Glossary - Grade 8
Absolute and Relative Chronology
Absolute chronology depends on knowing the precise date including the
day, month and/or year of an event. To sequence events in absolute
chronology means to organize them in an order--that is, from oldest to
most recent. Relative chronology depends less on specific dates and more
on relationships of events. To sequence events, individuals, and time
periods, students must understand past, present, and future time.
Students must also be able to identify the beginning, middle, and end of
an event or story. Students are expected to structure a story, creating
their own sequence by developing a topic from its beginning to its
conclusion. Students are expected to create and interpret timelines,
identify intervals of time, and order events in the sequence of
occurrence and in relation to other events.
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1607
In 1607, representatives of the Virginia Company of London established
the first permanent English settlement in North America. The Virginia
Company, a joint-stock company founded by investors in England, called
it Jamestown in honor of King James I of England. Several factors
encouraged settlement including peace with Spain; willing settlers lured
by adventure, markets and the prospect of religious freedom; financial
support provided by the Virginia Company; and the company's assurance
that colonists could remain subjects of England.
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1776
On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, the Virginia representative to the
Second Continental Congress, moved that "These United Colonies are, and
of right ought to be, free and independent states. . . " Congress
appointed a committee to draft an inspirational document to explain to
the world the reasons the colonies were asserting their independence in
the hopes of gaining broad colonial and international support. The
committee included Thomas Jefferson who was charged with drafting the
document. In it he asked for protection of the "unalienable rights" of
humankind, in addition to British rights, and listed other British
actions which prompted the quest for independence. Congress adopted
Lee's motion on July 2, and on July 4, fifty-six representatives from
the thirteen original colonies unanimously approved the Declaration of
Independence.
Six months prior to the official declaration, Thomas Paine published his
influential political pamphlet Common Sense. It presented a clear and
persuasive argument for independence, and convinced many undecided
colonists to support the movement for independence.
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1787
Between May 25 and September 17, 1787, delegates gathered in
Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation. Instead they
drafted, debated, compromised, and finally approved for ratification the
Constitution of the United States. It was then sent to the states to
adopt or reject based on the votes of delegates to ratification
conventions. The debate over ratification continued into 1788 as
Federalists and Anti-Federalists faced off over issues of states'
rights, human liberties, and governmental authority. Ratification of the
new constitution required acceptance by nine of the thirteen states.
Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution and it was
followed by Pennsylvania and New Jersey in 1787. Georgia, Connecticut,
Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, and New Hampshire ratified it
in 1788. The ninth state (New Hampshire) guaranteed that the new United
States had a government. Virginia and New York approved the document
later in 1788, and North Carolina and Rhode Island adopted it last, in
1789 and 1790, respectively.
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1803
In 1803, the United States acquired, under the leadership of President
Thomas Jefferson, the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon Bonaparte, ruler
of France, for $15 million dollars. The purchase more than doubled the
area of the United States. It gave the new nation access to 828,000
square miles of fertile territory and navigable waterways between the
Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains at a cost of approximately
three cents per acre. All or parts of 13 states were carved out of the
Louisiana Purchase (in order of admission): Louisiana, Missouri,
Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, North Dakota,
South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Oklahoma.
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1861-1865
The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861, with the firing on Fort
Sumter and ended with the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Court
House in early April 1865.
South Carolina, the first state to leave the Union, seceded in 1860,
prompted by the election of the Republican presidential candidate
Abraham Lincoln. Six more followed in early 1861 (Mississippi, Alabama,
Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas). They formed the Confederate
States of America.
1861: President Lincoln took the oath of office on March 4, 1861 and
sought to maintain ties with eight border states which remained with the
Union. The Civil War began on April 12 with the firing on Fort Sumter by
Confederate troops off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina. Four
more states seceded after war was declared: Virginia, Arkansas, North
Carolina, and Tennessee. The first battle of the war at Bull Run, near
Manassas Junction, Virginia, ended in a Confederate victory due to poor
Union generalship.
1862: The Confederacy started to draft soldiers to meet the demand for
troops and the Union followed suit in 1863. The Battle of Antietam, the
bloodiest single-day battle of the war, occurred in Maryland on
September 17, 1862. Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation on
September 23, following the Union victory at Antietam.
1863: From July 1 to 3, 1863, 92,000 Union troops fought 76,000
Confederates at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The fate of the Confederacy
was sealed on July 4 with Union victories at Gettysburg, turning back a
Confederate invasion of the North, and Vicksburg, ceding control of the
Mississippi River to the Union. The war continued for two more years as
the South sought independence and Lincoln demanded union.
1864: Ulysses S. Grant, appointed commander of the Union army following
Vicksburg, crafted a more aggressive military offensive than previous
generals. It included a march of destruction into the heart of the South
by General William Tecumseh Sherman, and Grant's own assault on Lee in
Virginia. Sherman's men captured and burned Atlanta in September 1864.
Grant's engagements with Lee involved destructive battles including the
Wilderness Campaign and the assault on Cold Harbor.
1865: Union troops captured Richmond and surrounded Lee in April. On
Palm Sunday, April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General
Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. On April 15,
1865, President Lincoln died from an assassin's bullet and
Vice-President Andrew Johnson assumed office.
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Representative Government
In a representative government, power is held by the people and
exercised through the efforts of representatives elected by those
people.
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Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was drafted in 1620 prior to settlement by the
Pilgrims at Plymouth Bay in Massachusetts. It declared that the 41 males
who signed it agreed to accept majority rule and participate in a
government in the best interest of all members of the colony. While not
a constitution, the agreement set the precedent for later documents
outlining commonwealth rule. Settlers quickly established town meetings
as a forum to develop their own laws, a positive step toward self-rule.
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Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut was the first written constitution
in the American colonies, prepared as the covenant for the new Puritan
community in Connecticut, established in the 1630s. It established a
precedent for written constitutions in the colonies. To the Puritans, a
covenant was an agreement with God to build a holy society. Those who
moved to Connecticut from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts carried with
them the tradition of the commonwealth, a community of people who worked
together for the good of the whole. The Fundamental Orders described a
system of government for the new community, in writing.
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Virginia House of Burgesses
Created in 1619, the House of Burgesses was an assembly of elected
representatives from the Virginia colony. It was the first
representative assembly in the colonies, and it was used as a model by
other colonies. The House of Burgesses met in Williamsburg, Virginia,
throughout the colonial period.
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Mercantilism
Mercantilism is an economic theory which states that a nation's wealth
is based on the amount of gold and silver bullion in its treasury. The
theory drove economic exchange throughout Europe between the 16th and
18th centuries. Nations accumulated wealth in several ways. Explorers
sought gold and silver deposits which they could mine.
Trade offered another method to accumulate the bullion (gold or silver
formed into bars, ingots, or plates). Generating revenue through trade
depended on maintaining a favorable balance, that is, exporting more
than a nation imported. In a mercantilist system, government played a
central role in regulating trade by imposing restrictions on trade. As
the production of goods for exchange increased, governments took a more
active role in industrial development. New crafts and trades provided
work for the idle and lined the pockets of mercantilists who made money
by importing raw products and exporting finished goods at significantly
higher costs. Those who sought to participate in trade and industry
needed government backing to succeed, especially in the oceanic trade.
The East India Company was founded in 1600 by the English government and
merchants intent on trading with the East.
The American colonies contributed to the English, French, and Spanish
mercantilist systems by providing raw products and markets for
manufactured goods. The Spanish sought to control the gold and silver
supplies held by Native American civilizations in Mexico and Peru; the
fur trade in North America resulted in significant revenue for French
mercantilists; and settlement benefited English manufacturers who sold
finished products to colonists. Buying from a colony enabled the mother
country to keep bullion within the empire.
Mercantilism was attacked by Adam Smith and others who supported laissez
faire ("let them do as they see fit") exchange. This new economic theory
opposed regulation by the "visible hand" of government and instead
viewed commerce as driven by the invisible hand of personal initiative.
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French and Indian War
The French and Indian War was a struggle between the British and the
French in the colonies of North America. It was part of a worldwide war
known as the Seven Years' War (1756-1763). In the colonies, the British
sought control of territory to the west of the established colonies,
particularly the Ohio River Valley. The first battle was fought at Fort
Necessity in July 1754, a stockade constructed by George Washington and
his troops near the headwaters of the Ohio River near present day
Pittsburgh. The French held several advantages including control of more
western territory, a single colonial government, a professional army
well provisioned in place in their territory, and an alliance with the
Huron and Algonquin Indians.
The British also had several advantages. More British lived in the
colonies, the British territory had a better strategic position and was
easier to defend, and most of the colonists were willing to fight to
preserve their independence from France. The British pushed France into
Canada and defeated them at Quebec and Montreal. The Seven Years' War
officially ended with the Treaty of Paris which gave the British all
lands east of the Mississippi River except New Orleans, including the
St. Lawrence Valley, the Great Lakes, and the Ohio River Valley. Thus
the British secured the major water routes into the interior North
American continent.
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Philadelphia Convention of 1787
The Philadelphia Convention of 1787 met "for the sole and express
purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation." Fifty-five delegates
representing all states except Rhode Island worked to reorganize the
government in the new republic. The Convention met in secret in the
Pennsylvania State House, now Independence Hall, from May 25 through
September 17. One of their first decisions was to scrap the Articles of
Confederation and create a new plan of government. Of the 55 delegates,
39 signed the document they created, the U.S. Constitution.
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Protective Tariff
A protective tariff is a tax on an imported product instituted to
protect local industries. The tax increases the price of the import
which makes it less appealing to consumers. Tariffs ultimately protect
domestic products from competition from other countries.
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Washington's Farewell Address
In 1796 George Washington decided not to pursue a third term as
president of the United States, thereby allowing the election of a
successor. His farewell address to his cabinet, delivered on September
17, was published in a Philadelphia newspaper on September 19. In it, he
stressed three dangers facing the nation. The first related to the rise
of political parties which he believed could divide Americans and
destroy the cooperation needed in government. The second was
sectionalism, or political divisions based on geographic loyalties. The
third was the involvement in European rivalries that repeatedly drove
those nations to war. The last served as a cornerstone of American
foreign policy until this country's involvement in World War I. He also
supported the preservation of religion and morality as "the great
pillars of human happiness" and educational institutions for the
"general diffusion of knowledge."
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Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was a statement of foreign policy which proclaimed
that Europe should not interfere in affairs within the United States or
in the development of other countries in the Western Hemisphere, and
that the United States would not interfere in European affairs. These
ideas, formulated by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and President
James Monroe, were presented in 1823 in response to problems facing the
nation: Russian claims to the northwest coast and threats to the
independence of Spanish-American republics in Latin America. The
doctrine reflected growing American nationalism and increased emphasis
on internal improvements which reduced the interest in participating in
international affairs. President James K. Polk revived the doctrine in
1845, and it continued as an important part of national ideology into
the 20th century.
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Removal and Settlement of Native Americans
Land was a valuable commodity in the early 1800s when cotton planters
and farmers sought to extend their settlements west and south. The
Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw of the south, and the
Sauk and Fox, Chippewa, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Wyandot, Shawnee, and Miami
of the north were all removed from their native lands and sent to Indian
Territory, much of which is in present-day Oklahoma.
The removal was not peaceful.
The Indians, particularly the Cherokee, attempted to adopt aspects of
U.S. society and government. Sequoya, a Cherokee, developed an alphabet.
The tribe wrote a constitution, had newspapers and even the Bible in
Cherokee. Regardless of the attempts of Indians to assimilate, President
Andrew Jackson insisted on the removal of the Indians from the
southwest. In 1830 Congress passed the Indian Removal Act which
designated public lands in the west for Indian resettlement. In 1832, in
response to an appeal by the Cherokee, Chief Justice John Marshall of
the Supreme Court declared that it was unconstitutional for the state of
Georgia to remove the tribe from their land. The ruling was ignored.
Many Indians did not leave peacefully nor was the going easy once they
were removed. The Cherokee endured the Trail of Tears, traveling during
a harsh winter as refugees.
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Northwest Ordinance
Enacted in 1787, the Northwest Ordinance is considered one of the most
significant achievements of the Articles of Confederation. It
established a system for setting up governments in the western
territories so they could eventually join the Union on an equal footing
with the original 13 states. This ordinance referred to the Northwest
Territory, an area bounded by the Ohio River, the Mississippi River, and
the Great Lakes and included present-day Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Michigan, Wisconsin, and parts of Minnesota. When the territory opened,
a governor and three judges were appointed by Congress. After 5,000
adult males moved to the area, they could elect an assembly and send a
nonvoting delegate to Congress, although the governor retained veto
power over the assembly. When 60,000 persons moved into one of the
political subdivisions, that area could draft a constitution, submit it
to Congress for approval, and become a state. Its constitution had to
provide for a representative government, and it had to prohibit slavery.
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Manifest Destiny
"Manifest destiny" was a popular expression in the 1840s. Many believed
that the United States was destined to secure territory from "sea to
sea," from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. This rationale drove the
acquisition of territory in the 1840s as President James K. Polk
attempted to declare the parallel of 54¡40' as the northern boundary of
the United States. Britain initially refused, but the nations
compromised in 1846 and the United States acquired the Oregon territory.
The United States also secured a vast territory in the southwest
following the Mexican War in 1848. Mexico ceded all claims north of the
Rio Grande which included present-day states of California, Nevada,
Utah, and parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming.
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Tariff Policies
Governments raise operating funds by levying tariffs or taxes on
imported goods. Tariffs place foreign merchants at a disadvantage,
making their goods more expensive than domestic (American-made)
products. Generally, northern businessmen favored tariffs because the
taxes offered some protection from foreign competition. Southern
agriculturists opposed tariffs because they were more dependent on
foreign goods. Because they sold most of their cotton to foreign
merchants, southern cotton growers had foreign credit which they had to
use to purchase higher priced foreign goods.
Tariffs imposed on certain domestic goods also caused unrest. In 1794
Alexander Hamilton favored taxing whiskey to generate needed revenue.
Farmers in western Pennsylvania who distilled their corn into whiskey
were angered by the tax because they considered it unfair. They refused
to pay the tax. In a show of force, federal troops marched to western
Pennsylvania to overthrow the Whiskey Rebellion. By the time they
arrived, the angry farmers had disbanded, but the incident proved that
the government would enforce laws.
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Free Blacks
Although they were free, African Americans in the North were victims of
discrimination. They were denied the right to vote, to serve on juries,
to be educated, to worship freely, and to have access to public lands.
In the South, most free African Americans were descendants of slaves
freed during and after the American Revolution. Others purchased their
freedom, but all were denied basic rights. Despite discrimination in
both the North and the South, many free blacks distinguished themselves
in various areas of endeavor. Many of those who gained success risked
their lives and income to combat slavery.
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Emancipation Proclamation
Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22,
1862, to go into effect on January 1, 1863. It declared that all slaves
in the rebellious Confederate states would be free. These included
slaves in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida,
Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. Following the
proclamation, many slaves in these states walked away from plantations
and sought protection from Union forces. The proclamation did not apply
to slaves living in border states or to areas in the South occupied by
federal troops. As Union troops moved into new areas of the Confederacy,
slaves in those areas would be freed. All slaves were not freed until
the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865.
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Gettysburg Address
During the Civil War, on November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln
traveled to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to dedicate a national cemetery at
the site of the Battle of Gettysburg. Three sentences excerpted from his
short speech capture the spirit of liberty and morality ideally held by
citizens of a democracy. That ideal was threatened by the Civil War.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this
continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or
any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. . .
. . . . It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task
remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased
devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of
devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died
in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of
freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people,
shall not perish from the earth.
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Reconstruction (1867-1877)
In the post-Civil War period, from 1865 to 1877, the United States
confronted the problems of re-admitting the southern states to the Union
and integrating the freed slaves into society. At the end of the Civil
War northern business was prospering due to the increased production
required for the war effort and the fact that few battles were fought in
that area. In contrast the south was in ruins. To rebuild national
strength, the federal government supported the reformation of
governments in the former Confederate states which supported the Union.
Some congressmen believed the South should be further punished for
seceding and that Reconstruction should require the following: voting
rights for all African Americans, no voting rights for ex-Confederates,
government seizure of land from planters for redistribution to freedmen,
and funding of schools for African Americans. Others, including
President Abraham Lincoln, believed in a quick healing.
When Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, President Andrew Johnson tried to
implement similar Reconstruction policies. Yet, many sought the more
radical approach. When Congress passed a Civil Rights Act in 1866 which
advocated the radical approach, Johnson vetoed it but Congress overrode.
Radical Reconstruction gained support and Congress was able to pass the
Reconstruction Act of 1867. This marked the beginning of Reconstruction.
If southern states hoped to rejoin the federal government they had to
accept the 14th Amendment (the Civil Rights Act of 1866) and they had to
rewrite their constitutions so all adult men were able to vote.
The emancipation of the slaves left thousands of people without work or
income. One of the biggest challenges was creating a system to give land
to freedmen so they could farm and make a living. This system was never
developed. Instead, due to disagreements among northern politicians and
a lack of interest on the part of southerners, a solution was never
found.
Reconstruction ended when President Rutherford B. Hayes passed the
Compromise of 1877 which removed the last of the federal troops from the
South. When they left, the Reconstruction governments stopped and
southerners regained political control. These southerners were known as
Redeemers. They favored a return to the ways of the antebellum South
including a society based on the superiority of white people. Challenges
to the unequal treatment of blacks and women became more united during the
civil rights movements and peaked when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was
passed.
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Radical Reconstruction Congress
(see Reconstruction) After the Civil War Radical Republicans favored
harsh treatment of the South and quick incorporation of the freemen into
citizenship with full privileges including voting rights for all African
Americans, government seizure of land from planters for redistribution
to freedmen, and funding of schools for African Americans. They also
agreed that ex-Confederates were traitors and should not be readily
accepted back into the union.
Even though Radical Republicans were a minority in the Congress, their
arguments gained a following. They questioned why the Civil War had been
fought if the South was going to be allowed to return to its antebellum
ways. In 1866 and 1867 the radical approach to Reconstruction gained
support and Congress was able to pass the Reconstruction Act of 1867.
This marked the beginning of Reconstruction.
If southern states hoped to rejoin the Union they had to accept the 14th
Amendment (the Civil Rights Act of 1866) and they had to rewrite their
constitutions so all adult men were able to vote. Beginning in 1867 the
Freedmen's Bureau worked to register African-American voters and start
schools for African-American children. The southerners were not united
in their opposition to Radical Republican rule. Because poorer white
farmers were eager to gain some power traditionally held by the
planters, they accepted some of the Reconstruction measures. Planters
were opposed to most Radical measures because it limited their ability
to control society as they had done for generations. The poorer whites
and planters were united, however, in their opposition to social
equality and that was a major threat the Radical Reconstruction posed.
The Ku Klux Klan gained support in 1868 from planters and ex-Confederates.
The KKK initially sought to destroy the Republican party in the South.
Since the recently franchised African Americans voted Republican, KKK
efforts were directed at them. Regardless, throughout the ten years of
Radical Reconstruction, African-American legislatures were elected to
Congress and sought southern economic and political reform. The Compromise
of 1877 ended Reconstruction. Once federal troops were removed, the
enforcement mechanism was gone and southern Democrats returned to
governmental control, displacing the Radical Republicans.
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Thematic Maps
A thematic map is a map which demonstrates a particular feature or a
single item of interest. For instance, thematic maps can show spatial
distributions of population, religion, or cattle production. Four types
of thematic maps are:
Dot maps
Choropleth maps
Proportional symbol maps
Isoline maps
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Geographic Distributions and Patterns
Geographers are interested in the location of things on Earth, that is,
where things are located, how they are distributed, and what
relationships exist between things separated by distance. Sometimes
things are distributed randomly across the surface of Earth. Other times
a pattern is apparent in the distribution. That helps us to understand
the forces that affect distribution. Consider the location of key
industries, cities, types of agriculture--all of these things are
distributed (located) somewhere, and show a pattern. Industries are
located near resources or near markets. Cities are often located at
vital transportation crossroads. The types of crops grown depend upon
physical conditions as well as access to markets and transportation.
Noting distribution and pattern helps us to understand why things are
where they are.
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Physical and Human Characteristics of Places
Physical characteristics of places describe natural phenomena such as
climate, soil, plants, animals, and topography (landforms). Human
characteristics of places include items such as language, religion,
ethnicity, architecture, forms of recreation, daily schedule, food, how
people earn a living, how they govern themselves, family structure, and
standard of living.
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Physical and Human Factors
Several factors may influence ongoing development and events in history.
Physical factors relate to the physical characteristics of a place such
as climate, weather, and landforms. These lead to events, such as
tornadoes, hurricanes, or droughts, which influence the chain of events
constituting Texas history. Physical factors also influence development.
Most early settlement in Texas concentrated in the eastern portion of
the state because the soils, climate, and vegetation compared favorably
to other parts of the South from which most settlers migrated.
Transportation routes developed to link settlements which evolved into
cities. Human factors relate to the human characteristics of a place.
These also play a role in Texas history. As population pressures in the
eastern portion of the state increased, settlement moved west. As
technology improved, settlers in the western plains began to irrigate
their crop land and the area's economy developed around cotton-based
agriculture. This is one way human factors influence development by
modifying the environment.
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Plantation System
The plantation system is a system of agricultural production based on
large-scale land ownership and the exploitation of labor and the
environment. Production is usually concentrated on a cash crop which is
sought by a national or international market. For instance, the
plantation system of agriculture developed in the southern United States
as landowners concentrated their capital in slaves and produced tobacco,
rice, sugar and cotton for the world market. Plantation agriculture
continues today in tropical areas around the world with the following
cash crops: tea, rubber, coffee, sugar cane, and cocoa.
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Slave Trade
Millions of Africans came to America on slave ships from the 1490s to
the 1790s. Of these, about 400,000 were sold into slavery in North
America, most arriving in the 1760s. The Revolutionary War and the
subsequent interest in natural rights decreased support for the trade.
Most slaves brought into North America came from the west coast of
Africa, between Senegal in the north and Angola in the south. Most were
captured by other Africans and sold to dealers on the coast. Slave
markets in Charleston, South Carolina, and Newport, Rhode Island, and
other port cities prospered during the 1700s. In 1774 the Continental
Congress urged states to abolish the slave trade and most supported the
request. Several northern states either abolished slavery completely or
emancipated slaves over a period of time. Some planters in the south
even freed slaves. By 1790 all states except South Carolina and Georgia
outlawed the trade. In 1787 during the Constitutional Convention,
delegates agreed that the slave trade would not end for 20 more years.
On January 1, 1808, Congress officially ended the international slave
trade. Internal trade continued and increased from 1830 to 1860 as
slaves from upper southern states were sold south and west to satisfy
the need of planters moving west. Efforts to stop the trade within the
south arose from a fear of slave insurrection and less from humanitarian
purposes.
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Industrial Revolution
New sources of power including the steam engine freed manufacturers to
experiment with new ways to make products. Steam power was more reliable
than water power and allowed expansion of machine production. A period
of rapid industrial growth resulted, starting in Britain in the 1700s
and then spreading around the world as more countries adopted mass
production. Handmade goods were quickly replaced by less expensive
machine-made goods. The production of cloth by machines revolutionized
the textile industry. It also changed the nature of supply because more
goods were produced faster and cheaper, the nature of demand because the
product was more affordable, and the nature of work. Factory laborers
replaced craftsmen and home production. The expansion of mechanized
production in the United States began after the Civil War and peaked in
the 1920s just before the Great Depression. This is considered a second
Industrial Revolution. The demand for raw materials and labor to
maintain production led to exploitation of the natural environment and
of workers.
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War of 1812
Often described as the Second War for Independence, the War of 1812
resulted from the need to protect and further the republican experiment
in the United States through an effort to make European powers respect
U.S. policies. The United States was drawn into the War of 1812 because
of economic ties to the warring nations of Great Britain and France.
These two nations paid little attention to the rights of the United
States to trade and the rights of its citizens to remain neutral in the
war. As the British fought the French in the Napoleonic Wars, both
committed maritime offenses against the U.S., slowing trade,
indiscriminately seizing U.S. ships, and impressing Americans to serve
in their forces. The economy of the United States suffered due to
self-imposed restrictions on trade with Great Britain and France,
enacted by President Thomas Jefferson in the Embargo of 1807 and by
President James Madison in the Non-Intercourse Act of 1809. In the
western territories, settlers blamed the British for the problems with
the Native Americans.
President James Madison asked the U.S. Congress to declare war on Great
Britain and it did so on June 18, 1812. The three main reasons for war
included: the impressment of U.S. sailors, violations of U.S. rights at
sea, and British support of Native American opposition to colonial
settlement. In 1812 and 1813, the United States attempted to seize
Canada as part of the strategy to reduce the dominance of Great Britain
and force the nation to recognize the United States and abide by its
foreign policies.
After the defeat of Napoleon in mid-1814, the British became more
aggressive toward the United States. The British invaded several ports and
set fire to government buildings, including the White House in Washington,
D.C., in reprisal for the raids in Canada. The Treaty of Ghent, signed in
late December 1814, ended the war. The famous Battle of New Orleans
occurred two weeks later on January 8, 1815. Andrew Jackson won public
recognition for defending the city from the superior forces of the
British. He was elected and served two terms as President of the United
States from 1829 to 1837.
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Free Enterprise System
A free enterprise system is an economic system in which individuals depend
on supply and demand and the profit margin to determine the answers to the
four basic economic questions of "what to produce," "how to produce," "how
many to produce," and "for whom to produce." Profit is an improved
situation, usually measured in dollars. The quest for improvement
financially and materially motivates producers and consumers in the free
enterprise system. Government regulation is kept to a minimum. Competition
between companies makes it more difficult to answer the questions of what
and how much to produce and for whom, but it does make it harder for one
company to monopolize the market.
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Magna Carta
The Magna Carta is the cornerstone of English justice and law. King John,
who ruled between 1199 and 1216 AD, angered the English nobility and
commoners alike by his lack of military prowess and his heavy taxation to
pay a large national debt. Members of the nobility, the archbishop of
Canterbury, and the Earl of Pembroke forced King John to sign the Magna
Carta in 1215. It declared that the king and government were bound by the
same law as other citizens of England. It contained the antecedents of the
ideas of due process of law and the right to a fair and speedy trial that
are included in the protection offered by the U.S. Bill of Rights. The
English viewed it as a guarantee of law and justice.
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English Bill of Rights
In 1689, King William and Queen Mary accepted the English Bill of Rights
which guaranteed certain rights to English citizens and declared that
elections for Parliament would happen frequently. The document followed
the Glorious Revolution in which the English people forced absolute
monarch James II to leave the country. William and Mary then assumed rule.
By agreeing to the English Bill of Rights, they supported a limited
monarchy, a system in which they shared their power with Parliament and
the people, and did not have absolute power, as James II had sought. The
influence of the English Bill of Rights can be seen in the Bill of Rights
to the U.S. Constitution.
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Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is a document adopted by the Second
Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. It established the 13 colonies as
independent states, free from rule by Great Britain. The committee
appointed to write the Declaration of Independence included Benjamin
Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Thomas
Jefferson.
Thomas Jefferson wrote the majority of the declaration. In the Preamble,
Jefferson explained that it was necessary to list the reasons why the
colonies sought their own government. In three sections Jefferson
outlined the reasons: people have the right to control their own
government; the British government and King used their power unjustly to
control the colonies; and the colonies had tried to avoid separating
from Britain, but Britain refused to cooperate.
The most famous passage concerns the right to govern:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to
secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their
just power from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of
Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the
People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government. . . "
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Federalist Papers
After the delegates to the Philadelphia Convention finished writing the
U.S. Constitution, each state elected delegates to a ratification
convention. Ratification was required by nine of the 13 states in order
for the constitution to take effect. People were divided over issues of
the extent of power of the Constitution, the degree to which the rights of
states were protected, and the degree to which the rights of citizens were
protected. Those favoring the new form of government, which divided power
between a strong central government and the states, were called
Federalists. Those seeking greater power for states were called
Anti-Federalists. In an effort to sway opinion and get the Constitution
approved, three leading Federalists wrote a series of 85 essays which
explained the new government and the division of power. Published as The
Federalist, the series was written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton,
and John Jay. For instance, The Federalist, No. 10 (1787) defines the
republican form of government which Federalists envisioned and the process
of electing representatives to Congress.
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Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, was
adopted by the Second Continental Congress in 1781 during the Revolution.
It provided guidance to government for seven years and gave Congress
limited authority to make laws and to draw up treaties with other nations.
The Articles were limited in providing solutions to many challenges facing
the new Republic because the states held most of the power, and Congress
lacked the power to tax, regulate trade, or control coinage. In 1787 the
Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia to revise the Articles, but
instead the delegates constructed a new constitution.
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U.S. Constitution
A constitution is a document that outlines the powers of government. One
of the foundations of the American system of government is the use of a
written constitution defining the values and principles of government
and establishing the limits of power. The U.S. Constitution evolved from
the Articles of Confederation, adopted in 1781. The Articles established
a national congress with a limited number of powers including the
authority to make laws and enter into treaties with other nations. By
1787 a new system was needed as states were acting independently, and
Congress lacked the power to tax, regulate trade, or control coinage,
issues critical for the survival of a new nation of united states.
Congress announced a call for delegates to a convention "for the sole
and express purpose of revising" the Articles of Confederation. The
Philadelphia Convention began in the Pennsylvania State House, now
called Independence Hall, on May 25, 1787. Fifty-five delegates from 12
of the 13 states participated. The more daring quickly overstepped the
intended goal of the convention by proposing plans to replace the old
Articles.
James Madison formulated many of the ideas included in the Constitution
and is known as the "Father of the Constitution." He proposed that the
U.S. government be organized in three branches: a legislative branch
(Congress), an executive branch (the President) and a judicial branch
(Supreme Court). The "Great Compromise" related to representation of
states in the federal government. Delegates engaged in heated debate but
finally agreed that legislative power should rest in a two-house
Congress, the House of Representatives including delegates from each
state based on population, and the Senate including an equal number of
elected delegates from each state. Article II outlined the executive
department and the powers of the President within that branch. This new
form of government distributed the power between a central government
and the states, a system called federalism.
Other compromises made during the drafting process included the
establishment of an Electoral College to elect the president indirectly
instead of by direct election, and the "three-fifths compromise" which
counted slaves as three-fifths of a person when apportioning direct
taxes or counting representation in the House of Representatives.
Another compromise related to the slave trade which the convention
agreed to end in 1807.
Article VII, Ratification of the Constitution, outlined the process
which required nine states to approve the U.S. Constitution. The process
fostered one of the great debates of American history. The Federalists,
who favored a strong central government, supported the Constitution
while the Anti-Federalists favored states' rights and the protection of
individual rights through a Bill of Rights. They opposed ratification.
Madison worked with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay to write The
Federalist calling for ratification. Delegates elected to state
conventions determined the outcome. The first nine states approved the
constitution between December 1787 and June 1788. The last four states
ratified out of fear of exclusion, believing they could not exist
separate from the union. Rhode Island was the last to ratify in May
1790.
The Framers of the Constitution understood that society would change
over time, and made provisions for amendments to be formally proposed
and ratified by both the state and federal governments. In the last 200
years, there have been 27 amendments to the Constitution, including the
Bill of Rights. Informal amendments to the Constitution keep the
government up-to-date without formal modifications to the document, such
as Court decisions (Roe v. Wade), legislation (commerce laws), executive
actions (the President's cabinet), and customs (Democrat/Republican
parties).
Article V, The Process of Amendment, outlines the ways to keep the
Constitution current. The first Congress proposed the Bill of Rights, the
first ten amendments, which protected basic human rights and freedoms.
This pleased Anti-Federalists who felt the original document did not
extend adequate protection. The power of judicial review, first assumed by
the U.S. Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison, allows the federal judicial
branch to rule on issues of constitutional law including civil liberties,
suspect's rights, equality, women's rights, minority rights, foreign
policy, and constitutional change. Through the process of amendment and
judicial review, the Constitution is adapted to the needs of each
generation of Americans.
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Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the Constitution,
ratified in 1791. The 1st Amendment protects several fundamental rights of
U.S. citizens: freedom of religion, of speech, and of the press, and the
rights to assemble and to petition. The next seven amendments guarantee
other freedoms including the right to a fair trial and the right to bear
arms. Homes are protected from search without just cause, citizens are
protected from the imposition of housing troops during peacetime, and
those accused of crimes are entitled to fair treatment before the law. The
9th Amendment guarantees that people retain rights not enumerated in the
Constitution and the 10th amendment limits federal power by granting to
the states all powers not specifically assigned by the Constitution to the
national government.
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Limited Government
In a limited government everyone, including all authority figures, must
obey the laws. Constitutions, statements of rights, or other laws define
the limits of those in power so they cannot take advantage of their
elected, appointed, or inherited positions. In an unlimited government,
control is placed solely with the ruler and his/her appointees, and there
are no limits imposed on his/her authority.
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Republicanism
Republicanism is a philosophy of limited government with elected
representatives serving at the will of the people. Republicanism says that
the only legitimate government is one based on the consent of the
governed.
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Checks and Balances
The U.S. Constitution authorizes each branch of government to share its
powers with the other branches and thereby check their activities and
power. The President can veto legislation passed by Congress, but Congress
can override the veto. The Senate confirms major appointments made by the
President, and the courts may declare acts passed by Congress as
unconstitutional.
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Federalism
Federalism is the distribution of power between a federal government and
the states within a union.
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Separation of Powers
Baron de Montesquieu first outlined the concept of separating the powers
of government between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches
in The Spirit of the Laws (1748). His ideas influenced those who
proposed the Virginia Plan in the opening discussion of the Philadelphia
Convention, held in 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation.
Delegates to the convention modified the Virginia Plan, merged it with
the New Jersey Plan proposed later, defined the three branches, and
outlined their responsibilities and limitations of power in the U.S.
Constitution. The branches included the legislative branch know as
"Congress" made up of a "House of Representatives" and a "Senate," the
executive branch known as the "President," and the judicial branch known
as the "Supreme Court."
The convention agreed that Congress, which made laws, would consist of
an equal number of senators from each state and a variable number of
representatives from each state based on population. The powers of the
legislative branch are outlined in Article I of the U.S. Constitution.
The President would lead the executive branch, which carried out the
laws and ensured their just application. These powers are outlined in
Article II of the U.S. Constitution. The judicial branch, consisting of
all courts of the United States including the highest court, the Supreme
Court, would interpret and apply the laws, ensuring that they are just.
Its powers are outlined in Article III. The delegates to the
Philadelphia Convention felt this afforded protection to U.S. citizens.
In addition this new form of government distributed the power between a
central government and the states. The system was called federalism.
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Popular Sovereignty
Popular sovereignty is the concept that political power rests with the
people who can create, alter, and abolish government. People express
themselves through voting and free participation in government. Popular
sovereignty is an important characteristic of democratic government.
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Individual Rights
Many opposed the Constitution in 1787 because they believed it did not
offer adequate protection of individual rights. The Bill of Rights,
ratified in 1791, were created to correct this. The individual rights
protected in the Bill of Rights include economic rights related to
property, political rights related to freedom of speech and press, and
personal rights related to bearing arms and maintaining private
residences.
The structure of the U.S. Constitution allows for adaptation based on
changing public opinion and the need to protect individual rights. For
instance, debates over the institution of slavery raised concerns about
property and property protection afforded by the U.S. Constitution. In the
decision Dred Scott v. Sandford, the Supreme Court ruled that slaves were
property and that the Missouri Compromise, which prohibited slavery in
certain parts of the United States, was unconstitutional in that it
deprived people of property, their slaves. As public opinion changed,
voters amended the Constitution to free slaves, to protect their rights,
and to extend their right to vote.
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13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment, one of three passed during the era of Reconstruction,
freed all slaves without compensation to the slaveowners. President
Abraham Lincoln first proposed compensated emancipation as an amendment in
December 1862. His Emancipation Proclamation declared slaves free in the
Confederate states in rebellion, but did not extend to border states.
After Lincoln's assassination, President Andrew Johnson declared his own
plan for Reconstruction which included the need for Confederate states to
approve the 13th Amendment. The amendment, adopted in 1865, eight months
after the war ended, legally forbade slavery in the United States.
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14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment is one of three to the U.S. Constitution passed
during the era of Reconstruction to protect the rights and involvement
of citizens in government. It declared that all persons born or
naturalized in the United States (except Indians) were citizens, that
all citizens were entitled to equal rights regardless of their race, and
that their rights were protected at both the state and national levels
by due process of the law. Political pressure ensured ratification.
In 1866, Congress passed the Civil Rights Bill which extended citizenship
to blacks. President Andrew Johnson opposed and vetoed the legislation but
Congress overruled his veto and then proposed the 14th Amendment. In 1866,
ten of the eleven Confederate states refused to ratify, but the Military
Reconstruction Act, passed by Congress on March 2, 1867, required all
seceded states to ratify the amendment as a condition of their
re-admission into the union. In 1868, the required number of states
ratified the 14th Amendment . The amendment did not extend the right to
vote to black men but it encouraged states to allow them to vote by
limiting the Congressional representation of any state that did not extend
the right. The amendment disappointed women's rights activists because it
equated the right to vote as a male right. Most significantly, the
amendment incorporated the "due process clause" as outlined in the 5th
Amendment and ensured the protection of citizen's rights, previously only
guaranteed at the national level, at the state level.
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15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment, one of three amendments to the U.S. Constitution
passed during the era of Reconstruction, granted black men the right to
vote. The amendment derived from a requirement in the Military
Reconstruction Act, passed by Congress on March 2, 1867, that Confederate
states, as a condition for readmission into the Union, extend the right to
vote to former adult male slaves. Congress eventually sought more
stringent means to safeguard the vote for black men by proposing a
constitutional amendment in 1869. It was ratified in 1870. Women's rights
activists opposed the amendment because it defined the right to vote as a
male right. Thus, gender remained a determining factor in denying women
the right to vote in national and state elections until 1920 when the 19th
Amendment was ratified. Between 1870 and 1920, a few states including
Wyoming did extend the right to vote to women but women could not vote in
national elections until after passage of the 19th Amendment.
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Judicial Review
The three branches of government -- legislative, executive and judicial
--were established to balance power, but the U.S. Constitution is the
supreme law. The judicial branch is responsible for interpreting and
applying laws and ensuring that they are constitutional. In the early
1800s the Supreme Court established the principle of judicial review.
Acting within the powers of Article III, the judicial branch strengthened
federal authority over state and private authority when the issue
threatened rights established in the Constitution. Chief Justice John
Marshall ruled in Marbury v. Madison (1803) that a law passed by Congress
in 1789 was unconstitutional. Marshall stressed that "the Constitution is
superior to any ordinary act of legislature. . . and must govern."
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Federalists and Anti-Federalists
The adoption of the U.S. Constitution was not an easy process. Citizens
disagreed over the way the document divided power between the states and
the national government, the degree to which the rights of states were
protected, and the degree to which the rights of citizens were
protected.
Those favoring ratification of the Constitution and adoption of the
federalist form of government were called Federalists. Those opposed to
the Constitution because they feared the power of the national
government in the new federal system were called Anti-Federalists.
Anti-Federalists were also concerned that if the national government
could overrule state decisions, the protection of the liberty of
individuals would be at risk. Patrick Henry and George Mason were
leading Anti-Federalists. Henry was so opposed to the process that he
did not even attend the convention which drafted the Constitution.
Thomas Jefferson favored some aspects of the Constitution but was
concerned about the lack of protection for the rights of states and the
absence of support for individual rights. He supported the inclusion of a
Bill of Rights. In an effort to sway opinion and get the Constitution
ratified, three leading Federalists -- James Madison, Alexander Hamilton,
and John Jay -- published their views in The Federalist , a series of 85
newspaper essays which have become a classic of American political
thought.
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Nullification Crisis
In 1828, Congress approved a high tariff to protect U.S. interests from
competition from foreign trade. This angered southerners who dealt
directly with merchants in Britain. The planters favored freedom of trade
and believed in the authority of their states over the federal government.
In 1832 Congress passed a lower but still protective tariff. Angered South
Carolinians, led by Senator John C. Calhoun, declared the federal tariff
null and void within its borders. Delegates to a special convention urged
the state legislature to take military action and to secede from the union
if the federal government demanded the customs duties. To prevent a civil
war, Henry Clay, senator from Kentucky, proposed the compromise Tariff of
1833 which gradually reduced the protective tariff over ten years.
Southerners accepted the measure but northerners countered with the Force
Bill which authorized the president to use the army and navy to collect
the duties. The nullifiers repealed the ordinance of nullification but
accomplished their goal of reducing the tariff.
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Marbury v. Madison
(See judicial review) Marbury v. Madison was the first judgment by the
Supreme Court which supported the federal system of government. In 1803,
Chief Justice John Marshall, a Federalist, upheld and strengthened the
authority of the federal judiciary. He established the principle of
judicial review, the power of the judiciary to determine that a law can be
declared unconstitutional.
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McCulloch v. Maryland
In 1819, Chief Justice John Marshall continued to define the limits of the
U. S. Constitution and of the authority of the federal and state
governments. Maryland was opposed to the establishment of a national bank
and challenged the authority of the federal government to establish one.
The Supreme Court ruled that the power of the federal government was
supreme over that of the states and that the states could not interfere.
This decision supported the concept that the Constitution was the supreme
law of the land.
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Gibbons v. Ogden
In Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), Chief Justice John Marshall of the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution gave control of interstate
commerce to the U.S. Congress, not the individual states through which a
route passed. The ruling responded to an effort by the state of New York
to accept a monopoly to operate steam boat traffic between New York and
New Jersey.
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Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott v. Sandford was a landmark Supreme Court case in 1857 which
confirmed the status of slaves as property rather than citizens. Chief
Justice Roger Taney wrote that a slave could not be heard in federal
courts because he was not a citizen and had no protection under the
Constitution. Also, Congress had no authority over slavery in the
territories, and upon statehood, each territory would determine whether it
would be a slave state or a free state.
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Unalienable (Inalienable) Rights
Unalienable rights are fundamental rights or natural rights guaranteed to
people naturally instead of by the law. The Declaration of Independence
equated natural rights with several truths, "that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
The phrase "unalienable rights" was also used in the Virginia Declaration
of Rights. Other rights are guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, the first
ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
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Naturalized Citizen
A naturalized citizen is a person of foreign birth who is granted full
citizenship.
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Founding Fathers
The term "founding fathers" applies to those individuals who played a
major role in declaring U.S. independence, fighting the Revolutionary War,
or writing and adopting the U.S. Constitution. Founding fathers include
Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and James Madison.
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Civic Virtue
The term "civic" relates to involvement in a community. Citizens of a
neighborhood, town, state, or nation have an obligation to be active,
peaceful, loyal, and supportive members of that community. Those with
civic virtue go a step beyond their obligations by taking an active role
in improving the community and the experiences of other members of the
community.
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Civil Disobedience
Civil disobedience is the process of defying codes of conduct within a
community or ignoring the policies and government of a state or nation
when the civil laws are considered unjust. Henry David Thoreau included
the essay "Civil Disobedience" in Walden, a collection of his writings. He
did not want people to break the law indiscriminately but he urged people
to challenge laws they considered unjust by refusing to obey them. This is
called passive resistance. World leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr.
and Mohandas K. Gandhi followed Thoreau's advice. Blacks boycotted buses
in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1956 until the Supreme Court ruled that
segregation on buses was illegal. Non-violent protest led to the signing
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned discrimination.
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Points of View of Political Parties
Several factors contributed to the division of political activity in the
United States into a party system. Parties reflect different points of
view regarding structures of governance, economics and national finance,
political representation, and rights and responsibilities of
individuals, states, and the nation. Politically active people with
competing interests, opinions, and attitudes united under party names to
argue their causes. In the 1830s published party platforms and public
debates developed to inform voters of the goals and objectives proposed
by each party. The Anti-Masonic party held the first national convention
in 1831.
Republicanism and constitutional democracy require representation of
different points of view and involvement of different interest groups.
The Constitution resulted from rigorous debate between those favoring a
strong central government and those favoring a union of sovereign
states. Those favoring a centralized government also believed in
classical republicanism, with power vested in representatives who were
fit to lead due to their wealth and education. This contrasted to
opinions held by states' rights advocates who believed in popular or
mass participation in government. Tension continued between these
factions and resulted in threats to nullify national laws or to secede
from the union. The authority of the federal government was re-enforced
during the Civil War when President Abraham Lincoln, a Republican,
accepted nothing less than full compliance with national causes on the
part of the largely Democratic south.
Special interest groups often function within the two-party system. This
increased during the Progressive movement on the local and state levels in
the 1890s to 1900s, and on the national and international levels in the
1910s and 1920s. Differing points of view also result in the formation of
third-parties, the Anti-Masons, the Populists, the Socialists, and the
Liberal Party to name a few.
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Abolitionist Movement
The abolitionist movement began in the Revolutionary era, partially in
response to the inhumane treatment of slaves and partially in an effort to
remove blacks from white society. The movement in the late 1700s
concentrated on freeing the slaves as a humane act. Quakers in
Pennsylvania established the first anti-slavery society in the world in
1775. Interest in returning slaves to Africa resulted in the formation of
the American Colonization Society in 1817. The Republic of Liberia,
established in 1822 on the west coast of Africa, served as a destination
for approximately 15,000 slaves freed and returned. However, most slaves
considered Africa a foreign culture and sought freedom and a home in
America. In the 1830s American abolitionists sought to follow the example
set in the West Indies by the British who freed the slaves in 1833. The
religious revivals of the Second Great Awakening also inspired
abolitionists to speak out against the sin of slavery. Abolitionists
published anti-slavery publications including pamphlets and newspapers.
Supporters of William Lloyd Garrison, a vocal abolitionist and publisher
of the newspaper The Liberator, formed the American Anti-Slavery Society
in 1833. African Americans played a key role in the abolitionist movement,
most notably Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth. Realizing they needed
a political voice, abolitionists supported the Liberty Party in 1840, the
Free Soil party in 1848, and the Republican party in the 1850s.
Abolitionists realize their goal with the passage of the 13th Amendment.
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Reform Movements
Efforts to reform society, or change it for the better, took on renewed
purpose in the early 19th century as reformers gained confidence in
themselves and worked to share their good fortune with others. Factors
which increased reform activity included a new surge of religious
revivals during the second Great Awakening and the growing abolitionist
movement. Reformers believed they could improve society by sharing
religion and education with the less fortunate. Upper class men and
women in the northeast led the effort. The most powerful reform
movements were led by abolitionists and by suffragists. The abolitionist
movement gained support during the 1830s and 1840s. At the same time,
women realized their position in society needed reforming. The suffrage
movement emerged as a result. Abolitionists in the United States sought
freedom for African-American slaves while suffragists sought equal
rights for women, particularly the right to vote. These efforts to
attain civil rights culminated in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Reformers also strove to correct unfair labor practices; improve living
conditions for the poor, the imprisoned, alcoholics, and the disabled;
and ensure that education was widely available. Reformers who became
frustrated with their attempts to effect change sought refuge in their
own utopian societies, ideal communities where they could live by their
own standards of conduct.
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First and Second Great Awakenings
The Great Awakening occurred in the 1730s and 1740s in response to
inflexible Puritan doctrine. A lay ministry developed which preached
personal salvation by good works in contrast to predestination as
preached by Puritans. Others, led by Jonathan Edwards, urged believers
to develop a personal relationship with God to gain their personal
salvation. Ministers spread the word through revival meetings. Hundreds
were "saved" and declared their trust in God without needing the clergy
to channel their prayers. The Great Awakening revitalized American
religion by adding emotion.
Missionary work developed in an effort to spread salvation to Indians and
slaves. In the early 1800s, the second Great Awakening erupted as those
favoring the personal and emotional approach associated with evangelical
faiths conflicted with those seeking more rational beliefs. The second
Great Awakening reinvigorated church membership and furthered humanitarian
efforts including abolitionism, prison reform, the temperance movement,
and women's suffrage. More people participated in it than in the first
Great Awakening, meeting outdoors under open tents to hear emotional
preachers who "rode the circuit" promoting personal conversion. These camp
meetings contributed to numerous conversions and vows to change wayward
behavior. Membership in Baptist and Methodist churches increased most
significantly.
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Bessemer Steel Process
The Bessemer steel process is the process of removing impurities from iron
to make steel. Steel is less brittle and stronger than iron. Industry
needed steel but was limited by the small quantity that could be
manufactured using traditional methods to remove impurities. In the 1850s,
British inventor Henry Bessemer discovered that a blast of hot air
directly on melted iron reduced the impurities in iron. As a result, steel
manufacturing increased nearly 20 fold during the era of the Industrial
Revolution in America. Steel bridges, steel rails for railroads, and the
production of automobiles were major technological achievements. Steel
reinforcements in skyscrapers aided urbanization, and increased production
of household appliances brought steel into the home.
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Primary Sources
Primary sources are evidence produced by someone who participated in an
event or lived during the time being studied. Letters written to a friend
or maps to a friend's house are both primary sources. Researchers collect
primary sources through conducting surveys, field work, personal
interviews, and research in archives.
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Secondary Sources
Secondary sources are descriptions or interpretations prepared by people
who were not involved in the events described. Researchers often use
primary sources to understand past events but they produce secondary
sources. Secondary sources provide useful background material and context
for information gained from primary sources.
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Generalizations
Generalizations are statements about relationships between and among
concepts. They organize and summarize information obtained from the
analysis of facts. A generalization is usually a broad assertion that
something is always true. A fact, on the other hand, is a truth only about
a particular incident or case. Here is a generalization: The nature of
democracy in the United States continually evolves as society grows and
changes. Here is a fact which supports it: Women received the right to
vote in 1924.
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Points of View, Frames of Reference, and Historical Context
Historians and social scientists strive to understand what happened in
the past but are often limited by incomplete evidence. To analyze
available sources they identify the different interests, opinions, and
attitudes reflected in the evidence (points of view) and understand the
vantage point of those who created the evidence (frames of reference).
Then they place the people and events in historical context, relating
them to other events and ideas which occurred at the same time. By doing
so, students gain a greater understanding of what happened and how it
relates to current events.
For instance, the Constitution reflects conflicting agendas of special
interest groups. Described by many as a document which furthered
democracy, others argued that it hindered it. The first ten amendments,
the Bill of Rights, were added later to satisfy those interested in
protecting the people from the powers of a strong central government.
The Federalist and Anti-Federalist debates at ratification provide
further evidence of conflicting points of view which contributed to the
U.S. Constitution as it exists today. Any explanation of the
significance of the Constitution and its heritage remains incomplete if
the points of view which cause differences of opinion are not understood
and acknowledged.
The farmer in Massachusetts had an opinion about the Constitution as did
the planter of Virginia and the merchant in Charleston, South Carolina.
The information each acquired differed based on their participation in
the drafting and ratification of the Constitution. Just as the
perception of a football player on the line of scrimmage differs from
that of the referee and of the fan sitting in the bleachers, the frame
of reference of James Madison and other pro-Constitution delegates
differed from those of the Anti-Federalists who fought it.
Historians and other social scientists also have a frame of reference, one
based in the present, and informed by new approaches and methods. They
analyze thea available evidence by sorting through it, prioritizing it,
distinguishing important information from the less important, and
interpreting it. Thus, interpretations of one event change over time,
partially due to new ways to look at old sources. New sources also
contribute to new understandings.
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Social Studies Center for Educator Development (SSCED)
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/resources/ssced/
Copyright © 1997-2000Texas Education Agency.
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