Civi moi us

• Some historians suppose that Europeans weren't the 1st to discover the "new world", the Vikings, Basques & even China (w/ Zheng He?) were there first
• Why Europeans crossed the Atlantic

  1. Pirates were blocking the sea and so, blocking their trading routes w/ China

  2. Christopher Colombus proposed himself to the King of Spain to find a new route going west and technically he'll be in China by crossing the Atlantic

  3. He just find an isle, and discovered new goods, products that he could take profit of, and make more money

  4. Religious groups that were persecuted in England saw the new lands as an opportunity
• Capitalism


  Using colonies to make money for the colonizing country
• Mercantilism


  A country uses its colonies to get rich by controlling trade and resources
• Thomas Hobbes


  • Suggested a new view of society : "The political social body", meaning that people are important for the government. They are a big part of it.
• John Locke


  • Foreshadowed the idea of a "social contract" and the position of the people in it. The government only exist to PROTECT the rights of the people / subjects, and power comes from the consent of the people. And God gave them this power. So if they go against people's will, they'll go against God's will.
• The idea of democracy was already there at the time, one of the oldest democracy is England.
• The protestant reformation started because people started to read the Bible (l'Evangile especially), so they interpreted it everyone w/ their OWN understanding which separated them in few different branches.
• The protestants were seen as too radical by the King, they were persecuted so fleeing this religious persecution by going in the "new" world was the solution to create their own group.
• The Gospels (=l'Evangile) questioned the social hierarchy & the distribution of power. While the position that the Pope has, we can say that equality isn't present.
• For the protestants: God > King > People


  This gives the King a DIVINE right.
• Parliamentary Monarch


  God gives power to the King (religious faith) & the people gives power to the Parliament.
• The King's authority is questioned but his legitimacy is accepted.
• Chapter 2 : "Salutary Neglect" 1600s-1690s
• Jamestown was founded in 1607, it was located in Virginia

  
• The land was poor, they were many swamps, harsh winters, made them think that God wasn't on their sides.
• Virginia Company


  A joint-stock company, chartered by the King James Ist, with the purpose of generating profit through colonization & trade, and serving the interest of expending English influence & power.
• Their goal was to make MONEY only, but unfortunately they were no gold.
• In 1608, the 1st winter passed only 38 out of 144 were alive. So they asked help to a NA tribe : the Powatan nation, who HELP them w/ food etc…
• The next year, the "Starving Times" happened in 1609-1610 : 400 new arrivals & in spring 1610 only 60 were alive.
• John Smith: '"No work, no food"'
• Constitutional Convention: delegates met to come up with an agreement on the text that is the Constitution


  1787
• John Smith was the one who initiated the idea of trading w/ NA tribes, and explorations.
• Ratification of the Constitution


  1. 13 states needed to ratify the text for it to come into effect

  2. Condition for ratification: 9 out of 13 states needed to vote "yes"

  3. Text was printed in newspapers, sent across the country for people to read and react

  4. Proponents and opponents published papers in newspapers to defend their point of view
• John Rolfe arrived in Jamestown w/ West Indie tobacco & created the "Virginia Gold" (which basically is tobacco, they just started to cultivate it, and it was famous so → money). He is also the one who took Pocahontas in England, he married her, had children, but because of the climate change, she got seek and died.
• Federalists


  Supporters of the Constitution who were in favour of federalism
• Cash-crop system


  + land > + tobacco > + money
• Anti-Federalists


  Opponents of the Constitution, not actually opposed to federalism but to the way it was presented in the Constitution
• In 1614, tobacco was sold in England.
• The Anti-Federalists were not opposed to federalism, they were opposed to the compromise that the delegates reached at the end which gave too much power to the federal government
• In 1618, "Private land ownership expands" means that more land is being owned by people or private companies, not by the government or shared by a community.
• The Bill of Rights, first 10 amendments written by James Madison, added


  1791
• In 1618, the "Headright" system was created, they needed to buy into the Virginia Company & pay passage for family members & servants. (50 acres per person over 15).
• Several states posed the Bill of Rights as a condition for the adoption of the Constitution
• Enclosures


  Qualify the private property, private lands, that was before then public.
• Federalism


  A system of government where the same territory is controlled by two levels of government: the central/federal/national government and the state governments. Power is shared between them.
• Debtors


  People who has DEBTS, and if they do not pay their debts → prisons.
• Indentured servants


  Prisoners, or debtors who, if they want to get out have to sell themselves for 5 to 7 years as indentured servants. Their passage are paid for, and they get food & shelter (=refuge) too.
• Reasons why the Founding Fathers valued federalism

  • It was an effective way to create a united country out of several divided states
  • State governments were closest to the people and would better serve their interests
  • It enacted the motto "E pluribus unum" (out of many, one)
• The Bill of Rights is more well known and celebrated today than the Constitution itself