Revolution and Conflict

Question 1

What is the traditional explanation for the discontent behind the Revolution?

Answer 1

the increasingly
controlling and oppressive policies set by the British

Question 2

How did American colonies benefit from British rule in the early days?

Answer 2

the British colonists faced competition from the French and were outnumbered by Indigenous peoples. So they receved protection from the British.

Question 3

What were navigation acts?

Answer 3

• these acts were designed to ensure that the profits from the “carry trade” of the colonies were earned by the British rather than their competitors

Question 4

What was the single lrgest export from the thirteen colonies?

Answer 4

Tobacco
- about 25% of total value of exports.
- 90 % of this was re- exported from England

Question 5

Why was the price of tobacco 4 times higher in Amsterdam then in Philadelphia?

Answer 5

The tobacco needed to be imported and re exported form England. This lowered the price received by the plantation owners. Due to the charges and other costs,

Question 6

Who benefitted from protectionist measures?

Answer 6

• Ship builders in New England. They had materials and ready access to the
  British colonies in the Caribbean
• Finally, the naval power that protected shipping was of value.
• for some exporters, protected access to British markets were importan

Question 7

What was the cost of protectionist measures to the colonies?

Answer 7

• Both imports and exports were affected (and others outside the colonies were also made to pay more)

Question 8

What was the outcome of the Seven years war?

Answer 8

• Also known as the French and Indian War (1754-63)
• Seven Years War (French and Indian War) Spain allied with France in 1761, and Britain seized Manilla and Cuba in response.
• The entire territory of New France came under British Control
• Treaty of Paris in 1763 gave Florida to Britain for the return of Manilla and Cuba
• Britain was in debt and in charge of a newly enlarged territory
• To pay the bills it imposed a series of charges explicitly designed to raise revenu (pissed off the colonies real good)
• Income revenue acts eg. stamp act. sugar act, molasses act

Question 9

What was the Stamp Act (1765)?

Answer 9

• a long list of paperwork needed to have “stamps” added by colonial administrators.
  -These were seen as unfair direct taxes, violating the rights of colonial subjects who had no voice in Parliament.
• They were also extremely costly for some things that were necessities: legal transactions.
• The colonial economy depended on turn over of land, and loans secured by mortgages.
• These charges significantly raised these costs, and had to be paid in currency.

Question 10

What was the Tea act (1773)?

Answer 10

• Actually a reduction in taxes to support the East India Company.
• Lead to the famous Boston Tea Party

Question 11

What was the problem with Stamp duties in colonial taxes?

Answer 11

• they need to be paid in currency, which always seemed to be in short supply
• Various governments issued paper currency, which was often quickly depreciated, and the British restricted the practice.
• In 1764 the Currency Act allowed paper money, but not serving as legal tender.

Question 12

Who were the patriots?

Answer 12

Patriots tended to be lawyers, merchants and plantation owners leading an army of “farmers and urbanites.

Question 13

Who were the Loyalists?

Answer 13

Loyalists were government officials, northern landowners and Anglican clergy with the British Army at their side

Question 14

The American Revolution

Answer 14

• lasted 7 years
• relatively little fighting
• Gen. Washington spent a lot of time trying to keep his Continental Army fed and warm

Question 15

What was Britans response to the independence of the colonies?

Answer 15

• Punished them with trade restrictions
• In general, the new American economy seemed to suffer from falling wages, stagnant productivity, and declining trade.

Question 16

Characteristics of the first Constitution

Answer 16

-very decentralized, leading to a new and enduring debate about state versus central power
-Many states proposed what might look like their own version of mercantilist policies

Question 17

Why did we need a New Constitution?

Answer 17

• many of the prewar problems faced by states remained, some got worse
• Americans had grown used to trade goods from the Britain, and there was no simple way to replace the
  -The Continental Congress explicitly forbid trading with the Empire, British had no incentive to make this easy
• british blocked ports where the newly formed United States could ahve traded with the French/ Dutch/ Spanish and trade suffered.
  -The resort to printing money and issuing promissory notes to pay for the war effort fueled inflation
• International trade needed to start again
• Ther americans were blocked from British West Indies, Northern fisheries, exporting tobacco which never did recover
  -A recession followed and deflation harmed agricultural debtors. Control of the money supply remained problematic and contentious.
• The first consitiution was so decentialized that states had too much freedom and began competing with other states.

Question 18

Provisions of the New Constitution.

Answer 18

Delegates gathered in Philadelphia and came up with:

• Federal government had own source of tax revenue
• Uniform external tariffs. All recognized that this was an essential source of federal revenue.
• Eliminate barriers to trade internally: the federal government was responsible for removing state laws that affected “interstate commerce”
• The federal government could set conditions for the entry of new states
• The federal government would control the coining of money and set bankruptcy law These were all contested between the “Federalists” and the “Anti-
  federalists”

Question 19

Where did the Loyalists go after the war?

Answer 19

• soldiers may have gone “back” to Britain
• Many in the South went to Florida
• those in the North went to Canada and Nova Scotia
• “Upper Canada” didn’t exist as an independent province until 1791, emerging substantially as a result of the influx of loyalists.

Question 20

Upper Canada (later Ontario)

Answer 20

• As many as 6000 loyalist come to what would be known as Upper Canada, later Canada West, and still later Ontario
• By 1811 the population was 60,000
• rewarded with land grants for service, and “immigrants” who had a chance to acquire land, subject to clearing, fencing, and building a residence

Question 21

How long was New Spain Under the control of the Spainish before the Mexican War of independence?

Answer 21

300 years

Question 22

Mexican Revolution

Answer 22

Mexican Revolution came a century after the Civil war which is the War of Independence, leading to the creation of the current constitution

Question 23

Why is it shocking that Mexico faired so poorly in its war of independence?

Answer 23

• Mexico City had a population of 150,000 while New York was closer to 60,000 and Boston 24,000
• Mexican mining provided the bulk of its exports, and to support the mines required a large domestic economy: leather and hides, mules for transport, food and clothing for a large workforce were all supplied from outside mining regions.
  -The Valenciana mine in Guanajuato produced60% of the world silver production in the 18 th century.
• Precious metals were 84% of exports, but this supported a diverse economy. Manufacturing was 25% of output, virtually all consumed locally, and agriculture was 62% satisfying almost all local demand and supplying export
• New Spain was a multiracial society, all people had some chance of prosperity

Question 24

Why did Mexico fair so poorly in its war of independence?

Answer 24

• conditions were partly set by killing frosts and droughts with resulted in famine
• import competition was starting to cut into domestic textile production
• The war was really long!

Question 25

What caused the Mexican war of independence?

Answer 25

• The Spanish monarchs undertook reforms in the 18 th century that reversed a policy of decentralized “political” balance and decided to centralize and rationalize government
• Napoleon’s invasion of Spain in 1808 ignited a struggle for control in New Spain and the struggle between centralizers in Mexico City and the regions culminated in Miguel Hidalgo’s September 16, 1810 “Cry of Dolores” by that sparked an uprising by lower classes
  -At that time pressure on land and the demand from cities had displaced small land holders in favour of larger concentration serving urban consumers
• Unfortunately the uprising led to looting and burning of cities, threatening small-holders of land.
  -Hidalgo, the priest whose call for revolt started the process was captured by his enemies and executed
• as 15,000 Spanish solders arrived in New Spain, laying the groundwork for guerilla warfare and widespread banditry
  -Farms were burnt, cattle stolen, capital destroyed (including the Valencia mine, which was burnt and flooded), transport was damaged
• The war instead dragged on until 1821
  -At the end of the war, the successful general became politician, and declared himself Emperor, eliminated the powers of Congress and created a weak and ineffectual central power. He lasted less than a year. Central American provinces separated, and the reduction of the country began
  -Recovery was uneven, but took decades for most industries. The decentralized structures never allowed what prosperity existed to be shared, and the central government was chronically impoverished.
• Various governments and organization emerged and shifted over time. The division was between “liberals” who wanted to decentralize, import European settlers to fill the empty spaces, and challenge the power of the Church, and “conservatives” who wanted to centralize power and maintain the traditional role of the Church
• treaty that gave Florida to the US, drew a notional line to the pacific coast. But this left much of the territory of New Spain in the hands of Mexico

Question 26

What happned in the Louisinna Purchase?

Answer 26

treaty that gave Florida to the US, drew a notional line to the pacific coast. But this left much of the territory of New Spain in the hands of Mexico

Question 27

What was the Santa Fe Trail?

Answer 27

The Santa Fe trail from St. Louis to Santa Fe connected to the Camino Real leading south to Chihuahua

Question 28

When did texas declare independence from Mexico?

Answer 28

In 1835 Texas declared independence, and was met with armed forces under the lead of Santa Ana, a complex and recurrent figure in 19th century Mexico. Santa Ana scored many victories, but in 1836 put his army at a disadvantage in the Battle of San Jacinto, where as a prisoner he signed a treaty ceding Texas to the rebels.

Question 29

During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress

Answer 29

printed as much as $250 million in soon to be worthless paper money