THE FIRST INHABITANTS

~35,000 years ago: the first people went from Asia to North America by foot, as they
were still connected by land. It took them around 25,000 years to get to South
America, where most of them settled (only few remained in the north)
They scattered all over the area rather than creating one community->they had
different languages (there were about 600 of them), cultures, lifestyles and
approaches to upbringing children
As they walked southwards, they developed 3 great civilisations:
-Aztecs (in what is today Mexico)
-the Maya (Central America)
-the Incas (South America's west coast)

The next people to come to America are *probably* the Norse (Scandinavian folks),
somewhere around the year 1000 because they were cool as FUCK and the only
people who dared to go this far. A settlement was set up by Leif Ericsson but they
went back home because they didn't get along with the native tribes.
During that time, the Europeans were going on crusades and whatnot because they
were piss poor and underdeveloped so they wanted to steal and win others' riches.
When they got rich and organised, merchants became more important. They wanted
to trade with Asia, but didn't want to get robbed on their way so they searched for
another way.
1497-1498: Vasco da Gama goes to India by sea around Africa
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
round earth=go india???????????
No one wanted to sponsor his idea of going around the globe, especially in the time
of war, but in the end the Spanish king sponsored him. Columbus thought the
journey would take 17/18 days. He sailed out on the ship Santa Maria on the 3rd of
August, 1492. Travel was taking longer than anticipated so the crew wanted to rebel
and go back home, but on the 12th of October they arrived on some islands [the
Bahama islands]; this is considered the discovery of America. As he obviously didn't
get to India, he went home empty-handed. And somehow still got sponsored again.
People wanted to settle in "India" [obv actually America], but the native tribes treated
them badly [I mean. Who wouldn't. The settlers forced them to bring tributes of gold
and work for them]. The situation was so bad that Columbus actually got imprisoned.
Guess what. He got sponsored yet again. His next voyages went even worse and he
died in infamy, unaware of his discovery.
MARCO POLO
an Italian. Traveled to China as a child and wrote a book about his journey. Went to
China, came back very rich, went again. His book stirred the imaginations of people
and made them want to go to other lands.
AMERIGO VESPUCCI
Following Columbus, he explored America's shores and wrote "Mundis Novis" (new
land), that he discovered a new land which, he realized, wasn't actually India. A
mapmaker made maps from Amerigo's descriptions and named the land after him.
FERDINAND MAGELLAN
Went around the globe to prove that the Earth is round but died on the way,
somewhere around the Philippines.
The first Spanish settlements in America were pretty much only in Florida, they only
wandered out to explore and look for treasure
whatever happened in europe influenced america
For example, after the Spanish armada lost against the English in 1588, Great
Britain started colonizing the world and becoming an empire. They went to America,
as the Europeans were convinced that there wasn't enough land on their continent
for all their people. Most of those who came to America were farmers; in Europe,
they had to divide land between their children so after a few generations, what they
got wasn't enough to sustain themselves. America was an opportunity for the poor to
get some land.

1607-1733: the first 13 colonies

southern colonies: Georgia, South and North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland- [all girls'
names]
Virginia was the first British settlement: James Smith (the dude in pocahontas), set
up Jamestown to honour King James. It wasn’t very successful at first, most people
died within the first year [weather, conditions, also the natives]. It started to prosper
after relations with the natives improved.
Georgia was the last one of them (1733); set up to protect other colonies from the
Spanish who were in [what is now] Florida. It was also a place for petty criminals,
because the british prisons were overpopulated and had bad conditions; minor
crimes were forgiven if the perpetrators went to the new country and settled in
Georgia.
The Carolinas consist of land given by James I to the people who helped him regain
the throne. Unlike most people who went to America, the Carolinians were rich and
set up big plantations. As everyone had land and their own farms, there was a
shortage of workers (no one wanted to work for sb else basically). The richer
inhabitants tried to force smaller farmers to work for them, but they rebelled, which
split Carolina into the north and south carolinas; the south was for big plantation
owners and the north for farmers.
The lack of workers was still a big issue, which led to the beginning of slavery.
INDENTURES
Poor people got to America by signing indenture contracts: the earnings of their first
few years went to the captain of their ship to pay off the journey. People on
indentures would spend these few years working on plantations and then go do their
own thing.
1619-indentured servants arrived from Africa, but were never freed from indenture.
Black people were easy to enslave for the whites: didn't speak one common
language [as they were from different parts of Africa] so they couldn't communicate,
their skin colour made them easy to spot after escaping, and they weren't Christians,
so they were not protected by the law.
Maryland was named after Bloody Mary, honouring her, as the colony was set up by
Roman Catholics who had escaped from England (the first colony created for
religious reasons). The founder was Lord Baltimore, who wanted to enjoy religious
freedoms, which he didn't have in England. He signed the Act of Toleration so there
wouldn't be religious conflict in Maryland. There was very fertile land in the colony, so
the farmers became prosperous quickly, and non-christians started coming for the
good land.

The New England colonies: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode

Island
Massachusetts was also set up for religious reasons by protestants, beginning with
the settlement in Plymouth. These protestants were folks who decided that their
church was too involved in material matters and wanted to purify it [thus puritans] but
were prosecuted for this in Britain because those in the church liked their material
possessions and didn't really feel like giving them up. In 1620, the puritans left Britain
on the ship Mayflower. They first went to Holland but didn't speak the language and
didn't want their children to marry local people of different religions. So they left for
America and arrived in Plymouth. All the people on the ship signed the Mayflower
Compact, agreeing to work for the good of the colony and obey laws passed by the
majority [yay, democracy!]
Soon, the conditions became harsh, winter was coming and they had no settlements,
so around 50% of them died, the rest forming a close community. 16 years later they
opened Harvard college and soon built a printing press; they were the intellectual
elite of America.
In 1630 the colonists arrived in Boston and were well prepared (having medicine,
seeds etc); the state started to prosper very quickly. Over time, people dispersed all
over Massachusetts.
They had quite a few problems though
-religious authority=law authority, leading some people to believe that they were not
fulfilling the goal of purifying the church
-some people believed that the natives should be paid for their land
-hierarchy of the church; Thomas Hooker campaigned for changes; all people of the
christian faith should govern the colony, not just the religious higher ups. Hooker left
and went south to Connecticut.
Connecticut was created with puritan goals in mind, but to do it right, unlike
Massachusetts; Hooker wanted to purify the church. Connecticut was a good land
with rivers and fertile lands, though there were already some Dutch settlers there
and Hooker was afraid they'd take over. There were "fundamental orders," meaning
that more people would be included in ruling the community, other than the church
higher ups-that is, the community was ruled by white males who weren't indentured
servants.
Similarly, New Hampshire and Rhode Island were created by people who didn't like
how governing and religion were mixing up in Massachusetts.

The Middle Colonies: Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware (which no
longer exists bc pennsylvania vored it)
Pennsylvania was yet another colony created for religious reasons. It was set up by
William Penn, who was a quaker [a member of the religious "community of
friends"/quakers; against all wars and violence, sought friends in everyone. They
were unwelcome in Great Britain, since GB wanted to go to war and acquire land).
He was a wealthy man and got land in America from the king, to whom he previously
lent money, as repayment. Penn set up Philadelphia [Phila-delphia, city of brotherly
love], a city where everyone was welcome, and sent out pamphlets to people all over
the world, welcoming those who were prosecuted for their faith to come live there
(many actually came). It was "a holy experiment"-Penn attempted to live without
religious conflict. The experiment was successful, Philadelphia was a very
successful, liberal and modern city with no religious conflict (until the civil war).
New York was a Dutch colony at first, and it used to be called the New Netherlands.
There weren't many of the Dutch people living there, and their king was cruel and
mistreated the colonies, so when the British wanted to conquer the colony, they
surrendered without fighting and joined them, as it couldn't be worse anyway. The
state was renamed to New York and the city of New Amsterdam became New York
City.
New Jersey was the southern part of the New Netherlands colony, which was given
to the king's brother, who owned Jersey in England.
Delaware was at first populated by the Dutch, living alongside the natives (Delaware
Indians). It was then conquered by the Swedish and renamed to New Sweden [and
log cabins were introduced]. Then the Dutch came again and also surrendered to the
English without any bloodshed. The state was named after an explorer, Lord De La
Warr (not after the Delaware indians!!)
THE OCCUPATIONS OF THE 13 COLONIES
New England colonies: there were bad conditions for farming (shitty ass soil, rocky
terrain, woods), so only few were farming. Most people worked in the lumber industry
and shipbuilding, fishing (as they had ships), furs (an exception, as most colonies
only made food, this one made products, which meant m o n e y). As they had ships,
they could engage with trade-the triangular trade: they went to Africa to get slaves,
then traded in East Indies for melassis and sugar=huge profit
Middle colonies: made cereal, grains; they were called the "breadbasket of America."
They had good rivers for transporting their crops to the coast and then to Britain.
Their 2 great cities were Philadelphia and New York City.
Southern colonies: mainly plantations of rice, tobacco and sugar

Louisiana was a French colony in New France. A huge area named after king Louis
of France. It was promised to the Americans by the British king, but the French got
there first. George Washington told them not to build anything there because the
British wanted that land, but the French didn't want to withdraw, which led to military
conflict in the years 1756-1763, known as the "seven years' war" (in Europe) or the
"French and Indian war" (in America; the natives were supporting the French, as the
French were trappers not farmers and their ways of life aligned; they were friendly
and so the native tribes allowed them on the land). The British won and took over
Louisiana along with the Spanish.
The native tribes were still living on the land and wanted to regain it, as they treated
the land as their mother. They had no attitude of ownership; the land was
everybody's, so pushing anyone out was against their beliefs. A tribe leader named
Pontiac had a big role in the conflict with the settlers, which led to many battles and
the British sending more soldiers to ensure the colonies' safety.

EVENTS LEADING TO THE REVOLUTION

The colonies weren't represented in Great Britain, they were essentially ruled by the
rich taxpayers [they kept them up because the colonies were COSTLY] and soldiers
had to guard the colonies from other countries (and the natives), adding to the cost
of their upkeep.
1765-the Quartering Act - an illegal act, saying that the colonists should provide
[quarters, food, salary] for the army. And they STILL didn't get parliament
representation.
The Stamp Act-imposed a direct tax on all printed legal documents in America.
No taxation without representation; Americans were okay with paying taxes to their
local governments, but not to Great Britain. They stopped paying the taxes and
buying British goods, resulting in huge losses for businesses in GB, so the two acts
were withdrawn.
But then they started imposing new taxes yet again, which led to mistrust and anger
in the colonies.
March 5, 1770-The Boston Massacre - 5 people were killed by soldiers collecting
taxes [some boys were throwing snowballs at them, the soldiers called for help; there
was a crowd of colonists behind the boys and soldiers behind them. the soldiers
opened fire]. The troops who killed people were tried in court, 3 of them got released
and 2 got light punishments, and people felt this to be unfair. After these events,
most taxes, aside from the tax on tea, were withdrawn.
The colonists drank a lot of tea so they obviously were against paying more for it,
eventually starting to boycott the tea transport and buying from illegal smugglers. In
1773, the East India company, which stored their tea in England, got into financial
trouble and couldn't pay the english custom duties, but as it was influential in India,
the company was important to Britain. They were sent to America to sell their wares,
as the colonial tax was lower and they could afford to pay it, but the colonists
resisted and/or stored the tea in crappy warehouses where it went bad. The
governor of Boston, though, accepted the ships, telling Bostonians to unload them.
The people dressed as Indians and threw the wares in the sea instead, an event
known as The Boston Tea Party, 1773.
These two events were what led to the revolution
At first, the colonists didn't want to break away for Britain; they wanted equal
treatment (like representation in parliament)
The minutemen: the men who were ready to fight and govern within a minute. They
were prepared for fighting for equal treatment and trained with guns
1774: The First Continental Congress: the colonists met to discuss the problems with
Great Britain. Although the meeting didn't come to any conclusions, it's important
because it was when the colonies started acting together.

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

April 19th, 1775: the battle of Lexington: the British soldiers in Boston found out
about supplies stored by the minutemen in Concord and started marching there. On
the way, they were attacked by the minutemen, to prevent their taking over the
supplies. The battle, which began the revolution, was won by the colonists.
In the beginning, the American society was divided into 3 groups:
-loyalists [loyal to Great Britain, didn't want to break away]
-patriots [those, who believed that the colonies should become independent]
-the disinterested people
June 17th, 1775: The battle of Bunker Hill: the first crucial battle of the revolution,
consisting of 3 fights. The British won, though only because in the 3rd battle the
colonists ran out of gunpowder.
The British soldiers were called redcoats due to their attire which also made them
fairly easy to spot. The colonists, on the other hand, learned from the Indians to hide
and wear masking colours, which gave them advantage in battles. Sometimes the
British won battles, but it was only because they had better equipment.
1777: the Battle of Valley Forge: led by George Washington, colonists were at first
surrounded by the British but still won
1777: the Battle of Saratoga: the first *complete defeat* of the British, "the turning
point of the revolution”
1781: the Battle of Yorktown: the colonists were helped by the French fleet; the final
battle of the revolution, the British were surrounded
The peace negotiations were long and the British didn't deal well with their defeat, so
the peace treaty was signed 2 years after the final battle; the Treaty of Paris, 1783
1775: the second Continental Congress (so still during the revolution) takes place in
Philadelphia; there are 3 important announcements
-it was now the official government of the 13 colonies
-the army of minutemen and colonists was now the official American army, with
George Washington as commander
-the colonies started to print their own money
m e a n w h i l e: Thomas Paine issues Common Sense, describes the profits the
colonies would get by breaking away from Britain [trade, manufacturing what they
want and not what Britain wanted, staying away from European conflicts]. Many
people agreed with him and joined the patriots
The second Continental Congress brought up a group of men who wrote the
Declaration of Independence [July 4th, 1776], which was first signed by John
Hancock. It consists of 3 parts: why the states need to break away, what the English
have done wrong and cutting their connections.
The Articles of Confederation: the first thing resembling a law system in America,
including the Northwest Ordinance. They were imperfect, though, as everything
needed to be reorganized after the war.

AFTER THE REVOLUTION

Problems after the revolution:
-army
-money
-post
-the British were in Canada
-Indians
-having to pay protection money to trade so they weren’t ambushed by pirates [the
Mediterranean Sea, Morocco, Algiers, Tynis, Tripoli], as before independence the
British paid for them
-repaying money to the French (bonds-obligacje)
The US constitution: September 17, 1787
-they needed it because the country was made from scratch; everyone else had
kings and queens
-the problem of representation in the government: equal representation or based on
the state’s population?
->The Great Compromise: Congress consisting of the Senate and the House of
Representatives. The Senate has 2 senators per state, the representation in the
House of Representatives is proportional to the population
The most basic ideas of government in the constitution:
-limited power; only what the people give to it
-republican government; leaders chosen by the people
-federal government; power divided between the national and the state government
3 main branches of the government that keep one another in check so no one gets
too much power
>legislative: the Congress
>executive: the President
>judicial: the Supreme Court

Of course, the Constitution wasn’t perfect right off the bat and times change, so
additional problems were added to the constitution, as the Amendments. The first 10
of them are called the Bill of Right, and they protect the people against the
government limiting their freedoms (of speech, trial in court)
After the Constitution was written, a president was needed. So, in 1789, George
Washington was elected. He chose the cabinet (an advisory body), consisting of 4
departments.
>Henry Knox
>Edmund Randolph
>Alexander Hamilton: Secretary of Treasury-managing money, paying off debts
>Thomas Jefferson: Secretary of State-foreign affairs, representation in Europe
Hamilton and Jefferson became leaders of the 2 parties.
Hamilton wanted to solve problems by paying off both state debts (France) and
individual bonds (people; so they could rely on the government and not turn against
them) by imposing tariffs [on imported goods] and taxes [on certain US-produced
products], and the government should create the national bank (which he authorized)
to put the money in. The government should pay off the debts of states.
Jefferson said no. But then they needed to find a capital city, and he wanted to have
it in/close to Virginia, so they made a deal and he approved Hamilton’s money plan
and the capital was chosen close to Virginia; Washington DC.
Washington DC is independent of Virginia, not a part of the state; trees next to
Potomac were cut down and the city was built in 1800, raising the respectability of
the US: they now had a capital city.
Due to a conflict between France and Spain, the Spanish took over Louisiana and
New Orleans. As they were on the Mississippi river, in 1784 they closed it for
American transport to make those at the other side of the river join them. Americans
had no way of transporting things south, but they eventually got to use it again.
The first political parties
The parties formed, as George Washington wanted the cabinet to be full of people of
different points of view, because they disagreed, creating more ideas. Thomas
Jefferson was the leader of the Republicans, and Alexander Hamilton led the
Federalists. Jefferson was followed by the poor people, whereas merchants and the
rich followed Hamilton (people on the east coast, generally). Jefferson preferred
democracy to be more dispersed, in the hands of all people; everyone would have
the right to vote and the power would be decentralized, giving more power to local
government and decreasing the amount of people working in administration.
Hamilton wanted the wealthy to rule, high voting requirements and the power in the
hands of the federal government; centralization of power and a lot of people working
in administration. Jefferson was against the special favours for people who were
already rich and against taking new debts after paying the old ones off; Hamilton
neglected farmers and the poor in favour of the rich (the rich supporting the rich),
and believed that borrowing more money would build up industry. While Jefferson
was more focused on the relations with France because of the revolution [of the
poor], Hamilton liked the system of rich people being in power in England.
After Washington stepped down, John Adams (a federalist) became the president.
He didn’t do anything of note, but he introduced 2 new acts so the federalists could
stay in power.
The Alien Act: aliens were people who came from other countries and weren’t
citizens yet, so they couldn’t vote; depriving newcomers (the poor) of voting (for the
Republicans who would give them rights)
The Sedition Act: criticizing the president could be punished with fine or
imprisonment.
People were angry; the sedition act took away their freedom of speech/press,
violating their constitutional rights; it did not help the federalists keep power but
rather made people turn against them.
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions: written by Madison and Jefferson; a state doesn’t
have to obey a law if it is deemed unconstitutional.
1801: Thomas Jefferson becomes the president
He was very accomplished as a president, but disliked by people at the end.
Washington, during his presidency, didn’t take a part in the conflict between France
and England [because he was a fake ass pussy bitch], as he wanted to continue
trading with both countries. As a result, trade ships were often attacked by the other
country, wares taken and men put into their armies, causing economic losses.
Jefferson ended this by putting an embargo on all American ships; no one could go
to Europe until the wars were over, causing an economic crisis. He also began the
so called spoils system: rewarding his supporters with government jobs (continued
until the end of the 19th century)
Due to changes in Europe, Louisiana became French again, which made people
afraid because France was strong. Jefferson proposed to buy New Orleans for 2
million dollars. A revolution had just started against the French on Haiti; Napoleon
thought, if he was at war and just lost a colony, he didn’t really want to send his
soldiers to America and offered to sell the entire state of Louisiana for 15 million
dollars. The people sent to negotiate couldn’t talk it through with Jefferson because
of the lack of phones and stuff, but they hesitantly agreed.
1803: the Louisiana purchase. America almost doubled in size. It was confusing as
the president couldn’t buy land, so it was treated as a treaty rather than a purchase.
The land was sold to farmers, and for every dollar spent, 1000 was gained. The land
also had many trees, resources, and was very fertile. It had to be explored; the Lewis
and Clark Expedition (1804). These 2 men were asked by Jefferson to go westward
and note what they saw, make maps, find out the climate, animals, presence of
Indians and whether there was a water connection between the east and the west
(there wasn’t), as well as strengthen their claims to Oregon, as Americans wanted to
settle there. The expedition reached the west coast and they saw the Pacific Ocean.
West Florida was a Spanish colony, and Americans were afraid of them because
what if they took Mississippi or New Orleans again. So, the president took it by force
in 1810, saying that it was a part of the Louisiana Purchase. The rest of Florida was
still Spanish and they didn’t want America to take it by force too, so they sold it in
1819.

THE WAR OF 1812

The Americans had 99 problems and the British were like 69 of them. No, but, like,
they lived in Canada and turned the natives against them, while also kidnapping their
ships to France and invading territorial waters. Americans were tired of that, and
even though the rich didn’t want a war, it started. It was also called America’s
Strangest War or the Second War for Independence and lasted from 1812 to 1815.
>strange: it needn’t have been fought at all as a few days before the start, Britain
decided to leave American ships in peace, which they didn’t know. Secondly, it was
only fought in 3 places: the area of Three Lakes (Americans won against the great
British navy, as there was no wind and americans had more guns and powder),
Washington and Baltimore (the British were prevailing so the president had to flee
the capital) and New Orleans (2000 killed British/13 Americans, though a few weeks
prior a peace treaty was signed which they didn’t know about).
It ended with the peace treaty in 1815, ending the fighting without a winner or loser.
Americans proved themselves capable of self-defense against anyone.
What followed was a period of peace, the so-called Era of Good Feelings, during
1815-1819, Madison’s presidency. It ended with the Panic of 1819, when banks
realised that they lent a lot of money to people and demanded it back in short notice.
Then the government changed its policy.
1823-the Monroe Doctrine
>the United States wouldn’t allow any more colonies in the Americas
>they won’t allow to attack any other former colony in the Americas
>they won’t interfere into European affairs
It was basically a policy of isolation from European problems, as they were fed up
with being affected by European events.
The presidency of Andrew Jackson (prepare it by myself)

AMERICAN ROADS
They used mostly wagon trains pulled by oxen or horses. They needed
transportation of goods and moving the frontier. In the North there were lakes, so
networks of canals were built; they were faster, easier and more comfortable,
becoming even more convenient after the invention of the steamboat in 1807, as
these ships could go up and down the river, reaching very shallow waters.
1850-1860 was the period when a lot of roads were built. Americans took land,
leading to the Indian Removals (the South along the Trail of Tears; many native
people died).
Americans were now neighbours of Mexico and their westward movement reached
California, then spreading stories of the beautiful skies, pleasant climate and weather
and abundance of fruit in that region.

MEXICO
In 1821, Mexico became independent from Spain. A part of their territory was Texas
(larger than now), where few people lived so Americans were invited there but only if
they had no slaves, converted to Catholicism and thought of themselves as
Mexicans. They came and thrived, developing Texas, though they didn’t obey the 3
conditions and considered Texas an American territory. Because of that, in 1835 the
president took away their constitutional rights. Subsequently, in 1836, Texas
proclaimed itself an independent republic. They wanted to become a part of the
States, but the Mexican president threatened war and so the States didn’t dare.
Then James Polk became the president of the US and dared. He believed in the
so-called Manifest Destiny, that is that America was destined to spread across the
continent and spread democracy. He accepted Texas as a part of the US in 1846.
At the same time, there was a dispute with the British in Canada about Oregon. The
British didn’t want to bring soldiers from home to fight Americans (who were at war
with Mexico), so they agreed to split Oregon in half, according to the 49th parallel in
1846.
>Marcus Whitman: wanted to spread Christianity to Indians and also claim
Oregon, setting up some places on the way: Fort Walla Walla, one of the first
settlements in Oregon and a starting point for settlement there.
The war with Mexico: 1846
Mexico had many attractive areas, so much so that many Americans actually moved
to the mexican California. The war was soon fought for the whole Mexican territory
rather than just texas, which many Americans (mostly in the North) considered
unjust, and thought that Mexico should be left alone because the Southerners would
only spread slavery there.
The war lasted only 7 months, and after long negotiations, a peace treaty was signed
in 1848. The US gained a lot of land (the Mexican Cession: California, Nevada, Utah
and Arizona), and paid Mexicon 15 million dollars for the losses. Rio Grande was set
to be the new border between them.
1853-the Gadsden purchase; the last territorial acquisitions; the map hasn’t changed
since.
1849-the gold rush starts; gold was discovered on a small California farm and the
incident was mentioned by the president in his speech, which was subsequently
published in the US and in the world. People from everywhere started heading to
California; the state’s population grew from 6,000 to 45,000 later that year and even
250,000 in a few years. People got there through dirt roads in wagons, as on the way
to California there was wilderness, and the only stopping place was Salt Lake City in
Utah.
The gold diggers also needed barbers, shopkeepers, bankers etc. to function.

EVENTS LEADING TO THE CIVIL WAR

Sectionalism: the country was split into 3 major sections, which differed in attitudes
(mainly to slavery). The North was becoming urbanized with many cities and focused
on manufacturing (they had an organized water transport system and sources of coal
for energy close to factories), the South was mostly farmland with few cities (only
New Orleans, honestly). The West was slowly becoming populated.
Many were moving to the North, due to many cities and ports, and newcomers
strayed from the South as they would have to compete for work with slaves, when
the North offered industrial jobs (and had better railroads)
The North imposed tariffs: taxes on goods from other countries; if foreign goods were
more expensive than American, they'd buy local. They also believed that small
farmers should get land for free. They supported the ideas of national bank,
democracy, and distribution of powers for the states.
The South preferred lower tariffs, because it didn't impact them as much. They
prefered that everyone would pay for their land and were against the national bank;
power should be in the hands of the people.
Also: the new land additions had to be divided into states and organized
1820: there are 11 slave states and 11 free states. It’s important: each state had 2
senators in the Senate so it was balanced. But then Missouri, a new state, asked to
be added as a slave state.
Henry Clay: the Missouri Compromise/the Compromise of 1820: Missouri is
accepted as a slave state, but Maine is cut out of Massachusetts and made a free
state. Everything is balanced. Slavery is said to never be allowed to go actoss the
line dividing Arkansas and Missouri.
Now, before the Mexican war, Americans were against accepting new land, as it
would become yet another slave state. Before 1820, Southerners argued for slavery
because they considered it necessary. After 1820, they had three main reasons for
keeping slaves:
(1) they were convinced that their prosperity depended on slave labour, so taking
that away would cause the economy to collapse
(2) they were afraid that freeing slaves would cause them to turn against their owner
and harm everyone (even though only 23% of them owned slaves), protest and
revolt
(3) to take away their slaves would be to take away their property without
compensation.
Revolts happened anyway and slaves would escape through underground railroads
with the help of so-called conductors (like Harriet Tubman), who helped slaves
through. They were setting fires to plantations and crops as an act of protest.
New states are added after the Mexican war:
1849: California, as a separate territory, needs a new government; they want to be a
free state
1850: Oregon, Utah and New Mexico join; this proves that the Missouri Compromise
just postponed decisions.
Compromise of 1850 (also by Henry Clay) : California is a free state, New Mexico
and Utah need to decide on their own. Slave trade (not slavery) is banned from
Washington.
Fugitive Slave Act: escaped slaves are to be immediately returned to owners, and
helping runaway slaves is considered theft of property.
1854: The Kansas-Nebraska Act (Stephen Douglas) : Kansas and Nebraska are to
decide if they want to be free or slave states. It upsets the balance and violates the
idea of slavery never going above the Arkansas/Missouri line.
Southerners and Northerners tell people to settle in Kansas to influence the vote,
providing them with money and weapons. Thus the name Bleeding Kansas; there
was no peaceful voting, people were shooting each other in the streets and dying.
The whole thing is commonly known to be one of the worst government ideas ever,
as it only deepened the anger and hostility between the North and the South. The
government didn’t know what to do in light of the inability to conduct a proper vote.
1857: the Dred Scott Case
Scott was a slave whose owners moved from a slave state into a free state, so he
said he should become a free man now. As no local court would hear it, the case
was taken to the Supreme Court, which ruled that, as he was property, his owners
could take him anywhere, essentially saying that slavery could go anywhere as long
as the slaves were only sold and bought in the South. This was a huge problem for
the northerners.
1860: elections: Abraham Lincoln, a supporter of freeing slaves, wins. The
Southerners said that they’d leave the union if he won, and they kept their words. So,
the war didn’t start *because* of slavery; it started because the confederates left the
union.

THE CIVIL WAR

April 19th, 1861: the attack on Fort Sumter; it was the first attack and the beginning
of the war. The confederate army asked the federal forces in the fort to surrender
(and soon had to)
Ulysses S. Grant: the general of the Northern army, later a president
Robert Lee: the general of the Confederate army
All the fighting was supposed to take place on the North/South border, but it soon
went further south and destroyed it. The North wanted to split South in two by the
Mississippi River so the two parts couldn’t work together, and the confederate army
was surrounded with no possibility of calling for help. In the first two years of the war,
no one was prevailing.
January 1st, 1863: the Emancipation Proclamation: Abraham Lincoln announced that
all slaves in the confederate states were now free men, so abolitionists became
more active; both abolitionists and black people joined the Northern army, and they
started winning.
July 1-4, 1863: the Battle of Gettysburg: the turning point of the war, after which a
peace treaty was signed, ending the fighting.

AFTER THE CIVIL WAR

Consequences of the Civil War
>1865: the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified. No one person can own
another person. Emancipation Proclamation abolished slavery in slave states; now it
was illegal nationwide.
>The war showed the government’s power, showing that no state can leave the
union.
>The South had to be rebuilt; cities, farms, railroads
>The South couldn’t function without slavery???
>How can the confederate states be rejoined??
>Black people had to function in the society; but they had no possessions, were
homeless, illiterate and couldn’t do anything other than farming
1865-1877: reconstruction of the South
1865: the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. His successor was Andrew Johnson
(the only southerner who stayed loyal to the union during war). He said that
confederates need to publicly admit slavery is bad and they can be rejoined, but
many people thought they should be punished.
Radical Republicans were northern members of the Congress who wanted change in
the South. It wasn’t enough that slavery was illegal; people should be able to live
freely, blacks and whites should be fully equal. [They really believed it but also this
would get them black votes]
Some members of the Congress didn’t want to let southerners in, leading to
tensions.
The southern states introduced Black Codes, legal solutions limiting the freedom of
African Americans: they couldn’t gather in groups and could be jailed for leaving their
jobs.
Both Johnson and the Congress had their separate views of reconstructing the
south, though Radical Republicans were winning.
By the end of 1870, the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitutions were
ratified, granting, respectively, citizenship and voting rights to ex-slaves.
The president: wtf thats not ur job
Radical Republicans: lmao watch this *Tenure of Office act* Haha look now he
cannot fire anyone from the Congress
President: ok *vetoes* *fires the Secretary of War*
Congress: *impeaches him and tries for high crimes*
Johnson won the trial by just one vote and wasn’t impeached, he just didn’t run for
reelection. The conflict saved the idea of checks and balances in the government.
Still, due to all the conflict, the reconstruction was a big failure. Southerners faced
taxation without representation as they weren’t allowed in the congress. The
reconstruction ended with the Congress forcing local elections.
Freedmen’s Bureau: ex-slaves were helped to regain a position in society. In its 4
years of functioning, it was very helpful. It:
-distributed food,clothing, and medicine so those who owned nothing could survive
-organized professional training
-taught to read and write
-built schools
-gave legal advice
The sharecropping system was introduced: as, after the war, many plantation owners
were left with no workers, they were ruined and couldn’t have paid workers - and
there were ex-slaves who owned nothing. Sharecroppers were farmers who divided
their land in pieces and provided shelter and tools to the ex-slaves, and in return for
that, the ex-slaves gave them some of their crops (1/3 or ½, depending on what they
agreed on. Both sides were allowed to survive, but the situation improved for neither;
until the crops grew they had to borrow money.
More and more Southerners grew dissatisfied with the abolition of slavery and the
fact that African Americans could participate in the forced local elections; they
wanted to limit black power. Ku Klux Klan became a thing, secretly threatening the
black leaders [with killing, torture and arson; they wanted to take away their
influence].
So; getting the South back on its feet was A Process (™)
Due to the Black Codes, people had to prove their literacy and the fact that their
grandfathers voted, effectively taking away black rights because African Americans
didn’t have rights before.
Both the South and later the North introduced the Jim Crow Laws, dividing public
spaces into those for blacks and for whites only; waiting rooms, libraries, even water
taps were segregated [for 80 years, until the Civil Rights Movement]
The West was less affected by the war, so many people were moving to the “Last
West”. Railroads grew in 1870-1890; before, there was only one transcontinental
railroad, built from both sides from Omaha (by the Irish Immigrants) and Sacramento
(Chinese Immigrants). In 1869, the “wedding of the rails” took place-they met in the
middle, so people could now travel across the country without getting off the train,
improving communication. The differences in railroad length and quality between the
North and the South were apparent; the North was developing, the South was
rebuilding. The Last West was the least populated due to the rocky mountains and
great plains; the area wasn’t good for farming (extreme temperatures, bad ground,
rocky soul, natives’ hunting grounds) and few wanted to move there, which the
government wanted to encourage.
1862-the Homestead Act: if you’re a head of a family (not necessarily a man) and
lived in the Last West for 5 years farming, you’d get 64 hectares of free land. This
encouraged people to move there.
1873-the Timber Culture Act: if you planted ¼ of your land with trees you’d get more
land. The land wasn’t good; but it was free.
The land along the railroad was sold for cheap, as an investment of the railroad
owners: if people produced things there, they’d use the railway to transport it,
generating profits. The new immigrants were settling in the north because of the
southern hostility towards newcomers, and the south only had ruins and the KKK;
disparities were growing.
In the great plains, native tribes hunted buffalos, using up the whole animals (food,
skin, everything). The plains were turned into places to keep cattle and the natives
driven out into reservation (Homestead Act), but they were nomads and didn’t want
to settle down and cultivate land, especially so that the whites left them with shitty
land.
IMMIGRATION
1870 was a dividing line between old immigrants and new immigrants. The old
immigrants were mainly from northern Europe, well educated and having a
profession, so they could work in particular areas. Even if they didn’t know the
language they were eager to learn. The new immigrants were from south-eastern
Europe and uneducated. They performed the lowest jobs for the lowest wages, didn’t
speak nor want to learn English, they only knew other immigrants at the coast so
they didn’t go further. They created places like Little Italy or Chinatown, where they
had the same culture and language. Most were very poor and jobs on the coast were
easier to find, and as in 1900 New York was the world’s second largest city, there
were more opportunities.
The world war was approaching, and a lot of people emigrated to America.
Americans were afraid they’d take all the jobs, so attempts were made to limit
immigration.
1882-the Chinese Exclusion Act: no Chinese could enter the US for 10 years. The
business owners in the west which depended on Chinese labour turned to the
Japanese instead. The Japanese were considered good skilled workers (they
traveled to America after Japan opened their borders after 200 years). Mostly only
male family members emigrated to the US to get money, but couldn’t earn enough to
go back.
The ‘quota’ system was introduced gradually, limiting the number of immigrants from
a given country.
The increasing population led to growth of cities, meaning many opportunities and
creating better education, but the big population also meant increased crime rates
(and overpopulated prisons), shortage of police, ineffective sewage system and
underdeveloped fire brigades.
The working conditions were horrible, thus the rise of organized labour/labour
unions. The immigrant workers were considered replaceable, so they were
overworked and had bad conditions. They unionized and pressurized the higher-ups
for better conditions. Same thing happened with farmers and great monopolists and
land taxes.
>The main tax was based on land; the government couldn’t tax them directly but it
could tax them indirectly (in prices of sold goods), so farmers paid a lot in
comparison to the factory owners. They were also tormented by monopolist railroad
owners, having to pay a lot for the transport of their goods, when manufacturers paid
way less. Their organizations were called Grangers.
1887: the Interstate Commerce Act: all prices of transportation must be the same for
everyone. This was the first time the government actively stood against the
monopolists, as they were working together before.
1901: Theodore Roosevelt becomes the president; the Square Deal
Square deal meant equality for everyone; due to this, he was called the Trust Buster
(trusts=big corporations)
>10 years earlier: the Sherman Antitrust Act; it didn’t work.
Roosevelt wanted to make it work; he brought big corporations to court and proved
they were unlawful. He brought 44 cases to court and won most of them. He was
also the first president to notice the need to protect the landscape and create
reservations. William Howard Taft, the next president, continues fighting monopolists.
1912: Woodrow Wilson becomes the president
He was involved in WW1.
Right before he took his office, in 1913 the 16th Amendment to the Constitution was
introduced-the Federal Income Tax.
Wilson wanted to continue fighting monopolists, so he lowered taxes. People in the
North opposed this, as they didn’t want to compete with other countries so Wilson
said get dunked on no monopol anymore. Lower taxes were compensated through
the income tax, granting “new freedom” from bankers and monopolists.
1913: the Federal Reserve Act: Wilson divided the US into 12 districts, each one of
them was to keep reserves of gold (it’s working to this day)
LATER TERRITORIAL ACQUISITIONS
William McKinley, who was the president from 1897, was against changes and rapid
reforms, still had to fix the problem with Spain. In 1898, the Spanish colonies were:
Cuba, Philippine Islands, Puerto Rico and Guam; many others rebelled and wanted
freedom, and so did Cuba. Cubans wanted to break free from Spain and the cruel
ruling Spanish general. The US press wrote about the situation (the so-called yellow
journalists), and Americans raised money to help them, which angered the Spanish.
McKinley didn’t want to intervene but the citizens didn’t stop raising money.
February of 1898: a riot breaks out in Havana (the Cuban capital), where many
Americans lived. The American president sent a ship (Maine) to protect them, but on
February 15th the ship exploded, killing 200 sailors. Obviously, the US press
accused the Spanish of it, and Americans pressed the government for war with
Spain, but the government said they weren’t sure if the Spanish really were guilty,
though in the end they gave in. The war was declared and lasted 115 days; “splendid
little war”.
As a result, America now owned Cuba, Puerto Rico, Philippine Islands and Guam.
They didn’t want to own Cuba, though, so they just built the Guantanamo naval base
and granted independence to Cubans and the right to intervene in their affairs to
themselves. Puerto Rico started developing and, in 1952, became a commonwealth.
The Philippines wanted independence rather than an American rule, so the
Americans gradually introduced an independent government there, and finally
granted them independence in 1946. This was the first time a country gave another
independence without fighting.
Alaska has been Russian for years, but the tzar needed money so he sold the
unprofitable land to the US.
1867: Alaska and Midway Island become US possessions; the Midway Island was
midway between America and Asia.
30 years after the purchase of Alaska, gold is found there. People rush to get gold,
discover that the land is rich in resources such as minerals, oil, lumber and furs.
The Hawaiian Islands were independent in the 19th century, but Americans arrived
there to plant pineapples and sugar cane, got too bold and revolted against the
Hawaiian queen in 1893. Hawaii was annexed in 1893, and became a state in 1959
(the same year as Alaska).
Americans were becoming interested in Asia rather than Europe, but getting from the
East Coast to Asia was hard. Roosevelt promised to build a canal to help with
trading with Asia, but the best place for that was in Panama, a province of Columbia,
and they weren’t fans of the idea. The Columbian government prolonged the
discussions to get the best deal and the most money they could; in the meantime,
the people in Panama revolted, the US helped them and they gained independence,
then willingly gave the US a lease for the territory. South America didn’t approve of
what the US did.
The canal was, generally speaking, a bitch to build, due to the conditions
(mosquitoes). Screen doors and windows were popularized because of this.
1914: the canal is finished
America turns to China for trade, and then to Japan (which had been closed off for
years). Japan sent scientists everywhere to learn about new technology and then
surpassed them.
AFTER WORLD WAR 1
The Golden Twenties/the Roaring Twenties: America is the richest ever. Women and
POC work in the industry now, as they kept it going whilst the men were fighting in
the war.
>1920: women get voting rights
“roaring” twenties: because of the noise (industry), but also the music: African
American culture is boasted, they play blues and jazz (the Jazz Age), breaking many
conventions; Harlem-the harlem renaissance
“Nation on the wheels”; Henry Ford mass-produces cars, as one of the first people to
use the assembly line. He becomes one of the richest men in the US but he also
pays his workers more than others (3$ vs 5$ a day). The car industry propelled the
development of other branches: roads, gas stations, motels etc.; America was
developing at an amazing pace, almost everyone could own new inventions like
refrigerators and vacuum cleaners; 20% of Americans owned cars (as opposed to
5% in 1900)
1927: the first flight to Europe over the ocean; Chares Lindbergh traveled on the
Spirit of St Louis
1920s: radio broadcasting; political debates were broadcasted on the radio, so more
people could be involved in political life.
Motion pictures appeared, leading to a change of lifestyle; people went to the
cinemas instead of theatres, so those became a -refined- way of spending time
rather than entertainment.
Labour unions fought for rights of common workers, so they had an 8 hour work day;
having a lot of money and time, people went to see sports matches, which increased
in popularity.
Fashion changed: women’s dresses were shorter, up to their knees.
1919: the 18th Amendment to the Constitution; prohibition
The government believed that alcohol spoiled people, so they prohibited producing
and selling alcohol, leading to the creation of gangs who illegally made and sold
alcohol (Al Capone). They fought with each other a lot.
1933: the 21st Amendment to the Constitution; prohibition is withdrawn
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
The rich Americans bought a lot of things in installments, without paying right away;
they owed a lot of money to the banks, which gave out loans recklessly. At some
point, people stopped buying because they had everything already, and shops
started to lay off workers.
October 24, 1929: the Black Friday; a crash on the New York stock exchange.
Banks, worried that people wouldn’t pay off their debts if they lost their jobs,
demanded money back from people. Everyone rushed to take out their savings from
banks; even the banks didn’t have enough money to pay off all the debts.
It lasted 12 years, in which banks took everything from many people in lieu of their
loans, leading many to become homeless.
Herbert Hoover, the current president, believed that the government should be as
little involved in business and economy as possible. Around half of the businesses in
America closed and the others halved their earnings. People lived in Hoovervilles;
basically slumses, with houses made from trash, with hunger and no protections,
desperate to survive. When Hoover FINALLY started to intervene by lowering taxes
and increasing tariffs it was too late.
1932: Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal: he had a plan for getting
America out of trouble. He was elected in 1932 and took his oath in 1933; he was the
only president to be elected 4 times (Before 1951 and the 22nd Amendment to the
Constitution, which only allowed a president to be elected twice)
Roosevelt asked all banks to close for 100 days, and took this time to create new
laws for getting out of the crisis together with the Congress. New Deal: the 3 R’s
>Relief: immediate help to the poor; food, clothing, shelter
>Recovery: a set of laws to “cure the sickness of the Great Depression”; organization
of mass public works, it’s better for people to earn money than get it. Young men got
to clean forests, help farmers or build roads. Cities and states were paid for
organizing these. Businesspeople were asked to raise prices and keep wages up,
and farmers for not growing certain crops so the prices would rise and the economy
would work again. Tariffs were introduced to start the exchange of products with
different countries
>Reform: a set of laws meant to prevent such disasters in the future. The “Securities
and Exchange Commission” was introduced for regulating the stock market and
warning against crashes. Retired people would get monthly payments and medicare.
The New Deal lasted until 1938, when America started getting back on its feet.

AFTER WORLD WAR 2

The Monroe Doctrine is changed.
Europe is divided into the democratic western countries and the easthern countries
controlled by the Soviet Union. The satellite countries were under threat of Soviet
Union taking over; the British were trying to help Greece but they didn’t have enough
capacity. This led to the US changing the non-intervention policy into containment
policy. A part of it was the Truman Doctrine: the US would help any nation under
threat of falling under communist control. The second part was the Marshall Plan:
financial help for the European countries that would help them resist the soviet
control, which they didn’t allow behind the Iron Curtain. It was called containment
policy because it was focusing on not allowing communism to spread.
NATO is introduced; initially, it’s only 15 countries that help each other, later others
joined.
Americans wanted to help in Berlin (with the Berlin blockade), so they were sending
them cargo planes with food and medicine for a year.
The Korean War: Korea was under threat of falling under communist control and the
USA with other NATO countries felt obliged to help, leading to the 1950-1953 Korean
War and the subsequent division of Korea; the war ended quickly but peace talks
took some time.
1953: Dwight Eisenhower wins elections in the USA; “I like Ike”. He was a former
soldier rather than a politician and promised to bring the war to an end. He was
elected and pushed the peace talks forward.
Joseph McCarthy was a senator who accused many people in the government of
being communist traitors (as Americans were very scared and suspicious of
communists), there was a special commission for it. Those who he accused were
publicly harmed, their private matters were leaked and lives ruined. Almost all of his
accusations were false, but the harm was done. McCarthyism: accusing people of
communism with no evidence; the red scare

THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

->1950s-1960s
People fought for the abolishment of Jim Crow Laws.
⦁ Earl Warren: a Supreme Court judge, who heard the case of Brown vs. the
Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. He announced a verdict that segregated
schools were unconstitutional, so schools had to start opening for colored people; a
decision that the whites were against. The governor of Central High School in Little
Rock, Arkansas, was so against the decision that after colored people sent their kids
to schools, he closed them for a year, so the president had to send soldiers so the
colored children were allowed in schools.
⦁ Ruby Bridges: a 6 years old black girl who was escorted to school by courts
martial
⦁ Rosa Parks: in 1955 she didn’t give her seat to a white man on the bus, which
she was arrested for.
⦁ Martin Luther King: started non-violent protests for Parks, urging people in
Montgomery to stop using buses. The bus company almost went bankrupt and
almost 100 supporters of Parks, including King, were arrested. In 1956, segregated
buses were made illegal.
⦁ Jonathan F. Kennedy: was elected president in 1961. He supported the Civil
Rights Movement
⦁ James Meredith: a black man who wanted to study at a university after
coming back from the army. He was refused (because of segregation), but at his
fourth try was accepted, leading to violent revolts in Mississippi. He managed to
graduate, though he had to be accompanied by a group of martials everywhere he
went.
All these events showed that although things were getting better, it wasn’t fast
enough.
1963: the March on Washington; organized on the 100 year anniversary of the
abolition of slavery, to show that the situation didn’t change much and the equality
was only on paper. It was the biggest peaceful demonstration in the history of the
USA, and it was when MLK gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. It showed their
dramatic situation, and that the “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” only applied
to the whites.
JFK fought hand in hand with them, making other efforts to provide equal rights. His
program was called the New Frontier and one of its points was the Peace Corps; he
was trying to support people all over the world. He urged people of all professions to
go everywhere and teach people how to work.
Bay of the Pigs Disaster: a failed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro in which the US
tried to help
The Cuban Missile Crisis: the Soviet union placed missiles. which could reach the
US territory, on Cuba. Americans were terrified and another world war almost broke
out.
Both MLK and JFK were assassinated in the 60s, other presidents tried continuing
their work.
The Vietnam War: after Kennedy’s presidency, the US tried to fight the communist
influences in Vietnam. It was disastrous for civilians.