The Rise of American Identity: From Revolution to Nationalism
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Natural aristocracy
An aristocracy which arises out of work and competition rather than birth, education, or special privelege. Jacksonian democracy emphasized the frontier ideal of the self-made person who acquired wealth and power through their competitive skill. This notion argued not for equality, but for a more open elite political system.
Thomas
Painewas an English-American political activist, philosopher, political theorist and revolutionary. One of theFounding Fathers of the United States, he authored the two most influential pamphlets at the start of theAmerican Revolution, and he inspired therebelsin 1776 to declare independence from Britain.His ideas reflected Enlightenment-era rhetoric of transnational human rights.He has been called “acorset makerby trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by inclination”.
TheXYZ Affairwas a political and diplomatic episode in 1797 and 1798, early in the administration ofJohn Adams, involving a confrontation between the United States andRepublican Francethat led to an undeclared war called the Quasi-War. The name derives from the substitution of the letters X, Y and Z for the names of French diplomats Hottinguer (X), Bellamy (Y), and Hauteval (Z) in documents released by the Adams administration. TheSons of Libertywas an organization of American colonists that was created in theThirteen American Colonies. The secret society was formed to protect therights of the colonistsand to fight taxation by the British government.
They played a major role in most colonies in battling the Stamp Act in 1765.Although the group officially disbanded after the Stamp Act was repealed, the name was applied to other local Patriot groups during the years preceding theAmerican Revolution.
TheSiege of Yorktown was a decisive victory by a combined force of AmericanContinental Armytroops led by GeneralGeorge WashingtonandFrench Army troopsled by the Comte de Rochambeauover aBritish Armycommanded by British lord and Lieutenant GeneralCharles Cornwallis. The culmination of theYorktown campaign, the siege proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary Warin the North American theater, as the surrender by Cornwallis, and the capture of both him and his army, prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict. The battle boosted faltering American morale and revived French enthusiasm for the war, as well as undermining popular support for the conflict in Great Britain.
Shays ’Rebellionwas anarmed uprisinginMassachusetts during 1786 and 1787. Revolutionary War veteranDaniel Shaysled four thousand rebels in rising up against perceived economic injustices and suspension of civil rights by Massachusetts, and in a later attempt to capture the United States’ national weapons arsenal at the U.S.Armory at Springfield.Although Shays’ Rebellion met with defeat militarily against a privately-raised militia, it prompted numerous national leaders to call for a stronger national government to suppress future rebellions.
TheVirginia Plan or theLarge-State Plan) was a proposal byVirginiadelegates for abicameral legislativebranch.The plan was drafted byJames Madisonwhile he waited for a quorum to assemble at theConstitutional Conventionof 1787.The Virginia Plan was notable for its role in setting the overall agenda for debate in the convention and, in particular, for setting forth the idea ofpopulation-weighted representationin the proposed national legislature.
TheArticles of Confederation, formally theArticles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, were an agreement among all thirteen original states in the United States of America that served as its first constitution.Its drafting by a committee appointed by theSecond Continental Congressbegan on July 12, 1776, and an approved version was sent to the states for ratification in late 1777. The formal ratification by all thirteen states was completed in early 1781. Government under the Articles was superseded by a newconstitutionandfederalform of government in 1789.
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marques CornwallisKGstyledViscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known asThe Earl Cornwallisbetween 1762 and 1792, was aBritish Armyofficer andcolonial administrator. In theUnited Statesand theUnited Kingdomhe is best remembered as one of the leading British generals in theAmerican War of Independence. His surrender in 1781 to a combined American and French force at theSiege of Yorktownended significant hostilities in North America. He also served as a civil and military governor in Ireland and India; in both places he brought about significant changes, including theAct of Unionin Ireland, and theCornwallis Codeand thePermanent Settlementin India.
George Rogers Clarkwas asurveyor, soldier, and militia officer fromVirginiaand the highest ranking American military officer on the northwestern frontier during theAmerican Revolutionary War. He served as leader of theKentucky(then part of Virginia)militiathroughout much of the war. Clark is best known for his celebrated captures ofKaskaskia(1778) andVincennes(1779) during the Illinois Campaign, which greatly weakenedBritishinfluence in theNorthwest Territory. Because the British ceded the entire Northwest Territory to the United States in the1783 Treaty of Paris, Clark has often been hailed as the “Conqueror of the Old Northwest”.
TheBill of Rightsis the collective name for the first tenamendmentsto theUnited States Constitution. Proposed following the often times bitter 1787–1788 battle over ratification of the Constitution, and crafted to address the objections raised byAnti-Federalists, the Bill of Rights amendments add certain safeguards of democracy—specific guarantees of personal freedoms andrights; clear limitations on the government’s power in judicial and other proceedings; and explicit declarations that all powers not specifically delegated to Congress by the Constitution are reserved for the states or thepeople—to the Constitution.
Anti-Federalismrefers to a movement that opposed the creation of a stronger U.S. Federal government and which later opposed the ratification of the 1787Constitution. The previous constitution, called theArticles of Confederation, gave state governments more authority. Led byPatrick Henryof Virginia, Anti-Federalists worried, among other things, that the position of president, then a novelty, might evolve into amonarchy.
Federalist
Statesmen and public figures supporting the proposedConstitution of the United Statesbetween 1787 and 1789. The most prominent of the advocates at that time wereJames Madison,Alexander HamiltonandJohn Jay; they publishedThe FederalistPapers, which documented the tenets of the (early)federalistmovement to promote and adopt the proposed Constitution.
TheConnecticut Compromise(also known as theGreat Compromise of 1787orSherman’s Compromise) was an agreement that large and small states reached during theConstitutional Conventionof 1787 that in part defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would have under theUnited States Constitution. It retained thebicameral legislatureas proposed byRoger Sherman, along with proportional representation in the lower house, but required the upper house to be weighted equally between the states. Each state would have two representatives in the upper house.
The Small State Plan was a proposal for the structure of theUnited States Government presented byWilliam Patersonat theConstitutional Conventionon June 15, 1787.The plan was created in response to theVirginia Plan, which called for two houses of Congress, both elected withapportionmentaccording to population.The less populous states were adamantly opposed to giving most of the control of the national government to the more populous states, and so proposed an alternative plan that would have kept the one-vote-per-state representation under one legislative body from theArticles of Confederation. The New Jersey Plan was opposed byJames MadisonandEdmund Randolph.TheLewis and Clark Expedition was the first American expedition to cross what is now the western portion of the United States, departing in May 1804, from nearSt. Louismaking their way westward through the continental divide to the Pacific coast.
TheMidnight Judges Actrepresented an effort to solve an issue in the U.S. Supreme Courtduring the early 19th century. There was concern, beginning in 1789, about the system that required the Justices of the Supreme Court to “ride circuit” and reiterate decisions made in the appellate level courts. The Supreme Court Justices had often voiced concern and suggested that the judges of the Supreme and circuit courts be divided. Jefferson did not want the judiciary to gain more power over the executive branch.
Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin was a Swiss-Americanpolitician,diplomat, ethnologistandlinguist. He served as aCongressman,Senator,United States Ambassadorand was the longest-servingUnited States Secretary of the Treasury. In 1831, he helped found the University of the City of New York, now New York University.
Anthony Waynewas aUnited States Armyofficer, statesman, and member of theUnited States House of Representatives. Wayne adopted a military career at the outset of theAmerican Revolutionary War, where his military exploits and fiery personality quickly earned him promotion tobrigadier general and thesobriquetMad Anthony. He later served as General in Chief of the Army and commanded theLegion of the United States.
TheWhiskey Rebellion, also known as theWhiskey Insurrection, was a tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791, during thepresidency of George Washington. The so-called “whiskey tax” was the first tax imposed on a domestic product by the newly formed federal government. It became law in 1791, and was intended to generate revenue to help reduce the national debt.Although the tax applied to all distilled spirits,whiskeywas by far the most popular distilled beverage in the 18th-century U.S. Because of this, the excise became widely known as a “whiskey tax”. The new excise was a part ofU.S. Treasury secretaryAlexander Hamilton‘s program to fund war debt incurred during theAmerican Revolutionary War.
Tecumseh was aNative Americanleader of theShawneeand a large tribal confederacy which opposed the United States duringTecumseh’s Warand became an ally of Britain in theWar of 1812.
Nationalism
With the emergence of a nationalpublic sphereand an integrated, country-wide economy in 18th-centuryEngland, English people began to identify with the country at large, rather than the smaller units of their family, town or province. The early emergence of a popular patriotic nationalism took place in the mid-18th century, and was actively promoted by the British government and by the writers and intellectuals of the time.National symbols, anthems,myths, flags and narratives were assiduously constructedand adopted. TheUnion Flagwas adoptedas a national one;Thomas Arne composed thepatriotic song“Rule, Britannia!” in 1740,and the cartoonistJohn Arbuthnotinvented the character