Formation of the Union, 1750-1829

CHAPTER II.. Expulsion of the French (1750-1763).

EXPULSION OF THE FRENCH (1750-1763). 11. References--12. Rival claims in North America (1690-1754)--13. Collisions on the frontier (1749-1754)--14. The strength of the parties (1754)--15. Congress of Albany (1754)--16. Military operations (1755- 1757)--17. The conquest of Canada (1758-1760)--18. Geographical results of the war (1763)--19. The colonies during the war (1754-1763)--20. Political effects of the war (1763).

CHAPTER III.. Causes of the Revolution (1763-1775).

CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION (1763-1775). 21. References--22. Condition of the British Empire (1763)--23. New schemes of colonial regulation (1763)--24. Writs of Assistance (1761- 1764)--25. The Stamp Act (1763-1765)--26. The Stamp Act Congress (1765)-- 27. Revenue acts (1767)--28. Colonial protests and repeal (1767-1770)--29. Spirit of violence in the colonies (1770-1773)--30. Coercive acts of 1774 --31. The First Continental Congress (1774)--32. Outbreak of hostilities (1775)--33. Justification of the Revolution.

CHAPTER IV.. Union and Independence (1775-1783).

UNION AND INDEPENDENCE (1775-1783). 34. References--35. The strength of the combatants (1775)--36. The Second Continental Congress (1775)--37. The national government formed (1775)-- 38. Independence declared (1776)--39. New State governments formed (1775- 1777)--40. The first period of the war (1775-1778)--41. Foreign relations (1776-1780)--42. The war ended (1778-1782)--43. Finances of the Revolution (1775-1783)--44. Internal difficulties (1775-1782)--45. Formation of a Constitution (1776-1781)--46. Peace negotiated (1781-1783)--47. Political effects of the war (1775-1783).

CHAPTER V.. The Confederation (1781-1788).

THE CONFEDERATION (1781-1788). 48. References--49. The United States in 1781--50. Form of the government (1781-1788)--51. Disbandment of the army (1783)--52. Territorial settlement with the States (1781-1802)--53. Finances (1781-1788)--54. Disorders in the States (1781-1788)--55. Slavery (1777-1788)--56. Foreign relations and commerce (1781-1788)--57. Disintegration of the Union (1786, 1787)--58. Reorganization attempted (1781-1787).

CHAPTER VI.. The Federal Constitution (1787-1789).

THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION (1787-1789). 59. References--60. The Federal Convention assembled (1787)--61. Difficulties of the convention (1787)--62. Sources of the Constitution-- 63. The great compromises (1787)--64. Details of the Constitution (1787)-- 65. Difficulties of ratification (1787, 1788)--66. State conventions (1787, 1788)--67. Expiration of the Confederation (1788)--68. Was the Constitution a compact?

CHAPTER VII.. Organization of the Government (1789-1793).

ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT (1789-1793). 69. References--70. Geography of the United States in 1789--71. The people of the United States in 1789--72. Political methods in 1789--73. Organization of Congress (1789)--74. Organization of the Executive (1789, 1790)--75. Organization of the courts (1789-1793)--76. Revenue and protection (1789, 1790)--77. National and State debts (1789, 1790)--78. United States Bank (1791, 1792)--79. Slavery questions (1789-1798)--80. The success of the new government (1789-1792).

CHAPTER VIII.. Federal Supremacy (1793-1801).

FEDERAL SUPREMACY (1793-1801). 81. References--82. Formation of political parties (1792-1794)--83. War between France and England (1793)--84. American neutrality (1793)--85. The Jay Treaty (1794-1796)--86. The Whiskey Rebellion (1794)--87. Election of John Adams (1796)--88. Breach with France (1795-1798)--89. Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)--90. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions (1798-1800)-- 91. Election of 1800, 1801--92. Causes of the fall of the Federalists.

CHAPTER IX.. Republican Supremacy (1801-1809).

REPUBLICAN SUPREMACY (1801-1809). 93. References--94. The political revolution of 1801--95. Jefferson's civil service (1801-1803)--96. Attack on the judiciary (1801-1805)--97. The policy of retrenchment (1801-1809)--98. Barbary Wars (1801-1806)--99. Annexation of Louisiana (1803)--100. Federal schemes of disunion (1803- 1809)--101. The Burr conspiracy (1806, 1807)--102. Aggressions on neutral trade (1803-1807)--103. Policy of non resistance (1805-1807)--104. The embargo (1807, 1808)--105. Repeal of the embargo (1809).

CHAPTER X.. The Union in Danger (1809-1815)

THE UNION IN DANGER (1809-1815) 106. References--107. Non intercourse laws (1809, 1810)--108. Fruitless negotiations (1809-1811)--109. The war party (1811)--110. Strength of the combatants (1812)--111. War on the northern frontier (1812, 1813)--112. Naval war (1812-1815)--113. Disastrous campaign of 1814--114. Question of the militia (1812-1814)--115. Secession movement in New England (1814)-- 116. Peace of Ghent (1812-1814)--117. Political effects of the war (1815).

CHAPTER XI.. Social and Economic Reorganization (1815-1824)

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC REORGANIZATION (1815-1824) 118. References--119. Conditions of national growth (1815)--120. The second United States Bank (1815)--121. Internal improvements (1806-1817)-- 122. The first protective tariff (1816)--123. Monroe's administration (1817-1825)--124. Territorial extension (1805-1819)--125. Judicial decisions (1812-1824)--126. The slavery question revived (1815-1820)--127. The Missouri Compromises (1818-1821)--128. Relations with Latin American States (1815-1823)--129. The Monroe Doctrine (1823).

CHAPTER XII.. Elements of Political Reorganization (1824-1829).

ELEMENTS OF POLITICAL REORGANIZATION (1824-1829). 130. References--131. Political methods in 1824--132. The tariff of 1824 (1816-1824)--133. The election of 1824--134. The election of 1825--135. The Panama Congress (1825, 1826)--136. Internal improvements (1817-1829)-- 137. The Creek and Cherokee questions (1824-1829)--138. The tariff of abominations (1828)--139. Organized opposition to Adams (1825-1829)--140. The triumph of the people (1828).

INDEX

LIST OF MAPS.

1. Territorial Growth of the United States

2. English Colonies, 1763-1775

3. The United States, 1783

4 The United States, March 4, 1801

5. The United States, March 4, 1825

FORMATION OF THE UNION. 1750-1829

CHAPTER I.. The Americans in 1750

THE AMERICANS IN 1750

1. REFERENCES

BIBLIOGRAPHIES.--R. G. Thwaites, Colonies, §§ 39, 74, 90; notes to Joseph Story, Commentaries, §§ 1-197; notes to H. C. Lodge, Colonies, passim; notes to Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, V. chs. ii.-vi., Channing and Hart, Guide, §§ 130-133.

HISTORICAL MAPS.--R. G. Thwaites, Colonies, Maps Nos. 1 and 4 (Epoch Maps, Nos. 1 and 4); G. P. Fisher Colonial Era, Maps Nos. 1 and 3; Labberton, Atlas, lxiii., B. A. Hinsdale, Old Northwest (republished from MacCoun's Historical Geography).

GENERAL ACCOUNTS.--Joseph Story Commentaries, §§ 146-190; W. E. H. Lecky, England in the Eighteenth Century, II. 1-21, III. 267-305; T. W. Higginson, Larger History, ch. ix.; Edward Channing, The United States, 1765-1865 ch. i.; H. E. Scudder, Men and Manners in America; Hannis Taylor, English Constitution, Introduction, I.; H. C. Lodge, Colonies (chapters on social life); T. Pitkin, United States, I. 85-138, Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, V. chs. ii.-vi.; R. Frothingham, Rise of the Republic, chs. i., iv.; Grahame, United States, III. 145-176.

SPECIAL HISTORIES.--W. B. Weeden, Economic and Social History of New England, II. chs. xiv., xv.; G. E. Howard, Local Constitutional History, I. chs. ii., iii., vii.-ix.; C. F. Adams, History of Quincy, chs. iii.-xiv.; M. C. Tyler, History of American Literature, II.; Edward Channing, Town and County Government, and Navigation Acts; F. B. Dexter, Estimates of Population; C. F. Bishop, Elections in the Colonies; Wm. Hill, First Stages of the Tariff Policy; W. E. DuBois, Suppression of the Slave Trade; J. R. Brackett, Negro in Maryland.

CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTS.--Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography (1706-1771); John Woolman Journal (1720-1772); George Whitefield, Journals (especially 1739); Kalm, Travels (1748-1749); Robert Rogers, Concise Account of North America (1765); A. Burnaby, Travels (1759-1760); Edmund Burke, European Settlements in America; William Douglass, Summary; the various colonial archives and documents.--Reprints in II. W. Preston, Documents Illustrative of American History (charters, etc.); New Jersey Archives, XI., XII., XVIII. (extracts from newspapers); American History Leaflets, No. 16; Library of American Literature, III.; American History told by Contemporaries, II.

2. COLONIAL GEOGRAPHY.

By the end of the eighteenth century the term "Americans" was commonly applied in England, and even the colonists themselves, to the English- speaking subjects of Great Britain inhabiting the continent of North America and the adjacent islands. The region thus occupied comprised the Bahamas, the Bermudas, Jamaica, and some smaller West Indian islands, Newfoundland, the outlying dependency of Belize, the territory of the great trading corporation known as the Hudson's Bay Company, and--more important than all the rest--the broad strip of territory running along the coast from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Altamaha River.

It is in this continental strip, lying between the sea and the main chain of the Appalachian range of mountains, that the formation of the Union was accomplished. The external boundaries of this important group of colonies were undetermined; the region west of the mountains was drained by tributaries of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi rivers, and both these rivers were held in their lower course by the French. Four successive colonial wars had not yet settled the important question of the territorial rights of the two powers, and a fifth war was impending.

So far as the individual colonies were concerned, their boundaries were established for them by English grants. The old charters of Massachusetts, Virginia, and the Carolinas had given title to strips of territory extending from the Atlantic westward to the Pacific. Those charters had lapsed, and the only colony in 1750 of which the jurisdiction exercised under the charter reached beyond the Appalachian mountains was Pennsylvania. The Connecticut grant had long since been ignored; the Pennsylvania limits included the strategic point where the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers unite to form the Ohio. Near this point began the final struggle between the English and the French colonies. The interior boundaries between colonies in 1750 were matters of frequent dispute and law-suits. Such questions were eventually brought to the decision of the English Privy Council, or remained to vex the new national government after the Revolution had begun.

At this date, and indeed as late as the end of the Revolution, the continental colonies were all maritime. Each of them had sea-ports enjoying direct trade with Europe. The sea was the only national highway; the sea-front was easily defensible. Between contiguous colonies there was intercourse; but Nova Scotia, the last of the continental colonies to be established, was looked upon as a sort of outlyer, and its history has little connection with the history of the thirteen colonies farther south. The western frontier was a source of apprehension and of danger. In northern Maine, on the frontiers of New York, on the west and southwest, lived tribes of Indians, often disaffected, and sometimes hostile. Behind them lay the French, hereditary enemies of the colonists. The natural tendency of the English was to push their frontier westward into the Indian and French belt.

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