Forming a Nation

Class Date: September 18th

Location: Your couch! See your weekly e-mail for Zoom link!

We discussed the native people of what is now Alaska and followed their timeline all the way to the 1970s. Now we step back in time, once again, to review the formation of a new nation. This time, we are skipping over quite a bit of colonial history, to land in the Revolutionary War (hopefully you know how that turns out)! He is a brief overview of the events of the time:

• 1751 - Slavery is legalized in Georgia

  • Georgia, the last of the 13 colonies, had banned slavery in 1735, by decree of James Oglethorpe. No one was opposed to slavery on principle, but rather didn’t see it working with their economic institutions. The nearby Spanish settlements in Florida routinely offered assistance to slaves willing to revolt or escape from the English. Bowing to increasing pressure from residents, the Georgia government passed legislation permitting slavery. The capture and importation of enslaved peoples grew quickly, as planters sought to force people to work their rice plantations. 

• 1744 - Treaty of Lancaster

  • Onondaga hoyaneh (chief, or Tadadaho) Canasatego addresses English colonists at the signing of the Treaty of Lancaster between the Haudensaunee and colonists. He reminds them that “whatever befalls you, never fall out with another.”

• 1765 - Coverture traditions are encouraged

Sir William Blackstone published Commentaries on the Laws of England that encouraged colonials to follow the tradition of “coverture” - the idea that once married, a woman’s property belongs to her husband and she ceases to have any legal rights. Coverture was brought over by British colonists, who practiced English Common Law, which also removed the legal rights of married women.

• 1765 - British Acts

  • Great Britain passed the Stamp Act and the Quartering Act in March. The Stamp Act taxed all paper goods and legal documents, while the Quartering Act required colonists to provide food and housing for British troops. The Virginia House of Burgesses challenges the legality of the Stamp Act and the Stamp Act Congress meets in October to discuss the crisis in the colonies.

• 1766 - Declaratory Act

  • British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act but passes the Declaratory Act, which underscores the authority of Parliament over the British colonies.

• 1773 - Phillis Wheatley published her poetry

Phillis publishes Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, in London, England. Her book also becomes popular in the colonies, though many struggle with the clear illustration that enslaved African Americans have souls, minds, and thus deserve human treatment and liberty.

• 1775  - Second Continental convenes

Shots fired at Lexington and Concord changed the tenor of colonial meetings. Whereas there was general political unrest before, now there was war. The Congress agreed to the creation of a Continental Army under the supreme command of George Washington of Virginia. To pay soldiers, the Congress authorized the printing of money, and they appointed a standing committee to conduct foreign relations, should they need to ask for foreign help. 

At this point, though governing, they were still not seeking independence from Britain. In July, they approved the Olive Branch Petition to appeal to King George III and seek a peaceful resolution. The King rejected this petition, declared them to be in a state of rebellion, and ordered Hessian mercenaries to bring the colonists in line.

“...in the New Code of Laws which is I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire that you would Remember the Ladies and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors.”

• 1776 (January) - Common Sense is published

At the end of 1775, even with the introduction of the Hessian mercenaries, not everyone was clamoring to separate from the Crown. Then Thomas Paine published his pamphlet, arguing in clear, moral and political terms, that independence should be the goal. ‘Common Sense’ is widely considered to be one of the most influential publications in American history and certainly a major factor in the writing of the Declaration of Independence.

• July 4th, 1776 - The Declaration of Independence is adopted

56 men affixed their signatures to the Declaration of Independence, moving towards a new nation. (They officially signed the version on parchment on August 2nd, but they officially adopted the document on July 4th). 

• • February, 1777 - Washington orders the mass inoculation of the Continental Army

Variola, a small pox virus, was ravaging the Continental Troops, to the point that BEnedict Arnold, Benjamin Franklin, and Washington all feared it would be the army’s ultimate downfall. Europeans had been infecting individuals with less-deadly forms of the disease, so most British troops were immune, giving them an enormous advantage. Though an unpopular decision, Washington committed to the policy of mass inoculation and ordered commanding officers to oversee the operation. Smallpox raged throughout the war, ravaging Native American and Black populations, but failed to incapacitate a single Continental regiment. 

• 1777 - The Articles of Confederation

Stemming from wartime urgency and a strong fear of a central authority, the Articles were written to provide a loose government structure for a fledgling nation. They were not ratified until 1781. Under the articles, the states remained sovereign, with a Congress serving as the last resort on appeal of disputes. Congress was able to make treaties and alliances, maintain armed forces, and coin money on behalf of the “United States of America”. However, the Congress could not impose taxes or regulate commerce. Those issues would lead to the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

• 1777 - Vermont Constitution written

Vermont becomes the first to provide for universal male suffrage (for white men), and outlaws slavery 

• 1777 - Washington camps at Valley Forge

Martha Washington visits her husband as he camps at Valley Forge with the Continental Army. The Army endures a harsh winter, 20 miles from British-occupied Philadelphia. Women in the camp help the Army with domestic shores and nursing duties.

That is where our timeline leaves us for this week! Check below for additional reading resources and tune in this week to hear about some famous, and not so famous, riders of the Revolution.

To read more about this topic, here are some great books to get you started: 

For kids:

For adults:

https://www.ushistory.org/declaration/revwartimeline.html

https://www.ushistory.org/us/9f.asp

https://www.constitutionfacts.com/us-declaration-of-independence/the-five-riders/

https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/slavery-colonial-georgia

https://www.nps.gov/inde/learn/historyculture/stories-libertybell.htm

https://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/GW&smallpoxinoculation.html