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Samenvatting - boek "Illustrated History of the United States

of America" - Summary usa

Aspects of the USA (Hogeschool Rotterdam)

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Summary: An Illustrated History of the

USA
Inhoud
A NEW WORLD.......................................................................................................................................2
1: The first Americans.........................................................................................................................2
2: Explorers from Europe....................................................................................................................3
3: Virginian beginnings.......................................................................................................................4
4: Puritan new England.......................................................................................................................5
5: Colonial life in America...................................................................................................................6
6: The roots of evolution....................................................................................................................7
7: Fighting for independence..............................................................................................................9
A NEW NATION.....................................................................................................................................10
8: Forming the new nation...............................................................................................................10

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A NEW WORLD
1: The first Americans
1492: Christopher Columbus left Spain to find a new way (shorter trade route) from Europe to Asia.
He wanted silks, spices and gold from Asia.
First, he went south, to the Canary Islands. Then he went west, to arrive on the island he
called ‘San Salvador’ (Holy Savior) on October 12 1492. He thought, however, that he was in the
Indies (islands near India). That’s why he called the inhabitants ‘Indians’. Now, they are called
Amerindians or Native Americans.
Europeans called America ‘the New World’. However, Amerindians had been living there for
about 50000 years already. At that time, hunters came from Asia to America by a land bridge of ice.
The tribes followed hers of caribou and buffalo.
For many centuries, Amerindians were hunters and gatherers. Then, they found corn and became
farmers. By 5000BC, the Amerindians in Mexico were growing beans, squash and peppers.
The people of Arizona and New Mexico (the Pueblo) were the best organized of the
Amerindian farming peoples. They lived in groups of villages, built in a safe place. They built buildings
of bricks (mud, straw), made clothing and blankets from cotton, made boots from leather and grew
crops of corn and beans for food. They used irrigation, which made farming successful.
The Apache were the neighbors of the Pueblo (they also lived in Arizona and New Mexico).
They never became settled farmers, but hunted and gathered whilst wandering around. They also
stole from the Pueblo. The Apache were fierce and war-like.
The Iroquois were a group of tribes (a ‘nation’). They were skilled farmers. They worked
together to grow beans, squash and corn. They were also hunters and fishermen and they were fierce
warriors. They lived in the northeast of North America.
The Sioux/Dakota lived in the Rocky Mountains and around Mississippi. They followed
buffalo around because they depended on them for food, shelter and clothing.

Potlatches
A ‘Potlatch’ was a ceremony amongst the wealthy Pacific coast tribes of North America. It means
‘gift giving’. During a Potlatch, guests were given gifts, but they were almost forced to give more
gifts back (out of respect).

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2: Explorers from Europe

There are a lot of stories and legends of people reaching America before Columbus did:
- 459AD: Hoei-Shin (Buddhist monk) sailed from China to Mexico.
- 551AD: Brendan the Bold (Irish monk) landed in America.
- 1170: Prince Madoc (Welsh explorer)
- *time unknown*: Leif Ericson, ‘Lucky Leif’ (Icelandic Viking sailor). Only story with evidence;
iron nails have been found. This is the story of Leif Ericson:
Leif sailed from Greenland to the eastern coast of North America (Vinland). Other Vikings followed
him, but their settlements did not last. They did not colonize Vinland because of the hostility of the
local Amerindians and the dangers of the northern seas. So, they sailed away.

Columbus brought gold jewelry back to Spain, so other adventurers went back to America in order to
get some more. For this reason, Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztecs in the 1520’s. Francisco Pizarro
attacked the Inca’s for this reason as well.
These conquistadores built up an empire which brought gold from America to Spain. Other
examples: Hernando de Soto and Francisco Coronado explored the Southern part of what is now the
USA.
These stories gave Spain a claim to a large amount of land in North America They also led to
the founding of some permanent European settlements there.
The growing wealth of Spain made other European nations envious. For example, England
hired an Italian seaman (John Cabot) to look again for a passage to Asia. The seaman reached
Newfoundland and thought this was China. He didn’t find any gold, but his voyages were valuable for
the English, as they later used them to claim most of the east coast of North America.
The French also sent explorers to North America. In 1524, they sent Giovanni Verrazano for
the same reason: gold. He didn’t find anything, but anchored his ship in New York, which now has a
bridge named after him.
In 1534, another French explorer, Jacques Cartier, discovered the St. Lawrence River. He also
gave France a claim that would later become Canada.
However, to actually make the land your own, you have to establish settlements of your own
people.

Why is America called ‘America’?

Columbus believed that he had discovered parts of Asia. Amerigo Vespucci did most to correct his
mistaken idea. He was an Italian sailor who made two voyages along the coast of South America. In
his letters he described that he was sure they were part of a new continent.
Some years later, a German scholar read the letters and they had convinced him that it was indeed
a new continent. He named the continent America, the feminine form of ‘Amerigo’ because the
other continents had female names as well.

The Fountain of Youth

Besides gold, many people also believed that a Fountain of Youth was to be found in America.
Ponce de León was a Spanish conquistador who came to America along with Columbus (during the
second voyage). He became governor of Puerto Rico. The Amerindians there told Ponce that in the
north there was a lot of gold and a fountain whose waters gave you everlasting youth.
In 1513 he set off to the north, but he never found the fountain. He did claim Florida for Spain. In
1565 Spanish settlers founded St. Augustine there.

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3: Virginian beginnings
On April 26, 1607, Virginia was settled on by the English. On May 20, the river ‘James’ was found.
Their settlement became ‘Jamestown’.
The Virginia Company sent out ships to set up colonies along the Atlantic coast of North
America. The colonists eagerly obeyed this; they hoped to get rich themselves. Lots of them died. By
April 1608 only 53 were still alive. Others died by diseases, wars and famine.
The Virginia Company sent homeless children, convicts from prisons and women (who were
later sold as brides) to Virginia.
The English had a hard time in Virginia: low wages, high prices, few jobs, and if the crops failed they
would starve.

From 1611 and on, Virginia was led by military governors like a prison camp. But it was not discipline
that saved Virginia, tobacco did. It was very popular and other countries paid a lot of money for it.
Most workers on the tobacco plantations were indentured servants from England. They worked for
an employer for an agreed number of years in exchange for food and clothes.

But problems like hunger, diseases (malaria) and war (against Amerindians) still existed. Most settlers
died (3000-3560), but the survivors stayed.

In 1619 there was a change in government: there were no more governors from the Virginia
company. The House of Burgesses was set up. Burgesses were elected representatives from the
various small settlements along Virginia’s rivers. This was the Beginning of democracy in America.

Slavery existed as well. In August 1619, black Africans were brought to shore. There, they were sold
as slaves.

By 1619, the Virginia Company had run out of money. The English government put an end to it and
started governing the colonists themselves. There weren’t a lot of them left though; only 1275
survivors. Lots had been killed during the Amerindian attacks. However, Virginia was strong enough to
survive.

The captain and the princess

Captain John Smith was the most able of the Jamestown settlers. He forced the colonists to work,
so that the settlement didn’t collapse.
When food ran out, he bought corn from the Amerindians. Once, he was taken prisoner. The
Amerindians were going to beat him, if it wasn’t for Pocahontas (12 year old daughter of the chief),
who shielded his body with her own. Later, she brought food to the starving settlers.
When Smith was badly injured in 1609, he returned to England. Pocahontas married tobacco
planter John Rolfe. In 1616, she travelled to England with him and was presented to the king.
She died of smallpox in 1617, while waiting to board a ship to carry her back to Virginia with her
newborn son.

The lost colony

Twenty years before the Jamestown settlers, Sir Walter Raleigh had sent ships to find land in the
New World where English people might settle. He named the land Virginia, in honor of the queen.
In July 1585, 108 English settlers landed on Roanoke Island (now: coast of North Carolina). They
started a settlement but ran out of food and made the local Amerindians their enemies. They gave
up and left.
In 1587 Raleigh tried again. There were 118 settlers this time, led by John White. In August, he
returned to England for supplies. When he came back to America, everyone was gone.

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4: Puritan new England

Pilgrims are people who make a journey for religious reasons. For Americans they are a small group
of people who sailed across the Atlantic ocean in 1620. They went to America to find religious
freedom. Americans see them as the most important founders of the USA.
At this time, Europe was mainly Catholic. Some people doubted the teaching of the Catholic
Church. They also grew angry at the wealth and worldly pride of their leaders.
In the 16th century, a German Monk called Martin Luther quarreled with these leaders. So did
John Calvin a few years later. They were protestants. But some protestants still found the Church of
England too Catholic. They wanted it to be more plain, simple or ‘pure’. These were the followers of
John Calvin: Puritans. They fled England because they could be persecuted and went to Holland,
where religious freedom was allowed. Although the people of Holland welcomed them, they never
felt at home there and went to America.
The Pilgrims travelled in the Mayflower and landed at Cape Cod (now: Massachusetts) on
November 9th 1620. Cape Cod was granted to them by the Virginia Company. But many Pilgrims were
sick and there was not enough food and water. Therefore, they rowed towards Plymouth and set up a
camp there on December 21st, 1620.
The winter was cold and there were fierce storms. There were not a lot of survivors, but the
survivors were determined to succeed. They built better houses and learned how to fish, hunt and
plant corn.
Around 1632 lots of new colonists from England came to live with the Pilgrims. The
population grew.
The Puritans of Massachusetts made laws to force people to go to church etc. Roger Williams
(Puritan minister) believed this was wrong and that church and state should be separated. This made
the leaders angry. They were going to arrest Roger, but he escaped to the south, where he and his
followers set up Rhode Island. Here was religious freedom and separation of church and state.

1681: William Penn founded Pennsylvania. He belonged to a religious group: ‘the Society of Friends’
or ‘Quakers’. They refused to swear oath or take part in wars. They were not popular with English
governments. Pennsylvania was attractive because of the promise of religious freedom.

The Mayflower Compact

The Mayflower Compact was an agreement to work together for the good of all. It set up a
government to make ‘just and equal laws’. Both Pilgrims and Strangers (in America) agreed.

Thanksgiving
Every year on the fourth Thursday in November Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims did
this in November 1621, when they sat down to eat together and to thank God for enabling them to
survive their first rough year in America. They were joined by the Amerindians; the Wampanoag
and Pequamid. They shared corn with the Pilgrims and showed them the best spots to fish. Later,
they gave seed corn to the English settlers and learned them how to plant crops.

Minuit buys Manhattan

1620s: Dutch settlers founded a colony called ‘New Netherlands’ along the banks of the Hudson
River. At the mouth of the river lies Manhattan Island (present site of New York). Amerindians used
the Island for hunting and fishing, but they did not live on it.
In 1626 Peter Minuit bought Manhattan from the Amerindians. He paid them 24 dollars’ worth of
cloth, beads etc. The Amerindians believed that land belonged to everyone and that you could not
buy it. They thought they were selling the Dutch the right to share Manhattan with themselves.
New York used to be called New Amsterdam, but the English captured it from the Dutch in 1626
and called it New York. North and South Carolina were founded in 1670, Georgia in 1733.

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5: Colonial life in America

In 1733, the English owned 13 colonies along the east coast. They were divided into 3 groups:

New England group (north and middle)

North:
- Centered in Massachusetts
- Small farmers and craftsmen
- Small towns and villages

Middle:
- Depended on the sea; filled trees to build ships.
- Sailed to catch cod (klipvis) or trade with England and the west Indies

The Middle Colonies (south of New England)

- New York, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (largest city in America)
- Farming, craftsmen, merchants
- More tolerant of (religious) differences than the others
- Many had German, Dutch and Swedish ancestors

The southern Colonies of Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia

- Wealthy landowners farmed large tobacco/cotton plantations
- Black slaves (rare in other colonies!)

In all the groups, most people lived less than 50 miles from the coast (‘tidewater’ period of
settlement). From 1733 on, settlers moved deeper into the country (west). The frontier (where the
European settlement ended and the Amerindian settlement began) moved west. Frontier farms and
settlements were often separated by miles of unsettled land, as it was unsuitable for farming. These
people relied on themselves for food, music, tools, etc. They created their own culture. Their lives
were difficult; they had to work hard together. A feeling of equality grew and this helped democratic
ideas to flourish in America.

Cities and trade

1760: most Americans were farmers, but towns had grown where there was trade and
manufacturing. Philadelphia was the largest. It had grown very quickly. It had brick streets and
lights. The next biggest cities were New York and Boston. All three towns traded with England and
made a lot of money this way. The merchants also traded with one another. This inter-American
trade helped to produce a feeling between cities that they all belonged to the same nation.

Daniel Boone and the Wilderness Road

In the 1760s settlers moved westwards. The Appalachian Mountains were a big obstacle; it was
thickly forested. In 1775, explorer Daniel Boone led a party of settlers into the mountains. He said
that he had been ‘ordained by God to settle the wilderness’. He cut a track called the Wilderness
Road through the Cumberland Gap. Later, more people used this roads to get to cities as Kentucky.

Governors and assemblies

All the English colonies in America shared a tradition of representative government; people had
a say in how they were governed. Each colony had its own government. Each had a governor,
which was chosen by the English king. In most colonies, all white men who owned some land
had the right to vote. (A lot of people!)

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6: The roots of evolution

In the 1700s, Britain and France were at war in Europe, Asia and North America. France claimed to
own Canada and Louisiana. Around 1750, most of the forests and plains in Canada and Louisiana
were still unexplored by Europeans. The French claim to own them was based upon journeys in the
1600s by two famous explorers:
- Samuel the Champlain. From 1603 onwards, he explored lands on both sides of the St.
Lawrence river. He set up trading posts (Quebec and Montreal).
- René La Salle was a fur trader, explorer and empire builder. In the 1670s he explored the
Mississippi Valley. After paddling for thousands of miles he reached the Gulf of New Mexico.
A trading post was set up there, which later became New Orleans.

It worried both the British government and American colonies that France claimed Louisiana was
theirs, because they could stop the colonists from moving westwards.

1756 - 1763: Seven Years War (French and Indian War). The British won and the war ended
(Peace of Paris). France gave up their claims.

1763: The English king forbade colonists to settle west of the Appalachians until proper treaties had
been made with the Amerindians. This angered the colonists. They got angrier when they were
ordered to pay higher taxes on imports of sugar, coffee etc. They also had to feed and provide shelter
for the British soldiers. The colonists objected. They believed the new taxes would make it harder to
make a profit and it would raise their cost of living. They feared that if British troops stayed in
America they might be used to force them to obey to the British government.

1765: The Stamp Act. This was also to raise money to pay for the defense of the colonies. Colonists
had to buy special tax stamps and attach them to newspapers, licenses and legal papers.
However, Americans claimed they could only be taxed by their own colonial assemblies. So in
1765, during the Stamp Act Congress, representatives from the 9 colonies met in New York and
organized opposition to the Stamp Act. They refused to sell British goods until it was withdrawn.
Government officials were attacked and colonists refused to listen to them. All of this made that the
act was withdrawn. But the British government still wanted the colonists to know they had to pay
taxes. It had full power and authority over the colonies and all people of America in all cases.
In 1767 the British placed new taxes on tea, paper, paint etc. that was imported. But the
colonists refused to pay. Riots broke out in Boston and Britain sent soldiers. In 1770 the government
removed everything except for taxes on tea. This calmed the colonists down. But some colonists in
Massachusetts kept going. In December 1773, they disguised themselves as Amerindians, boarded
British merchant ships in the Boston harbor and threw 342 cases of tea into the sea: Boston Tea
Party. Britain created Intolerable Acts (laws to punish Massachusetts):
- The Boston harbor was closed until all the tea was paid for.
- The powers of Massachusetts were greatly reduced.
June 1, 1774: British warships were sent to make sure the Boston harbor was still closed.
September 1774: the first Continental Congress.

Trade laws and ‘sleeping dogs’

Until the 1670s most Americans found that they needed the British, mainly to protect them from
France. The British government also rarely interfered with colonial affairs. In the 17 th century the
British Parliament had passed Navigation Acts, which named some goods the colonies could only
send to England and no other countries. But they often smuggled it to other countries. The
colonists didn’t care about taxes, because they weren’t very high. Many didn’t pay them. Britain
didn’t do anything about this to avoid trouble. Later, the trouble did start.

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Samuel Adams and the Boston Massacre

Samuel Adams was a politician and writer who took part in organizing opposition against British tax
laws. According to him, Britain didn’t have the right to tax the colonies if they didn’t give anything
back to them.
On March 5, 1770, a Boston mob began insulting British soldiers. A fight turned into a massacre;
the Boston Massacre. Samuel Adams used this Massacre to stir up American opinion against the
British. He wrote a letter in which he lied and said that the soldiers attacked innocent people. He
sent this letter to every colony. This strengthened the feeling of opposition to British rule.

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7: Fighting for independence

April 18, 1775: British soldiers marched out of Boston to seize weapons and ammunition from
rebellious colonists in Concord, but they were warned. They put the minutemen to work (farmers etc.
who became soldiers in a minute). The minutemen were ordered to go home by the British, but they
refused. Then someone fired a shot and more followed. This killed 8 minutemen. It was the beginning
of the War of Independence.
The British soldiers arrived in Concord and destroyed some weapons and gunpowder. But
when they wanted to return to Boston, hundreds of minutemen had gathered. They shot 273 British
soldiers.
May 1775: a second Continental Congress began to act as an American National
Government. It set up an army of 17000 men under the command of George Washington; a Virginia
landowner and surveyor with war experience.
In 1776 the fighting had spread and it had turned into a war.
July 4th, 1776: The Declaration of Independence was signed. America no longer depended on Britain.
- All men had the right to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’
- ‘The consent of the governed’: Governments can only rule if the governed people agree.
The new definition of Democratic government was that governments should consist of
representatives elected by the people. The main reason that governments existed was to protect the
rights of individual citizens.
America did badly in the war against England, so Washington trained them into disciplined
soldiers. But this took time and meanwhile the soldiers had captured New York City.
In 1777 success came to the Americans. They trapped 6000 British soldiers in Saratoga, New
York. They cut off their supplies so they risked starvation and the British soldiers there surrendered.
They were sent back to England.
Benjamin Franklin (American ambassador to France) used the news to persuade the French
to join in the struggle against Britain. In 1778 they joined. From then onwards, the fighting mostly
occurred in southern states. There, it also came to an end.
September 1781: Washington and his American/French army surrounded 6000 British troops
in Virginia. October 1781: General Cornwallis of the British troops surrendered.
In 1783, Britain officially recognized her former colonies as an independent nation.

Thomas Paine, the voice of revolution

Thomas Paine was an English republican who emigrated to America in 1774 and was an influential
voice who called for American independence. In 1776 he wrote a pamphlet called ‘Common
Sense’, in which he persuaded Americans to break with Britain. Common Sense was famous and
read everywhere. Later in 1776 he wrote a pamphlet called ‘The Crisis’. It inspired, motivated and
gave hope.

The Marquis de Lafayette

The Marquis de Lafayette landed in America in 1777, to fight for a new and free society and to
avenge his father, who died in the French-Indian war whilst fighting against the British. He didn’t
get paid and he became mayor-general. He fought in many battles.
When the war ended he returned to France, but he continued to support American interests.
When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, de Lafayette was imprisoned. But he got bailed out
by the Americans.
He returned to visit America in 1824, where he was greeted as a hero.

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A NEW NATION
8: Forming the new nation
In 1783 the Americans felt more loyal to their own state than to the United States. Each state had its
own government and behaved like a country. This was a problem. In 1781, the Articles of
Confederation set up a plan for the states to cooperate. Under this agreement, the central
government was very weak. For this reason, other countries found it difficult to respect or help
America. This worried the Americans, so in 1787 they changed the Articles of Confederation, during
the Constitutional Convention. George Washington was chosen to lead the discussions.
The Constitution of the US was a document in which a plan for the new system of
government was detailed. The US got a federal system of government: the power is shared at both
the central and local governments. It made use of Trias Politica:
- Legislative (makes the country’s laws) -> Congress
- Executive (administers the country) -> President
- Judicial (explains/interprets the laws/constitution) -> Supreme Court

Many Americans were afraid that the central government would try to weaken the powers of the
local governments. The Constitution stated exactly what powers the federal government should have
and which the local states should have.
The Constitution was accepted in 1788.
John Marshall was the Court’s new Chief Justice. He as a 46-year-old lawyer and politician who had
fought in the War of Independence. In 1803 he stated that the Supreme Court has the power to
decide whether particular American laws are according to the Constitution. If not, they will no longer
be enforced.

The first political parties

The Federalist Party favored a strong president and federal government. It applied to richer
people.

The Democratic Republican Party supported the rights of the individual states. It attracted the less
wealthy.

George Washington and the Whiskey Rebellion

Corn was turn into whiskey, which was sold. Then a tax was placed on the whiskey, which the
farmers didn’t pay. They burned down houses of tax collectors etc. Washington sent an army om
15000 men and the rebels went home quietly.

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