesiveness.

Some of the most powerful and developed civilizations occurred in South America. Many of its civilizations had developed writing which allowed a civilization a greater ability to spread, dominate and culturally develop. In South America we see some of the largest cities in the Ancient world.

In North America, cultures tended to be more fragmented and less unified. The tribe was often the major socio-political unit, with cultural exchanges between tribes creating similar culture over vast distances. We also see civilizations adapt and flourish in the rugged desert southwestern North America.

Many cultures suffered greatly from European colonization from exposure from European disease. On the other hand Native Americans did benefit from invasive animals like the horse that was introduced from European explorers.

[edit] Early Inhabitants of the Americas

American history does not begin with Columbus's 1492 arrival in America. In actuality, America was settled long before the first European set foot on the continent. The beginning of civilization in America occurred during the last ice age, some 15 to 40 thousand years ago. At that time, huge ice sheets occupied northern lands and consequently sea levels were much lower creating a land bridge between Asia and North America called the Bering land bridge. A gap in two large ice sheets would create a connection from lands near present day Alaska, though Alberta and into the continental United States.

Nomadic Asians following herds of wild game traveled into the continental United States. A characteristic arrow point was found and first described near the present day town of Clovis, NM. Specialized tools and common burial practices have also been described in many sites found throughout North America and into South America.

Clovis man could be considered one of Americans earliest civilizations. It is not clear whether the Clovis people were one unified tribe or whether there were many tribes related by common technology and belief. Their nomadic trek across 2000 rugged miles is one of the great feats of pre-historical man. The Clovis culture disappears dramatically from the archaeological record 12,900 years ago. There is widespread speculation about what caused their disappearance. Theories range from the extinction of the mammoth to sudden environmental changes caused by a comet impacting or earth or the break of a massive freshwater lake, Lake Agassiz.

There is considerable controversy about Pre-Clovis settlement of North and South America. Comparative culture and linguistics offer evidence of influences of early America by several different contemporary cultures. Some genetic and time-dating studies point to the possibility that ancient Americans came from other places and arrived earlier than Clovis sites in North America. Perhaps some ancient settlers to the hemisphere traveled by boat along the seashore, or arrived by boats from the Polynesian islands

As time went on, many of these first settlers settled down and began to farm and domesticate animals. Groups of people formed stable tribes and formed a common language until more distant relatives could no longer understand them. Comparative linguistics, or the study of languages of different tribes show fascinating diversity with tribes showing similarities between tribes hundreds of miles apart, yet startling differences with neighboring groups.

At times, tribes would gain regional importance and dominate large areas of America. Empires rose across the Americas that rivaled the greatest ones in Europe. For their time, some of these empires were highly advanced.

When referring to these empires, historians have difficulty, as the native people did not have a unified name for themselves. At first, Europeans called natives "Indians". This term came from the belief by Christopher Columbus that he had discovered a new passage to India. Despite Amerigo Vespucci ascertaining that the Americas were not actually India, Indian continued to be used as the de facto name for native inhabitants until around 1960. Starting in the 1960s, the term "Native American" was used. One concern critics have with this term is that anyone who is born in America can be considered a Native American, making it too vague to use as a descriptor for a particular group of people. In addition to Native American, there is also "American Indian". In Canada, the term "First People" is used. All these terms for the native people of America show just how diverse Pre-Columbian America was and the disagreement that continues between scholars today about this period.

[edit] Early Empires of Mesoamerica

Meso-American civilizations are included in some of the most powerful, and advanced civilizations of the ancient world. Reading and writing was widespread throughout Meso-America, and each of these civilizations achieved impressive political, artistic, scientific, and architectural accomplishments. Each of these civilizations gathered the political, and technological resources to build some of the largest, most ornate and highly populated cities in the ancient world.

The aboriginal Americans settled in the Yucatan peninsulas of preset-day Mexico around 10,000BC. By 2000BC, we see a complex culture called the Mayan society emerge. The Mayans developed a strong political, artistic and religious identity amongst the highly populated Yucatan lowlands. The classic period (250-900AD) witnesses a rapid growth of the Mayan culture and it gains dominance within the region and influence throughout present-day Mexico. Large independent cities-states are founded and become the political, religious, and cultural centers for Mayan peoples.

Rather than a political unification, Mayan society was unified by a deeply developed religion. Their religion was highly influenced and supported by careful observations of the sky. The Mayans were one of the foremost astrologers (and astronomers) of the ancient world. Extremely careful observation of the heavens led to a very sophisticated measurements of time and a great awareness of the movement of stars through the sky; especially of the bright planet Venus which alternately visits the morning and evening sky. Mayan art is also considered one of the most sophisticated and beautiful of the ancient New World.

The Mayan culture saw a decline during the 8th and 9th century. Although its causes are still the subject of intense scientific speculation, archaeologists see a definite cessation of inscriptions and architectural construction. The Mayan culture continued as a regional power until its discovery by Spanish conquistadores. In fact, an independent, non-centralized government allowed the Mayans to strongly resist the Spanish conquest of present-day Mexico. Mayan culture is preserved today throughout the Yucatan, although many of the inscriptions have been lost.

The Aztec culture begins with the migration of the Mexica people to present-day central Mexico. The leaders of this group of people created an alliance with the dominant tribes forming the Aztec triple alliance, and created an empire that influenced much of present-day Mexico.

The Aztec confederacy began a campaign of conquest and assimilation. Outlying lands were inducted into the empire and became part of the complex Aztec society. Local leaders could gain prestige by adopting and adding to the culture of the Aztec civilization. The Aztecs adopted cultural, artistic, and astronomical innovations from its conquered people.

The heart of the Aztecs' power was an economic unity. Conquered lands paid a tribute to the capital city Tenochtitlan, the present-day site of Mexico City. Rich in tribute, this capital grew in influence, size and population. When the Spanish arrived in 1521, it was the fourth largest city in the word (including the once independent city Tlatelco, which was by then a residential suburb) with an estimated population of 212,500 people. It contained the massive Temple de Mayo, a twin-towered pyramid 197 feet tall, 45 public buildings, a palace, two zoos, a botanical garden, and many houses. Surrounding the city and floating on the shallow flats of Lake Texcoco were enormous chinampas: floating garden beds that fed the many thousands of residents of Tenochtitlan.

While many Meso-American civilizations practiced human sacrifices, none performed it to the scale of the Aztecs. To the Aztecs, human sacrifice was a necessary appeasement to the gods. According to their own records, one of the largest slaughters ever performed happened when the great pyramid of Tenochtitlan was reconsecrated in 1487. The Aztecs reported that they had sacrificed 84,400 prisoners over the course of four days.

Arriving in Tenochtlan, the Spanish would be the downfall of Aztec culture. Although shocked and impressed by the scale of Tenochtlan, the display of massive human sacrifice would shock European sensitivity and the abundant displays of gold and silver would inflame their greed. The Spanish killed the reigning ruler, Montezuma in June 1520 and lay siege to the city, destroying it 1521. The Aztecs were humbled by the Spanish alliance to a competing tribe, the Tlaxcala.

The Incan civilization was the largest pre-Columbian empire in America. The empire with the accession of Manco Capac to emperor of a tribe in the Cuzco area of modern-day Peru around 1200.

Religion was significant in Inca life. The royal family were believed to be descendants of the Inca Sun God. Thus, the emperor had absolute authority, checked only by tradition. Under the emperors, a complex political structure was apparent. The Inca Emperor, regional and village leaders, and others were part of an enormous bureaucracy. For every ten people, there was on average one official. The organization of the Empire also included a complex transportation infrastructure. To communicate across the entire empire, runners ran from village to village, relaying royal messages.

In 1438, Pachacuti, ambitious and likely the greatest of the Incan emperors, came to the throne. Pachacuti rebuilt much of the capital city, Cuzco, and the Temple of the Sun. The success of Pachacuti was brilliant military command (he is sometimes referred as the "Napolean of the Andes") and a brilliant political campaign of integration. Leaders of regions that he wanted to conquer were bribed with luxury goods and enticed by promises of privilege and importance. The Incans also become had a prestigious educational system that extolled the benefits of Incan civilization. Much of the expansion throughout South America was peaceful.

At its height of power in the late 15th century, Incan civilization had conquered a vast patchwork of languages, people and culture from present-day Ecuador the whole length of South America to present-day Argentina.

Cuzco the capital city, was said by the Spanish to be "as fine as any city in Spain". Perhaps the most impressive city of the Incan was not its capital, cuzco, but the city Machu Picchu.

This mountain retreat is built high in the Andes and is sometimes called the "Lost city of the Incas." It was intended as a mountain retreat for the leaders of Incan empire and shows great artistry- the abundant dry stone walls entirely built without mortar and the blocks cut so carefully that one can't insert a knife-blade between the massive blocks.

The Spanish discovered the Incan during a civil war of succession and enjoyed great military superiority over the slow siege warfare that the Incan had employed against its enemies. Fueled by greed in having the opportunity to plunder another rich civilization, they conquered the Incan emperor and had him put to death. The Incan empire fell quickly 1533. A small resistance force fled to the mountains waging a guerrilla war of resistance for another 39 years.

The Meso-American Empires were undoubtedly the most powerful and unified civilizations in the new world. Writings were common in the Meso-America and allowed these cultures to spread in power and influence far more then their counterparts in north America. Each of these civilizations built impressive urban areas and had a complex culture. They were as 'civilized' as the Spanish who conquered them in the 15 and 16th century.

[edit] Early Empires of the Southwest

In the southwestern continental United States, distinct civilizations began that had adapted to the harsh arid conditions. One prominent group were the Anasazi who lived in the present day Northeastern Arizona and surrounding areas. The topography of this area is that of a flat arid, desert plain, surrounded by small areas of high plateau, called mesas. Softer rock layers within the mesas eroded to form steep canyons and overhangs along their slopes.

The Anasazi culture used these cave-like overhangs in the side of steep mesas as shelter from the brief, fierce southwestern storms. They also found natural seeps and diverted small streams of snow melt into small plots of maize, squash and beans. Small seasonal rivers formed beds of natural clays and dried mud. The Anasazi used hardened dry mud, called adobe, along with sandstone to form intricate buildings and were sometimes found high in the natural overhangs of the mesas. The Anasazi culture were also skilled at forming the natural clays into pottery.

Between 900 - 1130 AD a period of relatively wet conditions allowed the Anasazi people to flourish. Traditional architecture was perfected, pottery became intricate and artistic, turkeys were domesticated, and trade over long distances influenced the entire region. Following this golden period was the 300 year drought called Great Drought. The Anasazi culture was stressed and erupted into warfare. Scientists once believed the entire people vanished, possibly moving great distances to avoid the arid desert. New research suggests that the Anasazi dispersed; abandoning the intricate buildings and moving towards smaller settlements to utilize the limited water that existed.

Bordering the Anasazi culture in the north, a separate civilization emerged in southern Arizona, called the Hohokam. While many native Americans in the southwest used water irrigation on a limited scale. It was the hohokam culture that perfected the technology (all without the benefit of modern powered excavating tools). The ability to divert water into small agricultural plots meant that the Hohokam could live in large agricultural communities of relatively high population density. This was particularly true in the Gila River valley, where the Gila River was diverted in many places to irrigate large fertile plains and numerous compact towns. The bigger towns had a great house at its center, which was a large Adobe/stone structure. Some of these structures were four stories in size and probably were used by the managerial or religious elites. Smaller excavation or pits were enclosed by adobe walls and used as primary residences. Smaller pit rooms and pits were used for many different functions.

The successful use of irrigation evident in the extensive Casa Grande village. Situated between two primary canals, the Casa Grande site has been the focus of nearly 9 decades of archaeological work. The original town was built around a great house and incorporated open courtyards and circular plazas. By the 10th century neighboring settlements had been built to accommodate a large highly developed region. The scale of this community can be seen in the results of one excavation of part of it in 1997. The project had identified 247 pit houses, 27 pit rooms, 866 pits, 11 small canals, a ball court, and portions of four adobe walled compounds.

The hohokam culture disintegrated as they had difficulty maintaining the canals in the dry conditions of the drought. Small blockages or collapses of the canal would choke the intricate irrigation networks. Large towns and extensive irrigation canals were abandoned. The people gave up their cultural way of life and dispersed into neighboring tribes.

Native Americans adapted the arid desert southwest. A period of relatively wet conditions saw many cultures in the area flourish. Extensive irrigation was developed that were among the biggest of the ancient world. Elaborate adobe and sandstone buildings were constructed. Highly ornamental and artistic pottery was created. Dry conditions necessitated a more minimal way of life and the elaborate accomplishments of these cultures were abandoned.

[edit] Early Empires of the Mississippi

The mound-building people was one of the earliest civilization to emerge in North America. Beginning around 1000BC cultures developed that used burial mounds for religious and burial purposes. These mound building people are categorized by a series of cultures that describe distinctive artwork and artifacts found in large areas throughout present-day eastern United States.

The burial mound was the principle characteristic of all of these societies. These large structures were built by piling baskets of carefully selected earth on top of a mound of earth. Sometimes built on top of them were small buildings. Some of these mounds were quite large. The Grave Creek Mound in the panhandle of present day West Virginia is nearly 70 feet tall and 300 feet in diameter. Other mounds have even been shown to be oriented in a way that allows for astronomical alignments such as solstices and equinoxes.

Mound building cultures spread out in size and importance. The first culture, The Adena lived in present-day Southern Ohio and surrounding areas. The succeeding cultures united into an impressive trade system that allowed each culture to influence the other. The Hopewell exchange included groups of people throughout the continental Eastern United States. There began to be considerable social stratification within this people. This organization predates the emergence of the tribe as a socio-political group of people that would dominate later eastern and western native American civilization.

The climax of this civilization was the Mississippian culture. Groups had become progressed to social complexity comparable to Post-Roman, Pre-Consolidationa Tribal England. Mounds became numerous and some settlements had large complexes of mounds. Mounds were pyramid shaped with truncated tops. Structures were frequently built on top of the mounds. Institutional social inequalities existed such as slavery and human sacrifice. Cahokia, near the importance trade routes of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers became an influential and highly developed community. East to the Atlantic Ocean,extensive trade networks extended from the Great lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.

Cahokia was one of the great centers of Mississippian culture and its largest settlement of Missippian. The focal point of the settlement was the ceremonial mound called Monk's Mound. Monk's Mound was the largest mound ever constructed by mound-building people and was nearly 100 feet tall and 900 feet long. Excavation on the top of Monk's Mound has revealed evidence of a large building - perhaps a temple - that could be seen throughout the city. The city was spread out in a large plain south of Monks mound.

The city proper contained 120 mounds at a varying distances from the city center. The mounds were divided into several different types each of which may have had its own meaning and function. A circle of posts immediate to the monks mound marked a great variety of astronomical alignments. The city was surrounded by a series of watchtowers and occupied a diamond shape pattern that was nearly 5 miles across. At its height, the city may have contained as many as 40,000 people making it the largest in North America.

It is likely the Mississippian culture was dispersed by the onslaught of viral diseases such as smallpox that was brought by European explorers. Urban areas were particularly vulnerable to diseases and Cahokia was abandoned in the 1500's. The dispersal of tribes made it impractical to build or maintain mounds and many were found abandoned by European explorers.

Native Americans in the Eastern Continental United States developed and share mound-building cultures early in North American History. Groups of native Americans would become more stratified as time went on and develop into tribes. These tribes participated in long networks of trade and cultural exchanges. The importance of trade routes developed urban cities of great importance.

[edit] Contact with European Culture

European contact brought immediate changes in many tribes of North America. One of the most significant changes to all Indian tribes was the introduction of viral diseases and epidemics. Smallpox was probably the single biggest scourge to hit North America. Infected contagious Indians spread the plague far inland almost immediately after early encounters with European settlers. Historians estimate that over 80% of all Native Americans died from diseases soon after first contact. The effects traumatized many powerful and important cultures. Urban areas were particularly vulnerable and Native American culture adapted by becoming more isolated, less unified, and with a renewed round of inter-tribal warfare as tribes seized the opportunity to gain resources once owned by rivals.

On the other hand, Europeans brought invasive plants and animals. The horse was re-introduced to America (as original paleo-American populations of wild horse from the Bering land bridge was extinct) and quickly adapted to free range on the sprawling great plains. Tribes of nomadic Native Americans were quick to see the horse's value as an increase in their mobility; allowing them to better adapt to changing conditions and as a valuable asset in inter-tribal warfare.

← Introduction · European History →

← Introduction · US History · European History →

[edit] Vikings (1000-1013)

[edit] Who were the Vikings?

The Norsemen (Norwegians) who lived around the beginning of the second millennium are today more commonly known as Vikings. The Vikings were farmers who "traded" during the slow months. Now, "trading" doesn't mean "I'll give you five sheep for that cow." It means "I'll give you five sheep for that cow. If you don't want to trade, I'll kill you." These people loved to travel in boats from one place to another, and this led to the second discovery of North America (Native Americans first, Vikings second, and Columbus third). Although Irish monks, most famously Brendan, and other European explorers had voyaged in the western waters, the Vikings established a settlement, the remains of which can be seen today at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland.

[edit] Proported Ancestry and Descendants

The Norse are believed by some to have descended from the Huns, a people of uncertain ancestry. The Norse are believed by some to be the ancestors of the Goths and of modern Germans. There is no proof for these claims.

[edit] Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson (1178 – September 23, 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet and politician. He was two-time elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He was the author of the Prose Edda or Younger Edda, which consists of Gylfaginning ("the fooling of Gylfi"), a narrative of Norse mythology, the Skáldskaparmál, a book of poetic language, and the Háttatal, a list of verse forms. He was also the author of the Heimskringla, a history of the Norwegian kings that begins with legendary material in Ynglinga saga and moves through to early medieval Scandinavian history. For stylistic and methodological reasons, Snorri is often taken to be the author of Egils saga.

As a historian and mythographer, Snorri is remarkable for proposing the theory (in the Prose Edda) that mythological gods begin as human war leaders and kings whose funeral sites develop cults (euhemerism). As people call upon the dead war leader as they go to battle, or the dead king as they face tribal hardship, they begin to venerate the figure. Eventually, the king or warrior is remembered only as a god. He also proposed that as tribes defeat others, they explain their victory by proposing that their own gods were in battle with the gods of the others

Snorri Sturluson was born into the wealthy and powerful Sturlungar family of the Icelandic Commonwealth, a sovereign nation, about 1178. His parents were Sturla Þórðarson[2] of Hvamm and Guðný Böðvarsdóttir. He had two older brothers, Þórðr Sturluson (the oldest) and Sighvatr Sturluson.

By a quirk of circumstance he was raised from the age of three (or four) by Jón Loftsson, a relative of the Norwegian royal family, in Oddi, Iceland. As Sturla was trying to settle a lawsuit with Father Páll Sölvason, the latter's wife lunged suddenly at him with a knife, intending, she said, to make him like his hero Odin (one-eyed), but bystanders deflected the blow to the cheek. The resulting settlement would have beggared Páll. Loftsson intervened in the Althing to mitigate the judgement and to compensate Sturla, offered to raise and educate Snorri.

Snorri therefore received an education and made connections that he might not otherwise have made. He attended the school of Sæmundr fróði, grandfather of Loftsson, at Oddi. He never returned to his parents' home. His father died in 1183 and his mother as guardian soon wasted Snorri's share of the inheritance. Loftsson died in 1197. The two families then arranged a marriage in 1199 between Snorri and Herdís, the first daughter of Bersi. From her father, Snorri inherited an estate at Borg and a chieftainship. He soon acquired more property and chieftainships.

Snorri and Herdís were together for four years at Borg. They had a few children. The marriage succumbed to Snorri's philandering, and in 1206 he settled in Reykholt as manager of an estate there, but without Herdís. He made significant improvements to the estate, including a hot outdoor bath (Snorralaug). The bath and the buildings have been preserved to some extent. During the initial years at Reykholt he had several more children by different women: Gudrun, Oddny and Thuridur.

[edit] Eric "the Red" and his Children

Eric "the Red" fled Norway to Iceland to avoid facing a murder charge, and later was banished from Iceland for yet another murder. His children would have great impact on the discovery and explorations of North America.

[edit] Bjarni Ericson

Bjarni travelled around trading in his little knarr. A knarr is a small Norwegian boat that only fits about three to five people. Bjarni sighted Vinland (modern Newfoundland).

An interesting fact is that Leif Ericson bought Bjarni Herjólfsson's boat about ten years later, in about 995 C. E. This is the same boat in which Lief had discovered Vinland. Leif Ericson was about thirty years old (or thirty three, depending on whether one follows the "Eiríks saga rauða", i.e. the Saga of Eric the Red, or the "Grœnlendinga saga", or the Greenlanders Saga).

[edit] Thorvald Ericson

Explored from 1004 to 1005 AD.

[edit] Thorfinn Ericson

Traveled from 1008-1009 AD. He bravely took cattle with him on his knarr, hoping to settle in Greenland. "Greenland" is a misnomer, since it's covered in ice; his cattle died.

[edit] Freydis Erikidottir

Freydis was Eric's daughter, his fourth child. Since Freydis was a woman, there were many restrictions put upon her, but she wanted to make a name for herself. In 1013 AD, she explored with 2 Icelandic men, and killed them and their men upon arriving in Vinland (North America).

[edit] Leif Ericson

Leif Ericson did further exploration of Vinland and settled there. In 986, Norwegian-born Eirik Thorvaldsson, known as Eirik the Red, explored and colonized the southwestern part of Greenland. It was his son, Leiv Eiriksson, who became the first European to set foot on the shores of North America, and the first explorer of Norwegian extraction now accorded worldwide recognition.

The date and place of Leiv Eiriksson's birth has not been definitely established, but it is believed that he grew up on Greenland. The Saga of Eric the Red relates that he set sail for Norway in 999, served King Olav Trygvasson for a term, and was sent back to Greenland one year later to bring Christianity to its people.

[edit] Exploration (1266-1522)

European contact with the American continent began as a brief exploration by the Vikings. Knowledge of their new-found land became legend. European desire for spices and contact with Asia allowed intrepid explorers the opportunity to re-discovery the American Continent. Christopher Columbus, incorrectly calculating the size of the earth, undertook a voyage around the world. His legacy was not to find a new route to Asia, as he hoped, but to find a new continent. This continent was named America, after another early explorer, Amerigo Vespucci.

Other countries apart from the Spanish began to explore and establish settlements in the New World. Jacques Cartier undertook a northern voyage for the French. There they began the settlement of New france, developing the Fur industry and fostering a more respectful relationship with many of the inhabitants. The Spanish conquistadors invaded the new world looking for riches. While some Spanish invaders destroyed the powerful Aztec and Incan cultures, others chased legends, such as the fountain of youth and the hidden city of gold. With the Spanish empire spanning much of the South and New France situated in the North, there was still room for the English to exploit. As English nationalism rose in the 16th century, The English began to colonize the mid-Atlantic region of the Continent.

[edit] The Vikings make first Contact

The Vikings were a group of Scandinavian warriors. During the 8th Century, the Vikings began a campaign of conquest and exploration. For 200 years, they carried out brutal raids on towns and treasuries throughout Europe. In the North, they began new settlements on the largely uninhabited islands of the North Atlantic. The story of American Exploration begins with a Viking called "Erik the Red". Accused of murder and banished from his native home of Iceland in about 982, Eric explored and later founded a settlement in, what is now, Greenland. Realizing the harsh bleak landscape of Greenland would need many people to prosper, Eric returned to Iceland after his exile had passed, and coined the word "Greenland" to appeal to the overpopulated and treeless settlement of Iceland. Eric returned to Greenland in 985 and established two colonies with a thriving population of nearly 5000.

Erik's son, Leif Eiríksson, was drawn to rumors of lands to the west seen by a Viking who was blown off course during a storm. During 1003-1004, Leiff Erikson explored the North-East reaches of North America. He landed in three places, the first he named Helluland ("Land of the Flat Stones"), possibly present-day Baffin Island. The second he named Markland ("Wood-land"), possibly present-day Labrador. The third was where he established a small settlement called Vinland. The location of Vinland is uncertain but an archeological site in Newfoundland (L'anse aux Meadows) was identified as the site of a modest Viking settlement and is the oldest confirmed presence of Europeans in North America. Despite an hospitable climate and abundant resources, the settlement in Vinland was abandoned as tension rose between the Vikings and the native inhabitants, called skraelingar by the Vikings. Bickering also broke out among the Norseman themselves. Experts think the settlement lasted less than two years.

Viking civilization had reached its high water mark. Christianity and the emergence of a unified Christian kingdom in Norway would cause disunity within the the Viking civilization. Europe would soon fall into a series of devastating bouts of epidemic disease. Explorations of a New Land to the West would become a legendary tale of the feared Viking pirates. Nearly 500 years would pass before another European saw the American continent.

[edit] The Triumph of Christopher Columbus

By the 15th Century trade in Europe was expanding. The Roman Empire had broken up into several strong Kingdoms. Trade for luxuries such as spices and silk had inspired European explorers to seek new routes to Asia. The fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 was a pivotal reason for European exploration. Trade throughout the Ottoman Empire was difficult and unreliable. In particular, Portugal held a lead in exploration and was slowly exploring the shores of the African Continent in search of a better route to the spices and luxuries of the Orient.

It was upon this backdrop that an explorer, Christopher Columbus, submitted his plans for a voyage to Asia by sailing around the world. By the late 15th century most educated Europeans knew the world was round. The Greek mathematician, Eratosthenes, had accurately deduced that the world was approximately 25,000 miles in diameter. Based on this figure many of the experts studying Columbus's plans, on behalf of the European monarchies that he approached, correctly felt it was too far for any contemporary sailing ship to go. Columbus contested the measurements claiming that the world was much smaller than widely believed.

After several approaches to the Spanish Monarchy, the Spanish King, King Ferdinand decided to give Columbus a chance, despite the advice of his advisers. Perhaps he would find something that could give the Spanish an opportunity to compete with their neighboring kingdom of Portugal. As it turned out, Columbus succeeded and launched Europe towards a new age of discovery. Columbus set out on his landmark voyage on Aug 3, 1492. Five weeks later, the long voyage would come to an end when land was sighted. This was an island in the present-day Bahamas. During this voyage Columbus also explored the northeast coast of Cuba and the northern coast of Hispaniola. On his return to Spain, his news of the new lands discovered spread throughout Europe. Columbus was to make three more voyages to the New World, exploring the area of the Caribbean and the mainland of Central and South America.

Columbus had been granted the authority by the Spanish Monarchy to claim the land for the Spanish, begin a settlement, trade for valuable goods or gold and explore. He was also made governor of all the lands which he found. Columbus become an increasing savage and brutal governor, with three subsequent voyages to explore and exploit the riches and resources of the Native Americans. He enslaved and stole from the natives, at one point threatening to cut off the hands of any native who failed to give him gold. His brutal reign would foreshadow the arrival of the Spanish warriors called the Conquistadors who would plunder and destroy the large, wealthy Aztec, Incan and Mayan civilizations.

Christopher Columbus believed for the remainder of his life, that he had reached Asia. However, it was another Spanish explorer, Amerigo Vespucci who gave his name to the new continent. Amerigo tried to describe the lands around his islands and deduce its proximity to Asia. From his voyages, Amerigo deduced that Columbus had found a new Continent. This new continent would be named America.

[edit] French Empire in North America

Christopher Columbus's voyages inspired other European powers to seek out the new world as well. Jacques Cartier was a respected mariner, he proposed a trip to the north to investigate whether Asian lands could be reached from the North. His trip in 1534 retraced much of the voyages of the vikings and established contacts with natives in modern-day Canada. He explored some of northern Canada, established friendly relations with the American indians, and discovered that the St Lawrence river region neither had abundant gold nor a northwest passage to Asia.

During the 16th century, the taming of Siberian wilderness by the Russians had established a thriving fur trade which created a great demand for fur throughout Europe. France was quick to realize that the North held great potential as a provider of fur. Samuel de Champlain settled the first permanent settlement in present-day Canada and created a thriving trade with the native Americans for beaver pelts.

Meanwhile, in the South, Early french protestants, called Huguenots, had the opportunity to leave hostile European lands while advancing French claims to the new world. Settlements in present-day Florida and Georgia would create tension with Spanish conquistadors, who after conquering Caribbean lands would begin to expand their search for new lands.

[edit] Spanish Empire in North America

The Spanish conquistador, Ponce de Leon was an early visitor to the Americas, traveling to the new world on Columbus's second voyage. He became the first governor of Puerto Rico in 1509. However, upon the death of Christopher Columbus, the spanish did not allow Christopher's son (who also had committed atrocities upon the native Americans of the Caribean) to succeed. The governors were released and replaced with successors from Spain.

Ponce de Leon, freed of his governorship, decided to explore areas to the north, where there was rumored to be a fountain of youth that restored the youth of anyone drinking from it. Ponce de Leon found a peninsula on the coast of North America, called the new land 'Florida' and chartered a colonizing expedition. Ponce de Leon's presence was brief as he was attacked by native American forces and died in nearby Cuba.

By the early 16th century, Spanish conquistadors had penetrated deep into the Central and South American continents. Native American cultures had collected large troves of gold and valuables and given them to leaders of these prosperous empires. The conquistadors, believing they held considerable military and technological superiority over these cultures, attacked and destroyed the Aztecs in 1521 and the Incas in 1532.

The wealth seized by the Spanish would lead to piracy and a new wave of settlements as the other colonial powers became increasingly hostile towards Spain. Many areas and nations that were solely colonized by Spain, were inundated with French and English pirates.

By 1565, Spanish forces looked to expand their influence (and religion, Catholicism) in the New World by attacking the French settlement of Fort Caroline. The Spanish navy overwhelmed 200 French hugenot settlers, slaughtering, even as they surrended to Spain's superior military might. Spain formed the settlement of St. Augustine as an outpost to ensure that French Huguenots where no longer welcome in the area. St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city in North America.

[edit] British Empire in North America

England funded an initial exploratory trip shortly after Christopher Columbus's first voyage. John Cabot made the trip for England in 1501. He explored the North American continent (correctly deducing that the spherical shape of the earth made the north, where the longitudes are much shorter, a quicker route to the New World than a trip to the South islands where Christopher was exploring). Encouraged, he asked the English monarchy for a more substantial expedition to further explore and settle the lands which he found. The ships departed and were never seen again.

England remained preoccupied with internal affairs for much of the 16th century. But by the beginning of the 17th century, the English empire had consolidated much of the British isles and were becoming a much more formidable foe on the world's stage. The quickly expanding British navy was preparing for a massive strike upon the Spanish armada.

Sir Walter Raleigh gained considerable favor from Queen Elizabeth I by suppressing rebellions in Ireland and sought to establish an empire in the new world. His Roanoke colony would be relatively isolated from existing settlements in North America. He privately funded the colony, unlike earlier efforts that were usually funded and sponsored by monarchies. The colony was thought to be destroyed during a three year period in which English was at war with Spanish and did serious damage to the Spanish navy.

The war left the English monarchy drained of money and resources such that the English monarchy sold a charter containing lands between present-day South Carolina to the US-Canada border to two competing groups of investors; the Plymouth company and the London company. The two companies were given the North and South portions of this area, respectively.

The Northern Plymouth settlement in Maine faltered and was abandoned, however the London company established the Jamestown settlement in 1606. This settlement faltered but steadied by the determination of John Rolfe, the settlement developed tobacco as a cash crop for the colony and served as a beginning for the colonial state of Virginia.

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[edit] Early Colonial Period (1492 - 1607)

[edit] The Arrival of Columbus

Christopher Columbus and three ships - the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria - set sail on August 3, 1492. On October 12, a lookout cried out that he had sighted land. The crew set foot on an island that day, naming it San Salvador. It is unknown which exact island was discovered by Columbus. (Note that the island presently called San Salvador is so-called in honor of Columbus' discovery; it is not necessarily the one on which Columbus set foot.)

The Native Americans inhabiting the islands were described as "Indians" by Columbus, who had believed that he had discovered the East Indies (modern Indonesia). In reality, he had found an island in the Caribbean. He continued to explore the area, returning to Spain. Columbus' misconception that he found Asia was corrected years later by the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci, after whom America may be named.

[edit] The Protestant Reformation

In Europe, the power of the Pope and the influence of Catholicism was undoubted. The Catholic religion affected every aspect of politics on the continent. However, in the sixteenth century, the conditions were ripe for reform. Gutenberg's printing press made the spread of ideas much easier. The influence of nationalism grew, and rulers began to resent the power possessed by the Pope.

The Protestant movement may have commenced earlier, but the publication of Ninety-Five Theses by Martin Luther in 1517 spurred on the revolution within the Church. Luther attacked the Church's theology, which, he believed, misrepresented The Bible and placed too much authority in the hands of the clergy, and wished to reform the Church. After being excommunicated, Luther published many books on Reform. Luther's works were most influential in Germany and Scandinavia.

Persons other than Luther championed the cause of Reform. In Switzerland, Huldreich Zwingli advanced Protestant ideas, which mostly affected his home country. Similarly, Frenchman John Calvin helped the spread of Protestantism in France and the Netherlands.

English Protestantism resulted from the direct influence of the British monarch. Henry VIII (1509-1547) sought to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon, because she had failed to produce a viable male heir to the throne. When his divorce led to excommunication by the Pope, Henry simply declared the entire country free of Catholic domination and a bastion of Protestantism. Henry reasoned that England could survive under its own religious regulation (Anglican) and he named himself head of the church.

[edit] Elizabethan England

Elizabethan Succession

After Henry VIII died, he was succeeded by his son Edward VI (1547-1553) who reigned briefly before dying. Edward's death led to the ascension of Henry's daughter by Catherine, Mary I (1553-1558). A staunch Catholic, Mary sought to return England back to the Catholic church. Her religious zeal and persecution of Protestants earned her the nickname, "Bloody Mary." After a short reign, she was succeeded by her half-sister, Elizabeth. Elizabeth I (1558-1603) was the daughter of Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn. Her ascendency to the throne resulted when neither of her half siblings, Edward and Mary, produced an heir to the throne.

Religious Reform

Under her siblings' reign, the nation constantly battled religious fervor as it sought to identify itself as either Protestant or Catholic. Henry VIII had severed ties with the Roman Catholic Church upon his excommunication after divorcing Catherine of Aragon. He established the Church of England (the precursor to the Anglican Church) as the official state religion and named himself, not the Pope, as its head. Under Mary, the country returned to Catholic rule. The Elizabethan Age brought stability to English government. Elizabeth sought a compromise (the Elizabethan Settlement) which returned England to a nation governed by Protestant theology with a Catholic ritual. Elizabeth called Parliament in 1559 to consider the Reformation Bill that re-established an independent Church of England and redefined the sacrament of communion. Parliament also approved the Act of Supremacy, establishing ecclesiastical authority with the monarch.

Economic Reform

Elizabeth's far more important response was to stabilize the English economy following the 1551 collapse of the wool market. To respond to this economic crisis, Elizabeth used her power as monarch to shift the supply-demand curve. She expelled all non-English wool merchants from the empire. Her government placed quotas on the amount of wool that could be produced while also encouraging manors to return to agricultural production. She also started trading directly with the Spanish colonies in direct violation of their tariff regulations. This maritime violation would later result in an attack on England by the Spanish Armada in 1588.

Queen Elizabeth was a very popular monarch. Her people followed her in war and peace. She remained unmarried until her death, probably through a reluctance to share any power and preferring a series of suitors. This gave her the name, the Virgin Queen, and in honor of her, a colony was named Virginia a few years after her death.

In the aftermath of the Armada's overwhelming defeat and building on the development of a strong fleet started by Henry VIII, England began to gain recognition as a great naval power. Nationalism in England increased tremendously. Thoughts of becoming a colonial power were inspired. These thoughts were aided by the fact that the defeated Spanish lost both money and morale, and would be easy to oppose in the New World.

[edit] Early Colonial Ventures

Richard Hakluyt

In 1584, Richard Hakluyt proposed a strong argument for expansion of English settlement into the new world. With his Discourse Concerning Western Planting, Hakluyt argued that creating new world colonies would greatly benefit England. The colonies could easily produce raw materials that were unavailable in England. By establishing colonies, England would assure itself of a steady supply of materials that it currently purchased from other world powers. Second, inhabited colonies would provide a stable market for English manufactured goods. Finally, as the economic incentives were not enough, the colonies could provide a home for disavowed Englishmen.

Roanoke

The English had already begun the exploration of the New World prior to the Armada's defeat. In 1584, Queen Elizabeth granted Sir Walter Raleigh a charter authorizing him to explore the island of Roanoke, which is part of what is now North Carolina.

Between 1584 and 1586, Raleigh financed expeditions to explore the island of Roanoke and determine if the conditions were proper for settlement. In 1586, about a hundred men were left on the island. They struggled to survive, being reduced to eating dogs. They were, however, rescued- except for fifteen men whose fate remained a mystery.

After another expedition in 1587, another group of men, women, and children- a total of more than one-hundred people- remained on the island. Governor John White of the Roanoke colony discovered from a local Native American tribe that the fifteen men who were not rescued were killed by a rival tribe. While attempting to gain revenge, White's men killed members of a friendly tribe and not the members of the tribe that allegedly killed the fifteen men.

Having thus strained relations with the Natives, the settlers could not survive easily. John White decided to return to England in 1587 and return with more supplies. When he returned, England faced war against Spain. Thus delayed, White could not return to Roanoke until 1590. When he did return, White discovered that Roanoke was abandoned. All that gave clue to the fate of the colony was the word Croatan, the name of a nearby Native American tribe, carved out on to a tree. No attempt was made to discover the actual cause of the disappearance until several years later.

There are only theories as to the cause of the loss of Roanoke. There are two major possibilities. Firstly, the settlers may have been killed by the Natives. Second, the settlers may have assimilated themselves into the Native tribes. But there is no evidence that settles the matter beyond doubt.

[edit] Review Questions

Use the content in this chapter and/or from external sources to answer the following questions. Remember to properly cite any sources used.

1. Identify or explain the significance of the following people:
   (a) Christopher Columbus
   (b) Martin Luther
   (c) King Henry VIII
   (d) Richard Hakluyt
   (e) Elizabeth I
   (f) Sir Walter Raleigh
   
2. What primary factor(s) led to the shift from Catholicism to Protestant belief in England?
3. Why did King Henry VIII establish the Church of England? How did this influence the English Reformation?
4. Differentiate between Elizabeth I's policies and Henry VIII's. What attitudes did the English have toward Elizabeth and her rule?
5. What did the defeat of the Spanish Armada symbolize to all of Europe?
6. What difficulties did the colonists of Raleigh face between 1584 and 1587? What was the fate of the colony?

[edit] The English Colonies (1607 - 1754)

[edit] Types of Colonies

In America, there were three different types of colonies. First, corporate colonies were established by corporations known as "joint stock companies". A joint stock company was a project in which people would invest shares of stock into building a new colony. Depending on the success of the colony, each investor would receive profit based on the shares he bought. This method of investing proved to be less risky than starting a colony from scratch, and in the process each investor could have some influence on how the colony was run. For example, these investors often elected their own public officials.

Meanwhile, proprietary colonies were owned by a person or family, who could make laws and appoint officials as he or they pleased. Finally, royal colonies were under the direct control of the King, who usually appointed a Royal Governor.

[edit] Virginia and Jamestown

Founded in 1607 with a charter from the Virginia Company of London, Jamestown was the first permanent English colony in the Americas. However, the swampy terrain was a breeding ground for mosquitoes, which carried a variety of diseases - dysentery, malaria, smallpox - that the English were unaccustomed to. Many of the settlers fell prey to these infections and died shortly after.

In addition, Virginia's initial government had no backbone, and its individual members frequently quarreled over policies. The colonists themselves frantically searched for any precious metals (i.e. gold) they could find, ignoring their deteriorating health in the process. Furthermore, "Indian raids" also weakened any hopes of defense and unification, and gradually the population of the colony declined. By the winter of 1609-1610, also known as the Starving Time, only 60 settlers remained from the original 500 passengers.

Despite these shortcomings, it was the work of two men that helped the colony to survive: John Smith and John Rolfe. John Smith, who arrived in Virginia in 1608, introduced an ultimatum - those who did not work would not receive food or pay. His struggle to improve the colony's conditions succeeded - the colonists learned how to raise crops and trade with the nearby Indians, with whom Smith had made peace.

In 1612, John Rolfe, an English businessman, discovered that Virginia had ideal conditions for growing tobacco. This singular discovery led to an explosion of success as the plant became the colony's major cash crop. With English demand for tobacco rising, Virginia had now found a way to economically support itself.

In 1619, Virginia set up the House of Burgesses, the first elected legislative assembly in America. It marked the beginnings of self-government, as to the martial law that was previously imposed on the colonists.

opposed

Simultaneously, however, the king declared Virginia a royal colony, or a colony run by the English monarchy. While the House of Burgesses was still allowed to run the government, the king nevertheless appointed a royal governor to settle disputes and enforce certain British policies

[edit] Massachusetts Bay Colony

Meanwhile, the English had their own problems with religious tension. The Pilgrims, a radical group of Protestants, faced persecution because they disagreed with the official Church of England. In 1620, forty-one Pilgrims sailed for the new world. Based on numerous contemporary accounts, it is quite clear that the Pilgrims originally intended to settle the Hudson River region near present day Long Island, New York. Once Cape Cod was sighted, they turned south to head for the Hudson River, but encountered treacherous seas and nearly shipwrecked. They then decided to return to Cape Cod rather than risk another attempt to head south. After weeks of scouting for a suitable settlement area, the Mayflower's passengers finally landed at Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts on Dec. 26, 1620.

They agreed to govern themselves in the manner set forth in the Mayflower Compact, which was named for the Pilgrims' ship, The Mayflower. After two years they abandoned the communal form of partnership begun under the Mayflower Compact and in 1623 assigned individual plots of land to each family to work. William Bradford, who was selected as governor after John Carver died has left us with a journal that helps to understand the challenges, encounters with native americans and successes of the colony. (1) (2)

Ten years later, the Massachusetts Bay Company, a joint stock company, acquired a charter from King Charles of England. The colony of Plymouth was eventually absorbed by Massachusetts Bay, but it did remain separate until 1691.

A large group of Puritans migrated to the new colony of Massachusetts Bay. The colony, ironically, did not provide religious freedom. It only permitted male Puritans to vote and established Puritan ideas as part of the official religion of the colony (The Act of Toleration).

[edit] New Netherland

New Netherland (Dutch: Nieuw-Nederland), was the territory on the eastern coast of North America in the 17th century which stretched from latitude 38 to 45 degrees north as originally discovered by the Dutch East India Company with the yacht Half Moon under the command of Henry Hudson in 1609 and explored by Adriaen Block and Hendrick Christiaensz from 1611 until 1614. Their map of 1614, presented to the States General, claimed the territory as New Netherland for the Republic of the Seven United Provinces.

A private commercial venture since patents were issued by the States General in 1614, New Netherland became a province of the Dutch Republic in 1624. At that time the northern border was reduced to 42 degrees north in acknowledgment of the inevitable intrusion of the English north of Cape Cod.

According to the Law of Nations, a claim on a territory required not only discovery and charting, but also settlement. In May 1624 the Dutch completed their claim by landing 30 Dutch families on Noten Eylant, modern Governors Island.

Over the next few decades New Netherland was run by less than adequate director-generals. Wars with the Native Americans erupted, and conficts with the English seemed destined to destroy the colony. All of that changed when Peter Stuyvesant was appointed Director-General in 1647. As he arrived he said "I shall govern you as a father his children". He expanded the colonies borders, conquering New Sweden in 1655 and resolved the border dispute with New England in 1650. He improved defences to protect the colonists against Native American raids, and the population of the colony went from 500 in 1640, to 9,000 by 1664. In August of 1664, four English warships arrived in New York Harbor demanding the surrender of the colony. At first, Stuyvesant vowed to fight for the colony, but he received little support from the colonists due to lack of ammunition and gunpowder, thus, he was forced to surrender. This event would spark the Second Anglo-Dutch War in which, the Dutch captured Suriname. Both sides kept the territory they had captured following the treaty.

[edit] Revolution in England

Ever since the "Magna Carta" England had an unusual form of government where the power of Parliament was balanced against that of the king. In the mid seventeenth century this division of powers resulted in the English Civil War.

In 1637, King Charles attempted to expand the influence of the Church of England to Scotland. The Scots did not take this action kindly, and attacked the north of England. The King, in order to raise funds, summoned Parliament. Parliament, on the basis of many unresolved grievances regarding personal rights while also favoring a non-military solution, opposed the King and tried to increase its own power. Charles's unsuccessful attempt to bypass parliament, by using an Irish Catholic army on Scottish Protestants, further incensed the Parliamentarians.

Eventually, by 1642, hostilities between some members of Parliament and the King were so great that armed conflict became unavoidable. The Parliament, supported by the Scots, won the Civil War in 1646, when King Charles surrendered. Parliament gained assurances of royal restraint, but the Army remained unsatisfied. War broke out again in 1648, the Army being led by the Puritan Oliver Cromwell.

Charles settled his disputes with Scotland and allied himself with them. But Cromwell defeated the Scottish Army, and had Charles beheaded in 1649. Under a new written constitution called the "Instrument of Government" Cromwell was appointed as head of state for life or "Lord Protector" in 1653. England was governed by a mixture of parliaments and military councils until Cromwell's death in 1658. He was succeeded as head of state by his son, Richard who was removed by the army after seven months. Immediately afterwards there was an attempted military coup but General Monck's English army in Scotland marched to London to save Parliament. Parliament re-established the monarchy under Charles II in 1660 but after the civil war Parliament had become the true power in England.

Friction continued between the monarchy and Parliament throughout the seventeenth century and the overthrow of James II in England in the "Glorious Revolution" cemented Parliament's power and was accompanied by the "English Bill of Rights" in 1689 which is in some respects a forerunner of the US Constitution.

Large numbers of the more extreme elements found their way to the Colonies both before and after the Civil War. Most importantly freeborn Englishmen had ceased to be subject to the absolute power of a monarch but the colonies did not always share this privilege. Though the American Revolution was still more than a century away, these and other consequences of the Civil War caused the build-up in revolutionary sentiments.

[edit] Mercantilism

Mercantilism was an economic idea that a nation's power depended on the value of its exports. Under the idea of mercantilism, a nation could establish colonies to help produce more goods which were then exported, increasing the strength of the nation. Essentially, mercantilists believed that colonies should have been established not for the benefit of settlers, but for the benefit of the home country.

The Parliament of England passed the Navigation Acts to increase the benefit the English derived from its colonies. Firstly, the Acts required that any colonial imports or exports travel only on ships registered in England. Also, the colonies were forbidden to export tobacco and sugar to any nation other than England. Furthermore, the colonies could not import anything manufactured outside England unless the goods were first taken to England, where taxes were paid, and then to the colonies.

Of course, many colonists resented the Navigation Acts because it regulated them more and reduced opportunities for profit. The English, they felt, profited, while the hard-working colonists lost potential wealth!

[edit] The Remaining Colonies

In an attempt to gain supremacy over trade, and in following mercantilist ideas, the English waged war against the Dutch in 1664. The English took control over the Dutch harbor of New Amsterdam on the Atlantic coast of America. James, the brother of King Charles II, received the charter for New Amsterdam and the surrounding Dutch territory. James granted a portion of the territory, present-day New Jersey, to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Cartaret. James retained present-day New York for himself as a proprietary colony.

In 1634, Lord Baltimore appointed George Calvert of England to settle Maryland, a narrow strip of land north of Virginia and south of Pennsylvania, as a Catholic colony via a royal charter. Fifteen years later, in 1649, he signed the Act of Toleration, which proclaimed religious freedom for its colonists, among whom Protestants would become the majority despite the original charter. After Lord Baltimore's death several years later, Margaret Brent, the wife of an esteemed landowner in Maryland, executed his will as governor of the colony. She defied gender roles in the colonies by being the first woman of non-royal heritage to govern an English colony.

In 1673 the Dutch, lead by Michiel de Ruyter, briefly reoccupied New Netherland again, this time naming it New Orange. After peace was made, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War, they agreed to return it back to the English.

At the other end of the Eastern Seaboard, the territory of Carolina was granted as a proprietory colony to eight different nobles. The proprietors divided Carolina into two separate colonies- North and South Carolina.

Charles II also granted William Penn the territory now known as Pennsylvania. Penn granted refuge to Quakers, a group of Protestants who opposed the Church of England, in his new colony. But the people of Delaware, who were mostly non-Quakers, separated from Pennsylvania in 1704.

The charter for Georgia, the last of the thirteen original colonies, was granted to James Oglethorpe and others in 1732. Georgia was first established as a "buffer" colony to protect the other colonies from attacks from the Spanish in Florida, as well as the French in Louisiana. Because of this, Georgia was the only colony to receive funds from England at the outset. Oglethorpe's goal was to provide Georgia as a place where debtors from England could regain financial standing.

[edit] The Lords of Trade

In an attempt to enforce mercantilist policies, King Charles II created the Lords of Trade as a new committee on the Privy Council. The Lords of Trade attempted to affect the government of the colonies in a manner beneficial to the English, rather than to the colonists.

The Lords of Trade, in an attempt to gain more power, attempted to convert all American colonies to royal ones. Under King James II, the successor to Charles II, New York, New Jersey, and the Puritan colonies were combined into the Dominion of New England in 1687.

However, the Dominion would not last for much time. In England, the Catholic James II was seen as a danger by Protestants. James was overthrown (he was technically held abdicated by Parliament) in the bloodless Glorious Revolution of 1688. In 1689, James' daughter Mary II and her husband William III took the throne as joint rulers. William and Mary dismantled the Dominion of New England, dissolved the Lords of Trade (Which William replaced with a Board of Trade, which was an advisory body), and reestablished the various separate colonies.

[edit] The Economy, Slavery, and Colonial Expansion

From the middle of the seventeenth century to the start of the Civil War, commercial agriculture was intimately associated with different types of servitude. During the colonial period, slaves grew much of the tobacco in Virginia and the Carolinas, rice in the low country of South Carolina and Georgia, and sugar on the Caribbean islands. During the same period, tens of thousands of British men and women were imported to the American colonies, especially to Virigina and the Carolinas, as indentured servants, or as punishment for lawbreaking. Even after release from indenture, many of these white people remained in the economic lower classes, though not subject to the slave codes, which became more harsh as time passed, denying almost all liberty to slaves in the southern colonies. Neither southerners, who used slaves as field laborers and servants, nor northerners, who supplied slaves and food to the southern and Caribbean plantations and consumed the products of slave labor, questioned the economic value of slavery.

Among the whites sent to the colonies by English authorities were many Scots-Irish people from Ulster. Known for hardiness, combativeness and harsh Calvinist religious beliefs, Scots-Irish settled in the frontier region of the Appalachian Mountains and eventually beyond in the Ohio and Mississippi country. Though the Scots-Irish had been at odds with England back home, in America their desire for land and freedom pushed the colonial boundary westward at little cost to the government, and provided an armed buffer between the eastern settlements and Native American tribes which had been driven away from the seaboard. Colonial frontiersmen endured a very harsh life, building their towns and farms by hand in a dense wilderness amid economic deprivation and native attack.

[edit] British Interference

The colonists sincerely believed that they had the right to govern themselves, being separated from Britain by an ocean and having founded an entirely new society. Such ideas were encouraged by the Glorious Revolution and 1689 Bill of Rights, which established that Parliament and not the King had the ultimate authority in government. Slowly, as interference from the Crown increased, the colonists felt more and more resentful about British control over the colonies.

In the 1730's, the Parliament began to pass laws regulating the Americas. The Sugar Act established a tax of six pence per gallon of sugar or molasses imported into the colonies. By 1750, Parliament had begun to ban, restrict, or tax several more products. This provoked much anger among the colonists, despite the fact that their tax burdens were quite low, when compared to most subjects of European monarchies of the same period.

[edit] Review Questions

1.Why did the British interfere with the colonies? Chart: ???--->, ???--->, e.g.

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[edit] Road to Revolution (1754 - 1774)

[edit] The French and Indian War

(The following text is from Wikipedia)

The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was the North American chapter of the Seven Years' War. The name refers to the two main enemies of the British: the royal French forces and the various American Indian forces allied with them. The conflict, the fourth such colonial war between the kingdoms of France and Great Britain, resulted in the British conquest of all of New France east of the Mississippi River, as well as Spanish Florida. The outcome was one of the most significant developments in a century of Anglo-French conflict. To compensate its ally, Spain, for its loss of Florida, France ceded its control of French Louisiana west of the Mississippi. France's colonial presence north of the Caribbean was reduced to the tiny islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon.

[edit] Naming the war

The conflict is known by several names. In British North America, wars were often named after the sitting British monarch, such as King William's War or Queen Anne's War. Because there had already been a King George's War in the 1740s, British colonists named the second war in King George's reign after their opponents, and thus it became known as the French and Indian War.^[1] This traditional name remains standard in the United States, although it obscures the fact that American Indians fought on both sides of the conflict.^[2] American historians generally use the traditional name or the European title (the Seven Years' War), and have also invented other, less frequently used names for the war, including the Fourth Intercolonial War and the Great War for the Empire.^[1]

In Great Britain and France, the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War war usually has no special name, and so the entire worldwide conflict is known as the Seven Years' War (or the Guerre de sept ans). The "Seven Years" refers to events in Europe, from the official declaration of war in 1756 to the signing of the peace treaty in 1763. These dates do not correspond with the actual fighting in North America, where the fighting between the two colonial powers was largely concluded in six years, from the Jumonville Glen skirmish in 1754 to the capture of Montreal in 1760.^[1]

In Canada, both French- and English-speaking Canadians refer to it as the Seven Years' War (Guerre de Sept Ans) or the War of the Conquest (Guerre de la Conquête), since it is the war in which New France was conquered by the British and became part of the British Empire. This war was also known as the Forgotten War.

[edit] Impetus for war

[edit] Territorial expansion

There were numerous causes for the French and Indian War, which began less than a decade after France and Britain had fought on opposing sides in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). Both New France and New England wanted to expand their territories with respect to fur trading and other pursuits that matched their economic interests. Using trading posts and forts, both the British and the French claimed the vast territory between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, known as the Ohio Country. English claims resulted from royal grants which had no definite western boundaries. The French claims resulted from La Salle's claiming the Mississippi River for France—its drainage area includes the Ohio River Valley. In order to secure these claims, both European powers took advantage of Native American factions to protect their territories and to keep each other from growing too strong.

Newfoundland's Grand Banks were fertile fishing grounds and coveted by both sides. The conclusion of this war would see France keeping only the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, allowing them access to the Grand Banks to this day.

[edit] Religious ideology

The English colonists also feared papal influence in North America, as New France was administered by French governors and Roman Catholic hierarchy, and missionaries such as Armand de La Richardie were active during this period. For the predominantly Protestant British settlers, French control over North America could have represented a threat to their religious and other freedoms provided by English law. Likewise, the French feared the anti-Catholicism prevalent among English holdings. In this period, Catholicism was still enduring persecution under English law.

[edit] Céloron's expedition

In June 1747, Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière, the Governor-General of New France, ordered Pierre-Joseph Céloron to lead an expedition to the Ohio Country with the objective of removing British influence from the area. Céloron was also to confirm the allegiance of the Native Americans inhabiting the territory to the French crown.

Céloron's expedition consisted of 213 soldiers of the Troupes de la marine (French Marines), who were transported by 23 canoes. The expedition left Lachine, on June 15, 1749, and two days later reached Fort Frontenac. The expedition then continued along the shoreline of present-day Lake Erie. At Chautauqua Portage (Barcelona, New York), the expedition moved inland to the Allegheny River.

The expedition headed south to the Ohio River at present-day Pittsburgh, and Céloron buried lead plates engraved with the French claim to the Ohio Country. Whenever British merchants or fur-traders were encountered by the French, they were informed of the illegality of being on French territory and told to leave the Ohio Country.

When Céloron's expedition arrived at Logstown, the Native Americans in the area informed Céloron that they owned the Ohio Country and that they would trade with the British regardless of what the French told them to do.^[3]

The French continued their expedition. At its farthest point south, Céloron's expedition reached the junction between the Ohio River and the Miami River. The junction lay just south of the village of Pickawillany, where the Miami Chief, "Old Britain" (as styled by Céloron), lived.

When Céloron arrived at Pickawillany, he informed "Old Britain" of the "dire consequences" of the elderly chief continuing to trade with the British. "Old Britain" ignored the warning. After his meeting with Old Britain, Céloron and his expedition began the trip home. They did not reach Montreal until November 10, 1749.

The best summary of the expedition's findings came from none other than Céloron himself. In his report, Céloron wrote: "All I can say is that the Natives of these localities are very badly disposed towards the French, and are entirely devoted to the English. I don't know in what way they could be brought back."^[3]

[edit] Langlade's expedition

On March 17, 1752, the Governor-General of New France, Marquis de la Jonquière died. His temporary replacement was Charles le Moyne de Longueuil. It was not until July 1, 1752 that Ange Duquense de Menneville arrived in New France to take over the post.

In the spring of 1752, Longueuil dispatched an expedition to the Ohio River area. The expedition was led by Charles Michel de Langlade, an officer in the Troupes de la marine. Langlade was given 300 men comprised of members of the Ottawa and French-Canadians. His objective was to punish the Miami people of Pickawillany for not following Céloron's orders to cease trading with the British.

At dawn on June 21, 1752, the French war party attacked the British trading centre at Pickawillany, killing fourteen people of the Miami nation, including "Old Britain". The expedition then returned home.

[edit] Marin's expedition

In the spring of 1754, Paul Marin de la Malgue was given command of a 2,000 man force of Troupes de la Marine and Aboriginals. His orders were to protect the King's land in the Ohio Valley from the British.

Marin followed the route that Céloron had mapped out four years previously. The main difference in the two expeditions was that, whereas Céloron had buried lead plates, Marin was constructing and garrisoning forts.

The first fort that was constructed by Paul Marin was at Presque Isle (Erie, Pennsylvania) on Lake Erie's south shore. He then had a road built to the headwaters of Rivière aux Boeuf. Marin then constructed a second fort at Le Boeuf (Waterford, Pennsylvania). This fort was designed to guard the headwaters of the Rivière aux Boeuf.

[edit] Tanaghrisson's proclamation

On September 3, 1753, Tanaghrisson (d. 1754), Chief of the Mingo, arrived at Fort Le Boeuf. Tanaghrisson hated the French because, as legend had it, the French had killed and eaten his father. Tanaghrisson told Marin, "I shall strike at whoever...",^[4] threatening the French.

The show of force by the French had alarmed the Iroquois in the area. They sent Mohawk runners to William Johnson's manor in Upper New York. Johnson, known to the Iroquois as "Warraghiggey", meaning "He who does big business", had become a respected member of the Iroquois Confederacy in the area. In 1746, Johnson was made a colonel of the Iroquois, and later a colonel of the Western New York Militia.

At Albany, New York, there was a meeting between Governor Clinton of New York and Chief Hendrick, as well as other officials from a handful of American colonies. Chief Hendrick insisted that the British abide by their obligations and block French expansion. When an unsatisfactory response was offered by Clinton, Chief Hendrick proclaimed that the "Covenant Chain", a long-standing friendly relationship between the Iroquois Confederacy and the British Crown, was broken.

[edit] Dinwiddie's reaction

Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia found himself in a predicament. Many merchants had invested heavily in fur trading in Ohio. If the French made good on their claim to the Ohio Country and drove out the British, then the Virginian merchants would lose a lot of money.

Dinwiddie could not possibly allow the loss of the Ohio Country to France. To counter the French military presence in Ohio, in October 1753 Dinwiddie ordered Major George Washington of the Virginia militia to deliver a message to the commander of the French forces in the Ohio Country, Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre. Washington, along with his interpreter Jacob Van Braam and several other men, left for Fort Le Boeuf on the 31st of October.

A few days later, Washington and his party arrived at Wills Creek (Cumberland, Maryland). Here Washington enlisted the help of Christopher Gist, a surveyor who was familiar with the area.

Washington and his party arrived at Logstown on November 24, 1753. At Logstown, Washington met with Tanaghrisson, who was angry over the encroachment by the French military of his land. Washington convinced Tanaghrisson to accompany his small group to Fort Le Boeuf.

On December 12, 1753, Washington and his men reached Fort Le Boeuf. Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre invited Washington to dine with him that evening. Over dinner, Washington presented Saint-Pierre with the letter from Dinwiddie that demanded an immediate French withdrawal from the Ohio Country. Saint-Pierre was quite civil in his response, saying, "As to the Summons you send me to retire, I do not think myself obliged to obey it."^[5] The French explained to Washington that France's claim to the region was superior to that of the British, since René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (1643–1687) had explored the Ohio Country nearly a century earlier.^[6]

Washington's party left Fort Le Boeuf early on December 16, 1753. By January 16, 1754, they had arrived in Williamsburg, Virginia. In his report, Washington stated, "The French had swept south."^[7] They had constructed and garrisoned forts at Presque Isle, Le Boeuf and Venango.

[edit] War

The French and Indian War was the last of four major colonial wars between the British, the French, and their Native American allies. Unlike the previous three wars, the French and Indian War began on North American soil and then spread to Europe, where Britain and France continued fighting. Britain officially declared war on France on May 15, 1756, marking the beginnings of the Seven Years' War in Europe. Native Americans fought for both sides, but primarily alongside the French (with one exception being the Iroquois Confederacy, which sided with the American colonies and Britain). The first major event of the war was in 1754. Lieutenant Colonel George Washington, then twenty-one years of age, was sent to negotiate boundaries with the French, who did not give up their forts. Washington led a group of Virginian (colonial) troops to confront the French at Fort Duquesne (present day Pittsburgh). Washington stumbled upon the French at the Battle of Jumonville Glen (about six miles (10 km) NW of soon-to-be-established Fort Necessity [see below]), and in the ensuing skirmish, a French Officer (Joseph Coulon de Jumonville) was killed, news of which would have certainly provoked a strong French response. Washington pulled back a few miles and established Fort Necessity. The French forced Washington and his men to retreat. Meanwhile, the Albany Congress was taking place as means to discuss further action.

Edward Braddock led a campaign against the French at Fort Duquesne in 1755; Washington was again among the British and colonial troops. Braddock employed European tactics: bold, linear marches and firing formations. This led to disaster at the Monongahela, where the French and natives, though heavily outmanned and outgunned (the British had a heavy cannon), used superior tactics (using the trees and bushes as cover) to gun down and rout the British. Braddock was killed; Washington, despite four close calls, escaped unharmed and led the survivors in retreat. This stunning British defeat heralded a string of major French victories over the next few years, at Fort Oswego, Fort William Henry, Fort Duquesne, and Carillon, where veteran Montcalm famously defeated five times his number. The sole British successes in the early years of the war came in 1755, at the Battle of Lake George, which secured the Hudson Valley; and in the taking of Fort Beauséjour (which protected the Nova Scotia frontier) by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Monckton. An unfortunate consequence of the latter was the subsequent forced deportation of the Acadian population of Nova Scotia and the Beaubassin region of Acadia.

The year 1756 brought with it William Pitt, Secretary of State of Great Britain. His leadership, and France's continued neglect of the North-American theater, eventually turned the tide in favor of the British. The French were driven from many frontier posts such as Fort Niagara, and the key Fortress Louisbourg fell to the British in 1758. In 1759, the Battle of the Plains of Abraham gave Quebec City to the British, who had to withstand a siege there after the Battle of Sainte-Foy a year later. In September of 1760, Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal, the King's Governor of New France, negotiated a surrender with British General Jeffrey Amherst. General Amherst granted Vaudreuil's request that any French residents who chose to remain in the colony would be given freedom to continue worshiping in their Roman Catholic tradition, continued ownership of their property, and the right to remain undisturbed in their homes. The British provided medical treatment for the sick and wounded French soldiers and French regular troops were returned to France aboard British ships with an agreement that they were not to serve again in the present war.

[edit] Outcome

Though most of the North American fighting ended on September 8, 1760, when the Marquis de Vaudreuil surrendered Montreal — and effectively all of Canada — to Britain (one notable late battle allowed the capture of Spanish Havana by British and colonial forces in 1762), the war officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on February 10, 1763. The treaty resulted in France's loss of all its North American possessions east of the Mississippi (all of Canada was ceded to Britain) except Saint Pierre and Miquelon, two small islands off Newfoundland. France regained the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, which had been occupied by the British. The economic value of these islands to France was greater than that of Canada at the time, because of their rich sugar crops, and the islands were easier to defend. The British, however, were happy to take New France, as defence was not an issue, and they already had many sources of sugar. Spain gained Louisiana, including New Orleans, in compensation for its loss of Florida to the British.

Also, Britain gained control of French Canada, a colony containing approximately 65,000 French-speaking, Roman Catholic residents. Early in the war, in 1755, the British had expelled French settlers from Acadia (some of whom eventually fled to Louisiana, creating the Cajun population). Now at peace, and eager to secure control of its hard-won colony, Great Britain found itself obliged to make concessions to its newly conquered subjects; this was achieved with the Quebec Act of 1774. The history of the Seven Years' War, particularly the siege of Québec and the death of British Brigadier General James Wolfe, generated a vast number of ballads, broadsides, images, maps and other printed materials, which testify to how this event continued to capture the imagination of the British public long after Wolfe's death in 1759.^[8]

The European theatre of the war was settled by the Treaty of Hubertusburg on February 15, 1763. The war changed economic, political, and social relations between Britain and its colonies. It plunged Britain into debt, which the Crown chose to pay off with tax money from its colonies. These taxes contributed to the beginning the American Revolutionary War.

[edit] Timeline

Year	Dates	Event	Location
1754	May 28th July 3rd	Battle of Jumonville Glen Battle of the Great Meadows (Fort Necessity)	Uniontown, Pennsylvania Uniontown, Pennsylvania
1755	May 29th – July 9th June 3rd – 16th July 9th September 8th	Braddock expedition Battle of Fort Beauséjour Battle of the Monongahela Battle of Lake George	Western Pennsylvania Sackville, New Brunswick Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Lake George, New York
1756	March 27 August 10th – 14th September 8th	Battle of Fort Bull Battle of Fort Oswego Kittanning Expedition	Kittanning, Pennsylvania
1757	August 2nd – 6th December 8th	Battle of Fort William Henry Second Battle of Bloody Creek	Lake George, New York Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia
1758	June 8th - July 26th July 7th – 8th August 25 September 14th October 12th	Second Battle of Louisbourg Battle of Carillon (Fort Ticonderoga) Battle of Fort Frontenac Battle of Fort Duquesne Battle of Fort Ligonier	Louisbourg, Nova Scotia Ticonderoga, New York Kingston, Ontario Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania
1759	July 6th – 26th July 31st September 13th	Battle of Ticonderoga (1759) Battle of Fort Niagara Battle of Beauport Battle of the Plains of Abraham	Ticonderoga, New York Fort Niagara, New York Quebec City Quebec City
1760	April 28th July 3-8th August 16th – 24th	Battle of Sainte-Foy Battle of Restigouche Battle of the Thousand Islands	Quebec City Pointe-a-la-Croix, Quebec Ogdensburg, New York
1762	September 15th	Battle of Signal Hill	St. John's, Newfoundland
1763	February 10th	Treaty of Paris	Paris, France

[edit] Battles and expeditions

United States

• • Battle of Jumonville Glen (May 28, 1754)
  • Battle of Fort Necessity, aka the Battle of Great Meadows (July 3, 1754)
  • Braddock Expedition (Battle of the Monongahela aka Battle of the Wilderness) (July 9, 1755)
  • Kittanning Expedition (climax September 8, 1756)
  • Battle of Fort Duquesne (September 14, 1758)
  • Battle of Fort Ligonier (October 12, 1758)
  • Forbes Expedition (climax November 25, 1758)

• Province of New York
  • Battle of Lake George (1755)
  • Battle of Fort Oswego (August, 1756)
  • Battle on Snowshoes (January 21, 1757)
  • Battle of Fort Bull (March 27, 1756)
  • Battle of Sabbath Day Point (July 26, 1757)
  • Battle of Fort William Henry (August 9, 1757)
  • Attack on German Flatts (1757) (November 12, 1757)
  • Battle of Carillon (July 8, 1758)
  • Battle of Ticonderoga (1759)
  • Battle of La Belle-Famille (July 24, 1759)
  • Battle of Fort Niagara (1759)
  • Battle of the Thousand Islands, 16-25 August, 1760

• West Virginia
  • Battle of Great Cacapon (April 18, 1756)

Canada

• New Brunswick
  • Battle of Fort Beauséjour (June 16, 1755)

• Nova Scotia
  • Battle of Louisburg (July 27, 1758)

• Ontario
  • Battle of Fort Frontenac (August 25, 1758)
  • Battle of the Thousand Islands, 16-25 August, 1760

• Quebec
  • Battle of Beauport (July 31, 1759)
  • Battle of the Plains of Abraham (September 13, 1759)
  • Battle of Sainte-Foy (April 28, 1760)
  • Battle of Restigouche, July 3-8, (1760)

• Newfoundland
  • Battle of Signal Hill September 15, 1762

[edit] Proclamation of 1763

(The following text is taken from the Wikipedia article)

The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763 by George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the Seven Years' War. The purpose of the proclamation was to make sure Britian could control its new territory for its The Proclamation in essence forbade Americans from settling or buying land west of the Appalachians. Colonists were angry because many already had land in that area. Additionally, the Proclamation gave the Crown a monopoly in land bought from Native Americans.

[edit] Native land

In the fall of 1763, a royal decree was issued that prohibited the North American colonists from establishing or maintaining settlements west of an imaginary line running down the crest of the Appalachian Mountains. The proclamation acknowledged that Native Americans owned the lands on which they were then residing and white settlers in the area were to be removed.

However, provision was made to allow specially licensed individuals and entities to operate fur trading ventures in the proscribed area. There were two motivations for this policy:

To avoid warfare with the Indians. This aim had little to do with affection for the tribes, but simply reflected the facts that Indian conflicts were very expensive and that the British had not yet deployed sufficient soldiers in the west to keep the peace. Some Indians welcomed this policy, believing that the separation of the races would allow them to resume their traditional lifeways; others realized that the proclamation, at best, would only provide some breathing room before the next onslaught of settlers.

To concentrate colonial settlements on the seaboard where they could be active parts of the British mercantile system. The first priority of British trade officials was to populate the recently secured areas of Canada and Florida (see Treaty of Paris), where colonists could reasonably be expected to trade with the mother country; settlers living west of the Appalachians would be highly self-sufficient and have little opportunity to trade with English merchants. The reaction of colonial land speculators and frontiersmen was immediate and understandably negative. From their perspective, risking their lives in the recent war had been rewarded by the creation of a vast restricted native reserve in the lands they coveted. Most concluded that the proclamation was only a temporary measure and a number ignored it entirely and moved into the prohibited area. Almost from its inception, the proclamation was modified to suit the needs of influential people with interests in the American West. This included many high British officials as well as colonial leaders.

Beginning in 1764, portions of the Proclamation Line were adjusted westward to accommodate speculative interests. Later, in 1768, the first Treaty of Fort Stanwix formally recognized the surrender of transmontane lands claimed by the Iroquois.

The Proclamation of 1763 was a well-intentioned measure. Pontiac’s Rebellion had inflicted a terrible toll on the frontier settlements in North America and the British government acted prudently by attempting to avoid such conflict in the foreseeable future.

The colonists, however, were not appreciative and regarded the new policy as an infringement of their basic rights. The fact that western expansion was halted at roughly the same time that other restrictive measures were being implemented, made the colonists increasingly suspicious

Almost immediately, many British colonists and land speculators objected to the proclamation boundary, since there were already many settlements beyond the line (some of which had been temporarily evacuated during Pontiac's War), as well as many existing land claims yet to be settled. Indeed, the proclamation itself called for lands to be granted to British soldiers who had served in the Seven Years' War. Prominent American colonists joined with land speculators in Britain to lobby the government to move the line further west. As a result, the boundary line was adjusted in a series of treaties with Native Americans. The Treaty of Fort Stanwix and the Treaty of Hard Labor (both 1768) and the Treaty of Lochaber (1770) opened much of what is now West Virginia and Kentucky to British settlement.

[edit] Organization of new colonies

Besides regulating colonial expansion, the proclamation dealt with the management of newly ceded French colonies. It established government for four areas: Quebec, West Florida, East Florida, and Grenada. All of these were granted the ability to elect general assemblies under a royally appointed governor or a high council, which could then create laws and ordinances specific to the area in agreement with British and colonial laws. In the meantime, the new colonies enjoyed the same rights as native-born Englishmen, something that British colonists had been fighting over for years. An even bigger affront to the British colonies was the establishment of both civil and criminal courts complete with the right to appeal--but those charged with violating the Stamp or Sugar Act were to be tried in admiralty court, where the defendant was considered guilty until he or she could prove his or her innocence.

[edit] Legacy

The influence of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 on the coming of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) has been variously interpreted. Many historians argue that the proclamation ceased to be a major source of tension after 1768, since the aforementioned treaties opened up extensive lands for settlement. Others have argued that colonial resentment of the proclamation contributed to the growing divide between the colonies and the Mother Country.

In the United States, the Royal Proclamation of 1763 ended with the American Revolutionary War, because Great Britain ceded the land in question to the United States in the Treaty of Paris (1783). Afterwards, the U.S. government also faced difficulties in preventing frontier violence, and eventually adopted policies similar to those of the Royal Proclamation. The first in a series of Indian Intercourse Acts was passed in 1790, prohibiting unregulated trade and travel in Native American lands. Additionally, the U.S. Supreme Court case Johnson v. M'Intosh (1823) established that only the U.S. government, and not private individuals, could purchase land from Native Americans.

The Royal Proclamation continued to govern the cession of aboriginal land in British North America, especially Upper Canada and Rupert's Land. The proclamation forms the basis of land claims of aboriginal peoples in Canada – First Nations, Inuit, and Metis. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 is thus mentioned in Section Twenty-five of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

[edit] The Stamp Act and other Laws

In 1764, George Grenville became the British Chancellor of the Exchequer (minister of finance). He allowed customs officers to obtain general writs of assistance, which allowed officers to search random houses for smuggled goods. Grenville thought that if profits from smuggled goods could be directed towards Britain, the money could help pay off debts. Colonists were horrified that they could be searched without warrant at any given moment. Also in 1764, with persuasion from Grenville, Parliament began to impose several taxes on the colonists. The Sugar Act of 1764 reduced the taxes imposed by the Molasses Act, but at the same time strengthened the collection of the taxes. It also provided that British judges, and not juries, would try cases involving that Act.

The next year, Parliament passed the Quartering Act, which required the colonies to provide room and board for British soldiers stationed in North America; the soldiers would serve various purposes, chiefly to enforce the previously passed acts of Parliament.

Following the Quartering Act, Parliament passed one of the most infamous pieces of legislation: the Stamp Act. Previously, Parliament imposed only external taxes on imports. But the Stamp Act provided the first internal tax on the colonists, requiring that a tax stamp be applied to books, newspapers, pamphlets, legal documents, playing cards, and dice. The legislature of Massachusetts requested a conference on the Stamp Act; the Stamp Act Congress met in October that year, petitioning the King and Parliament to repeal the act before it went into effect at the end of the month, crying "taxation without representation."

The act faced vehement opposition throughout the colonies. Merchants threatened to boycott British products. Thousands of New Yorkers rioted near the location where the stamps were stored. In Boston, the Sons of Liberty, a violent group led by radical statesman Samuel Adams, destroyed the home of Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson. Parliament did indeed repeal the Stamp Act, but additionally passed the Declaratory Act, which stated that Great Britain retained the power to tax the colonists, even without substantive representation.

Believing that the colonists only objected to internal taxes, Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Townshend proposed bills that would later become the Townshend Acts. The Acts, passed in 1767, taxed imports of tea, glass, paint, lead, and even paper. The colonial merchants again threatened to boycott the taxed products, reducing the profits of British merchants, who in turn petitioned Parliament to repeal the Townshend Acts. Parliament eventually agreed to repeal much of the Townshend legislation. But Parliament refused to remove the tax on tea, implying that the British retained the authority to tax the colonies despite a lack of representation.

In 1773, Parliament passed the Tea Act, which exempted the British East India Company from the Townshend taxes. Thus, the East India Company gained a great advantage over other companies when selling tea in the colonies. The colonists who resented the advantages given to British companies dumped British tea overboard in the Boston Tea Party in December of 1773.

The Boston Tea Party

In retaliation for the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passed the Coercive Acts, which were in the colonies known as the Intolerable Acts.Parliament reduced the power of the Massachusetts legislature and closed the port of Boston. Also, the Quartering Act was extended to require private individuals to lodge soldiers. Furthermore, Parliament allowed royal officials accused of crimes to be tried by a British, rather than a colonial, jury.

[edit] First Continental Congress

In order to debate a response to the Intolerable Acts, all American colonies except for Georgia sent delegates to the First Continental Congress at Philadelphia. The Congress, which met in September 1774, issued the Declaration of Rights and Grievances. When the Congress adjourned, it stipulated another Congress would meet if King George III did not acquiesce to the demands set forth in the Declaration. When the Second Congress did meet, the military hostilities of the Revolutionary War had already begun, and the issue of Independence, rather than a redress of grievances, dominated the debates.

[edit] American Revolution

The American colonies fought a protracted war against Britain from 1775 until 1783, seeking independence from the mother country. The American forces were divided (many citizens supported maintenance of strong ties to Britain), ill-equipped, and impoverished; yet, thanks to the "home field advantage" of operating locally, with interior supply lines, the patriots were able to outlast and frustrate their over-extended foe.

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Eckert, Allan W. Wilderness Empire. Bantam Books, 1994, originally published 1969. ISBN 0-553-26488-5. Second volume in a series of historical narratives, with emphasis on Sir William Johnson. Academic historians often regard Eckert's books, which are written in the style of novels, to be fiction.
• Parkman, Francis. Montcalm and Wolfe: The French and Indian War. Originally published 1884. New York: Da Capo, 1984. ISBN 0-306-81077-8.
• Taylor, Alan. American Colonies: The Settling of North America. Penguin Books, 2001. Edited by Eric Foner. ISBN 0-670-87282-2.

← English Colonies · Constitution Early Years →

← English Colonies · US History · Constitution Early Years →

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[edit] The Republic until 1877

[edit] The American Revolution (1774 - 1783)

[edit] The Beginning of the War (1775 - 1778)

[edit] Lexington and Concord

The British government commanded General Thomas Gage to enforce the Intolerable Acts and shut down the Massachusetts legislature. Gage also decided to confiscate a stockpile of colonial arms located in Concord. On April 19, 1775, Gage's troops marched to Concord and on the way, at the town of Lexington, Americans, who were warned in advance by Paul Revere and others of the British movements, made a token attempt to stop the troops. No one knows exactly which side fired the first shot, known as The Shot Heard 'Round the World, but it sparked a battle on Lexington Green between the British and the Minutemen. Faced against an overwhelmingly superior number of British regular troops in an open field, the Minutemen were quickly routed. Nonetheless, alarms were sounded throughout the countryside and the colonial militias poured in and were able to launch sporadic guerrilla attacks on the British while they marched on to Concord. The colonials managed to amass a sizeable number of troops at Concord and they engaged the British in force there and they were able to repulse them. The British were forced to depart without destroying the armory. They were compelled to retreat to Boston while all the way under a constant and withering fire from all sides. Only a reinforcing column with artillery support, on the outskirts of Boston, prevented the British withdrawal from becoming a total rout. The following day the British woke up to find Boston surrounded by 20,000 armed colonists.

[edit] Ethan Allen and Fort Ticonderoga

The American hero Ethan Allen commanded a group called the Green Mountain boys. These so called “Green Mountain boys” lived and hunted in present day Vermont. They were a small group that fought side by side to keep New Yorkers off their land. When Ethan was charged to take the fort for the cannons, Benedict Arnold, another American general, was charged to help. Benedict Arnold later sided with the British, and his name became synonymous with traitor.

May 10, 1775 American forces led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold capture Fort Ticonderoga in New York. The fort contained a much needed supply of military equipment, including cannons which were then hauled to Boston by ox teams. The Second Continental Congress sent a petition for peace - the Olive Branch Petition. But Parliament reacted by passing the Prohibitory Act, which banned trade with the colonies.

[edit] The Battle of Bunker Hill

In Massachusetts, Boston and little else was controlled by British troops. The colonists besieged the city; General Gage countered on June 17 by attacking the colonists on Breed's Hill and Bunker Hill. Although the British suffered tremendous casualties compared with colonial losses, the British were eventually able to dislodge the American forces from their entrenched positions. The colonists were forced to retreat because many colonial soldiers ran out of ammunition. Soon after the area surrounding Boston fell to the British. However, because of the losses suffered by the British, they were unable to break the siege of the city. Despite the early defeat for the colonists, the battle proved that they had the potential to counter British forces, which were, at that time, considered to be the best in the world.

[edit] Battle For Boston

The siege on Boston started on the night after the Battle of Lexington and Concord as American forces followed the British back to Boston, and occupied the neck of land extending to the peninsula the city stood on.

At first, General Artemas Ward, as the head of the Massachusetts militia, had the oversight of the siege. He set up his headquarters at Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge and positioned his forces at Charlestown Neck, Roxbury, and the Dorchester Heights. Initially, the 6,000 to 8,000 rebels faced some 4,000 British regulars under General Thomas Gage and had them bottled up in the city.

In traditional terms, the British were not besieged since the Royal Navy controlled the harbor, and supplies did come in by ship. Nevertheless, the town and the army were on short rations. Salt pork was the order of the day, and prices escalated rapidly. Another factor was that the American forces generally had information about what was happening in the city, while General Gage had no effective intelligence of rebel activities.

On May 25, 1775, Gage received about 4,500 reinforcements and three new Generals, Major General William Howe, and Brigadiers John Burgoyne and Henry Clinton. Gage began plans to break out of the city.

On July 3, 1775, George Washington arrived to take charge of the new Continental Army. Forces and supplies came in from as far away as Maryland. Trenches were built at the Dorchester Neck, and extended toward Boston. Washington reoccupied Bunker Hill and Breeds Hill without opposition. However, these activities had little effect on the British occupation.

Then, in the winter of 1775– 1776, Henry Knox and his engineers, under order from George Washington, used sledges to retrieve 60 tons of heavy artillery that had been captured at Fort Ticonderoga. Knox, who had come up with the idea to use sledges, believed that he would have the artillery there in 18 days. It took 6 weeks. Bringing them across the frozen Connecticut River, they arrived back at Cambridge on January 24, 1776. Weeks later, in an amazing feat of deception and mobility, Washington moved artillery and several thousand men overnight to take Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston. Now the British fleet ceased to be an asset, being anchored in a shallow harbor with limited maneuverability, and under the American guns on Dorchester Heights— which General John Thomas had fortified.

When General Howe saw the cannons, he knew he could not hold the city. He asked that George Washington let him evacuate the city in peace, and in return, they would not burn the city to the ground. Washington agreed, he had no choice. He had the artillery guns, but did not have the gunpowder. The whole plan had been a masterful bluff. The siege ended when the British set sail for Halifax, Nova Scotia on March 17, 1776. The militia went home, and in April Washington took most of the Continental Army forces to fortify New York City.

[edit] Canada

In September of 1775, the Colonists, led by General Richard Montgomery, invaded Canada. At first the invasion proved successful, with Montgomery capturing Fort St. Jean and the city of Montreal. On December 30 he made the decision to launch an attack onto the British held city of Quebec. It proved disastrous, and Montgomery was killed in battle. This was the last major action in Canada, although Benidict Arnold and a number of other generals did attack the coasts or Canada, or launch raids across the border.

[edit] The Declaration of Independence and Common Sense

In 1776, the Englishman Thomas Paine wrote the pamphlet Common Sense, which encouraged American independence based on an anti-Monarchy argument. Thomas Paine argued from both a biblical perspective and republican virtues that monarchies were never good for people of any free state. As military hostilities built up, the Second Continental Congress appointed George Washington as General of the Continental Army. Washington gave up his salary for the position all through the war (being among the richest men in the colonies, this was a choice he could afford). In June, 1776, thoughts in the Second Continental Congress turned to independence and the Committee of Five was appointed to draft a declaration of independence. Thomas Jefferson, one of the five, became the principal author of the document. Finally, on July 4, Congress declared the independence of the colonies. The Declaration of Independence listed the "crimes" of the King and set forth other justifications for independence.

[edit] The Turning Point of the War

Despite the numerous defeats they faced in the early years of the war, the colonists were able to turn the tide around with several major victories.

[edit] New York and New Jersey

In July, 1776, General William Howe and thirty-thousand British troops arrived at Staten Island in New York. The large army attacked and defeated General George Washington's American forces in the Battle of Long Island. After nearly having his entire army captured, Washington led a skilled withdrawal out of New York. Eventually the Continental Army was forced to set up camp in Pennsylvania.

Howe could have ended the war by pursuing Washington's forces. But Howe was very cautious and took almost no risks. He feared losing too many men so far from home. Britain hired German mercenaries (Hessians) to guard the British fort at Trenton. Howe took advantage of these replacements and decided to wait until spring to attack the Continental Army again.

Washington also took advantage of the situation, though from a different perspective. He figured that the Hessians would be weakest on Christmas night, after heavy feasting and drinking. On the night of December 25, 1776, Washington led his troops 9 miles, and across the Delaware River to ambush the Hessians. Crossing the river was difficult. A hail and sleet storm had broken out early in the crossing, winds were strong and the river was full of ice floes. The crossing took 3 hours longer than expected, but Washington decided to continue the attack anyway. As Washington predicted, the mercenaries were completely caught off guard and had little time to respond. Within just a over an hour, on the morning of December 26, the Continental Army had won the Battle of Trenton. The Americans had just 4 wounded and 0 killed against 25 Hessians Killed, 90 wounded and 920 captured. The victory increased the troops' morale and eventually led to re-enlistments. Some historians even speculate Trenton saved the revolution.

On January 2, the British came to re-take Trenton, and did so with heavy casualties. Washington once again led a clever withdrawal, and advanced on Princeton. At the Battle of Princeton, the Continental Army attacked the rear-guard of the British Army, and forced them to retreat from New Jersey.

[edit] The Battle of Saratoga

In the summer of 1777, British General John Burgoyne and General Howe decided to attack the colonial Army from two sides and thus defeat it. As Howe marched north, winning the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown, eventually capturing Philadelphia. But Burgoyne's Army was not as fortunate. Delayed by natural traps set up by the Continental Army, Burgoyne's troops slowly marched from Canada to Albany. By September of the year, the troops reached Saratoga. A relatively enormous American Army attacked the troops, and in October, General Burgoyne surrendered his entire Army to the Americans. General Howe, despite his victories in Pennsylvania, resigned his post.

The Battle of Saratoga proved to be the major turning point in the war. Its greatest significance was the introduction of French aid to the colonists, as France was now convinced that America had a chance to overthrow Britain. In addition, the battle was the last time that the British would continue to advance north. By the summer of 1778, following the Battle of Monmouth (New Jersey), all fighting would take place in the South.

[edit] Defeat of the Iroquois

The Iroquois Confederacy in its zenith had been the equal of the European Powers. But since the French and Indian war it had been in decline. The Tribes of the Confederacy disagreed on who to support in the Revolution. The Onedia and Tuscaroras supported the Americans, while the the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, and the Seneca supported the British. The Confederacy managed to stay together until 1777, when following the Battle of Saratoga, the 4 Tribes supporting the British began to attack American settlements across New York and Pennslyvenia.

A back and forth battle followed. The Iroquois would attack American Forts and Towns, then the Americans would burn Iroquois villages. In 1779 George Washington sent General Sullivan to destroy the Iroquois Nation. After defeating the Iroquois at the Battle of Newtown, Sullivan's army then carried out a scorched earth campaign, methodically destroying at least forty Iroquois villages. The devastation created great hardships for the thousands of Iroquois refugees outside Fort Niagara that winter, and many starved or froze to death. The survivors fled to British regions in Canada and the Niagara Falls and Buffalo areas. Thus ended the 700-year history of the Iroquois Confederacy.

[edit] Conclusion of the War (1778 - 1781)

After the loss at Saratoga, France, a traditional rival of the British, offered their aid in the Revolution. The United States allied itself with France in 1778. Spain and the Dutch Republic also joined the American side, both lending money to the United States and going to war with Britain.

[edit] On the Seas

War broke out on the seas as well. Americans granted commissions to "privateers" to attack and destroy all British ships, whether they were military or not. One of the most famous privateers, John Paul Jones, scored several victories at sea for the Americans, even attacking the shores of Britain itself.

[edit] The War Heads South

Britain turned its attention from the North, to the South, where more loyalists lived. They were at first very successful, defeating the Americans at Waxhaws, Charelston and Camden. Lord Cornwallis, commander of the British forces in the south, was faced with the challenge of chasing down the Americans. Nathanal Green had split his army into two, leaving one under the control of Daniel Morgan. Morgan drew Banastre Tarleton, who was commanding one half of the British Army, to Cowpens where they were they decisively defeated the British. The other half of the British Army, still under control of Cornwallis, defeated the Americans at the Battle of Guilford Court House. However, it was a bloody victory for Cornwallis and he was forced to withdraw to Yorktown Virginia to regroup.

After hearing that the British were in Yorktown, and there was a French Fleet arriving, Washington took the Continental Army, along with French Troops, to Yorktown and surrounded the British. By mid September the town was under siege. Cornwallis was assured by British Commander-in-Chief, Henry Clinton, who was in New York, that he would be relieved shortly. However, the British relief force was defeated by the French fleet. The British continued to hold off for a few more days, but the allied army moved in closer and closer to Yorktown, and their cannons destroyed many of the British defences. On October 19, 1781, Cornwallis surrendered his entire army, over 7,000 men.

Scattered fighting continued, but back in Britiain, the British were crushed by this defeat. Parlament voted to cease all offensive operations in "the colonies." Washington took his army to Newburgh New York, where he stopped a mutiny in the Army.

At the conclusion of the war in 1783 large numbers of loyalists and their families relocated to the home country of England and in large part to Canada as well as to other British Colonies. They submitted claims for lost property and lands in America. Many of the claims were not accepted by the English government for lack of evidence of the losses or significantly reduced. The property and lands were acquired by the American communities and then resold to the highest bidders.

Due to the climatic effects of a 1782 eruption of an Icelandic volcano, the loyalists also experienced one of the coldest Canadian winters on record which contributed to poor crops in 1783-1784. Starvation, disease and hardship were rampant and many resolved to return to the United States despite the threats of retribution rather than subsist on their meager produce.

[edit] Treaty of Paris (1783)

The British lost almost all hope of crushing the rebellion after Yorktown. They decided to negotiate peace with The United States, France, and also Spain. The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3rd, 1783, and it provided for several things:

1. The United States was recognized as an independent nation;
2. Its boundaries stretched from the Canadian border (to the north) to the Mississippi River (to the west) and to the northern border of Florida (to the South);
3. Britain was forced to return Florida to Spain, but still could hold Canada;
4. Congress would advise the states to restore property lost or stolen from the Loyalists. (Nevertheless, many Loyalists fled during the Revolution itself.)

[edit] A New Nation is Formed (1783 - 1787)

[edit] The Articles of Confederation

(The following text is taken from Wikipedia)

The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, also the Articles of Confederation, was the governing constitution of the alliance of thirteen independent and sovereign states styled "United States of America." The Article's ratification (proposed in 1777) was completed in 1781, legally uniting the states by compact into the "United States of America" as a union with a confederation government. Under the Articles (and the succeeding Constitution) the states retained sovereignty over all governmental functions not specifically deputed to the confederation.

The final draft of the Articles was written in the summer of 1777 and adopted by the Second Continental Congress on November 15, 1777 in York, Pennsylvania after a year of debate. In practice the final draft of the Articles served as the de facto system of government used by the Congress ("the United States in Congress assembled") until it became de jure by final ratification on March 1, 1781; at which point Congress became the Congress of the Confederation. The Articles set the rules for operations of the "United States" confederation. The confederation was capable of making war, negotiating diplomatic agreements, and resolving issues regarding the western territories; it could mint coins and borrow inside and outside the United States. An important element of the Articles was that Article XIII stipulated that "their provisions shall be inviolably observed by every state" and "the Union shall be perpetual." This article was put to the test in the American Civil War.

The Articles were created by the chosen representatives of the states in the Second Continental Congress out of a perceived need to have "a plan of confederacy for securing the freedom, sovereignty, and independence of the United States." Although serving a crucial role in the attainment of nationhood for the thirteen states, a group of reformers, known as "federalists", felt that the Articles lacked the necessary provisions for a sufficiently effective government. Fundamentally, a federation was sought to replace the confederation. The key criticism by those who favored a more powerful central state (i.e. the federalists) was that the government (i.e. the Congress of the Confederation) lacked taxing authority; it had to request funds from the states. Another criticism of the Articles was that they did not strike the right balance between large and small states in the legislative decision making process. Due to its one-state, one-vote plank, the larger states were expected to contribute more but had only one vote. The Articles were replaced by the United States Constitution on June 21, 1788.

[edit] Background

The political push for the colonies to increase cooperation began in the French and Indian Wars in the mid 1750s. The opening of the American Revolutionary War in 1775 induced the various states to cooperate in seceding from the British Empire. The Second Continental Congress starting 1775 acted as the confederation organ that ran the war. Congress presented the Articles for enactment by the states in 1777, while prosecuting the American Revolutionary war against the Kingdom of Great Britain.

[edit] Ratification

Congress began to move for ratification of the Articles in 1777:

The articles can always be candidly reviewed under a sense of the difficulty of combining in one general system the various sentiments and interests of a continent divided into so many sovereign and independent communities, under a conviction of the absolute necessity of uniting all our councils and all our strength, to maintain and defend our common liberties...^[1]

The document could not become officially effective until it was ratified by all of the thirteen colonies. The first state to ratify was Virginia on December 16, 1777. ^[2] The process dragged on for several years, stalled by the refusal of some states to rescind their claims to land in the West. Maryland was the last holdout; it refused to go along until Virginia and New York agreed to cede their claims in the Ohio River valley. A little over three years passed before Maryland's ratification on March 1, 1781.

[edit] Article summaries

Even though the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution were established by many of the same people, the two documents were very different. The original five-paged Articles contained thirteen articles, a conclusion, and a signatory section. The following list contains short summaries of each of the thirteen articles.

1. Establishes the name of the confederation as "The United States of America."
2. Asserts the precedence of the separate states over the confederation government, i.e. "Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated."
3. Establishes the United States as a league of states united ". . . for their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them . . . ."
4. Establishes freedom of movement–anyone can pass freely between states, excluding "paupers, vagabonds, and fugitives from justice." All people are entitled to the rights established by the state into which he travels. If a crime is committed in one state and the perpetrator flees to another state, he will be extradited to and tried in the state in which the crime was committed.
5. Allocates one vote in the Congress of the Confederation (United States in Congress Assembled) to each state, which was entitled to a delegation of between two and seven members. Members of Congress were appointed by state legislatures; individuals could not serve more than three out of any six years.
6. Only the central government is allowed to conduct foreign relations and to declare war. No states may have navies or standing armies, or engage in war, without permission of Congress (although the state militias are encouraged).
7. When an army is raised for common defense, colonels and military ranks below colonel will be named by the state legislatures.
8. Expenditures by the United States will be paid by funds raised by state legislatures, and apportioned to the states based on the real property values of each.
9. Defines the powers of the central government: to declare war, to set weights and measures (including coins), and for Congress to serve as a final court for disputes between states.
10. Defines a Committee of the States to be a government when Congress is not in session.
11. Requires nine states to approve the admission of a new state into the confederacy; pre-approves Canada, if it applies for membership.
12. Reaffirms that the Confederation accepts war debt incurred by Congress before the Articles.
13. Declares that the Articles are perpetual, and can only be altered by approval of Congress with ratification by all the state legislatures.

Still at war with the Kingdom of Great Britain, the colonists were reluctant to establish another powerful national government. Jealously guarding their new independence, members of the Continental Congress created a loosely-structured unicameral legislature that protected the liberty of the individual states. While calling on Congress to regulate military and monetary affairs, for example, the Articles of Confederation provided no mechanism to force the states to comply with requests for troops or revenue. At times, this left the military in a precarious position, as George Washington wrote in a 1781 letter to the governor of Massachusetts, John Hancock.

[edit] The end of the war

The Treaty of Paris (1783), which ended hostilities with Great Britain, languished in Congress for months because state representatives failed to attend sessions of the national legislature. Yet Congress had no power to enforce attendance. Writing to George Clinton in September 1783, George Washington complained:

Congress have come to no determination yet respecting the Peace Establishment nor am I able to say when they will. I have lately had a conference with a Committee on this subject, and have reiterated my former opinions, but it appears to me that there is not a sufficient representation to discuss Great National points.^[3]

[edit] Function

The Articles supported the Congressional direction of the Continental Army, and allowed the 13 states to present a unified front when dealing with the European powers. As a tool to build a centralized war-making government, they were largely a failure, but since guerrilla warfare was correct strategy in a war against the British Empire's army, this "failure" succeeded in winning independence.^[4] Under the articles, Congress could make decisions, but had no power to enforce them. There was a requirement for unanimous approval before any modifications could be made to the Articles. Because the majority of lawmaking rested with the states, the central government was also kept limited.

Congress was denied the power of taxation: it could only request money from the states. The states did not generally comply with the requests in full, leaving the confederation chronically short of funds. Congress was also denied the power to regulate commerce, and as a result, the states fought over trade as well.^{[citation needed]} The states and the national congress had both incurred debts during the war, and how to pay the debts became a major issue. Some states paid off their debts; however, the centralizers favored federal assumption of states' debts.

Nevertheless, the Congress of the Confederation did take two actions with lasting impact. The Land Ordinance of 1785 established the general land survey and ownership provisions used throughout later American expansion. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 noted the agreement of the original states to give up western land claims and cleared the way for the entry of new states.

Once the war was won, the Continental Army was largely disbanded. A very small national force was maintained to man frontier forts and protect against Indian attacks. Meanwhile, each of the states had an army (or militia), and 11 of them had navies. The wartime promises of bounties and land grants to be paid for service were not being met. In 1783, Washington defused the Newburgh conspiracy, but riots by unpaid Pennsylvania veterans forced the Congress to leave Philadelphia temporarily.^[5]

[edit] Signatures

The Second Continental Congress approved the Articles for distribution to the states on November 15 1777. A copy was made for each state and one was kept by the Congress. The copies sent to the states for ratification were unsigned, and a cover letter had only the signatures of Henry Laurens and Charles Thomson, who were the President and Secretary to the Congress.

But, the Articles at that time were unsigned, and the date was blank. Congress began the signing process by examining their copy of the Articles on June 27 1778. They ordered a final copy prepared (the one in the National Archives), and that delegates should inform the secretary of their authority for ratification.

On July 9, 1778, the prepared copy was ready. They dated it, and began to sign. They also requested each of the remaining states to notify its delegation when ratification was completed. On that date, delegates present from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and South Carolina signed the Articles to indicate that their states had ratified. New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland could not, since their states had not ratified. North Carolina and Georgia also didn't sign that day, since their delegations were absent.

After the first signing, some delegates signed at the next meeting they attended. For example, John Wentworth of New Hampshire added his name on August 8. John Penn was the first of North Carolina's delegates to arrive (on July 10), and the delegation signed the Articles on July 21 1778.

The other states had to wait until they ratified the Articles and notified their Congressional delegation. Georgia signed on July 24, New Jersey on November 26, and Delaware on February 12 1779. Maryland refused to ratify the Articles until every state had ceded its western land claims.

On February 2, 1781, the much-awaited decision was taken by the Maryland General Assembly in Annapolis^[6]. As the last piece of business during the afternoon Session, "among engrossed Bills" was "signed and sealed by Governor Thomas Sim Lee in the Senate Chamber, in the presence of the members of both Houses… an Act to empower the delegates of this state in Congress to subscribe and ratify the articles of confederation" and perpetual union among the states. The Senate then adjourned "to the first Monday in August next." The decision of Maryland to ratify the Articles was reported to the Continental Congress on February 12. The formal signing of the Articles by the Maryland delegates took place in Philadelphia at noon time on March 1, 1781 and was celebrated in the afternoon. With these events, the Articles entered into force and the United States came into being as a united, sovereign and national state.

Congress had debated the Articles for over a year and a half, and the ratification process had taken nearly three and a half years. Many participants in the original debates were no longer delegates, and some of the signers had only recently arrived. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union were signed by a group of men who were never present in the Congress at the same time.

The signers and the states they represented were:

• New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett and John Wentworth Jr.
• Massachusetts Bay: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Elbridge Gerry, Francis Dana, James Lovell, and Samuel Holten
• Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: William Ellery, Henry Marchant, and John Collins
• Connecticut: Roger Sherman¹, Samuel Huntington, Oliver Wolcott, Titus Hosmer, and Andrew Adams
• New York: James Duane, Francis Lewis, William Duer, and Gouverneur Morris
• New Jersey: John Witherspoon and Nathaniel Scudder
• Pennsylvania:Robert Morris², Daniel Roberdeau, Jonathan Bayard Smith, William Clingan, and Joseph Reed
• Delaware: Thomas McKean, John Dickinson³, and Nicholas Van Dyke
• Maryland: John Hanson and Daniel Carroll³
• Virginia: Richard Henry Lee, John Banister, Thomas Adams, John Harvie, and Francis Lightfoot Lee
• North Carolina: John Penn, Cornelius Harnett, and John Williams
• South Carolina: Henry Laurens, William Henry Drayton, John Mathews, Richard Hutson, and Thomas Heyward Jr.
• Georgia: John Walton, Edward Telfair, and Edward Langworthy

¹ The only person to sign all four great state papers of the United States: the Articles of Association, the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution.

² One of only 2 people to sign three of the great state papers of the United States: the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution.

³ One of only 4 people to sign both the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution.

[edit] Presidents of the Congress

The following list is of those who led the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation as the Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled. Under the Articles, the president was the presiding officer of Congress, chaired the Cabinet (the Committee of the States) when Congress was in recess, and performed other administrative functions. He was not, however, a chief executive in the way the successor President of the United States is a chief executive, but all of the functions he executed were under the auspices and in service of the Congress.

• Samuel Huntington (March 1, 1781 – July 9, 1781)
• Thomas McKean (July 10, 1781 – November 4, 1781)
• John Hanson (November 5, 1781 – November 3, 1782)
• Elias Boudinot (November 4, 1782 – November 2, 1783)
• Thomas Mifflin (November 3, 1783 – October 31, 1784)
• Richard Henry Lee (November 30, 1784 – November 6, 1785)
• John Hancock (November 23, 1785 – May 29, 1786)
• Nathaniel Gorham (June 6, 1786 – November 5, 1786)
• Arthur St. Clair (February 2, 1787 – November 4, 1787)
• Cyrus Griffin (January 22, 1788 – November 2, 1788)

For a full list of Presidents of the Congress Assembled and Presidents under the two Continental Congresses before the Articles, see President of the Continental Congress.

[edit] Revision and replacement

In May 1786, Charles Pinckney of South Carolina proposed that Congress revise the Articles of Confederation. Recommended changes included granting Congress power over foreign and domestic commerce, and providing means for Congress to collect money from state treasuries. Unanimous approval was necessary to make the alterations, however, and Congress failed to reach a consensus.

In September, five states assembled in the Annapolis Convention to discuss adjustments that would improve commerce. Under their chairman, Alexander Hamilton, they invited state representatives to convene in Philadelphia to discuss improvements to the federal government. Although the states' representatives to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia were only authorized to amend the Articles, the representatives held secret, closed-door sessions and wrote a new constitution. The new Constitution gave much more power to the central government, but characterization of the result is disputed. Historian Forrest McDonald, using the ideas of James Madison from Federalist 39, describes the change this way:

The constitutional reallocation of powers created a new form of government, unprecedented under the sun. Every previous national authority either had been centralized or else had been a confederation of sovereign states. The new American system was neither one nor the other; it was a mixture of both.^[7]

Historian Ralph Ketcham comments on the opinions of Patrick Henry, George Mason, and other antifederalists who were not so eager to give up the local autonomy won by the revolution:

Antifederalists feared what Patrick Henry termed the "consolidated government" proposed by the new Constitution. They saw in Federalist hopes for commercial growth and international prestige only the lust of ambitious men for a "splendid empire" that, in the time-honored way of empires, would oppress the people with taxes, conscription, and military campaigns. Uncertain that any government over so vast a domain as the United States could be controlled by the people, Antifederalists saw in the enlarged powers of the general government only the familiar threats to the rights and liberties of the people.^[8]

According to their own terms for modification (Article XIII), the Articles would still have been in effect until 1790, the year in which the last of the 13 states ratified the new Constitution. The Congress under the Articles continued to sit until November 1788,^{[9][10][11][12]} overseeing the adoption of the new Constitution by the states, and setting elections.

Historians have given many reasons for the perceived need to replace the articles in 1787. Jillson and Wilson (1994) point to the financial weakness as well as the norms, rules and institutional structures of the Congress, and the propensity to divide along sectional lines.

Rakove (1988) identifies several factors that explain the collapse of the Confederation. The lack of compulsory direct taxation power was objectionable to those wanting a strong centralized state or expecting to benefit from such power. It could not collect customs after the war because tariffs were vetoed by Rhode Island. Rakove concludes that their failure to implement national measures "stemmed not from a heady sense of independence but rather from the enormous difficulties that all the states encountered in collecting taxes, mustering men, and gathering supplies from a war-weary populace."^[13] The second group of factors Rakove identified derived from the substantive nature of the problems the Continental Congress confronted after 1783, especially the inability to create a strong foreign policy. Finally, the Confederation's lack of coercive power reduced the likelihood for profit to be made by political means, thus potential rulers were uninspired to seek power.

When the war ended in 1783, certain special interests had incentives to create a new "merchant state," much like the British state people had rebelled against. In particular, holders of war scrip and land speculators wanted a central government to pay off scrip at face value and to legalize western land holdings with disputed claims. Also, manufacturers wanted a high tariff as a barrier to foreign goods, but competition among states made this impossible without a central government.

[edit] Historical importance

The Articles are historically important for two major reasons: i) they were the first constitution or governing document for the United States of America and ii) they legally established a union of the thirteen founding states; a Perpetual Union. Early on, tensions developed surrounding the Union, not least because of the fact that with the US Constitution the basis of government was changed from that of confederation to federation. Thomas Jefferson and John C. Calhoun were in their time leading proponents of guaranteeing the constitutional rights of states in federal legislation. Over time, a legal view developed that if the union violated the constitutional rights of states they might rightfully seceed.^[14] A significant tension in the 19th century surrounded the expansion of slavery (which was generally supported in agricultural Southern states and opposed in industrial Northern states). As the secessionist view gained support in the South, the opposing view in the North was that since the U.S. Constitution declared itself to be "a more perfect union" than the Articles, it too must be perpetual, and also could not be broken without the consent of the other states. This view was promoted by Daniel Webster and Abraham Lincoln. In 1861, these constitutional contracts were cited by President Lincoln against any claims by the seceding states that unilaterally withdrawing from the Union and taking federal property within those states was legal.^[15]

[edit] The Northwest Ordinance

The Congress established the Northwest Territory around the Great Lakes between 1784 and 1787. In 1787, Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance banning slavery in the new Territory. Congressional legislation divided the Territory into townships of six square miles each and provided for the sale of land to settlers. The Northwest Territory would eventually become the states of Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan.

[edit] Problems with the Confederation

The Confederation faced several difficulties in its early years. Firstly, Congress became extremely dependent on the states for income. Also, states refused to require its citizens to pay debts to British merchants, straining relations with Great Britain. France prohibited Americans from using the important port of New Orleans, crippling American trade down the Mississippi river.

[edit] Shays' Rebellion

Due to the post-revolution economic woes, agitated by inflation, many worried of social instability. This was especially true for those in Massachusetts. The legislature's response to the shaky economy was to put emphasis on maintaining a sound currency by paying off the state debt through levying massive taxes. The tax burden hit those with moderate incomes dramatically. The average farmer paid a third of their annual income to these taxes from 1780 to 1786. Those who couldn't pay had their property foreclosed and were thrown into crowded prisons filled with other debtors.

But in the summer of 1786, a revolutionary war veteran named Daniel Shays began to organize western communities in Massachusetts to stop foreclosures, with force, by prohibiting the courts from holding their proceedings. Later that fall, Shays marched the newly formed "rebellion" into Springfield to stop the state supreme court from gathering. The state responded with troops sent to suppress the rebellion. After a failed attempt by the rebels to attack the Springfield arsenal, and other small skirmishes, the rebels retreated and then uprising collapsed. Shays retreated to Vermont by 1787.

While Daniel Shays was in hiding, the government condemned him to death on the charge of treason. Shays pleaded for his life in a petition which was finally granted by John Hancock on June 17, 1788. With the threat of treason behind him, Shays moved to New York and died September 25, 1825

[edit] US Presidents before George Washington

Who was the first president of the United States? Ask any school child and they will readily tell you "George Washington." And of course, they would be correct—at least technically. Washington was inaugurated on April 30, 1789, and yet, the United States continually had functioning governments from as early as September 5, 1774 and operated as a confederated nation from as early as July 4, 1776. During that nearly fifteen year interval, Congress—first the Continental Congress and then later the Confederation Congress—was always moderated by a duly elected president. This officer was known as the "President of the Continental Congress", and later as the "President of the United States, in Congress Assembled".

However, the office of President of the Continental Congress had very little relationship to the office of President of the United States beyond the name. The President of the United States is the head of the executive branch of government, while the President of the Continental Congress was merely the chair of a body that most resembled a legislature, although it possessed legislative, executive, and judicial powers. The following brief biographies profile these "forgotten presidents."

Peyton Randolph of Virginia (1723-1775)

When delegates gathered in Philadelphia for the first Continental Congress, they promptly elected the former King's Attorney of Virginia as the moderator and president of their convocation. He was a propitious choice. He was a legal prodigy—having studied at the Inner Temple in London, served as his native colony's Attorney General, and tutored many of the most able men of the South at William and Mary College—including the young Patrick Henry. His home in Williamsburg was the gathering place for Virginia's legal and political gentry—and it remains a popular attraction in the restored colonial capital. He had served as a delegate in the Virginia House of Burgesses, and had been a commander under William Byrd in the colonial militia. He was a scholar of some renown—having begun a self-guided reading of the classics when he was thirteen. Despite suffering poor health served the Continental Congress as president twice, in 1774 from September 5 to October 21, and then again for a few days in 1775 from May 10 to May 23. He never lived to see independence, yet was numbered among the nation's most revered founders.

Henry Middleton (1717-1784)

America's second elected president was one of the wealthiest planters in the South, the patriarch of the most powerful families anywhere in the nation. His public spirit was evident from an early age. He was a member of his state's Common House from 1744-1747. During the last two years he served as the Speaker. During 1755 he was the King's Commissioner of Indian Affairs. He was a member of the South Carolina Council from 1755-1770. His valor in the War with the Cherokees during 1760-1761 earned him wide recognition throughout the colonies—and demonstrated his leadership abilities while under pressure. He was elected as a delegate to the first session of the Continental Congress and when Peyton Randolph was forced to resign the presidency, his peers immediately turned to Middleton to complete the term. He served as the fledgling coalition's president from October 22, 1774 until Randolph was able to resume his duties briefly beginning on May 10, 1775. Afterward, he was a member of the Congressional Council of Safety and helped to establish the young nation's policy toward the encouragement and support of education. In February 1776 he resigned his political involvements in order to prepare his family and lands for what he believed was inevitable war—but he was replaced by his son Arthur who eventually became a signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation, served time as an English prisoner of war, and was twice elected Governor of his state.

John Hancock (1737-1793)

The third president was a patriot, rebel leader, merchant who signed his name into immortality in giant strokes on the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The boldness of his signature has made it live in American minds as a perfect expression of the strength and freedom—and defiance—of the individual in the face of British tyranny. As President of the Continental Congress during two widely spaced terms—the first from May 24 1775 to October 30 1777 and the second from November 23 1785 to June 5, 1786—Hancock was the presiding officer when the members approved the Declaration of Independence. Because of his position, it was his official duty to sign the document first—but not necessarily as dramatically as he did. Hancock figured prominently in another historic event—the battle at Lexington: British troops who fought there April 10, 1775, had known Hancock and Samuel Adams were in Lexington and had come there to capture these rebel leaders. And the two would have been captured, if they had not been warned by Paul Revere. As early as 1768, Hancock defied the British by refusing to pay customs charges on the cargo of one of his ships. One of Boston's wealthiest merchants, he was recognized by the citizens, as well as by the British, as a rebel leader—and was elected President of the first Massachusetts Provincial Congress. After he was chosen President of the Continental Congress in 1775, Hancock became known beyond the borders of Massachusetts, and, having served as colonel of the Massachusetts Governor's Guards he hoped to be named commander of the American forces—until John Adams nominated George Washington. In 1778 Hancock was commissioned Major General and took part in an unsuccessful campaign in Rhode Island. But it was as a political leader that his real distinction was earned—as the first Governor of Massachusetts, as President of Congress, and as President of the Massachusetts constitutional ratification convention. He helped win ratification in Massachusetts, gaining enough popular recognition to make him a contender for the newly created Presidency of the United States, but again he saw Washington gain the prize. Like his rival, George Washington, Hancock was a wealthy man who risked much for the cause of independence. He was the wealthiest New Englander supporting the patriotic cause, and, although he lacked the brilliance of John Adams or the capacity to inspire of Samuel Adams, he became one of the foremost leaders of the new nation—perhaps, in part, because he was willing to commit so much at such risk to the cause of freedom.

Henry Laurens (1724-1792)

The only American president ever to be held as a prisoner of war by a foreign power, Laurens was heralded after he was released as "the father of our country," by no less a personage than George Washington. He was of Huguenot extraction, his ancestors having come to America from France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes made the Reformed faith illegal. Raised and educated for a life of mercantilism at his home in Charleston, he also had the opportunity to spend more than a year in continental travel. It was while in Europe that he began to write revolutionary pamphlets—gaining him renown as a patriot. He served as vice-president of South Carolina in1776. He was then elected to the Continental Congress. He succeeded John Hancock as President of the newly independent but war beleaguered United States on November 1, 1777. He served until December 9, 1778 at which time he was appointed Ambassador to the Netherlands. Unfortunately for the cause of the young nation, he was captured by an English warship during his cross-Atlantic voyage and was confined to the Tower of London until the end of the war. After the Battle of Yorktown, the American government regained his freedom in a dramatic prisoner exchange—President Laurens for Lord Cornwallis. Ever the patriot, Laurens continued to serve his nation as one of the three representatives selected to negotiate terms at the Paris Peace Conference in 1782.

John Jay (1745-1829)

America's first Secretary of State, first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, one of its first ambassadors, and author of some of the celebrated Federalist Papers, Jay was a Founding Father who, by a quirk of fate, missed signing the Declaration of Independence—at the time of the vote for independence and the signing, he had temporarily left the Continental Congress to serve in New York's revolutionary legislature. Nevertheless, he was chosen by his peers to succeed Henry Laurens as President of the United States—serving a term from December 10, 1778 to September 27, 1779. A conservative New York lawyer who was at first against the idea of independence for the colonies, the aristocratic Jay in 1776 turned into a patriot who was willing to give the next twenty-five years of his life to help establish the new nation. During those years, he won the regard of his peers as a dedicated and accomplished statesman and a man of unwavering principle. In the Continental Congress Jay prepared addresses to the people of Canada and Great Britain. In New York he drafted the State constitution and served as Chief Justice during the war. He was President of the Continental Congress before he undertook the difficult assignment, as ambassador, of trying to gain support and funds from Spain. After helping Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, and Laurens complete peace negotiations in Paris in 1783, Jay returned to become the first Secretary of State, called "Secretary of Foreign Affairs" under the Articles of Confederation. He negotiated valuable commercial treaties with Russia and Morocco, and dealt with the continuing controversy with Britain and Spain over the southern and western boundaries of the United States. He proposed that America and Britain establish a joint commission to arbitrate disputes that remained after the war—a proposal which, though not adopted, influenced the government's use of arbitration and diplomacy in settling later international problems. In this post Jay felt keenly the weakness of the Articles of Confederation and was one of the first to advocate a new governmental compact. He wrote five Federalist Papers supporting the Constitution, and he was a leader in the New York ratification convention. As first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Jay made the historic decision that a State could be sued by a citizen from another State, which led to the Eleventh Amendment to the Constitution. On a special mission to London he concluded the "Jay Treaty," which helped avert a renewal of hostilities with Britain but won little popular favor at home—and it is probably for this treaty that this Founding Father is best remembered.

Samuel Huntington (1732-1796) An industrious youth who mastered his studies of the law without the advantage of a school, a tutor, or a master—borrowing books and snatching opportunities to read and research between odd jobs—he was one of the greatest self-made men among the Founders. He was also one of the greatest legal minds of the age—all the more remarkable for his lack of advantage as a youth. In 1764, in recognition of his obvious abilities and initiative, he was elected to the General Assembly of Connecticut. The next year he was chosen to serve on the Executive Council. In 1774 he was appointed Associate Judge of the Superior Court and, as a delegate to the Continental Congress, was acknowledged to be a legal scholar of some respect. He served in Congress for five consecutive terms, during the last of which he was elected President. He served in that office from September 28, 1779 until ill health forced him to resign on July 9, 1781. He returned to his home in Connecticut—and as he recuperated, he accepted more Councilor and Bench duties. He again took his seat in Congress in 1783, but left it to become Chief Justice of his state's Superior Court. He was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1785 and Governor in 1786. According to John Jay, he was "the most precisely trained Christian jurists ever to serve his country."

Thomas McKean (1734-1817) During his astonishingly varied fifty-year career in public life he held almost every possible position—from deputy county attorney to President of the United States under the Confederation. Besides signing the Declaration of Independence, he contributed significantly to the development and establishment of constitutional government in both his home state of Delaware and the nation. At the Stamp Act Congress he proposed the voting procedure that Congress adopted: that each colony, regardless of size or population, has one vote—the practice adopted by the Continental Congress and the Congress of the Confederation, and the principle of state equality manifest in the composition of the Senate. And as county judge in 1765, he defied the British by ordering his court to work only with documents that did not bear the hated stamps. In June 1776, at the Continental Congress, McKean joined with Caesar Rodney to register Delaware's approval of the Declaration of Independence, over the negative vote of the third Delaware delegate, George Read—permitting it to be "The unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States." And at a special Delaware convention, he drafted the constitution for that State. McKean also helped draft—and signed—the Articles of Confederation. It was during his tenure of service as President—from July 10, 1781 to November 4, 1782—when news arrived from General Washington in October 1781 that the British had surrendered following the Battle of Yorktown. As Chief Justice of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, he contributed to the establishment of the legal system in that State, and, in 1787, he strongly supported the Constitution at the Pennsylvania Ratification Convention, declaring it "the best the world has yet seen." At sixty-five, after over forty years of public service, McKean resigned from his post as Chief Justice. A candidate on the Democratic-Republican ticket in 1799, McKean was elected Governor of Pennsylvania. As Governor, he followed such a strict policy of appointing only fellow Republicans to office that he became the father of the spoils system in America. He served three tempestuous terms as Governor, completing one of the longest continuous careers of public service of any of the Founding Fathers.

John Hanson (1715-1783) He was the heir of one of the greatest family traditions in the colonies and became the patriarch of a long line of American patriots—his great grandfather died at Lutzen beside the great King Gustavus Aldophus of Sweden; his grandfather was one of the founders of New Sweden along the Delaware River in Maryland; one of his nephews was the military secretary to George Washington; another was a signer of the Declaration; still another was a signer of the Constitution; yet another was Governor of Maryland during the Revolution; and still another was a member of the first Congress; two sons were killed in action with the Continental Army; a grandson served as a member of Congress under the new Constitution; and another grandson was a Maryland Senator. Thus, even if Hanson had not served as President himself, he would have greatly contributed to the life of the nation through his ancestry and progeny. As a youngster he began a self-guided reading of classics and rather quickly became an acknowledged expert in the juridicalism of Anselm and the practical philosophy of Seneca—both of which were influential in the development of the political philosophy of the great leaders of the Reformation. It was based upon these legal and theological studies that the young planter—his farm, Mulberry Grove was just across the Potomac from Mount Vernon—began to espouse the cause of the patriots. In 1775 he was elected to the Provincial Legislature of Maryland. Then in 1777, he became a member of Congress where he distinguished himself as a brilliant administrator. Thus, he was elected President in 1781. He served in that office from November 5, 1781 until November 3, 1782. He was the first President to serve a full term after the full ratification of the Articles of Confederation—and like so many of the Southern and New England Founders, he was strongly opposed to the Constitution when it was first discussed. He remained a confirmed anti-federalist until his untimely death.

Elias Boudinot (1741-1802) He did not sign the Declaration, the Articles, or the Constitution. He did not serve in the Continental Army with distinction. He was not renowned for his legal mind or his political skills. He was instead a man who spent his entire career in foreign diplomacy. He earned the respect of his fellow patriots during the dangerous days following the traitorous action of Benedict Arnold. His deft handling of relations with Canada also earned him great praise. After being elected to the Congress from his home state of New Jersey, he served as the new nation's Secretary for Foreign Affairs—managing the influx of aid from France, Spain, and Holland. The in 1783 he was elected to the Presidency. He served in that office from November 4, 1782 until November 2, 1783. Like so many of the other early presidents, he was a classically trained scholar, of the Reformed faith, and an anti-federalist in political matters. He was the father and grandfather of frontiersmen—and one of his grandchildren and namesakes eventually became a leader of the Cherokee nation in its bid for independence from the sprawling expansion of the United States.

Thomas Mifflin (1744-1800) By an ironic sort of providence, Thomas Mifflin served as George Washington's first aide-de-camp at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, and, when the war was over, he was the man, as President of the United States, who accepted Washington's resignation of his commission. In the years between, Mifflin greatly served the cause of freedom—and, apparently, his own cause—while serving as the first Quartermaster General of the Continental Army. He obtained desperately needed supplies for the new army—and was suspected of making excessive profit himself. Although experienced in business and successful in obtaining supplies for the war, Mifflin preferred the front lines, and he distinguished himself in military actions on Long Island and near Philadelphia. Born and reared a Quaker, he was excluded from their meetings for his military activities. A controversial figure, Mifflin lost favor with Washington and was part of the Conway Cabal—a rather notorious plan to replace Washington with General Horatio Gates. And Mifflin narrowly missed court-martial action over his handling of funds by resigning his commission in 1778. In spite of these problems—and of repeated charges that he was a drunkard—Mifflin continued to be elected to positions of responsibility—as President and Governor of Pennsylvania, delegate to the Constitutional Convention, as well as the highest office in the land—where he served from November 3, 1783 to November 29, 1784. Most of Mifflin's significant contributions occurred in his earlier years—in the First and Second Continental Congresses he was firm in his stand for independence and for fighting for it, and he helped obtain both men and supplies for Washington's army in the early critical period. In 1784, as President, he signed the treaty with Great Britain which ended the war. Although a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, he did not make a significant contribution—beyond signing the document. As Governor of Pennsylvania, although he was accused of negligence, he supported improvements of roads, and reformed the State penal and judicial systems. He had gradually become sympathetic to Jefferson's principles regarding State's rights, even so, he directed the Pennsylvania militia to support the Federal tax collectors in the Whiskey Rebellion. In spite of charges of corruption, the affable Mifflin remained a popular figure. A magnetic personality and an effective speaker, he managed to hold a variety of elective offices for almost thirty years of the critical Revolutionary period.

Richard Henry Lee (1732-1794) His resolution "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States," approved by the Continental Congress July 2, 1776, was the first official act of the United Colonies that set them irrevocably on the road to independence. It was not surprising that it came from Lee's pen—as early as 1768 he proposed the idea of committees of correspondence among the colonies, and in 1774 he proposed that the colonies meet in what became the Continental Congress. From the first, his eye was on independence. A wealthy Virginia planter whose ancestors had been granted extensive lands by King Charles II, Lee disdained the traditional aristocratic role and the aristocratic view. In the House of Burgesses he flatly denounced the practice of slavery. He saw independent America as "an asylum where the unhappy may find solace, and the persecuted repose." In 1764, when news of the proposed Stamp Act reached Virginia, Lee was a member of the committee of the House of Burgesses that drew up an address to the King, an official protest against such a tax. After the tax was established, Lee organized the citizens of his county into the Westmoreland Association, a group pledged to buy no British goods until the Stamp Act was repealed. At the First Continental Congress, Lee persuaded representatives from all the colonies to adopt this non-importation idea, leading to the formation of the Continental Association, which was one of the first steps toward union of the colonies. Lee also proposed to the First Continental Congress that a militia be organized and armed—the year before the first shots were fired at Lexington; but this and other proposals of his were considered too radical—at the time. Three days after Lee introduced his resolution, in June of 1776, he was appointed by Congress to the committee responsible for drafting a declaration of independence, but he was called home when his wife fell ill, and his place was taken by his young protégé, Thomas Jefferson. Thus Lee missed the chance to draft the document—though his influence greatly shaped it and he was able to return in time to sign it. He was elected President—serving from November 30, 1784 to November 22, 1785 when he was succeeded by the second administration of John Hancock. Elected to the Constitutional Convention, Lee refused to attend, but as a member of the Congress of the Confederation, he contributed to another great document, the Northwest Ordinance, which provided for the formation of new States from the Northwest Territory. When the completed Constitution was sent to the States for ratification, Lee opposed it as anti-democratic and anti-Christian. However, as one of Virginia's first Senators, he helped assure passage of the amendments that, he felt, corrected many of the document's gravest faults—the Bill of Rights. He was the great uncle of Robert E. Lee and the scion of a great family tradition.

Nathaniel Gorham (1738-1796) Another self-made man, Gorham was one of the many successful Boston merchants who risked all he had for the cause of freedom. He was first elected to the Massachusetts General Court in 1771. His honesty and integrity won his acclaim and was thus among the first delegates chose to serve in the Continental Congress. He remained in public service throughout the war and into the Constitutional period, though his greatest contribution was his call for a stronger central government. But even though he was an avid federalist, he did not believe that the union could—or even should—be maintained peaceably for more than a hundred years. He was convinced that eventually, in order to avoid civil or cultural war, smaller regional interests should pursue an independent course. His support of a new constitution was rooted more in pragmatism than ideology. When John Hancock was unable to complete his second term as President, Gorham was elected to succeed him—serving from June 6, 1786 to February 1, 1787. It was during this time that the Congress actually entertained the idea of asking Prince Henry—the brother of Frederick II of Prussia—and Bonnie Prince Charlie—the leader of the ill-fated Scottish Jacobite Rising and heir of the Stuart royal line—to consider the possibility of establishing a constitutional monarch in America. It was a plan that had much to recommend it but eventually the advocates of republicanism held the day. During the final years of his life, Gorham was concerned with several speculative land deals which nearly cost him his entire fortune.

Arthur St. Clair (1734-1818) Born and educated in Edinburgh, Scotland during the tumultuous days of the final Jacobite Rising and the Tartan Suppression, St. Clair was the only president of the United States born and bred on foreign soil. Though most of his family and friends abandoned their devastated homeland in the years following the Battle of Culloden—after which nearly a third of the land was depopulated through emigration to America—he stayed behind to learn the ways of the hated Hanoverian English in the Royal Navy. His plan was to learn of the enemy's military might in order to fight another day. During the global conflict of the Seven Years War—generally known as the French and Indian War—he was stationed in the American theater. Afterward, he decided to settle in Pennsylvania where many of his kin had established themselves. His civic-mindedness quickly became apparent: he helped to organize both the New Jersey and the Pennsylvania militias, led the Continental Army's Canadian expedition, and was elected Congress. His long years of training in the enemy camp was finally paying off. He was elected President in 1787—and he served from February 2 of that year until January 21 of the next. Following his term of duty in the highest office in the land, he became the first Governor of the Northwest Territory. Though he briefly supported the idea of creating a constitutional monarchy under the Stuart's Bonnie Prince Charlie, he was a strident Anti-Federalist—believing that the proposed federal constitution would eventually allow for the intrusion of government into virtually every sphere and aspect of life. He even predicted that under the vastly expanded centralized power of the state the taxing powers of bureaucrats and other unelected officials would eventually confiscate as much as a quarter of the income of the citizens—a notion that seemed laughable at the time but that has proven to be ominously modest in light of our current governmental leviathan. St. Clair lived to see the hated English tyrants who destroyed his homeland defeated. But he despaired that his adopted home might actually create similar tyrannies and impose them upon themselves.

Cyrus Griffin (1736-1796) Like Peyton Randolph, he was trained in London's Inner Temple to be a lawyer—and thus was counted among his nation's legal elite. Like so many other Virginians, he was an anti-federalist, though he eventually accepted the new Constitution with the promise of the Bill of Rights as a hedge against the establishment of an American monarchy—which still had a good deal of currency. The Articles of Confederation afforded such freedoms that he had become convinced that even with the incumbent loss of liberty, some new form of government would be required. A protégé of George Washington—having worked with him on several speculative land deals in the West—he was a reluctant supporter of the Constitutional ratifying process. It was during his term in the office of the Presidency—the last before the new national compact went into effect—that ratification was formalized and finalized. He served as the nation's chief executive from January 22, 1788 until George Washington's inauguration on April 30, 1789.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• R. B. Bernstein, "Parliamentary Principles, American Realities: The Continental and Confederation Congresses, 1774-1789," in Inventing Congress: Origins & Establishment Of First Federal Congress ed by Kenneth R. Bowling and Donald R. Kennon (1999) pp 76-108
• Burnett, Edmund Cody. The Continental Congress: A Definitive History of the Continental Congress From Its Inception in 1774 to March, 1789 (1941)
• Barbara Feinberg, The Articles Of Confederation (2002). [for middle school children.]
• Robert W. Hoffert, A Politics of Tensions: The Articles of Confederation and American Political Ideas (1992).
• Lucille E. Horgan. Forged in War: The Continental Congress and the Origin of Military Supply and Acquisition Policy (2002)
• Merrill Jensen, The Articles of Confederation: An Interpretation of the Social-Constitutional History of the American Revolution, 1774-1781 (1959).
• Merrill Jensen: "The Idea of a National Government During the American Revolution", Political Science Quarterly, 58 (1943), 356-79. online at JSTOR
• Calvin Jillson and Rick K. Wilson. Congressional Dynamics: Structure, Coordination, and Choice in the First American Congress, 1774-1789. (1994)
• Forest McDonald.Novus Ordo Seclorum: The Intellectual Origins of the Constitution. (1985)
• Andrew C. Mclaughlin, A Constitutional History of the United States (1935) online version
• Pauline Maier, American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence (1998).
• Jackson T. Main, Political Parties before the Constitution. University of North Carolina Press, 1974
• Jack N. Rakove, The Beginnings of National Politics: An Interpretive History of the Continental Congress (1982).
• Jack N. Rakove, “The Collapse of the Articles of Confederation,” in The American Founding: Essays on the Formation of the Constitution. Ed by J. Jackson Barlow, Leonard W. Levy and Ken Masugi. Greenwood Press. 1988. Pp 225-45 ISBN 0313256101

[edit] Further reading

• Klos, Stanley L. (2004). President Who? Forgotten Founders. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Evisum, Inc., 261. ISBN 0-9752627-5-0.

[edit] External links

Wikisource has original text related to: Print version

• Text Version of the Articles of Confederation
• Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union
• Articles of Confederation and related resources, Library of Congress
• Today in History: November 15, Library of Congress
• United States Constitution Online - The Articles of Confederation
• Free Download of Articles of Confederation Audio
• Audio narration (mp3) of the Articles of Confederation at Americana Phonic
• The Articles of Confederation, Chapter 45 (see page 253) of Volume 4 of Conceived in Liberty by Murray Rothbard, in PDF format.

[edit] The Early Years of the Constitutional Republic (1787 - 1800)

[edit] Early Immigration to the Americas as of 1790

According to the source, The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy by Kory L. Meyerink and Loretto Dennis Szucs, the following were the countries of origin for new arrivals coming to the United States up to 1790. The regions marked * were part of Great Britain: None of these numbers are definitive and only "educated" guesses. The ancestry of the 3.9 million population in 1790 has been estimated by various sources by sampling last names in the 1790 census and assigning them a country of origin. Needless to say this is also a somewhat uncertain procedure. Particularly when it comes to Scot-Irish, Irish and English names which can often be the same. The Irish in the 1790 census are mostly Irish Protestants, the French Huguenots. The total U.S. Catholic population in 1790 was probably less than 5%.

Group	Immigrants before 1790	Population 1790
Africa	360,000 (most as slaves)	800,000
England*	230,000	1,900,000
Ulster Scot-Irish*	135,000	300,000
Germany	103,000	270,000
Scotland*	48,500	150,000
Ireland*	8,000	(Incl. in Scot-Irish)
Netherlands	6,000	100,000
Wales*	4,000	10,000
France	3,000	50,000
Jews	1,000	2,000
Sweden	500	2,000
Other	---	200,000

Some, such as author James Webb, have argued that not enough credit is given to early Scots-Irish for the role they played in early American history, as they formed a full 40% of the American Revolutionary army and their culture is now dominant in the American South, Midwest and Appalachian Region.

[edit] The Constitutional Convention

In 1787, a Convention was called at Philadelphia with the declared purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation, however many delegates intended to use this convention for the purpose of drafting a new constitution. All states except for Rhode Island sent delegates, though all delegates did not attend. At the convention, the primary issue was representation of the states. Under the Articles, each state had one vote in Congress. The more populous states wanted representation to be based on population (proportional representation). James Madison of Virginia crafted the Virginia Plan, which guaranteed proportional representation and granted wide powers to the Congress. The small states, on the other hand, supported equal representation through William Paterson's New Jersey Plan. The New Jersey Plan also increased the Congress' power, but it did not go nearly as far as the Virginia Plan. The conflict threatened to end the Convention, but Roger Sherman of Connecticut proposed the "Great Compromise," (or Connecticut Compromise) under which one house of Congress would be based on proportional representation, while the other would be based on equal representation. Eventually, the Compromise was accepted and the Convention saved.

After settling on representation, compromises seemed easy for other issues. The question about the counting of slaves when determining the official population of a state was resolved by the Three-Fifths Compromise, which provided that slaves would count as three-fifths of persons. In another compromise, the Congress was empowered to ban the slave trade, but only after 1808. Similarly, issues relating to the empowerment and election of the President were resolved, leading to the Electoral College method for choosing the Chief Executive of the nation.

The Convention required that the Constitution come into effect only after nine states ratify, or approve, it. The fight for ratification was difficult, but the Constitution eventually came into effect in 1788.

[edit] Federalist & Anti-Federalist Parties

The Federalists were those who supported ratification, while the Anti-Federalists opposed it. Noted Federalists Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison published The Federalist Papers, a series of essays defending the Constitution. Anti-Federalists such as Patrick Henry argued that the Constitution did not provide for a Bill of Rights protecting the people, nor did it guarantee against abuse of power by the federal government directed against the states.

Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, and New Hampshire ratified the Constitution, in that order, by summer 1788. Before the new government was elected and came into existence, Virginia and New York also ratified the Constitution. The new Congress then passed a Bill of Rights to allay any remaining fears regarding the new nation. Having few arguments remaining, the Anti-Federalists lost in North Carolina and Rhode Island, which eventually ratified the Constitution. The ratification of the Constitution, was, under the provisions of the Articles of Confederation, invalid, as the new government took power before the constitution had been ratified by all 13 states, a requirement to pass a law or amend the Articles.

[edit] The Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans

In 1788, the Electors unanimously chose George Washington as the first President of the United States. Washington helped bring the government together, but rivalries arose between his closest advisors, reflecting important domestic and international developments. Out of these developments evolved two new political parties: The Federalists, who shared the same name as the earlier pro-ratification party, and the Republican Party, also known as the Democratic - Republican Party or the Jeffersonian party.

Washington was the first President of the United States. He was also the Commander-in-Chief of the American forces during the American Revolution.George Washington (February 22, 1732–December 14, 1799) was the successful Commander in Chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783, and later became the first President of the United States, an office to which he was twice elected unanimously (unanimous among the Electoral College), and held from 1789 to 1797.

Washington first served as an officer during the French and Indian War and as a leader of colonial militia supporting the British Empire. After leading the American victory in the Revolutionary War, he refused to lead a military regime, though encouraged by some of his peers to do so. He returned to civilian life at Mount Vernon.

In 1787 he presided over the Constitutional Convention that drafted the current United States Constitution and, in 1789, was the unanimous choice to become the first president of the United States. His two-term administration set many policies and traditions that survive today. After his second term expired, Washington again voluntarily relinquished power, thereby establishing an important precedent that was to serve as an example for the United States and also for other future republics.

Because of his central role in the founding of the United States, Washington is often called the "Father of his Country". Scholars rank him with Abraham Lincoln among the greatest of United States presidents.

[edit] Domestic Issues: Strong or Weak Central Government?

Within Washington's first Cabinet - Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox - Jefferson and Hamilton opposed each other on most issues. Hamilton was soon to become a leader of the Federalist Party, while Jefferson would help to found the Republican Party.

The first major conflict involved how to pay off Revolutionary War debts. Hamilton wanted to put state debts and federal debts into one huge national debt. When the new federal government succeeded in paying off this debt, it would increase confidence in the stability of the central government, encouraging foreign governments to loan the US money. Hamilton also proposed the creation of a national bank designed to help stabilize the national economy. This Bank of the United States, although a private institution, would serve as a place to put the government's money, thus increasing central financial power and economic control.

Jefferson, on the other hand, did not agree with Hamilton's idea of national bank. Unlike Hamilton, who wanted to increase trade and investment, Jefferson believed America's best direction lay in teaching people to be self-sufficient farmers, and he wanted the federal government to stop interfering in state matters.

Despite Jefferson's opinion, the government adopted Hamilton's program. Some evidence suggests that Jefferson did in the end support Hamilton's plan for paying off state debts in exchange for Hamilton's agreement to locate the government's permanent capital in the South, specifically, on the Potomac River (Washington D.C.). On the whole, however, it soon became clear that the Hamiltonian program was the one that both President Washington and Congress favored, and Jefferson eventually resigned as secretary of state.

[edit] Foreign Affairs: The French Revolution

In 1789, a few months after the Constitution went into effect, the French Revolution began. At first, as France overthrew the monarchy and declared itself a republic, many Americans supported the revolution, believing that their own revolt against England had now spurred France to embrace republicanism. But as the reign of terror began and thousands of French aristocrats went to the guillotine, many Americans were shocked at the revolution's excesses. By the mid-1790s, as France went to war against neighboring monarchies, the revolution polarized American public opinion. Federalists viewed England--France's traditional enemy-- as the bastion of stable government against a growing tide of French anarchy. Members of the emerging Republican Party, on the other hand--which took its name in part from the French Republic--believed the Terror to be merely a temporary excess, continuing to view England as the true enemy of American liberty.

President Washington's policy was one of neutrality. He knew that either England or France, as well as Spain, would be only too happy to assimilate American resources and territory if given the chance. His hope was that America could stay out of European conflicts until it was strong enough to withstand any serious foreign threat to its existence--a strength that the United States lacked in the 1790s. Unfortunately, both England and France would try to play American resources off against the other.

Here, too, Hamilton and Jefferson clashed. Hamilton argued that the mutual defense treaty that the United States had concluded with France in 1778 was no longer binding, since the French regime that had made that treaty no longer existed. Jefferson disagreed, but Washington sided with Hamilton, issuing a formal Proclamation of Neutrality in 1793.

That same year, Citizen Edmund Charles Genêt arrived as the French minister to the United States, and he soon began issuing commissions to captains of American ships who were willing to serve as privateers for France. This blatant disregard of American neutrality angered Washington, who demanded and got Genêt's recall.

[edit] English and Spanish Negotiations

The Royal Navy, meanwhile, began pressing sailors into service, including sailors on American merchant ships. Many English sailors had been lured into the American merchant service by high wages and comparatively good standards of living, and England needed these sailors to man its own fleet, on which England's national security depended. This violation of the American flag, however, infuriated Americans, as did the fact that England had not yet withdrawn its soldiers from posts in the Northwest Territory, as required by the Treaty of Paris of 1783.

In response, President Washington sent Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay to negotiate a treaty with England. But Jay had little leverage with which to negotiate: the final treaty did require immediate English evacuation of the frontier forts, but it said nothing about the matter of impressment. The Jay Treaty provoked an outcry among American citizens, and although the Senate ratified it narrowly, the debate it sparked was the final blow which solidified the Federalist and Republican factions into full-scale political parties, Federalists acquiescing in the treaty, and Republicans viewing it as a sell-out to England (and against France).

Spain, meanwhile, viewed the Jay Treaty negotiations with alarm, fearing that America and England might be moving towards an alliance. Without being certain of the treaty provisions, Spain decided to mollify the United States and give ground in the southwest before a future Anglo-American alliance could take New Orleans and Louisiana. Spain thus agreed to abandon all territorial claims north of Florida and east of the Mississippi, with the exception of New Orleans, and to grant the United States both the right to navigate the Mississippi and the right of commercial deposit in New Orleans. This would give westerners greater security and allow them to trade with the outside world. This Treaty of San Lorenzo, also called Pinckney's Treaty after American diplomat Charles Pinckney, was signed in 1795 and ratified the following year. Unlike Jay's treaty, it was quite popular.

If Jay's Treaty alarmed Spain, it angered France, which saw it as a violation of the Franco-American mutual defense treaty of 1778. By 1797, French privateers began attacking American merchant shipping in the Caribbean.

[edit] Election of 1796

George Washington won a second term with the unanimous approval of the Electoral College, but he refused to run for a third term, setting a precedent for future Presidents that would last until 1940. In 1796, Washington's Federalist Vice President John Adams, and Republican Thomas Jefferson ran against each other in an election that marked the influence of political parties. Also, the Federalist Thomas Pinckney and the Republican Aaron Burr ran, intending to become Vice President if the other candidate from the party gained the Presidency.

The original system of the Electoral College required that Electors chosen by the states cast two votes for President. The President would be the winner of the election, while the Vice President would be whoever came in second place. Due to this system, John Adams won the required majority, but Thomas Jefferson came in second place, leading to a President and Vice President from opposing parties. This awkward situation resulted in Jefferson's isolation from the administration, and he did not play a significant role in governing over the next four years.

[edit] The XYZ Affair

Newly-elected President John Adams resolved to negotiate a settlement with France, and sent a delegation to Paris. The delegates, however, made no headway, finding it impossible even to secure an appointment with Talleyrand, the French foreign minister. The delegates were then approached by three minor functionaries, who insisted that the Americans must pay a bribe in order to inaugurate negotiations, warning them of "the power and violence of France" if they refused. The delegates did in fact refuse ("The answer is no; no; not a sixpence," one of them retorted. This was popularly rendered as "Millions for defense, not a penny for tribute."), and reported back to Adams. When Adams made the correspondence public (after replacing the names of the French functionaries with X, Y, and Z), American sentiment swung strongly against France. Congress, strongly under the control of the Federalists, initiated a military buildup, fielding several excellent warships and calling Washington out of retirement to head the army. (Washington agreed, but only on condition that he not assume actual command until the army took the field, which never occurred.)

The result was the Quasi-war, or the undeclared naval war with France. It consisted of ship-on-ship actions, mostly in the Caribbean, from 1798 to 1800. Eventually the United States and France agreed to end hostilities and to end the mutual defense treaty of 1778. Adams considered this one of his finest achievements.

[edit] Alien and Sedition Acts

Under Adams, the Federalist-dominated congress pushed passage of a series of laws that openly justified to battle dangerous "aliens" but in reality was used to hush political opponents. The Alien and Sedition Acts generally refer to four acts:

1. The Alien Act authorized the president to deport an alien deemed "dangerous."
2. The Alien Enemies Act authorized the president to deport or imprison any alien from a country that the United States was fighting a declared war with.
3. The Sedition Act made it a crime to criticize government officials and publish "false, scandalous, and malicious writing" against the government or its agents.
4. The Naturalization Act changed the residency requirements for aliens to become citizens from 5 to 14 years.

Although it was openly deemed to be a security act, it provided powerful tools to the ruling Federalist party to quiet opposition from the growing Democratic-Republican Party. By extending the time required to become a citizen, they decreased the number of new voters that might choose to support the minority party.

However, these acts were rarely enacted against political opponents due to the possibility of conflict such actions could create.

[edit] Review Questions

Use the content covered in this chapter and/or from external sources to answer the following questions. Remember to properly cite any sources used.

1. Identify or explain the significance of the following people:

  (a)James Madison
  (b)William Paterson
  (c)Alexander Hamilton
  (d)Patrick Henry
  (e)Thomas Jefferson
  (f)Edmund Genet
  (g)Charles Pinckney

2. What was accomplished during the Consitutional Convention in terms of states' representations in the national government?

3. How did Congress take measures to ensure the ratification of the Constitution?

4. On what issues did Jefferson and Hamilton differ? How did this affect policies during the Washington administration?

5. What did Jay's Treaty and Pinckney's Treaty accomplish?

6. How did the United States respond to the French Revolution?

7. What was the XYZ Affair? What was its result?

8. What was the original purpose of the Alien, Sedition, and Naturalization Acts? How did their purpose change?

← Road to Revolution · Jeffersonian Democracy →

← Road to Revolution · US History · Jeffersonian Democracy →

[edit] Jeffersonian Republicanism (1800 - 1824)

[edit] The Election of 1800

John Adams' Presidency was plagued by several problems. Adams and Congress enacted the Alien and Sedition Acts, which restricted the First Amendment free speech rights of the opposing Republicans. Adams could not even control members of his own party, whom he alienated by disregarding his cabinet's advice. By 1800, Adams was clearly vulnerable.

Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr ran against Adams. The original intention was for Jefferson to become President and Burr to become Vice President. However, the Electoral College vote was eventually tied between the two candidates. This occurred because the constitution originally called for the individual with the most votes to become the President and the candidate with the second most votes to become the Vice President. George Washington, who approved of this system thought that there should be no party politics but just efforts for the overall good of the country. This had previously (in the election of 1796) led to Thomas Jefferson becoming the Vice President under John Adams, rather than the candidate for VP who was favored by Adams.

Despite the original intention of the two candidates, the House of Representatives were to choose one or the other as President since neither candidate achieved a majority in the Electoral College. The House was controlled by Federalists, and it had to vote thirty-six times until Jefferson finally became President. (Aaron Burr, who became Vice President, resented Alexander Hamilton, who finally agreed to vote for Jefferson as President; Burr eventually killed Hamilton in a duel.) Subsequently, a constitutional amendment was approved which led to separate balloting for President and Vice President in the Electoral College.

His first term was called the Revolution of 1800, because of the many changes to America. The first and foremost thing to take place during his 8 years in office, the U.S. Supreme Court established two principles that would have profound effect in the life of America. The first was the issue of judicial review and the second was the controversial trial of Aaron Burr. The first trial Mabury v. Madison dealt with the court packing policies of the previous president John Adams. This trial introduced the concept of judicial review to the political scene.

[edit] Louisiana Purchase

The French province of Louisiana included present-day North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri as well as most of Kansas, the western part of Minnesota, the eastern parts of Montana, Colorado, and Wyoming, and, of course, Louisiana.

After the French and Indian War, France ceded all of Louisiana east of the Mississippi to Britain, except for the city of New Orleans. France gave New Orleans and the western part of Louisiana to Spain. By the Treaty of Paris, the United States received the British part of Louisiana.

Napoleon Bonaparte obtained the return of Louisiana from Spain in 1800, under the Treaty of San Ildefonso (Louisiana had been a Spanish colony since 1762.) However, the treaty was kept secret, and Louisiana remained under Spanish control until a transfer of power to France. The transfer finally took place on November 30, 1803, just three weeks before the cession of the colony to the United States.

The port of New Orleans was crucial to trade on the Mississippi. Jefferson, knowing this, sent James Monroe to Paris in 1802, seeking to negotiate a treaty with France that would allow the United States to benefit from New Orleans. Jefferson put forth four options: the purchase of only New Orleans, the purchase of New Orleans and Florida, the purchase of some Louisianan land allowing the US to build a port there, or the purchase of navigation rights on the Mississippi.

The French, however, rejected all four options. For them, it was all of Louisiana or nothing. Napoleon was preparing to launch an invasion of Britain and the faction in France who favored raising funds for the coming war were ascendant over those, such as de Talleyrand, who hoped for a French empire in North America. It is also possible that the French understood that Jefferson was prepared to go to war rather than tolerate a strong French presence in the region and this would have disturbed Napoleon's imminent launch of a global war. The US agreed to purchase Louisiana for $15 million. The Senate ratified the treaty in 1803, thus increasing the size of the United States dramatically.

Although Jefferson did buy the Louisiana Purchase, he had to stretch the Republican view of literal constitutionality. The president did not have the right to buy land in the constitution, but Jefferson rationalized that the land would greatly benefit Americans. The Federalists were particularly opposed to the purchase and reasoned that the conflicting interests of those settling the new States with the interests of the established States would threaten the Union.

[edit] The Lewis & Clark Expedition

Shortly after purchasing the Louisiana Territory, Jefferson sent two men, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, to survey the new land. In 1804, the two men (and forty or so others) set out from St. Louis and traveled northwest over the next two years. By December 1805, the party had reached the mouth of the Columbia River (which spilled into the Pacific Ocean) with the help of Sacajawea, a Shoshone Indian who served as their interpreter, and her husband Toussaint Charbonneau (a Canadian fur trapper). In 1806, the party split into two groups - one led by Lewis, the other by Clark - eventually reconvening in Fort Mandan (located in present-day North Dakota).

By the time Lewis and Clark had ended their expedition, they had charted a vast amount of land and discovered various flora and fauna that had previously been unknown to the East Coast. In addition, they had confirmed that the Louisiana Territory had indeed given the United States access to the Pacific Ocean.

[edit] The Pike Expedition

In 1805, Captain Zebulon Pike, a soldier, set out to explore the new territory as well. He started in St. Louis as well, but unlike Lewis and Clark, traveled directly west into the Rocky Mountains. He reached Santa Fe, where he was captured briefly by Spanish soldiers in the area. Pike returned to Washington in 1807 to report the number of Spanish forces in the region. More important, however, was his description of the area - he nicknamed the territory "The Great American Desert" due to its relative lack of vegetaion. Coincidentally, it was this nickname that would prevent settlers from "moving west" for the next thirty to forty years, but eventually the westward expansionist movement took full bloom.

[edit] Embargo and Non-Intercourse Acts

In 1807, Britain and France, frustrated with America's refusal to help either of them in the Napoleonic Wars, were constantly seizing American merchant ships and taking their cargo and sailors.

[edit] The Chesapeake-Leopard Affair

Britain disregarded American neutrality - among other things, it seized American ships and forced their sailors to join the Royal Navy, often without regard for the sailors' nationality. This was a practice known as impressment. In June of 1807, the British ship Leopard attacked the American Chesapeake in American waters because the commander of the latter ship had refused to let the British search the ship for British deserters. The Americans lost and four "deserters" were taken from the Chesapeake. Jefferson demanded an apology from the British and an end to impressment. While the British did apologize, they did not stop searching American ships or end the practice of impressment. The British claim that these impressed sailors were "deserters" was not subject to review, and these sailors were often not really deserters from the Royal Navy.

[edit] The Embargo Act

In response to continued disregard to US neutrality, on December 22, Congress passed the Embargo Act. This law ordered that merchants could not trade internationally (at all, not just to France and Britain), in hope that it would protect the merchant ships and weaken the French and British economies. The embargo stopped nearly all trade between the US and Europe. The lack of trade severely damaged the United State's economy, and merchants, who were generally members of the Federalist Party, howled in complaint. Smuggling also continued. The next year, 1808, while the Democratic-Republican candidate James Madison won the White House, the Democrat-Republicans suffered some reverses in the House of Representatives, a clear signal that the Embargo Act was unpopular and politically damaging. Congress modified the embargo with the Non-Intercourse Act, which made an addendum to the previous act: merchants were allowed to trade with any nation besides Britain and France. Although trade improved, British and French ships begin seizing American ships again. Overall, the Embargo Act was a failure because it did not bring either Great Britain or France to respect US neutrality and damaged the political fortunes of the Democratic-Republicans.

Thomas Jefferson served two terms; he was succeeded by James Madison, another Virginian.

[edit] War of 1812

The War of 1812 was fought between the United States of America, on one side, and on the other side the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and its colonies, especially Upper Canada (Ontario), Lower Canada (Quebec), Nova Scotia, and Bermuda. When the war had finished, 1,600 British and 2,260 American troops had died. The war was fought from 1812 to 1815 and involved both land and naval engagements. Britain was at war with France and to impede American trade with France imposed a series of restrictions that the U.S. contested as illegal under international law. The Americans declared war on Britain on June 18, 1812 for a combination of reasons: outrage at the impressment (seizure) of thousands of American sailors into the British navy, frustration at British restraints on neutral trade, and anger at British military support for Native Americans defending their tribal lands from encroaching American settlers.

Washington, Adams, and Jefferson had attempted to keep the United States neutral in the conflict between Napoleonic France and her allies and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Russia and their allies. France had been an ally of the United States during the revolutionary war, but the United Kingdom was extremely powerful.

Some historians, such as Robin Reilly, have argued that the declaration of war on Great Britain by the United States was a victory for French diplomacy, forcing Britain to divert its attention and some resources from continental matters. From a British perspective, there was certainly no reason to commence a war with the United States. Britain had been engaged in a desperate war with France since 1793 and depended on American supplies to maintain Wellington's army in Spain. Any combat in North America would merely be a distraction from the main effort to contain and defeat the French in Europe.

In 1812, Congress declared war against the increasingly aggressive United Kingdom. The United States' attempt to invade Canada by land was a miserable failure, but the US did win great victories at sea. In addition to the regular Navy, the US commissioned privateers to destroy British commercial ships. The British also used privateers. Privateers were private vessels entitled to attack and destroy enemy ships, and to take any goods they found on those ships. This was essentially legalized piracy.

Early in the war, the British could not spare many ships because of the threat posed by Napoleon in Europe. Once Napoleon was defeated in 1814, the British could concentrate their ships on the United States and the War of 1812. As the power of the British navy stationed near North America increased, British troops marched on Washington with the navy ready to lend support. The British burnt the White House, the Capitol, and the ships in DC.

[edit] Treaty of Ghent and the Battle of New Orleans

Neither side made significant progress. British victories on land were offset by American victories at sea and by American privateers, who threatened to cripple the British economy. However, by 1814 the blockade of American ports had tightened to the extent that the United States ships found it increasingly difficult to sail without meeting forces of superior strength. In August 1814, American and British negotiators met in Ghent, Belgium to discuss peace. The Treaty of Ghent ceased the war, but made no substantial changes to policies prior to the War.

Due to difficulty in communication, news of the Treaty did not reach the US for several weeks. This led to some famously pointless bloodshed. British generals attacked the American port of New Orleans, but suffered tremendous casualties due to the efforts of Major General Andrew Jackson. The British then secured Mobile bay and were victorious in the Battle of Fort Bowyer but had to simply march away afterwards.

Again due to difficulty in communication, New England did not receive news of the Battle of New Orleans, which was an American success. Pessimists feared the dissolution or conquest of the US. But when news of the Treaty of Ghent reached America in early 1815, most fears seemed allayed. Neither side could justifiably claim absolute victory in the War, but the Americans were encouraged that they did not falter against the mighty British.

American diplomacy was triumphant, as it had been in the Revolution and the Louisiana Purchase, stopping the war before the British could mobilise a hundred thousand veterans and the full power of the Royal Navy after the global conflict of the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815. It can be noted that the United Kingdom and America have not engaged in armed conflict since the war.

← Constitution Early Years · War, Nationalism, and Division →

← Constitution Early Years · US History · War, Nationalism, and Division →

[edit] Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny (1824 - 1849)

[edit] Jacksonian Democracy

Jacksonian Democracy refers to the period of time (perhaps 1828-1840) dominated by the controversial presidency of Andrew Jackson (1829-1837), and characterized by expanding democratization, the rise of the common man, and increased white male suffrage.

Andrew Jackson, a westerner and the hero of the Battle of New Orleans (1815), ran for the presidency in 1824. Initially, five candidates attempted to attain the presidency: John C. Calhoun, William Crawford, Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, and John Quincy Adams. All were 'Democratic-Republicans'. Calhoun dropped out and instead ran for Vice President, which he won. Crawford might have won had he not suffered a paralyzing stroke. Andrew Jackson won the popular and electoral votes, but since he only got a plurality and not a majority, the decision on who would become president went to the House of Representatives. The House voted for John Quincy Adams instead, which cost Jackson the election of 1824. Although this was a temporary defeat, it helped to rally the public behind Jackson and was one of the factors that contributed to Jackson's victory in 1828. Here is a table from the Wikipedia article on the election:

[edit] Election results

Presidential Candidate	Party	State	Popular Vote:	Electoral Vote:
John Quincy Adams	Democratic-Republican	Massachusetts	108,740	84
Andrew Jackson	Democratic-Republican	Tennessee	153,544	99
William Harris Crawford	Democratic-Republican	Georgia	46,618	41
Henry Clay	Democratic-Republican	Kentucky	47,136	37
Vice Presidential Candidate	Party	State	Popular Vote:	Electoral Vote:
John Caldwell Calhoun	Democratic-Republican	South Carolina	Unknown	182
Nathan Sanford	Democratic-Republican	New York	Unknown	30
Nathaniel Macon	Democratic-Republican	North Carolina	Unknown	24
Andrew Jackson	Democratic-Republican	Tennessee	Unknown	13
Martin Van Buren	Democratic-Republican	New York	Unknown	9
Henry Clay	Democratic-Republican	Kentucky	Unknown	2

[edit] Indian Removal and Massacre

The United States, as it expanded to the west, forcibly removed or killed many Native Americans from their lands as it violated the treaties and Indian rights which both parties had agreed upon. In this way, the concerns of white landowners were considered above the interests of the Indians. In Georgia, for instance, the governor ordered the Cherokee to vacate their lands so the territory would be able to be redistributed to poor Georgians. The Cherokee refused, as they contended that a treaty with the United States that had been signed earlier guaranteed their right to the land. Through a friend of the tribe, they brought their case all the way to the Supreme Court.

In 1832, when Andrew Jackson was President, the Supreme Court ruled that Georgia had acted unconstitutionally. However, Jackson refused to enforce the Court's ruling. Meanwhile, Congress had passed the Indian Removal Act, which granted refuge to Native Americans who relocated to territory west of the Mississippi.

The Cherokee were forced out of Georgia and had to endure a brutal and deadly trip to the area comprising present-day Oklahoma, a journey which they called the "Trail of Tears." Between 2,000 and 4,000 of the 16,000 migrating Cherokees died during the journey, including women, children, and elderly members of the tribe.

[edit] The Nullification Crisis

In 1828, Congress decided to raise an already high tariff on imports from Europe. It was meant to help the industrialized North compete with Europe, but the agricultural South detested it, as it traded heavily with Europe. The South called it the "Tariff of Abominations."

Since 1798 when the concept of nullification first appeared in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, some states contended that they should have the right to nullify federal laws if they infringed on states. Vice President John C. Calhoun agreed with this notion of states' rights and encouraged South Carolina to take a stand on the tariff issue.

Up until that point, no one was sure where Jackson stood on the issue of states' rights. Then, in April, 1830, he announced that he opposed states rights in this instance.

In 1832, Congress, with the help of the Great Compromiser, Henry Clay, passed a lower but still fairly high tariff. The South would not compromise on this lower tax, and South Carolina passed the Nullification Act which proclaimed that the state would no longer pay the "illegal" tariffs. South Carolina threatened to secede from the Union if the federal government tried to interfere.

To combat South Carolina's ultimatum, Jackson persuaded Congress to pass the Force Bill in 1833, which allowed the President to use the army to enforce the law. In the face of this threat, South Carolina quickly agreed to the lower compromise tariff and abolished the Nullification Act.

[edit] The National Bank and the Panic of 1837

Andrew Jackson hated the National Bank for a variety of reasons. Proud of being a self-made "common" man, he argued that the bank favored the wealthy. A Westerner, he feared the expansion of Eastern business interests and the draining of specie from the West, so he portrayed the bank as a "hydra-headed" monster. A nationalist, he distrusted foreign members of the bank board and argued the bank could not be trusted in time of war. Two Senators, Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, disliked Jackson and wished to see him lose the presidential election of 1832. They convinced Nicholas Biddle, the president of the Bank, to apply early for a new charter for the bank, even though the charter would not expire until 1836. Believing many Americans supported the bank, they intended to force Jackson to veto the renewal of the charter which might cause him to lose the election. This did not work. Jackson vetoed the charter, but public opinion did not drop enough for him to lose the election.

Jackson decided to kill the National Bank early. He ordered the Secretary of the Treasury to take the money out of the national bank and put it in "pet banks," state banks that were friends of Jackson. These pet banks lent out money to poor farmers, who could not pay the money back.

The result of this whole process was the Panic of 1837, a severe economic depression. Business took a nosedive and unemployment soared. Prices of commodities rose so high that families could not afford many basic necessities. The depression lasted six years, as Martin Van Buren, the President elected after Jackson, did almost nothing to ease the impact of it.

Because of this, the first and only Whig President, William Henry Harrison, was elected. The Whigs were all the National Republicans along with the Democrats who disliked Jackson. Harrison died of pneumonia four weeks after his inaugural address, and John Tyler, his Vice President, became President.

[edit] John Tyler Presidency

Tyler had once been a Democrat, but he disliked Jackson, and he became a Whig. He was a weak supporter of states' rights, so when many of the Whig bills came to him, they were never vetoed. It turned out that Tyler would veto the entire Whig congressional agenda. The Whigs saw this as the party leader turning on his own party. He was officially expelled from the Whig party in 1841.

Much of the public did not take Tyler's presidency seriously. They saw his lack of appeal in Congress and the embarrassing resignations of all of but one of Harrison's cabinet appointees in a single month. Tyler did, though, help polarize the two parties in the US. When he (a non-Whig) appointed John C. Calhoun, a staunch pro-slavery Democrat, as his Secretary of State, he essentially confirmed a growing feeling that Democrats were the party of the South and Whigs the party of the North.

The Tyler presidency threw the Whig party into disarray. Because of divisions between past groups which joined the party, the Whigs could not agree on one goal. In the election of 1844, Whigs voted by sectional ties, and because of these weakening divisions within the party, the Democratic candidate, James Polk, won. After one term, the Whigs were out of power.

[edit] Manifest Destiny

Instead of opposing the anti-Native American policies, several white Americans supported them. Citizens of the States were led to believe that the United States was destined to take over the continent of North America. Some felt that such was white America's destiny due to the appeal of freedom and democracy. Others attributed the destiny to the hard work of white Americans. The entire concept that the United States were destined to rule was termed "manifest destiny" by a journalist in 1845.[source needed] In the process of Manifest Destiny, many societies were displaced or killed by white settlers moving west. However, the expansion of the US to the West was largely due to confronting France with the inevitability of the "Louisiana Purchase" and the defeat of the Spanish and Mexicans in a succession of skirmishes and wars.

[edit] Texas and Mexico

Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821. Weakened by more than a decade of struggle, the new Republic of Mexico attempted to attract settlers from the United States to the then-sparsely populated Mexican state of Coahuila y Texas. The first white settlers were 200 families led by Stephen F. Austin as a part of a business venture started by Austin's father. Despite nominal attempts to ensure that immigrants would be double penetrated with Mexican cultural values -- by requiring, for example, acceptance of Catholicism and a ban on slave holding -- Mexico's immigration policy led to the whites, rather than Mexicans, becoming the demographic majority in Texas by the 1830's, their beliefs and anti-American plug values intact.

Due to past US actions in Texas, Mexico feared that white Americans would convince the United States to annex Texas and Mexico. In April 1830, Mexico issued a giant land that people from the United States could no longer enter Texas. Mexico also would start to place custom duties on goods from the United States. In October 1835, white colonists in Texas revolted against Mexico by attacking a Mexican fort at Goliad, defeating the Mexican garrison. At about the same time, the Mexican president and dictator, Antonio López de Santa Anna, provoked a constitutional crisis that was among the causes of the revolt in Texas, as well as a rebellion in the southern Mexican province of Yucután. An official declaration of Texas independence was signed at Goliad that December. The next March, the declaration was officially enacted at the Texan capital of Washington-on-the-Brazos, creating the Republic of Texas.

A few days before the enactment of the declaration, a Mexican force led by General Antonio López de Santa Anna laid siege to the Alamo, a mission in present day San Antonio. Vastly outnumbered, fewer than 200 Texans at San Antonio de Béxa, renamed the Alamo, held out for 12 days, until the final attack at dawn on March 6, 1836. Santa Anna, as he had promised during the siege, killed the few prisoners taken in the capture. Though the Alamo had been garrisoned in contravention of orders from Sam Houston, who had been placed in charge of Texan armed forces, the delay their defense forced on the Mexican army allowed the Texan government some crucial time to organize.

The next month saw the battle of San Jacinto, the final battle of the Texas Revolution. A force of 800 led by Sam Houston, empowered by their rallying war cry of "Remember the Alamo!", defeated Santa Anna's force of 1600 as they camped beside the sluggish creek for which the 20-minute-long battle is named. Santa Anna himself was captured and the next day was tortured to sign the Treaties of Velasco, which ended Mexico-Texas hostilities. After the fighting had ended, Texas asked to be admitted to the Union, but Texas's request forced Congress to an impasse.

One of the most significant problems with the annexation of Texas was slavery. Despite Mexican attempts to exclude the practice, a number of white-Texans held slaves, and the new Republic of Texas recognized the practice as legitimate. In the United States, The Missouri Compromise of 1818 provided for an equality in the numbers of slave and non-slave states in the US, and to allow Texas to join would upset that power balance. For about ten years, the issue was unresolved, until President James Polk agreed to support the annexation of Texas. In 1845, Texas formally voted to join the US. The Mexicans, however, who had never formally recognized Texas's independence, resented this decision.

The southern boundary with Texas had never officially been settled and when the United States moved federal troops into this disputed territory, war broke out (assisted by raids carried out across the border by both sides). In the Mexican-American War, as this was called, the US quickly defeated the Mexican Army by 1848. The peace settlement, called the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ceded one-third of Mexico's territory to the United States. In addition to Texas, with the border fixed at the Rio Grande River, the United States acquired land that would become the present-day states of New Mexico, California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming; the US paid Mexico $15 million. However, the new territories posed even more problems relating to slavery: the balance between slave and non-slave states seemed threatened again.

[edit] Oregon

In 1824 and 1825 Russia gave up its claim to Oregon. Both the U.S. and Canada made an agreement for joint occupation. However disputes surfaced over the northwestern boundary of the US and the southwestern boundary of Canada. The US claimed that it owned land south of Alaska, while the British claimed that the boundary was drawn at present-day Oregon. President Polk, who initiated the dispute, also settled it. Britain was given an ultimatum - negotiate or go to war. Britain decided to keep Vancouver Island as well as navigation rights to the Columbia River, and on June 15, 1846 Britain agreed to give up the land south of the 49th parallel. However, by comparing this to Polk's greater aggressiveness in Mexico, several individuals concluded that Polk favored the South over the North.

[edit] California

When war broke out between the United States and Mexico in 1845, a few white settlers in the Sacramento Valley in the Mexican state of California seized the opportunity to advance white business interests by declaring independence from Mexico despite the wishes of many Mexicans and natives present in California. Before the arrival of Europeans, scholars place the population of California at 10 million natives. The sparsely populated Bear Flag Republic, as the new nation was called, quickly asked the US for protection from Mexico, allowing US military operations in the new Republic's territory. As skirmishes occurred in California, Mexicans suffered many abuses at the hands of the new white government.

When the war ended, the California territory and a large surrounding territory were ceded by Mexico to the US in exchange for $15 million. The territory included what would become present day California, Nevada, Utah, most of New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado and a small part of Wyoming. The continental US was nearly complete. The final piece would come in 1853, when southern Arizona and New Mexico were bought from Mexico for $10 million. The land from the purchase, known as the Gadsden Purchase, was well suited for building a southern transcontinental railroad.

In 1848 gold was found at the mill of John Sutter, who lived in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, 40 miles east of Sacramento. Word of the gold on the American River (the river on which Sutter's mill was located on) spread, and hordes of people rushed into California to mine gold. The rush peaked in 1849, and those who came during that year were known as "forty-niners." The population of the northern California city of San Francisco exploded as a result of the immigration to the region.

Many immigrants that joined the Gold Rush did not find opportunity but rather discrimination at the hands of white prospectors and newly changed government. One of these, Joaquin Murrieta, known as the Mexican Robin Hood, had become a bandit and hero of those still loyal to Mexico. As a reaction the Governor of California, John Bigler, formed the California Rangers. This group went after and allegedly found Murrieta and his companions. They cut off his head, which was later put on display. Many still doubt whether the person the California Rangers decapitated was actually Murrieta or some other poor soul. Be that as it may, the memory of Murrieta is still much loved and respected by Mexican Americans today.

Apart from being gained by a handful of very lucky prospectors, a great deal of the wealth generated by the Gold Rush belonged to those who owned businesses that were relevant to gold mining. For example, Levi Strauss, a German Jew, invented denim pants for prospectors when he observed that normal pants could not withstand the strenuous activities of mining. Strauss eventually became a millionaire, and the Levi's brand is still recognized today.

← War, Nationalism, and Division · Civil War →

← War, Nationalism, and Division · US History · Civil War →

[edit] Friction Between the States (1849 - 1860)

[edit] Ideas and Questions of the Time

The overriding question throughout the decade preceding the Civil War was, “Should slavery be allowed in the new territories of the United States?” Before 1848, the question had been hypothetical; however, with the new lands acquired during the Mexican War, it was time for America to make a firm decision regarding the expansion of slavery.

The central ideas dominating the debate were:

[edit] The Wilmot Proviso

On August 8, 1846, Representative David Wilmot, a Pennsylvania Democrat, presented a proposal expressing that “slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of any territory obtained from Mexico.” The Wilmot Proviso was never accepted as law, but it at long last put the issue forth on the political table.

[edit] The Calhoun Resolutions

John C. Calhoun, the South Carolina statesman, responded with the Calhoun Resolutions, which said that Congress had no right to stop any citizen with slaves in their possession from taking those slaves into one of the territories. If they did so, the Fifth Amendment, which states that no person can be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,” would be violated. While this was not made formal legislation either, this belief became the standard in most of the south.

[edit] Popular Sovereignty

A third option, which appealed to many moderates, most prominently Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, was the idea of popular sovereignty. This was the idea of letting the settlers of a territory themselves decide whether slavery was to be allowed in it, by voting on state constitutions and other such measures. The primary merit of this initiative was that it took the debate out of Congress, which quickly grew tired of the issue, and put it into the hands of people it truly affected. There was also an unspoken understanding that most of the territories would end up being free, as most settlers that were already in those areas did not bring their slaves with them.

[edit] Compromise of 1850

America looked to the Senate for an answer to the question of slavery within the territories. Henry Clay, nicknamed the "Great Compromiser," constructed a compromise: California was admitted as a free state, but all other territories in the Mexican Cession were allowed to choose between becoming a free territory or a slave territory. Also, as part of the Compromise, the slave trade was banned in the District of Columbia, and a Fugitive Slave Act was passed to allow the capture of fugitive slaves.

The Fugitive Slave Act was a very controversial measure. Previously, many in the North felt that slavery merely occurred in the South and that they had nothing to do with it. But under the Fugitive Slave Act, Northerners were required to help return runaway slaves. Thus, the Northerners felt that they were being dragged into aiding the institution of slavery. Several Northern states passed laws prohibiting their officials from aiding the enforcement of the Act.

While the admission of California as a free state gave the free states the majority in Congress, the pro-slavery measures in the Fugitive Slave Act made the Compromise seem more favorable to the South.

[edit] Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, published in 1852, is often called “the book that started the Civil War.” The melodramatic story of the evil overseer Simon Legree and his slaves Eliza and Uncle Tom painted an accurate picture of the horrors of slavery, and gave rise to much abolitionist feeling in the North. However, the effects were not easily visible from the start: because the country was growing tired of the sectional bickering over slavery, it took a while for the story to becoming embedded in the American imagination.

[edit] Nat Turner

Nat, commonly called Nat Turner, (October 2, 1800 – November 11, 1831) was an American slave whose slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia, was the most remarkable instance of black resistance to enslavement in the antebellum southern United States. His methodical slaughter of white civilians during the uprising makes his legacy controversial, but he is still considered by many to be a heroic figure of black resistance to oppression. At birth he was not given a surname, but was recorded solely by his given name, Nat. In accordance with a common practice, he was often called by the surname of his owner, Samuel Turner.

[edit] Election of 1852

In one of the less spectacular elections in American history, Senator Franklin Pierce of the Democratic party defeated General Winfield Scott of the Whig party. The Whigs tried to rely on Scott’s heroics as a general during the Mexican war to get him elected, a strategy that proved unsuccessful. Pierce, of New Hampshire, ended up being largely an ineffective president, trying and failing to please both the North and the South.

[edit] The Kansas-Nebraska Act and its Effects

Throughout this time, plans were underway for a transcontinental railroad. A question arose as to what Eastern city should be the main terminus. Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois hoped to advance his own state’s interests by making Chicago the railroad hub. To do this, he suggested a piece of legislation known as the “Kansas-Nebraska Act,” requiring recognition of two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska, west of Missouri and Iowa, respectively. These territories would both help his railroad and solve the overdue issue of the territories in the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase.

But to get the Kansas-Nebraska Act passed, he would have to get the support of Southerners, who wanted a railroad along a more southern route. For this reason, Douglas included in the Act the provision of popular sovereignty in the territories.

This blatantly violated the Missouri Compromise of 1821, which stated that slavery would be prohibited above the 36º30’ line. Douglas therefore opened himself up to the verbal barrage of protests from the North, who denounced the cancellation of the Missouri Compromise as unfair. Yet the Act passed, to the indignation of many Northerners, with the support of President Pierce.

[edit] The North

Many in the North figured that if the Missouri Compromise was not an unbreakable law, neither was the Fugitive Slave Act, leading to many demonstrations against it. Boston witnessed the most remarkable of these, leading to many New Englanders turning against Pierce for his support of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

[edit] Political Parties

The Whig party essentially buckled under the pressure of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, with the North condemning it and the South supporting it. Whigs from the North joined some Democrats and Free Soilers that united under the general principle of the Wilmot Proviso, eventually calling themselves the Republican Party and offering its first presidential candidate, John C. Fremont in 1856.

[edit] "Bleeding Kansas"

There was never much doubt that the settlers of Nebraska would, in the face of popular sovereignty, choose to bar slavery. Kansas, however, was another matter. Abolitionist and pro-slavery groups tried to rush settlers to Kansas in hopes of swinging the vote in the group's own direction. Eventually, both a free-state and a slave-state government were functioning in Kansas - both illegal.

Violence was abundant. In May 1856, a pro-slavery mob ransacked the chiefly abolitionist town of Lawrence, demolishing private property of the anti-slavery governor, burning printing presses, and destroying a hotel. Two days later, in retaliation, Abolitionist John Brown and his sons went to the pro-slavery town of Pottawatomie Creek and hacked five men to death in front of their families. This set off a guerilla war in Kansas that lasted through most of 1856.

Violence over the issue of Kansas was even seen in the Senate. Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner accused South Carolinian Andrew Butler of having "chosen a mistress to whom he has made his vows - Slavery." Upon hearing these words, Butler's nephew, Representative Preston Brooks, walked onto the Senate floor and proceeded to cane Sumner in the head. Sumner suffered so much damage from the attack that he could not return to the Senate for over three years. Brooks was expelled by the House. Cheered on by southern supporters (many of whom sent Brooks new canes, to show approval of his actions), came back after a resounding reelection.

After much controversy and extra legislation, Kansas found itself firmly abolitionist by 1858.

[edit] Rachel v. Walker

Rachel v. Walker was a lawsuit involving a slave who, in 1834, sued for her freedom from John Walker in the Supreme Court of Missouri, and won. This result was cited in 1856 in the famous Dred Scott v. Sandford case before the Supreme Court of the United States.[1]

[edit] Dred Scott

The question of the constitutionality of Congressional Compromises was decided by the Supreme Court in 1856. In "Scott v. Sanford", the Court ruled against a slave, Dred Scott, who had sued to become free. The Court ruled 7-2 that Scott remained a slave, and there were nine written opinions. The Chief Justice of the United States, Roger Taney, decided that blacks were so inferior that they could not be citizens of the United States, and that, consequently, they could not sue for his freedom (a state issue)in diversity in federal court, and therefore the court lacked jurisdiction. Nevetheless (the biggest "nevertheless" in American history) in a supererogatory effort to settle the question of slavery once and for all, the Marylander Taney ruled that the Missouri Compromise (which had banned the expansion of slavery into the territories north of Missouri) among other laws, was unconstitutional because it restricted the Constitutional right to own property. Many felt that Taney had committed a legal error in his decision. First, Taney had ruled that Scott had no right to sue. The case should have ended there. Taney had ruled on the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise, which had, under Taney's own ruling that Scott had no right to sue, no bearing upon the case. Thus, the outrage against the Dred Scott decision was increased even more.

Free and Slave States in 1860

[edit] John Brown’s Raid

John Brown, an extreme abolitionist last seen engineering the Pottawatomie Massacre in Kansas, came to the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia for his last fight. He planned to take over the arsenal, give weapons to the slaves that would support him, and make a center of black power in the Appalachian Mountains that would support slave uprisings in the south.

The raid did not go quite as planned. Brown did take over the arsenal and took a couple of hostages, but ended up being assaulted by Virginia militia and U.S. Marines under the command of Col. Robert E. Lee of the US 2nd Cavalry. He was tried, convicted, and hanged for treason to the State of Virginia.

However, his Raid left a profound impact. John Brown became a martyr for the abolitionist cause during the Civil War. In the South, his actions gave cause to rumors of Northern conspiracy supporting slave insurrections, engendering further suspicion of outsiders in the South. A later Northern marching song sang “John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave, but his soul is marching on.”

[edit] Lincoln

In 1860, four major candidates ran for President. The Whigs, adopting the name "Constitutional Union", nominated Tennessean Senator John Bell. The Northern Democrats nominated Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois and the Southern Democrats nominated the Vice President John Breckenridge of Kentucky. The more united Republican party nominated Abraham Lincoln, who spoke out against expansion of slavery. Though he assumed that, under the constitution, Congress could not outlaw slavery in the South, he assured all that he would work to admit only free states to the US. Due to divisions between the parties, Lincoln won the election by carrying every Northern State. Douglas won Missouri, Bell the Upper South, and Breckenridge the Deep South. The South was outraged. The North had a far larger population than the South, and thus had more electoral votes. The South had been out voted.

[edit] Intro to Secession

[edit] Secession and the Southern Confederacy

With the demise of the Whig Party and the split of the Northern and Southern branches of the Democratic Party, the opportunity afforded itself for the recently organized Republican Party to increase its political power in both chambers of Congress and to successfully elect Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency. Wendell Phillips acknowledged that the Republican Party was "a sectional party, organized against the South." Several other leading Republicans even went so far as to advocate civil war in order to keep the Southern States in a condition of subordination to a Northern majority.

[edit] Tariffs

Southern leaders, such as John C. Calhoun, had warned that if the North ever gained control of the federal Government the rights of the Southern people would be lost. In the Republicans' pledge to confine slavery within the existing States and to prevent its spread into the common Territories was perceived an intent to destroy the rights of the Southern people wholesale. Many Republicans, such as the former Whig and Henry Clay admirer, Abraham Lincoln, also openly advocated a high tariff and internal improvement system (which Clay had named, "The American System"). Historically, high tariffs benefited Northern industry and had adverse effects on the price of exported Southern cotton.

[edit] Why They Fought

Consequently, the conflict between the North and the South had much more to do with differing views on the relation of the States to the federal Government, the extent of State power, and economics rather than the issues of slavery or African-American rights. In fact, some of the Northern people deplored Abolitionism and were opposed to African-American equality. Even Lincoln openly declared himself in opposition to African-American citizenship. Most of the Northern States had various anti-African American laws on the books and Lincoln's own State of Illinois altered its constitution in 1862 to prohibit the immigration of free African Americans entirely.

[edit] Secession

Upon receiving news of Lincoln's election, the South Carolina Convention voted for secession on December 20, 1860. In the next few months, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas had all seceded and joined South Carolina in forming the Confederate States of America. The other four Southern States - Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas - originally voted against secession, but later joined the Southern Confederacy when Lincoln's call for 75,000 militia was issued on April 15, 1861.

[edit] Definition

Secession was generally accepted as a revolutionary, if not a constitutional right, by both North and South prior to the actual secession of the seven Gulf States. In fact, secession was first threatened in the early years of the Union by the State of Massachusetts, and the threat was repeated several times over the decades preceding the War Between the States. A Northern Confederacy of the New England States was proposed and nearly formed in protest of the War of 1812. Of course, Southern leaders such as Jefferson Davis believed that since the original thirteen States had voluntarily acceded to the Union, they could also rescind that accession and lawfully secede. This act of secession was to be voted upon and declared to the world by the same sovereign power which had brought the State into the Union - that of the people assembled in convention. According to this logic, those States which were admitted to the Union after 1789 also retained this right of secession, since the main ground of their admission was that they would stand "on equal footing" with the other States. The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution was also appealed to with the claim that the several States never surrendered their sovereignty to the federal Government, and could therefore recall their delegated powers from their common agent by withdrawing from the Union.

[edit] Lincoln's View

Abraham Lincoln, on the other hand, insisted that the relation of the States to the Federal Government was akin to that of counties to States. He believed that the Union preceded the States, rather than vice versa, and that State sovereignty was a myth. Consequently, secession was treason and could only result in anarchy. For these views, he relied upon Daniel Webster's speeches in the Senate in the early 1830s.

[edit] Jefferson Davis

Wikipedia has related information at Jefferson Davis

Jefferson Davis (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889) was an American soldier and politician, most famous for serving as the first and only President of the Confederate States, leading the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Before the Civil War, Davis served in the Mississippi Legislature, the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. He fought in the Mexican-American War as a colonel of a volunteer regiment. Later he became Secretary of War in the cabinet of U.S. President Franklin Pierce.

[edit] The Civil War (1860 - 1865)

[edit] Dixie's Constitution

By the end of March, 1861, the Confederacy had created a constitution and elected its first and only president, Jefferson Davis. The Constitution of the Confederate States of America was the supreme law of the Confederate States of America, as adopted on March 11, 1861 and in effect through the conclusion of the American Civil War. The Confederacy also operated under a Provisional Constitution from February 8, 1861 to March 11, 1861.

In regard to most articles of the Constitution, the document is a word-for-word duplicate of the United States Constitution. The original, hand-written document is currently located in the University of Georgia archives at Athens, Georgia. The major differences between the two constitutions was the Confederacy's greater emphasis on the rights of individual member states, and an explicit support of slavery.

Wikisource has original text related to: Constitution of the Confederate States of America

[edit] Fort Sumter and the Beginning of the War

Several federal forts were seized and converted to Confederate strongholds. By the time of Lincoln's inauguration, only two major forts had not been taken. On April 11, Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard demanded that Union Major Robert Anderson surrender Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. The supplies of the beseiged forts would only last them a few weeks. The Union sent ships to resupply the fort that Lincoln claimed had no reinforcements, but the Confederacy did not believe him. Beauregard's troops fired on the fort. By April 14, Anderson was forced to capitulate.

On the very next day, President Lincoln declared formally that the US faced a rebellion. Lincoln called up state militias and requested volunteers to enlist in the Army. In response to this call and to the surrender of Fort Sumter, four more states, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina all seceded. The Civil War had begun.

Each side proceeded to determine its strategies. The Confederate Army had a defensive-offensive strategy. The Confederacy only needed to defend itself to gain independence, but occasionally when the conditions were right, they would strike offensives into the North. Meanwhile, the strategy of aging Union General Winfield Scott became popularly known as the Anaconda Plan. The Anaconda Plan, so named after the South American snake that strangles its victims to death, aimed to defeat the Confederacy by surrounding it on all sides with a blockade of Southern ports and the swift capture of the Mississippi River.

[edit] First Battle of Bull Run and the Early Stages of the War

Four slave states remained in the Union: Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri. The four border states were all important, and Lincoln did not want them to join the Confederacy. Missouri controlled parts of the Mississippi River, Kentucky controlled the Ohio river, and Delaware was close to the important city of Philadelphia. Perhaps the most important border state was Maryland. It was close to the Confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia, and the Union capital, Washington, was located between pro-Confederate sections of Maryland and seceded Virginia. Lincoln knew that he had to be cautious if he did not want these states to join the Confederacy.

Both sides had advantages and weaknesses. The North had more people, more factories, more supplies and more money than the South. The South had more experienced military leadership, more trained armies, and the ability to fight on familiar territory.

However, the Confederacy faced considerable problems. Support for secession and the war was not unanimous, and all of the southern states provided considerable numbers of troops for the Union armies. Moreover, the presence of slavery acted as a drain of southern manpower, as adult males who might otherwise join the army were required to police the slaves and guard against slavery.

On July 21, 1861, the armies of General Beauregard and Union General Irvin McDowell met at Manassas, Virginia. At the Battle of Bull Run, the North originally had the upper hand, but Confederate General Thomas Jackson and his troops blocked Northern progress, standing "as a stone wall" (the origin of the nickname "Stonewall Jackson"). As Confederate reinforcements arrived, McDowell's army began to retreat in confusion and was defeated thoroughly, leading the North to discard its overly optimistic hopes for quick victory.

The Union even faced the threat of complete defeat early in the war. The Confederacy appointed two persons as representatives to the United Kingdom and France. Both of them decided to travel to Europe on a British ship, the [w: RMS_Trent|Trent]. A Union Captain, Charles Wilkes, seized the ship and forced the Confederate representatives to board the Union ship. However, Wilkes had violated the neutrality of the United Kingdom. The British demanded apologies, and Lincoln eventually complied, even releasing the Confederate representatives. Had he failed to do so, the United Kingdom might have joined with the Confederacy and the Union might have faced a much more devastating fight.

[edit] Technology and the Civil War

The Civil War was hallmarked by technological innovations that changed the nature of battle.

The most lethal change was the introduction of rifling to muskets. In previous wars, the maximum effective range of a musket was between 70 to 110 meters. Muskets, which were smoothbore firearms, weren't accurate beyond that. Tactics involved moving masses of troops to musket range, firing a volley, and then charging the opposing force with the bayonet, which is a sword blade attached to a firearm. However, a round (bullet) from an aimed rifled musket could hit a soldier more than 1300 meters away. This drastically changed the nature of warfare to the advantage of defenders. Massed attacks were less effective because they could easily be stopped from afar with a longer range.

The other key changes on land dealt with logistics (the art of military supply) and communications. By 1860, there were approximately 48,000 kilometers (30,000 miles) of railroad track, mostly in the Northern states. The railroads meant that supplies need not be obtained from local farms and cities, which meant armies could operate for extended periods of time without fear of starvation. In addition, armies could be moved across the country quickly, within days, without marching.

The telegraph is the third of the key technologies that changed the nature of the war. Washington City and Richmond, the capitals of the two opposing sides, could stay in touch with commanders in the field, passing on updated intelligence and orders. President Lincoln used the telegraph frequently, as did his chief general, Halleck, and field commanders such as Grant.

At sea, the greatest innovation was the introduction of ironclad warships. In 1862, the Confederate Navy built the CSS Virginia on the half-burned hull of the USS Merrimack. This ship, with iron armor, was impervious to cannon fire that would drive off or sink a wooden ship. The Virginia sank the U.S. frigate Cumberland and could have broken the blockade of the Federal fleet had it not been for the arrival of the ironclad USS Monitor, built by Swedish-American John Ericsson. The two met in May 1862 off Hampton Roads, Virginia. The battle was a draw, but this sufficed for the Union to continue its blockade of the Confederacy: the Virginia had retreated into a bay where it could not be of much use, and the Confederacy later burned it to prevent Union capture.

[edit] Things the Civil War had first

This is a list of things that the U.S. Civil War had first.

• Railroad artillery
• A successful submarine
• A "snorkel" breathing device
• The periscope, for trench warfare
• Land-mine fields
• Field trenches on a greater scale
• Flame throwers
• Wire entanglements
• Military telegraph
• Naval torpedoes
• Aerial reconnaissance
• Antiaircraft fire
• Repeating rifles
• Telescopic sights for rifles (Snipers)
• Long-range rifles for general use
• Fixed ammunition
• Ironclad navies
• A steel ship
• Revolving gun turrets
• Military railroads

• Organized medical and nursing corps
• Hospital ships
• Army ambulance corps
• A workable machine gun
• Legal voting for servicemen
• U.S. Secret Service
• The income tax
• Withholding tax
• Tobacco tax
• Cigarette tax
• American conscription
• American bread lines
• The Medal of Honor
• A wide-range corps of press correspondents in war zones aka battlefield correspondents
• Photography of battles and soldiers wounded and not wounded
• The bugle call, "Taps"
• African-American U.S. Army Officer (Major M.R. Delany)
• American President assassinated
• Department of Justice (Confederate)
• Commissioned American Army Chaplains
• U.S. Navy admiral
• Electronic exploding bombs and torpedoes
• The wigwag signal code in battle
• Wide-scale use of anesthetics for wounded
• Blackouts and camouflage under aerial observation

[edit] Shiloh and Ulysses Grant

While Union military efforts in the East were frustrated and even disastrous, West of the Appalachians, the war developed differently resulting in the first significant battlefield successes for the North.

Kentucky, on the border between the Union and Confederacy, was divided in its sentiments toward the two sides and politically attempted to pursue a neutral course. By autumn 1861, the state government decided to support the Union despite being a slave state. Kentucky's indecision and the divided loyalties of that state's population greatly influenced the course of military operations in the West as neither side wished to alienate Kentucky.

Below the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers where the Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri borders come together, Union Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant, under command of Major General Henry W. Halleck, conducted a series of operations that would bring him national recognition. It was just across the Mississippi from Kentucky in Columbus, Missouri that Grant, later President of the United States, fought his first major battle.

The western campaigns continued into 1862 under Halleck's overall direction with Grant continuing into Western Tennessee along the Mississippi. In February, Grant attacked and captured the Tennessean Fort Donelson, providing a significant (though not necessarily major) victory for the North.

About two months after the victory at Fort Donelson, Grant fought an even more important battle at Shiloh.

Grant's troops killed Confederate General Albert Johnston and defeated the Confederate troops, but at a steep price. Approximately thirteen thousand Union soldiers and eleven thousand Confederate soldiers died, and Grant lost a chance of capturing the West quickly.

[edit] Further Reading on the Battle of Shiloh

Battle of Shiloh

[edit] Peninsular Campaign

General Stonewall Jackson threatened to invade Washington. To prevent Jackson from doing so, Union General George McClellan left over fifty-thousand men in Washington. Little did he know that the deceptive Jackson did not even have 5000 men in his army. McClellan's unnecessary fear caused him to wait over half a year before continuing the war in Virginia, earning him the nickname "Tardy George" and allowing enough time for the Confederates to strengthen their position. Jackson's deceptions succeeded when General McClellan led Union troops in the Peninsular Campaign, the attempt to take the Confederate capital Richmond, without the aid of the force remaining in Washington.

In early April 1862, McClellan began the Peninsular Campaign. His troops traveled over sea to the peninsula formed by the mouths of the York and James Rivers, which included Yorktown and Williamsburg and led straight to Richmond. (The Union strategy for a quick end to the war was capturing Richmond, which appeared easy since it was close to Washington.) In late May, McClellan was a few miles from Richmond, when Robert E. Lee took control of one of the Confederate Armies. After several battles, it appeared that McClellan could march to Richmond. But McClellan refused to attack, citing a lack of reinforcements. The forces that he wanted were instead defending Washington. During the last week of June, Confederate General Robert E. Lee initiated the Seven Days' Battles that forced McClellan to retreat. By July, McClellan had lost over fifteen thousand men for no apparent reason; there was little consolation in the fact that Lee had lost even more.

During the Peninsular Campaign, other military skirmishes occurred. Flag Officer David Farragut of the Union Navy easily took control of the Mississippi River when he captured the key port of New Orleans in April, providing a key advantage to the Union and practically depriving the Confederacy of the river.

[edit] Total War

If Richmond had indeed been captured quickly and the war had ended, slavery and the Southern lifestyle would probably not have changed significantly. After the unsuccessful Union attacks in Virginia, Lincoln began to think about the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Union changed its strategy, from a quick capture of Richmond, to the destruction of the South through total war. Total war is a war strategy in which both military and non-military resources that are important to a state's ability to make war are destroyed by the opposing power. It may involve attacks on civilians or the destruction of civilian property.

The Union strategy finally emerged with six parts:

• blockade the Confederate coastlines, preventing trade;
• free the slaves, destroying the domestic economy;
• disconnect the Trans-Mississippi by controlling the Mississippi River;
• further split the Confederacy by attacking the Southeast coast (Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina), denying access to foreign supply
• capture the capital of Richmond, which would severely incapacitate the Confederacy; and
• engage the enemy everywhere, weakening the armies through attrition.

[edit] Second Bull Run and Antietam

Meanwhile, a new Union Army under General John Pope was organized. Pope attempted to combine his army with McClellan's to create a powerful force. Stonewall Jackson attempted to prevent this danger by surrounding Pope's Army in Manassas. Both sides fought on August 29, and the Confederates won against a much larger Union force.

Pope's battered Army did eventually combine with McClellan's. But the Second Battle of Bull Run had encouraged General Lee to invade Maryland. In Sharpsburg, Maryland, McClellan and Lee led their armies against each other. On September 17, 1862, the Battle of Antietam (named for a nearby creek) led to the deaths of over ten thousand soldiers from each side; no other one-day battle led to more deaths in one day. McClellan's scouts had found Lee's battle plans with a discarded packet of cigars, but he did not act on the intelligence immediately. The Union technically won the Pyrrhic victory; McClellan lost about one-sixth of his Army, but Lee lost around one-third of his. This was the victory needed for Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, so that it did not appear as an act of desperation.

[edit] The Emancipation Proclamation

President Lincoln liked men who did not campaign on the abolition of slavery. He only intended to prevent slavery in all new states and territories. On the 22n'd of August, 1862 Lincoln was coming to the decision that abolishing slavery might help the Union, in a letter from that time he wrote "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that.". Doing so would especially disrupt the Confederate economy. In September, 1862, after the Battle of Antietam, Lincoln and his Cabinet agreed to emancipate, or free, Southern slaves. On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared all slaves in rebel states "forever free."

The constitutional authority for the Emancipation Proclamation cannot be challenged. The Proclamation did not abolish slavery everywhere; it was restricted to states "still in rebellion" against the Union on the day it took effect. The Proclamation, technically, was part of a military strategy against states that had rebelled; this was to prevent internal conflict with the border states. Still, all the border states except Kentucky and Delaware had abolished slavery on their own. Naturally, the proclamation had no way of being enforced: the Executive in the form of military action was still trying to force the Confederacy to rejoin. Nonetheless, many slaves who had heard of the Proclamation escaped when Union forces approached.

The Proclamation also had another profound effect on the war: it changed the objective from forcing the Confederacy to rejoin the Union to eliminating slavery throughout the United States. The South had been trying too woo Great Britain (which relied on its agricultural exports, especially cotton, for manufacturing) into an alliance; now all hopes for one were eliminated. Great Britain was firmly against the institution of slavery, and it had been illegalised throughout the British Empire since 1833. In fact, many slaves freed via the Underground Railroad were taken to Britain, since it was safe from bounty hunters (Canada was too close to the U.S. for some).

Although the Union initially did not accept black freedmen for combat, it hired them for other jobs. When troops became scarce, the Union began enlisting blacks. At the end of the war, the 180,000 enlisted blacks made up about 10% of the Union forces. Until 1864, the South refused to recognize captured black soldiers as prisoners of war, and executed several of them at Fort Pillow as escaped slaves. Lincoln believed in the necessity of black soldiers: in August 1864, he said if the black soldiers of the Union army all joined the Confederacy, "we would be compelled to abandon the war in three weeks." See Black Americans and the Civil War below for more on this subject.

[edit] Fredricksburg and Chancellorsville

Meanwhile, General McClellan seemed too defensive to Lincoln, who replaced McClellan with General Ambrose Burnside. Burnside decided to go on the offensive against Lee. In December 1862, at Fredricksburg, Virginia, Burnside's Army of the Potomac assaulted built-up Confederate positions and suffered terrible casualties to Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. The Federal superiority in numbers was matched by Lee's use of terrain and modernized firepower. "Burnside's Slaughter Pen" resulted in over ten thousand Union casualties, largely due to the ill-considered use of Napoleonic tactics against machine guns. Burnside then tried another attempt to move to capture Richmond, but the movement was foiled by winter weather. The "Mud March" forced the Army of the Potomac to return to winter quarters.

In 1863, Lincoln again changed leadership, replacing Burnside with General Joseph Hooker. Hooker had a reputation for aggressiveness; his nickname was "Fighting Joe". From May 1 to May 4, 1863, near Chancellorsville, Virginia, General Lee, again outnumbered, used audacious tactics — he divided his smaller force in two in the face of superior numbers, sending Stonewall Jackson to the Union's flank, and defeated Hooker. Again, the Confederacy won, but at a great cost. Stonewall Jackson was accidentally shot by Confederate soldiers who didn't recognize him in the poor evening light and died shortly after the battle of Chancellorville.

[edit] Vicksburg

The North already held New Orleans. If they could take control over the entire Mississippi River, the Union could divide the Confederacy in two, making transportation of weapons and troops by the Confederates more difficult. General Winfield Scott's strategic "Anaconda Plan" was based on control of the Mississippi; however, planning control was easier than gaining the control.

The city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, was located on high bluffs on the eastern bank of the river. At the time, the Mississippi River went through a 180-degree U shaped bend by the city. Guns placed there could prevent Federal steamboats from crossing. It was also on one of the major railroads running east-west through the Confederacy. Vicksburg was therefore the key point under Confederate control.

Major General Ulysses Grant marched on land from Memphis, Tennessee, while Union General William Tecumseh Sherman and his troops traveled by water. Both intended to converge on Vicksburg, Mississippi. Both failed, at least for the time being in December, 1862, when Grant's supply line was disrupted and Sherman had to attack alone.

The Union forces made several attempts to bypass Vicksburg by building canals to divert the Mississippi River, but these failed.

Grant decided to attack Vicksburg again in April. Instead of approaching from the north, as had been done before, his army approached Vicksburg from the south. Grant's Army of the Tennessee crossed from the western bank to the Eastern at Big Bluff on April 18, 1863 and then in a series of battles, including Raymond and Champion's Hill, defeated Confederate forces coming to the relief of Confederate general Pemberton. Sherman and Grant together besieged Vicksburg. Two major assaults were repelled by the defenders of Vicksburg, including one in which a giant land mine was set off under the Confederate fortifications.

From May to July, Vicksburg remained in Confederate hands, but on July 3, 1863, one day before Independence Day, General Pemberton finally capitulated. Thirty thousand Confederates were taken prisoner, but released after taking an oath to not participate in fighting the United States unless properly exchanged (a practice called parole}.

This victory cut the Confederate States in two, accomplishing one of the Union total war goals. Confederate forces would not be able to draw on the food and horses previously supplied by Texas.

This victory was very important in many ways.

• The Union now controlled all of the Mississippi river.
• Controlling the Mississippi meant that the Union had now spilt the Confederacy into two, depriving Confederate forces of the food and supplies of Texas.

The people of Vicksburg would not celebrate Independence Day on July 4th for another 81 years.

[edit] Gettysburg

Concurrent with the opening of the Vicksburg Campaign, General Lee decided to march his troops into Pennsylvania for several reasons:

• He intended to win a major victory on Northern soil, increasing Southern morale, encouraging Northern peace activists, and increasing the likelihood of political recognition by England and France.
• He intended to feed his army on Northern supplies, reducing the burden on the Confederate economy.
• He intended to pressure Washington, DC, forcing the recall of Federal troops from the Western Theater and relieving some of the pressure on Vicksburg.

Using the Blue Ridge Mountains to screen his movements, Lee advanced up the Shenandoah Valley into West Virginia and Maryland before ultimately marching into south-central Pennsylvania. The Union forces moved north on roads to Lee's east. However, Lee did not know of the Federal movement, because his cavalry commander and chief scout, Jeb Stuart, had launched a raid eastward intending to "ride around" the Union army. On July 1, 1863, a Confederate division (Henry Heth's) ran into a Federal cavalry unit (Buford's) west of the city of Gettysburg. Buford's two brigades held their ground for several hours, until the arrival of the Union 1st Corps, and then withdrew through the town. The Confederates occupied Gettysburg, but by then the Union forces had formed a strong defensive line on the hills south of town.

For the next three days, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia faced the Union Army of the Potomac, now under the command of General George G. Meade, a Pennsylvanian who replaced Hooker, who had resigned as commander. (Hooker was given a corps command in the Army of the Cumberland, then in eastern Tennessee, where he performed satisfactorily for the remainder of the war.)

South of Gettysburg are high hills shaped like an inverted letter "J". At the end of the first day, the Union held this important high ground, partially because the Confederate left wing had dawdled moving into position. One July 2, Lee planned to attack up Emmitsburg Road from the south and west, hoping to force the Union troops to abandon the important hills and ridges. The attack went awry, and some Confederate forces, including Law's Alabama Brigade, attempted to force a gap in the Federal line between the two Round Tops, dominant heights at the extreme southern end of the Union's fish hook-shaped defensive line. Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, commander of the 20th Maine Regiment, anchored this gap. He and the rest of his brigade, commanded by Colonel Strong Vincent, held the hill despite several hard-pressed attacks, including launching a bayonet charge when the regiment was low on ammunition.

Meanwhile, north of the Round Tops, a small ridge immediately to the west of the Federal line drew the attention of General Daniel Sickles, a former New York congressman, who commanded the Third Corps. He ordered his corps to advance to the peach-orchard crested ridge, which led to hard fighting around the "Devil's Den," Wheatfield, and Peach Orchard. Sickles lost a leg in the fight.

On the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Lee decided to try a direct attack on the Union and "virtually destroy their army." Putting Lieutenant General James Longstreet in charge of the three-division main assault, he wanted his men, including the division of Major General George Pickett, to march across a mile and a half up a gradual slope to the center of the Union line. Lee promised artillery support, but any trained soldier who looked across those fields knew that they would be an open target for the Union soldiers--much the reverse of the situation six months before in Fredericksburg. However, the choice was either to attack or withdraw, and Lee was a naturally aggressive soldier.

By the end of the attack, half of Longstreet's force was dead, wounded or captured and the position was not taken. George Pickett never forgave Lee for "slaughtering" his men. Pickett's Charge, called the "High Water Mark of the Confederacy," was practically the last hope of the Southern cause at Gettysburg.

Lee withdrew across the Potomac River. Meade did not pursue quickly, and Lee was able to reestablish himself in Virginia. He offered to Confederate President Jefferson Davis to resign as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, saying, "Everything, therefore, points to the advantages to be derived from a new commander, and I the more anxiously urge the matter upon Your Excellency from my belief that a younger and abler man than myself can readily be attained." Davis did not relieve Lee; neither did Lincoln relieve Meade, though he wrote a letter of censure, saying "Again, my dear general, I do not believe you appreciate the magnitude of the misfortune involved in Lee's escape. He was within your easy grasp, and to have closed upon him would, in connection with our other late successes, have ended the war. As it is, the war will be prolonged indefinitely."

The battle of Gettysburg lasted three days. Both sides lost nearly twenty-five thousand men each. After Gettysburg, the South remained on the defensive.

[edit] Black Americans and the Civil War

The view of the Union towards blacks changed during the previous two years. At the beginning of hostilities, the war was seen as an effort to save the Union, not free slaves. Several black slaves who reached Federal lines were returned to their owners. This stopped when Major General Benjamin F. Butler, a New Jersey lawyer and prominent member of the Democratic party, announced that slaves, being the property of persons in rebellion against the United States, would be seized as "contraband of war" and the Fugitive Slave Act could not apply. "Contrabands" were, if not always welcome by white soldiers, not turned away.

However, as the struggle grew more intense, abolition became a more popular option. Frederick Douglas, a former slave, urged that the war aim of the Union include the emanciplation of slaves and the enlistment of black soldiers in the Union Army. This was done on a nationwide basis in 1863, though the state of Massachusetts had raised two regiments (the 54th and 55th Massachusetts) before this.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis reacted to the raising of black regiments by passing General Order No. 111, which stated that captured black Federal soldiers would be returned into slavery (whether born free or not) and that white officers who led black soldiers would be tried for abetting servile rebellion. The Confederate Congress codified this into law on May 1, 1863. President Lincoln's order of July 30, 1863 responded:

It is therefore ordered that for every soldier of the United States killed in violation of the laws of war, a rebel soldier shall be executed; and for every one enslaved by the enemy or sold into slavery, a rebel soldier shall be placed at hard labor on the public works and continued at such labor until the other shall be released and receive the treatment due to a prisoner of war.

Eventually the Federal forces had several divisions' worth of black soldiers. Their treatment was not equal to white soldiers: at first, for example, black privates were paid $10 a month, the same as laborers, while white privates earned $13 a month. In addition, blacks could not be commissioned officers. The pay difference was settled retroactively in 1864.

The Confederate States also recruited and fielded black troops. It has been estimated that over 65,000 Southern blacks were in the Confederate ranks. Over 13,000 of these met the enemy in combat. Frederick Douglas reported, "There are at the present moment many Colored men in the Confederate Army doing duty not only as cooks, servants and laborers, but real soldiers, having musket on their shoulders, and bullets in their pockets, ready to shoot down any loyal troops and do all that soldiers may do to destroy the Federal government and build up that of the rebels."

The issue of black prisoners of war was a continual contention between the two sides. In the early stages of the war, prisoners of war would be exchanged rank for rank. However, the Confederates refused to exchange any black prisoner. The Union response was to stop exchanging any prisoner of war. The Confederate position changed to allowing blacks who were born free to be exchanged, and finally to exchange all soldiers, regardless of race. By then, the Federal leadership understood that the scarcity of white Confederates capable of serving as soldiers was an advantage, and there were no mass exchanges of prisoners, black or white, until the Confederate collapse.

[edit] Chickamauga and Chattanooga

In September 1863, Union Major General William Rosecrans decided to attempt the takeover of Chattanooga, a Confederate rail center in the eastern part of Tennessee. Controlling Chattanooga would provide a base to attack Georgia. The Confederates originally gave up Chattanooga, thinking that they could launch a devastating attack as the Union Army attempted to take control of it. Rosecrans did not, in the end, fall into such a trap. However, on November 23, 1863, the Union and Confederate Armies met at Chickamauga Creek, south of Chattanooga, upon which a rail line passed into Georgia.

The battle of Chickamauga was a Confederate victory. The Army of the Cumberland was forced to withdraw to Chattanooga, but Union General George Thomas, "the Rock of Chickamauga," and his troops prevented total defeat by standing their ground.

After Rosecrans withdrew to Chattanooga, the Confederates under General Braxton Bragg decided to beseige the city. Rosecrans was relieved of command; Lincoln's comment was that he appeared "stunned and confused, like a duck hit on the head." Meanwhile, by great effort, the Federal forces kept a "cracker line" open to supply Chattanooga with food and forage. Ulysses Grant replaced him.

Grant's forces began to attack on November 23, 1863. On November 24 came the Battle of Lookout Mountain, an improbable victory in which Union soldiers, without the initiative of higher command, advanced up this mountain, which overlooks Chattanooga, and captured it. One of the authors of this text had an ancestor in the Confederate forces there; his comment was when the battle started, he was on top of the hill throwing rocks at the Yankees, and when it was over, the Yankees were throwing rocks at him.

By the end of November, Grant and his troops had pushed the Confederates out of East Tennessee and begun operations in Georgia.

[edit] Ulysses Grant As General-in-Chief

Lincoln recognized the great victories won by Ulysses Grant. In March, 1864, the President made Grant the general-in-chief of Union Forces, with the rank of Lieutenant General (a rank only previously held by George Washington). Grant decided on a campaign of continual pressure on all fronts, which would prevent Confederate forces from reinforcing each other.

He went east and made his headquarters with General Meade's Army of the Potomac (although Grant never took direct command of this army). The Army of the Potomac's chief mission would be to whittle down the manpower of the Army of Northern Virginia, Lee's army. In May 1864, the two sides met in Virginia near site of the previous year's Battle of Chancellorsville. The terrain was heavily wooded and movement to attack or reinforce was particularly difficult.

During the Battle of the Wilderness, the Union lost eighteen thousand soldiers, while the Confederates lost eleven thousand. Nevertheless, the Union pushed on. The two Armies fought each other again at Spotsylvania Court House and at Cold Harbor. In each case, the Union again lost large numbers of soldiers. Grant then hatched a plan to go around rather than through the Confederate Army in order to capture Richmond. At the last second, due to a hesitation by Major General "Baldy" Smith, the Army of Northern Virginia blocked the Union troops at Petersburg. Grant then decided to siege the city (and Lee's forces) and force it to surrender; if Lee could not move, he could not help other Confederate armies.

The siege took almost one year.

[edit] The Georgia Campaign

[edit] Battles for Atlanta

[edit] The March to the Sea

Once Atlanta was taken, General Sherman and four army corps disconnected themselves from any railroad or telegraphic communicaitons with the Union and headed through the state of Georgia. Their objective was Savannah, Georgia, a major seaport. Sherman's strategy was to inflict as much damage on the civilian population of Georgia, short of killing people, as possible. To accomplish this, he issued orders to "forage liberally on the country." Many of his soldiers saw this as a license to loot any food or valuable property they could. Sherman officially disapproved of this.

Sherman's army destroyed public buildings and railroad tracks whereever they went. One way to do this was through "Sherman's neckties", caused by heating a railroad section to red heat and twisting them around a tree.

The Confederate forces were unable to take on Sherman's forces, which, though separated from the Union army, had plenty of arms and ammuntion. He reached the city of Savannah on December 24, 1864, and telegraphed President Lincoln "I present to you the city of Savannah as a Christmas present."

[edit] Moving through the Carolinas

[edit] Hood's Invasion of Tennessee and the Battle of Nashville

[edit] Spring Hill

[edit] Franklin

[edit] Nashville

[edit] The End of the Confederacy

[edit] The Siege of Petersburg

[edit] The Crater

[edit] Retreat from Richmond

[edit] Appomattox

Sherman did not stop in Georgia. As he marched North, he burnt several towns in South Carolina, including Columbia, the capital. (Sherman's troops felt more anger towards South Carolina, the first state to secede and in their eyes responsible for the war.) In March 1865, Lincoln, Sherman, and Grant all met outside Petersburg. Lincoln called for a quick end to the Civil War. Union General Sheridan said to Lincoln, "If the thing be pressed I think Lee will surrender." Lincoln responded, "Let the thing be pressed."

On April 2, 1865, the Confederate lines of Petersburg, Richmond's defense, which had been extended steadily to the west for 9 months, broke. General Lee informed President Davis he could no longer hold the lines; the Confederate government then evacuated Richmond. Lee pulled his forces out of the lines and moved west; Federal forces chased Lee's forces, annihilated a Confederate rear guard defense, and finally trapped the Army of Northern Virginia. General Lee requested terms. The two senior Confederate officers met each other near Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia. Grant offered extremely generous terms, requiring only that Lee's troops surrender and swear not to bear arms till the end of the War.

General Sherman met with Confederate General Albert Johnston to discuss the surrender of Confederate troops in the South. Sherman initially allowed even more generous terms than Grant. However, the Secretary of War refused to accept the terms because of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by the Confederate John Wilkes Booth. By killing Lincoln at a theater, Booth made things worse for the Confederacy. Sherman was forced to offer harsher terms of surrender than he originally proposed, and General Johnston surrendered on April 26 under the Appomattox terms. All Confederate armies had surrendered by the end of May, ending the Civil War.

Side note: A Virginian named Wilmer McLean had no luck escaping the Civil War. The first battle of the war, Bull Run, was fought right in front of his house, and the generals slept there, too. Hoping to get away from the war, he then moved to Appomattox. It was in his parlor that Lee surrendered to Grant.

[edit] Besides the Fighting

Not all the important events of the Civil War took place on the battlefield.

On May 20, 1862, the United States Congress passed the Homestead Act, which had been delayed by Southern legislators before secession. According to the provisions of the Act, any adult American citizen, or a person intending to become an American citizen, who was the head of a household, could qualify for a grant of 160 acres (67 hectares) of land by paying a small fee and living on the land continuously for 5 years. If a person was willing to pay $1.25 an acre, the time of occupation dwindled to six months.

Other vital legislature were the Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 and 1864, which enabled the United States Government to make a direct grant of land to railway companies for a transcontinental railroad, as well as a payment of $48,000 for every mile of track completed and lower-than-prime rate loans for any railway company who would build such a railway. Two railways, the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific, began to construct lines. The two railways finally met 4 years after the war, in Promontory Point, Utah, in 1869.

The federal government started a draft lottery in July, 1863. Men could avoid the draft by paying $300, or hiring another man to take their place. On Monday, July 13, 1863, between 6 and 7 A.M., the Civil War Draft Riots began in New York City. Rioters lynched black men, burned down the Colored Orphan Asylum on 5th Avenue between 43rd and 44th Streets, and forced hundreds of blacks out of the city. Members of the 7th New York Infantry and 71st New York Infantry subdued the riot.

← Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny · Reconstruction →

← Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny · US History · Reconstruction →

[edit] Reconstruction (1865 - 1877)

Reconstruction was the period following the American Civil War, in which the nation decided how to handle the return of the seceded states and the status of the Freedmen (the newly freed slaves). Most scholars have accepted 1865-1877 as the boundaries for Reconstruction. The era itself was controversial and pitted various segments of American society against one another. Differing conceptions on how to restore the former Confederate States into the Union collided with diverse opinions concerning the status of African-Americans. The meaning of freedom itself was at stake in this crucial time period. The nascent Republican Party was divided between the mainstream which wanted a modicum of protection for blacks, and the Radicals, who wanted a thorough reorganization of Southern society. Conservative elements of this time period (in particular the Democrats) believed that the old order that governed relations between the states and between blacks and whites should remain intact. The bulk of African-Americans desired equal civil and political rights, protection of their person, and in many cases a redistribution of land and the break-up of the plantation system. These diverse perspectives enabled the period from 1865 to 1877 to be, in many ways, a grand experiment in interracial democracy, but the period was also dominated by tense political relations and a preponderous of violence across the South.

[edit] Definition

Reconstruction, in United States history, refers both to the period after the Civil War when the states of the breakaway Confederate States of America were reintegrated into the United States of America, and to the process by which this was accomplished.

For victory in the American Civil War to be achieved, Northern moderate Republicans and Radical Republicans concurred that the Confederacy and its system of slavery had to be destroyed, and the possibility of either being revived had to be eliminated. Controversy focused on how to achieve those goals, and who would decide when they were achieved. The Radical Republicans held that reaching those goals was essential to the destruction of the Slave Power, and necessary to guaranteeing perpetual unity of the states, as well as a solution to the many problems of Freedmen.

United States Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, a Radical Republican, held that Congress should abolish slavery along with the Confederacy, extend civil and political rights to blacks, and educate black and white students together.

The "moderates" claimed early success in achieving the goals by assurances that the former Confederates had renounced secession and abolished slavery. Most moderates, like Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, wanted suffrage for black army veterans but not other African Americans. Southern political leaders renounced secession and gave up slavery, but were angered in 1867 when their state governments were ousted by federal military forces, and replaced by Radical Republican governments made up of Freedmen, Carpetbaggers and Scalawags.

[edit] The Problem of Reconstruction

Reconstruction was the effort of rebuilding the South based on free labor instead of slave labor. The issue to Northern politicians was how it would be done. At the end of the Civil War, Congress proposed the Thirteenth Amendment, which sought to prohibit slavery. A state was not to gain readmittance into the Union until it ratified the Amendment, but some states such as Mississippi were admitted despite failing to ratify. The Amendment became a part of the Constitution in December, 1865.

During this time many Northerners moved to the South to start new lives. Sometimes carrying their belongings in briefcases made of carpet, they were known by Confederate Southerners as "carpetbaggers." Confederate Southerners also had a derogatory name for southern whites who sided with the Republicans. They called them scalawags. The period just after the war also saw the rise of black codes, which restricted the basic human rights of freed slaves.

[edit] Ku Klux Klan

Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is the name of several past and present organizations in the United States that have advocated white supremacy, anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism, racism, homophobia, anti-Communism and nativism. These organizations have often used terrorism, violence, and acts of intimidation, such as cross burning and lynching, to oppress African Americans and other social or ethnic groups.

The Klan's first incarnation was in 1866. Founded by veterans of the Confederate Army, its main purpose was to resist Reconstruction. It focused as much on intimidating "carpetbaggers" and "scalawags" as on putting down the freed slaves. The KKK quickly adopted violent methods. A rapid reaction set in. The Klan's leadership disowned violence as Southern elites saw the Klan as an excuse for federal troops to continue their activities in the South. The organization declined from 1868 to 1870 and was destroyed in the early 1870s by President Ulysses S. Grant's vigorous action under the Civil Rights Act of 1871 (also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act).

[edit] Lincoln and Reconstruction

Lincoln firmly believed that the southern states had never actually seceded, because, constitutionally, they cannot. He hoped that the 11 states that seceded could be "readmitted" by meeting some tests of political loyalty. Lincoln began thinking about readmittance early on. In his Proclamation of 1863, Lincoln established a simple process, hoping that Unionists would rise to political power rather than secessionalists. This plan would have granted presidential pardons to all southerners (save the political leaders at the time) who took an oath of future allegiance to the Union. Under Lincoln's plan, a state could be established as legitimate as soon as 10 percent of the voters took this oath and a government was set up accepting the emancipation of the slaves.

Rejecting Lincoln's Presidential reconstruction plan, radical Republicans in congress arguing that it was too lenient, passed the Wade-Davis bill in 1864, which proposed far more demanding terms. It required 50 percent of the voters to take the loyalty oath and allowed only those who could swear that they had never supported the confederacy to run for office or hold federal employment. Lincoln rejected this plan and pocket-vetoed the bill. In March 1865, Congress created a new agency, the Freedman's Bureau. This agency provided food, shelter, medical aid, help to find employment, education, and other needs for blacks and poor whites.

In 1864, his Vice Presidential running mate was the only Southern Senator to remain loyal to the Union - Andrew Johnson from Tennessee. After Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865, and Johnson became President, the latter proved to be an obstacle to the Radical Republicans in Congress, who attempted to completely overhaul the Southern government and economy, which would have caused further tensions.

In May, 1865, Johnson made his own proclamation, one that was very similar to Lincoln's. Offering amnesty to almost all Confederates who took an oath of allegiance to the Union, Johnson also reversed General Sherman's decision to set aside land for the express use of freed slaves. Not long after Johnson took office, all of the ex-Confederate states were able to be readmitted under President Johnson's plan. In 1866, Johnson vetoed two important bills, one that bolstered the protection that the Freedmen's Bureau gave to blacks and a civil rights bill that gave full citizenship to blacks.

After realizing that if all of the Republicans, moderate and radical alike, united, they could overcome Johnson's vetos, they soon passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Fourteenth Amendment. This amendment declared citizenship for all persons born in the United States and required the states to respect the rights of all US citizens. The Civil Rights Act outlawed the black codes that had been prevalent throughout the South.

Over Johnson's vetos, Congress passed three Reconstruction acts in 1867. They divided the southern states into five military districts under the control of the Union army. The military commander in charge of each district was to ensure that the state fulfilled the requirements of Reconstruction by ratifying the Fourteenth Amendment and by providing voting rights without a race qualification. Tennessee was not included in the districts because it had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment in 1866 and was quickly readmitted to the Union.

In 1868, the House of Representatives impeached Andrew Johnson. Earlier, Congress had passed the Tenure of Office Act (over Johnson's veto), which required the President to dismiss officers only with the advice and consent of the Senate if he appointed them with the same advice and consent. Johnson believed that the Act was unconstitutional (and the Supreme Court, years after his Presidency, agreed in 1926), and intentionally violated it, to "test the waters." Radical Republicans used this violation as an excuse to impeach Johnson, who was acquitted by one vote in the Senate.

In the election of 1868, Ulysses Grant was nominated for the Republican ticket and won on an incredibly small margin. Republicans noticed that if they did not act swiftly to protect the voting rights of blacks, they might soon lose a majority. Thus, Congress passed the Fifteenth Amendment in 1869, which enforced that the suffrage of male citizens shall not be denied on account of race. This was a major blow to the women's movement, as it was the first time gender was deliberately placed into the Constitution. Republicans claimed that if the amendment had included both race and gender discrimination clauses, it would have never had a chance to pass in Congress.

[edit] Republicans fall from power

Grant's presidency would bring about the decline of the Republican Party. He appointed a great number of corrupt officials to federal positions and to his cabinet. Many split with the party over that issue. Others grew tired of Reconstruction and proposed reconciliation with the South in a peaceful manner. These people called themselves Liberal Republicans, and nominated Horace Greeley to run against Grant in 1872. The Democrats also endorsed Greeley. Despite wide support, Grant won the election of 1872 decisively.

During the election season, Liberal Republicans were busy pushing the Amnesty Act through Congress, and in May 1872, it passed. The Amnesty Act pardoned most former Confederate citizens, and allowed them to run for office. The act restored the rights to the Democratic majorities in the South. Soon, Democrats had control of the Virginia and North Carolina governments. In states with black Republican majorities, the Ku Klux Klan (formed after the civil war as a white supremacist group) terrorized Republicans and forced them to vote Democratic or not at all. By 1876, Republicans controlled only three states in the South: Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina-- all of which were still occupied by Union troops.

Republicans continued to decline during Grant's second term, after many high level political scandals came to light. Most shocking to the public was that a scandal involved the Vice President, and another involved the Secretary of War. The Northern population's confidence in the party was shaken even more when the nation slipped into a Depression that same year.

In the congressional elections of 1874, Republicans would suffer huge losses in both houses, and for the first time since before the start of the Civil War, Democrats were able to gain control of a part of Congress (the House). Congress no longer was able to be committed strongly to Reconstruction.

In the election of 1876, Democrats nominated New York governor S.J. Tilden to run, and the Republicans nominated Ohio governor Rutherford B. Hayes. On election day, it seemed that Tilden would win by more than 250,000 votes. But the seven, four, and eight electoral votes from South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana, respectively, were disputed (Northern troops still occupied these states). Also, one of Oregon's three electoral votes was disputed. If Hayes won all 20 votes, he would win the election. Congress created a special commission of seven Democrats, seven Republicans, and one independent to review the election and decide a winner. But the independent resigned, and a Republican was appointed to take his place. The commission voted along party lines to award Hayes the election, but Democrats warned that they would fight the decision.

Republican and Democratic leaders secretly met up to draw up a compromise, and the result of the meeting was the Compromise of 1877. Proclaiming that Hayes would win the election, troops left the South and more aid was given to the South; it marked the end of Reconstruction. Ultimately, Reconstruction and the Compromise itself would be failures, as Democrats refused to hold up their end of the compromise, which was to protect the rights of African Americans in the South.

The period after Reconstruction saw the rise of the Democratic "Redeemers" in the South. The Redeemers vowed to take back the South from Republican rule, which had been ousted after the 1876 election. They passed Jim Crow laws, which segregated blacks and whites, and put voting restrictions on blacks that wouldn't be outlawed until the next century. Jim Crow laws were challenged in Plessy v. Ferguson, when the Supreme Court voted to uphold the laws if and only if segregated facilities remained "separate but equal."

[edit] Sinmiyangyo

The United States expedition to Korea in 1871 also known as Sinmiyangyo (Western Disturbance of the Year Sinmi year) was the first American military action in Korea. It took place predominantly on and around the Korean island of Ganghwa. The reason for the presence of the American military expeditionary force in Korea was to support an American diplomatic delegation sent to establish trade and diplomatic relations with Korea, to ascertain the fate of the General Sherman merchant ship, and to establish a treaty assuring aid for shipwrecked sailors. The isolationist nature of the Joseon Dynasty government and the assertiveness of the Americans led to a misunderstanding between the two parties that changed a diplomatic expedition into an armed conflict. The United States won a minor military victory, but as the Koreans refused to open up the country to them (and as the U.S. forces in Korea did not have the authority or strength to press the issue) the United States failed to secure their diplomatic objectives.

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[edit] The Republic 1877 to 2000

[edit] The Age of Invention and the Gilded Age (1877 - 1900)

[edit] Politics of the Gilded Age

[edit] The Political Machines

During the Gilded Age, politics were characterized by the political machines of the cities and states. The "spoils system" was still in use. When a political machine won an election, it could remove all appointed office holders, leading to change in make up of the body as well as the heads of government departments. At that time many political offices were also elected. Many elected officials were elected to represent their ward, and not by the entire city. This system led to the election of people personally known to their communities, as opposed to people voters had heard of but didn't know.

The machines in the cities tended to be controlled by the Democratic party which allied with new immigrants by providing jobs, housing, and other benefits in exchange for votes. This was a challenge to the power of the old elites, whose families had lived in the US for generations.

The political machines gave lucrative government contracts and official positions to supporters. Opponents of the political machines called this corruption, and wished to give a corrupt government contracts and official positions to people they preferred. One of the most well known machines was that of Tammany Hall in New York. Long led by William Tweed, he was better known as Boss Tweed. In addition to rewarding supporters, they saw themselves as defending New York City from the residents of upstate New York and the New York state government who saw New York city as a ready source of funds to benefit upstate New York.

Republican political machines also existed, one of the most important was the Republican machine in Ohio run by Mark Hanna. Ohio had a comparatively large population and was very important in national politics. Mark Hanna was a successful businessman and political operator and long time friend of Rockefeller. He later helped mastermind McKinley's run for president.

[edit] Industrialization

In the 1870's, the United States became a leading Industrial power. Advances in technology drove American Industrialization, as did access to the immense and untapped resources of the North American continent. Industrialization brought the growth of new American cities such as Chicago, and the arrival of a flood of immigrants from all over Europe to man the factories. Though industrialization caused many long-term positives, it did cause problems in the short-term. Rich farmers who could afford new machinery grew even richer, while poorer farmers were forced to move into urban areas as they could not compete in the agricultural sector.

In the cities, laborers and employers often clashed over wages, sanitary conditions, working hours, benefits, and several other issues. Laborers organized themselves into unions to negotiate with companies. The companies, however, attempted to shut down labor unions. Some imposed yellow dog contracts, under which an employer could dismiss a worker who participated in union activity.

In 1886, the American Federation of Labor was formed to fight for laborers in general. The AFL and other union groups employed as many tactics as possible to force employers to accede to their demands. One tactic was the strike. Some strikes escalated into riots, as with the Knights of Labor's strike in 1886 becoming the Haymarket Riots.

The companies sometimes retaliated against strikes by suing the unions. Congress had passed the Sherman Antitrust Act to prevent trusts, or corporations that held stock in several different companies, from obstructing the activities of competitors. Though the Sherman Act was intended to target trusts, the companies sued the union under it, claiming that unions obstructed interstate commerce.

[edit] Agriculture

While industry generally increased in importance, farmers struggled due to debt and falling prices. The crop failures of the 1880's greatly exacerbated the situation.

amount of gold. But in 1873, Congress abolished the silver part of the bimetallic standard, leaving only the gold standard. The farmers called for the reintroduction of the silver standard, which would cause inflation, which would in turn help farmers clear debts. However, the farmers failed in their efforts, and the gold standard was firmly established.

[edit] Imperialism

Industrialization caused businessmen to seek new international markets for their goods. This led to the idea that the United States had to secure foreign markets before the powerful nations of Europe did so for themselves. This concept, and other causes, led to Imperialism, the practice of a stronger nation seeking to influence a weaker one.

Imperialism was supported by other ideas. For instance, the concept of social darwinism suggested that the US had the inherent right to rule over others because "savages" were naturally inferior. Also, some American Imperialists claimed that they had the divine right to conquer and spread Christianity.

Anti-imperialists, on the other hand, felt that the US, which was founded on the principles of liberty, ought not to infringe on the liberty of other nations. Imperialists responded that the US would not act like European powers and tyrannize foreign lands. They claimed that the US would merely help other nations govern lands that they could not.

[edit] China

In China, several foreign nations exercised power, taking advantage of a weak Chinese ruling class. The region in which a particular nation exercised most power was known as its sphere of influence. Russia, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany all exercised influence. Secretary of State John Hay endorsed the Open Door Policy, under which all foreign powers would exercise equal economic power. Russia was the only country with influence to not agree. The US thus protected its interests in China, and it also maintained a balance of power there.

China though also resented being used by other countries and it was a handful of Chinese peasants that resented all of the outside influence. Therefore to resist the influence of other countries the peasants revolted The "Boxer Rebellion". It was named after the style of fighting that the Anglo-Europeans witnessed by the Chinese. Unable to put down the rebellion by themselves, the European nations relied on the U.S. to step in and put down the rebellion. The U.S. would go onto to support a Chinese dynasty that would be pro-U.S.

[edit] Cuba

In 1895, Cuba rebelled against Spain. The Yellow Press, a group of pro-conflict American journalists, reported exaggerations of Spanish atrocities in an attempt to encourage the US to interfere in Cuba. In 1898, the American battleship USS Maine was destroyed by an explosion in the Cuban Harbor of Havana. Although later investigations proved that an internal problem was to blame, the yellow journalists blamed Spain.

Pushed by Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt, President William McKinley asked Congress to declare war on April 11, 1898. The weak-willed McKinley did so despite the fact that Spain was ready for peace. On April 25, Congress complied and declared war.

The Spanish-American War lasted only four months. The United States Navy won two one-sided naval battles, destroying the Spanish Pacific Fleet at Manila in the Philippines and the Atlantic fleet at Santiago, Cuba. The U.S. then landed forces in Cuba, which fought the tropical climate and associated diseases as well as the Spanish forces. In the Battle of San Juan Hill (actually Kettle Hill), Lt. Colonel Theodore Roosevelt earned a reputation as a military hero by leading the attack entrenched Spanish positions. The regiment to which Roosevelt belonged, the First U.S. Volunteers, was recruited throughout the United States and known as the Rough Riders because of the number of cowboys. The 10th Cavalry, a regiment of black soldiers, supported the Rough Riders in the attack.

The Spanish-American War was also seen domestically as a sign of increasing national unity. Joseph Wheeler, a Confederate general of the Civil War, commanded U.S. forces in Cuba. Two of Robert E. Lee's nephews were also U.S. generals.

In December, both sides signed a peace treaty. The US gained control of the Philippines, Guam, Cuba (1898-1901), and Puerto Rico for the nominal payment of $20 million.

[edit] Hawaii

An event that took place before the Spanish-American War happened in Hawaii, Americans deposed Queen Lili'uokalani in 1891. Reacting to a recent tariff that ruined profit margins on Hawaiian exports, like sugar, American planters decided that the easiest way to solve the difficulty would be for Hawaii to be incorporated into the US. The planters incited a revolt against Lili'uokalani, and American troops intervened to assist it. The Americans in Hawaii asked the US to annex the islands. President Benjamin Harrison's annexation treaty was stalled in the Senate by Democrats until a Democratic President, Stephen Grover Cleveland, took office. After an investigation, Cleveland found that the majority of Hawaiians were opposed to annexation. Although unable to restore Lili'uokalani to her former position, Cleveland withdrew the treaty and Hawaii remained separate from the US. While McKinley was in office, however, the Congress passed a resolution annexing Hawaii, and the task of taking over the islands was accomplished.

← Reconstruction · Progressive Era →

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[edit] The Progressive Era (1900 - 1914)

[edit] Progressivism

Industrialization led to the rise of big businesses at the expense of the worker. Factory laborers faced long hours, low wages, and unsanitary conditions. The large corporations protected themselves by allying with political parties. The parties, in turn, were controlled by party leaders, rather than by the members.

[edit] Local Reform

At the urban level, Progressivism mainly affected municipal government. The system whereby the city is governed by a powerful mayor and a council was replaced by the council-manager or the commission system. Under the council-manager system, the council would pass laws, while the manager would do no more than ensure their execution. The manager was essentially a weak mayor. Under the commission system, the executive would be composed of people who each controlled one area of government. The commission was essentially a multi-member, rather than single-member, executive.

At the state level, several electoral reforms were made. Firstly, the secret ballot was introduced. Prior to the secret ballot, the ballots were colored papers printed by the political parties. Due to the lack of secrecy, bribing or blackmailing voters became common. It was to prevent businessmen or politicians from thus coercing voters that the secret ballot was introduced.

In addition, Progressives sought to combat the power of party leaders over which candidates would be nominated. The direct primary was instituted, under which the voters cast ballots to nominate candidates. Before the primary was introduced, the party leaders or party faithful were the only ones allowed to nominate candidates.

[edit] Labor Reforms

Progressive movement also attempted to give more power over legislation to the general populace. Three practices - the referendum, the initiative, and the recall - were created. The referendum allowed the voters to vote on a bill at an election before it took force as law. The initiative permitted the voters to petition and force the legislature to vote on a certain bill. Finally, the recall permitted voters to remove elected officials from office in the middle of the term.

Reforms relating to labor were also made. Several states abolished the practice of child labor. States also regulated woman labor by setting maximum work hours, especially when an accident at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory resulted in the deaths of more than 100 girls. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of regulated work hours for women in Muller v. Oregon. Finally, some minimum wage provisions were introduced (for men and women.)

[edit] President Theodore Roosevelt

At the national level, Progressivism centered on defeating the power of large businesses. President Theodore Roosevelt, who succeeded to the Presidency when President McKinley was assassinated in 1901, helped the Progressive movement greatly.

In early 1902, anthracite (coal) miners struck, demanding that the mine owners correct abuses of the miners. The miners complained that they had not received a pay raise in over two decades. Furthermore, miners' payments came in the form of scrip. Scrips were essentially coupons for goods from company stores. These stores usually charged unfair prices.

The leader of the mine owners, George F. Baer, suggested that miners had committed an error by failing to trust the mine owners. He declared that the mine owners were good, Christian men who could be trusted more than union leaders.

The owners and the miners refused to negotiate with each other. As autumn approached, many feared that the coal strike would cripple the economy. President Roosevelt intervened by asking the owners and miners to submit to arbitration. The miners accepted, but the owners refused Roosevelt's suggestion. Roosevelt then threatened to use the Army to take over the mines. The owners finally acquiesced; the strike was settled in 1903.

Roosevelt continued his Progressive actions when he revived the Sherman Antitrust Act. The Act sought to prevent companies from combining into trusts and gaining monopolies. A trust is formed when many companies loosely join together under a common board of directors to gain total control of an entire market so that prices can be raised without the threat of competitors. This total control of a market and subsequent price raising is a monopoly. However, until Roosevelt's administration, the Act was rarely enforced. Roosevelt also enforced the Hepburn Act, which allowed the Interstate Commmerce Commission to regulate railroads. The railroads had allied themselves with large businesses, charging higher rates to those business' competitors. Thus, the large businesses would gain even more power. The Hepburn Act prevented railroads from granting reduced rates to businesses. Roosevelt also championed the cause of conservation. He set aside large amounts of land as part of the national park system.

[edit] Conflicts with other Imperialist Nations

Imperialism was yet a common theme in the relations between nations in this era. It should be noted that although the US annexed Hawaii, Japan also had interests in the island and an aggressive foreign policy; Japan had already seized Taiwan from China in 1885 and would annex Korea in 1905. Imperial Germany was another aggressive power. The U.S. and Germany had conflicts over who would control Samoa, in the Pacific, as well as nearly faced a naval war with Germany in 1902 over German plans to seize the customs revenues of Venezuela.

However, under the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt, the United States became more open in asserting international power. In 1905, Russia and Japan went to war over control of Korea and China. The Japanese won naval victories over two Russian fleets, in the Battles of the Yellow Sea and Tsushima. President Roosevelt offered to negotiate peace between the two nations, and in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a peace treaty was signed.

To demonstrate the ability of the United States to project power around the world (unlike Russia), Roosevelt ordered a fleet of U.S. men-o'war to sail around the world. The fleet left the east coast of the U.S. in 1908 and returned in 1909, visting ports in Europe, Australia, and Japan.

[edit] President William Howard Taft

Roosevelt, following the tradition upheld by every reelected president before him, decided not to run for reelection for a third term in 1908. Republicans nominated William Howard Taft as their candidate for the 1908 election, and he easily defeated the Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan, supporting the continuation of Roosevelt's progressive programs. Taft was somewhat more cautious and quiet than Roosevelt, and therefore, had less public attention.

Although Taft was less of an attention grabber than Roosevelt, he went far beyond what Roosevelt ever did. Taft used the Sherman Antitrust Act, a law passed in 1890 that made trusts and monopolies illegal, and they had to sue many large and economically damaging corporations. For comparison, Taft won more antitrust lawsuits in four years than Roosevelt won in seven.

Taft also pushed for the passing of the Sixteenth Amendment, which gave the federal government the right to tax citizens' incomes. The purpose of the amendment was to supply the government with cash to replace the revenue generated from tariffs, which progressives hoped that Taft would lower. Taft failed in getting a lower tariff, and in addition, he failed to fight for conservation and environmentalism, and actually weakened some conservation policies to favor business. When Roosevelt came back from an expedition to Africa in 1910, he was disappointed in Taft, and vigorously campaigned for progressive republicans in the congressional elections of 1910.

Because of Roosevelt's enormous popularity, he ran for reelection to a third term in 1912, but he failed to win the nomination for the Republican Party because Taft had connections to influential people in the party. Roosevelt and his supporters broke off from the Republicans and formed the Progressive Party, which later came to be known as the Bull Moose party after Roosevelt declared that he felt "as strong as a bull moose!" The split in the party came to hurt the two candidates, and Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson gathered a 42 percent plurality of the popular votes and 435 out of 531 electoral votes.

[edit] On the Supreme Court

Taft would later become a member of the Supreme Court, making him the only former President to do so. In 1921, when Chief Justice Edward Douglass White died, President Warren G. Harding nominated Taft to take his place, thereby fulfilling Taft's lifelong ambition to become Chief Justice of the United States. Very little opposition existed to the nomination, and the Senate approved him 60-4 in a secret session, but the roll call of the vote has never been made public. He readily took up the position, serving until 1930. As such, he became the only President to serve as Chief Justice, and thus is also the only former President to swear in subsequent Presidents, giving the oath of office to both Calvin Coolidge (in 1925) and Herbert Hoover (in 1929). He remains the only person to have led both the Executive and Judicial branches of the United States government. He considered his time as Chief Justice to be the highest point of his career: he allegedly once remarked, "I don't remember that I ever was President."

[edit] President Woodrow Wilson

Although Woodrow Wilson was a Democrat, he still pushed for progressive reforms. One of the first successes of his administration was the lowering of tariffs, which he accomplished in 1913. Wilson believed that increased foreign competition would spur U.S. based manufacturers to lower prices and improve their goods. That same year, Wilson passed the Federal Reserve Act, which created twelve regional banks that would be run by a central board in the capitol. This system gave the government more control over banking activities. A few years later he wrote: "I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men. -Woodrow Wilson"

Wilson also pushed for governmental control over business. In 1914, a Democratic-controlled Congress established the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate companies that participated in suspected unfair and illegal trade practices. Wilson also supported the Clayton Antitrust Act, which joined the Sherman Antitrust Act as one the government's tools to fight trusts the same year.

By the end of Wilson's First term, progressives had won many victories. The entire movement lost steam, though, as Americans became much more interested in international affairs, especially the war that had broken out in Europe in 1914.

[edit] The Supreme Court and Labor

Upset workers had succeeded in lobbying Congress to pass legislation that improved work conditions. However, the Supreme Court of the United States somewhat limited the range of these acts. In Holden v. Hardy (1896), the Supreme Court ruled that miners' hours must be short because long hours made the job too dangerous. However, in Lochner v. New York laws ruled that bakery workers did not have a job dangerous enough to put restrictions on the free sale of labor. Putting aside this decision, in 1908, the decision in Muller v. Oregon said that women's health must be protected "to preserve the strength and vigor of the race." This did, clearly, protect women's health, but it also locked them into menial jobs.

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[edit] World War I and the Treaty of Versailles (1914 - 1920)

[edit] Europe

In 1815, the powers of Europe united to defeat French Emperor Napoleon. For a century since that time, there had been no major war in Europe, but countries organized themselves in a complex system of alliances.

After Napoleon's defeat, the European powers - the United Kingdom, France, Prussia, Russia, and Austria - met in Vienna. The nations decided that if power in Europe was balanced, then no nation would become so powerful as to pose a threat to the others. The most important of these was the German Confederation. In 1871, after defeating France and Prussia, several small German nations merged into the German Empire upsetting the traditional balance of power.

German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck began to construct a complex web of alliances to protect German dominance. Germany and the United Kingdom were on good terms since Germany did not rival British sea power by building up a navy. In 1873, Russia, the w:Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Germany entered the Three Emperors' League. Nine years later, Austria-Hungary, w:Italy, and Germany formed the Triple Alliance. In 1887, the Reinsurance Treaty ensured that Russia would not interfere in a war between France and Germany.

In 1890, Bismarck was fired by Kaiser Wilhelm II, who then began to undo almost all of Bismarck's policies. He decided to build up a German navy, leading to animosity with the United Kingdom. He did not renew German agreements with Russia. This, in 1894, led Russia to form a new alliance with Germany's rival France.

In 1904, France and the United Kingdom decided to bury the hatchet. They ended centuries of bitter enmity and signed the Entente Cordiale. Three years later, those two nations and Russia entered the Triple Entente. The Triple Entente began to build up its army, as did Germany and Austria-Hungary.

[edit] War Breaks Out

War was triggered by the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne.

Austria-Hungary was a patchwork of several nations ruled by the Habsburg family. Several ethnic groups resented rule by the Habsburgs. In June, 1914, the heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, traveled to Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A Serb nationalist named Gavrilo Princip, who had a profound distaste for rule by the Habsburgs, assassinated the Archduke and his wife.

The Austro-Hungarian government decided to use the opportunity to crush Serbian nationalism. They threatened the Serbian government with war. But Russia came to the aid of the Serbs, leading Austria-Hungary to call on Germany for aid. The same was agreed to by Emperor Wilhelm II; Germany handed Austria-Hungary a "blank check," that is, it agreed to give Austria-Hungary whatever it needed to win the war.

In July, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Germany began to mobilize their troops. The conflict in Austria-Hungary quickly began to spread over Europe. In August, Germany declared war on France. The Germans demanded that Belgium allow German troops to pass through the neutral nation. When King Albert of Belgium refused, Germany violated Belgian neutrality and invaded. Belgium appealed to the United Kingdom for aid; the British House of Commons threatened that the UK would wage war against Germany unless it withdrew from Belgium. The Germans refused, and the UK joined the battle. The Central Powers, Germany and Austria-Hungary, were pitted against the Allies, the United Kingdom, Russia, and France.

[edit] The Early Stages

German troops entered Belgium on August 4. By August 16, they had begun to enter France. The French Army met the Germans near the French border with Belgium. France lost tens of thousands of men in less than a week, causing the French Army to retreat to Paris. The Germans penetrated deep into France, attempting to win a quick victory.

The Allies won a key battle at Marne, repelling the German offensive. The Germans lost especially due to a disorganized supply line and a weak communications network. The French Army, however, had not completely defeated the Germans. Both sides continually fought each other, to no avail. On the Western Front, Germany and France would continue to fight for more than three years without any decisive victories for either side.

Meanwhile, on the Eastern Front, Germany faced Russia. In the third week of August, Russian troops entered the eastern part of Germany. Germany was at a severe disadvantage because it had to fight on two different fronts, splitting its troops. However, despite Germany's disadvantage, no decisive action occurred for three years.

The United Kingdom used its powerful Royal Navy in the war against Germany. British ships set up naval blockades. The Germans, however, countered with submarines called U-boats. U-boats sank several ships, but could not, during the early stages of the war, seriously challenge the mighty Royal Navy.

The war spread to Asia when Japan declared war on Germany in August, 1914. The Japanese sought control of German colonies in the Pacific. Germany already faced a two-front war, and could not afford to defend its Pacific possessions.

In October, 1914, the Ottoman Empire entered, allying itself with the Central Powers. The entry of the Ottoman Empire was disastrous to the Allies. The Ottoman Empire controlled the Dardanelles strait, which provided a route between Russia and the Mediterranean. The Ottoman sultan declared holy war- jihad- against the Allies. Muslims in the British Empire and French Empire were thus encouraged to rebel against their Christian rulers. However, the Allies' concerns were premature. Few Muslims accepted the sultan's proclamation. In fact, some Muslims in the Ottoman Empire supported the Allies so that the Ottoman Empire could be broken up, and the nations they ruled could gain independence.

[edit] The Middle Stages

Between 1914 and 1917, the war was characterized by millions of deaths leading nowhere. Neither side could gain a decisive advantage on either front.

In 1915, the Germans began to realize the full potential of Submarines. German Submarines engaged in official unrestricted warfare, engaging and sinking any ship found within the war zone regardless of the flag flown. Germany's justification for this use of force was that there was no certain method to ascertain the ultimate destination of the passengers and cargo carried by the ships in the war zone, and thus they were all taken as attempts at maintaining the anti-German blockade.

The final straw in this unrestricted warfare for the United States of America was the sinking of the Cunard Line passenger ship RMS Lusitania, which operated under the flag of Great Britain. The ship carried over one hundred Americans, and the incident strained relations between the US and Germany.

In May, 1915, Italy broke the Triple Alliance by becoming an Allied Power. In October, Bulgaria joined the Central Powers. Each side had induced their new partners to join by offering territorial concessions. Italy prevented Austria-Hungary from concentrating its efforts on Russia, while Bulgaria prevented Russia from having connections with other Allied Powers.

In May, 1916, one of the most significant naval battles in World War I occurred. The Royal Navy faced a German fleet during the Battle of Jutland. The Battle proved that the Allied naval force was still superior to that possessed by the Central Powers. The Germans grew even more dependent on U-boats in naval battle.

In August, 1916, Romania joined the Allies. Romania invaded Transylvania, a province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But when the Central Powers struck back, they took control of important Romanian wheat fields.

[edit] The United States Declares War

Until 1917, the United States had stayed neutral. They adopted the policy of isolationism because they felt that the events in Europe had no impact on North America. American opinions began to change after the sinking of the Lusitania, An Irish ship carrying primarily civilians. However, the US was calmed by the Germans, who agreed to limit submarine warfare. In 1917, the Germans reinstated unrestricted submarine warfare in order to cripple the British economy by destroying merchant ships, and break the sea blockade of Britain. President Woodrow Wilson responded to the German threat by asking Congress to declare war. Congress complied on April 6, 1917.

The US had to mobilize its military before it could aid the Allies by sending troops. The cadre of the U.S. Army had experience in mobilizing and moving troops from its Mexican expedition, but the Army needed to expand to over one million men, most of which were untrained. In the same way, the Navy could send a battleship division to assist the British Grand Fleet, but needed to expand. Logistics (see the chapter on the Civil War for a definition) also compelled the U.S. to set up its supply lines in France south of the British and French lines, which meant the U.S. would take over the southern part of the Western Front battle line. However, the US could and did help the Allies with monetary assistance. Increased taxes and the sale of bonds allowed the US to raise enormous sums of money.

The U.S. commander, General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, faced immense pressure from the British and French governments to use American forces in small units to reinforce depleted British and French units. This was impossible politically. Pershing insisted to General Foch, the Generalissimo of the Allied armies, that the U.S. Army would fight as a single Army.

[edit] Revolution in Russia

There were two factions of the Party, and there was much bloodshed. Eventually Lenin won, and he was made head of the country, which came to be called the Union of the Soviets or the Soviet Union. Lenin was Head of Party and Leon Trotsky was named Commissar of War. Lenin's representatives signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers in the spring of 1918. Russia ended its participation in the war. It also lost Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltic States to Germany. The Germans were then free to concentrate their troops on the Western Front.

Lenin tried later to make other rebellions but was unsuccessful. He said that he fought to "pull the Bearded Man (God) out of the Sky." Lenin's slogans were "Brotherhood and Freedom" and "Rebellion to Authority." The later is popularly called NIN and in the United States is a common gang sign.

[edit] Permanent Revolution

Trotsky is known for his policy of permanent revolution and for being assassinated in Mexico in 1940 by Stalinists as part of the Great Purge. Permanent Revolution is a term within Marxist theory, which was first used by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels between 1845 and 1850, but has since become most closely associated with Leon Trotsky. The use of the term by different theorists is not identical. Marx used it to describe the strategy of a revolutionary class to continue to pursue its class interests independently and without compromise, despite overtures for political alliances, and despite the political dominance of opposing sections of society.

Trotsky put forward his conception of 'permanent revolution' as an explanation of how socialist revolutions could occur in societies that had not achieved advanced capitalism. Part of his theory is the impossibility of 'socialism in one country' - a view also held by Marx, but not integrated into his conception of permanent revolution. Trotsky's theory also argues, first, that the bourgeoisie in late-developing capitalist countries are incapable of developing the productive forces in such a manner as to achieve the sort of advanced capitalism which will fully develop an industrial proletariat. Second, that the proletariat can and must, therefore, seize social, economic and political power, leading an alliance with the peasantry.

[edit] The End of the War

Despite the fact that the Germans could concentrate their efforts in one area, the Central Powers faced grim prospects in 1918. Encouraged by the United States joining the war, several nations joined the Allied Powers. The four Central Powers of Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria faced the combined might of the Allied Powers of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, France, Belgium, Japan, Serbia, Montenegro, San Marino, Italy, Portugal, Romania, the United States, Cuba, Panama, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Haiti, Costa Rica, Brazil, Liberia, Siam (Thailand) and China (some of the above nations did not support the war with troops, but did contribute monetarily.) The Germans launched a final, desperate attack on France, but it failed miserably. Due to Allied counterattacks, the Central Powers slowly began to capitulate.

Bulgaria was the first to collapse. A combined force of Italians, Serbs, Greeks, Britons, and Frenchmen attacked Bulgaria through Albania in September, 1918. By the end of September, Bulgaria surrendered, withdrawing its troops from Serbia and Greece, and even allowing the Allies to use Bulgaria in military operations.

British forces, led by T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), together with nationalist Arabs, were successful in the Ottoman Empire. About a month after Bulgaria's surrender, the Ottoman Empire surrendered, permitting Allies to use the Ottoman territory, including the Dardanelles Strait, in military operations.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire also decided to surrender in October. The royal family, the Habsburgs, and the Austro-Hungarian government desperately sought to keep the Empire of diverse nationalities united. Though Austria-Hungary surrendered, it failed to unite its peoples. The once-powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire was destroyed by the end of October, splitting into Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia.

Germany, remaining all alone, also decided to surrender. President Wilson required that Germany accede to the terms of the Fourteen Points, which, among other things, required Germany to return territory acquired by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk to Russia and the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine to France. Germany found the terms too harsh, while the Allies found them too lenient. But when German Emperor Wilhelm II abdicated the throne, the new German government quickly agreed to Wilson's demands. On November 11, 1918, World War I had come to an end.

[edit] Treaty of Versailles

In 1919, the chief Allied Powers of the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Italy, and Japan met with the Central Powers in France to discuss a peace settlement. Each of the Allied Powers had distinct interests during the talks. The UK wanted to keep the Royal Navy supreme by dismantling the German Navy, and also wished to end Germany's colonial empire, which might have proved to be a threat to the vast British Empire. Italy wanted the Allies to fulfill the promise of territory given to them at the beginning of the war. France wanted Germany to compensate them for the damage caused to France during the War. Japan had already accomplished its interests by taking over German Pacific colonies. President Wilson's main goal for the conference was the creation of the League of Nations; he felt such an organization would be the only way to prevent future wars. Many historians believe that his concentration on the league, forcing him to sacrifice possible kindnesses to Germany, would lead to WWII.

The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to cede Alsace and Lorraine to France, dismantle its Army and Navy, give up its colonial Empire, pay massive reparations to the Allies, and take full responsibility for causing the war. The conference also led to the creation of the League of Nations. The US Senate, however, did not consent to the Treaty, and the European powers were left to enforce its provisions themselves. This eventually led to violations of the treaty by Germany, which then led to the Second World War. The treaty crippled Weimar Germany and led to great bitterness in Germany. This bitterness eventually led to the rise of fascism and Adolf Hitler.

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[edit] The Roaring Twenties and Prohibition (1920 - 1929)

[edit] Automobile

In the 1920s, the United States automobile industry began an extraordinary period of growth. Henry Ford increased the use of the assembly line in manufacturing, thus reducing the time taken to manufacture each product. Also, assembly lines reduced the costs of manufacturing. Average citizens were able to purchase cars, unlike earlier.

Due to this increase in the production of cars, industries that produced products utilized in cars also grew; petroleum, steel, and glass companies earned more profits. Also, the states began to build roads and highways in rural areas. Gasoline stations were put up, further increasing the growth of the petroleum industry. In addition, automobile dealers introduced the installment plan, that idea spread to other parts of business. Thus, the automobile industry's growth had repercussions throughout the nation.

[edit] Radio

Radio broadcasting became feasible with the increasing electrification of the United States and the development of better circuitry. The first broadcasting station in the world was KDKA, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1920; other stations started in every state, and in 1924, the first U.S. radio network, the National Broadcasting Company, began operations between New York and Boston. In 1927, the Columbia Broadcasting System began to broadcast.

[edit] Movies

The U.S. movie industry began to locate in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, in the 1920s, and movies also grew into a popular recreation. Movie stars such as Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and Charlie Chaplin became iconic images around the world.

The development of the automobile, radio, and the movies changed the popular culture of the United States. Programs such as Amos 'n' Andy affected the nation's habits; people stopped what they were doing twice a week to listen to the program. In the case of movies such as The Birth of a Nation, a fictionalized account of the founding of the Ku Klux Klan, Klan membership grew as a result.

[edit] Prohibition

In 1851, the state of Maine passed a law banning the production and sale of intoxicating liquors. Twelve more states followed by 1855. During the Civil War, however, the movement to prohibit alcohol was stalled. Saloons, which focused on the sale of alcohol, sprang up across the country. However, many viewed saloons as immoral; by 1916, almost half the states had banned saloons. The election of that year focused on Prohibition (the banning of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors.)

The Congress that assembled in 1917 overwhelmingly passed the Eighteenth Amendment, which enacted Prohibition. By 1919, the requisite number of states had ratified the Amendment. The Amendment actually came into effect, under its own terms, one year after ratification. On January 16, 1920, the National Prohibition Act, also known as the Volstead Act, came into effect which banned drinks with alcohol content above 3.2%.

Although total alcohol consumption halved, many people blatantly disregarded Prohibition. Bootleggers illegally manufactured and sold liquors at unlawful saloons called speakeasies. Gangs prospered due to profits from illegal alcohol. Some felt that Prohibition was too harsh and that it made a criminal out of the average American. Nonetheless, Prohibition remained law until 1933, when the Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth Amendment.

[edit] Jazz

Jazz is an American musical art form which originated around the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions. The style's West African pedigree is evident in its use of blue notes, call-and-response, improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation, and the swung note of ragtime.

[edit] Women and Equal Rights

Before the Nineteenth Amendment, most states only granted men the right to vote. Suffragettes - those who campaigned for a woman's right to vote - were successful in 1920, when the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified. Encouraged women campaigned for women's rights. Several women's organizations requested an Amendment that guaranteed Equal Rights. (Congress actually proposed the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972, but it expired under its own terms in 1982 since three-fourths of the states had not ratified it.) However, after gaining suffrage, women lost most battles for equality.

File:1919 US Woman Suffrage.PNG
Women's Suffrage in the United States in 1919, before the Nineteenth Amendment

[edit] African-Americans and the Ku Klux Klan

Southern states segregated public facilities (like buses). In half the South fewer than 10% of the blacks were allowed to vote.

The Ku Klux Klan flourished 1921-26 with a membership of millions of Protestants. Klansmen argued for a purified nation and denounced African-Americans, Catholics, and Jews, as well as bootleggers and adulterers.

[edit] Beer Hall Putsch

The Beer Hall Putsch was a failed coup d'état that occurred between the evening of Thursday, November 8 and the early afternoon of Friday, November 9, 1923, when the Nazi party's leader Adolf Hitler, the popular World War I General Erich Ludendorff, and other leaders of the Kampfbund, unsuccessfully tried to gain power in Munich, Bavaria, and Germany. Putsch is the German word for "coup."

The attempted putsch was inspired by Mussolini's successful March on Rome. Hitler and his associates planned a march on Munich. He planned to use Munich as a base for a big march against Germany's Weimar Republic government in Berlin. But the circumstances were different from those in Italy. Once Hitler realized that von Kahr either sought to control him or was losing heart (history is unclear), Hitler decided to take matters into his own hands. Hitler, along with a large detachment of SA, marched on the Bürgerbräukeller, a Munich beer hall where von Kahr was making a speech in front of 3,000 people. The sixteen fallen were regarded as the first 'blood martyrs' of the NSDAP and were remembered by Hitler in the foreword of Mein Kampf. The Nazi flag they carried, which in the course of events was stained with blood, came to be known as the Blutfahne (blood flag) and was brought out for the swearing in of new recruits in front of the Feldherrnhalle when Hitler was in power.

Shortly after he came to power, a memorial was placed at the south side of the Feldherrnhalle crowned with a swastika. The back of the memorial read 'Und ihr habt doch gesiegt!' ("Yet victory was yours"). Behind it flowers were laid, and either policemen or the SS stood guard in between a lower plaque. Passers-by were required to give the Hitler salute. The putsch was also commemorated on three sets of stamps. Mein Kampf was dedicated to the fallen and, in the book Ich Kämpfe (given to those joining the party circa 1943), they are listed first even though the book lists hundreds of other dead. The header text in the book read "Though they are dead for their acts they will live on forever." The army had a division named the Feldherrnhalle regiment, and there was also an SA Feldherrnhalle division.

Every year (even during the war up to 1942) a commemoration, attended by Hitler, took place in Munich, the centrepiece of which was usually a recreation of the march, from the Burgerbräukeller to the south side of the Feldherrnhalle. Every Gau (administrative region of Germany) was also expected to hold a small remembrance ceremony. As material given to propagandists said, the sixteen fallen were the first losses and the ceremony was an occasion to commemorate everyone who had died for the movement.

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[edit] The Great Depression and the New Deal (1929 - 1939)

[edit] The Stock Market Crash

The US stock market crash occurred in October of 1929. The value of common stock and shares dropped by 40%, resulting in a global depression.

Payment plans for merchandise were usually only short term payment plans. This was put in place so that consumer debt services could absorb a greater part of the consumers income. This resulted in debt being diminished more quickly and effectively. The only negative effect of this was that it did not allow for excess purchasing capacity, which could have absorbed the surplus production more effectively.

Furthermore, the general credit structure served to weaken the economy. Farm prices were plummeting, but farmers were already in deep debt, and crop prices were too low to allow them to pay off what they already owed. Banks suffered failure as the farmers defaulted on loans. Some of the nation's largest banks were failing to maintain adequate reserves and making unwise business decisions. Essentially, the banking system was completely unprepared to combat an economic crash.

Credit also related to the stock market. Investors bought shares "on margin" while at the same time taking out a loan to pay for those shares. The investors hoped that by the time the shares were sold, they would make enough money to pay back the loan and interest, and also have some profit remaining for themselves. The practice of buying on margin led to an extremely unstable stock market. Investors' uncontrolled purchases on margin eventually led to a collapse of the stock market on October 24, 1929, also known as Black Thursday.

International influences also caused the Great Depression. Nations adopted the practice of Protectionism, under which foreign goods were subject to tariffs, or import duties, so that foreign products would cost more and local products would cost less. The reduced cost of local goods would then boost the local economy at the expense of foreign competitors. The United States enacted extremely high tariffs. However, other nations retaliated against the United States by establishing their own tariffs. Thus, American businesses lost several foreign markets.

International credit structure was another cause of the Depression. At the end of World War I, European nations owed enormous sums of money to American banks. However, these debts were rarely repaid. The smaller American banks were crippled because farmers could not pay debts, while larger banks suffered because other nations could not pay debts.

The problems of overproduction, under-consumption, inability to collect debt, and the stock market crash together had a devastating affect on the economy. The Great Depression, the largest collapse of the economy in modern history, had drastic impacts on Americans.

[edit] Depression

The Great Depression was a severe economic downfall for the United States. By 1932, unemployment had surged to twenty-five percent, while stock prices plummeted by over eighty percent. Over eighty-five thousand businesses had declared bankruptcy. Banks could not collect debt from bankrupt businesses and began to close, causing the loss of the savings of millions of Americans. This led President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to create the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which provides a hedge against this sort of loss.What is more important is that the farmers living in the South-central cities of the United States suffered almost all the kind of hardships since the first day the depression came into life. They traveled to the West, especially to California, and hope to find better opportunities in life.

In 1930, a confluence of bad weather and poor agricultural practices known as the Dust Bowl compounded the Depression's effects on farmers. Sustained drought and continued planting and harvesting over poor seasons led to the destruction of ground cover that held soil in place, hence Dust Bowl. This, along with other economic factors, reduced farm revenue by 50 percent. Many farmers were forced to move to the cities in order to survive.

[edit] The New Deal

The most important thing that Roosevelt did was to take action. The stock market crash and subsequent economic collapse had, by 1932, left America in a state of deep fear. Jobs were gone, businesses had failed and many banks were proving unsound. Families were not only losing their source of income but their life savings as well. Americans were feeling helpless in the face of this turmoil. People were desperate for a leader that would demonstrate some idea of what to do to begin to turn things around.

With this as a backdrop, strong social changes were beginning to take place in this country. While mostly confined to rhetoric, these ranged from grassroots actions by farmers facing foreclosure to sophisticated agitation by Nazi, Socialist and Communist activists. As Roosevelt remarked to John Nance Garner, his Vice President, as they rode to the inauguration in January 1933 "I had better be a good president or I will be the last one".

After he took office,in a program called "the Hundred Days" ,Roosevelt immediately began to take steps against the Great Depression. He had campaigned with a platform offering a [[Media:New Deal to Americans]]. The nation did not have to wait long to see what FDR had in mind. On March 6, two days after taking office as President, he issued an order closing all American banks for four days. Throughout his Presidency he would show himself a master of the use of language. Instead of calling it an "emergency bank closure," Roosevelt used the euphemism of "bank holiday." He then summoned Congress for a special session.

When Congress met, Roosevelt suggested the Emergency Banking Bill, which was designed to protect large banks from being dragged down by the failing small banks. On the day after the passage of the Emergency Banking Act, Roosevelt sent to Congress the Economy Bill. The act proposed to balance the federal budget by cutting the salaries of government employees and reducing pensions to veterans by as much as 15 percent.

Roosevelt warned that the nation would face a $1 billion deficit if the bill would fail. Like the Emergency Banking Act, it passed through Congress almost instantaneously.

To protect American farmers, Congress passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)in May, 1933. Farm incomes, relative to the rest of the economy, had been falling for years. Most importantly, the AAA attempted to increase farm prices. Under the act, producers of seven agricultural products - corn, cotton, dairy products, hogs, rice, tobacco, and wheat - would set production limits on themselves. The AAA required the government to then tell individual farmers how much they should plant. The government rewarded farmers who complied by paying them for leaving some of their land unused. The Act was extremely controversial, however. People argued that it was inappropriate for the government to pay farmers to produce less while many people were forced to starve due to the Depression.

Congress and the President created several new government agencies to combat the Great Depression. The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Public Works Administration provided employment for many Americans; they hired people to work on roads, buildings, and dams. The Tennessee Valley Authority accomplished similar goals; it sought to build an infrastructure in the Southeast to provide electricity to rural areas. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation provided insurance for bank deposits. The Securities and Exchange Commission, meanwhile, provided for the regulation of the stock market in an attempt to prevent another crash like that in October, 1929.

In June, 1933, Congress addressed the problems of the industrial sector with the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA). The NIRA established the National Recovery Administration (NRA), which attempted to stabilize prices and wages though cooperative "code authorities" involving government, business, and labor unions.

The NRA adopted a blanket code under which the businesses would agree to a minimum wage of twenty to forty cents per hour, a workweek of thirty-five to forty hours, and the abolition of child labor. Companies that voluntarily complied with the code were allowed to display the NRA "Blue Eagle". Blue Eagle flags, posters, and stickers, with the slogan "We Do Our Part," became common across the country. In addition to blanket codes, codes specific to certain industries were also adopted.

NRA Blue Eagle

In 1935, the Congress passed the Social Security Act. The Act provided for the creation of the Social Security System, under which the unemployed and the unemployable (such as senior citizens) received welfare payments from the government. The Act also granted money to the states for use in their own welfare programs.

The efforts of the Democratic President and Congress were opposed by a conservative Supreme Court. In 1933, the Court had ruled in favor of some state New Deal programs. However, by 1935, the Court had begun to rule against the New Deal. For example, the Court ruled in a case nicknamed the Sick Chicken Case that the National Industrial Recovery Act Code relating to the sale of "unfit" poultry, as well as all other codes under the act, were unconstitutional. In 1936, the Court ruled that the Agricultural Adjustment Act was also unconstitutional.

[edit] Roosevelt's Re-election

In 1936, Roosevelt won re-election in a landslide, losing only the states of Maine and Vermont. Roosevelt and Congress proceeded by passing more New Deal legislation. This time, the Supreme Court did not oppose Roosevelt. The Second Agricultural Adjustment Act, for example, replaced the first Act. The Fair Labor Standards Act set minimum wages for workers in interstate industries. The Wagner Housing Act provided for the construction of homes for the poor.

Despite such programs, the New Deal did not end the Great Depression by itself. That task was accomplished by the Second World War, which led to the growth of jobs in industries related to war, which then led to the growth of the overall economy. However, the New Deal did provide much-needed relief to suffering Americans.

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[edit] Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)

The Spanish Civil War (July 18, 1936–April 1, 1939) was a conflict in which the incumbent Second Spanish Republic and political left-wing groups fought against a right-wing nationalist insurrection led by General Francisco Franco, who eventually succeeded in ousting the Republican government and establishing a personal dictatorship. It was the result of the complex political, economic and even cultural divisions between what Spanish writer Antonio Machado characterized as the two Spains. The Republicans ranged from centrists who supported capitalist liberal democracy to communists or anarchist revolutionaries; their power base was primarily secular and urban (though it also included landless peasants) and was particularly strong in industrial regions like Asturias and Catalonia. The conservative Basque Country also sided with the Republic, largely because it, along with nearby Cataluña sought autonomy from the central government which would later be suppressed by the centralizing nationalists. The ultimately successful Nationalists had a primarily rural, wealthier, and more conservative base of support, were mostly Roman Catholic, and favoured the centralization of power. Some of the military tactics of the war -- including the use of terror tactics against civilians -- foreshadowed World War II, although both the nationalists and the republicans relied overwhelmingly on infantry rather than modern use of blitzkrieg tactics with tanks and airplanes.

[edit] Abraham Lincoln Brigade

The Abraham Lincoln Brigade was an organization of United States volunteers supporting or fighting for the anti-fascist Spanish Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War as part of the International Brigade.

The name "brigade" is something of a misnomer, as there were several American battalions organized under the Fifteenth International Brigade of the Spanish Republican army. This brigade was loosely organized by the Comintern and was made up of volunteers from nations around the globe. The George Washington Battalion, Abraham Lincoln Battalion, John Brown Anti-Aircraft Battery were part of the American contingent. Other U.S. volunteers served with the MacKenzie-Papineau battalion (Canadian), the Regiment de Tren (transport) and in various medical groups. The name Abraham Lincoln Brigade was used to include all the U.S. volunteers, regardless of which unit they served with.

Most of the people making up the Abraham Lincoln Brigade were official members of the Communist Party USA or affiliated with other socialist organizations. The IWW, or "Wobblies", were lightly represented. However, the brigade was made up of volunteers from all walks of American life, and from all socio-economic classes. It was the first unit of soldiers made up of Americans to have an African-American officer, Oliver Law, lead white soldiers.

American volunteers began organizing and arriving in Spain in 1936. Centered in the town of Figueras, near the French border, the brigade was organized in 1937 and trained by Robert Merriman. By early 1937, its numbers had swelled from an initial 96 volunteers to around 450 members. In February 1937 the League of Nations Non-Intervention Committee banned foreign national volunteers.

The International Brigade was used by the Loyalist army for several battles in Spain. They unsuccessfully defended the supply road between Valencia and Madrid in the Jarama Valley from February 1937 until June 1937. They were also present at the battles of Brunete, Zaragoza, Belchite, and Teruel.

The Brigade was a cause celebre in the United States, however. Liberal and socialist groups organized fund-raising activities and supply drives to keep the Brigade afloat. News of the Brigade's high casualty rate and bravery in battle made them romantic figures to an America concerned about the rise of Fascism around the world.

The war dragged on and the Fascist forces gained victory after victory over the Spanish Republic. The International Brigade was withdrawn from battle by the Spanish prime minister in spring of 1938. Most of the surviving Lincolns were repatriated promptly afterwards, and were welcomed home as heroes.

In the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, members of the Brigade were castigated as supporters of the Soviet Union. Following World War II, at the height of the "Red Scare", former members of the Brigade were considered security risks, and branded "premature anti-fascists".

The US volunteers of the International Brigades adopted the song "Jarama Valley" as their anthem, which was the older song "Red River Valley" with new lyrics. The song was also translated into Catalan.

[edit] Specific Cases

After World War I, U.S. Blacks confronted once again the forces of white supremacy and a revitalized Ku Klux Klan. Yet the appearance of a Communist government in Russia in 1917 opened new vistas for African American militancy. After Lenin's Communist party came to power in the Soviet Union and boldly proclaimed "the wretched of the earth" should rule the world, African American resistance took on new meaning. In Chicago, an African Blood Brotherhood led by Cyril Briggs talked of arming Black men for self-defense and called for unity with white workers to overthrow capitalism and imperialism. In 1924 Briggs led his followers into the U.S. Communist party.

Other African Americans also turned to the Communist party for inspiration and organizational support. The most significant African American Communist of this early era was World War I veteran Harry Haywood. During the 1920s Haywood headed for the Soviet Union. In 1928 at a Comintern conference he embraced a proposal that Blacks who lived in the sixty contiguous southern U.S. counties (where they accounted for a majority of the population) be entitled to self-determination including the right to secede from the United States. Such ideas became the basis of the Communist party's organizing among southern Blacks during the 1930s. Haywood later served briefly as a commissar in the Lincoln Brigade.

[edit] For Whom the Bell Tolls

Ernest Hemingway wrote a novel after the Spanish American War, a historic fiction, titled For Whom the Bell Tolls. He borrowed the title from a line of a John Donne poem. The novel tells the story of Robert Jordan, a guerrilla warrior from the United States, during the Spanish Civil War. As an expert in the use of explosives, Jordan is given an assignment to blow up a bridge to accompany a simultaneous attack on the city of Segovia. Though successful in that sense, like most Hemingway novels, For Whom the Bell Tolls is tragic.

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[edit] World War II and the Rise of the Atomic Age (1939 - 1945)

[edit] Economic Effects of World War One and the Great Depression

• The Treaty of Versailles unrealistically addressed war reparations, causing a debt spiral between Germany, the Western Allies, and the United States. The German nation felt humiliated by the Treaty's terms.
• This contributed significantly to the collapse of the world financial markets and led to an economic catastrophe that spawned a political vacuum which allowed new, more radical-than-traditional politicians to emerge on the world scene. These included such men as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt, Hideki Tojo, and Chiang Kai-shek.

[edit] Conflict in Europe

In 1933, former German chancellor Paul von Hindenberg handed over power to Adolf Hitler who disbanded the Weimar Republic and then began the rise of the "Third Reich", which was also known as "Großdeutsches Reich". Hitler's plan was to exterminate people of the Jewish religion because he believed that they were responsible for the harsh defeat of Germany during World War I.

Following World War I, Germany suffered many difficult problems resulting from their defeat in World War I. They were damaged economically and morally. The only "reasonable" explanation in Hitler's mind was that the Jews were to blame for all of the problems.

Hitler contended that Germans belonged to a race superior to other races, thus, in the minds of many German people, justifying the extermination of Jews ( the "Holocaust" or "Shoah"), and the elimination of homosexuals, the mentally ill, and other "undesirable" elements of German society. Hitler also used this opinion regarding German superiority, as well as the viewpoint that Germans were unfairly treated after World War I, to justify the attempt to terminate the Treaty of Versailles.

Hitler began a buildup of the German military. In 1936, he tested German might by supporting a rebellion in Spain. Then, Hitler and Benito Mussolini, the Fascist Dictator of Italy, as well as Japan, began to create a coalition between their three countries. The coalition later came to be known as the Axis.

In 1938, Hitler annexed Austria. Other nations were reluctant to interfere because of Hitler's claim that the relation between Germany and Austria was an internal German concern that had little or nothing to do with the rest of Europe. Then, Hitler took control of a part of Czechoslovakia. This time, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain did interfere, signing an agreement with Hitler that ensured that Germany would keep any territory already conquered, but would not attempt to take any further Czechoslovakian territory. The policy which sought to prevent another World War at almost any cost, including the cost of allowing the tyrant Hitler to gain more power, was known as appeasement.

Hitler had no intention of keeping his agreement. In 1939, he took over the remainder of Czechoslovakia and turned his sights to Poland, demanding the Polish Corridor. France and the United Kingdom agreed to come to Poland's aid, but Germany signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact, which ensured the neutrality of the Soviet Union (formerly Russia).

[edit] The Beginning of the War

On the first day of September in 1939, Germany declared war on Poland; the British and French responded by declaring war on Germany two days later.

The Germans used the tactic of blitzkrieg (lightning war) in Poland, defeating the Polish Army at lightning speed. By the end of the first week of October, the Germans had gained control of half of Poland. The British and French had done little to aid Poland, fearing a repeat of the First World War. Meanwhile, the Soviets invaded from the east ending any hope for Poland. The last troops surrendered in early October.

In the spring of 1940, Hitler continued his attempt to create a German Empire by attacking the nations of Denmark and Norway. Denmark surrendered, but British and French troops did, originally at least, come to Norway's aid.

Meanwhile, Hitler planned to take control of France and other nations. Germany entered Belgium and the Netherlands on May 10, 1940. The Netherlands surrendered on May 15(Zeeland held out until the 18); Belgium followed on May 28. On the same day, France recalled its troops from Norway, leaving Norway's fate to Germany.

On June 5, the Germans began their attack on France. To make matters worse, Mussolini declared war on France and Britain on June 10. The French government, meanwhile was taken over by a new Premier, who signed an armistice with Germany on June 17. Germany gained control of the northern part of France, and the Vichy French Government (so called because of the new French capital at Vichy) retained the south. The Italians had a small zone of occupation near the Franco-Italian border.

Hitler's Germany was the supreme power on Continental Europe. Only the United Kingdom offered resistance. The Germans intended to invade the United Kingdom, but they first had to contend with the British Royal Air Force. The German Luftwaffe (Air Force) commenced the Battle of Britain in 1940. However, the British used the new technology of radar (Radio Detection and Ranging) to combat the Germans. In September, 1940, the Germans ended the Battle of Britain by indefinitely delaying all plans for invasion. Nonetheless, German airplanes continued to bomb several British cities until the middle of the next year.

Hitler expanded the Axis in the winter of 1940-1941 with the additions of Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. In April, 1941, Germany and Italy then attacked Yugoslavia, which surrendered within one week of invasion. Then, Hitler and Mussolini turned to Greece, which collapsed by the end of April. By the end of 1942, most of Europe was under control of the Nazis or the Italians. Meanwhile, the Japanese gained control of Indochina (Southeast Asia), which had formerly belonged to Vichy France. The United States retaliated by attempting to prevent Japanese purchases of oil and steel. Tensions between Japan and the United States began to grow.

In early 1941, the United States abandoned its neutrality and began to aid the British. The Lend-Lease Act, for example, allowed the President to lend or lease weapons worth over seven billion dollars to other nations. The first two years of the war overseas saw the American public broadly divided on the issue of potential involvement. Though the danger posed by Germany and Japan was generally recognized, millions of Americans felt that a strong, armed neutrality and oceanic defense without entering the war was the safest course. President Roosevelt, on the other hand, made it quite clear to those around him that he felt the United States would have to intervene on the Allied side, and planned and acted accordingly, initiating a war industrial buildup and proposing that the US become the "arsenal of democracy."

[edit] Conflict in the Pacific

On June 22 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union. Originally, Germany predicted a quick victory. The Americans were very reluctant to start any conflict with Germany. Even in the fall of 1941, when shooting took place in the Atlantic between German U-boats and US ships, Roosevelt avoided escalation. Soon however, momentous events in the Pacific changed the course of the war.

The Empire of Japan was active in the Pacific. In order to secure resources and sea lanes for the Japanese islands, they intended to neutralize the American Pacific Fleet, which had been stationed at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Air Force bombed the large American naval base, destroying or severely damaging over twenty battleships and cruisers. Fortunately for the US Navy, its aircraft carriers were at sea and survived the attack. The next day, the United States Congress declared war on Japan, prompting Germany and Italy to in turn declare war on the United States.

Japan continued with its Pacific operations by taking the American territories of the Philippines, Guam, and Wake Island, the British territories of Burma, Singapore, Malaya, Borneo, and the Dutch territory of the East Indies. An emboldened Japanese navy then committed a blunder by attacking Midway Island. American carrier-based planes defeated the Japanese ships at Midway Island so badly that Japan's navy never recovered from the battle.

In February 1942, the War Relocation Authority began to establish centers where Japanese-Americans, including those born in the United States, were interned. Though this was clearly racial discrimination that violated constitutional due process requirements, the Supreme Court ruled that such internment was lawful in 1944, when it decided Korematsu v. United States.

[edit] Turning back the European Axis

During the summer and fall of 1941, the Germans kept up their amazing pace into the heart of Russia. By December they had reached Moscow, and Lenningrad was under siege. The Soviets sent in reserve troops from Siberia, and launched a counter attack. It succeeded, and Moscow was saved.

In The spring of 1942, Hitler ordered an attack into the Caucus Mountains, and Stalingrad. As they had done before, the Germans quickly advanced, breaking through the Russian lines. In Stalingrad, there was street to street, and house to house fighting. The Germans controlled over 90% of the city, but the Russians refused to surrender. A Russian reserve division encircled the Germans into the city, and 250,000 German soldiers were captured. It was one of the bloodiest battles in history.

In 1943, the President of the United States for an unprecedented third term, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill held a Conference at Casablanca. The two nations then set up a plan of action for the next stages of the war. Meanwhile, the Russians continued to hold back the Germans, inflicting a crucial and massive defeat on Hitler's armies at the battle of Stalingrad in the winter of 1942-43. After a further major Russian victory at Kursk the following summer, the Germans were forced into retreat back towards Europe.

In Africa, Axis troops led by Erwin Rommel had pushed into Egypt, just 70 miles west of Alexandria. However, British troops led by General Montgomery decisively defeated the Italian and German troops at the Battle of El Alamein. They were pushed out of Egypt, all the way across Libya, and into Tunisia. In November 1942, the Americans launched operation Torch and drove the French troops out of Algeria and Morrocco. After a long battle with Axis troops in Tunisia, they were driven out of Africa in May 1943.

The Allies then decided to invade Sicily, in hope of knocking Italy out of the war. In early July the invasion began. For the next month, the British and Americans led a bloody campaign in which Sicily was finally taken in early August. During the invasion Mussolini was overthrown and arrested. Hitler had him rescused and put him in charge of the new Italian Social Republic. Following the Invasion of mainland Italy in early September, the Italian government signed an armistice with the Allies. The fall of Italy signaled the beginning of the end of World War II. However, Mussolini was rescued by the Germans and had established an Italian Social Republic.

[edit] Anti-Semitism and The Holocaust

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion (Russian: "Протоколы сионских мудрецов", or "Сионские протоколы", see also other titles) is an antisemitic and anti-Zionist plagiarism and literary forgery first published in 1903 in Russian, in Znamya; it alleges a Jewish and Masonic plot to achieve world domination.

"The Protocols" (the most brief title by which the text is known) is an early example of contemporary conspiracy theory literature,[1] and takes the form of a speech describing how to dominate the world, the need to control the media, finance, replace traditional social order, etc. It is one of the best known and discussed examples of literary forgery, and a hoax.

The text was popularized by those opposed to Russian revolutionary movement, and was disseminated further after the revolution of 1905, becoming known worldwide after the 1917 October Revolution. It was widely circulated in the West in 1920 and thereafter. The Great Depression and the rise of Nazism were important developments in the history of the Protocols, and the hoax continued to be published and circulated despite its debunking.

Hitler mentioned in his book Mein Kampf that the book Protocols was up to date, indicating that he saw it as justification for his deeds against the Jews.

[edit] Operation Overlord

In November, 1943, Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt held another Conference at Tehran. Joseph Stalin, who held the title of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the USSR, but was actually a Dictator of the Soviet Union, joined them there. The three leaders agreed to a plan codenamed Operation Overlord, under which an attack would be launched on the northern coast of France from the English Channel. In preparation for an invasion of France, Hitler cut off all support for the German armies remaining in the Soviet Union. Thus disabled, the German Army was forced to withdraw from Russia in the winter of 1943-1944.

On June 6, 1944 ("D-Day,") in the early morning hours, American and British paratroopers were dropped into Normandy. Hours later, American, British, French and Canadian soldiers landed at Normandy on the north coast of France. The troops landed near Caen, but Hitler wrongly felt that they would attack at a location to the north of that city. The Allies took advantage of Hitler's miscalculation; by the end of the month, the Allies had over eight hundred thousand soldiers in Normandy.

Meanwhile, Russian troops, which had been on the defensive, began their offensive on German-controlled territories. In the middle of July, the Soviets won their first major victory by taking the territory of Belorussia. At this time, concern began to grow in the West about Soviet domination replacing German in eastern Europe, especially in Poland. Despite these worries, Roosevelt felt that he had little influence in that area over Stalin, whose armies were bearing a huge brunt of the fight.

By the end of July, the Allies expanded their base at Normandy by breaking out into the rest of France. Pushing through the nation, the Allies had gone far enough to liberate the city of Paris on August 25. On September 11, some Allied troops entered Germany, taking Antwerp, Belgium on the way. German resistance then hardened, however. British Field Marshall Montgomery attempt to "end the war by '44" with Operation Market Garden, a plan to liberate Holland and bypass the German border defenses, failed. The British and American armies would make little more progress for the rest of 1944.

Meanwhile, Russian troops pushed toward Germany, defeating Germany's Axis partners on the way. In August, Romania surrendered, followed by Bulgaria and Finland in September.

[edit] Yalta and German Surrender

Allied air bombing of German industries and cities had been ongoing and savage since 1943, but did not have the intended effect of crushing the German will to fight. Indeed, Hitler was able to field new advanced weapons in 1943-45, such as the world's first jet fighter aircraft, the V-1 flying bomb, the V-2 ballistic missile, and new types of tanks and submarines. The new weapons, however, proved of little use against Allied numbers and economic superiority, with American industrial production for the war effort massive and untouched by Axis attack. Germany forced millions of prisoners into slave labor, under the most brutal conditions, to keep its own war effort going.

In December 1944, Germany launched a massive counter-attack on the light defended American posistions in Belgium. The Germans hoped to cut off the Allied supply lines, however, after reinforcements arrived, the "Bulge"(today it is know as the Battle of the Bulge) was flattened out. Meanwhile, the Soviets were on the verge of entering Germany from the east en masse, having taken control of Poland. Hitler's troops were exhausted, millions dead or captured, and with the fall of the Romanian oil fields, German armies were running out of gasoline. A final callup began of old men and boys for a last-ditch defense of Germany. Many German civilians fled, fearing the revenge the Russians would put on them after what the Germans had done in Russia. Thousands of German Civilians were killed and/or raped.

To plan for the end of the war, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met at Yalta in February. The Yalta conference suggested the division of Germany into "zones" after the war for the purpose of reconstruction. Also, the leaders decided to punish Nazis who had participated in war crimes such as the Holocaust. The Allies first attempted to reach the Rhine River in their quest to take over Germany. In March, this goal accomplished, the Americans and British opposed the Soviets in the Race for Berlin. The Race determined who would control Berlin, a city that would prove important in the reconstruction of Germany.

The Americans allowed the Soviets to win the Race for Berlin. Fierce fighting erupted in and around the city as motley German units made their last stand against the powerful army groups of Russian marshals Zhukov and Koniev. His capital surrounded and his loyal minions deserting him, Adolf Hitler killed himself in his Berlin command bunker on April 30, 1945, also American President Franklin Roosevelt had died on April 12, and Benito Mussolini was executed by Italian Partisans on April 28. The new leader of Germany, Karl Doenitz, agreed to surrender. On May 8, Germany formally signed an unconditional surrender, dissolving the Axis and leaving only Japan to be defeated.

[edit] The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II

Wikipedia has related information at Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Meanwhile, the United States dramatically improved its position in the Pacific. The Japanese continued to fight though it was in a hopeless situation. The suicidal Japanese spirit was exemplified by kamikaze, the practice of Japanese pilots who intentionally drove their own planes into American ships.

The Japanese resistance grew stronger and stronger as the Allies advanced to Japan. 1 Million American deaths and two more years of war were not uncommon predictions. President Harry Truman, the Vice President who rose to the Presidency upon Roosevelt's death, choose to us the Atomic Bomb instead of the invasion. In the 1930's, physicists began to understand the power of the fission, or splitting, of atoms. In 1942, the US secretly created the Manhattan Project to develop a weapon which could utilize the concept of the fission of uranium atoms, which, according to the conclusions of physicists, would create a massive explosion. On July 16, 1945, the atomic bomb was successfully tested in New Mexico.

Wikipedia has related information at Albert Einstein

The atomic bomb works on the principles of transmutation, accelerated nuclear decay, nuclear chain reaction, and the law of the conservation of mass. Since mass is lost in the accelerated decay of the nuclei, this mass must be accounted for. According to Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity, this missing mas is converted into energy, according to the relationship, E=mc², where E is the rest energy, m is the missing mass, and c is the speed of light in a vacuum.

On August 6, the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan by a B-29 aircraft piloted by Col. Paul Tibbets. Still, Japan refused to give up. On August 9, another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Together, the bombs killed over one hundred thousand people (though the Japanese suggested a number twice as high). In between the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, meanwhile, the Soviet Union joined in the war on Japan. On August 14, with the Americans threatening a third atomic bomb on the way for Tokyo (though in reality the United States had no more atomic bombs at the time) Japan agreed to surrender; the formalities were completed on September 2, 1945 aboard the USS Missouri.

[edit] Links

• National Archives
• Encarta encylopedia
• Library of Congress
• Scholastic, Inc.

← Spanish Civil War · Truman and Cold War →

← Spanish Civil War · US History · Truman and Cold War →

[edit] Truman and the Cold War (1945 - 1953)

[edit] Truman Doctrine

World War II changed the balance of power in the international community by reducing the influence of France and the United Kingdom, while at the same time elevating the influence of the United States and the Soviet Union, which assumed the role of the world's only two superpowers. Initially, the sentiments of the US government towards the avowedly socialist Soviet Union were friendly, but in the aftermath of the war, relations between the two powers quickly deteriorated. At the end of World War II, a number of entities were established by Allied nations to help maintain international order; the most notable of these was the United Nations. Within the framework of the UN, the United States and Britain advocated for the creation of a regulatory entity for the world's monetary system which would help avoid another worldwide depression similar to that seen during the Great Depression before the war. Talks among Allied delegates were held in 1944 which resulted in the creation of the International Monetary Fund and what would eventually become the World Bank, both of which were established to make currency exchange easier and to regulate international debt. The Soviet government was highly suspicious of these entities--it viewed them as a tool for the western world to force capitalism on socialist member-states--and it refused to support them.

This refusal of the USSR to support the IMF and the World Bank set off a diplomatic chain reaction that would eventually grow into what became known as the Cold War.

The Soviet Union believed that its control of Eastern Europe was vital to its security, and said that it was rightful for it to do so, for "we suffered at Stalingrad". As agreed at the Yalta Conference, the World War II Allies divided Germany into four zones, giving one zone each to the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union's zone, known as East Germany, was later transformed into a Communist state, after an agreement on a unified Germany could not be reached. The other three zones, West Germany, were joined - at first economically through a currency reform - during the implementation of the Marshall Plan in 1948. The city of Berlin, which was surrounded by East Germany, was divided in two parts between East and West Germany.

In 1947, Greece became the focus of the Cold War. The Greek monarchy had been supported by Great Britain since 1945. Greek Communists threatened to overthrow this regime, which was corrupt and not representative of the people. In order to "shock" the American public into accepting American involvement in order to help other peoples resist the "communist threat" and secure the strategically and economically important Middle East for US influence, President Harry Truman issued the Truman Doctrine. The Doctrine suggested that the US would aid nations threatened by revolutionary forces. Congress agreed and appropriated $400 million for abetting opposition to Communism in Greece and Turkey. By 1949, the Communists in Greece were defeated. In 1952, Greece and Turkey entered the NATO.

[edit] Reconstruction of Japan

The atomic bomb allowed the United States to win World War II against Japan before a Soviet invasion. After Japan's surrender in 1945, the United States military was called in to reconstruct Japan. American General Douglas MacArthur headed the Reconstruction effort.

In 1947, a new Constitution for Japan was created. The Constitution entirely changed the role of the Emperor from an active leader to a passive symbol of the nations. The Diet, or legislature, was modeled on the British Parliament. The Constitution granted an enormous number of rights to Japanese citizens. Finally, the Constitution formally denounced all military conflict and prohibited Japan from keeping any armed forces.

The Reconstruction of Japan made other sweeping changes. For example, the Reconstruction introduced labor unions and reduced the influence of monopolistic businesses.

During the Cold War, America was determined to make an ally out of the Empire of Japan. The Reconstruction made an about-face, reversing its policy of reducing the power of large businesses. More regulations regarding the economy were made. In 1951, the US agreed to grant Japan full independence and autonomy. The treaty, however, did permit the US to maintain parts of its military in Japan. The treaty became effective in 1952.

• The Rise of Communism in China *

After Japanese surrender in World War II, two rival parties, the Kuomintang (the Nationalists) and the Communist Party of China (the Communists) fought a Civil War in China. The Nationalists were the party in power; they were opposed by the Communists, who felt that ruling party's focus ought to have been on the people rather than on gaining control of all parts of China.

In 1949, the Communists defeated the Nationalists. The Nationalists fled to Taiwan, while the Chairman of the Communist Party of China Mao Zedong established the People's Republic of China (PRC) on October 1, 1949. The newly established republic soon allied itself with the Communist Soviet Union. Both nations entered an alliance and the Soviets returned control of parts of northeastern China to the PRC.

[edit] The Red Scare and McCarthyism

While Communism was expanding across the World, the United States entered an era of paranoia known as the Red Scare. Suspicion of Communist influence in government was pandemic.

In Congress, the House of Representatives established a Committee on Un-American Activities. The Committee performed actions such as investigating entertainment companies. The entertainment industry, fearful of an investigation, often refused to hire Communist artists or anyone at all ever connected with Communism.

In the Senate, meanwhile, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy accused certain government officials of being disloyal Communists. While a communist conspiracy involving State Department employees was eventually uncovered, the word McCarthyism would forever refer to a vindictive persecution of the innocent.

The Red Scare proved costly in American foreign policy. When China fell to Communism, many experts on China and the regions around it were fired. This was a problem when the Korean War (see below) rolled around. It was also a pain in the Vietnam War, as the Vietnam terrain experts had all been accused of being Communist.

Congress passed the McCarran Internal Security Act in 1950, overriding President Truman's veto. The Act created a public body known as the Subversive Activities Control Board; the Board was charged with monitoring and investigating Communist Activities.

At the local level, some communities banned literature that they feared would encourage Communism. Public servants lost their jobs due to unfounded accusations of disloyalty. Lives were destroyed by the Red Scare. Ironically, the career of Joseph McCarthy was also derailed during the Red Scare; in 1954, the Senate decided to formally censure him for abusing his powers and using unfair tactics in targeting innocent government officials.

[edit] The Korean War

After World War II, the US attempted to curb Soviet influence on the Korean Peninsula by occupying southern part of that area. The area occupied by the US became South Korea, while the other part became North Korea. North Korea soon passed into the control of the Communist Party.

In May, 1949, fighting between North and South Korean troops broke out near the border between the two nations. In an attempt to add South Korea to the Communist World, North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950. The People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union lent their support to North Korea, while the United States did the same to South Korea.

When the United Nations Security Council voted to aid South Korea in stopping North Korean aggression, the United States agreed to send troops to the Korean Peninsula. General Douglas MacArthur was given the command of American troops in Korea.

By the autumn of 1950, North Korean troops were forced out of South Korea. In October, General MacArthur ordered troops to cross into North Korea. In the third week of that month, the US took the capital of North Korea, Pyongyang.

However, just six days after the United Nations forces took Pyongyang, the People's Republic of China sent a quarter million men on a series of counterattacks. In December, Chinese "volunteers" took over Pyongyang and by January 1951 they had taken the South Korean capital, Seoul.

The US intended to do whatever it took to win the Korean War. It even planned on using the atomic bomb. However, President Truman did not trust General MacArthur to follow orders when using the atomic bomb. Therefore, he asked for MacArthur's resignation; MacArthur complied.

In 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower became President of the US. Having promised during the election campaign to end the Korean War, he fulfilled this promise by continuing negotiations with the North and South Koreans, Chinese, and the Soviet Union and using "brinkmanship" to reach an agreement acceptable to all countries involved except for South Korea, which tried to induce the US to help unite Korea.

← World War II and Rise of Atomic Age · Eisenhower Civil Rights Fifties →

← World War II and Rise of Atomic Age · US History · Eisenhower Civil Rights Fifties →

[edit] Eisenhower, Civil Rights, and the Fifties (1953 - 1961)

[edit] Civil Rights Movement under Eisenhower and Desegregation

The first events that would spark off the entire Civil Rights movement happened during the Eisenhower administration. In the south, there were many statewide laws that segregated many public facilities ranging from buses to water fountains. Southern African Americans now felt that their time had come to enjoy American democracy and they fought hard to end southern segregation policies.

[edit] Brown v. Board of Education

In 1952, seven year old Linda Brown, of Topeka, Kansas, wasn't permitted to attend a white-only elementary school that was only a few blocks from her house. In order to attend her coloreds-only school, Brown had to cross dangerous railroad tracks and take a bus for many miles. Her family sued the Topeka school board and lost, but appealed the case all the way to the Supreme Court. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas came to the Supreme Court in December of 1952. In his arguments, head lawyer for the NAACP, Thurgood Marshall, challenged the "Separate But Equal" doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. He argued that schools could be separate, but never equal. On may 17, 1954, the Court gave its opinion. It ruled that it was unconstitutional to segregate schools, and ordered that schools integrate "with all deliberate speed."

[edit] Central High Confrontation

Integration would not be easy. Many school districts accepted the order without argument, but some, like the district of Little Rock, Arkansas, did not. On September 2, 1957, the day before the start of the school term the Arkansas Governor, Orval Faubus, instructed the National Guard to stop any black students entering the school. He claimed this was to protect the property against violence planned by integration protestors.

The federal authorities intervened and an injunction was granted preventing the National Guard from blocking the school and they were withdrawn on September 20. School restarted on 23 September, with the building surrounded by local police officers and nearly one thousand protestors. The police escorted nine black students, later known as the Little Rock Nine, into the school via a side door. When the crowd discovered the students had entered the building, they tried to storm the school and the black students were hurried out around lunch time.

Congressman Brooks Hays and the Little Rock mayor, Woodrow Mann, asked the federal government for more help. On September 24, Mann sent a message to President Eisenhower requesting troops. Eisenbower responded immediately and the 101st Airborne Division was sent to Arkansas. In addition, the President brought the Arkansas National Guard under federal control to prevent its further use by the Governor.

On September 25, 1957, the nine black students finally began their education properly, protected by 1,000 paratroopers.

[edit] Montgomery Bus Boycott

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a tired seamstress and secretary of the Montgomery, Alabama, chapter of the NAACP, boarded a city bus with the intention of going home. She sat in the first row of seats in the "colored" section of the segregated bus. At the next stop, whites were among the passengers waiting to board but all seats in the "white" front section of the bus were filled. Drivers had the authority, under local custom and the segregated-seating ordinance, to shift the line dividing the black and white sections to accommodate the racial makeup of the passengers at any given moment. So he ordered the the four blacks sitting in the first row of seats in the "colored" section to stand and move to the rear of the bus so the waiting whites could have those seats. Three of the passengers complied; Mrs. Parks did not. Warned again by the driver, she still refused to move, at which point the driver exited the bus and located a policeman, who came onto the bus, arrested Mrs. Parks, and took her to the city jail. She was booked for violating the segregation ordinance, and was shortly released on bail posted by E. D. Nixon, the leading local civil rights activist. She was scheduled to appear in municipal court on December 5, 1955.

Mistreatment of African Americans on Montgomery's segregated buses was not uncommon, and several other women had been arrested in similar situations in the months preceding Parks's. However, Mrs. Parks was especially well-known and well-respected within the black community, and her arrest particularly angered the African Americans of Montgomery. In protest, community leaders quickly organized a one-day boycott of the buses to coincide with her December 5 court date. An organization, the Montgomery Improvement Association, was also created, and the new minister of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, the 26-year-old Martin Luther King, Jr., was selected as the MIA's president. Word of the boycott spread effectively through the city over the weekend of December 3-4, aided by mimeographed flyers prepared the Women's Political Council, by announcements in black churches that Sunday morning, and by an article in the local newspaper about the pending boycott, which had been "leaked" to a reporter by E. D. Nixon.

On the morning of Mrs. Parks's trial, King, Nixon, and other leaders were pleasantly surprised to see that the boycott was almost 100 percent effective among blacks. And since African Americans made up 75% of Montgomery's bus riders, the impact was significant. In city court, Mrs. Parks was convicted and was fined $10. Her attorney, the 24-year-old Fred D. Gray, announced an appeal. That night, more than 5,000 blacks crowded into and around the Holt Street Baptist Church for a "mass meeting" to discuss the situation. For most in the church (and listening outside over loudspeakers), it was their first time to hear the oratory of Martin Luther King, Jr. He asked the crowd if they wanted to continue the boycott indefinitely, and the answer was a resounding yes. For the next 381 days, African Americans boycotted the buses, while the loss of their fares drove the Chicago-owned bus company into deeper and deeper losses. However, segregationist city officials prohibited the bus company from altering its seating policies, and negotiations between black leaders and city officials went nowhere.

With bikes, carpools, and hitchhiking, African Americans were able to minimize the impact of the boycott on their daily lives. Meanwhile, whites in Montgomery responded with continued intransigence and rising anger. Several black churches and the homes of local leaders and ministers, including those of Nixon and King, were bombed, and there were numerous assaults by white thugs on African Americans. Some 88 local black leaders were also arrested for violating an old anti-boycott law.

Faced with the lack of success of negotiations, attorney Gray soon filed a separate lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the segregated seating laws. The case was assigned to and testimony was heard by a three-judge panel, and the young Frank M. Johnson, Jr., newly appointed to the federal bench by Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower, was given the responsibility for writing the opinion in the case. Johnson essentially ruled that in light of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, there was no way to justify legally the segregation policies, and the district court ruling overturned the local segregation ordinance under which Mrs. Parks and others had been arrested. The city appealed, but the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the lower court ruling, and in December 1956, city officials had no choice but to comply. The year-long boycott thus came to an end.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott made Mrs. Parks famous and it launched the civil rights careers of King and his friend and fellow local minister, Ralph Abernathy. The successful boycott is regarded by many historians as the effective beginning of the twentieth century civil rights movement in the U.S.

[edit] Vietnam

In the early 50's, Vietnam was rebelling against French rule. America saw Vietnam as a potential source of trouble, as rebels (known as the Vietnamese) led by Communist leader Ho Chi Minh were gaining strength. America loaned France billions of dollars to aid in the war against the Vietnamese rebels, but despite the aid, France found itself on the verge of defeat, and appealed to America for troops, but America refused, fearing entanglement in another costly Korean War, or even a war with all of communist Asia.

France surrendered, and the VietMinh and France met in Geneva, Switzerland to negotiate a treaty. Vietnam was divided into two countries: the Vietminh in control of the North and the French-friendly Vietnamese in control of the South. In 1956, the two countries would be reunited with free elections.

Eisenhower worried about South Vietnam. He believed that if it also fell to the Communists, many other Southeast Asian countries would follow, in what he called the domino theory. He aided the Southern government and set up the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) in 1954. The nations included in the alliance were America, Great Britain, France, Australia, Pakistan, the Philippines, New Zealand and Thailand, and they all pledged to fight against "Communist aggressors".

[edit] The Warsaw Pact and NATO

1955 saw the division of Europe into two rival camps. The westernized countries of the free world had signed NATO 1949 and the eastern european countries signed the Warsaw pact.

[edit] NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created as a response to the crisis in Berlin. The United States, Britain, Canada, France, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and the Netherlands founded NATO in April 1949, and Greece, Turkey and West Germany had joined by 1955. The countries agreed that "an armed attack against one or more of [the member states] in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all," and was created so that if the Soviet Union eventually did invade Europe, the invaded countries would have the most powerful army in the world (the United States' Army) come to their defense.

[edit] The Warsaw Pact

The Soviet Union responded in to the addition of West Germany to NATO 1955 with its own set of treaties, which were collectively known as the Warsaw Pact. The Warsaw Pact allowed East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Albania, Romania, and Bulgaria to function in the same way as the NATO countries did. Unlike NATO, Warsaw forces were used occasionally.

[edit] Suez Canal

Back in 1948, Israel was created as a sanctuary of sorts for the displaced Jews of the Holocaust. At the same time, many Arabs living in the area were displaced. Tensions had been high in the Middle East ever since Israel had been attacked just after its founding. The stage was set for superpower involvement in 1956; the United States backed Israel, the Soviet Union backed the Arabs, and the Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser had nationalized, or brought under Egypt's control, the Suez Canal, which had previously belonged to Britain.

France and Britain worried that Egypt would decide cut off oil shipments between the oil-rich Middle East and western Europe, so that October they invaded Egypt, hoping to overthrow Nasser and seize the canal. Israel, upset by earlier attacks by Arab states, agreed to help in the invasion.

U.S. and Soviet reactions to the invasions were almost immediate. The Soviets threatened to launch rocket attacks on British and French cities, and the United States sponsored a United Nations resolution for British and French withdrawal. Facing pressures from the two powers, the three invaders pulled out of Egypt. To ensure stability in the area, United Nations troops were sent to patrol the Egypt-Israel border.

[edit] Space Race

On October 4, 1957, the Soviets successfully put the first man-made satellite, Sputnik, into orbit. Americans were horrified. They feared that the Soviets were using the satellite to spy on Americans, or even worse, that the Soviet Union might attack America with nuclear weapons from space. America responded with the launch of its own satellite, Vanguard. Hundreds of spectators gathered, only to watch the satellite rise only a few feet off the launch pad, and then explode.

The failure spurred the government to create a space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA succeeded in launching the Explorer in 1958, and thus, the Space Race was initiated. With the creation of Project Mercury, a program to put an astronaut in space, America was pulling ahead. Nonetheless, the USSR was the first to put a man in space, when Yuri Gagarin was launched into orbit in 1961. For the next 14 years, the U.S and the Soviet Union would continue to compete in space.

[edit] Enos the Chimp

Enos (died November 4, 1962) was a chimpanzee that was launched into space.

Enos was purchased from the Miami Rare Bird Farm in April 3, 1960. He completed more than 1,250 hours of training for his mission at the University of Kentucky and Holloman Air Force Base. His training was more intense than that of Ham, the Americans' first chimp in space, because Enos would be exposed to weightlessness and a higher g for longer periods of time. His training included psychomotor training and aircraft flights.

Enos was selected to make the first orbital animal flight only three days before the launch. Two months before allowing a chimp to be launched into orbit, NASA had launched Mercury Atlas 4 on September 13, 1961, to conduct the same mission with a "crewman simulator" in the spacecraft. Enos flew into space on board Mercury Atlas 5 on November 29, 1961. He completed his first orbit in 1 hour, 28.5 minutes.

[edit] Spider webs in space

Spider webs in space were spun in 1973 aboard Skylab, involving two female European garden spiders (cross spiders) called Arabella and Anita. As part of an experiment, the two spiders were taken into low earth orbit on the Skylab 3 mission. The aim of the experiment was to test whether the two spiders would spin webs in space, and, if so, whether these webs would be the same as those that spiders produced on Earth. The experiment was a student project of Judy Miles of Lexington, Massachusetts. A similar experiment was conducted on board Columbia's ill fated final mission using Australian spiders provided to NASA by various institutions in Melbourne.

When scientists were given the opportunity to study the webs, they discovered that the space-webs were finer than normal Earth webs, and although the patterns of the web were not totally dissimilar, variations were spotted, and there was a definite difference in the characteristics of the web. Additionally, while the webs were finer overall, the space-web had variations in thickness in places, some places were slightly thinner, and others slightly thicker. This was unusual, because Earth webs have been observed to have uniform thickness.

[edit] Cuban Revolution

In 1958 and 1959, anti-American feeling became a part of the growing Cuban revolution. In January 1959, the dictator of Cuba, Fulgenicio Batista, was overthrown by the rebel leader Fidel Castro, who promptly became the leader of Cuba.

At first, America supported Castro because of his promises of democratic and economic reforms. But relations between the two countries became strained when Cuba began seizing foreign-owned land (which was mostly U.S. owned) as a part of its reforms. Soon, Castro's government was a dictatorship, and was being backed by the Soviet Union. In 1961, Eisenhower cut diplomatic ties with Cuba, and relations with the island nation have been difficult ever since.

[edit] Che

Ernesto Guevara de la Serna (June 14, 1928 – October 9, 1967), commonly known as Che Guevara, El Che or just Che was an Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary, international political figure, author, social philosopher, medical physician, and leader of Cuban and internationalist guerrillas.

As a young man studying medicine, Guevara travelled throughout South America bringing him into direct contact with the impoverished conditions in which many people (particularly the indigenous peasantry) lived. His experiences and observations during these trips led him to the conclusion that the region's socio-economic inequalities were a result of capitalism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, and imperialism and thus could only be remedied by socialism through revolution, prompting him to intensify his study of Marxism and travel to Guatemala to learn about the reforms being implemented there by President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán.

← Truman and Cold War · Kennedy and Johnson →

← Truman and Cold War · US History · Kennedy and Johnson →

[edit] Kennedy and Johnson (1961 - 1969)

[edit] The Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis

On April 17, 1961, President John F. Kennedy launched an attack on Cuba, using 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles. The exiles were to invade Cuba through the Bay of Pigs in southwestern Cuba. The forces made many mistakes, and at the last moment, Kennedy was advised not to send air support, and he did not. The invasion was a complete failure and within days, Cuban forces crushed the U.S. troops. Kennedy never trusted military or intelligence advice again, and the Soviet Union concluded that Kennedy was a weak leader. The invasion also angered many Latin-American nations.

In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately behind the United States in the arms race. Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe but U.S. missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union (missiles were located in Turkey). In late April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba. A deployment in Cuba would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a real deterrent to a potential U.S. attack against the Soviet Union.

Meanwhile, Fidel Castro was looking for a way to defend his island nation from an attack by the U.S. Ever since the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, Castro felt a second attack was inevitable. Consequently, he approved of Khrushchev's plan to place missiles on the island. In the summer of 1962 the Soviet Union worked quickly and secretly to build its missile installations in Cuba.

The crisis began on October 15, 1962 when U-2 reconnaissance photographs revealed Soviet missiles under construction in Cuba. The next morning, Kennedy was informed of the missile installations. Immediately the executive committee (EX-COMM) made up of twelve of his most important advisers was formed to handle the crisis. After seven days of guarded and intense debate, EX-COMM concluded that it had to impose a naval quarantine around Cuba, which would prevent the arrival of more Soviet offensive weapons on the island.

On October 22, Kennedy announced the discovery of the missile installations to the public and his decision to quarantine the island. He also proclaimed that any nuclear missile launched from Cuba would be regarded as an attack on the United States by the Soviet Union and demanded that the Soviets remove all of their offensive weapons from Cuba.

On the 25th Kennedy pulled the quarantine line back and raised military readiness to DEFCON 2.

On the 26th EX-COMM heard from Khrushchev in an impassioned letter. He proposed the removing of Soviet missiles and personnel if the U.S. would guarantee not to invade Cuba.

October 27 was the worst day of the crisis. A U-2 was shot down over Cuba and EX-COMM received a second letter from Khrushchev demanding the removal of U.S. missiles in Turkey in exchange for Soviet missiles in Cuba. Attorney General Robert Kennedy suggested ignoring the second letter and contacted Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin to tell him of the U.S. agreement with the first.

Tensions finally began to ease on October 28 when Khrushchev announced that he would dismantle the installations and return the missiles to the Soviet Union, expressing his trust that the United States would not invade Cuba. Further negotiations were held to implement the October 28 agreement, including a United States demand that Soviet light bombers be removed from Cuba, and specifying the exact form and conditions of United States assurances not to invade Cuba.

[edit] NASA

After the launch of Sputnik and the success of Yuri Gagarin, America was behind in the Space Race. In May 1961, Alan Shepard Jr. became the first American to make a space flight. Kennedy lobbied for increased funding for space research. In an address to congress on May 25, 1961, Kennedy said, "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish."

[edit] American Tragedy

On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was at a campaign rally in Dallas, Texas. Kennedy and his wife rode through the streets in an open car, turning into Dealy Plaza at Houston and Elm, and suddenly several shots rang out. Kennedy fell against his wife. The car sped to the nearest hospital, Parkland Memorial, but it was too late; the beloved President was dead. The nation was stunned. Shortly after, while on Air Force One, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson took the oath of office as President.

Although many "conspiracy theories" exist concerning this assassination, the rough consensus is that Kennedy's assailant, a young drifter and loner named Lee Harvey Oswald with left-wing sympathies, shot the President acting alone.

[edit] Americans in Vietnam

Like Eisenhower, Kennedy had viewed Vietnam as a crucial battle in the fight against communism. He sent many special forces troops to South Vietnam to train South Vietnamese troops. Kennedy also put pressure on South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem to make political and economic reforms that would prevent communism from taking root in South Vietnam. After Diem refused to comply and restricted the rights of Buddhists (the majority religion in South Vietnam), he lost support, and a political coup ensued. Diem was assassinated on November 1, 1963.

At the end of November, the United States had almost 15,000 troops in Vietnam as advisers. The U.S. sent the Secretary of Defense on a fact-finding mission to find if involvement was still needed in Vietnam. He concluded that the South Vietnamese could not hold off the Vietcong, or Vietnamese communists, without more American backing. In 1964, Johnson claimed that North Vietnamese patrol ships attacked American ships in the Gulf of Tonkin, and Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave the President broad control over troops in Vietnam.

In 1965, Johnson gradually built up the involvement of America in Vietnam. At the end of 1965, about 180,000 troops were in Vietnam. By 1967, there were over 500,000. The U.S. also began a bombing campaign in North Vietnam, and by 1968, more bombs had been dropped than the U.S. had dropped in World War II.

As Americans fought the war, frustration mounted. Soldiers had to fight through dense jungles and muddy land. It also seemed that for every Vietcong or North Vietnamese killed, many more would be replacements. The bombing campaign in the North actually heightened the morale of the North Vietnamese rather than lowering it, and the United States' losses increased. By the end of the decade, many outraged American citizens angrily opposed and protested the war. Opposition to the war was growing in the capital, too. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara no longer believed that the war could be won.

At home, protesters, especially college students, became increasingly bitter about the war. Others who tended to be older and more conservative, defended the war and sought to suppress the "traitors." This division between the young and the old became known as the generation gap. Officials at the University of California tried to limit recruiting efforts of protesters, and students were outraged. They held a protest that stopped the school for days. This type of protest spread across the nation, and many related ideas and activists became known collectively as the New Left.

Many of those who made up the New Left also made up the counterculture, a movement that questioned basic American values and social customs. Parents found themselves increasingly disagreeing with their children. The counterculture was also expressed in pop culture, with many icons expressing the need for peace and reform.

Eventually, some adults came to resent the war. As adults began to disagree about the war more, they were called doves (those who wanted peace) and hawks (those who supported the war). Students also had a major gripe about the war: if the legal age to be drafted to go to war was eighteen, why was the legal voting age as high as twenty-one? Eventually, the twenty sixth amendment was passed in 1971, which met the demands of the students and lowered the legal voting age to 18.

Division in the country about the war became increasingly harsh and bitter. In October 1967, 50,000 people opposed to the war marched to the Pentagon in Washington D.C. to protest. Many students stuck flowers or other symbols of peace in the barrels of the guns held by those who guarded the pentagon. By the beginning of 1969, well over fifty percent of the nation opposed the war.

[edit] The "Great Society" and Civil Rights Under Lyndon B. Johnson

In January 1964, the new President Johnson made a series of proposals which he called the "Great Society" and began a "war on poverty." He signed many programs into law that helped Americans in poverty, that is, those who do not make enough money to survive. During this time two of the most important programs signed into law were Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare provided cheap health insurance to senior citizens and Medicaid provided health insurance for the poor. Cities and school also received boosts with the creation of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the signing of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

[edit] Equal Rights

Protests were growing in the 1960's. Blacks and whites in high schools and colleges in the South and the North staged sit-ins, protests that are accomplished by sitting down and not being productive or letting people pass.

Another kind of protest was growing in the South. In 1961, groups of African Americans began riding buses from Washington D.C. that were bound for New Orleans to make sure that the Rosa Parks Supreme Court decision was being enforced. These bus riders were known as freedom riders. The rides went smoothly until the buses reached Alabama, where the freedom riders would be greeted with violence from angry whites.

In the spring of 1963, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and Martin Luther King Jr. targeted Birmingham, Alabama for segregation protests. Birmingham, a city in the deep South, was a hotbed for racism and segregation. City police arrested hundreds of protesters, as well as King himself, but protests continued. National television showed snarling dogs being set on the unarmed protesters and children being washed away on the impact of the water from fire hoses. As the nation watched in horror, President Kennedy announced a civil rights bill that would outlaw segregation nationwide.

On August 28, 1963, nationwide support for the civil rights bill boiled over. Over 200,000 people of all races and colors came to Washington D.C. to participate in a massive march organized by the SCLC and Mr. King. There, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King read the words that would become one of history's greatest speeches:

" I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'...I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character...When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing...'Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!' "

After Kennedy's death, Johnson, a firm believer in equal rights, promised that the bill would be signed into law. In the first July of Johnson's term, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The law made discrimination illegal against African Americans in employment, public accommodations, and voting. The act not only protected African Americans, but it also prohibited discrimination by sex, religion, and ethnicity. It was followed in 1965 with the Voting Rights Act.

[edit] A Second Tragedy

On the morning of April 4, 1968, King was preparing to lead a march from the balcony of a hotel when shots rang out. Friends inside rushed outside to find King shot in the jaw. Martin Luther King, Jr. was pronounced dead a few hours later. The nation was in complete shock. Shortly thereafter, rioting plagued America's streets as a profound sadness and anger gripped the nation. This would be one of many assassinations that would befall the country, including those of, Dr. Martin Luther King, Robert F. Kennedy, and Malcolm X.

← Eisenhower Civil Rights Fifties · Nixon and Indochina →

← Eisenhower Civil Rights Fifties · US History · Nixon and Indochina →

[edit] Nixon presidency and Indochina (1969 - 1974)

[edit] Violence and the Election of 1968

After the assassination of Dr. King in Memphis, riots broke out in over 100 cities. Troops were called in to control the mobs of people. Stunned and saddened by Dr. King's death, the nation worried about renewed homeland violence.

[edit] Robert Kennedy is Assassinated

In the race for the Democratic nomination, Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, Eugene McCarthy, and Robert Francis Kennedy (brother of John F.) were competing in a close match. In most primaries, Kennedy edged out McCarthy, and meanwhile, Humphrey garnered the support of Democratic party leaders, who chose the delegates to the national convention. In June 1968, Kennedy won the primary in California, the state with the most delegates to the convention. At a celebration rally on the night of the victory, Kennedy was shot and killed by Sirhan B. Sirhan, who claimed that he did not remember shooting Bobby Kennedy. The nation was sent reeling into another shock from the new violence.

[edit] The Democratic Convention

Because of his support among leaders and delegates from the Democratic Party, it appeared that Humphrey had enough votes to win the nomination at the convention in Chicago. Humphrey, however, was a supporter of Johnson's policy in Vietnam, so he was perceived as a war supporter.

Anti-war Democrats, most of whom had supported Kennedy, felt left out of the convention. Angry, they flocked to Chicago to protest Humphrey's nomination. On the first and second nights of the convention, the protesters were generally subdued and the Chicago police made few arrests. On the third night, however, protesters planned to march to the convention site to protest.

Fearing another outbreak of violence, the mayor of Chicago made the police block the protesters at the hall. When they tried a different route, protesters were blocked again. Outraged, protesters started throwing objects at the police. The police threw tear gas into the crowd and charged the protesters, beating some and taking others into custody.

Humphrey won the nomination, but the violence hurt his campaign. The nation saw all the anger and outrage on television. It seemed that Democrats could not control their own party.

[edit] The Election

Nixon, the former Vice President, had quietly been nominated by the Republicans as their candidate. Nixon claimed to represent the "silent majority" in America; that is, those that had begun to take on a more conservative approach to politics and disliked the "hippie" and civil rights movements. Nixon also promised to end the war in Vietnam, although he never said he would win it.

Because of his promises about Vietnam, Nixon was able to gain support from antiwar Democrats and Republicans alike. In a huge political comeback (Nixon was defeated in the election of 1960 and lost the race for the governor of California in 1962), Nixon barely won the popular vote, gaining only 500,000 more votes than Humphrey. He won by a larger margin in the electoral college, gaining 301 votes, while Humphrey only had 191.

Also note that Nixon made the statement on November 3rd 1969, almost a year after his election. He cribbed it from a speech his vice president, Spiro Agnew, had made on May 9th of that year. Agnew's writers may have been taking it from President Kennedy's 1956 book Profiles in Courage. The original phrase goes back to Edward Young's 1721 poem "The Revenge":

"Life is the desert, life the solitude;
Death joins us to the great majority."

It became an in-joke among Democrats and protesters to hear Agnew and Nixon claim to represent the dead, perhaps as envoys of the Undead. This was only two years after Caesar Romero's Night of the Living Dead came out.

[edit] Foreign Policy

Nixon, in an attempt to bring stability to the nation, made many changes in foreign policy. He appointed Henry Kissinger as his national security advisor and later as his Secretary of State. Both believed in the philosophy of realpolitik, which put national interests in front of leaders' political ideologies and reasoned that peace could only come from negotiations, not war. During Nixon's presidency, he and Kissinger would work to try to ease the cold war.

[edit] Vietnam

Nixon promised to ease the United States out of the Vietnam war, and for the most part, he kept his promise. He and Kissinger called their plan to hand the war over to the South Vietnamese: Vietnamization. By the end of 1970, the number of troops in Vietnam had fallen from 540,000 in the beginning of 1969 to 335,000. By January of 1970, the Vietnam conflict had become the longest in American history and, with 40,000 killed and over 250,000 wounded, the third most costly foreign war in the nation's experience. In 1971 there were only 60,000 troops in Vietnam.

In order to compensate for the loss of troops in Vietnam, Nixon hiked up the bombing campaign. The Ho Chi Minh Trail which bordered and sometimes ran into the countries of Laos and Cambodia was bombed. Nixon wanted to keep his public image as a peace President, so the bombing of Cambodia was kept a secret.

[edit] Outrage and Tragedy

Nixon tried to end the war through peace talks with North Vietnam, but generally, these stalled because the North Vietnamese had a wait and see attitude towards the war. They believed that opposition to the war within America would eventually grow so strong that Nixon would be forced to remove American troops from the country.

Nixon tried to appeal to his "silent majority" and renew support for the war, but then, Cambodia fell into a civil war between Communist and non-Communist forces. Nixon decided to send troops into Cambodia to destroy Communist strongholds, and Americans were outraged that their leader, who had strived for an end to the war, had attacked a neutral country. Opposition, especially in colleges, grew stronger.

This was especially true in Kent State University in Ohio. When students burned down a military complex on the Kent State campus, the Ohio governor declared martial law, or emergency military rule. The students were furious. On May 4th, they staged a protest on the campus lawn, but the National Guard troops told the students to disband, and that they had no right to assemble. The troops shot tear gas into the crowd, and the students ran. Some troops cornered a group between two buildings and suddenly, for unknown reasons, opened fire. Four students were killed and thirteen others were wounded.

Violence again struck at Jackson State in Mississippi. After a night of campus violence, police were called in to control the students, but eventually police opened fire on the students and two were killed. Witnesses recalled the police recklessly blasting the school's residence hall with their guns. The police claimed to be defending themselves from snipers.

[edit] The End of the War

In the fall of 1972, it seemed that peace was at hand. But at the last minute, the negotiations fell through because the South Vietnamese refused to have North Vietnamese forces in their country. Nixon decided to launch a last aggressive bombing campaign to try to scare the North Vietnamese into stopping the war, but they were persistent and continued to fight. In the beginning of 1975, the North Vietnamese launched a final major offensive. The South Vietnamese army collapsed, and soon, Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, was in the Vietcong's grasp. Americans scrambled to evacuate from the country, and on April 29, Americans were evacuating by helicopter off the roof of the American embassy. In the early hours of April 30, 1975, Saigon fell to the Vietcong. Soon after, South Vietnam surrendered.

Upon return, the American troops had no welcome. Many Americans, angered at the outcome of the war or just angry that the war ever had to happen, just wanted to forget the ordeal. Vietnam lay in ruins, and almost 1.4 million Vietnamese lives (on either side) were claimed. Also, 58,000 Americans had died, 300,000 were wounded, and the U.S. had wasted $150 billion on the war.

[edit] China

In 1969, Nixon wanted to ease the tensions of the Cold War to help the nation heal from the tragedy of Vietnam. He and Kissinger used realpolitik, the practice of basing decisions on the interests of the nation rather than the leaders' beliefs, to shape a new foreign policy. Nixon formed a foreign policy plan of détente, a plan of relaxing international tensions. Nixon's ultimate goal in his new plan was to achieve a so-called "balance of power" between the U.S., Europe, Soviet Union, China, and Japan so that no one nation could grow too strong.

To kick off his new plan, Nixon began to express friendliness to the People's Republic of China. The United States had severed ties with China after communists took control of the government in a political coup d'etat (a sudden change of government by force) in 1949. In 1970, Nixon began hinting at new relations with China, and he stopped referring to the country as "Red China," which was an offensive term for the nation. By increasing relations with China, Nixon hoped that the Soviets would become more cooperative in talks with the U.S. because it would fear a U.S.-China alliance.

Realizing the change in U.S. sentiment, China invited a U.S. table tennis team to visit the country in April 1971, and a week later, the U.S. opened trade between the two countries. After sending Kissinger on a secret visit to China, Nixon announced that he would go to Beijing, the Chinese capital. In February 1972, Nixon finally came to Beijing. Pictures of him at the Great Wall and attending Chinese banquets were in international news. In another seven years, Chinese relations would be fully restored.

[edit] The Soviet Union

Nixon was right about the Soviet Union. Fearing a Chinese alliance with America, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev agreed to meet with Nixon in Moscow in May of 1972. Again, pictures of Nixon with communist leaders filled the news. While in Moscow, Nixon signed the SALT I Treaty, or the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty. The treaty limited the number of nuclear arms that the Soviet Union and the U.S. could possess.

Feeling that the Soviet Union was in scientific decline, Brezhnev agreed with the U.S. to work with it in trade and information. This way, the Soviet Union could also gain access to desperately needed American grain. As a result of the talk, the Arms Race slowed and international tensions eased.

[edit] Roe v. Wade

In March 1970, a Texas woman by the name of Norma McCorvey, unmarried and pregnant, decided to sue the state of Texas by the recommendation of Sarah Weddington, a young attorney. At the time, the vast majority of the other states had similar laws. At the time, Texas had a law in place that banned abortion in women, with the exception of women with life-threatening pregnancies. As part of standard court procedure, McCorvey was renamed Jane Roe, because she did not want her identity to be known by the court.

With rulings favoring both Roe and Dallas Country district attorney Henry Wade in various levels of the courts, the case eventually landed in the Supreme Court. Argued first on December 13, 1971 and again on October 11, 1972 (at the court's request), Weddington contended that the Texas law (and therefore all abortion banning laws) were in violation of the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments, which gave a citizen the right to privacy, and that abortion laws violated the privacy of women.

The case was decided on January 22, 1973, with Harry Blackmun writing the ruling. With a 7-2 majority, the Court ruled that the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments did indeed collectively give a citizen the right to privacy, and that abortion laws did indeed violate the right to privacy of women.

Having recently appointed Warren Burger (the Chief Justice), Harry Blackmun, Lewis Powell, and William Rehnquist, Nixon was disappointed in the ruling. All of them Republicans, Nixon had presumed that the judges would rule conservatively. Only Rehnquist would dissent with the majority. The other dissenting vote was Byron White, who had been appointed by John F. Kennedy.

The ruling created the abortion divide that exists today. It gave the general pro-choice sentiment among the more liberal and progressive Democratic Party and the pro-life sentiment among more conservative and religious Republican Party. The case was reopened in 1992, only to reaffirm the ruling. Norma McCorvey would go on later to become a pro-life advocate.

Some compare the ruling to the F&S by Hitler.

[edit] Watergate and the Election of 1972

In 1971, Nixon had many doubts about the 1972 election. But this was before Nixon and Kissinger had vastly improved relations with the Soviet Union and China. By the time those tasks had been accomplished, much of the nation approved of Nixon. Even more in his favor was the Democratic disunity and the nomination of the radically liberal George McGovern. Some voters found his views disturbing.

Even so, Nixon's paranoia and the stress of the presidential campaign would conspire to send the nation reeling and his administration into crisis. Much later, it would be found that Nixon's campaign would stretch the truth, the law, and ethics.

To start his campaign Nixon asked a group of only the most loyal aides to create an "enemies list," a list of political opponents to the Nixon administration. Then, Nixon asked the IRS and the FBI to investigate those on the enemies list, and justified his actions by saying that he believed that those investigated were a threat to national security. Nixon was slowly changing his campaign from a campaign for the presidency to a campaign against enemies.

Using some of the money allotted for his campaign, Nixon funded a secret group of "plumbers," who "plugged" information leaks that were damaging to the administration. Money also funded dirty tricks against Nixon's Democratic opponents.

In November of 1972, an unknowing public headed to the polls to cast votes for the President. Nixon won the election by a landslide, with almost 61 percent of the popular vote and 520 out of 537 electoral votes.

Things were quiet for a while after the election. In late 1973, countries in the Middle East imposed an embargo, or refusal to trade, on oil to the U.S. after the U.S. supported Israel in a short war against Egypt (the most powerful country in the region) and Syria. Prices for gas shot up in the U.S. and stations had to ration the gas, putting restrictions like "ten gallons per customer." Many people were laid off. Nixon worked to help relations with the Middle East, and in March 1974, the embargo was lifted. He was also able to get the U.S. out of Vietnam. Because of his work, Americans generally approved of Nixon.

Voters did not know that a little while after midnight on June 17, 1972 a security guard named Frank Wills had been patrolling in the parking garage of the Wartergate complex, the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, and found tape on the locks to doors leading into the building. He removed the tape and thought little of it, but an hour later, he would find it replaced. He would call the police, and they would arrest five robbers inside the complex.

The subsequent arrests of "plumbers" Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt would slowly but surely send tremors through the presidency. Initially, the Nixon administration denied that it had anything to do with the two plumbers or the bugs that the five men were trying to plant in the telephones of the Democratic headquarters (bugs are telephone listening devices, commonly used by spies and others in the field of espionage) when investigators gathered info that suggested it did. Ronald Ziegler, Nixon's press secretary, decried the break-in a "third rate burglary."

Hearing of the incident at the Watergate complex, the Washington Post, a prominent Washington D.C. newspaper with a national circulation, started publishing a series of articles linking Nixon to the burglary. Also, after questioning, one of the burglars confessed that the White House lied about its involvement in the break-in. Still, only about half of Americans had even heard of the robbery.

In early 1973, the Senate voted to hold hearings on the Watergate break-in. They asked the Department of Justice to hire a special prosecutor outside of the Nixon-influenced department to investigate Watergate. Slowly, Cox and Senator Sam Ervin of North Carolina would reveal the massive scandal going on in the White house. In May, former deputy White House counsel John Dean, a source close to Nixon, would testify that there indeed had been a cover up and that it had been directed by Nixon himself.

The extent of Nixon's desperation would become evident in October 1973 when Cox ordered that Nixon hand over tapes from a secret taping system that recorded conversations in the President's office. He refused on executive privilege grounds, contending that the release of the tapes would compromise national security.

When Cox tried to get an injunction for the release of the tapes, Nixon ordered Elliot Richardson, the attorney general, to fire Cox (after all, it was the Justice Department that had hired Cox), but Richardson refused and resigned. Nixon then ordered Deputy Attorney General William Rickelshaus to fire Cox, but he, like Richardson, refused and resigned. Finally, Nixon got a minor Justice Department official, Solicitor General Robert Bork, to fire Cox. The series of resignations and the firing of Cox became known as the Saturday Night Massacre. The public was outraged.

At the height of the Watergate scandal, the Department of Justice uncovered another: Vice President Spiro Agnew had accepted bribes as the governor of Maryland. He resigned on October 10, 1973. Nixon nominated Michigan congressman Gerald Ford as his Vice President, who was quickly confirmed.

The House of Representatives decided to initiate the impeachment process as public outrage mounted over the Saturday Night Massacre. If a majority voted to charge the President of high crimes and misdemeanors, he would be tried by the Senate and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court would preside over the trial. If 67 of the 100 senators voted to find Nixon guilty, he would be expelled from office.

In April of 1974, Nixon decided to release heavily edited transcripts of the tapes to try to improve his image. This only led to more public protest, and the Supreme Court eventually ruled that Nixon had to hand over the tapes. After a conversation on one of the tapes revealed that Nixon had ordered a cover up of the robbery, the public was stunned and the House mulled impeachment. Before any more damage could be done, Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. He would be the first and (so far) only president to resign and Gerald Ford would become the only president not elected to the office of president or vice president.

The impact of the scandal was wide and far-reaching. Among other things, Congress passed a series of laws sharply limiting a president's power to wage undeclared war, limiting campaign spending and strengthening public access to government information. Also, it proved that the Constitution's system of checks and balances could work to bring an abusive or tyrannical president out of power. But by far the biggest impact of the crisis was the loss of the public's faith and trust in politicians and elected officials; cynicism concerning the ethics, behavior, and motives of elected officials would be deep and lasting. Because of Nixon's party affiliation and the outrage over a preemptive pardon that Ford granted Nixon after he became president, people associated corruption with the Republican party. Decades of gerrymandering by New Dealers and their successors had assured nearly-impregnable overwhelming Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress since the 1930s. Fallout from Watergate assured that this trend would continue in the midterm elections of November 1974. The Republicans would pay the ultimate price for Watergate in 1976, with Ford losing the White House to a relative political newcomer.

← Kennedy and Johnson · Ford Carter Reagan →

← Kennedy and Johnson · US History · Ford Carter Reagan →

[edit] Ford, Carter and Reagan presidencies (1974 - 1989)

[edit] Introduction: The "New Right", Conservatism, and Demographic Shifts

Ever since the 1964 election, in which the conservative Barry Goldwater failed to defeat incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson, a grassroots (beginning on the local level) movement among other conservatives began growing. Slowly, a group of conservatives began changing their policies and marketing strategies until finally, President Reagan (the culmination of this movement) was elected in 1980. And so, the product of this reformation of the right wing of the political spectrum (the conservative side), became known as the New Right.

This new breed of conservatism emphasized, above all, "smaller" government. This entailed lowering taxes as a catalyst for increased consumer spending, and thus economic growth, at the cost of cutting governmental programs and welfare. Conservative economists pushed "supply side economics" and openly advocated doing away with the tax-funded welfare state created mostly by the New Deal reforms of the 40s in order to keep more money in the hands of consumers instead of the coffers of welfare programs. Additionally, while Goldwater openly opposed the involvement of religion in politics, Reagan ushered in a generation of evangelical Christian activists along with the New Right. During the 1980 election, Reagan openly expressed his commitment to his religion, and during his presidency spoke out strongly against abortion and in support of other issues dear to the religious. The New Right conservatives also notably supported a more hawkish, aggressive foreign policy in the face of communism. They mostly did away with Nixon's detente strategy in favor of a more threatening American world presence.

Meanwhile, a band of states in the south and southwest (called the "Sun Belt" because of their sunny climates) had been, since the 50s, experiencing growth that far outpaced the rest of the country. A number of factors contributed to this rapid relative growth. Southern states such as Florida and Texas and areas in the southwest such as southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico had year-round warm, sunny climates and large expanses of flat land suitable for building long tracts of suburban housing. With the widespread adoption of air conditioning by the 1950s, new housing in warm Sunbelt suburbs attracted those living in more seasonably cold climates, and in particular the Northeast. Retirement in the Sunbelt was also an attractive prospect to many of the elderly, and places such as southern Florida became popular places for retirees to relocate.

Simultaneously, the racially-charged phenomenon known as "white flight" was underway by the 1950s as an indirect result of court decisions (specifically Brown v. Board) and new laws encouraging the desegregation of urban neighborhoods. As blacks moved into predominantly white urban neighborhoods, white families, sometimes worried that as a result of desegregation property values would fall, would put their houses up for sale and move to the suburbs, which were often quieter, safer, and demographically whiter than inner cities. This contributed to the construction of suburbs around major Sunbelt cities such as Los Angeles, Phoenix, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Atlanta, Houston, and Dallas in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Many families fleeing northern inner cities would eventually settle in these new suburbs.

At the same time, the construction of long-distance, high-speed, high-capacity, limited-access roadways, such as those built as a part of Eisenhower's Interstate highway system, facilitated a lifestyle more dependent on the automobile--that is, it became practical and economical for most members of the workforce to live farther away from their jobs than they had ever lived. Whereas earlier in the century the norm had often been for workers to live near their jobs in cities and take a relatively short drive, ride public transportation, or even walk to work, in the second half of the century it became far more common to live in suburbs miles away from jobs (which often remained in dense urban areas) because expressways and inexpensive gasoline facilitated much longer commutes. As suburbs grew, so did American oil consumption. Traffic, environmental, and indirect health problems often arose as suburbs grew beyond the capacity of the infrastructure already in place. This trend would have important bearings on U.S. energy and environmental policy in the 70s and in the new millennium.

Importantly, some Sunbelt growth was also attributed to immigration from Mexico, and in places like southern California tensions would flare over the employment and taxpayer-funded welfare of illegal immigrants. Southern Florida's growth in the 70s and 80s also had a notable component of immigrants from Cuba, which fell to communism in 1959.

California experienced the greatest growth and surpassed New York as the most populous state, as did Texas (which became the second most populous state). Florida also exhibited very rapid growth. The Sun Belt was (and still generally is, with the notable exception of California and to a lesser extent Florida) committed to conservatism, and in part contributed to Nixon's and Reagan's electoral successes. The growth of this region was at the expense of the Northern cities. The effects of this period on cities are discussed in the final section of this chapter.

Other important demographic shifts were taking place during this period as well. Beginning in the early 60s, fertility rates began a sharp decline from an average of almost four children per family in the late 50s to an average of less than two by the 70s, signaling the end of the post-war baby boom and the birth of what is widely known as "Generation X," the generation that came of age during the 80s and early 90s. This relative drop in fertility rates would later have extremely important repercussions for Social Security, Medicare, and the U.S. health care system as a whole.

[edit] Ford and Rockefeller

The world watched as Gerald Ford turned back towards the White House after seeing off former President Nixon in his helicopter. There, he took the oath of office and became the thirty eighth president of the United States. Washington was relieved to put the Watergate crisis behind it. He appointed Nelson Rockefeller, a popular Republican and the former governor of New York, as his Vice President. Many were excited of what would come of Ford's presidency.

[edit] Controversy

One of Ford's first acts in office would shatter the nation's trust. Using executive powers granted to him by the Constitution, Ford granted Nixon a pardon, on September 8, 1974, for any misconduct he may have exhibited as president. Even though Ford fiercely defended his actions, he never regained the popularity that he had in his first days in office. Many believed that Nixon and Ford had worked out a bargain in advance, with Nixon's resignation in exchange for a pardon from Ford.

Later that year, it was leaked to the American public that the CIA had been spying and keeping secret files on legitimate American citizens. Months later, it was leaked that the FBI was doing the same thing. Ford appointed a commission to investigate the inner workings of the two agencies. He, with the help of Congress, passed legislation to keep the agencies in check.

After recovering some trust, the President would again stir up controversy. He offered amnesty, or protection from the law, to those who had avoided the draft or deserted during the Vietnam War. While many approved, others did not, believing that the policy was far too lenient; after all, their loved ones had obeyed the law.

[edit] Foreign Affairs

Ford did not have major diplomatic experience, so he relied on Kissinger, who continued Nixon's policies. In 1974, Ford met with Brezhnev to again discuss nuclear weapons. In July 1975, Ford signed the Helsinki Accords, a pledge between the western world and the Soviet Union to respect human rights. Ford also continued to work with China. The Chinese communist leader, Mao Zedong, died in 1976, and a more moderate, centrist government came to power. As a result, the U.S. and China continued to move closer.

[edit] Recession and Inflation

As the 1970s progressed, it seemed that Europe and Japan might pass the United States in economic power. Japanese cars were popular throughout the nation and European made goods were strong competition to American made goods. Many factories were forced to close, and soon, many Americans were unemployed or underemployed, that is, when one works in a job for which he is overqualified. Another contributing factor to the economic hardships were the actions of the middle-eastern OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries). Even though the oil shortage had been for the most part resolved, OPEC kept its prices high, and the high prices led to inflation (the loss of value of a currency).

To help to reduce inflation, Ford launched Whip Inflation Now (WIN), which promoted the saving of money and advised people to grow their own vegetable gardens in an effort to avoid high food prices. The program led to a small but insignificant drop in inflation; the economy was still plunging into recession. Ford also tried to control inflation by cutting government spending. He vetoed many appropriations bills from Congress that allowed for more spending.

To stimulate the economy, Ford pressed Congress to pass a tax cut, believing that with the extra money saved on taxes, Americans might spend more money. Ford was right, but with less tax revenue, the federal deficit widened. Despite the things he tried, he could not make the economy recover.

[edit] 1976 Election

Ford hoped that, as the incumbent, he would win the election. Americans had not quite forgotten about the Watergate crisis and Ford's subsequent actions, though. Jimmy Carter, a little known Democrat, slowly gained recognition in primaries, and he eventually won the Democratic nomination. Ford, on the other hand, struggled to win the nomination from his party, almost losing it to former California governor Ronald Reagan. On Election Day, the race was very close, but Carter eked out a victory over Ford, winning 50 percent of the popular vote to Ford's 48.

[edit] Carter

Carter, building his campaign on the fact that he was an "outsider," had little experience with politics on the national level (although he was formerly the governor of Georgia). He had been a peanut farmer from a tiny town called Plains. From the start of his presidency, Carter was very down-to-earth and informal; not very much like most politicians.

[edit] Deregulation

During his administration, Carter worked to deregulate many key sectors of the nation's economy, particularly the transportation and travel industry. The first major deregulation act passed during his presidency was the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, which removed much of the Civil Aeronautics Board's control over commercial aviation. Before the passage of the act, airlines had to receive government approval of routes, sometimes waiting ten years before getting a decision. Many requests were rejected because, for example, the case had become "stagnant." The Staggers Rail Act, passed in 1980, had a similar effect on the railroad industry.

Another key piece of legislation passed during the Carter presidency was the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act, passed in 1980. It lessened government control on the interest rates for money deposited and saved in banks, so that with higher interest rates, people would be encouraged to save their money.

[edit] Energy & Inflation

High prices on oil imports caused inflation to skyrocket during the Carter administration by as much as 12 percent per year. A widening trade deficit (a higher value on imports than on exports) also contributed to the inflation. To stress the need to conserve energy, Carter symbolically turned down the thermostat in the White House. Five laws passed in 1978, collectively known as the National Energy Plan, created a Department of Energy, allotted money from the U.S. budget to go to alternative energy research and created tax incentives to encourage domestic oil production and energy conservation.

In March 1979, nuclear power would also become part of the nation's energy crisis. Nuclear power, which involves splitting atoms and releasing energy while creating hazardous radioactive material, made up more than ten percent of the nation's electricity. A partial meltdown at Three Mile Island near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, released radiation into the environment, alerting the nation to a potential hazard. Soon a protest movement against nuclear power spread, and while no further nuclear power plants were ordered in the United States, most already in operation continued in operation and most then under construction eventually went into operation.

[edit] Camp David Accords

During the 1976 election, peace talks between the middle east, Israel, and the U.S. had stalled. The newly-elected president Carter moved to restart these talks, but when the right-wing Likud Party of Israel took control of the government in an electoral sweep, hopes for continued peace talks seemed all but lost. But Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, frustrated with the stalled process and motivated by prospects that the U.S. might help its anemic economy, decided to visit Israel, thereby recognizing its existence. Israel received Sadat's initiative, and the two countries soon went into bilateral (instead of the multilateral talks with the entire Arab world that Carter and Sadat had hoped for) talks, witnessed by the president at Camp David in Maryland.

The secret negotiations were heated and dramatic, and the two countries had threatened to walk on multiple occasions. Carter had personally appealed to Sadat and Israel leader Menachem Begin to stay in the talks. After twelve days, an agreement was reached, and on September 17th, 1978, the Camp David Accords were signed at the White House.

[edit] Hostage Crisis in Iran

In the '70s, Iran was a very strong Persian Gulf ally to the U.S. The Iranian Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, had built up a powerful military with U.S. help. Many Iranians complained about government corruption and the negative influence that the West had on Muslim values. In 1979 however, the shah was forced to leave the country after Islamic fundamentalists, (those who believe in very strict obedience to religious rules) led by the new Iranian ruler Ayatollah Khomeini, took control of the government.

Supported by the fundamentalists, Iranian students took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran, the capital of Iran, and took 52 U.S. citizens hostage. The United States was horrified. Negotiations to release the hostages failed and a rescue attempt in the country ended with the death of eight U.S. soldiers.

The hostage crisis in Iran greatly lowered the public opinion of Carter, even though there was little else that Carter could do about it. The ordeal took a toll on his campaign for reelection in 1980; the public saw as a president who bargained with terrorists, and he lost to Ronald Reagan, 489 to 49 in the electoral college. An even greater disappointment for his failed campaign came in the last weeks of his term, in January 1981: with hard work, Carter secured the release of the hostages.

[edit] Iran-Iraq War

The Iran-Iraq War, also known as the Imposed War by Iraq, began when Iraq invaded Iran on 22 September 1980 following a long history of border disputes and fears of Shia insurgency among Iraq's long suppressed Shia majority influenced by Iran's Islamic revolution. Although Saddam's Iraq hoped to take advantage of revolutionary chaos in Iran and attacked without formal warning, they made only limited progress into Iran and within several months were repelled by the Iranians who regained virtually all lost territory by June 1982. For the next six years Iran was on the offensive. Despite several calls for a ceasefire by the United Nations Security Council, hostilities continued until 20 August 1988. The last prisoners of war were exchanged in 2003.

The war is noted for being very similar to World War I. Tactics used included trench warfare, manned machine-gun posts, bayonet charges, use of barbed wire, human wave attacks and Iraq's extensive use of chemical weapons (such as mustard gas) against Iranian troops and civilians as well as Iraqi Kurds.

[edit] Land Mines

This war is noted for the use of Land Mines, and for the use of them as an offensive weapon. Iran put the mines between the US military forces and their ships. Also there was believed to be a push by the Iranians to get human minesweepers, with "Keys to the Kingdom", which is believed to be the inspiration behind suicide bombing in Palestine.

[edit] Reagan and "Reaganomics"

In the years before and following Reagan's election, a conservative movement grew which complained that the government spent too much money and collected too many taxes. So, Reagan decided to cut taxes and spending. Reagan's policy of supply-side economics (increasing supply and services to stimulate the economy) soon became known simply as "Reaganomics." Reagan took over the worst economy since the Great Depression, unemployment of 13% and inflation of 17%. So called "Reaganomics" cut the top tax rate by half and lowered all other tax rates by a significant margin. The deals struck with the Democratic controlled congress caused an INCREASE in spending and the INCREASED revenue from the tax cuts and smaller tax shelters could not cover the increases in spending the Democrats demanded. The result of the nearly tripling of the budget given the president by the congress resulted in record spending. The largest increase in spending was defence in a plan to bankrupt the Soviet Union. By 1983, the economy began a steady growth, doubling tax revenue, signaling that his plan was successful.

During his Presidency, Ronald Reagan pursued policies that reflected his optimism in individual freedom, expanded the American economy, and contributed to the end of the Cold War. The "Reagan Revolution", as it came to be known, aimed to reinvigorate American morale, and reduce the people's reliance upon government

Reagan made progress in other areas too. He made up for Carter's general indecision by resolving an air traffic controller's strike quickly and cleanly.

[edit] Sandra Day O'Connor Supreme Court nomination

In 1980, Ronald Reagan promised to nominate the first woman to the Supreme Court should he be elected. Then, on July 3, 1981, Associate Justice Potter Stewart, who had been appointed by Dwight Eisenhower in 1958, retired. Reagan fulfilled his promise and nominated Sandra Day O'Connor, a judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals. The Senate confirmed her unanimously, and on September 25, 1981, she became the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court. She served as Associate Justice until January 31, 2006, when her successor, Samuel Alito, was confirmed.

Reagan nominated two other Justices to the Court. In 1986, he successfully nominated Antonin Scalia, and in 1988, he nominated Anthony Kennedy.

[edit] Defense

As promised in his campaign, Reagan drastically increased military spending to a level of about $1.6 trillion in five years. This triggered a secondary arms race between the United States and the USSR, and relations between the two fell to levels not seen since the 60s. While Reagan favored drastically increasing spending on the military, the US confidence in full-scale ground war had been broken with the loss of Vietnam in the 70s. Because of this, Reagan favored funding trained insurgents to fight enemy governments instead of committing the army full-scale.

The first major military conflict during Reagan's administration was 1983's Operation Urgent Fury, the invasion of the Caribbean island nation of Grenada. When the island was taken over by Marxist Bernard Coard, Reagan used the safety of 500 U.S. medical students working in the government as a pretext for the invasion. The new government was quickly and cleanly overthrown, and served as a model for future conflicts.

Reagan also, with the help of South Africa, funded insurgent groups fighting Soviet-backed regimes in the African nations of Mozambique and Angola. In Afghanistan, which had been invaded by the Soviet Union to the north, the U.S. government provided arms and humanitarian aid to mujahideen rebels fighting the Soviet-backed government. In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev, a Communist party reformer, assumed leadership of Russia. Realizing that his Soviet troops were bogged down in a costly guerrilla war, and wanting to regain face with the international community, he announce in 1987 that the Soviet army would be withdrawing from the country. Withdrawal completed in 1989.

[edit] Central America and Iran Contra

Hostage takings in the middle east did not end after the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. In 1983, members of an Iranian militant organization were arrested for truck bombings in Kuwait, and an ally militant organization retaliated for the arrests by taking thirty hostages in Lebanon, six of whom were American. In order to free the hostages, the administration decided that it would secretly sell arms to Iran, one of America's greatest enemies, which was in the middle of a war with Iraq. Few countries were willing to supply Iran with weapons, and the United States sold the arms to Iran in the hopes that Iran would pressure the militants in Lebanon to free the hostages. This sale had the explicit approval of Reagan himself.

At the same time, a coup d'état in Nicaragua brought to power the socialist Sandinista government. The country had formerly been friendly territory for multinational corporations and a wealthy ruling class, and this resulted in a large poor class willing to hand power over to left-wing leaders. American interests in Central America seemed in jeopardy with the Sandinista government in power. When the CIA decided to conduct sabotage missions against the Sandinistas without congressional approval, the Republican senate angrily passed the Boland Amendment, which banned the funding of the anti-Sandinista Contra rebels by certain governmental agencies.

Because of this, a few in the Reagan administration decided to, possibly without the President's knowledge, use the proceeds from the secret weapons sale with Iran to secretly fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

These dealings went on in violation of the Boland amendment, and in conflict with statements made by Reagan that he would not negotiate with terrorists. When a Lebanese magazine revealed the weapons-for-hostages dealings in 1986, scandal ensued. Reagan, with pressure from congressional Democrats and the media, created the Tower commission, led by former senator John Tower. The commission in the end laid most of the blame for the dealings on Reagan himself for not paying more attention and not having more direct control over many governmental agencies. The scandal itself raised many separation of power and presidential ethics questions, but Reagan emerged from its aftermath relatively unscathed. By the end of his second term, Reagan once again was registering positive approval ratings.

[edit] Changing Modern Society

A broad shift in values and attitudes took place in the U.S. between 1970 and 1990 as financial prosperity spread through American society. Across almost all social and economic groups, the trend was away from community and toward individualism. Aspects of the change included resistance to taxation and support for tax cuts; distrust of government and belief in privatization of public functions on the argument that the private sector could carry them out more effectively; decreased support for public assistance to low-income groups and demands that these groups improve their own economic standing; and a general decrease in the type of public citizen involvement that earlier generations had practiced during the middle decades of the 20th century. Politicians of both major parties hastened to follow these trends, with the Republicans in the lead under Reagan and the elder Bush, while the Democrats, seeing their broad base of voters increasingly drawn toward Republican positions, hastening to follow.

[edit] Urban Problems

As the Sun Belt as a whole grew, it accompanied a nationwide trend of migration out of cities and into suburbs. This migration was easier to accomplish with more accessible transportation brought by cars. The service sector of the economy grew along with this shift, at the expense of the shrinking manufacturing industry. Cities in the northern and midwestern "Rust Belt" were left with smaller populations and thus smaller tax bases, and large, poverty-stricken minorities; bankruptcy loomed for many northern cities. Additionally, old downtown areas of cities exhibited gentrification, a phenomenon in which affluent, young middle class citizens move into restored urban areas. This displaced the lower class and poor and contributed to one of the biggest problems of the mid-80s-- homelessness.

[edit] Conservative Movements

Neoconservatism The neoconservative movement grew in the 1960s & 1970s as a reaction to the growing antiwar counter-culture & liberal social programs like the Great Society. Neoconservatism advocated a very hawkish, interventionist foreign policy, and was less committed to cutting governmental spending than mainstream conservatism was. While the Reagan administration was the first to show hints of neoconservatism, the movement would not be in the political mainstream until the rise of think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute and the Project for the New American Century in the mid and late 90s. The culmination of this movement was the election of George W. Bush in 2000.

The Religious Right Evangelical Christians constitute the main constituency of what is often referred to as the “religious right.” Like neo-conservatism, evangelical Christianity (often referring to themselves as “born-again”) grew in the 1960s & 1970s. Organization such as the Moral Majority, founded in 1979 by televangelist Rev. Jerry Farwell, stressed “family values.”

Conservative Coalition Sharing membership and views on a variety of issues, neoconservatives and the religious right began to join forces in the late 1970s to form a conservative political coalition. The political platform of this coalition included moral opposition to drug use, pornography, and abortion, as well as opposition to the expensive liberal social programs of the 1960s and 1970s. The coalition also favored free-enterprise and foreign policy backed by a strong military.

The new coalition proved to be politically powerful, fueling a conservative victory in the national elections of 1980 when Republicans, supported by neoconservatives and the religious right, earned a majority in the U.S. Senate, while Ronald Reagan won in a landslide over Jimmy Carter in the presidential race. Specifically, California’s “Christian Voice” was influential in the 1980 election, swaying the vote in the South & the Midwest. The Rev. Jerry Farwell’s Moral Majority registered approximately 3 million voters from 1979 to 1980.

[edit] African Americans in Politics

By the 80s, African Americans saw a level of political empowerment and representation unseen during the course of the country's history. Mostly running as Democrats, the 80s saw the rise of many major black political players. Shirley Chishlom, a Brooklyn native, was elected to Congress in 1968, representing New York's 12th district. She was one of the founding members of the powerful Congressional Black Caucus, which would eventually constitute a large chunk of the Democratic caucus itself. Today, the powerful group boasts 43 members, all Democrats. Eventually Chishlom would be the first African American and first woman to make a serious (though unsuccessful) bid for the Presidency, but it would not be until Obama that one would get on the ticket in the general election.

In 1984, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson decided to make a bid for the Democratic nomination for the presidency and exceeded expectations, winning five southern primaries. Although he lost the nomination to Vice President Walter Mondale, Jackson was seen as a more credible candidate for the 1988 election. This proved to be an accurate prediction, with he and eventual nominee Michael Dukakis running neck and neck for the nomination. Briefly, Jackson was considered the frontrunner. Despite his loss, Jackson would remain politically active and would continue to push for progressive reform and civil rights for many minority groups, notably including homosexuals.

Other black politicians were appointed to positions of power as well. In 1967 President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Thurgood Marshall to the supreme court. Marshall became the first African American to serve on the bench, and he did not retire until 1991. Clarence Thomas became the second black justice when he replaced Marshall that same year. As a general in the army, Colin Powell was appointed to the position of National Security Advisor, and was eventually elevated to the powerful position of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As a civilian, Colin Powell was appointed to the position of Secretary of State by George W. Bush in 2001. This was the first time a black person had been appointed Secretary of State and was the highest ranking position that any African American had held before.

← Nixon and Indochina · Bush Clinton →

← Nixon and Indochina · US History · Bush Clinton →

[edit] Bush and Clinton presidencies,1st Gulf War (1989 - 2001)

[edit] 1988 Election

Having been badly defeated in the 1984 presidential election, the Democrats were eager to find a new approach to win the presidency. They felt more optimistic this time due to the large gains in the 1986 mid-term election which resulted in the Democrats taking back control of the Senate after 6 years of Republican rule. Among the field of candidates were the following:

• Bruce E. Babbitt, former governor from Arizona
• Joseph R. Biden Jr., U.S. senator from Delaware
• Michael S. Dukakis, governor of Massachusetts
• Richard A. "Dick" Gephardt, U.S. representative from Missouri
• Albert A. Gore Jr., U.S. senator from Tennessee
• Gary W. Hart, former U.S. senator from Colorado
• the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, civil rights activist
• Paul M. Simon, U.S. senator from Illinois
• Patricia Schroeder, Senator from Colorado

Reagan's Vice President, George Herbert Walker Bush, easily defeated Senator Bob Dole of Kansas for the Republican nomination for President. Bush selected Senator J. Danforth (Dan) Quayle of Indiana to be his running mate. The Democrats, after exhausting primaries, selected Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts as their nominee. The 1988 election set the precedent for the use of television as the primary method of voter mobilization.

Bush assailed his opponent for being soft on crime and implied that he lacked patriotism. He blamed Dukakis for the pollution in Boston harbor. Dukakis lacked experience in national politics and failed to effectively counter Bush's assaults.

Bush had a number of advantages, and won the election with 48.9 million votes (53.4 percent of the votes cast) and Dukakis polled 41.8 million votes. Bush carried 40 states and took the Electoral College 426 to 112.

The campaign's harsh tone repelled voters, and the turnout was the lowest since 1924.

[edit] Social Changes of the 1990s

The population continued to grow to over 250 million by 1990. The total had nearly quadrupled in a century and was more than double the population during the first election of Franklin Roosevelt. Medical advances brought the life expectancy to a record high. The Hispanic population grew five times as fast as the rest of the population and began to emerge as a political force.

Left-over changes from the countercultural revolution of the 1960s and 1970s were apparent. "Laid-back" attitudes toward dress, language, and sexual freedom were among these left-over changes. A new tolerance was especially prevalent in what had been historically the most sensitive of all problems for Americans - sex. Ninety-five percent of males and over 80 percent of females between 18 and 24 acknowledged premarital intercourse.

Drugs remained popular as well. While LSD fell out of fashion, marijuana remained popular. "Crack," a cheap and powerful derivative of cocaine, displaced heroin.

The rise of the Moral Majority continued - dismay over crimes, drugs, and drinking was widespread. States raised the drinking age and cracked down on drunk driving. The people revolted against cigarette smoking, and many states and communities began to ban smoking in public places.

The campaign against sexual promiscuity received unexpected support due to the discovery of AIDS.

[edit] The World Changes

The universal oppression in Communist nations and the failure of Communist economies led to growing disenchantment with Communism. Communist regimes began collapsing across the world. Under Mikhail Gorbachev, head of the Communist Party and later President of the USSR, the Soviet Union began to crumble. He was unable to prevent the secession of the Baltic states, and communist hard-liners led an unsuccessful coup that nonetheless demonstrated the loss of most of Gorbachev's stature. Boris Yeltsin, a leader in the resistance against the coup, later became president of the Russian Federation. The Soviet parliament soon adjourned forever, and Gorbachev resigned. The world was at last free of the Cold War.

With the Soviet Union out of Central America and the neutralization of Castro due to the Union's demise, Bush was slowly able to advance American objectives in that region.

The decline of the Soviet Union also left the United States with increased influence in the Middle East. Bush was eager to serve peace by persuading Israel to return the Arab lands it seized in 1967. The Administration was also committed to sustaining the flow of inexpensive oil from the Persian Gulf.

[edit] Desert Shield

Under Saddam Hussein, Iraqi forces invaded and quickly gained control of Kuwait on August 2, 1990. Bush immediately denounced the invasion as "naked aggression" and banned trade with Iraq, froze all Iraqi assets within the United States, and dispatched an aircraft-carrier group to the Persian Gulf. The UN Security Council unanimously condemned the invasion and demanded the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait. On August 15, with the first American soldiers on their way to the Persian Gulf, Bush told Americans that Operation Desert Shield was under way to protect "access to energy resources" and thus "our jobs, our way of life." Most Americans supported the war. American troops began to build up in Saudi Arabia. On November 29 the Security Council authorized the use of "all necessary means" to expel Iraqi troops if they had not left Kuwait by January 15, 1991. Bush was assailed by the media and Democrats for sending 400,000 troops to the Persian Gulf without consulting Congress, for making war seem unavoidable, and for creating crisis in order to draw attention from the faltering economy.

On January 12, 1991, in a largely partisan vote, both chambers - the House 250 to 183, the Senate 53 to 46 - authorized Bush "to use United States armed forces" pursuant to the UN Security Council resolution.

[edit] Operation Desert Storm

The U.S. and its coalition overwhelmed its enemy. From the start, the coalition had total command of the air. Within days, Iraqi communciation systems, air bases, and antiaircraft defenses were obliterated by aircraft. Americans were quickly attacking strategic targets - power plants, bridges, and chemical, nuclear, and biological weapons facilities. From day eight, coalitions planes devastated the Iraqi army. On the second day, Hussein fired Scud missiles at Israel and Saudi Arabia, but none caused major damage. In late January the Iraqi release of thousands of gallons of Kuwaiti oil into the Persian Gulf polluted the waters of that area.

Bush warned Hussein that the coalition would force him out if he had not begun withdrawal by February 24. Coalition forces placed Iraqi forces in a squeeze they could not escape. After 100 hours of ground warfare, Kuwait had been liberated, and the Baghdad area was besieged. The coalition had destroyed some 4,000 Iraqi tanks, more than 1,000 armored vehicles, and about 3,000 artillery pieces. In comparison, the coalition had lost only 4 tanks, 9 other vehicles, and 1 cannon. About 100,000 Iraqi troops were killed, and the coalition had suffered less than 200 deaths.

However, Saddam was still in control. Soon after the cease-fire, the Iraqi army put down a Shiite rebellion and forced Kurds in Iraq to flee to Iran and Turkey. United Nations inspections began. The media did little to inform Americans about the destruction of the Iraqi infrastructure, the foundation of a modernizing society, or about the millions of people left without electricity, running water, or sewage.

[edit] Back to Usual Politics

Bush was closely aligned to Ronald Reagan in regard to social issues after his two terms as vice-president. As a Republican congressman from Texas, he was pro-choice, but when he ran for president, he opposed abortion, and he endorsed Supreme Court decisions weakening affirmative action in hiring and promotion. He consistently tried to make appointments to federal courts of judges that shared his own views about the First Amendment, abortion, and affirmative action. Bush named David Souter to replace Justice William Brennan on the Supreme Court, and he named Clarence Thomas to replace Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Bush called himself "the education president" and "the environment president." Bush called for a controversial program that would allow public money to follow children to public schools but it was not acted upon. Bush appointed performed and committed conservationists to the Environmental Protection Agency. At times he would take the side of business, and at other times he would take the side of ecologists. In 1989 he signed a law to ease the effects of acid rain, mandating a gradual 50 percent reduction in sulfur emissions from power plants burning coal, and it also required the automobile industry to increase gradually the production of cars using fuels other than gasoline or diesel oil. In 1991, Bush put forward an energy plan to open for exploration the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, some other Alaskan areas, and the continental shelf off the coasts of California and the Gulf of Mexico.

During 1989, economic growth in the United States slowed, and by the second half of 1990, most economists considered the economy in recession. Bush again proposed, as he had in 1989, lowering the capital gains tax, but Congressional Democrats balked. During talks, the White House backed down on capital gains and the two sides agreed on a budget package that included a steep increase in excise taxes, a small increase in Medicare charges, and a cut in Medicare spending. However, members of both parties in Congress rejected the solution. Finally, on October 29, 1991, the Congress at last approved an acceptable compromise. It lifted the top surtax rate from 28 to 31 percent, gradually phased out income-tax exemptions for upper-income taxpayers, and raised the tax on gasoline, cigarettes, and beer. It also imposed a luxury tax on expensive automobiles, boats, furs, and jewelry, and raised Medicare premiums. The Democrats committed Congress for five years to reduce expenditures both for the military and domestically. After the quick victory in the Persian Gulf, the administration anticipated a quick return of national growth, but the GNP did not pick up. Unemployment reached a four year high.

[edit] The Election of 1992

Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas became the apparent leader among the Democratic candidates for the 1992 election. By late April, Clinton had a commanding lead and delegates and was running evenly with Bush in public opinion polls. Rioting in central Los Angeles arose following the verdict of a suburban jury that found Los Angeles policemen not guilty of using undue force in beating a black motorist they had arrested.

The polls showed extreme disenchantment with both candidates, and H. Ross Perot, a Texas billionaire, organized a run as a Reform Party nominee. Perot appealed to conservatives by speaking out against taxes, deficits, and adultery, but he was pro-choice and had a tolerant attitude toward homosexuality. He also appealed to traditionally Democratic voters by being an outspoken opponent of NAFTA (a free-trade agreement). He remained evasive about his economic and social agenda, and becoming uncomfortable with the probings of the media, he withdrew from the election, only to return in October. Perot's entrance into the race reflected the impatience of the electorate with politics and their dissatisfaction with the major parties. Perot was also able to gain such a level of support because he was allowed to participate in all three Presidential debates. Incumbents at every level were worried, and an unprecedented number of members of Congress chose not to seek reelection. Bush and Quayle stressed "family values." Bush called for across-the-board tax cuts, and public opinion polls revealed the closeness of the race.

The Clinton camp began to use the famous slogan "It's the economy, stupid!" and he was successful in presenting his theme of change. Clinton won an overwhelming majority in the Electoral College (370 to 168) but received only 43 percent of the popular vote.

[edit] William Jefferson Clinton

William Jefferson Clinton became the 42nd President of the United States in 1992, signalling a generational change. He was the first Democrat in over 50 years to win a second term and presided over the longest peace time economic expansion in history. He was an activist, progressive president (of a breed of politicians which he called the "New Democrats") who stayed constantly surrounded by controversy.

Bill Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe in Hope, Arkansas and was raised in Hot Springs, Arkansas. In 1950, Clinton's mother remarried to Roger Clinton, Clinton's natural father having been killed in an automobile accident, three months before his son's birth. Roger Clinton was an alcoholic gambler who would beat his wife and Clinton's half-brother also named Roger.

[edit] Clinton's Domestic Agenda

Clinton had a very progressive agenda, which included ending the recession of the early 90s, health care reforms, and domestic reforms. Clinton, working with the Republican Congress, helped narrow the deficit by cutting spending and increasing taxes on the wealthiest Americans. On the issue of health care, Clinton wanted to stop the rising costs of health care and provide the estimated 39 million uninsured Americans with health insurance. He created a task force, headed by his wife, Hillary Clinton, to deal with the problem, but critics attacked the plan. They worried that the plan was too expensive and too complicated. Congress would never vote on Clinton's plan, and his health care effort would die.

Clinton was able to succeed in other efforts, though. Despite opposition, Clinton was able to pass the Brady Bill (named after James Brady, who was crippled after being shot in the Ronald Reagan assassination attempt), which created a mandatory waiting period in which gun vendors could check a buyer's criminal background before a buyer could recieve his gun. A 1994 crime bill complemented the bill by banning 19 kinds of assault weapons and creating 100,000 new police jobs.

Clinton was also able to push Congress to pass the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), despite strong opposition from labor unions (which, ironically, are the strongest source of Democrat support). The agreement would provide lower costs for consumers in many markets, due to increased trading with Mexico and Canada.

[edit] The Third Way

Clinton is a supporter of the Third Way, or Radical center, a centrist political philosophy of governance that embraces a mix of market and interventionist philosophies. The Third Way rejects both socialism and laissez-faire approaches to economic governance, but chiefly stresses technological development, education, and competitive mechanisms to pursue economic progress and governmental objectives. Third way philosophies have been described as a synthesis of capitalism and socialism by its proponents.

In the United States, Third Way adherents emphasize fiscal conservatism, some replacement of welfare with workfare, and a stronger preference for market solutions to traditional problems (as in pollution markets), while rejecting pure laissez-faire economics and other libertarian positions. The Third Way style of governing was firmly adopted and partly redefined during the Administration of President Bill Clinton.

After Tony Blair came to power in the UK, Clinton, Blair and other leading Third Way adherents organized conferences to promote the Third Way in 1997 at Chequers in England. The Democratic Leadership Council are adherents of Third Way politics.

In 2004, several veteran U.S. Democrats founded a new Washington, DC organization entitled Third Way, which bills itself as a "strategy center for progressives." John Kerry of 2004 U.S. Democrats Presidential candidate is also considered to be third way politician, as are 2008 U.S. Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

[edit] Keeping Peace

During the Clinton administration, keeping peace in other parts of the world was a priority. When the President of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was overthrown by violent dictators, Clinton sent troops to Haiti to pressure the new dictators to step down and to help slow the tidal wave of Hatian refugees fleeing to Florida. They did step down, and Aristide's power was restored.

Another challenge to peace was a bloody civil war that had erupted in Yugoslavia, part of the Balkan peninsula in Europe. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, and Croatia all declared independence from Yugoslavia, but many Serbs (from Serbia, a part of Yugoslavia) still lived in those areas, and Yugoslavia fought to hold onto parts of Bosnia and Croatia. As America became aware of the atrocities of the war, Clinton arranged peace talks in Dayton, Ohio, and the Serbs, the Croats, and the Bosnians signed a peace agreement in Decmber 1995. Eventually, another conflict would arise in the region during Clinton's second term.

[edit] 1994 Midterm Elections

During the 1994 midterm Congressional elections, Republicans presented a plan called the "Contract with America." The contract detailed the actions Republicans would take upon becoming the majority party in Congress. This charge was led by Newt Gingrich. The GOP plan was a success, winning the Republicans a majority in the House for the first time in 40 years, and a Republican majority in the Senate. The massive success became known as the Republican Revolution.

In retrospect, the Republicans' dramatically large gains can be attributed to many things. A larger than average number of incumbents retired, and thus there was a larger number of open seat races, which are far easier to switch parties. Additionally, the previously Democratic-controlled House had been plagued by a scandal since before the 1992 election. The scandal implicated far more Democrats than Republicans and can in part be blamed for the large number of open seats. Historians and political scientists also point to President Clinton's resounding failure to pass his universal healthcare plan in a Democratic-controlled congress. The plan had been a large part of his 1992 campaign and was to be the cornerstone of his first-term agenda. The defeat likely demoralized Democratic voters, who ended up turning out in low numbers.

[edit] 1996 Election

Clinton easily won Democratic renomination in 1996. His opponent was Kansas senator Bob Dole, who had served in Congress since 1961. Dole claimed that he could lower taxes by 15 percent and that Clinton was an unethical president. Clinton said that Dole would ruin the evironment and reverse the progress that Clinton had made with medicare. Ross Perot ran again, and relying on infomercials, also claimed that Clinton was unethical.

Despite it all, Clinton won the election in a landslide, while Perot received a much smaller amount of votes than he did in the 1992 election. Even though the Democratic campaign for the presidency was successful, they didn't fare well in the congressional elections. Republicans gained 2 seats in the Senate, giving them a 55-45 majority. Even though Democrats gained 11 seats in the House, Republicans still held a 226-207 majority. Independents held two seats. Republicans had total control of Congress.

[edit] Conflict in Kosovo

After 1995, it seemed that things would stay relatively quiet in the Balkans. But a series of events would lead to rampant political instability within Yugoslavia and eventually a civil war. Kosovo, a province of Serbia (which was a part of Yugoslavia) was home to a large number of Albanians (from the neighbooring Albania), who were actually the ethnic majority in the area. In the late eighties and early nineties, the Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic passed laws that eliminated Kosovo's constitutional rights and opressed Albanians. In 1991, Kosovo voted to break away from Yugoslavia. Although Yugoslavia claimed that the vote was illegal, things in the area stayed relatively quiet until April 1996, when a mysterious organization known as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) began attacking Serbian civilians.

Eventually, the attacks on civialians caused hundreds of thousands of people to flee Kosovo. Serbians viewed the KLA as a group of terrorists, and retaliated. As the violence became bloodier and bloodier, more and more refugees began to flee into Macedonia, and tensions between the refugee Albanians and the native Mecedonian Slavs grew, and a possible civil war loomed. A civil war in Macedonia would have been catastrophic to the already damaged stability and security of the area, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization concluded that intervention was needed.

A coalition of NATO members, headed by the United States, began a bombing campaign on March 24, 1999. The goal of the campaign was to force the Serbs to leave Kosovo so that the Albanian refugees could return to their homes. Initially, the bombing caused a mass Albanian exodus from Kosovo, with the U.N. reporting that over 850,000 Albanians had fled from Kosovo to Albania or Macedonia. Milosevic would not step down until June, when Finnish and Russian negotiators convinced him that NATO was serious in its goal and that Russia (a long time protector of Slavic people) would not step in to protect Yugoslavia. On June 10, the bombings ended, and an occupation of the area by U.N. and NATO peacekeeping troops began. Kosovo lay in ruins and hundreds of thousands of people were displaced.

[edit] Oklahoma City Bombing

The Oklahoma City Bombing took place on April 19, 1995. The incident took place when a truck bomb exploded near the federal building. 169 people would die. Timothy McVeigh, the suspected culprit, would be put on trial and sentence to death a few years after the incident. This was the worst terrorist attack on US soil until September 11.

[edit] Columbine High School Massacre

On April 20, 1999, two students, members of the so-called Trenchcoat Militia, rampaged Columbine High School. On this day, fifteen died including the shooters and approximately twenty-three were injured. This massacre would spark copycat incidents across the United States and cause concern over gun control.

[edit] The Monica Lewinsky Scandal

The Monica Lewinsky Scandal was a scandal involving President Bill Clinton and a young White House intern named Monica Lewinsky. Bill Clinton had a relationship that was sexual in nature with the intern and lied about it in court. The catalyst of the scandal were the tape recordings of Linda Tripp and Lewinsky discussing Lewinsky's relationship with Clinton, conversations recorded by Tripp.

Initially, the Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr was investigating President and Mrs. Clinton's role in the Whitewater scandal, which led to the investigation of the Lewinsky affair after Attorney-General Janet Reno granted Starr authority to probe the affair. The incident that led to the advancement of the scandal was the procurement of the tapes of Linda Tripp and Lewinsky discussing her relationship with Clinton, by Starr from Tripp. There doesn't appear to be any evidence that Starr sought the tapes out or knew of their existence, rather it was perhaps Linda Tripp who handed them over freely to Starr.

On February 12, 1999, the US Senate voted on the Articles of Impeachment requiring a two-thirds majority, or 67 votes, to convict. On Article 1, which charged that the President willfully provided perjurious, false and misleading testimony to the grand jury" in relation to the Paula Jones lawsuit, 45 Senators voted for guilty and removal from Office, and 55 for not-guilty and no removal from Office. On Article II, which charged that the President "prevented, obstructed, and impeded the administration of justice", 50 Senators voted for guilty and 50 for not-guilty.

[edit] Bill's Connection to the Hillary Campaign

In the course of the 2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign, Clinton vigorously advocated on behalf of his wife, Hillary Clinton, leading some observers and party members to question the appropriateness of his role in view of his status as a former president. Some felt that Clinton was overshadowing his wife in the campaign, with her presidential rival Barack Obama complaining that he sometimes "did not know which Clinton he was running against."

Top Democratic Party officials, including Rep. Rahm Emmanuel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and a declared Clinton supporter, asked Clinton to tone down his attacks on Obama following the bitterly contested Nevada caucus, suggesting that Clinton could be damaging his own political capital and global stature. Some commentators even accused the former president of "playing the race card" against Obama, who is half-black, by suggesting he would understand if South Carolina's African Americans naturally would vote for the black candidate, but rejected suggestions that America was not ready for a black President. Many felt that by alienating black voters who had once overwhelmingly supported the Clintons, Clinton had tarnished his legacy as the so-called "first black president." In particular, Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) suggested that Clinton's vocal attacks on Obama could damage the former President's legacy.

← Ford Carter Reagan · W Bush →

← Ford Carter Reagan · US History · W Bush →

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[edit] 2000 to the Present

[edit] George W. Bush, September 11, 2nd Gulf War, and Terrorism (2001-2006)

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[edit] 2000 Election

As Clinton's presidency came to a close, Democrats nominated Al Gore, Clinton's vice president, as their nominee, and the Republicans chose George W. Bush, the governor of Texas and son of former President George H.W. Bush.

Florida had traditionally been a Democratic-leaning state, but explosive population growth in the late nineties had brought many social and economic conservative Cubans to southern Florida. The growth had left Florida very evenly split among the parties.

On election night, the news media outlets first predicted Florida to go to Gore, then to Bush, and then decided that the race was too close to call. Florida law provided for an automatic recount when votes differ by such a small margin, and when Florida decided that Bush had won, Gore sued Bush to force further recounts in several Florida counties. Bush counter-sued, and the case went to the Supreme Court of the United States. In a 5-4 decision, the Court decided that the state of Florida must recount all the ballots in all the Florida counties and not just those for which Gore had sued, in accordance with the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. As Florida was required by the Florida Constitution to certify its election within days of the Court's decision, there was not enough time to recount the entire state. Thus, the final state count stood, with Bush winning Florida by 537 votes, (and as a result receiving 271 electoral votes to Gore's 267, and therefore gaining the presidency), although he lost the popular vote.

[edit] 9/11 and its Aftermath

Less than a year later, on September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four airline jets. Two of the aircraft were flown into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, resulting in their collapse and the deaths of thousands of occupants and rescuers. Another was flown into the Pentagon, the U.S. military headquarters in Arlington, Virginia The fourth airliner crashed in Pennsylvania as a result of resistance by the passengers. Its intended target is believed to have been the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Approximately 3000 people died in the attacks, known as "9/11".

Responsibility for the attacks was soon attached to Osama Bin Laden, the leader of al-Quaeda, an Islamic terrorist group with training camps in Afghanistan. Bin Laden's exact grievances have been debated, but include US military presence in major Islamic nations and US support of Israel. There had been many smaller terrorist attacks aimed towards Americans by al-Quaeda before 2001, including the bombing of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

The attacks, while devastating and deadly, abruptly ended the period of sharp division after the 2000 election. Over the next year, America experienced a period of unprecedented political unity among the public and elected officials alike. Americans more readily expressed pride in their country and rallied to counter the terror instilled by the attacks. George Bush received praise from across the political spectrum for his leadership following the attacks and his swift invasion of Afghanistan.

The attacks also shook the worldwide economy. Stocks tumbled when the New York Stock Exchange reopened the week following the attacks. The travel industry also declined because fewer Americans wanted to fly (due to the nature of the 9/11 attacks). Many airlines went bankrupt. A recession, following the economic boom during Bill Clinton's second term, was exacerbated by the attacks.

[edit] The War on Terror

Directly following the September 11th attacks, Congress drafted and overwhelmingly passed the USA PATRIOT Act, which was signed into law on October 26, 2001. The law, while forcing citizens to forfeit some rights, strengthened the government's ability to gather information and convict suspected terrorists. Hundreds of accused terrorists have been charged and approximately half have been convicted. There have, however, been reports of abuse of the law, which went under reexamination by Congress in 2005.

In response to the attacks, the United States declared a symbolic war on terrorism. The first target in the war was Afghanistan, where the Taliban government was believed to be hiding Bin Laden and al-Qaeda. After the Taliban refused to turn Bin Laden over, American and British forces began bombing strategic Taliban centers on October 7. The invasion was swift, and major fighting had ended by the middle of 2002. The Taliban government was eliminated, and the Afghanis soon participated in their first democratic processes in many years.

In his 2002 State of the Union address, Bush named Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as a part of the "Axis of Evil," a phrase he partially coined from the World War II Axis Powers. President Bush specifically named these three countries because they were all described as rogue states, either fostering terrorists or trying to obtain nuclear weapons.

The successful invasion of Afghanistan was the first time that the newly adopted Bush Doctrine had been carried out. The Bush Doctrine stated that there was no difference between a terrorist and one who fosters a terrorist, and that the U.S. would practice pre-emptive strikes against perceived threats to American security (acting alone if needed), as it was the United States' duty to spread freedom and democracy to the rest of the world.

[edit] War in Iraq

In the middle of 2002, the United Nations began focusing its attention on Iraq, as American and international intelligence agencies had intelligence indicating that Iraq possessed a number of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), as well as the ongoing capacity to produce them. The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1441, requiring Iraq to open up to U.N. weapons inspectors or else face "serious consequences." Two of the veto-wielding members (France and Russia) of the Security Council did not wish to use military force against Iraq, and promised to veto any resolution ordering such force.

As a result to a perceived security threat verified by intelligence (which has now been found to have been unreliable), President Bush and a number of allies, deemed by the President as the "coalition of the willing," began the invasion without U.N. sanction. On the night of March 17, 2003, President Bush gave Hussein and his two sons, Uday and Qusay, an ultimatum to leave Iraq in 48 hours or face an invasion. They refused. After the expiration of the deadline given by the President, the invasion of Iraq began. The invasion lasted only a short time, and the Iraqi government and military collapsed within three weeks.

After months of searching, Hussein was finally captured on December 13. Weapons of Mass Destruction were never located in Iraq. Continued suicide bombings and the ongoing American casualties led to a steady decline in American popular support for the war.

The invasion of Iraq is considered by many to mark the end of the political unity following the September 11th attacks. Although both the public and Congress favored going to war by overwhelming majorities, a substantial minority expressed reservations about invading. Many feared that the administration lacked a plan for rebuilding once the war was over. Still others worried that an invasion would alienate U.S. allies. On February 15, just one month before the invasion commenced, millions protested worldwide, including hundreds of thousands in 150 U.S. cities.

[edit] Gay Marriage

Another key issue of the 2004 election was the issue of same-sex marriage. On November 18, 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that the banning of gay marriage is unconstitutional, thereby allowing gay marriage in that state. Following the Massachusetts ruling, California, Vermont, Maine, Hawaii, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, and Connecticut allow for same-sex civil unions, reciprocal benefits, or domestic partnerships. In February 2004, President Bush called for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. The Senate looked into the issue, but only a minority supported the provision, while a two thirds majority is needed to pass an amendment in Congress.

The civil rights movement took a major hit on Election Day, when seven states (Georgia, Arkansas, Michigan, North Dakota, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Utah) made it unconstitutional for marriage, civil unions, or domestic partnerships between same-sex couples. Three more (Oregon, Mississippi, and Montana) made it illegal only for homosexuals to marry, and one more (Ohio) passed an amendment illegalizing any benefits whatsoever for homosexual couples.

[edit] 2004 Election

Being enormously popular with his own party, Bush won renomination by the Republicans in the 2004 election unopposed. Much to the contrary, ten Democrats sought their party's nomination. Massachusetts senator John F. Kerry, whose campaign was declared dead by some commentators only a few weeks earlier, won the Iowa Caucus. Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, whose campaign had cash but never any traction, picked up a surprise strong second. At the Democratic Convention in July, all the other candidates, save Dennis Kucinich, released their delegates to Kerry. As a result, Kerry became the Democratic nominee for President.

Kerry chose Senator Edwards, ostensibly the Democratic candidate who received second place in terms of delegates, as his running mate. Kerry was recognized as a liberal Senator - he openly supported gay rights and same sex civil unions, was pro-choice and supported embryonic stem cell research, and opposed drilling in Alaska for oil. The Bush campaign targeted Kerry as a "flip-flopper," a term coined by the campaign to indicate that the Senator from Massachusetts changed his position constantly. The flip-flopping label was directed particularly toward Kerry's positions on the war in Iraq. In regard to a bill that passed the United States Senate providing $87 billion in funding to the war, Senator Kerry made the remark that "I actually voted for the eighty-seven billion - before I voted against it." The Bush campaign took advantage of this remark and used it as the epicenter of their flip-flopping campaign against the Senator.

Polling had indicated the election would be very close. This proved relatively true on Election Day. Bush was able to widen his margin of victory in Florida this time around. The results from this election were far more decisive than in 2000. In the popular vote Bush won 51%, while Kerry won 48%. The final electoral vote total was 286 for Bush and 251 for Kerry (with one Minnesota elector casting a ballot for John Edwards for both President and Vice President). Additionally, Republicans strengthened their hold in both houses of Congress, particularly increasing their majority in the Senate to 55-44. The strengthening of the control of the Senate would be important to the Republicans in the following year.

[edit] The Start of a New Term

[edit] Social Security

Created in 1935, Social Security OASDI is a government program that provides most seniors with a steady income based on the real value of their prior earnings, funded by a 6.2% tax on each workers' pay and and on each employers' payrolls. Surpluses are held in Treasury securities in special Trust Funds which are credited with interest. The surplus is projected by government actuaries to peak around 2018 or 2019 and then to decline until the Trust Funds are exhausted in sometime between 2042 and 2052.

In the latter part of his first term and in his 2004 campaign, Bush focused on the issue of Social Security, and how to prevent its bankruptcy. He proposed a plan to have young workers set up stock funds which might turn out to produce better retirement benefits than OASDI but would not solve the system deficits. Many experts expect that the only long-term solution is a tax increase of about 2 percent of payroll, or a government subsidy of the same size.

[edit] Cabinet Replacements

At the start of his second term, Bush's cabinet saw significant changes. Colin Powell departed as Secretary of State, replaced by National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, the first African American female to hold the position. Alberto Gonzales replaced John Ashcroft as attorney general the first Mexican American to hold this post. Tom Ridge, former Governor and Vietnam War hero, also resigned from the post of Secretary of Homeland Security. Michael Chertoff, a Justice Department official, took his place.

[edit] The Double Vacancy on the Supreme Court

In October, 2004, William H. Rehnquist was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. In July, 2005, he informed the press that he would remain on the Court as long as his health permitted.

Despite all expectations, Sandra Day O'Connor ended up being the first member of the Court to retire. Prior to O'Connor's retirement, the Court had consisted of three conservatives, five liberals, while O'Connor was the Court's swing vote. In many cases relating to restrictions on abortion, affirmative action, and detention of unlawful combatants, O'Connor had been the deciding vote. Liberals feared the replacement of O'Connor with a conservative, while conservatives realized that the replacement of O'Connor would leave them only one vote away from a majority on the Court.

[edit] John Roberts

On July 19, President Bush nominated John Roberts, a judge serving on the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, to fill the vacancy created by O'Connor. Liberals were for the most part against the Roberts nomination, claiming that he would be far to the right of O'Connor. Conservatives had mixed reactions, based on quotes he had made concerning Roe v. Wade.

On September 3, 2005, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died of complications from thyroid cancer, creating a double vacancy. On September 6, President Bush withdrew the nomination of Roberts to the office of Associate Justice and instead nominated him to be Chief Justice. The Senate Judiciary Committee began holding hearings for John Roberts on September 12. On September 22, the Committee voted 13-5 to approve the Roberts nomination. On September 29, the Senate confirmed the nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court by a vote of 78-22. Hours later, Associate Justice John Paul Stevens swore him in as the seventeenth Chief Justice of the United States.

[edit] Samuel Alito

Having successfully nominated John Roberts to the Supreme Court, Bush now turned his attention back to filling O'Connor's vacancy. On October 3, 2005, he chose the White House Counsel, Harriet Miers. Miers withdrew her nomination on October 27, 2005, after weeks of criticism. On the moring of October 31, 2005, President Bush announced the nomination of a Circuit Court judge named Samuel Alito.

Conservatives were quick to applaud President Bush for nominating Alito to the Court, and liberals were quick to oppose the new nomination. Conservatives saw in him a competent judge who would develop a truly conservative reputation on the Court and oppose Roe v. Wade. Unlike with the Miers nomination, Bush's conservative base was mostly in support of the Alito nomination.

On January 24, 2006, the nomination of Samuel Alito was approved by the Committee, and the Senate debates began the next day. On January 31, 2006, Samuel Alito was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 58-42. Thereafter, Sandra Day O'Connor officially retired. Samuel Alito was sworn in as the 110th Associate Justice hours later. The next day, he was ceremonially sworn in.

[edit] Souring Public Mood

A confluence of events, beginning at the end of 2005, began to turn public opinion against the Bush Administration and the Republican-controlled congress, and, as many argue, toward the opposition Democrats in the 2006 election year.

[edit] Hurricane Katrina

The summer of 2005 saw a very active hurricane season, with a total of five hurricanes striking the Gulf Coast. Of these, on August 29, Hurricane Katrina, struck New Orleans as a strong, 'category three' hurricane, breached the levees on Lake Pontchartrain, flooding the city, devastated the surrounding coasts of Alabama, Mississippi, and to a lesser extent, the already struck Florida panhandle (it also struck South Florida, but the effects were far less than those seen in the Gulf). The catastrophic flooding and subsequent responses from all levels of the government highlighted many far reaching deficiencies in the government's ability to protect the country in times of disaster.

Mistakes at the state and local levels were made primarily before the storm. The most glaring mistake made by the state of Louisiana was its issuance of evacuation orders, but no provision of transportation for the estimated 120,000 poor, elderly, and sick unable to leave the inner city. After the storm struck, governor Kathleen Blanco's (of Louisiana) alleged refusal to give control of the state's National guard troops to the President caused the rampant looting crisis in the city to be firmly her responsibility. She did not commit herself to fighting the looting in the city until September 2, nearly five days after landfall.

But by far, most criticism was directed towards the federal response and the Bush Administration. The American people, aided by angry criticism from the news media, perceived the response as proof that America was woefully unprepared for another disaster, even after the governmental reforms following 9/11. President Bush did not survey the disaster area until August 31, and was criticized by the media for treating the disaster too casually. President Bush is famously quoted as saying "Brownie, you're doing one heck of a job." This was the same day that Michael Brown, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the man he was referring to, told reporters that he and the federal government were unaware of the horrific conditions in the Louisiana Superdome (the primary shelter for those unable to evacuate), even though the news media had been reporting on them for days.

The result of the storm was a realization by the American people that disaster relief agencies were unprepared for what they were created to do. President Bush's approval dropped to its lowest point during his entire presidency, and he was accused of cronyism for hiring unqualified officials to the Department of Homeland Security. Congressional hearings to investigate the matter were to commence in the coming months.

[edit] Growing Scandal

In addition to complaints of cronyism, a multitude of scandals were brewing in Washington. The CIA Leak scandal ("Plamegate") involved pre-Iraq War intelligence. Joseph C. Wilson, a former diplomat to African countries in previous decades, was recommended by his wife, CIA agent Valerie Plame, to investigate claims that Iraq was buying uranium from Niger. He alleges that he found no connection between the two countries, but President Bush said in his January 2003 State of the Union Address that "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." That summer, Wilson wrote a column in the New York Times that was highly critical of this remark, and told reporters in several anonymous interviews that the Bush administration was misrepresenting intelligence. A few days after Wilson's column was published, the Washington Post published a column in its paper revealing the identity of the undercover Valerie Plame, thus ruining her career as an agent. Wilson claimed that high officials, namely Karl Rove, the President's chief of staff and a top Republican strategist, leaked her identity to the paper for "retribution" for Wilson's dissent.

Eventually, an investigation into the matter was opened up. It is illegal for high officials, elected or not, to leak classified information without going through a declassification process. A special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald of Illinois, was appointed to head the investigation. In 2005, he indicted Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, for perjury and obstruction of justice in the investigation. Later, Libby testified that he was authorized by White House "superiors" to leak classified info regarding prewar intelligence. The investigation remained ongoing, and many speculated that Fitzgerald was aiming to indict a higher official for the actual investigated offense, leaking Plame's identity, rather than lying to investigators.

Meanwhile, investigations regarding lobbying and political corruption in Congress were ongoing. Jack Abramoff, a top Republican lobbyist, pleaded guilty in early 2006 to three felony charges related to his defrauding of his Native American tribe lobbying clients and tax evasion. He consented to enter a plea bargain in which he agreed to testify in related Congressional corruption investigations in return for a lesser sentence.

Late in 2005, the House Republican leader, Tom Delay, was indicted for conspiracy to violate election law, money laundering, and conspiracy to engage in money laundering. Because of the indictments, Republican house rules forced Delay to temporarily step down as majority leader. A judge threw out the election law violations, but upheld the other charges, causing the rest of Delay's caucus to successfully pressure him to permanently step down as majority leader. Eventually, Delay's heavy association with a litany of scandals forced him to resign from the House in order for his party to retain his congressional seat.

[edit] 2006 Midterm Elections

The Democrats won back the House and the Senate. This mid-term election is notable for the fact that no incumbent Democrat vying for a national congressional position was voted from office.

[edit] Falling Dollar

The U.S. economy and its currency as an instrument of world trade has suffered a series of major setbacks in recent months. Some analysts say that the Federal Reserve's September 18th dramatic rate cut to 4.75% from 5.25% may be a case of "too little, too late", or that it was excessive and dooms the dollar.

On September 20, 2007, Saudi officials declined to cut interest rates in lockstep with the US Federal Reserve for the first time in decades. According to Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor for The Daily Telegraph, "it's a signal that the oil-rich Gulf kingdom is preparing to break the dollar currency peg in a move that risks setting off a stampede out of the dollar across the Middle East."

Hans Redeker, the Currency Chief at BNP Paribas, stated that Saudi Arabia's move to not adjust their own interest rates in sync with the Fed's cuts is a very dangerous situation for the US dollar. Redeker points out that "Saudi Arabia has $800bn (£400bn) in their future generation fund, and the entire region has $3,500bn under management. They face an inflationary threat and do not want to import an interest rate policy set for the recessionary conditions in the United States.

American consumers, meanwhile, stood to be hurt. A drooping dollar means that foreign imports should cost more, from Murano glassware to French candles, to the Middle Eastern oil that powers the boats that bring all this stuff to America.

Indeed, the story of currency exchange is a story of winners and losers no matter where you turn. Most of the sellers here were foreign. With rising currencies, they were afraid of becoming losers.

[edit] Links

http://www.whitehouse.gov/results/leadership/bio_268.html
http://www.dassk.com/contents.php?id=459

← Bush Clinton · Iran →

← Bush Clinton · US History · Iran →

[edit] Growing Crisis with Iran (2006-)

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[edit] Operation Merlin

Operation Merlin is an alleged United States covert operation under the Clinton Administration to provide Iran with a flawed design for building a nuclear weapon in order to delay the Iranian nuclear weapons program.

In his book State of War, author and New York Times intelligence correspondent James Risen claims that the CIA chose a defected Russian nuclear scientist to provide deliberately flawed nuclear warhead blueprints to Iranian officials in February 2000. Operation Merlin backfired when the Russian scientist noticed the flaws and pointed them out to the Iranians. Instead, the book alleges, it may have accelerated Iran's nuclear program by providing useful information, once the flaws were identified. Critics' contention Risen's citation of Seymour Hersh as well as anonymous sources make the book's claims somewhat suspicious.

[edit] Modern Crisis

On August 14th 2002, Alireza Jafarzadeh revealed the existence of two nuclear sites (Natanz, Arak) previously unknown to the International Atomic Energy Agency. This had many people worried that Iran might, now or later, get the capability to make a nuclear bomb. Since the revelation, the so-called EU-3 (Germany, France and Britain) have tried to pressure Iran to abandoning uranium enrichment. However, Iran has shown no sign of backing down, and after a few "voluntary suspensions", it began enriching uranium yet again.

Ultimately, the IAEA referred Iran to the UN Security Council, the body that can impose sanctions on Iran, or even authorize military action against the country, if Iran does not comply with its demands. Thus far, the Security Council has only agreed on a presidential statement, the weakest action that the body can take, demanding that Iran halt uranium enrichment. After the 30-days deadline passed without compliance by Iran, talks between Europe, Russia, China and the United States have begun yet again about how to handle the Iranian issue. The chance of getting China and Russia, supporters of Iran, to agree with sanctions was slim, but the Bush administration decided to take a gamble. Breaking with nearly 30 years of policy (not recognizing the Iranian regime), the administration offered bilateral talks with Iran on the nuclear issue, if Iran would halt uranium enrichment. It also offered some Euro-American economic and technological incentives for Iran, and the implicit threat of sanctions, if Iran does not accept the deal. Currently, the Iranians are deciding whether or not to accept the offer. President George W. Bush has said that Iran has weeks, not months to accept or reject the deal.

[edit] Involvement in 9/11

In July of 2004, the 9/11 Commission unearthed evidence that Iran might have offered safe passage to Al-Qaeda members, who were later involved in the September 11th attacks. However, the CIA had found "no direct connection between Iran and the attacks of Sept. 11." Ultimately, the 9/11 Commission found that Iran did allow safe passage for Al-Qaeda members, but that it had no part in, and was probably not aware of the plot to strike New York and Washington.

[edit] Anouncement of Enriched Uranium

Then on April 12, 2006, came the news that Iran had completed the enrichment of uranium and sought to increase the enrichment to create industrial grade uranium. What was next? Weapons grade uranium? Many people in the West feared that the United States was planning military action against Iran, in part because of the resemblance between Bush's diplomatic campaign against Iraq and Iran. Also, the American president's harsh rhetoric against Iran has contributed to that perception. Bush, in a State of the Union message, said that Iraq, Iran and North Korea were part of an "Axis of Evil." In the 2006 State of the Union speech, he had mentioned that he wanted Iran to become democratic and free, because the current theocratic dictatorship does not reflect the wishes of the people of Iran, according to Bush. However whether or not there was to be a war was yet to be seen. Bush has not ruled out an attack against Iran, but he is apparantly trying to downplay it.

[edit] Enriched Uranium Matter

The Matter about possible uranium enrichment in Iran was mentioned after the War in Iraq. Enrichment refers to the percentage of ²³⁸Uranuim to ²³⁵Uranium.

[edit] Defintion

Enriched uranium is a kind of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Natural uranium is 99.284% ²³⁸U isotope, with ²³⁵U only constituting about 0.711% of its weight. However, ²³⁵U is the only isotope existing in nature (in any appreciable amount) that is fissionable by thermal neutrons.

Enriched uranium is a critical component for both civil nuclear power generation and military nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency attempts to monitor and control enriched uranium supplies and processes in its efforts to ensure nuclear power generation safety and curb nuclear weapons proliferation.

During the Manhattan Project enriched uranium was given the codename oralloy, a shortened version of Oak Ridge alloy, after the location of the plants where the uranium was enriched. The term oralloy is still occasionally used to refer to enriched uranium. There are about 2,000 metric tons of highly enriched uranium in the world, produced mostly for nuclear weapons, naval propulsion, and smaller quantities for research reactors.

The 238U remaining after enrichment is known as depleted uranium (DU), and is considerably less radioactive than even natural uranium, though still extremely dense. It is useful for armour- penetrating weapons, and other applications requiring very dense metals, though at the present time, only 5% of it is put to any use; the rest remains in storage at the enrichment facilities.

[edit] International View on Crisis

Russia and China so far are against any use of sanctions to make Iran abandon its enrichment program. Iran has always condemned U.S hegemony over it. Pakistan is afraid of U.S threats; otherwise it is also very close to Iran.

[edit] Arrest of Ramin Jahanbegloo

In May 2006, after he came back from India to Iran, he was arrested by the Iranian government, speculated to have a relation to his recent interview with a Spanish newspaper about Ahmadinejad's comments concerning the Holocaust.

On May 3, Iran judiciary branch officials confirmed that he has been arrested and now he is imprisoned in the Evin Prison. Additionally, an unconfirmed source told the Fars News Agency that he was charged with spying.

On May 4, a friend of his told CBC News that he has been transfered to a hospital.

On May 5, Human Rights Watch expressed concern about Ramin Jahanbegloo being detained without charge and stated that he must immediately be released.

On May 6, The Ottawa Citizen published an article containing concerns voiced by friends of Mr. Jahanbegloo that he was being tortured. These concerns become more urgent Friday, when it became known that Jahanbegloo had been examined twice in the medical clinic at Tehran's notorious Evin prison for political prisoners. Boston University Professor Houchang Chehabi, an Iranian friend of Mr. Jahanbegloo, indicated this was a "bad sign" because it "may mean he's been tortured..."

[edit] Kavoshgar-1

Kavoshgar-1 (Explorer-1) is the name of the first Iranian rocket type that is able to reach space. The first launch was conducted on February 4, 2008, as announced by state-run television (or maybe on February 25, 2007, as it is unknown if the two rockets launched are of the same type). Kavoshgar-1 is not, or not yet, able to carry a satellite, but only instruments to measure the higher atmosphere. The rocket launched on February 4, 2008, was a liquid propellant driven rocket, probably a derivate of the Shahab 3, that reached an orbit in space at an altitude of 200-250 km and successful returned science data according to the Iranian News Agency.

On February 19, 2008, Iran offered new information about the rocket and announced that Kavoshgar-1 is a two staged rocket. The first stage separated after 100 seconds and returned to earth with the help of a parachute. The second stage continued its ascend to the altitude of 200 kilometres. However it was not intended to reach orbital velocity.

[edit] UN Resolution

The U.N. Security Council imposed another round of sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment, but Iran defiantly vowed Monday to continue its nuclear program despite the nearly unanimous censuring vote.

The resolution authorized a third set of sanctions targeting individuals, companies and equipment that could be used in Iran's nuclear program. It was adopted on a vote of 14-0, with Indonesia abstaining.

Two previous sanctions resolution were adopted unanimously, but diplomats said this vote still sent a strong message to the Tehran government that there is global concern that Iran is trying to produce nuclear weapons. Iran insists the program is aimed only at generating power.

The council imposed limited sanctions in December 2006 and has been ratcheting them up in hopes of pressuring Iran to suspend enrichment and start negotiations on its nuclear program. Iran has repeatedly defied the demand and has stepped up enrichment activities.

Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Khazee said just before Monday's vote that his government would not comply with what he called "unlawful action" against Iran's "peaceful nuclear program." He said the Security Council was being "downgraded to a mere tool of the national foreign policy of just a few countries."

"Iran cannot and will not accept a requirement which is legally defective and politically coercive," Khazee said. "History tells us that no amount of pressure, intimidation and threat will be able to coerce our nation to give up its basic and legal rights."

[edit] Iran Expelled

Iran has been kicked out of an international defense show in Malaysia for exhibiting missile equipment in violation of U.N. rules, an official said Thursday.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said Iranian companies were ordered out of the Defense Services Asia show Tuesday because their exhibition was deemed "offensive."

"Unfortunately, when we came around to inspecting their stand, they displayed equipment that clearly contravened the U.N. resolution — equipment such as missiles and missile systems and others," Najib told reporters.

"The moment they crossed the line, we had no option but to terminate them," Najib added.

Najib said the exhibit was in defiance of U.N. resolutions that ban Iranian arms exports and forbid countries from providing Iran with technical and financial assistance that could contribute to its alleged nuclear weapons program.

Iran is under three sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment and meet other council demands designed to ease fears that its civilian nuclear program is a cover for attempts to make atomic weapons.

Tehran has denied ever trying to make nuclear arms.

[edit] Complaint

Iran has lodged a formal protest at the United Nations about comments by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton that the United States would “totally obliterate” Iran if it attacked Israel with nuclear weapons, the state-run IRNA news agency reported Thursday.

Iran’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Mehdi Danesh-Yazdi, sent a letter of protest on Wednesday to the United Nations secretary general and the United Nations Security Council denouncing the remarks, according to IRNA.

Mrs. Clinton made the comments in an interview on ABC last week. “I want the Iranians to know that if I’m the president, we will attack Iran,” she said when she was asked what she would do if Iran attacked Israel with nuclear weapons. “In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them,” she added.

Mr. Danesh-Yazdi wrote in the letter that Mrs. Clinton’s comments were “provocative, unwarranted and irresponsible” and “a flagrant violation” of the United Nations charter, IRNA reported.

“I wish to reiterate my government’s position that the Islamic Republic of Iran has no intention to attack any other nation,” the letter said.

Nonetheless “Iran would not hesitate to act in self-defense to respond to any attack against the Iranian nation and to take appropriate defensive measures to protect itself,” the letter added.

[edit] Secretary Rice

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice raised fresh doubts Thursday about the nature of Iran's nuclear program, saying if the clerical state really wanted only an avenue to peaceful atomic energy it could quickly have it.

Instead, Iran is stonewalling on an attractive deal to trade away only the part of the program that could result in a nuclear weapon, Rice said ahead of a gathering of the U.N. nations that have presented a carrot-or-stick package to Iran.

"I continue to suspect this is not at all about a civil nuclear program," Rice told reporters traveling with her. Iran's insistence that it be able to enrich uranium on its terms seems at cross-purposes with that goal, Rice said.

"One has to wonder what is going on here."

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in a report last year that Iran shelved an active weapons-development program years ago, a finding that undercut the Bush administration's claim that Iran was using a public energy development program to hide a secret drive for a bomb. An unclassified summary of the report, known as a National Intelligence Estimate, said Iran could resume a weapons program and might evade detection if it did. Rice did not say whether she thought that had happened and did not directly accuse Iran of lying.

[edit] Problem left to Successor

The United States and the European Union told Iran on Tuesday they were ready to impose more sanctions over its nuclear enrichment programme.

But President George W. Bush acknowledged the limits of U.S. influence over Tehran and, in the twilight of his presidency, appeared resigned to leaving the standoff to his successor.

"I leave behind a multilateral framework to work on this issue," Bush said after a U.S.-EU summit at a Slovenian castle.

"A group of countries can send a clear message to the Iranians, and that is: We're going to continue to isolate you ... we'll find new sanctions if need be, if you continue to deny the just demands of the free world, which is to give up your enrichment programme," he said.

He stopped short of repeating the U.S. position that all options, including military action, remain open. "Now is the time for there to be strong diplomacy," Bush said.

[edit] Iranian Responce to Election 2008

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran told reporters during a trip to New Delhi, the Indian capital, that he believed neither Mrs. Clinton nor Barack Obama , the other Democratic presidential candidate, had a chance of winning the presidential election.

“Do you think a black candidate would be allowed to be president in the U.S.?” he asked, the semiofficial Mehr News Agency reported. “We don’t think Mr. Obama will be allowed to become the U.S. president,” he said.

Referring to Mrs. Clinton, he said: “Presidency of a woman in a country that boasts its gunmanship is unlikely.”

[edit] According to the Iranian

Also in the Iranian, an Iranian newsletter, it was said, "Her ideology has contributed to the nation’s moral bankruptcy, the loss of over one million lives, and the depletion of America’s treasury. These neoliberals who have driven us into a quagmire, elaborated it would serve America’s interest to promote the Democratic peace theory. Scholars, university professors, and neoliberal jurists presented the concept that sovereignty, as it stood in international law did not provide immunity from attack to states engaging in systematic human rights abuses or amassing weapons of mass destruction. These would be considered ‘pariah’ states to be attacked by democratic coalitions with a warrant to liberalize them.3 Candidate Hillary comes from this stock. It seems that the only thing which differentiates her from McCain is the conduct of the war in Iraq, not the immoral and illegal war itself."

[edit] Gordon Brown on Iran and Israel

Gordon Brown threatened Iran with tougher sanctions as he became the first British prime minister to address the Israeli parliament.

At the conclusion of his first trip to Jerusalem as Premier, Mr Brown vowed that Britain would stand by Israel's side as it faced threats to its existence.

Condemning as "abhorrent" Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call for Israel to be wiped from the map, he said he would not stand by as Tehran sought to acquire nuclear weapons.

The Prime Minister also urged Israel to seize the opportunity of lasting peace with the Palestinians. He was heckled at one point as he raised again the need for Israelis to withdraw from settlements on Palestinian land - an issue over which he clashed with his opposite number, Ehud Olmert, on Sunday.

Mr Brown, who was greeted at the Knesset with a red carpet and guard of honour, pleased his audience of MPs and visitors with a Hebrew phrase soon into his speech, "Shalom aleichem", meaning peace be unto you.

He went on to describe his long-standing admiration for Israel, stemming from his churchman father's fascination with, and frequent visits, to the country. He said his premiership would ensure that Britain remained Israel's "true friend".

[edit] Syria and Iran Blame U.S. in Blast on Iraq Border

Iran joined Syria on Monday in condemning what they described as an attack by four United States helicopters on the Syrian side of the border with Iraq that they said killed eight people.

[edit] Reach of War

The United States confirmed that a special operations mission took place in the area on Sunday but a senior military official gave no more details for now.

The incident comes at a time when the United States is trying to negotiate a strategic agreement with Iraq that would allow American troops to remain in the country and carry out military operations. The pact faces strenuous opposition from neighboring countries, especially Syria and Iran, because of concerns that the United States might use Iraqi territory to carry out attacks on them.

Syria’s state-run news channel reported that United States helicopters on Sunday attacked an area within Syria near the town of Abu Kamal. The official news agency, SANA, cited an anonymous official as saying four American helicopters had “launched aggression on a civilian building under construction,” killing eight people, giving the details of those it said were killed, and that the Syrian deputy foreign minister had summoned the chargé d’affaires from the American and Iraqi Embassies in protest.

Syria also said that United States soldiers on the ground had stormed a building in the area, Reuters reported.

In Tehran, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hassan Qashqavi, condemned the attack, saying a violation of the territorial integrity of any sovereign state was unacceptable.

“Iran condemns in strongest terms any form of aggression or violation of the states’ territorial integrity which leads to the death of innocent civilians,” he told reporters, according to the official news agency IRNA.

Syria’s state-run media also intensified its criticism of the United States on Monday, with the government newspaper Tishrin accusing American forces of committing “a war crime,” Agence France-Presse said.

[edit] Iran asks India to be more active in gas pipeline plan

Iran's oil minister called on India to play a more active role in development of a multi-billion dollar gas pipeline from Iran to Pakistan and India, semi-official Mehr newsagency reported. "In the light of the many wasted opportunities in the pipeline project because of stalling by India, we asked this country to be more active," Gholam Hossein Nozari said after meeting Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee. The 7.5 billion dollar project for the 2,600 kilometre (1,600 miles) Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline was launched in 1994 but has been held up by disagreements between India and Pakistan. Iran and Pakistan agreed last month to go ahead with the pipeline on a bilateral basis. Mukherjee, who was in Tehran for an official visit, said India "has no intention of quitting the project," Mehr reported. He also raised the possibility of a three-way meeting between Iran, Pakistan and India, though no date has yet been set.

New Delhi has been under pressure from the United States not to do business with Iran, viewed in Washington as a state sponsor of terrorism that is bent on acquiring nuclear weapons.

Iran holds the world's second largest gas reserves after Russia but remains a small-scale exporter because of heavy domestic consumption and the lack of exploitation of some of its gas fields.

← W Bush · 2008 Vote →

← W Bush · US History · 2008 Vote →

[edit] The Coming Election

Reminder to contributors: Wikibooks is not Wikinews; do not add the latest scandal to this page. This is a history textbook, not a collection of news articles. Please keep the current events coverage limited, and instead contribute content from a historical perspective. For details about what is acceptable at Wikibooks, please see our inclusion policy.

	The people can have anything they want. The trouble is, they do not want anything. At least they vote that way on election day.
—Eugene V. Debs

[edit] No Incumbent

As a result of the 22nd Amendment to the constitution, George W. Bush is ineligible to run for a third term as President. Also, Vice-President Dick Cheney has announced that he has no intention of seeking the presidency in 2008. Thus, for the first time since 1928, there is no one who is incumbent from either major party running in the presidential election. The public campaign began quite early, with a wide field of candidates jockeying for position for the primaries during 2007, while the Democratic and Republican parties pressured various states to move up the dates of their primary elections, due to the fact of the very early Iowa primary on January 3, 2008.

[edit] Primary Season

[edit] Republican Primary

Several candidates entered the field in hopes of gaining the Republican Party's nomination for President. Early favorites included New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, and former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson. Other candidates, including former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas, Arizona Senator John McCain, and U.S. Representative Duncan Hunter of California, received less media attention during the early stages of the race.

The symbolic Iowa caucus resulted in a victory for Governor Huckabee, polling 30% and winning in most Iowa counties. Romney polled a close second, while Senators McCain and Thompson tied for a distant third. In the New Hampshire primary five days later, McCain pulled an upset over Giuliani and Romney, who had until just before the election been favored to poll higher in the contest. Giuliani found that many of his would-be supporters had defected to the McCain camp, forcing him into a disappointing fourth place in New Hampshire. After losing the Florida primary (on which he staked his campaign) to McCain, Giuliani dropped out of the race and endorsed McCain.

As the contenders withdrew their candidacies one by one, the race came down between an increasingly-popular John McCain, Mitt Romney, and a persistent Mike Huckabee. Ron Paul remained in the race until June, but ceased to receive a comparable amount of media attention. Senator McCain eventually edged out all competition, securing enough delegates for the nomination on March 4.

[edit] John McCain

John Sidney McCain III (born August 29, 1936) is the senior United States Senator from Arizona, and a candidate for the Republican Party nomination in the 2008 presidential election. Both McCain's grandfather and his father were Admirals in the United States Navy. McCain graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1958, becoming a naval aviator, flying attack aircraft from carriers during the Vietnam War. On his twenty-third bombing mission over North Vietnam later in 1967, he was shot down and badly injured. He then endured five and a half years as a prisoner of war, including periods of torture, before he was released following the Paris Peace Accords in 1973.

Retiring from the Navy in 1981 and moving to Arizona, McCain entered politics. In 1982 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's 1st congressional district. After serving two terms, he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986. He was re-elected in 1992, 1998, and 2004. While generally adhering to American conservatism, McCain established a reputation as a political maverick for his willingness to defy Republican orthodoxy on several issues. Surviving the Keating Five scandal of the 1980s, he made campaign finance reform one of his signature concerns, which eventually led to the passing of the McCain-Feingold Act in 2002.

[edit] Sarah Palin

Sarah Louise Heath Palin is the current Governor of Alaska and the 2008 Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States. She became the first female Vice Presidential candidate representing the Republican Party and the second female Vice Presidential candidate representing a major political party.

Palin was born in Idaho and raised in Alaska. In 1984, she was the runner-up in the Miss Alaska pageant, receiving a scholarship that allowed her to attend the University of Idaho, where she received a degree in journalism. After working as a sports reporter at an Anchorage television station, Palin served two terms on the Wasilla, Alaska, City Council from 1992 to 1996, was elected mayor of Wasilla (population 5,470 in 2000) in 1996, and ran unsuccessfully for Lieutenant Governor in 2002.

Palin was elected Governor of Alaska in 2006 on the theme of governmental reform, defeating incumbent governor Frank Murkowski in the Republican primary and former Democratic Alaskan governor Tony Knowles in the general election. She gained attention for publicizing ethical violations by state Republican Party leaders.

[edit] "Not My Princess"

On the 28th of October, 2008, McCain proclaimed, "There are many who claim that I cannot lead, and that Sarah Palin is my princess. Well, friends, today I have come to tell you that I can lead, and that Sarah Palin is not my princess!"

[edit] Democratic Primary

With an unpopular Republican in the White House, many Democrats were eager to pursue the presidency. Early front-runners included New York Senator Hillary Clinton, former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, and Illinois Senator Barack Obama. Others such as Delaware Senator Joe Biden, Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd, U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel, and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson also pursued the nomination.

The Democratic Primary featured much more controversy and complexity than that of the Republicans. The Democratic Convention features unelected "superdelegates," who are party officials who may cast their vote for the candidate of their choice. In the early stages of the race, Senator Clinton held an overwhelming lead among superdelegates, while Senator Obama led the popular vote. This disparity, and the possibility that unelected officials could decide the outcome of the nomination was a point of contention among Democrats.

Additionally, the Democratic National Committee penalized the states of Michigan and Florida for changing their primary dates to be ahead of schedule. The DNC decided that the delegates from these states would not be seated at the Convention, effectively nullifying the votes of these states. Senator Clinton (who coincidentally won both states' vote) was a constant proponent of reversing this decision and allowing the delegates to be seated. Eventually a compromise was reached, and half of each states' delegates were allowed to vote.

As the primary season wore on, the difference between the delegate count of Senators Obama and Clinton changed little. As other candidates dropped out and endorsed one of the two, it became clear that this primary would be a historic one- whether it be the first nomination of an African-American or a woman by a major party for the office of President of the United States. In the end, Senator Obama garnered enough delegates to secure the historic nomination, and he chose Senator Biden to be his running mate.

[edit] Joe Biden

Joe Biden has represented the state of Delaware in the United States Senate since 1972, when he was elected at the age of twenty-nine. Senator Biden is recognized as a leader in foreign policy, as well as one of the nation's most influential voices on terrorism, drug policy, and crime. Nationally, Senator Biden has earned a reputation for working on a bipartisan basis with Republican colleagues and bringing real results that matter to Americans.

Throughout Senator Biden's career in public service, the people of Delaware have remained his first priority. From preserving White Clay Creek and miles of Delaware's coastline, to putting hundreds more cops on the state's streets, to fighting to cover healthcare costs for all of Delaware's children, Senator Biden is working to improve the lives of Delawareans.

[edit] Election Controversy

The issues of caging lists and other techniques of voter suppression which gave rise to many 2004 United States election voting controversies have not been addressed by further legislation or a regulatory crackdown, and are predicted by Greg Palast (a reporter who has investigated these controversies) to recur to the extent that they could swing the result.

Voter list purges using unlawful criteria threaten election integrity in at least six swing states: Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Nevada and North Carolina.

On October 5, 2008 the Republican Lt. Governor of Montana, John Bohlinger, accused the Montana Republican Party of vote caging to purge 6,000 voters from three counties which trend Democratic. These purges included decorated war veterans and active duty soldiers.

An allegation that the Republican Party in Michigan plans to challenge the eligibility of voters based on lists of foreclosed homes has led to a lawsuit from the Obama campaign and a letter from the House Judiciary Committee to the Department of Justice calling for an investigation.

Libertarian candidate Bob Barr filed a lawsuit in Texas petitioning to have Obama and McCain removed from the ballot in that state. The suit alleged that both the Republicans and Democrats missed the deadline to file, and were present on the ballot contrary to Texas election law. The Texas Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit without giving an explanation.

[edit] Underage Voters

One could see from the newscasts that some of the voters going to the polls were clearly underage. Nickeloden kids poll that finished with Obama 51% and McCain 49% with something like 2.2 million presumably child voters. So far 1,492 fraudulent voter registrations have been identified, some from dead and others for underage voters who were not aware they had been registered by ACORN. The Wall Street Journal noted:“In Ohio in 2004, a worker for one affiliate was given crack cocaine in exchange for fraudulent registrations that included underage voters, dead voters and pillars of the community named Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy and Jive Turkey. During a congressional hearing in Ohio in the aftermath of the 2004 election, officials from several counties in the state explained ACORN’s practice of dumping thousands of registration forms in their lap on the submission deadline, even though the forms had been collected months earlier.”

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: United States presidential election, 2008

[edit] Obama wins

On November 4, with 364 Electoral votes, Obama won the White House.

Barack Obama did more than thump John McCain in the Electoral College tally; he also handily won the popular vote and redrew the great divide between red states and blue states.

Riding a Democratic tide that bolstered the party's presence in both houses of Congress, Obama snared about 63 million votes to McCain's 55.8 million, according to early totals.

According to exit polls, Obama crushed McCain among women voters (56 percent to 43 percent); voters under 30 (66 percent to 32 percent); African-American voters (95 percent to 4 percent); Latino voters (66 percent to 32 percent); first-time voters (68 percent to 31 percent); and voters making less than $100,000 a year (55 percent to 43 percent).

"I think this is the passing of an old order," CNN senior political analyst David Gergen said as the results rolled in Tuesday night and the outcome became increasingly evident.

"I think what we see ... is a new coalition, a new order emerging. It isn't quite there, but with Barack Obama, for the first time, it's won. It is the Latino vote we just heard about. It is the bigger black vote that came out. Very importantly, it's the youth vote, the 18-to-29-year-old," said the Harvard University professor and former presidential adviser.

← Iran · Obama →

← Iran · US History · Obama →

---

[edit] Appendices

[edit] Appendix Alpha: Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States

[edit] Presidents of the United States

Although Washington was a member of the Whig Party before the Revolution, after the war he was not a member of any party, though he tended to lean toward Federalist postitions. Since the Formation of the Democratic-Republican party and the Federalist Party, there has always been at least one viable political party. Today the American nation has a two party System. Many have tried to make the nation into a three party system, such as Ralph Nader, and Theodore Roosevelt, but the attempts have all failed.

	President	Years in Office	Political Party	Notes
1	George Washington	1789 - 1797	Unaffiliated	British officer in the French and Indian War, led American forces in Revolution against the British. He was a distant relative of Robert E. Lee. The only President to have been elected without a political party. He did not intend to become president. He did not want to be called king. Although claimed by many to be a Mason, these claims are most likely false.
2	John Adams	1797 - 1801	Federalist
3	Thomas Jefferson	1801 - 1809	Democratic-Republican
4	James Madison	1809 - 1817	Democratic-Republican
5	James Monroe	1817 - 1825	Democratic-Republican
6	John Quincy Adams	1825 - 1829	Democratic-Republican	Son of former President John Adams
7	Andrew Jackson	1829 - 1837	Democrat
8	Martin Van Buren	1837 - 1841	Democrat
9	William Henry Harrison	1841	Whig	Died in Office
10	John Tyler	1841 - 1845	Democrat	Succeeded President Harrison
11	James Knox Polk	1845 - 1849	Democrat
12	Zachary Taylor	1849 - 1850	Whig	Died in Office
13	Millard Fillmore	1850 - 1853	Whig	Succeeded President Taylor
14	Franklin Pierce	1853 - 1857	Democrat
15	James Buchanan	1857 - 1861	Democrat
16	Abraham Lincoln	1861 - 1865	Republican	Assassinated
17	Andrew Johnson	1865 - 1869	Democrat	Succeeded President Lincoln, Impeached by House, Acquitted by one vote in the Senate
18	Hyram Ulysses Grant	1869 - 1877	Republican
19	Rutherford Birchard Hayes	1877 - 1881	Republican
20	James Abram Garfield	1881	Republican	Assassinated
21	Chester Alan Arthur	1881 - 1885	Republican	Succeeded President Garfield
22	(Stephen) Grover Cleveland	1885 - 1889	Democrat	Also served as the 24th President
23	Benjamin Harrison	1889 - 1893	Republican	Grand-son of former President William Henry Harrison
24	(Stephen) Grover Cleveland	1893 - 1897	Democrat	Also served as the 22nd President
25	William McKinley	1897 - 1901	Republican	Assassinated
26	Theodore Roosevelt	1901 - 1909	Republican	Succeeded President McKinley. Roosevelt was Hero of battle of San Juan hill , Esperanto speaker, on the staff of National Geographic while President
27	William Howard Taft	1909 - 1913	Republican
28	(Thomas) Woodrow Wilson	1913 - 1921	Democrat
29	Warren Gamaliel Harding	1921 - 1923	Republican	Died in Office
30	(John) Calvin Coolidge, Jr.	1923 - 1929	Republican	Succeeded President Harding
31	Herbert Clark Hoover	1929 - 1933	Republican
32	Franklin Delano Roosevelt	1933 - 1945	Democrat	Died in Office
33	Harry S Truman	1945 - 1953	Democrat	Succeded President Roosevelt
34	Dwight David Eisenhower	1953 - 1961	Republican
35	John Fitzgerald Kennedy	1961 - 1963	Democrat	Assassinated
36	Lyndon Baines Johnson	1963 - 1969	Democrat	Succeeded President Kennedy
37	Richard Milhous Nixon	1969 - 1974	Republican	Resigned over Watergate, author of No More Vietnams and The Real War
38	Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr.	1974 - 1977	Republican	Succeeded President Nixon
39	James Earl Carter, Jr.	1977 - 1981	Democrat
40	Ronald Wilson Reagan	1981 - 1989	Republican
41	George Herbert Walker Bush	1989 - 1993	Republican
42	William Jefferson Clinton	1993 - 2001	Democrat	Impeached by House, Acquitted by Senate
43	George Walker Bush	2001 - 2009	Republican	Son of former President George Herbert Walker Bush
44	Barack Obama	2009-	Democrat	First Non-Anglo President

[edit] Vice Presidents of the United States

	Vice President	Years in Office	Political Party	Notes
1	John Adams	1789 - 1797	Federalist	Second President
2	Thomas Jefferson	1797 - 1801	Democratic-Republican	Founder of the Democratic-Republican Party
3	Aaron Burr	1801 - 1805	Democratic-Republican	Shot Alexander Hamiltion in the famous duel. Bribed electors to vote for him, and ended up tieing with Jefferson. Result 12th Amendment.
4	George Clinton	1805 - 1812	Democratic-Republican	Died in Office.
5	Elbridge Gerry	1813 - 1814	Democratic-Republican	Died in Office.
6	Daniel D. Tompkins	1817 - 1825	Democratic-Republican	an entrepreneur, jurist, Congressman, Governor of New York, and the sixth Vice President of the United States
7	John Caldwell Calhoun	1825 - 1832	Democratic-Republican	Resigned
8	Martin Van Buren	1833 - 1837	Democrat
9	Richard Mentor Johnson	1837 - 1841	Democrat
10	John Tyler	1841	Whig	Succeded President Harrison
11	George Mifflin Dallas	1845 - 1849	Democrat
12	Millard Fillmore	1849 - 1850	Whig	Succeeded President Taylor
13	William Rufus DeVane King	1853	Democrat	Died in Office, believed that it was "God's will" for the US to conquer Canada and Mexico.
14	John Cabell Breckinridge	1857 - 1861	Democrat
15	Hannibal Hamlin	1861 - 1865	Republican
16	Andrew Johnson	1865	Democrat	Succeded President Lincoln
17	Schuyler Colfax	1869 - 1873	Republican	President Ulysses S. Grant and Vice President Colfax, both 46 at time of entering offices, were the youngest Presidential team until election of Bill Clinton and Al Gore in 1992.
18	Henry Wilson	1873 - 1875	Republican	Died in Office
19	William Almon Wheeler	1877 - 1881	Republican
20	Chester Alan Arthur	1881	Republican	Succeded President Garfield
21	Thomas Andrews Hendricks	1885	Democrat	Died in Office
22	Levi Parsons Morton	1889 - 1893	Republican
23	Adlai Ewing Stevenson	1893 - 1897	Democrat
24	Garret Augustus Hobart	1897 - 1899	Republican	Died in Office
25	Theodore Roosevelt	1901	Republican	Succeded President McKinley
26	Charles Warren Fairbanks	1905 - 1909	Republican
27	James Schoolcraft Sherman	1909 - 1912	Republican	Died in Office
28	Thomas Riley Marshall	1913 - 1921	Democrat
29	John Calvin Coolidge, Jr.	1921 - 1923	Republican	Succeded President Harding
30	Charles Gates Dawes	1925 - 1929	Republican
31	Charles Curtis	1929 - 1933	Republican
32	John Nance Garner	1933 - 1941	Democrat
33	Henry Agard Wallace	1941 - 1945	Democrat
34	Harry S Truman	1945	Democrat	Succeded President Roosevelt
35	Alben William Barkley	1949 - 1953	Democrat
36	Richard Milhous Nixon	1953 - 1961	Republican
37	Lyndon Baines Johnson	1961 - 1963	Democrat	Succeded President Kennedy
38	Hubert Horatio Humphrey	1965 - 1969	Democrat
39	Spiro Theodore Agnew	1969 - 1973	Republican	Resigned
40	Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr.	1973 - 1974	Republican	Succeded President Nixon
41	Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller	1974 - 1977	Republican
42	Walter Frederick Mondale	1977 - 1981	Democrat
43	George Herbert Walker Bush	1981 - 1989	Republican
44	James Danforth Quayle III	1989 - 1993	Republican
45	Albert Arnold Gore, Jr.	1993 - 2001	Democrat	Nobel Prize winner for film "An Inconvenient Truth", ran unsuccessfully against Bush in 2000
46	Richard Bruce Cheney	2001 - 2009	Republican
47	Joseph Biden	2009 -	Democrat	Senator for the state of Delaware for 36 years

← Hope · Supreme Court Cases →

← Hope · US History · Supreme Court Cases →

[edit] Appendix Beta: Chief Justices of the United States Supreme Court

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← Supreme Court Cases · Third Parties →

← Supreme Court Cases · US History · Third Parties →

[edit] Appendix Gamma: Supreme Court Decisions

The reader may find this section a bit different than the other sections of this book.

[edit] Introducing the Constitutional Structure of the United States

The United States is a country ruled by an association representative of, elected by, and accountable to, the people of the United States (as opposed to being ruled by a king or a dictator--in essence, a country ruled by those possessing superior capability for violence compared to anyone else); this makes the United States a "democracy", a country ruled by the people.

The association of the people of the United States - the government of the United States - is ruled by a set of previously declared principles applied in a uniform, consistent, and fair fashion to every situation the government of the United States finds itself in; these principles, and their application, are called "law"; this makes the United States a country that is ruled by law, or has the "rule of law".

But who rules the law? The law rules the law; the system of laws of the United States has certain laws that are more important than others. The highest law of the United States, the "supreme law of the land", is called the "Constitution of the United States of America"; it is a set of laws that govern laws and govern the government. It specifies what kind of laws can be made, and what the government can do. It prohibits certain types of laws from being made, and specifically forbids the government from doing certain things. And it places fundamental limits on the power of government, by specifying that every power that is not specifically granted (or specifically implied) to the government in the Constitution, the government does not possess, may not exercise, and cannot claim to have. This makes the United States a country that has a "limited government"--there are things that the government of the United States cannot do, like throw people in jail for no reason, name one religion as the only religion allowed, send the police to search homes without evidence of crimes being committed, or punish people because they say things that other people disagree with. The reader should understand that the government of the United States does not do these things not because it chooses not to do them--but because it has no power to do them.

But who rules the Constitution? The individual people of the United States do. They can change it, if it becomes necessary. It has been changed 27 times in the past two-hundred-and-twenty or so years. But the process to do so is slow, and arduous, and most people hesitate to change what has worked so well for so long, especially for light causes.

[edit] The Constitution In Practice

A word about the Constitution: it was written before the Internet, the computer, the television, nuclear power, radio, the airplane, the automobile, electricity and electric lighting, the train, or in-home running water--before 37 of the 50 current states were part of the United States--before there were any other democracies on the face of the Earth--before there were large cities in our country--and before there were industries, or corporations, or any of the other modern conveniences of life. It was written by candlelight, not by electric light, it was delivered to the 13 states by riders on horseback, not by posting it on the Web. But it was not written before there was what many Americans believe to be God, or before there was a notion that all people are equal, and have the right to be free. Many view the Constitution as a set of truths that apply themselves in similar ways in changing times.

Therefore, the Constitution can sometimes be unclear, and be subject to changing situations. In those situations, there are people who interpret the Constitution and the law of the United States; they are called judges; and the supreme interpreters of the Constitution are called Justices; there are nine of them, and together they form the Supreme Court of the United States. They decide what the Constitution means to us when a situation presents itself where the Constitution is unclear. These decisions are made when one person argues that what another person is doing (or not doing) is forbidden by the Constitution. That is why they have names like "Marbury v. Madison"; Marbury, a person, complained against Madison, a person.

When the Justices of the Supreme Court make decisions in the present, they look to their past decisions (what they call "precedents") for guidance. This is an important part of the law, because the law must be consistent. Sometimes, however, they find their past decisions to be wrong--or inapplicable--and revise them. Sometimes they are upheld, or expanded upon. In any event, there are times when Supreme Court decisions play a very, very major role in the history of the United States.

In the following sections, we name the most major decisions of the Supreme Court and discuss why they occurred, what was decided, and why the decision was important. These decisions--these interpretations of the Constitution by the Supreme Court of the United States--form an important part of the history of the United States, as the United States is a nation ruled by law.

[edit] First Constitutional Era (1787-1850)

The Union, its nature, judicial supremacy, rule of law, states' rights, federal powers and the limits thereof, allotment and allocation of powers between the several branches, the several states, and the people thereof, the question of slavery.

[edit] Marbury v. Madison 5 U.S. 137 (1803)

The day before his last in office, President John Adams appointed 42 judges to fill seats in many newly-created courts. On of these was William Marbury. The Senate confirmed the judges, and Secretary of State John Marshall signed their commissions, the paper each requires to assume his appointment. But the day Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated, he ordered his appointed Secretary of State, James Madison, not to deliver the commissions to many of the confirmed judges, Marbury included. Marbury sued to force Madison to give up the commissions. The suit was filed directly in the Supreme Court, since Marbury argued that the Judiciary Act 1789 gave the Supreme Court jurisdiction over writs of mandamus, court orders that force public officials to do things.

John Marshall, who incidentally was appointed to the position of Chief Justice on Adams' last day, wrote in the court's unanimous decision that the Court could not rule in Marbury's case because it did not have the jurisdiction to do so. Marbury had argued that Article III of the Constitution only set basic rules concerning the Supreme Court's powers, and that they could be expanded by Congress any time it wanted. Marshall disagreed, pointing to the simple logic: what was the point of having a Constitution if Congress could write laws that changed courts' jurisdictions, thus ignoring the rules explicitly stated in Article III? If laws could be written that circumvented Article III in the way that Marbury argued that the Judiciary Act should, could laws be written that allowed the courts to ignore the Constitution altogether?

In determining that the Judiciary Act was in violation of the Constitution by adding on to Article III, Marshall affirmed the all-important prinicpal of judicial review. Judicial review is the judicial branch's, and specifically the Supreme Court's, power to declare laws in conflict with the Constitution and overturn them.

[edit] Fletcher v. Peck, 6 Cranch 87 (1810)

Fletcher v. Peck, 10 U.S. 87 (1810), was a landmark United States Supreme Court decision. It was the first case in which the Supreme Court ruled a state law unconstitutional. In the course of the westward push for the control of Indian lands, the state of Georgia took from the Indians a 35,000,000-acre (140,000 km2) region in the Yazoo River area known as the Yazoo Lands. This land later became the states of Alabama and Mississippi. In 1795, the Georgia legislature divided the area into four tracts. The state then sold the tracts to four separate land development companies for a modest total price of $500,000, i.e. about 1.4 cents per acre, a good deal even at 1790s prices. The Georgia legislature overwhelmingly approved this land grant, known as the Yazoo Land Act of 1795.

It was revealed that the Yazoo Land Act sale to private speculators had been approved in return for bribes. Voters rejected most of the incumbents in the next election, and the next legislature, reacting to the public outcry, repealed the law and voided transactions made under it.

John Peck had purchased land that had previously been sold under the 1795 act. Peck sold this land to Robert Fletcher and in 1803, Fletcher brought suit against Peck, claiming that he did not have clear title to the land when he sold it. The case reached the Supreme Court, which in a unanimous decision ruled that the state legislature's repeal of the law was unconstitutional. The opinion, written by John Marshall, argued that the sale was a binding contract, which according to Article I, Section 10, Clause I (the Contract Clause) of the Constitution cannot be invalidated, even if illegally secured. Today the ruling further protects property rights against popular pressures, and is the earliest case of the Court asserting its right to invalidate state laws conflicting with the Constitution.

[edit] Martin v. Hunter's Lessee, 14 U.S 304 (1816)

During the Revolutionary War, Virginia passed legislation allowing it to take Loyalists' property. The United States signed the Treaty of Paris in 1783 with Britian; it included a clause that stated that the federal government would tell the states to give back the Loyalists' property. A Loyalist named Denny Martin sued in Virginia's state court system on the grounds that Loyalists were to get their properties back in accordance with the treaty.

The case eventually reached the Virginia Supreme Court, which upheld the confiscation on the grounds that the court's interpretation of the treaty was that it did not cover the case. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which decided that the treaty did apply to the case and remanded it back to the Virginia Supreme Court. The court decided that the Supreme Court did not have jurisdiction over cases originating in state courts, and the decision was appealed back to the Supreme Court. Once again, the Supreme Court overturned the Virginia Supreme Court's ruling, arguing that the case involved federal law. The Court's decision was very important because it affirmed that it had supreme power over all courts in regards to federal law and the Constitution.

[edit] McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. 316 (1819)

This case was a very important test of States' Rights against the power of the federal government. Many states continued to oppose the Bank of the United States after it was reinstated in 1816, mostly because it called for its loans to be owed by the states. In retaliation to this policy, Maryland passed a tax on the bank, which the bank refused to pay. Maryland soon filed suit against James McCulloch, the head of the Baltimore branch of the bank.

The Court's unanimous opinion established two extremely important principles. The first was that, yes, Congress could create the Bank under the doctrine of implied powers. The Constitution specifically lists that Congress has the power to borrow money and regulating commerce (among others), and it can be implied that Congress had the power to create the Bank. The second point that the Court made was that Maryland's tax was unconstitutional because it was in conflict with the Supremacy Clause, which says that states can never willingly impede the federal government. The court reasoned that taxing, if other states decided to adopt Maryland's policy, had the potential to destroy the bank, and thus impede the federal government's efforts to regulate the economy.

[edit] Dartmouth College v. Woodward, 4. Wheat. 518 (1819)

Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919), was a United States Supreme Court decision concerning the question of whether the defendant possessed a First Amendment right to free speech against the draft during World War I. Charles Schenck was the Secretary of the Socialist party and was responsible for printing, distributing, and mailing 15,000 leaflets to men eligible for the draft that advocated opposition to the draft. These leaflets contained statements such as; "Do not submit to intimidation", "Assert your rights", "If you do not assert and support your rights, you are helping to deny or disparage rights which it is the solemn duty of all citizens and residents of the United States to retain." Ultimately, the case served as the founding of the "clear and present danger" rule.

[edit] Gibbons v. Ogden, 22 U.S. 1 (1824)

Gibbons v. Ogden, 22 U.S. 1 (1824),[1] was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the power to regulate interstate commerce was granted to Congress by the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. The case was argued by some of America's most admired and capable attorneys at the time. Exiled Irish patriot Thomas Addis Emmet and Thomas J. Oakley argued for Ogden, while William Wirt and Daniel Webster argued for Gibbons.

[edit] The Constitution In Crisis and Decision (1850-1871)

The Union; its fundamental nature and character; the nature and character of states, and sovereignties; the meaning of citizenship; the extraordinary powers of the President; the war powers; the customs, usages, rules, and articles of war; the Great Writ, and its application in times of crisis; the formal reification of the principles of the Declaration of Independence, and the formal repudiation of the Calhounian counterrevolutionary ideology of oligarchic slave power despotic tyranny.

This section will depart from the normal style, as there are important changes that were made in the Constitution and Constitutional interpretation through means other than judicial interpretation, such as by means of amendment, or by right of the victor.

[edit] Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857)

Dred Scott was perhaps the most controversial Supreme Court decision in all of U.S. history, quite possibly was a major cause of the U.S. Civil War, and is generally regarded by most U.S. historians, scholars, and lawyers as a moment of supreme infamy, when the U.S. unquestionably knew sin.

Dred Scott was an African-American slave who originally lived in Missouri, and was taken to Illinois, a free state, by his master. Scott sued for freedom, as he was in a free state. The case worked its way through the courts, until it reached the Supreme Court. Although the case could have been dismissed for technical reasons, Chief Justice Roger Taney decided to attempt to resolve the slavery issue in the United States once and for all, by imposing his personal opinion (his personal opinion as a slaver) upon his fellow citizens. Taney declared, simply, that African-Americans were not citizens within the meaning of the Constitution, and had no rights except for what "those who held the power...might choose to grant them", and thus, not being citizens, in Taney's opinion^[16], had no standing to sue. He dismissed the case.

The most infamous passage of Scott is as follows:

"The words 'people of the United States' and 'citizens' are synonymous terms, and mean the same thing. They both describe the political body who, according to our republican institutions, form the sovereignty, and who hold the power and conduct the Government through their representatives. They are what we familiarly call the 'sovereign people,' and every citizen is one of this people, and a constituent member of this sovereignty. The question before us is, whether the class of persons described in the plea in abatement compose a portion of this people, and are constituent members of this sovereignty? We think they are not, and that they are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word 'citizens' in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States. On the contrary, they were at that time considered as a subordinate and inferior class of beings, who had been subjugated by the dominant race, and, whether emancipated or not, yet remained subject to their authority, and had no rights or privileges but such as those who held the power and the Government might choose to grant them."

It took a civil war and 700,000 dead U.S. citizens, both black and white, to obliterate the stain of Scott from the Constitution with the blood of patriots and tyrants, to end slavery once and for all, but it was done.

[edit] Ex parte Merryman

TBD

Merryman was not decided by the Supreme Court, but is included for purposes of clarity, as it involves the extraordinary powers of the Presidency.

The United States, as it was in 1860, was a vast, sparsely populated, primarily agricultural nation. She was not a Great Power, for the Great Powers of the day were European principalities, kingdoms, and empires who did the world's business at the Docklands of London, the harbors of Amsterdam, and the Palaces of Versailles, The Hague, and Vienna. She was a minor power who kept to herself and was looked upon by the philosophers and thinkers of the time as a minor experiment in popular rule which was not bearing major fruit; to the princes of Europe, the United States was a convenient place to exile their radicals to who were calling for elected governments or civil liberty. In the words of certain Europeans, the United States had "gone from barbarism to decadence without passing through civilization". Washington, D.C. was viewed as a semi-tropical backwater of minor import; for many European diplomats used to soirees in the imperial courts of France and Prussia, or grand balls in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, it was a post worthy of substantial hardship pay.

Many of the Far Western states (the Great Plains States and the Rocky Mountain States) were not States at that time, and those regions were mostly unsettled, with the land owned by the Government, but the Government unable to disburse of it at the time in a manner perceived as fair. The Pacific Coast States were settled, but only moderately, and had low levels of industry and moderate levels of agriculture prior to the construction of the Transcontinental Railroads (the completion dates of those being the Union Pacific in 1873; the Southern Pacific in 1882; and the Great Northern in 1891). In the Eastern States, the United States had a moderate population level in the Old Northwest, along with mining, industry, and agriculture; a comparatively high population level in the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, where the industry and trade of the nation was concentrated; and a moderate to high population level and large scale agriculture in the Old South. Transportation links in the North, which consisted of the Northeast, the Mid-Atlantic and the Old Northwest (what we now call the Upper Midwest - beyond the Appalachians to the Mississippi River) were rather developed, to meet the needs of commerce and industry, and the railroads provided transportation from one city to another in the North within the travel of 2-3 days. The South's rail systems were underdeveloped, and transit there was often an extended affair. To the Far Western states, transit would have to be either by steamer or overland; either mode of transit was not particularly fast. It could take a month - or more - for a person to get from one side of the United States to the other. Information did travel much faster than that - the Transcontinental Telegraph permitted the news of the East to reach the West within minutes, while the Pony Express served such purposes prior to that point, with round-trip mail times of days.

The reason for this being important to this case is that the Congress of the United States did not, like it does today, meet during all the year. The Congress was but a part-time legislature; the laws were few and simple, the business of the time was of import but not of great urgency, and following their session, the Congress dissolved and returned to the states and districts, the log cabins, the small farms, the cities, and the plantations from whence they came.

Following the election of the Northerner Abraham Lincoln as President, an insurrection had broke out in certain areas of the United States, as the slave-power of the South was desirous of subduing the anti-slavery North once and for all by fire and the sword, or at the very least, breaking free of the "oppressive" Federal rule so she could once again traffick in the human flesh of the African coast and build a slave empire extending even to Cuba and Mexico, as contemplated by the then dead John Calhoun, chief of the slave-power faction in the Congress at one time. This insurrection had turned into a rebellion, forming an alleged government; South Carolina, a hot-bed of slaving conspiracy where there were more African-Americans in bondage than there were people of any race, had seceded from the Union first, and was followed by the states of the Deep South where the Slave Power was the strongest. The less degenerate slave states of Virginia and Tennessee only saw treason openly fomented in their legislatures at first, and they did not break from the Union yet... Prior to attempts to peacefully settle the crisis, the South Carolinian fire-eaters fired the first shot of the coming war at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, the property of the Federal Union, and with those shots, the war came, the War Between the States, The War of Southern Aggression, The War of Northern Aggression, or as it is known by later times, the U.S. Civil War.

Following the assault on Fort Sumter, the Upper South joined itself to the rebellion, and even Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, only lightly scarred by the lash of the slaver, were rumored to be beset by internal commotion by slavers and slave-power sympathizers who sought to secede from the Federal Union and deliver those states into the hands of the so-called Confederacy.

During the first six or seven months of 1861, the Congress was not assembled in Washington D.C., and it could not be returned into session, because its members were scattered around the nation, word of the emergency traveled slowly, and people traveled like molasses, if they traveled at all.

During the first year of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln

Compare and contrast with the more moderate opinion of the Court in Youngstown.

[edit] Ex parte Milligan, 71 U.S. 2 (1866)

Case involving Confederate sympathizers subjected to (sham) trial by "military commission" based on order of the so-called unitary executive. Supreme Court ruled that use military commissions or any form of attenuated due process had to be based on military necessity, and proximate in time and space to the actual zone of military operations.

[edit] Second Constitutional Era (1871-1938)

Substantive due process, "corporate personhood", "separate but equal", "freedom of contract", monopolies, corporations, the national and state level economies, private greed v. public need.

[edit] Slaughter-House Cases, 83 U.S. 36 (1873)

[edit] Civil Rights Cases, 109 U.S. 3 (1883)

[edit] Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company, 118 U.S. 394 (1886)

Decision where the scope of the term "person" under the 14th Amendment and the Constitution of the United States was expanded to include legal fictions, such as corporations. This granted to corporations the same rights (such as freedom of speech, freedom of contract) that previously were retained only by human persons, under the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the 14th Amendment. Enormously controversial, as decision allowed corporations to claim the Constitution protected them from popular legislation such as minimum wage laws, health and safety standards, taxation, labor laws, etc. Set the defining theme of the Court's jurisprudence for the next 50 years, until Carolene Products in 1938.

[edit] In re Debs, 158 U.S. 564 (1895)

[edit] Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896)

Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), is a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in the jurisprudence of the United States, upholding the constitutionality of racial segregation even in public accommodations (particularly railroads), under the doctrine of "separate but equal".

The decision was handed down by a vote of 7 to 1, with the majority opinion written by Justice Henry Billings Brown and the dissent written by Justice John Marshall Harlan. Justice David Josiah Brewer did not participate in the decision. "Separate but equal" remained standard doctrine in U.S. law until its repudiation in the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education.

After the high court ruled, the New Orleans Comité des Citoyens (Committee of Citizens) that had brought the suit and that had arranged for Homer Plessy's arrest in order to challenge Louisiana's segregation law, replied, “We, as freemen, still believe that we were right and our cause is sacred.”[1

[edit] Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45 (1905)

[edit] United States v. Carolene Products Co., 304 U.S. 144 (1938)

[edit] Third Constitutional Era (1938-?)

Civil rights, equality under the law, the right to privacy, "penumbras formed by emanations", the meaning of justice, the limits of the executive, the manifold possibilities of liberty.

[edit] Hague v. CIO, 307 U.S. 496 (1939)

First civil liberties case of the Third Era, involving freedom of assembly, association, and speech; specifically, related to the repression of labor unions by infamous Boss Hague in New Jersey.

[edit] Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944)

Decision related to internment of Japanese-Americans (including citizens of the United States) in prison camps during World War II.

[edit] Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579 (1952)

During the Korean War, a labor dispute arose between the Steelworkers (an association of workers, called a labor union) and the various steel mills who employed them. The steel mills claimed that the workers in question were being paid too much, and, after difficult negotiations, decided to lockout these workers, so that they could avoid paying them. The workers were outraged that they were being locked out, due to the enormous unfulfilled needs of soldiers on the battlefield for tanks and weapons that couldn't be produced and were being ignored due to the position of the mill owners, and perhaps also due to the fact that they weren't able to work or get paid.

President Harry Truman decided to intervene, claiming that due to the fact that a war was going on, he, as "Commander in Chief", could temporarily seize and run the steel mills under the Federal Government so as to continue production during the war. This outraged both the steel mills and the workers; both sides didn't believe the government could do such a thing, as no law had been passed to allow those sorts of actions to take place; indeed, most people believed that unilateral actions like Truman's, in this case, were exactly the type of thing the Constitution was there to prevent.

The owners of the steel mills sued the government for seizing the steel mills. Within several weeks, due to the emergency nature of the situation, the case came before the Supreme Court.

The Court ruled against the Government, finding that there were no provisions in the law or the Constitution that allowed the government to seize private industry (or to force workers to work) during a labor dispute. Though the decision was mixed--almost every Justice wrote an opinion--it was definitively against the Government. Justice Harlan? wrote the most famous opinion in this case--delineating three spheres of Presidential power--that is considered to be the single most authoritative pronouncement of the Supreme Court on the scope of Presidential powers since the immediate aftermath of the Civil War; Harlan's? opinion still is considered authoritative to this day.

This case, although it might seem minor to the reader, has great meta-Constitutional importance--Presidential powers have greatly expanded since the Framing of the Constitution--and their exact scope is extremely controversial, especially in the past 30-40 years.

The mills were returned to their owners, who (very quickly) reached agreement with the workers, and the dispute was resolved.

[edit] Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954)

VERY IMPORTANT Supreme Court case which decided that racial segregation in public schools was contrary to the letter and the spirit of the Constitution; one factor that set in motion the civil rights movement amongst African-Americans.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954),[1] was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court, which overturned earlier rulings going back to Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, by declaring that state laws that established separate public schools for black and white students denied black children equal educational opportunities. Handed down on May 17, 1954, the Warren Court's unanimous (9-0) decision stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." As a result, de jure racial segregation was ruled a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This victory paved the way for integration and the civil rights movement.[2] Contents [hide]

[edit] Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961)

The Exclusionary Rule protects defendants in criminal cases from having unlawfully obtained evidence used against them in court, such as stolen items found during a search of a residence by police without a warrant. For many years, the Exclusionary Rule only was applied at the federal level. Federal criminal prosecutions are an extremely tiny minority of all criminal prosecutions in the United States; most prosecutions occur at the state level, including nearly all of those for extraordinarily serious crimes, such as murder and rape. (Federal crimes include offenses against federal property and agents; certain crimes taking place in multiple states, such as a spree of bank robberies; interstate conspiracies, such as a drug-smuggling ring; crimes taking place under color of law, such as police brutality or judicial corruption; and also include acts of terrorism, military crimes, espionage, and treason. The states are responsible for the prosecution of all other criminal acts, from drunken disorderliness all the way to premeditated murder.)

In Mapp, the Supreme Court found that the Exclusionary Rule applied to the states, and that evidence unlawfully obtained could not be used for state prosecutions, in addition to federal ones. The grounds for this were found in the Fourteenth Amendment, which required that states not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; liberty was held to include those rights protected by the Bill of Rights, which had previously only applied to acts of the Federal Government.

Mapp forced wholesale changes in police procedure throughout the United States, as police were now required to obtain warrants to gather evidence that could be used in court. (Previously, police were supposed to obtain warrants to search homes, but as the evidence gained by warrantless (i.e. unlawful) searches was admitted regardless of whether it was obtained by warrant or not, this rule was widely ignored.) In addition, Mapp signaled an increased level of scrutiny by the Supreme Court over police practices, which has continued to the present day.

[edit] Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963)

Case that decided that accused persons had right to a lawyer even if they could not afford one.

[edit] Escobedo v. Illinois, 378 U.S. 478 (1964)

[edit] Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965)

This Supreme Court case was brought by a married couple who claimed that their fundamental liberties were infringed by a Connecticut statute that outlawed the sale of birth control devices and medicines within the state. The Supreme Court agreed, finding that their Constitutional right to privacy was infringed by the Connecticut birth control ban, and invalidated it for married couples.

Justice Douglass famously wrote that the right to privacy, a right not explicitly written into the text of the Constitution, was instead implied by "penumbras formed by emanations" by the other enumerated rights reserved to the people and listed in the Constitution, such as the right to be free from unreasonable searches without a warrant. Especially after Roe v. Wade, some conservatives have used the "penumbra" passage to decry what they believe to be the alleged judicial "creation" of rights not found in the Constitution.

Though this case was relatively uncontroversial when it was decided, as it only impacted married couples, it laid the foundation for the Court's decision 8 years later in Roe v. Wade, where the Court overturned all laws banning abortion in the US as violations of the right to privacy, which is perhaps one of the most controversial Supreme Court decisions ever.

[edit] Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966)

Case requiring that the famous Miranda warnings, advising arrested persons of their right to remain silent, to have a lawyer present, and to have a lawyer appointed for free, in the event of lack of money, be given to persons arrested by police prior to interrogation.

[edit] Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969)

Free speech case. Changed what remained of old "clear and present danger" test to "incitement to imminent lawless action test". Important in understanding U.S. free speech jurisprudence.

[edit] Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)

Roe v. Wade, decided in 1973, is a famous and extraordinarily controversial Supreme Court case that found the Constitution of the United States prohibits outlawing of abortion, or the imposition of undue restrictions upon it, at least during the initial stages of a pregnancy. Roe is likely the most controversial Supreme Court case in 20th century U.S. history, and ranks among Bush v. Gore (2000), Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company (1886), and Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857), as one of the most controversial Supreme Court cases of all time.

Roe, a woman from the state of Texas, had an unwanted pregnancy. Texas law, at that time, forbade the termination of pregnancy except under certain medical circumstances, such as the endangerment of the pregnant woman's life. Roe sued the state of Texas, alleging that her 14th Amendment right to privacy was being violated by the law forbidding termination of pregnancy. The case worked its way up through the several Federal courts, and reached the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court agreed with Roe, and found the Texas law to be an unconstitutional invasion of Roe's right to privacy between doctor and patient. The decision in Roe was unique, though, as the Court did not just strike down the Texas law; it issued guidelines as to what regulation of abortion it would consider permissible. (It is normally very unusual for the Court to say what is allowed to government, versus determining what is forbidden for government to do.) The Court decided that during the first 3 months of a pregnancy, abortion was acceptable for any reason; during the second 3 months, regulation to protect health could be imposed, such as requiring that abortions take place in hospitals; and during the last 3 months, abortion could be generally forbidden, due to the late stage and development of the pregnancy.

This decision caused immediate and immense controversy throughout the United States. Persons of numerous faiths objected to it (especially Catholics and conservative Protestants); feminist & civil rights groups applauded it; liberal groups (the left of the American political spectrum) were generally viewed as supportive of Roe, while conservative groups (the right of the American political spectrum) were generally viewed as being opposed to the decision.

[edit] Support & Opposition to Roe

Political and religious stereotypes scarcely capture the immense political and legal debate about the implications of Roe. This section reviews a few of these arguments.

Supporters of Roe view Roe as an important decision that affirmed what they consider the basic rights of women, especially the right for women to control their own body and reproductive systems. Other supporters view Roe as an important triumph in the area of reproductive public policy, establishing the right to control over active pregnancy into the law of the land. Still others focus on sociological arguments, sometimes claiming that Roe led to decreases in crime in the years since the decision, as unwanted pregnancies, and therefore the number of unsupportable children was reduced by the availability of abortion. (Others claim that the decrease in unwanted children is due to effective contraception widely available upon request, and the rise of comprehensive sex education.) Still others claim that it is hypocrisy for people to object to Roe, especially men, who will never have the "opportunity" to walk a mile in the shoes of a teenage woman with an unwanted pregnancy, which will severely impact her future choices as well as cause her and her family shame. This view can be expressed by the slogan: "Don't like abortion? Get a vasectomy!"

Objections to Roe are numerous. Legal objections can be broken down into several arguments. One is that the Supreme Court, rather than interpreting the Constitution, legislated from the bench, in either upholding or greatly expanding the scope of the unwritten privacy right into an area which is generally not considered a subject of privacy, namely the permissibility of medical procedures performed by state-licensed health-care professionals. Individuals subscribing to this argument may take the view that irregardless of whether abortion is good public policy or not, it is not a legal matter implicating fundamental liberties, due to the uncertain origin and tortured nature of the privacy argument, but a political matter, for the people's representatives to consider and decide upon. Another is that the Supreme Court failed to consider the possibility that fetuses (or, as some term them, babies), may have rights as well as the pregnant woman, and those potential rights have to be analyzed as part of any decisions surrounding abortion. Others focus on the implications of decisions of this nature, viewing them as overreaching, and setting dangerous precedents that allow the Court to deeply intrude into political questions that go further than fundamental liberties (like freedom of speech, or the right to a fair trial), such as the Court was viewed by many as doing in Bush v. Gore.

Other objections include those of morality and religion. These objections are often raised by conservative Protestants, as well as Catholics, in general. However, a number of liberal Protestant and Catholics, as well as non-religious people also object to abortion, as what they view as a violation of human rights.

[edit] Impact and Implications of Roe

It can be scarcely disputed that Roe has caused immeasurable political conflict between supporters and opponents of abortion that goes on to this day; some even believe that Roe and the conflicts surrounding it have caused the basic consensus underlying the foundations of United States democracy to be injured. It is arguable that Roe was the last blow that shattered the New Deal Coalition of liberals and moderates that had governed the U.S. for perhaps 40 years at the time. Objectors to Roe no longer saw the general political community of the United States as sharing their values, and opted out of that community, seeking and creating new political communities within and based upon their faith. These faith-based political communities would later do battle with the ideology-based political communities created during and in the wake of the Vietnam War, and forged in place by the great unrest of 1968.

This clash came to be known as the Culture War, and it has raged in the United States ever since the 1980s, although there are certain signs of it abating, as the Baby Boom generation ages and turns over national leadership to a generation that seeks a truce in the Culture War, having been collateral damage in their parents' endless war for so long. Barack Obama may be considered one of the first examples of the post-Roe, post-1968, post-Watergate, post-Vietnam generation now vying for power, and possibly unity, once again, in the United States.

[edit] United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683 (1974)

This case originated out of a dispute over a subpoena for evidence pertinent to special prosecutor Archibald Cox's Watergate investigation. Because of Cox's insistence that President Nixon hand over his infamous audiotaped conversations, he was fired as a part of Nixon's Saturday Night Massacre. Cox's successor, Leon Jaworski, continued to pursue the subpoena. Nixon continued to refuse to hand the tapes over, and cited his executive privilege in asserting their confidentiality. Jaworski filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court in hopes of obtaining a court order forcing Nixon to obey the subpoena.

Although in private deliberations, the justices did not come to a unanimous opinion, they decided to rule unanimously with the majority's opinion in order to make the ruling more definitive to Nixon and pressure him not to ignore it. The opinion held that, not only as established in Marbury v. Madison that the Court was the final say concerning whether or not laws were constitutional, the Court could also decide how the President's powers are limited by the Constitution. The court also held that executive privilege did not apply to evidence pertinent to criminal cases. Most importantly, the Court ruled that, using the power it had affirmed, that nobody, including the President of the United States, was above the law.

[edit] Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978)

Supreme Court case that ruled that quotas as a form of affirmative action (i.e. a guaranteed minimum percentage reservation of seats in a public institution for minority groups who were subject to past discrimination) were violative of the Constitution, and were thus illegal.

[edit] Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986)

Supreme Court case that found that laws forbidding and criminalizing private, consensual, non-commercial sexual conduct between unrelated adults that a legislative body found to be immoral were compatible with the Constitutional guarantees of liberty and privacy. Overruled and reversed as being wrongly decided in the first instance by Lawrence v. Texas (2003).

[edit] Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989)

[edit] Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992)

[edit] Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996)

[edit] Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000)

This case is notable, not because it set any new precedent, but because of the magnitude of the decision: the Supreme Court effectively decided the 2000 Presidential election, due to voting irregularities in Florida.

(It is arguable that Bush v. Gore did indeed set a precedent - an expansive reading of the equal protection clause - but certain Justices made it manifestly clear that this precedent would not be applied to any cases except those with similar circumstances to this one. Whether that meant that this would be applied to cases involving elections, or cases involving elections where Republicans need some judicial help to win, is a matter that is still to be determined.)

[edit] Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003)

Lawrence, a gay man, was in his apartment, having consensual intimate transactions with his unrelated sexual partner, when local police, responding to a weapons complaint of shots fired, suddenly entered his apartment to search for weapons. No weapons were found, but Lawrence and his partner were discovered by the police in flagrante delicto. They were cited by the police for "unnatural sexual intercourse", a crime under the law of the State of Texas.

Lawrence and his partner, Gardner, decided to fight the charges, on the grounds that:

1. The law only applied to "unnatural sexual intercourse" between persons of the same sex, but not against persons of the opposite sex engaging in the same sort of "unnatural sexual intercourse". This, claimed Lawrence, deprived him of the equal protection of the law.
2. The law was an unconstitutional invasion of Lawrence's and Gardner's privacy and liberty, as the "crime" Lawrence and Gardner were accused of were transactions of the most intimate character, were consensual, were non-commercial and took place in private, behind closed doors, in a private space where the authority of the state had no power to enter, nor to regulate such transactions, absent some compelling showing of harm.

The State of Texas argued that the charges should be upheld on the grounds that the state has the right to determine and regulate morality, including morality in private spaces, and that laws forbidding homosexuality were found to be constitutional in the case of Bowers v. Hardwick, creating a precedent that had to be upheld by the Court.

The Court agreed with Lawrence and Gardner. Justice Kennedy, writing for the Court, concluded:

“These matters, involving the most intimate and personal choices a person may make in a lifetime, choices central to personal dignity and autonomy, are central to the liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life. Beliefs about these matters could not define the attributes of personhood were they formed under compulsion of the State.

Persons in a homosexual relationship may seek autonomy for these purposes, just as heterosexual persons do. The decision in Bowers would deny them this right. Bowers was not correct when it was decided, and it is not correct today. It ought not to remain binding precedent. Bowers v. Hardwick should be and now is overruled.

The present case does not involve minors. It does not involve persons who might be injured or coerced or who are situated in relationships where consent might not easily be refused. It does not involve public conduct or prostitution. It does not involve whether the government must give formal recognition to any relationship that homosexual persons seek to enter. The case does involve two adults who, with full and mutual consent from each other, engaged in sexual practices common to a homosexual lifestyle. The petitioners are entitled to respect for their private lives. The State cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime. Their right to liberty under the Due Process Clause gives them the full right to engage in their conduct without intervention of the government. “It is a promise of the Constitution that there is a realm of personal liberty which the government may not enter.” Casey, supra, at 847. The Texas statute furthers no legitimate state interest which can justify its intrusion into the personal and private life of the individual.

Had those who drew and ratified the Due Process Clauses of the Fifth Amendment or the Fourteenth Amendment known the components of liberty in its manifold possibilities, they might have been more specific. They did not presume to have this insight. They knew times can blind us to certain truths and later generations can see that laws once thought necessary and proper in fact serve only to oppress. As the Constitution endures, persons in every generation can invoke its principles in their own search for greater freedom."

[edit] Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U.S. 507 (2004)

[edit] Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557 (2006)

[edit] Boumediene v. Bush, XXX U.S. YYY (2008)

[edit] District of Columbia v. Heller, ZZZ U.S. AAA (2008)

This case involved the interpretation of the Second Amendment, appertaining to militias as well as the right to keep and bear arms, as well as the Fourteenth Amendment, which secures and specifies that the people retain certain rights, including those to life, to liberty, and to property, that no state government may deny them.

Heller, the petitioner, lived in the District of Columbia, whose law forbade the possession of handguns within said District, except under certain very narrow circumstances, which Heller was not eligible for. Believing the Second Amendment to apply to individuals, Heller sued, claiming that his right to keep and bear arms was being infringed by the District.

The Supreme Court agreed with Heller, finding that the Second Amendment does indeed secure to individuals the right to keep and bear arms, and that the Fourteenth Amendment applies this right to the several States; the District's handgun ban was thus overturned.

[edit] References and Notes

← Presidents · Chief Justices →

← Presidents · US History · Chief Justices →

[edit] Appendex Delta: Famous Third Parties

[edit] Third Parties of the United States

Though the United States government is overwhelmingly based on a two-party system, there have been times in history when minor third parties have rose to prominence and affected the government.

	Party	Presidential Candidates, if any	Number of Votes for candidate	Notes
1	Anti-Masonic	William Wirt, Ironically a former Mason
2	Prohibition Party	1872 - James Black & John Russell 1876 - Green Clay Smith & Gideon T. Stewart 1880 - Neal Dow & Henry A. Thompson 1884 - John Saint John & William Daniel 1888 - Clinton B. Fisk & John A. Brooks 1892 - John Bidwell & James B. Cranfill 1896 - Joshua Levering & Hale Johnson 1900 - John G. Woolley & Henry B. Metcalf 1904 - Silas C. Swallow & George W. Carroll 1908 - Eugene W. Chafin & Aaron S. Watkins 1912 - Eugene W. Chafin & Aaron S. Watkins 1916 - Frank Hanly & Ira Landrith 1920 - Aaron Watkins & D. Leigh Colvin 1924 - Herman P. Faris & Marie C. Brehm 1928 - William F. Varney & James A. Edgerton 1932 - William D. Upshaw & Frank S. Regan 1936 - D. Leigh Colvin & Claude A. Watson 1940 - Roger Babson & Edgar V. Moorman 1944 - Claude A. Watson & Andrew Johnson 1948 - Claude A. Watson & Dale H. Learn 1952 - Stuart Hamblen & Enoch A. Holtwick 1956 - Enoch A. Holtwick & Edwin M. Cooper 1960 - Rutherford Decker & E. Harold Munn 1964 - E. Harold Munn & Mark R. Shaw 1968 - E. Harold Munn & Rolland E. Fisher 1972 - E. Harold Munn & Marshall E. Uncapher 1976 - Benjamin C. Bubar & Earl F. Dodge 1980 - Benjamin C. Bubar & Earl F. Dodge 1984 - Earl Dodge & Warren C. Martin 1988 - Earl Dodge & George Ormsby 1992 - Earl Dodge & George Ormsby 1996 - Earl Dodge & Rachel Bubar Kelly 2000 - Earl Dodge & W. Dean Watkins 2004 - Earl Dodge & Howard Lydick, Gene Amondson & Leroy Pletten
3	Green Party	Ralph Nader - 1996, 2000 David Cobb - 2004
4	Libertarian Party	Harry Browne - 1996, 2000 Michael Badnarik - 2004
5	Workers World Party	Gloria La Riva Monica Moorehead
6	Socialist Workers Party	Farrell Dobbs Fred Halstead Linda Jenness Róger Calero
7	Jefferson Republican Party

← Chief Justices · Authors →

← Chief Justices · US History · Authors →

---

[edit] Keywords (People, Events, etc)

• == Pre Colonial America ==

Aztecs
Incas
Mayas
human sacrifice
tribe

[edit] Nomads and Barbarians

Viking
Goth
Visagoth
Vandal
Conan
Huns
Kutriguri
Joseph of Aramathea
Britania
Nordic Theory
Iceland

[edit] Colonial America (1600-1763)

Jamestown
John Rolfe
Captain John Smith
Powhattan
House of Burgesses
Mayflower Compact
Pilgrims
Plymouth (Massachusetts Bay Colony)
William Bradford
Separatists
Puritans
John Winthrop
Halfway Covenant
Roger Williams & Anne Hutchinson
Deism
Great Awakening
George Whitefield
Jonathan Edwards
Old Lights v. New Lights
Indentured servitude
Salutary neglect
Enlightenment
Glorious Revolution
Leisler's Rebellion
Sir Edmond Andros
Bacon's Rebellion
French and Indian War
Proclamation of 1763
William Penn
mercantilism
Toleration Act of 1649
Navigation Acts
Molasses Act
Hat Act
Iron Act
Stamp Act

[edit] American Revolution (1750-1800)

Proclamation of 1763
Paxton Boys
Regulators
Stamp Act
Stact Congress
Virtual v Actual Representation
Samuel Adams
Tea Act
Boston Tea Party
Intolerable of Coercive Acts
Thomas Paine's Common Sense
Sons of Liberty
Patrick Henry
Franco-American Alliance (1778)
Treaty of Paris (1783)
Shay's Rebellion

[edit] Birth of a Nation (1780s)

Articles of Confederation
Northwest Ordinance of 1785
Shay's Rebellion
Great Compromise
Three-Fifths Compromise
Federalists
Anti-Federalists
Federalist Papers
Bill of Rights
First Bank of the United States
Alexander Hamiltion
Federalist Party
Judiciary Act of 1789
Pinckney Treaty
Jay's Treaty
Alien and Sedition Acts
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
Washington's Neutrality Proclamation
Washington's Farewell Address
XYZ Affair

← Authors · Keywords1 →

← Authors · US History · Keywords1 →

• ==Jeffersonian and Jacksonian Democracy (1800-1840)==

strict v. broad interpretation (of Constitution)
Revolution of 1800
Alexis de Tocqueville
Monroe Doctrine
Marbury v Madison
Clay's American System
Whig Party
Louisiana Purchase
Lewis and Clark
Haitian Rebellion
Embargo Act
impressments
War of 1812
War Hawks
Hartford Convention
Era of Good Feelings
cotton gin (Eli Whitney)
Erie Canal
Lowell factory system
Transcendentalists
Emerson
Thoreau
Hawthorne
Seneca Falls
Republican motherhood
Horace Mann
Dorothea Dix
William Lloyd Garrison
Monroe Doctrine

[edit] Jackson

Jackson's Indian policy
Indian Removal Act
Supreme Court and the Cherokees
Chief Justice John Marshall
Trail of Tears
Tariff of Abominations
Nullification crisis in South Carolina (1832)
Webster-Hayne Debates
Force Bill (1833)
Second Bank of the US

[edit] Manifest Destiny and Sectionalism (1820-1860)

Republican Party
Free-Soil Party
"Bleeding Kansas"

[edit] Treks

Gold Rush
49er
Donner Party
Joseph Smith
Book of Mormon

← Keywords · Keywords2 →

← Keywords · US History · Keywords2 →

• ==Civil War and Reconstruction (1860-1877)==

Jefferson Davis
Abraham Lincoln
First Battle of Manasses (Bull Run)
Second Battle of Manasses (Bull Run)

[edit] New South, Old West, Gilded Age, Populism, Imperialism (1870-1900)

Jim Crow
Ku Klux Clan
Sinmiyangyo
Charles H. Winfield

[edit] 1900-WWI

aeroplane
Silent Film
RMS Titanic
RMS Brittanic

[edit] World War I

War to End All Wars
World War
Kaiser
Hoch, hoch der Kaiser!
von Hindenburg ist mein Vater!
Tsar
Austria-Hungary
Flying Circus
Trotsky
Мы - We (Novel)
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
The Lost Battalion

← Keywords1 · Keywords3 →

← Keywords1 · US History · Keywords3 →

• ==Roaring 20s (Lost Generation)==

Gay 80s
Gay 90s
Women's Suffrage
Prohibition
Red Scare
Second International
income tax
"New Negro"
Jazz
Esperanto
League of Nations (United Nations)
Cheaper by the Dozen
The Sun Also Rises
Al "Scarface" Capone
"Bugs" Muran
Valentine's Day Massacre
Bonnie and Clyde
anti-Modernism

[edit] Depression

Hoover
Third Riff War
Lina Medina
Franklin Roosevelt (FDR)

[edit] Spanish Civil War (Guerra Civil Española)

Popular Front
Francisco Franco
Calros Garcias
Pope Pius XII
Ernest Hemingway
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Tierra Española

[edit] World War II

Free World
Slave World
mind control
Josef Stalin
Adolf Hitler
Emperor Hirohito
Swastika
Nazi
facist
yellow star
total war (totalier Kreig)
SNAFU
Winston Churchill
D-Day
Pearl Harbor
Allies

← Keywords2 · Keywords4 →

← Keywords2 · US History · Keywords4 →

• ==World War II Related==

Rommel
"do a Rommel"
First, Second Battle of the Bulge
Battle of Leningrad
Battle of Stalingrad
Webrovka
Franz Jägerstätter
ninja
White Card
Sonman Mine explosion
Zog of Albania
Under the Blood Banner
schlechtes Hasserscheinen

[edit] WWII Ideas

Degenerate Art
twelf
rubber elf
age of degeneracy
Heil Hits
grey blobs
Zionistic masons
Glacial Cosmology
"All the little children love Stalin."
teeth of the Dragon
life in a cloud

[edit] Stalin

Cash and Carry
capitalism
Red Communist
Trotsky
Revolution Betrayed
Why Stalin Won
Spanish Civil War
Battle of Stalingrad
Iron Curtain
Yalta Agreement
United Nations
NKVD
KGB
English Racial Theory
Joseph Stalin
First Secretary
freedom from religeon
Doctor's Plot
"English Racial Theory"
"unperson"
Kremlin
GUM Department
Thermonuclear
H-bomb
Taiwan
1984
Big Brother
telescreen
containment
Stalin.ru
Nabokov

[edit] Atomic Age

e=mc²
critical mass
uranium
plutonium
neptunium
neucleus
Albert Einstein
Niels Bohr
Carl Sandburg
atomic bomb
quark
lepton
muon
antimatter
thermonuclear transcorder device

[edit] "Believe in hope"

- The philosophy during this time was to "believe in hope", because it "saved one from doubt, dispair, and the Slave World." This was shown in a radio adaptation of A Miracle on 34th Street, where Kris Kringle emphatically says so. In later times, this attitude came to be associated by some with romanticism. Hope was defined as "A desire of some good, accompanied with an expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable; an expectation of something which is thought to be desirable; confidence; pleasing expectancy."

← Keywords3 · Keywords5 →

← Keywords3 · US History · Keywords5 →

---

[edit] Licensing and Contributors

[edit] Authors

• Original Author: Etothex
• Principal Author: Lord Emsworth
• Chief Contributor of Images: Karl Wick
• Organizer, Edit Crawler: Hyperlink
• Cleanup, Revamp Pages: Red4tribe

← Third Parties · Keywords →

← Third Parties · US History · Keywords →

[edit] GNU Free Documentation License

Version 1.2, November 2002

Copyright (C) 2000,2001,2002  Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
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0. PREAMBLE

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This License is a kind of "copyleft", which means that derivative works of the document must themselves be free in the same sense. It complements the GNU General Public License, which is a copyleft license designed for free software.

We have designed this License in order to use it for manuals for free software, because free software needs free documentation: a free program should come with manuals providing the same freedoms that the software does. But this License is not limited to software manuals; it can be used for any textual work, regardless of subject matter or whether it is published as a printed book. We recommend this License principally for works whose purpose is instruction or reference.

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The "Cover Texts" are certain short passages of text that are listed, as Front-Cover Texts or Back-Cover Texts, in the notice that says that the Document is released under this License. A Front-Cover Text may be at most 5 words, and a Back-Cover Text may be at most 25 words.

A "Transparent" copy of the Document means a machine-readable copy, represented in a format whose specification is available to the general public, that is suitable for revising the document straightforwardly with generic text editors or (for images composed of pixels) generic paint programs or (for drawings) some widely available drawing editor, and that is suitable for input to text formatters or for automatic translation to a variety of formats suitable for input to text formatters. A copy made in an otherwise Transparent file format whose markup, or absence of markup, has been arranged to thwart or discourage subsequent modification by readers is not Transparent. An image format is not Transparent if used for any substantial amount of text. A copy that is not "Transparent" is called "Opaque".

Examples of suitable formats for Transparent copies include plain ASCII without markup, Texinfo input format, LaTeX input format, SGML or XML using a publicly available DTD, and standard-conforming simple HTML, PostScript or PDF designed for human modification. Examples of transparent image formats include PNG, XCF and JPG. Opaque formats include proprietary formats that can be read and edited only by proprietary word processors, SGML or XML for which the DTD and/or processing tools are not generally available, and the machine-generated HTML, PostScript or PDF produced by some word processors for output purposes only.

The "Title Page" means, for a printed book, the title page itself, plus such following pages as are needed to hold, legibly, the material this License requires to appear in the title page. For works in formats which do not have any title page as such, "Title Page" means the text near the most prominent appearance of the work's title, preceding the beginning of the body of the text.

A section "Entitled XYZ" means a named subunit of the Document whose title either is precisely XYZ or contains XYZ in parentheses following text that translates XYZ in another language. (Here XYZ stands for a specific section name mentioned below, such as "Acknowledgements", "Dedications", "Endorsements", or "History".) To "Preserve the Title" of such a section when you modify the Document means that it remains a section "Entitled XYZ" according to this definition.

The Document may include Warranty Disclaimers next to the notice which states that this License applies to the Document. These Warranty Disclaimers are considered to be included by reference in this License, but only as regards disclaiming warranties: any other implication that these Warranty Disclaimers may have is void and has no effect on the meaning of this License.

2. VERBATIM COPYING

You may copy and distribute the Document in any medium, either commercially or noncommercially, provided that this License, the copyright notices, and the license notice saying this License applies to the Document are reproduced in all copies, and that you add no other conditions whatsoever to those of this License. You may not use technical measures to obstruct or control the reading or further copying of the copies you make or distribute. However, you may accept compensation in exchange for copies. If you distribute a large enough number of copies you must also follow the conditions in section 3.

You may also lend copies, under the same conditions stated above, and you may publicly display copies.

3. COPYING IN QUANTITY

If you publish printed copies (or copies in media that commonly have printed covers) of the Document, numbering more than 100, and the Document's license notice requires Cover Texts, you must enclose the copies in covers that carry, clearly and legibly, all these Cover Texts: Front-Cover Texts on the front cover, and Back-Cover Texts on the back cover. Both covers must also clearly and legibly identify you as the publisher of these copies. The front cover must present the full title with all words of the title equally prominent and visible. You may add other material on the covers in addition. Copying with changes limited to the covers, as long as they preserve the title of the Document and satisfy these conditions, can be treated as verbatim copying in other respects.

If the required texts for either cover are too voluminous to fit legibly, you should put the first ones listed (as many as fit reasonably) on the actual cover, and continue the rest onto adjacent pages.

If you publish or distribute Opaque copies of the Document numbering more than 100, you must either include a machine-readable Transparent copy along with each Opaque copy, or state in or with each Opaque copy a computer-network location from which the general network-using public has access to download using public-standard network protocols a complete Transparent copy of the Document, free of added material. If you use the latter option, you must take reasonably prudent steps, when you begin distribution of Opaque copies in quantity, to ensure that this Transparent copy will remain thus accessible at the stated location until at least one year after the last time you distribute an Opaque copy (directly or through your agents or retailers) of that edition to the public.

It is requested, but not required, that you contact the authors of the Document well before redistributing any large number of copies, to give them a chance to provide you with an updated version of the Document.

4. MODIFICATIONS

You may copy and distribute a Modified Version of the Document under the conditions of sections 2 and 3 above, provided that you release the Modified Version under precisely this License, with the Modified Version filling the role of the Document, thus licensing distribution and modification of the Modified Version to whoever possesses a copy of it. In addition, you must do these things in the Modified Version:

A. Use in the Title Page (and on the covers, if any) a title distinct from that of the Document, and from those of previous versions (which should, if there were any, be listed in the History section of the Document). You may use the same title as a previous version if the original publisher of that version gives permission.

B. List on the Title Page, as authors, one or more persons or entities responsible for authorship of the modifications in the Modified Version, together with at least five of the principal authors of the Document (all of its principal authors, if it has fewer than five), unless they release you from this requirement.

C. State on the Title page the name of the publisher of the Modified Version, as the publisher.

D. Preserve all the copyright notices of the Document.

E. Add an appropriate copyright notice for your modifications adjacent to the other copyright notices.

F. Include, immediately after the copyright notices, a license notice giving the public permission to use the Modified Version under the terms of this License, in the form shown in the Addendum below.

G. Preserve in that license notice the full lists of Invariant Sections and required Cover Texts given in the Document's license notice.

H. Include an unaltered copy of this License.

I. Preserve the section Entitled "History", Preserve its Title, and add to it an item stating at least the title, year, new authors, and publisher of the Modified Version as given on the Title Page. If there is no section Entitled "History" in the Document, create one stating the title, year, authors, and publisher of the Document as given on its Title Page, then add an item describing the Modified Version as stated in the previous sentence.

J. Preserve the network location, if any, given in the Document for public access to a Transparent copy of the Document, and likewise the network locations given in the Document for previous versions it was based on. These may be placed in the "History" section. You may omit a network location for a work that was published at least four years before the Document itself, or if the original publisher of the version it refers to gives permission.

K. For any section Entitled "Acknowledgements" or "Dedications", Preserve the Title of the section, and preserve in the section all the substance and tone of each of the contributor acknowledgements and/or dedications given therein.

L. Preserve all the Invariant Sections of the Document, unaltered in their text and in their titles. Section numbers or the equivalent are not considered part of the section titles.

M. Delete any section Entitled "Endorsements". Such a section may not be included in the Modified Version.

N. Do not retitle any existing section to be Entitled "Endorsements" or to conflict in title with any Invariant Section.

O. Preserve any Warranty Disclaimers.

If the Modified Version includes new front-matter sections or appendices that qualify as Secondary Sections and contain no material copied from the Document, you may at your option designate some or all of these sections as invariant. To do this, add their titles to the list of Invariant Sections in the Modified Version's license notice. These titles must be distinct from any other section titles.

You may add a section Entitled "Endorsements", provided it contains nothing but endorsements of your Modified Version by various parties--for example, statements of peer review or that the text has been approved by an organization as the authoritative definition of a standard.

You may add a passage of up to five words as a Front-Cover Text, and a passage of up to 25 words as a Back-Cover Text, to the end of the list of Cover Texts in the Modified Version. Only one passage of Front-Cover Text and one of Back-Cover Text may be added by (or through arrangements made by) any one entity. If the Document already includes a cover text for the same cover, previously added by you or by arrangement made by the same entity you are acting on behalf of, you may not add another; but you may replace the old one, on explicit permission from the previous publisher that added the old one.

The author(s) and publisher(s) of the Document do not by this License give permission to use their names for publicity for or to assert or imply endorsement of any Modified Version.

5. COMBINING DOCUMENTS

You may combine the Document with other documents released under this License, under the terms defined in section 4 above for modified versions, provided that you include in the combination all of the Invariant Sections of all of the original documents, unmodified, and list them all as Invariant Sections of your combined work in its license notice, and that you preserve all their Warranty Disclaimers.

The combined work need only contain one copy of this License, and multiple identical Invariant Sections may be replaced with a single copy. If there are multiple Invariant Sections with the same name but different contents, make the title of each such section unique by adding at the end of it, in parentheses, the name of the original author or publisher of that section if known, or else a unique number. Make the same adjustment to the section titles in the list of Invariant Sections in the license notice of the combined work.

In the combination, you must combine any sections Entitled "History" in the various original documents, forming one section Entitled "History"; likewise combine any sections Entitled "Acknowledgements", and any sections Entitled "Dedications". You must delete all sections Entitled "Endorsements."

6. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS

You may make a collection consisting of the Document and other documents released under this License, and replace the individual copies of this License in the various documents with a single copy that is included in the collection, provided that you follow the rules of this License for verbatim copying of each of the documents in all other respects.

You may extract a single document from such a collection, and distribute it individually under this License, provided you insert a copy of this License into the extracted document, and follow this License in all other respects regarding verbatim copying of that document.

7. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS

A compilation of the Document or its derivatives with other separate and independent documents or works, in or on a volume of a storage or distribution medium, is called an "aggregate" if the copyright resulting from the compilation is not used to limit the legal rights of the compilation's users beyond what the individual works permit. When the Document is included in an aggregate, this License does not apply to the other works in the aggregate which are not themselves derivative works of the Document.

If the Cover Text requirement of section 3 is applicable to these copies of the Document, then if the Document is less than one half of the entire aggregate, the Document's Cover Texts may be placed on covers that bracket the Document within the aggregate, or the electronic equivalent of covers if the Document is in electronic form. Otherwise they must appear on printed covers that bracket the whole aggregate.

8. TRANSLATION

Translation is considered a kind of modification, so you may distribute translations of the Document under the terms of section 4. Replacing Invariant Sections with translations requires special permission from their copyright holders, but you may include translations of some or all Invariant Sections in addition to the original versions of these Invariant Sections. You may include a translation of this License, and all the license notices in the Document, and any Warranty Disclaimers, provided that you also include the original English version of this License and the original versions of those notices and disclaimers. In case of a disagreement between the translation and the original version of this License or a notice or disclaimer, the original version will prevail.

If a section in the Document is Entitled "Acknowledgements", "Dedications", or "History", the requirement (section 4) to Preserve its Title (section 1) will typically require changing the actual title.

9. TERMINATION

You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document except as expressly provided for under this License. Any other attempt to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Document is void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this License. However, parties who have received copies, or rights, from you under this License will not have their licenses terminated so long as such parties remain in full compliance.

10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE

The Free Software Foundation may publish new, revised versions of the GNU Free Documentation License from time to time. Such new versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to address new problems or concerns. See http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/.

Each version of the License is given a distinguishing version number. If the Document specifies that a particular numbered version of this License "or any later version" applies to it, you have the option of following the terms and conditions either of that specified version or of any later version that has been published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation. If the Document does not specify a version number of this License, you may choose any version ever published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation.