Describe the different courses of the Revolutionary War in New England, the middle colonies, and the South. What role did the battles in each region play in the eventual American victory?
The American Revolutionary War was characterized by three phases being the New England phase, the middle colonies phase, and the Southern phase, which took place between 1775 and 1783 (Grossberg & Tomlins, 2008). New England colonies consisted of 13 colonies, which included Rhode Island colonies, Massachusetts, Providence Plantation, and New Hampshire among others. France attempted on several occasions to colonize New England but failed. New England, mainly carried out fishing and farming as the economic activities. In 1977, John Burgoyne, a British general, drafted a plan that would plan out how Britain would isolate from other colonies (Grossberg & Tomlins, 2008). He planned how troops from Canada would move southwards invading New York and other Americans by surprise.
The troops succeeded in capturing Fort Ticonderoga in June 1977. However, Burgoyne and his army were surrounded by Militia along Hudson River cutting off their supply chain. October 1977, Burgoyne surrendered his army to the Patriot militia and returned to England (Grossberg & Tomlins, 2008). The victory of the Patriot militia played a significant role in history in recognizing the independence of the United States. The victory played a huge role in strengthening the alliance between the United States and France who supported the defeat of the British attempt.
The middle colonies consisted of colonies in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Middle colonies were diverse and not as cohesive as colonies of New England. The colonies were not united because they did not share unifying activities, such as a religion or culture. However, the colony grew at a high rate and practiced farming in large scale. In 1975, King George sent out his army to conquer the middle colonies, which he had declared rebellion (Lanning, 2008). In 1976, British Army reached the harbor in New York. The battle began, and it saw a George Washington loss to the British and captured Port Washington alongside Fort Lee. The British engaged in several battles between 1776 and 1777. In 1776 after the defeat of General Burgoyne in the Northern England colonies, General Howe and his army moved southwards from New York towards Philadelphia where he defeated General Washington and took over Philadelphia. By this time, America had formed an alliance with France, who aided in the war and finally Howe was defeated at Saratoga and surrendered his army.
The 1777 victory of the United States over the British at Saratoga led it to be an ally with the French, which created an enmity between Britain and France. Therefore, the British sought to change its tactics and focus on the South, who made the largest population in America (Grossberg & Tomlin, 2008). Between 1778 and 1779, the British succeeded in concurring Georgia, South Carolina, Charleston, and Savannah (Grossberg & Tomlin, 2008). The war intensified in the South with the lead commanders General Nathanael and Daniel Morgan of America engaging in Guerilla war. The Southern, who were considered as loyalist now, supported the Patriot army. As the British army moved towards the south, the supply chain was cut off and; hence, the Patriots took advantage, which eventually led to the victory of the Patriots. In general, the victory of colonies of in America over the British strengthened the independence of the United States. It helped establish the United States of America as an independent Nation. The American Revolution played a key role in the emergence of the French revolution.
Which problems of the post-Revolutionary period and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation led to the adoption of a new Constitution?
The post-revolutionary period was characterized by many problems. During the war, the colonies drafted an article that united all the colonies together as the United States of America, which was adopted in 1778 and officially binding in 1781. The article according to Lambert (2008) was referred to as "Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union." However, the period between 1781 and 1787 when a new constitution came to be, witnessed many problems as a result of the weakness of the article. Some of the weaknesses of the articles were primarily the article did not make provision for an executive arm that would enforce the law. It meant that there was no president and other executives to execute the law (Vile, 2005). Secondly, the article made no provision for a state court that would interpret such laws, and hence it lacked the judicial system. At that particular time, the government was made up of the legislature only, which had limited power.
The legislature arm of the government could only exercise the power of the state theoretically. It could not impose powers on the different states to fulfill their national duties such as tax contribution among others. The legislature arm could only mediate and judge problems among the different states, but could not impose the rule of the law on the different states due to limited power. It meant therefore that the Congress did not have the power to collect taxes and hence could only request states to fund for national activities (Kellogg, 2003). As a result, the national government ran into debts with farmers and plantation owners. In addition, it could not be able to finance the navy and army who played a crucial role in defending the nation.
Another weakness outlined in the article is the provision for independence and freedom of every state. As a result, it led to decentralization where each state would run independently like an independent country. Due to the autonomy of the states, each imposed their currencies, trade agreements, rules of crossing borders while others established their won armies. Consequently, there were many problems experienced due to this decentralization. First, the different nations imposed different currencies. In addition, the different states valued their currencies differently, which affected the government as well as well independent traders (Kellogg, 2003). Consequently, the increased face value of currencies lowered the purchasing value, hence devaluing the currency. For instance, Massachusetts increased the value of their currency and imposed high taxes on the people, which led to a war between the state and farmers. The different denominations also increased trade barriers which were felt by the traders as they could trade effectively with traders from other states. Besides, the autonomy of the different states led to some states imposing their trade agreements even with countries that previous King had banned relations. For instance, New York levied taxes on goods that arrived through their port.
In general, the nation as a whole suffered from weak governance as a result of weakness in the constitution. Consequently, the British refused to remove their military from the different forts along Northwest Territory. Besides, the British military together with Spain along the Northern and Southern borders supplied arms to the Indian tribes inciting them to fight Americans. American farmers were denied the right to ship produce along River Mississippi. Therefore, the central government had no power to establish trade regulations, create treaties, and authorize military against outside forces among many duties (Vile, 2005). In 1787, there was a national need to increase the powers of the central government, which led to the implementation of a new constitution.
What major changes in American religion occurred in the early nineteenth century, and how did they affect American culture and reform?
The American Revolution was characterized largely by a lack of religion as a unifying factor, especially in the middle colonies. During the war period, religion was clearly separated from politics where the constitution in the first amendment provided for separation of the church and politics (Lambert, 2008). In the 18th century, religion slowly transformed throughout America through the Great Awakening. At the start of the American Revolution war, the dominant religion was Congregationalists, Anglicans, and Quakers. In fact, Protestants in the North America were dominant as a result of the colonies of New England who acquired it in Britain. However, there were French Catholics who had dominated the St. Lawrence Valley, located in Canada as well as south in Texas (Lambert, 2008). However, in the late 18th century, the different denominations of churches were formed, such as Methodist and Baptists. During this period, there were many evangelical camp meetings which would later give birth to different churches.
Evangelical churches were popular among the ordinary people as compared to the elite in the society. It was unpopular among the elite because the church emphasized spiritual well-being of an individual more important than being educated and; hence, deterred those pursuing higher education (Conser & Twiss, 1997). The evangelical churches were at the frontline to address the national issues which made a huge transition for religion in America. In fact, members of the congregation took up roles in the administration of the government. The early churches such as the Calvinist emphasized that it was only God's Grace who could save mankind. However, the evangelical churches preached that people had the ability to make their situations better. Evangelical churches emphasized that people had free will to follow the religion of their choice. This Second Great Awakening led to a liberal nation, which led to more Protestant churches in the 19th century, such as Adventist, Jehovah witness, and Restoration. It also led to African American churches such as African Methodist Episcopal and Independent Baptist for the Blacks (Conser & Twiss, 1997).
The industrial era during the 19th century saw the construction of the railway in America, connecting North and South attracted cheap labor from Ireland, Germany, Italy, Europe, and Portugal (Conser & Twiss, 1997). The laborers were mainly Catholic-oriented, who diffused the religion through interactions. At that particular time, there was discrimination against the Catholic immigrants since Catholic differed from the Protestants. In fact, the discrimination was so bad such that Catholics would not be admitted to schools. By mid-19th century, Russian Orthodox had been established which was mainly influenced by immigrants from Ireland. Also, there was a movement that was established who were liberal Christians who were influenced by the secular society. In counter to the liberalists, fundamentalist emerged to oppose the liberalist who denied the doctrines that characterized a Christian. (Conser & Twiss, 1997)
The transformation of religion in America hugely affected the American culture, which led to many reforms. The emergence of the Catholic Church led to the creation of Catholic schools, universities, and hospitals because of discrimination, which have made huge contributions today. The transition of religion in America has also led to reforms in the education sector with the emergence of various religious curriculums, such as Christian Education, Islamic Education, and Judaism. The transition has also led to the transformation of politics and involvement of thechurch (Lambert, 2008). It meant that the church could give an opinion on various National issues and church leaders became more involved in politics.
4.) How similar was the Compromise of 1850 to the Missouri Compromise of 1820? How did each sectional compromise affect the balance of power between North and South?
The compromise of 1850 was very similar to the Missouri compromise of 1820 in that they both succeeded in bringing together the North and the South. In the early 18th century, there was division in America as a result of slavery. At that particular point, the North and South were already in tension due to the issue of slavery. Slavery was not widely spread in the North. However, businesspersons enriched themselves through slave trade in the south. Both Missouri Compromise and Compromise of 1850 aimed at restoring peace between the North and South Slave states and between the Free and the Slave States (Forbes, 2007).
In 1819, America consisted of 22 states, which were equally distributed among the Free States and Slave States. Missouri requested to be declared a slave state, however, making it a slave state would strike off the balance among the Free States and the Slave States. The Missouri demand would not stop and hence increased tension between Free and Slave states. In 1920, as an attempt to reduce tension and create peace, the National Congress drafted an act that granted Missouri a slave state but providing that Maine was an anti-slave state. The Congress also provided in the act the boundary through Louisiana, which marked the boundary between slave states and Free states thus, making it illegal for slave trade on the Northern boundary above 36° 36´except Missouri (Forbes, 2007). However, both South and North criticized the Bill for their reasons. The south criticized the bill because they realized that the Congress could make bills regarding slavery, which could favor in the abolishment of slavery in America. The North on the other side saw a threat to expand slavery. However, the act managed to create peace between the North and South until 1854 when the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed in the Constitution. The Act allowed Kansas and Nebraska to their decision to allow or disallow slavery. It brought division since both were on the northern border of Louisiana. Later in 1923, the Missouri Compromise Act was declared unconstitutional on the basis that slavery and was done away with by the Congress. Despite the Missouri Compromise efforts to unite the North and South, it was replaced by Kansa-Nebraska Act, which fueled the civil war in 1861.
Between 1846 and 1848, there was growing division between America and Mexico along the boundary between the states that had been acquired (Waugh, 2003). The growing war led to the Compromise of 1850 to establish peace just like the Missouri Compromise. The Compromise consisted of five bills providing different guides. One of the bills declared that California was an anti-slavery state and made it the 16th state to be Free from slavery (Waugh, 2003). The second bill created two states, namely New Mexico Territory and Utah Territory. The third bill abolished the slave trade in Colombia, where businessmen enriched themselves from slave trade but retained slavery in general. A fourth bill provided that Texas disown entitlement to New Mexico as well as North of Missouri. However, Texas would lose boundary claims, but the Congress agreed to take over its debt. A fifth bill provided that slaves should return to their owners hence favoring the South recover slaves that had escaped. Also, the North were required to return slaves who had escaped back to their owners. Following various failed drafts by Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John Calhoun, the bill was finally drafted by Senator Douglas, which saw all the bills passed (Waugh, 2003). The compromise established peace for a long time until the American Civil War aimed at abolishing slavery.
References
Conser, W. H., & Twiss, S. B. (1997). Religious diversity and American religious history: Studies in traditions and cultures. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.
Forbes, R. P. (2007). The Missouri Compromise and its aftermath: Slavery & the meaning of America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Grossberg, M., & Tomlins, C. L. (2008). The Cambridge history of law in America: Vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kellogg, W. O. (2003). American history: The easy way. Hauppauge, NY: Barron's.
Lambert, F. (2008). Religion in American politics: A short history. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Lanning, M. L. (2008). The American Revolution 100: The people, battles, and events of the American war for independence, ranked by their significance. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks.
Vile, J. R. (2005). The Constitutional Convention of 1787: A comprehensive encyclopedia of America's founding. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
Waugh, J. C. (2003). On the brink of Civil War: The Compromise of 1850 and how it changed the course of American history. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources.
