Part one- US

• Atlantic and Pacific Oceans


  • Most influenced U.S. foreign policy throughout the 18th, 19th, and 20th century
  • Oceans on the east & west coasts helped the U.S. maintain its foreign policy of neutrality during much of the 1800s
• Natural harbors


  • Contributed to the development of commerce
• Appalachian Mountains


  • Served as the western boundary for British colonial settlements prior to the Revolutionary War
• Proclamation Line of 1763


  Border established by Great Britain in order to avoid conflicts between American colonists and Native Americans
• New England Colonies

  • Influenced by good harbors, abundant forests, rocky soil, and a short growing season
  • Geographic factors influenced the economy of New England by promoting the growth of trade and manufacturing
  • Developed villages with town-hall meetings
  • Had small farms, commercial fishing, and the first American college
• Great Plains


  • The relatively flat, grassy region of the U.S. between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains
  • The states with the largest percentage of land used for agriculture are located in areas with relatively flat terrain
  • Known for producing grain crops (aka food)
• Triangular Trade


  Led directly to the increased importation of enslaved Africans to the Western Hemisphere (colonies)
• British Mercantilism


  • Economic policy used by the British in which the American Colonies served as a source of raw materials and a market to sell goods
  • British buy raw materials from the colonies and sell them finished products
  • Limited manufacturing in America
  • Limited colonies' trade with other nations
  • This policy would eventually become one of the reasons for the American Revolution
• Salutary Neglect


  • Period of time when the British ignored the colonies because they only wanted to benefit from the economic prosperity of the colonies
  • Led to the development of independent colonial trade practices
• French and Indian War

  • Caused by disputed land claims in the Ohio River valley between the French and the British (the French and Indians were on the same side)
  • War led to the end of the period of Salutary Neglect, because of the British need to tax the American colonists in order to pay for the war
  • This increase in taxes became one of the major causes of the Revolutionary War (war for American independence from Great Britain)
• Early colonial efforts in self-government

  • Virginia House of Burgesses
  • Mayflower Compact
  • Town Hall Meetings
• Albany Plan of Union (1754)


  • Early attempt to unify American colonies but under British rule
  • Many colonies objected to it because colonial assemblies did not want to give up their individual power
• Thomas Paine


  • Published Common Sense which was influential in persuading American colonists to support colonial independence from Britain
  • Convinced many Americans who had been undecided on declaring independence from Britain
• Response to Mercantilist Policies


  1. Committees of Correspondence

  2. Non-importation Agreements

  3. Boston Tea Party
• Major Events Leading to Revolutionary War

  1. Sugar and Stamp Acts

  2. Quartering Act

  3. Townshend Acts

  4. Boston Massacre
• Revolutionary War begins shortly after the signing of the Declaration of Independence
• American Colonies win the war and independence with the help of familiar land and foreign aid (France)
• At the end of the Revolutionary War the Mississippi became the western boundary of the U.S.
• Articles of Confederation

  • First form of government used by the U.S. after independence from Britain
  • First plan of union for the original 13 states
  • Many Americans distrusted a strong central government because of their experiences under the rule of Great Britain
  • They wanted to limit the central government's opportunities to infringe upon the people's liberties so they established a decentralized (power is broken up and divided among many groups, not unified) political system in which the state governments had all the power
• Problems and Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

  • Largely unsuccessful at solving many major problems because most power remained with the state governments
  • Congress depended on the states for men and money to support an army
  • National (aka Federal) government could not enforce its laws
  • Congress constantly overrode the President's vetoes
  • States had the power to collect taxes, coin money, and control trade
• Success of the Articles of Confederation

  It provided a system for governing the Western territories and a process for admitting new states to the union
• Constitutional Convention (1787)


  • Major American delegates (politicians) meet in Philadelphia to revise (correct) the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
  • Called primarily because the central government needed additional power (the states had too much power)
• Shays' Rebellion (1786)


  • Significant because it convinced many Americans of the need for a stronger national government
  • Exposed the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
  • Led to a call for the Constitutional Convention
• Great Compromise


  • Settled a dispute over how the states would be represented in the national legislature aka Congress
  • Delegates from states with small populations supported the idea of equal representation for the states in the national legislature (ex New Jersey)
  • Delegates from states with large populations supported the idea of representation based on the size of population (ex Virginia)
  • Solution- Created a bicameral legislature (two houses that write and vote on laws). One house would be based on population (House of Representatives) and the other house would have equal representation for all states (Senate)
• Three-Fifths Compromise


  • Solution to the problem of how to determine the number of representatives in the House of Representatives (branch of Congress) from states with large slave populations
  • Determined that 3/5 of the slave population would be counted for representation in the House
• Other Major Compromises


  Slave Trade, Taxation, Election of President
• Federalists


  • Group that supported ratification (make into a law) of the U.S. Constitution
  • Wanted a strong national government to provide order
  • Published the Federalist Papers which encouraged ratification of the Constitution
• Anti-Federalists


  • Group that was against ratification of the Constitution
  • They believed it would threaten the rights of individual citizens
  • Did not want the national government to have too much power
  • Only agreed to ratify the Constitution after the addition of the Bill of Rights to the Constitution
• Freedom of Speech (1st Amendment)

  • John Peter Zenger- Arrested by governor of New York (1733) for printing an article that criticized the governor
  • Was found to be not guilty because the article was based on fact
  • Led to a strengthening of freedom of press
• Enlightenment Influence


  • Idea of sovereignty of the people came from social contract philosophers of the Enlightenment period
  • Sovereignty is derived from the consent of the governed (only the citizens give the government the power to rule)
  • Consent of the governed concept comes from enlightenment philosophers
  • Limitations on the power of government were influenced by the ideas of John Locke and Baron de Montesquieu (checks & balances, three branches of government)
• Democracy


  • A government for the people by the people
  • A democracy must have citizen participation in government
  • The most essential feature of democratic government is a free and open election process
• Republican Government

  Described as one in which representatives are elected by the people
• Division of Power

  The framers of the Constitution included the concepts of federalism, checks &balances, and separation of powers in the document because they feared a government with unlimited power
• Federalism


  • Division of powers between the national and state government
  • A constitutional principle that establishes limits on the powers of the government (the state and Federal government share different powers so neither can become too powerful)
  • Reserved Powers- Powers only granted to the state governments by the Constitution
  • Delegated Powers - Powers only granted to the Federal Government by the Constitution
  • Concurrent Powers- Powers shared by the federal and state governments
• Judicial Branch


  Federal Courts and Supreme Court
• Marbury v. Madison


  • Heard under Chief Justice John Marshall
  • Established judicial review
  • Strengthened the Judiciary branch (Supreme Court) of the U.S.
  • First time a Federal law was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court
• Executive Branch


  The President of the U.S. and his cabinet
• Roles of the President

  • Chief Legislator
  • Chief Executive
  • Chief Diplomat
  • Inform Congress and the nation about the state of the Union
• Checks & Balances


  Each of the three branches of government (executive, legislative, judicial) checks the other to ensure that no one branch has too much power
• Checks & Balances mechanisms

  • President can be impeached by congress
  • Congress can pass a bill and the President can sign or veto it
  • Congress can override a presidential veto
  • President can negotiate treaties but the Senate must ratify them
  • The Supreme Court can rule that a law is unconstitutional
  • The President appoints Supreme Court judges but the Senate must approve