political system of great britain essay

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The Political System of Great Britain

Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II. The queen reigns, but does not rule. The legislative power in the country is exercised by Parliament. Parliament makes the laws of Great Britain. It consists of the queen, the House of Commons, and the House of Lords. The House of Commons is Britain’s real governing body. It has 650 members, elected by the people. Members of the House of Commons have no fixed terms.

They are chosen in a general election, which must be held at least every five years. But an election may be called anytime, and many Parliaments do not last five years. Almost all British citizens 18 years old or older may vote. The House of Lords is the upper house of Parliament. It was once the stronger house, but today has little power. It can delay – but never defeat – any bill. The House of Lords has about 1170 members. The people do not elect them. The House of Lords is composed of hereditary and life peers and peeresses.

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Their right to sit in the House passes, with their title, usually to their oldest sons. The prime minister is usually the leader of the political party that has the most seats in the House of Commons. The monarch appoints the prime minister after each general election. The monarch asks the prime minister to form a Government. The prime minister selects about 100 ministers. From them, he picks a special group to make up the Cabinet. The Cabinet usually consists of about 20 ministers.

The ministers of the more important departments, such as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the Home Office, are named to every Cabinet. The government draws up most bills and introduces them in Parliament. The queen must approve all bills passed by Parliament before they can become laws. Although the queen may reject a bill, no monarch has since the 1700’s. Law courts of Great Britain operate under three separate legal system – one for England and Wales, one for Northern Ireland, and one for Scotland.

In all three systems, the House of Lords is the highest court of appeal in civil cases. It is also the highest court of appeal in criminal cases, except in Scotland. The queen appoints all British judges on the advice of the government. Political parties are necessary to British’s system of government. The chief political parties in Britain today are the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. The Conservative Party developed from the Tories, and has been supported by wealthy people as well as professional people and farmers.

The Labour Party has been supported by skilled and unskilled workers, especially union members. The Constitution of Great Britain is not one document. Much of it is not even in writing, and so the country is said to have an unwritten constitution. Some of the written parts of Britain’s Constitution come from laws passed by Parliament. Some – from such old documents as Magna Carta, which limited the king’s power. Other written parts come from common law, a body of laws based on people’s customs and beliefs, and supported in the courts.

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1 (page 1) p. 1 The Britishness of British politics

• Published: May 2013
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‘The Britishness of British Politics’ explores what makes British politics so distinctive. Britain has enjoyed a long and remarkable history of political stability in modern times. Without a modern revolutionary moment, Britain was not compelled to remake its political institutions or to draw up a new constitution. There has been a long period of visible continuity in its constitutional landscape. It has had a strong executive centre to government rooted in a particular history and society. However, that stability is now being challenged by greater diversity in society and greater demands for accountability by governments.

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British History: The Formation of Great Britain and the United Kingdom

British history is 1000+ years in the making. It starts with England in the 800’s and leads a thousand years later to today’s United Kingdom.

The story of British history begins over a thousand years ago with a regional leader called Alfred, King of Wessex, one of the history of England’s most popular monarchs. After the Romans had left the island they called Britannia (which we now call Britain) in the early 5th century, a complex system of governance emerged. The area we now know as England was made up of several regional Kingdoms who spent the next 500 or so years locked in an ongoing cycle of conflict, with each ruler vying for overlordship. Waves of immigration from mainland Europe and Scandinavia altered the island’s demographics and, over time, brought about profound cultural changes. By the time of Alfred’s birth in 848, most of the island was culturally and ethnically what we would now call Anglo-Saxon.

Anglo-Saxon Origins of British History

Alfred ascended the throne of Wessex (the regional Kingdom encompassing large chunks of southwestern England) at the age of 21 and made his capital in the well-known city of Winchester. He immediately set about reorganizing the realm and preparing for a fight to the death with the Vikings, who had by this time conquered vast swathes of the north. Through a combination of tactics, good organization, and luck, he managed to hold them off. He defended his own kingdom and then took the fight to them, gaining overlordship of many of the surrounding Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the process. By the time of his death in 899, he was the ruler of vast chunks of the island. As the first “King of all the Anglo-Saxons,” he became the undisputed father of the English nation, evermore known to posterity as “ Alfred the Great .”

The History of England Begins

In 927, Alfred’s grandson Æthelstan formally united the various polities of which he was overlord into one Kingdom of England, a Kingdom that would continue to expand across geographic Britain and administer the territory uninterrupted for the next 600 years. Æthelstan’s successors would include such well-known figures as William the Conqueror, Richard the Lionheart, and Henry VIII.

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By the mid 11th century, England had become a prize worth fighting for. It was an organized nation that spanned vast swathes of geographic Britain. The throne was sought after by enemies to the south in Northern France and to the east in Denmark. In 1066, William the Duke of Normandy launched the famous invasion of England with his dubious claim in hand. Following his victory at the Battle of Hastings , he was crowned King. He and his successors would once again reorganize the Kingdom of England, expel the remaining Vikings and consolidate English domination over the island.

A Brief Detour to Scotland

Unlike England, Scotland was never conquered by the Romans. Emperor Hadrian built his famous wall as a barrier against the territory they called Caledonia. This meant that the northern part of geographic Britain would follow its own separate historical trajectory from the history of England for many centuries. There were regular cultural interchanges, and the border remained in a constant state of flux due to regular wars between England and Scotland. However, Scotland’s history is very much separate from the history of England until much later on in our story of British history.

The Statute of Rhuddlan 1284: King of England and Prince of Wales

The next major point in the political development of England and British history began in the early 13th century after Edward I set about conquering Wales. Much like England, geographic Wales had slowly unified over the previous centuries. The lands were fertile and featured a diverse economy with well-developed trade routes. They were irresistible to the English King looking to expand his treasury. Following a series of military victories and several heroic instances of resistance by Welsh princes, in 1284, the Statute of Rhuddlan effectively ended Welsh independence. The title of Prince of Wales would become honorific, one given to the heir to the English throne at the behest of the English Monarch. Wales would be subsequently directly ruled from the English capital until 1997 when they were granted a degree of devolution for the first time.

From the Medieval to the Early Modern…

From the conquest of Wales to the death of Elizabeth I, the English state as a political entity continued in relative stability. That’s not to say it was not beset by internal conflicts. Dynastic rivalries saw several monarchs overthrown, and rebellions broke out on a regular basis throughout the many centuries of this era. However, the internal conflicts were always over who should wear the English Crown or how the English monarch governed, not over whether there should be a kingdom of England at all.

The next set of major changes to the political status of geographic Britain came at the dawn of the 17th century. Elizabeth I famously declared that she would take no husband, and therefore the heir apparent (although unrecognized formally) was her distant cousin James VII of Scotland. In the twilight years of her reign, secret planning was undertaken by the Virgin Queen’s courtiers to ensure an orderly succession. Upon her death in 1603, the biggest change in the island’s political status since Alfred the Great took place. James VIII of Scotland became simultaneously James I of England. For the first time ever, one Monarch reigned across the entirety of Britain. The history of England ended, and British history began.

The Union of the Crowns , as it became known, didn’t mean the unification of geographic Britain but the start of a now truly British history. Each nation still retained its own parliament, court, military, and legal system. This status quo would last for the next century. The union marked the beginning of an amalgamation that would take the next century to complete.

The 1600s was arguably the most formative century of British history. It was a period marked by revolution. In 1642, Civil War broke out in England. It resulted in previously unimaginable changes. The King was defeated in battle by his own parliament and subsequently executed.

A republic took his place, a first for the history of England and British history in general, with Oliver Cromwell as the new ruler. Cromwell forcibly turned the whole British Islands into the “Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.” His conquests would see him live out the rest of his life as “Lord Protector,” the de facto military dictator of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

A Brief Detour to Ireland

The story of geographic Ireland is a separate article entirely. However, its fate over the last thousand years has been heavily intertwined with that of geographic Britain and of British history in general. Briefly put, the geographic British Isles consist of the main islands of Ireland and Britain plus many other small ones like Mann and Jersey . English Kings in the medieval period seized control of geographic Ireland, ruling over the clans and principalities that previously existed as feudal overlords. In 1542, Henry VIII, one of the most well-known monarchs in the history of England, became the first King of Ireland. Ireland retained its own Parliament and was ruled by the English monarch in a personal union until 1800.

The Birth of Great Britain

Following Oliver Cromwell’s death, the monarchy was restored, and the British Isles nominally went back to being three separate kingdoms in a personal union. Yet the integration undertaken by Cromwell’s rule would never really be undone. As is almost always the case, once power is centralized, it is very rarely voluntarily given up. From now on, London would dominate the British Isles.

The restoration introduced the beginnings of what we now know as the concept of constitutional monarchy. Parliament was sovereign with a King who reigned, not ruled. This created an increasingly complex situation that saw one island have two nominally independent legislatures under one head of state. As the 1600s ended, deliberations began between the English and Scottish parliaments on a formal political union . In 1707, the Acts of Union were passed, making geographic Britain “United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain.” Formal British history had begun.

This really was a watershed moment in British History. For the first time, the whole of geographic Britain was united into one nation. The union was all-encompassing, including the literal merging of the two flags to create the basis of today’s Union Jack. A new national identity emerged with a new symbol, Britannia. Over the next hundred years, the Kingdom would grow in wealth, power, and influence, seeing the birth of Empire with Britannia ruling the waves.

The Latest Stage In British History: Present-Day United Kingdom

In 1800, the British and Irish Parliaments voted in favor of union. On 1st January 1801, the new United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was officially born. There was one parliament for the entire British Isles. For the next 120 years , as far away places as Cork, Inverness, and Kent were now governed by one legislature in London.

Yet this new United Kingdom was contested from the start. Many in predominantly Catholic Ireland did not see themselves as British and never would. London would always be seen as a foreign capital. The growing wealth that came from the Industrial Revolution did not make its way across the Irish Sea. Many Irish people saw themselves in the same position as people in many of Britain’s far-flung colonies, victims of colonial oppression. The so-called “Irish Question” would hound British parliamentarians of all political persuasions for the next century leading eventually to first a form of “Home Rule” and then ultimately total independence and the proclamation of an Irish republic in the mid 20th century.

As we currently stand, the country is now formally the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The four nations of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland share the same Parliament and the same Queen but also have their own devolved legislatures . In many ways, today’s UK has a quasi-federal structure with each constituent part having varying controls over its own affairs. How long this latest iteration of union will last, though, is for a different article entirely.

The Christianization of Anglo-Saxon England

By Thomas Willoughby BA (Hons) Politics Tom is passionate about political history, choosing to specialize in this at University. He graduated from the University of York in 2012 and worked as a Political Campaign Manager for one of the UK’s main parties for a number of years. He currently works in Marketing in the City of London for a Fintech. In his spare time, he loves to travel, go to the theatre, listen to 80’s vinyl, and usually reads at least one political history book every ten days.

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The political system of Great Britain

Presentation / essay (pre-university), 2000, stefan schneider (author), the british system of government.

Britain is a constitutional monarchy. That means it is a country governed by a king or a queen who accepts the advice of a parliament. It is also a parliamentary democracy. That is, it is a country whose government is controlled by a parliament which has been elected by the people. The highest positions in the government are filled by the members of the directy elected parliament. In Britain, as in many European countries, the official head of state, whether a monarch (as in Belgium, the Netherlands or Denmark) or a president (as in Germany, Greece or Italy) has little power.

The Parliament

The British Parliament is divided into two houses. The first one, which is less important, is the House of Lords. It can be described as politically conservative. It consists of different groups. There are the Lord Spiritual. Those are archbishops and bishops. Furthermore the Lords Temporal. These are heriditary peers, which got their titles from their fathers or grandfathers, and life peers, which got their titles for their whole life, and finally there are the Lords of Appeal, which are the High Court Judges. The Lords` main functions are to examine and to discuss the Bills introduced in the House of Commons. They can also delay the legislation for a year, but they can´t stop those Bills completly. They have also the function to introduce Bills which are mostly unimportant and non-controversial. They must approve a Bill, before it becomes an act. The power of the Lords has decreased dramatically. There was even a strong movement to abolish the House of Lords completely.

The second House is the House of Commons. The 651 Members of Parliament (MPs) who sit in the Commons are elected representatives of the British people. Each MP represents one of the 651 constituencies into which the UK is divided. The House of Commons has a maximum term of five years, at the end of which a general election must be held. However, a general election can be called in the government at any time. MPs sit on parallel rows of seats known as benches with those who support the government on the one side and the opposition on the other. The important persons are the front-benchers, the less important ones are the back- benchers. The Commons` main functions are to define and to pass the laws and regulations governing the UK

and to examine closely all the activities of the government.

The Government

The most powerful person is the Prime Minister. He is the leader of his party, he is the head of the government and has a seat in the House of Commons. He chooses the Cabinet-Ministers, who are the Foreign-, Home- and Defense-Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He recommends a number of appointments to the monarch. The Cabinet takes decisions about new policies, the implementation of existing policies and the running of the various government departements. The most popular Prime Ministers are Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, John Major and present one, Tony Blair.

The Monarch

For the evidence of written law only, the Queen has almost absolute power, and it all seems very undemocratic. She is the head of state, the head of the Church of England and the Head of the Armed Forces. Every autumn at the state opening of parliament Elisabeth II. makes a speech. In it, she says what "my government" intends to do in the comming year. And indeed, it is her government - not the people`s. As far as the law is concerned, she can choose anybody she likes to run the government for her. The same is true for her choices of people to fill some hundred other ministerial positions. And if she gets fed up with her ministers she can just dismiss them. Officially speaking they are all "servants of the Crown". Furthermore nothing the parliament has decided can become law until she has agreed to it. There is also a principle of English law, that the monarch can do nothing that legally wrong. But these facts are only written law. In reality it is very different. Of course she cannot choose anyone she likes to be Prime Minister, but she has to choose someone who has the support of the majority of MPs and the House of Commons - because "her" government can only collect taxes with the agreement of the Commons, so if she did not choose such a person, the government would stop function. With parliament it is the same story - the Prime Minister will talk about "requesting" a dissolution of parliament when he or she wants to hold an election, but it would normally be impossible for the monarch to refuse this request. So in reality the Queen cannot actually stop the government going ahead with any of its politics. Important roles of the monarch are the following ones: It is argued that the monarch could act as a final check on a government that was becomming dictorial. Second, the monarch has to play a very practical role as being a figurehead and representing the country.

The souvereign reigns but does not rule.

The Party System

Britain is normaly described as having a two-party-system. This is because, since 1945, one of the big parties has, by itself, controlled the government, and members of these two parties have occupied more than 90 % of all the seats in the House of Commons. One of the two big parties is the the Conservative Party, also known as the Tories, which is right of centre and standing for hierachical interference in the economy. They would like to reduce income tax and the give a high priority to national defence and internal law and order. A famous Tory is John Major, the former Prime Minister. The second big party is the Labour Party, which is left of centre and stands for equality, for the social weaker people and for more government involvment in the economical issues. Another smaller party is the Liberal Democratic Party. It was formed from a union of Liberals and the Social Democrats - a breakaway group of Labour politicians. It is regarded to be slightly left of centre and has always been strongly in favour with the European Union.

In countries like England which have a two- party- system there`s often a so- called shadowcabinet. This is the group of politicians which would become ministers if their party was in government. They`re the speakers of the main opposition party.

The situation in Scotland

On May 6th 1999 the Scottish people voted for the first Scottish Parliament since 1707 when Scottish an English parliaments were united. There was a Scottish movement who wanted devolution especially when the Tories did not represent Scottish wishes and needs. Tony Blair`s landslide victory 1997 gave new hope before the first parliament was finally perfect. Since then there is a proportional election in Scotland just like the one we have in Germany. Now there is a host of parties in parliament. The coalition consists of Labour and the Liberal Democrats. The parliament now can pass laws on education, health, culture, the environment and agriculture.

Wales and Northern Ireland- where Mr Trimble is in charge of the whole government and Gerry Adams e.g. is aminister also have a parliament now, but they don`t have as much rights as the Scots do.

At last you can say it could happen, that Britain one day gets federalistic.

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Danke. das rettet mir das leben... ich hoffe ich kann damit min. 10 NP ergattern und mein durchkommen dieses jahr sichern...

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Great Britain Essay Examples

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Education , Politics , Family , Students , Crime , Vehicles , Infrastructure , England

Words: 3000

Published: 01/25/2020

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This essay explores the following cultural aspects of Great Britain: the political system and government, the economy, education, transportation, policing and crime. Under the first sub-heading “Political System and Government the essay explains that the fundamental principle of the government of Great Britain is that of a parliamentary democracy, but with Queen Elizabeth II ruling overall as the titular Head of State, then continues to summarize the make-up of the government, the roles of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and more. The second section discusses Britain’s economy, its global ranking, its relationship with the European Union and Britain’s retention of the Pound Sterling as its currency. That section also describes how Britain’s economy has evolved from a predominantly manufacturing base into one where services are the major sector by percentage. Next comes the Education system in Britain, which is summarized from pre-school facilities through to university, placing some emphasis on U.S. / UK differences and on a small number of regional differences within the UK. Then comes Transportation – a section covering all Britain’s transport networks, including road, rail, air and sea – the latter including the undersea tunnel linking England with France. The final section is about the Police and crime. That covers the structure of the various UK police forces, which included dedicated British Transport Police (for the rail network) and covers some regional differences.

Introduction

Great Britain comprises three principal regions or parts on its mainland: England, Wales and Scotland. It is the major part of the United Kingdom, which also includes Northern Ireland. The rest (southern part) of Ireland is a separate country called Eire – the Republic of Ireland (“What is the difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain, and England?”, n.d.). This essay explores the following cultural aspects of Great Britain: the political system and government, the economy, education, transportation, policing and crime.

Political System and Government

“How government works” (n.d.) explains that the fundamental principle of the government of Great Britain is that of a parliamentary democracy, but with Queen Elizabeth II ruling overall as the titular Head of State. In the British parliamentary system the government is headed by a Prime Minister who has ultimate responsibility for the government’s policies and decisions. He has the power to appoint other members of the government as well as overseeing the running of Britain’s Civil Service and the various government agencies. He is based at a well-known London address: Number 10 Downing Street. Currently, as described in the article, Britain’s coalition government since May 2010 is made up of members of the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party – two of the three main political parties, the third being the Labour Party. It has a Deputy Prime Minister (from the Liberal Party), who assists the Prime Minister, is consulted on policy decisions, and has his own specific areas of responsibility. The same article also describes how senior members of the government form the Cabinet, who meet weekly while Parliament is in session, to discuss the major issues. In addition to the Prime Minister, there are 21 ministers in the Cabinet, plus a further 99 ministers who work outside of that body. Administratively, the government comprises 24 ministerial departments, a further 20 departments that are not designated as ministerial, plus over 300 peripheral government agencies and related public bodies. The British Parliament comprises the House of Commons – which has 650 elected representatives called Members of Parliament (MPs) – and the House of Lords. As described in “How Parliament works” (n.d.), the House of Commons is “the supreme legal authority in the UK” which the article states “is the most important part of the UK constitution.” The separate and independent House of Lords functions as a check on the House of Commons, and can challenge actions of the government. All new laws have to pass through both of these institutions.

The Economy

“The Economy of the UK, GB, British Isles” (2010) describes the UK economy as between the world’s sixth or eighth largest, depending on the criteria used. Noting that it encompasses the economies of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the article also mentioned that though the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are included in the British Isles, they have their own statuses as offshore banking centers. Because the United Kingdom is a European Union (EU) member state, it is part of a system known as a single market, which allows free movement between member states of its peoples, goods (trade), services and – importantly – finance (capital). However, as the article reports, the UK controls and maintains independence of its economy and continues to use as its currency the Pound (Sterling), whereas the remainder of the EU uses the Euro. The article notes that although the UK was “the birthplace of the first industrial revolution”, other countries have since caught up and Britain has been affected negatively by two World Wars in the last century, so that it is unlikely to return to the once-held position of the world’s number one economic power. The present economic climate is one of austerity and slow or zero economic growth, with a very large trade deficit, second only to the U.S. Interestingly, for a country that was once a major center of manufacturing industry, the article reports that by far the largest sector now is that of services, representing some 77 percent, most importantly in finance and banking, where London is one of the three world centers of finance, along with New York and Tokyo. Services are followed by manufacturing at just 22 percent, with agriculture trailing way behind at between one and two percent, although it still produces circa 60 percent of the country’s food requirements. Although UK agriculture is “highly mechanised and efficient”, it does benefit from considerable subsidies – both from the British government and from the European Union. Similarly, although manufacturing as a sector has shrunk dramatically from former times, the article reports that based on output values, the UK is still “the sixth-largest manufacturer of goods in the world.” The manufacturing industries include aerospace, which the article reports as “the second largest in the world.”

The Education System

The education system in England is usefully and quite comprehensively described in an article by Dunn & Collyer (2011) entitled “Understanding the British School System.” It was produced and published under the auspices of the U.S. Air Force 422nd Air Base Group, for the information of U.S. military personnel or civilian support personnel who might need to place children in the schools system (free for families based in the UK). For that reason it included mention of some UK / U.S. differences, which are noted where applicable in the following paragraphs. Note that there are also detail differences from the “England and Wales” system, especially in Scotland, but also in Northern Ireland. Those differences – as summarized in a British Council article entitled “The Education Systems of England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland” (n.d.) – are covered where appropriate in the text. Dunn & Collyer reported that in England all children between the ages of five and 16 attend free but compulsory schooling. (Also available to qualifying U.S. personnel and families). There are also pre-schools available for younger children, though most of those are fee-paying. The school year begins in September and ends in the following July and comprises three terms (or semesters). Autumn (Fall) term begins in September and ends at the Christmas break. The Spring Term is January through to the Easter holiday, then the Summer Term follows into July. There are short holidays (about a week) in the middle of each 12-week term. The Christmas and Easter breaks last approximately two weeks, and the Summer holiday is the longest – usually extending to around six weeks. As explained by Dunn & Collyer, the schooling is divided into Primary and Secondary education. Primary schools educate children between the ages of four and 11, moving each child up to the next class each year. The article noted that ages four to seven equate to Key Stage 1, and ages seven to 11 equate to Key Stage 2. Subjects taught at Primary Schools are determined by and in accordance with the National Curriculum. Secondary schools teach children between the ages of 11 and 16, in most cases in schools called Comprehensive schools, which cater for children of all abilities. Again the National Curriculum is followed, and the children are assessed at ages 14 (Key Stage 3) and at 16 (Key Stage 4). At that stage children sit the General Certificate of Education (GCSE) exams, which may be supplemented by course work assessments in various subjects. As further described by Dunn & Collyer, many children stay on at school for a further two years after the age of 16, enrolling in what is referred to as the Sixth Form. In this period they study for Advanced Level exams (“A” levels) in a smaller number of subjects, often as the principal route to qualify for university. Dunn & Collyer reported that there are fee-paying schools available in Britain for those parents who prefer that option for their children. Those can be either day schools or boarding establishments. All schools tend to follow a similar daily timetable, running from approximately 8:45 in the morning to 3:00 or later in the afternoon with a midday lunch break of about one hour. Religious education is compulsory for the schools, though parents may opt out for their children if they wish. Many schools in Britain have a mandatory school uniform policy, which is distinctive school-to-school. Assessments of the child’s performance and progress are made regularly in the form of school reports. At Primary school level these are usually once each year, but at Secondary school are more likely to be at the end of each term. In Secondary schools, children at the age of 13-14 (end year 9) select about 10 of the subjects for continuing, and drop the remainder. Dunn & Collyer noted that this is earlier then the practice in the U.S. At the age of 16 children are permitted to leave school, or can stay on to study for a further two years to qualify for university entrance, which – if attended – is usually a four year course. Dunn & Collyer provided – especially for American parents – the following information regarding differences between the UK and U.S. systems. The first and quite important difference is that transport to/from school is not an automatically available facility in the UK. Though there may be a service for some Secondary schools, it is the individual’s responsibility. British schools will not recognize U.S. holidays such as Independence Day and Thanksgiving, so U.S. parents need to obtain special permission if planning family celebrations on those days. Regarding differences between the school systems in different parts of the British Isles, the article by the British Council noted that in Scotland the curriculum is slightly different, and that Scottish Secondary educations begins at age 12. It also noted that the exams have different names in Scotland. The school year in Scotland begins in mid-August and ends in June, whereas in Northern Ireland the corresponding dates are begin-September and end-June. In Scotland the teaching of a foreign language begins in Primary school. In Northern Ireland religion is a more sensitive issue and many schools indicate their religious allegiance by part of the name of the school, e.g. RC for Roman Catholic.

British Transportation Systems

Barrow (2012) published an article on a school’s website, entitled “Types of Transport in Britain”, that provided a good overview of British transportation systems, and cited the nation’s road and motorway system as the primary component of the routes for domestic transport. Barrow claimed that there are circa 225,000 miles of roads/motorways in total, accounting for around 85 percent of all passenger miles travelled in Britain. Most of the roads are free to use, although there are a few roads that charge toll fees, including the central area of London, which calls the fees “congestion charges”. Barrow listed the average miles travelled by individuals within Britain by various means per year (averaged over 1999 to 2001) as follows: Walking – 189; By bicycle – 39; On the bus – 342; By train – 368, In the car – 5354. Not only did car travel account for by far the greatest distance travelled, but all the methods other than the car showed shorter distances than a similar analysis undertaken some 15 years earlier, showing that Britain had become much more car-orientated in that time. Barrow also noted that about three quarters of all households own at least one car. Motorcycles are also a popular means of private transport, totalling circa one million on Britain’s roads. Mopeds (engine size up to 50cc) are especially popular with young people as they can be ridden at age 16 using a “provisional” licence. Full licences for driving cars or motorcycles can be obtained from the age of 17 after passing an official Driving Test. Barrow noted that whereas most of Britain’s freight was formerly transported around the country by either train or canal barge, about two thirds of it is now carried by lorries (trucks). There is also an extensive network of public bus services throughout Britain, including the world-famous “double-decker” red buses used throughout London. In just a few towns, perhaps most famously in the Northern seaside resort of Blackpool, there are also tram systems – electric vehicles running in rail tracks embedded in the street, and powered from overhead wires. Britain’s train network is extensive – one of Europe’s largest – with in excess of 11,000 miles of track, carrying about 1,500 trains daily through as many as 2,500 stations. Britain boasted the first ever of the world’s public railways, when the Stockton and Darlington line opened in 1825. The so-called “main line” trains terminate on the outskirts of the capital, London, at a series of major stations. From those stations, passengers are able to travel anywhere in London on the London Underground or “Tube” network, which started in 1890 – another world first. That network has over 250 miles of track and encompasses a greater area than any other comparable system. Britain has direct rail links with continental Europe via trains running through tunnels bored between England and France 50 metres below the seabed of the English Channel. Britain’s air transport system includes no less than 470 airports, with five major airports serving London. Figures for 2004 showed that London’s airports jointly handled more than 120 million passengers, with London Heathrow – the busiest in the world – handling 67 million of them. In terms of international cargo transport, Barrow reported that although the Channel Tunnel also carries a certain amount of freight, shipping carries most freight, with Dover being the busiest of Britain’s ports.

Policing and Crime

“Policing in the UK: A Brief Guide” (2012), published by the Association of Chief Police Officers, states there are 44 separate police forces distributed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each is headed by a Chief Constable who reports to the Home Secretary, a government minister. Beginning in November 2012, most of those police forces – other than the City of London force and the police in Northern Ireland – have an elected Police and Crime Commissioner providing local direction and other functions. In addition to those “regular” police forces, there is also a separate force called the British Transport police that polices Britain’s railway systems, and other specialist police such as those associated with the Ministry of Defence and nuclear establishments. Scotland has its own police forces (presently integrating into one unified force), although the British Transport Police also cover the rail network in Scotland. Regarding crime in the UK, Burn-Murdoch & Chalabi (January 2013) published an article in the Guardian newspaper, summarizing current statistics and trends. Essentially, the article showed that crime in general had fallen in the period (Sept 2011-Sept 2012), and total numbers of crimes were 29 percent fewer than 10 years earlier. Only two individual crime categories showed increases over the 12-month period. They were thefts of bicycles and other household items, although the increases were very small. Homicide – a major crime category – has shown a drop to half of the figures for 2001-2002.

Barrow, M. “Types of Transport in Britain.” (2012). Project Britain: British Life & Culture. Retrieved from http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/transport.html Burn-Murdoch, J., & Chalabi, M. “Crime statistics for England & Wales: what's happening to each offence?” (January 2013). The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jul/14/crime-statistics-england-wales Dunn, L. & Collyer, J. “Understanding the British School System. (2011). U.S. Air Force 422nd Air Base Group. Retrieved from http://www.422abs.com/rafc/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=Rw8YrHUPTTw%3D&tabid=82&mid=467 “How government works.” (n.d.). GOV.UK. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/how-government-works “How Parliament works.” (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/ “Policing in the UK: A Brief Guide.” (2012). The Association of Chief Police Officers. Retrieved from http://www.acpo.police.uk/documents/reports/2012/201210PolicingintheUKFinal.pdf “The Economy of the UK, GB, British Isles.” (2010). Economy Watch. Retrieved from http://www.economywatch.com/world_economy/united-kingdom/?page=full “The Education Systems of England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland” (n.d.). The British Council. Retrieved from http://www.britishcouncil.org/flasonline-uk-education-system.pdf “What is the difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain, and England?” (n.d.). About.com Geography. Retrieved from http://geography.about.com/library/faq/blqzuk.htm

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Chapter 3 Introductory Essay: 1763-1789

Written by: Jonathan Den Hartog, Samford University

By the end of this section, you will:.

• Explain the context in which America gained independence and developed a sense of national identity

Introduction

The American Revolution remains an important milestone in American history. More than just a political and military event, the movement for independence and the founding of the United States also established the young nation’s political ideals and defined new governing structures to sustain them. These structures continue to shape a country based on political, religious, and economic liberty, and the principle of self-government under law. The “shot heard round the world” (as poet Ralph Waldo Emerson described the battles of Lexington and Concord) created a nation that came to inspire the democratic pursuit of liberty in other lands, bringing a “new order of the ages”.

This engraving of the 1775 battle of Lexington—detailed by American printmaker Amos Doolittle who volunteered to fight against the British—is the only contemporary American visual record of this event.

From Resistance to Revolution

As British subjects, the colonists felt flush with patriotism after the Anglo-American victory in the French and Indian War (1754–1763). They were proud of their king, George III, and of the “rights of Englishmen” that made them part of a free and prosperous world empire. Although Britain’s policies after the French and Indian War caused disputes and tensions between the crown and its North American colonies, independence for the colonies was not a foregone conclusion. Instead, the desire for independence emerged as a result of individual decisions and large-scale events that intensified the conflict with Great Britain and helped unite the diverse colonies.

As early as 1763, British responses to the end of the French and Indian War were arousing anger in the colonies. An immediate question concerned Britain’s relationship with American Indians in the interior. Many French-allied American Indians formed a confederation and continued to fight the British, especially under the leadership of the Odawa chief Pontiac and the Delaware prophet Neolin. Together, they hoped to reclaim lands exclusively for their tribes and to entice the French to return and once again challenge the English. Pontiac’s War led to American Indian seizure of western settlements such as Detroit and Fort Niagara. Rather than ending the dispute quickly, unsuccessful British attempts at diplomacy with France’s Indian allies dragged the war into 1766. (See the Pontiac’s Rebellion Narrative.)

Meanwhile, the British issued the Proclamation of 1763, which attempted to separate American Indian and white settlements by forbidding American colonists to cross the Appalachian Mountains. The hope was to prevent another costly war and crushing war debt. The British stationed troops and built forts on the American frontier to enforce the proclamation, but they were ignoring reality. Many colonists had already settled west of the Appalachians in search of new opportunities, and those who had fought the war specifically to acquire land believed their property rights were being violated by the British standing army.

The line drawn by the Royal Proclamation of 1763 from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of Mexico left much of the frontier “reserved for the Indians” and led to resentment from many colonists.

In 1764, the British began to raise revenue for the large army stationed on the colonial frontier and tightened their enforcement of trade regulations. This was a change from the relatively hands-off approach to governing they had previously embraced. The new ministry of George Grenville introduced the Sugar Act, which reduced the six-pence tax from the widely ignored Molasses Act (1733) by three pence per gallon. But British customs officials were ordered to enforce the Sugar Act by collecting the newly lowered tax and prosecuting smugglers in vice-admiralty courts without juries. Colonial merchants bristled against the changes in imperial policy, but worse changes were yet to come.

The introduction of the Stamp Act in 1765 caused the first significant constitutional dispute over Britain’s taxing the colonists without their consent. The Stamp Act was designed to raise revenue from the colonies (to help pay for the cost of troops on the frontier) by taxing legal forms and printed materials including newspapers; a stamp was placed on the document to indicate that the duty had been paid. Because the colonists had long raised money for the crown through their own elected legislatures, to which they gave their consent, and because they did not have direct representation in Parliament, they cried, “No taxation without representation,” claiming their rights as Englishmen. Although the colonists accepted the British Parliament’s right to use tariffs as a means to regulate their commerce within the imperial system, they asserted that the new taxes were aimed solely to raise revenue. In other words, the Stamp Act imposed a direct tax on the colonists, taking their property without their consent, and, as such, amounted to a new power being claimed by the British Parliament. (See the Stamp Act Resistance Narrative.)

Early voices of protest and resistance came from attorney and farmer Patrick Henry in the Virginia House of Burgesses and lawyer John Adams outside Boston. A group of clubs organized in Boston. Members ransacked the houses of Andrew Oliver, the appointed collector of the Stamp Tax, and Thomas Hutchinson, the colony’s lieutenant governor. Calls for active resistance came from the Sons of Liberty, a group of artisans, laborers, and sailors led by Samuel Adams (cousin of John and a business owner quickly emerging as a leader of the opposition). Petitions, protests, boycotts of articles bearing the stamp, and even violence spread to other cities, including New York, and demonstrated that the colonists’ resolve could keep the Stamp Tax from being collected.

This 1765 engraving entitled “Stamp Master in Effigy” depicts an angry mob in Portsmouth New Hampshire hanging a Crown-appointed stamp master in effigy. (credit: “New Hampshire—Stamp Master in Effigy ” courtesy of the New Hampshire Historical Society)

Meanwhile, delegates from nine colonies met in New York as the Stamp Act Congress to register a formal complaint in October 1765. The Congress was a show of increasing unity; it declared colonial rights and petitioned the British Parliament for relief.

The colonial boycott of British goods in response to the Stamp Act had its desired effect: British merchants affected by it petitioned the crown to revoke the taxes. In the face of this colonial resistance, a new government took leadership in Parliament and in 1766 repealed the Stamp Act. The colonists celebrated and thought the crisis was resolved. However, the British Parliament simultaneously passed the Declaratory Act, asserting its authority with the power to legislate for the colonies “in all cases whatsoever,” including taxing without consent. The stage was set to continue the conflict.

Like their British counterparts, many Americans adopted the custom of drinking tea. How does this teapot c. 1770 show the politicization of the cultural habit of tea drinking? (credit: “No Stamp Act Teapot ” Division of Cultural and Community Life National Museum of American History Smithsonian Institution)

Just one year later, Parliament began to pass the so-called Townshend Acts. The first of these was the Revenue Act, which taxed many goods imported by the colonies, including paint, glass, lead, paper, and tea. Despite the stationing of British troops in Boston to quell resistance, artisans and laborers protested the taxes, while in nonimportation agreements (boycotts), merchants and planters pledged not to import taxed goods. Women resisted the tax by rejecting the consumer goods of Great Britain, producing homespun clothing and brewing homemade concoctions rather than buying imported British cloth and tea. They organized into groups called the Daughters of Liberty to play their part in resisting what they viewed as British tyranny, and they formed the backbone of the nonconsumption movement not to use British goods. John Dickinson, a wealthy lawyer, penned the most significant protest, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania. The tax “appears to me to be unconstitutional,” he wrote, and “destructive to the liberty of these colonies.” The key question was whether “the parliament can legally take money out of our pockets, without our consent.” The colonists’ boycott significantly hurt British trade and few taxes were collected, so Parliament revoked the Townshend Acts in 1770, leaving only the tax on tea. (See the John Dickinson Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania 1767-1768 Primary Source.)

British officials had stationed troops in urban areas, especially New York and Boston, to quell the growing opposition movements. Their presence led to numerous smaller incidents and eventually to the eruption of violence in Boston. In March 1770, soldiers guarding the Boston Customs House were pelted with rocks and ice chunks thrown by angry colonists. Feeling threatened, they fired into the crowd, killing six Bostonians. The soldiers claimed they had fired in self-defense, but colonists called it a cold-blooded slaughter. This was the interpretation put forward by the silversmith Paul Revere in his widely reproduced engraving of the event, now called the “Boston Massacre.” The soldiers soon faced trial, and John Adams—although no friend of British taxation—served as their defense attorney to prove that colonists respected the rule of law. Remarkably, he convinced the Boston jury of the soldiers’ innocence, but tensions continued to simmer. (See The Boston Massacre Narrative.)

Boston was ripe for resistance to British demands when Parliament issued the 1773 Tea Act. The intention was to save the British East India Company from bankruptcy by lowering the price of tea (to increase demand) while assessing a small tax along with it. Colonists saw this as a trap, using low prices to induce them to break their boycott by purchasing taxed tea from the East Indian monopoly. Before the three ships carrying the tea could be unloaded at Boston harbor, the Sons of Liberty organized a mass protest in which thousands participated. Men disguised themselves as American Indians (to symbolize their love of natural freedom), marched to the ships, and threw the tea into Boston Harbor—an event later called “the Boston Tea Party”. (See The Boston Tea Party Narrative.)

This portrayal of the Boston Tea Party dates from 1789 and reads “Americans throwing Cargoes of the Tea Ships into the River at Boston.” On the basis of the image and the artist’s caption do you think the artist was sympathetic to the Patriot or the British cause?

Parliament could not overlook this defiance of its laws and destruction of a significant amount of private property. In early 1774, it passed what it called the Coercive Acts to compel obedience to British rule. The Boston Port Act closed Boston Harbor, the main source of livelihood for many in the city. Other acts gained tighter control of the judiciary in the colony, dissolved the colonial legislature, shut down town meetings, and allowed Parliament to tear up the Massachusetts charter without due process or redress. The colonists called these laws the “Intolerable Acts.” Meeting in Philadelphia in September and October 1774, representatives of the colonies discussed how to respond. This First Continental Congress was an expression of intercolonial unity. The representatives agreed to send help to Boston, boycott British goods, and affirm their natural and constitutional rights. Few contemplated independence; most hoped to bring about a reconciliation and restoration of colonial rights. The representatives also agreed to meet again, in the spring of 1775. By that time, events had taken a very different course. (See the Acts of Parliament Lesson.)

From Lexington and Concord to Independence

Some Patriots in the colonies sought more radical solutions than reconciliation. Early in 1775, Patrick Henry tried to rouse the Virginia House of Burgesses to action:

The war is inevitable—and let it come! . . . Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me give me liberty or give me death!

Around the same time, Major General Thomas Gage, Britain’s military governor of Massachusetts, planned to seize colonial munitions held at Concord and capture several Patriot leaders, including Samuel Adams and John Hancock, along the way. On April 18, 1775, when it became clear the British were preparing to move, riders were dispatched to alert the countryside, most famously Paul Revere (in a trip immortalized by the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow). As a result, the following morning, the Lexington militia gathered on Lexington Green to stand in protest. As the British column advanced, its commander ordered the colonists to disperse. A shot rang out—no one knows from where. The British opened fire, and after the skirmish, seven Lexington men lay dead.

The British advanced to Concord, where by now the supplies had been safely hidden away. After witnessing British destruction in the town, the Concord militia counterattacked at the North Bridge. This was Emerson’s “shot heard round the world.” Militia units converged from all over eastern Massachusetts, pursued the British back to Boston, and besieged the city. One militiaman who survived was young Levi Preston. Years afterward, he reported that “what we meant in going for those Redcoats was this: we had always governed ourselves and we always meant to. They didn’t mean we should.”

On June 17, 1775, the Battle of Bunker Hill erupted when the colonial troops seized and fortified Breed’s Hill and repulsed three British attacks. Running low on ammunition, the colonists held their fire until the last moment under the command, “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes.” The British captured their position—and suffered unexpectedly high casualties—but the battle galvanized the colonists. Although they were still divided, many came to believe that King George, instead of merely having bad advisors or making bad policies, was openly going to war with them. Arguments for independence began to gain traction. The build-up to the call for independence had been long, but now there seemed no other recourse. (See The Path to Independence Lesson.)

One key voice urging independence was that of Thomas Paine, a recent immigrant from England. In early 1776, Paine published Common Sense, a bestseller in which he attacked monarchy generally before suggesting the folly of an island (Britain) ruling a continent (America). Paine called on the colonists “to begin the world over again” and was one of the clearest voices pushing them toward independence. (See the Thomas Paine Common Sense 1776 Primary Source.)

(a) Thomas Paine’s Common Sense helped convince many colonists of the need for independence from Great Britain. (b) Paine shown here in a portrait by Laurent Dabos was a political activist and revolutionary best known for his writings on both the American and French Revolutions.

The Second Continental Congress debated the question of independence in 1776. The commander of the Continental Army, George Washington of Virginia, agreed with Henry Knox’s audacious plan to bring massive cannons three hundred miles through the winter snows from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston. When Knox succeeded, Washington used the guns to end the siege of Boston. At the congress, cousins Samuel and John Adams argued for independence and convinced a Virginia ally, Richard Henry Lee to offer this motion on June 7:

That these United Colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent States that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved.

Confronting its choices Congress also appointed a committee to prepare a Declaration of Independence. The committee consisted of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson a 33-year-old Virginian who accepted the task of drafting the important document. (See Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence Narrative.)

No contemporary images of the Constitutional Congress survive. Robert Edge Pine worked on his painting Congress Voting Independence from 1784 to 1788. How has this artist conveyed the seriousness of the task the delegates faced?

When the votes were tallied for Lee’s resolution about a month later on July 2, twelve states had voted for independence; New York abstained until it received instructions from its legislature. John Adams later wrote that it was as if “thirteen clocks were made to strike together.” The next two days were spent revising the language of the official Declaration, which Congress approved on July 4, 1776.

The Declaration of Independence laid down several principles for the independent nation. The document made a universal assertion that all humans were created equal. According to the ideas of John Locke and the Enlightenment, people were equal in their natural rights, which included life, liberty, and the ability to pursue happiness. The document also stated that legitimate governments derived their power from the consent of the governed and existed to protect those inalienable rights. According to this “social compact,” the people had the right to overthrow a tyrannical government that violated their rights and to establish a new government. The Declaration of Independence, which also included a list of specific instances in which the crown had violated Americans’ rights, laid down the principles of republican government dedicated to the protection of individual political, religious, and economic liberties. (See the Signing the Declaration of Independence Decision Point.)

Congress had made and approved the Declaration, but whether the country could sustain the claim of independence was another matter. The struggle would have to be won on the battlefield.

War and Peace

For independence to be secured, the war had to be fought and won. British generals aimed to secure the port cities, expand British influence, and gradually win the population back to a position of loyalty. They commanded a professional army but had to subdue the entire eastern seaboard. General Washington, on the other hand, learned how to keep the Continental Army in the field and take calculated risks in the face of a British force superior in number, training, and supplies. The support of the individual states, and the congressional effort to secure allies, were essential to the war effort, but they were not guaranteed. The British sent an army of nearly thirty-two thousand redcoats and German mercenaries. They also enjoyed naval supremacy and expected that their more-experienced generals would win an easy victory over the provincials. The campaigns of 1776, thus, were about survival.

After securing Boston, Washington moved his army to New York City, the likely target of the next British attack. In the summer of 1776, the British fleet arrived under the command of Admiral Richard Howe. It carried an army led by his brother, General William Howe, and consisted not only of British troops but also of German mercenaries from Hesse (the Hessians). The first blow came on Long Island, where British attacks easily threw Washington’s army into disarray. Washington led his army in retreat to Manhattan, and then from New Jersey all the way into Pennsylvania. By the end of the year, his situation looked bleak. Many of Washington’s soldiers, about to come to the end of their enlistments, would be free to depart. If Washington could not keep his army in the field or show some success, the claim of independence might seem like an empty promise.

It was critical, therefore, to rally the troops to a decisive victory. Washington and his officers decided on the bold stroke of attacking Trenton. On Christmas evening, they crossed the Delaware River and marched through the night to arrive in Trenton at dawn on December 26. There, they surprised the Hessian outpost and captured the city. Washington then launched a quick strike on nearby Princeton. The success of this campaign gave the Americans enough hope to keep fighting. (See the Washington Crossing the Delaware Narrative and the Art Analysis: Washington Crossing the Delaware Primary Source.)

The campaigns of 1777 brought highs and lows for supporters of independence. On the positive side, the Continental Army successfully countered a British invasion from Canada. Searching for a new strategy after the New Jersey campaign, the British attacked southward from Canada with an army under the leadership of General John Burgoyne. Burgoyne’s goal was to cut through upstate New York and link up with British forces coming north along the Hudson River from New York City. A revolutionary force under Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold swung north to meet the slow-moving Burgoyne, clashing at Saratoga, near Albany, in September and October. There, the Americans forced Burgoyne to surrender his entire army. (See The Battle of Saratoga and the French Alliance Narrative.)

The victory at Saratoga proved especially significant because it helped persuade the French to form an alliance with the United States. The treaty of alliance, brokered by Franklin and signed in early 1778, brought much-needed financial help from France to the war effort, along with the promise of military aid. But despite the important victory won by General Gates to the north, Washington continued to struggle against the main British army.

John Trumbull painted this wartime image of Washington on a promontory above the Hudson River. Washington’s enslaved valet William “Billy” Lee stands behind him and British warships fire on a U.S. fort in the background. Lee rode alongside Washington for the duration of the Revolutionary War.

For Washington, 1777 was dispiriting in that he failed to win any grand successes. The major battles came in the fall, when the British army sailed from New York and worked its way up the Chesapeake Bay, aiming to capture Philadelphia, the seat of American power where the Continental Congress met. Washington tried to stop the British, fighting at Brandywine Bridge and Germantown in September and October. He lost both battles, and the defeat at Germantown was especially severe. The British easily seized Philadelphia—a victory, even though Congress had long since left the capital and reconvened in nearby Lancaster and York. The demoralized Continentals straggled to a winter camp at Valley Forge, where few supplies reached them, and Washington grew frustrated that the states were not meeting congressional requisitions of provisions for the troops. Sickness incapacitated the undernourished soldiers. Many walked through the snow barefoot, leaving bloody footprints behind. (See the Joseph Plumb Martin The Adventures of a Revolutionary Soldier 1777 Primary Source.)

Here again, Washington provided significant leadership, keeping the army together through strength of character and his example in the face of numerous hardships. Warmer weather energized the army. So did Baron Friedrich von Steuben, newly arrived from Prussia, whom Washington had placed in charge of drilling the soldiers and preparing them for more combat. In June 1778, a more professional, better disciplined Continental Army battled the British to a draw at the Battle of Monmouth, as the imperial army withdrew from Philadelphia and returned to New York.

As the war raged, it affected different groups of Americans differently. Many Loyalists (also known as Tories) were shunned by their communities or forced to resettle under British protection. Women who sympathized with the revolution supported the war effort by creating homespun clothing, often working in groups at events in their homes called “spinning bees.” When men went to war, the women kept family farms, businesses, and artisan shops operating, producing supplies the army could use. While her husband, John, held important offices, Abigail Adams took much of the responsibility for the family’s farm in Braintree, Massachusetts. She even collected saltpeter for the making of gunpowder. Some colonial women followed their brothers and husbands to war, to support the Continental Army by cooking for the camp and nursing injured soldiers. Their engagement with the revolutionary cause brought new respect and contributed to the growth of an idea of “Republican Mothers” who raised patriotic and virtuous children for the new nation. Although women did not enjoy widespread equal civil rights, adult women of New Jersey exercised the right to vote in the early nineteenth century if, like their male counterparts, they served as heads of households meeting minimum property requirements. (See the Abigail Adams: “Remember the Ladies” Mini DBQ Lesson and the Judith Sargent Murray “On the Equality of the Sexes ” 1790 Primary Source)

To African American slaves in the South, the British appeared to offer better opportunities. In 1775, Lord Dunmore the royal governor of Virginia, offered men enslaved by Patriots their freedom if they would take up arms against the colonists. Many did, although few had gained their freedom by the conclusion of the war. Meanwhile, Dunmore’s proclamation made southern planters even more determined to oppose British rule. No such offer of freedom was forthcoming from the Patriots.

Dunmore’s 1775 proclamation of freedom for slaves who took the loyalists’ side was made for practical reasons more than moral ones: Dunmore hoped to bolster his own forces and scare slave-owning Patriots into abandoning their calls for revolution.

The Continental Congress removed harsh criticism of the slave trade and slavery from Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration of Independence, because it wrongly blamed the king for the slave trade and ignored American complicity. Later, John Laurens and Alexander Hamilton failed in their efforts to free and arm slaves in South Carolina. Despite some southern opposition, Washington eventually allowed free blacks to enlist in the Continental Army. Free black sailors such as Lemuel Haynes, who became a prominent minister after the war, served in the navy. Largely from the North, these men helped Washington’s army escape from Long Island and cross the Delaware River. In most cases, they served alongside white soldiers in integrated units. Rhode Island and Massachusetts also raised companies entirely of free black soldiers. The natural-rights principles of the Revolution inspired the push to eliminate slavery in the North, either immediately or gradually, during and after the war.

American Indians would have preferred to stay neutral in the Anglo-American conflict, but choices were often forced on them. Some tribes sided with the British, fearing the unchecked expansion of American settlers. Most members of the Iroquois League allied themselves with the British and, led by Joseph Brant, launched raids against Patriot communities in New York and Pennsylvania. Many other tribes along the frontier, including the Shawnee, Delaware, Mohawk, and Cherokee, also fought with the British. The need to deal with Indian raids was one reason for George Rogers Clark’s mission to seize western lands from the British. His victories at Kaskaskia and Vincennes, in present-day Illinois and Indiana, respectively, significantly reduced British strength in the Northwest Territory by 1779.

In contrast, many fewer tribes fought on the side of the Americans. By deciding to do so, the Oneida split the Iroquois League. Other American Indian groups living in long-settled areas also sided with the United States, including the Stockbridge Indians of Massachusetts and the Catawbas in the Carolinas. Many American frontiersmen treated Indian settlements with great violence, including a destructive march through Iroquois lands in New York in 1779 and the massacre of neutral American Indians at the Moravian village of Gnadenhutten in eastern Ohio a few years later. These conflicts deepened hostilities between American Indians and white settlers and helped whites justify the westward expansion of the frontier after the war.

After 1778, the British turned their attention to the South, where they hoped to rally Loyalist support. The major port of Charleston, South Carolina, easily fell to the British general Henry Clinton in May 1780. Pacifying the rest of the South fell to General Charles Cornwallis. He dueled across the Carolinas with the U.S. general Nathanael Greene. Encounters at King’s Mountain and Cowpens were indecisive or narrow American victories, but they effectively neutralized larger British forces in the South. After fighting at Guilford Courthouse, Cornwallis decided to head north into Virginia. He settled at Yorktown and built defenses with the expectation that the British navy would arrive to bring his army back to New York. However, in the Battle of the Capes (September 1781), the French navy defeated the British force sent to relieve Cornwallis. As a result, Cornwallis remained stuck at Yorktown.

Recognizing an opportunity, the French Marquis de Lafayette alerted Washington, who brought the main body of his army south with French forces under Rochambeau to confront Cornwallis. As the Americans strengthened their siege with the help of French engineers, command of several actions fell to Washington’s former aide, Alexander Hamilton. After separate forces of American and French troops captured two fortifications in the British outworks with a bayonet charge, Cornwallis realized he had no choice but to surrender.

John Trumbull’s 1819-1820 painting Surrender of Lord Cornwallis hangs in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC. American General Benjamin Lincoln appears mounted on a white horse and accepts the sword of the British officer to his right; Cornwallis was not present at the surrender. Note the American troops to General Lincoln’s left and the French troops to his right under the white flag of the French Bourbon monarchy.

The war continued for two more years, but there were no more significant battles. By capturing Cornwallis’s army, the revolutionaries had neutralized the most significant British force in America and cleared the way for American diplomats to broker peace. In Paris, Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay won British recognition of American independence. In the end, which came in 1783, not only was independence recognized, but the new nation gained a western border at the Mississippi River, unleashing a wave of immigration to settle the land west of the Appalachians.

Confederation and Constitution

The 1780s witnessed tensions between those who wished to maintain a decentralized federation and others who believed the United States needed a new constitutional republic with a strengthened national government. The first framework of government, the Articles of Confederation, sufficed for winning the war and resolving states’ disputes over land west of the Appalachians. Yet many believed the government created by the Articles had almost lost the war because it did not adequately support the army, and after the war it had failed to govern the nation adequately. With the nation’s independence recognized, Americans had to build a stable government in the place of the British government they had thrown off. Important debates emerged about the size and shape of the nation, continuities and breaks with the colonial past, and the character of a new governing system for a free people. Debates took place not only in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 but also in public discussions afterward in the states. Throughout the process, Americans considered various constitutional forms, but they agreed on the significance of constitutional government.

As they thought about these questions, they faced many immediate challenges in recovering from the war. Tens of thousands of Loyalists refused to continue living in the new republic and migrated to Great Britain, the Caribbean, and, most often, Canada. Many states allowed their citizens to confiscate Loyalist property and not pay their debts to British merchants, in violation of the 1783 Treaty of Paris. Economic depression resulted from a shortage of currency and lost British trade connections; businesses worked for several years to recover.

The United States did not even have complete control over its territory. Britain kept troops on the frontier, claiming it needed to ensure compliance with the peace treaty. Spain crippled the western U.S. economy by shutting down American navigation of the Mississippi River and access to the Gulf of Mexico. Individual states failed to fulfill their agreements to creditors and to other states. They passed tariffs on each other and nearly went to war over trade disputes.

In the face of these challenges, the first framework of government to be adopted was the Articles of Confederation. Although Congress began the process of drafting it shortly after independence and adopted the document in 1777, it approved a final version only in 1781. First, the title is significant: The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. The Articles set up a Confederation, or a league of friendship, not a nation. The states maintained their separate sovereignties and agreed to work together on foreign affairs but little else. As a result, the central government was intentionally weak and made up of a unicameral Congress that had few powers. It did not have the power to tax, so funds for the Confederation were supposed to come from requests made to the states. There was no independent executive or judiciary. Important decisions required a supermajority of nine of the thirteen states. Significantly, the adoption of amendments or changes to the document had to be unanimous. Several attempts at reforming the Articles, such as granting Congress the power to tax imports, failed by votes of twelve to one. As a result, government was adrift, and many statesmen such as Madison, Hamilton, and Washington began thinking about stronger, more national solutions. (See The Articles of Confederation 1781 Primary Source and the Constitutional Convention Lesson.)

Watch this BRI Homework Help video on the Articles of Confederation to review their weaknesses and why statesmen desired a stronger central government.

Nationalists such as Madison were also concerned about tyrannical majorities’ violations of minority rights in the states. For example, in Virginia, Madison helped promote freedom of conscience or religious liberty. He successfully won passage of Jefferson’s Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which formally disestablished the official church and protected religious liberty as a natural right. The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom later provided a precedent for the First Amendment. Protecting political and religious liberties became key components in the creation of a stronger constitutional government. (See the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom Narrative.)

Even with all its problems, the Confederation Congress did achieve great success with the settlement of the West. It created the Ordinance of 1784, which provided for the entrance of new states on an equal footing with existing ones, and for their republican government. Jefferson’s proposal to forever ban slavery in the West failed by one vote. The Northwest Ordinance, enacted a few years later in 1787, was a thoughtful response to the question of how to treat a territory held by the national government. Each territory, as it gained population, would elect a territorial legislature, draft a republican constitution, and gain the status of a state. Through this process, the Old Northwest eventually became the states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. At the same time, the Northwest Ordinance’s final articles established the protection of the rights of residents, including the rights of  habeas corpus and the right to a trial by jury. It provided for public education to advance knowledge and virtue. Also, very significantly, the ordinance permanently outlawed slavery north of the Ohio River. Not only did this decision keep those future states free, it also demonstrated the principle that the national government could make decisions about slavery in new territories. (See The Northwest Ordinance 1787 Primary Source.)

The first steps leading to a new Constitutional Convention were small. Concerns about trade and the navigation of the Chesapeake led to a 1785 meeting, hosted by Washington at Mount Vernon, between delegates from Virginia and Maryland. That meeting prompted more ambitious designs. Madison, a young Virginia lawyer and landowner, urged Congress to call for a new convention to be held in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1786. Nationally minded leaders from several states attended, including Madison, Hamilton from New York, and Dickinson from Delaware. Because of the late invitation, however, five other states sent delegates who arrived only after the meeting had disbanded, so a quorum was never reached. The one accomplishment of the Annapolis Convention was to ask Congress to call for another convention to be held in 1787 in Philadelphia. This was the Constitutional Convention. (See The Constitutional Convention Narrative and The Annapolis Convention Decision Point.)

As states prepared for the new convention in Philadelphia, word came of a popular uprising in Massachusetts. To pay off its Revolutionary War debts, the Massachusetts legislature had increased taxes. This move was met with active resistance in the western part of the state, where many farmers feared losing their land because they could not make the payments due to a credit crunch, recession, and high taxes. The insurgents wanted to cut taxes, print money, abolish the state senate, and revise the state constitution. Under the leadership of Daniel Shays, a farmer and former revolutionary soldier, they closed the courts in Springfield to prevent property foreclosures and defied the state government. By January 1787, Shays’ Rebellion had dissipated—the state legislature had raised an army to put down the uprising, and its leaders had fled. Still, officials feared disorder would spread if the government were not strengthened. Henry Knox strongly advocated for reform, and the idea was accepted by many revolutionary leaders, including Knox’s friend and fellow nationalist, George Washington. (See the Shays’ Rebellion Narrative.)

As a result, when the delegates assembled in Philadelphia, in the same hall where Congress had declared independence, they did so with a sense of urgency. They opted for secrecy to ensure free deliberation, allow delegates to change their minds, and prevent outside pressures from swaying the debates. They even ordered the windows nailed shut—quite a discomfort through the summer months. One important first step was to name someone to preside over the convention, and this honor fell to Washington. His presence lent moral seriousness and credibility to the whole endeavor. Members of the assembled convention soon concluded that the Articles of Confederation were beyond saving, and a new frame of government would be required, even though this goal surpassed their mandate to revise the Articles. At this point, Edmund Randolph of Virginia stepped forward with the proposal for a new plan of government conceived by fellow Virginian Madison (who was also keeping extensive notes of the convention, despite a rule against doing so).

Madison’s Virginia Plan favored large states by opting for a bicameral Congress with representation in both houses to be determined by population size alone. This irked the smaller states, which responded with the New Jersey Plan, adhering to the existing practice of allowing all states equal representation in an assembly. With two opposing visions, there seemed no clear path forward, and some delegates feared the convention would falter. From this conflict, however, a third plan emerged, shaped by Sherman and other delegates from Connecticut. This Connecticut Compromise or “Great Compromise” delineated the bicameral Congress we have today, with separate houses each offering a different means of representation: proportional to population in the House of Representatives and equal in the Senate, where each state would elect two senators. The crisis had been averted. (See Argumentation: The Process of Compromise Lesson.)

The convention then moved on to other matters. For instance, delegates considered the nature of the executive—a potentially delicate topic given that the presumed first executive was Washington. Hamilton argued for a very strong executive, possibly even one elected for life. However, although the convention created the presidency, it also hemmed it in, to be checked by the other branches. The Electoral College, in which each state’s votes were equal to the sum of its two senators plus its number of representatives in the House, was instituted as another part of the federal system. Significantly, the delegates spent minimal time on the federal judiciary, leaving the responsibility of defining its role to the new government.

The framers also faced the dilemma of how to address the institution of slavery. Delegates from the Deep South threatened to walk out of the convention if a new constitution endangered it. As a result, the convention’s treatment of slavery was ambiguous. The Constitution never mentions “slaves” or “slavery.” Even so, practical considerations made it impossible to ignore. Whereas delegates from the North did not think slaves should count toward the population totals establishing representation in Congress but should count for taxation, southern delegates disagreed, arguing the opposite. The “Three-Fifths Compromise” resolved that, although free people would be counted in full, only three-fifths of the number of “all other Persons” would be applied to state population totals for purposes of congressional apportionment and taxation. A precedent set by the Articles of Confederation also guided the compromise. In addition, after the convention voted down a southern proposal to prevent congressional interference with the international slave trade, the national government gained the power, after 1808, to choose to prohibit the “Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit.” (See the Is the Constitution a Proslavery Document? Point-Counterpoint.)

After most of the debates were finished, the convention’s ideas were put into words by a Committee of Style, including Gouverneur Morris of New York. By September 1787, the proposed constitution was ready to be sent to the Confederation Congress and then to the state legislatures to be submitted to popular ratifying conventions consisting of the people’s representatives. One of the most important provisions at this point stated that only nine of thirteen states had to ratify the document for it to go into effect in the states where it had been approved.

Watch this BRI Homework Help video on the Constitution for a comprehensive review of the philosophies behind the Constitution.

With the Constitution now public, citizens across the country could make it a topic of scrutiny and debate. This was one of the convention’s goals: The Preamble was rooted in popular sovereignty when it claimed to express the will of “We, the People of the United States.” The Constitution was to be considered at special state conventions and not by state legislatures, for instance, because the framers anticipated state politicians would resist the Constitution’s diminishing of the power of the states. In these conventions, nationalists who supported the Constitution seized the name “Federalists,” alluding to federalism or the sharing of powers between the nation’s and states’ governments. Already well organized, Federalists coordinated their efforts in the various states. They could call on many polished writers for support. John Dickinson, for instance, wrote a series of essays called The Letters of Fabius. Even more famously, Hamilton, Jay, and Madison united to write the Federalist Papers, signing their collected efforts with the Latin pseudonym “Publius.”

The Federalist Papers made practical and theoretical arguments in favor of strengthening the nation’s government through the proposed constitution. Although many other voices also supported the Constitution at that time, people still look to The Federalist Papers for important insights into the thoughts of the framers of the Constitution. The people labeled “Anti-Federalists,” however, were suspicious of the Constitution and its grant of power to a national government. Considering themselves defenders of the Articles of Confederation and its own federal system, they worried that, like the British government in the 1760s and 1770s, the distant new authority proposed by the Constitution would usurp the powers of their states and violate citizens’ individual rights. Many of them also wrote pseudonymously, taking names like Brutus—the Roman assassin of power-grasping Caesar—or Federal Farmer. Many also had Revolutionary credentials, such as Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams. They worried Americans would relinquish the liberty they had just fought so hard to attain. As their name suggests, the Anti-Federalists came to be identified as an opposition voice, warning about the growth of a strong national government with great powers over taxation and the ability to raise standing armies that would endanger citizens’ rights.

(See the Federalist/Anti-Federalist Debate on Congress’s Powers of Taxation DBQ Lesson.)

As debates raged in newspapers and public houses, state conventions took up the Constitution. On December 7, 1787, Delaware became the first state to ratify it. The next four states—Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut—followed quickly. Pennsylvania’s Federalists so accelerated approval that Anti-Federalists had little chance to mount a real opposition. The others were small states that believed the Constitution would help them. Massachusetts came next, and there, because of Shays’ Rebellion, opinion was more divided. Still, Federalists rallied important Revolutionary leaders like Revere, Hancock, and Samuel Adams to achieve ratification. Maryland and South Carolina followed. (See The Ratification Debate on the Constitution Narrative.)

When New Hampshire voted “yes” in June 1788, Federalists rejoiced that nine states had ratified. However, two of the most populous states, Virginia and New York, still had to consider the Constitution. Federalists feared that failing to gain the support of either would threaten the legitimacy of the Constitution and the viability of the nine-state union already established. Madison and other Federalists battled Patrick Henry in an epic debate in Virginia, narrowly winning ratification. Hamilton and Jay similarly faced a powerful contingent of Anti-Federalists in New York, but this state also ratified the Constitution in the end. In both states, as had been the case in Massachusetts, Anti-Federalists gained Madison’s promise that the new government would quickly draft a Bill of Rights for the Constitution. The new government under the Constitution could move forward (temporarily without North Carolina and Rhode Island, which remained outside the new union for more than a year.)

The final result was that American citizens and their representatives, through a public debate, had agreed on a new form of government. They had passed the test Hamilton had set for them in Federalist Paper No. 1, determining that self-government was possible and that citizens could establish a government through “reflection and choice” rather than having it imposed by “accident and force.” Madison kept his word, and in the new Congress, he authored the ten amendments of the Bill of Rights and shepherded them to approval. The Anti-Federalists stayed engaged in politics and kept a wary eye on the new national government. The process, although often improvisational and hinging on the contingency, had been orderly and deliberative. In the American Revolution, statesmen and citizens had avoided military dictatorship and mass civilian bloodshed, creating a lasting system of government in which power was organized for the protection and promotion of liberty.

In the relatively short span of time between 1763 and 1789 the thirteen colonies went from loyal subjects of the British crown to open rebellion to an independent republic guided by the U.S. Constitution.

Additional Chapter Resources

• Mercy Otis Warren Narrative
• George Washington at Newburgh Decision Point
• Loyalist vs. Patriot Decision Point
• Were the Anti-Federalists Unduly Suspicious or Insightful Political Thinkers? Point-Counterpoint
• Quaker Anti-Slavery Petition 1783 Primary Source
• Belinda Sutton Petition to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1783 Primary Source
• Junípero Serra’s Baja California Diary Primary Source
• State Constitution Comparison Lesson
• Argumentation: Self-Interest or Republicanism? Lesson

Review Questions

1. Which of the following best describes the fiscal consequences of the French and Indian War?

• The French and Indian War caused the Northwest Territories to be absorbed into the British colonial government leading to an increase in British resources.
• The French and Indian War exploded the British national debt and tax burden leading to Parliament’s decision to tax the colonies to pay the war’s cost.
• The French and Indian War caused the colonies to realize their economic self-sufficiency and allowed colonial governments to impose taxes upon their citizens.
• The French and Indian War resulted in a British loss which left the British economically indebted to France and forced them to use the colonies to pay this debt.

2. Which act marked the first serious constitutional dispute over Parliament’s taxing the colonists without their consent?

• Declaratory Act
• Boston Port Act

3. At the conclusion of the French and Indian War what was the political status of the territory west of the Appalachian Mountains?

• Colonial settlers were forbidden to cross the Appalachian Mountains.
• The British government acquired this territory and governed it under the Northwest Ordinance.
• Colonial rebels were banished to these territories which were held by the British but very loosely governed.
• The French governed this territory as a colony until it was purchased by Jefferson in 1803.

4. What was the main purpose of the Stamp Act Congress?

• To declare independence from the British government
• To develop a new Constitution to govern the colonies
• To establish the Stamp Act and other tax legislation
• To formalize the colonial complaints against Parliament

5. What legislation was imposed on Massachusetts as a punishment for rebellious behavior during the “Tea Party” in December 1773?

• Coercive Acts
• Townshend Acts

6. How did the British use the institution of slavery as a tool against the colonists in the Revolutionary War?

• Southern slaveholders forced slaves to fight on their behalf.
• By promising freedom, in exchange for slaves’ support, the British encouraged Patriots’ slaves to rebel against their owners.
• Slaves were captured and forced to haul goods and supplies for the British army.
• The British saw slavery as evil and motivated slaves to fight to abolish the institution in the colonies.

7. Which of the following best describes the role of American Indian tribes in the Revolutionary War?

• American Indians mostly moved into the Northwest Territories to escape the conflict.
• American Indians often sided with the British although some fought alongside the colonists.
• American Indians unanimously supported the British cause in return for protection.
• American Indians generally supported the colonists believing that the colonists’ commitment to freedom and independence would make it more likely that Indians’ property rights would be protected.

8. Which of the following best describes the motives of the French military during the Revolutionary War?

• The French military supported the British because the French feared for the security of their own colonial holdings.
• The French military supported the American patriots against France’s rival the British to raise France’s own global political and economic standing.
• The French military was hired by Congress to fight on behalf of the rebels because the colonial population was much too small to successfully overthrow the British.
• The French military provided financial support to the Americans but remained physically uninvolved in the conflict.

9. What purpose did the Articles of Confederation serve?

• The Articles of Confederation served as the structure for the first government of the new United States.
• The Articles of Confederation listed Americans’ grievances against King George III.
• The Articles of Confederation were the first ten amendments to the Constitution which limited the federal government’s power.
• The Articles of Confederation created a new united nation with an effective national government.

10. Which of the following best describes the evolution of American colonists desiring independence?

• Immediately after the French and Indian War American colonists realized they would be better served economically and politically by full independence and advocated for it.
• After the British government passed the first direct tax American colonists created a delegation to discuss and legislate independence.
• After the Declaration of Independence was agreed upon by committee members all American colonists thoroughly supported the War for Independence.
• Incremental shifts toward independence were not complete even during the Revolution because tens of thousands of American colonists remained loyal to Britain.

11. Which of the following did not contribute to the call for a Second Continental Congress in 1776?

• The British attacks on Lexington and Concord and the violence at Bunker Hill
• The popularity of a pro-independence pamphlet written by Thomas Paine
• The need for a central entity to wage the resistance effort
• The successful alliance between American colonists and France to wage war against the British

12. Which of the following best describes George Washington’s leadership of the Continental Army?

• Fierce fighter who had an iron grip on the infantry units and who would use his war experience to influence the colonial legislature
• Long-term strategist willing to use new tactics to gain victories and boost morale
• Lackluster commander unable to successfully achieve the task of independence
• Extremely competitive personality who betrayed the revolutionary cause by siding with the British

13. Which battle is significant because it resulted in the creation of a successful alliance with the French?

• Battle of Lexington and Concord
• Battle of Trenton
• Battle of Saratoga
• Battle of Yorktown

14. A change in perception about American white women was the idea of Republican Motherhood which

• articulated that a woman’s ideal role was a mother with as many children as possible
• emphasized the importance of raising patriotic children to participate in the newly formed republic
• implemented a public education program that taught children how to be Republican
• identified women as equal to their male counterparts and entitled to access to the finances of the household

15. The Articles of Confederation were designed to

• maintain state sovereignty preventing the usurpation of power by a central government while allowing the states to function as a unit in military and diplomatic matters
• create a strong federal government that could unify the states as a nation
• mimic the powers of the British Crown without the ability to tax
• give a voice to each citizen of the United States regardless of race and gender

16. Which of the following constitutional issues most definitively highlighted the divide between Northern and Southern delegates at the Constitutional Convention?

• The Great Compromise
• The Electoral College
• The Three-Fifths Compromise
• An independent judiciary

17. Shays’ Rebellion is most similar to which earlier event in American history?

• Bacon’s Rebellion
• Pueblo Revolt of 1680
• Passage of the Proclamation of 1763
• Stono Rebellion

18. Which political faction was suspicious of the new Constitution and wary of the stronger authority of the federal government?

• Anti-Federalist

19. After ratification of the Constitution the Bill of Rights was designed to

• calm Anti-Federalist fears and protect individual freedoms from a stronger federal government
• promote the Federalist idea that the Constitution was an effective defense for inalienable rights
• establish the process for western territories to enter the union as states
• list the grievances perceived by Americans and share them with the world as a justification for rebellion

Free Response Questions

• Explain how a debate over liberty and self-government influenced the Continental Congress’s decision to declare independence in 1776.
• Describe the role of women during the American Revolution.
• Explain how the debates over individual rights and liberties continued to shape political debates after the American Revolution.
• Describe the changes and continuities in North American attitudes toward executive power between 1763 and 1789.

AP Practice Questions

“Their jurisprudence was marked with wisdom and dignity and their simplicity and piety were displayed equally in the regulation of their police the nature of their contracts and the punctuality of observance. The old Plymouth colony remained for some time a distinct government. They chose their own magistrates independent of all foreign control; but a few years involved them with the Massachusetts [colony] of which Boston more recently settled than Plymouth was the capital. From the local situation of a country separated by an ocean of a thousand leagues from the parent state and surrounded by a world of savages an immediate compact with the King of Great Britain was thought necessary. Thus a charter was early granted stipulating on the part of the crown that the Massachusetts [colony] should have a legislative body within itself composed of three branches and subject to no control except his majesty’s negative within a limited term to any laws formed by their assembly that might be thought to militate with the general interest of the realm of England. The governor was appointed by the crown the representative body annually chosen by the people and the council elected by the representatives from the people at large.”

Mercy Otis Warren History of the Rise Progress and Termination of the American Revolution 1805

1. This passage from Mercy Otis Warren’s history of the American Revolution alludes to which factor leading to colonists’ discontent after the French and Indian War?

• The relative independence the British granted the North American colonies before the 1760s
• The unjust appointment of governors by the king of Great Britain
• The right of the British to tax colonists
• The population pressures caused by mass migration to cities

2. Which of the following statements best describes how colonists justified their opinion that taxation by Parliament was unfair?

• They argued that they had no direct representation in Parliament and thus Parliament had no power to enforce taxes.
• They argued that as self-sufficient colonies they wielded more economic power than Parliament.
• They argued that they were loyal only to the British Crown not to the British Parliament.
• They argued that the monarch traditionally taxed the colonies and was the only one who could issue a tax.

“After an unequivocal experience of the inefficiency of the subsisting federal government, you are called upon to deliberate on a new Constitution for the United States of America. The subject speaks its own importance; comprehending in its consequences nothing less than the existence of the UNION the safety and welfare of the parts of which it is composed the fate of an empire in many respects the most interesting in the world. It has been frequently remarked that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country by their conduct and example to decide the important question whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force.”

Publius Federalist Paper: No. 1 1787

3. On the basis of the information in the excerpt provided the author would agree with all the following statements except

• The debate over ratification is a referendum on whether republican self-government is possible.
• This new federal constitution was written after considerable careful thought and debate.
• The question of ratification is central to the survival of the United States.
• The survival of the Union is of secondary concern compared with the safety and welfare of the people.

4. Which of the following best describes the author’s approach to the challenge facing the states after the Constitutional Convention?

• George Washington assumed the role of de facto executive and thus changes needed to be made to the Articles of Confederation.
• Many political leaders believed the governing structure established by the Articles of Confederation was not strong enough and more structure was needed.
• The Revolutionary War had just ended and a document was needed to establish the newly founded government.
• British troops had accidentally fired on rebel militia thus forcing the colonies to sever their relationship with the British government.

“I was eleven years of age and my sisters Rachel and Susannah were older. We all heard the alarm and were up and ready to help fit out father and brother who made an early start for Concord. We were set to work making cartridges and assisting mother in cooking for the army. We sent off a large quantity of food for the soldiers who had left home so early that they had but little breakfast. We were frightened by hearing the noise of guns at Concord; our home was near the river and the sound was conducted by the water. I suppose it was a dreadful day in our home and sad indeed; for our brother so dearly loved never came home.”

Alice Stearns Abbott Citizen of Bedford Massachusetts on the Beginning of Fighting Concord 1775

5. In the excerpt provided the violent conflict described in 1775 most directly contributed to which of the following events?

• Colonial governments writing a petition for peace with a diplomatic solution to conclude the bloodshed
• Immediate Colonial call to arms and declaration of war against the British
• Calls for military and political action which resulted in the meeting of the Second Continental Congress
• An alliance with the French who would provide needed financial and military support

6. The context surrounding the event in the excerpt provided may best be described as

• intercolonial unity in the face of British attack
• strategically planned offensive in the wake of British hostilities
• incremental buildup of tension throughout Massachusetts over British occupation and legislation
• defiance of the Proclamation Line of 1763 and the subsequent conflict over land between American Indians British and colonists

7. Which of the following ideas would be best supported by historians using the excerpt provided as evidence?

• That children wrote unbiased accounts during wartime
• That women and families supported the troops during the Revolution
• That new and advanced technology allowed for more accurate gunfire
• That most New England families felt loyalty and support for the British Crown

“To defeat such treasonable purposes and that all such traitors and their abetters may be brought to justice and that the peace and good order of this colony may be again restored which the ordinary course of the civil law is unable to effect I have thought fit to issue this my proclamation hereby declaring that until the aforesaid good purposes can be obtained I do in virtue of the power and authority to me given by his Majesty determine to execute martial law and cause the same to be executed throughout this colony; and to the end that peace and good order may the sooner be restored I do require every person capable of bearing arms to resort to his Majesty’s STANDARD or be looked upon as traitors to his Majesty’s crown and government and thereby become liable to the penalty the law inflicts upon such offences such as forfeiture of life confiscation of lands &c. &c. And I do hereby farther declare all indented servants Negroes or others (appertaining to rebels) free that are able and willing to bear arms they joining his Majesty’s troops as soon as may be for the more speedily reducing this colony to a proper sense of their duty to his Majesty’s crown and dignity.”

Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation 1775

8. Lord Dunmore’s intent as indicated in the excerpt provided is best described as

• a genuine feeling that the abolition of slavery must be accomplished in the empire
• a desire to undermine the colonial revolt against the crown and acquire more loyalists to fight in the colonies
• a need to prevent imperial rivals from becoming involved in the conflict
• the desire to demonstrate a positive alliance with American Indians to ensure their assistance

9. The excerpt from Dunmore’s Proclamation highlights which of the following about the early years of the American Revolution?

• The variety of reasons people chose to identify as a loyalist or patriot
• The pivotal role of slaves in the winning of most early battles
• The early decision of most colonists about which side to take during the revolution
• The dynamic actions taken by women to support the troops at war

Primary Sources

Adams John. “Letter to Hezekiah Niles.” February 13 1818. http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/letter-to-hezekiah-niles-on-the-american-revolution/

Declaratory Act. http://www.constitution.org/bcp/decl_act.htm

Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Paul Revere’s engraving of the Boston Massacre 1770.” https://gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/road-revolution/resources/paul-revere%E2%80%99s-engraving-boston-massacre-1770

Hamilton Alexander John Jay and James Madison. The Federalist Papers . https://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/fed.as

Hamilton Alexander. The Federalist Papers : No. 1. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed01.asp

Longfellow Henry Wadsworth. “Paul Revere’s Ride.” https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/paul-reveres-ride

United States Constitution. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript

Suggested Resources

Bailyn Bernard. The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution . Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press 1992.

Beeman Richard. Plain Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution . New York: Random House 2009.

Berkin Carol . A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution . New York: Mariner Books 2002.

Berkin Carol. Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America’s Independence . New York: Vintage 2005.

Brookhiser Richard . Alexander Hamilton: American . New York: Simon and Schuster 2000.

Calloway Colin. The American Revolution in Indian Country: Crisis and Diversity in Native American Communities . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1995.

Chernow Ron. Alexander Hamilton . New York: Penguin 2004.

Dowd Gregory Evans. A Spirited Resistance: The North American Indian Struggle for Unity 1745-1815 . Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press 1992.

Ellis Joseph. His Excellency: George Washington . New York: Alfred A. Knopf 2004.

Emerson Ralph Waldo. “Concord Hymn.” 1837. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/45870

Fischer David Hackett. Paul Revere’s Ride . New York: Oxford University Press 1994.

Fischer David Hackett. Washington’s Crossing . New York: Oxford University Press 2004.

Kerber Linda. Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America . Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press 1980.

Kidd Thomas. God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution . NY: Basic Books 2010.

Maier Pauline. American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence . New York: Alfred A. Knopf 1997.

Maier Pauline. From Resistance to Revolution: Colonial Radicals and the Development of American Opposition to Britain 1765-1776 . New York: Alfred A. Knopf 1972.

Maier Pauline. Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution 1787-1788 . New York: Simon & Schuster 2010.

McCullough David. John Adams . NY: Simon & Schuster 2001.

McDonald Forrest. Novus Ordo Seclorum: The Intellectual Origins of the Constitution . Lawrence: University of Kansas Press 1985.

Middlekauff Robert. The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution 1763-1789 revised ed. New York: Oxford University Press 2005.

Morgan Edmund and Helen Morgan. The Stamp Act Crisis: Prologue to Revolution . Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press 1953.

Morgan Edmund. Inventing the People: The Rise of Popular Sovereignty in England and America . New York: W.W. Norton 1989.

Morgan Edmund. The Birth of the Republic 1763-1789 4th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press 2013.

Morris Richard. The Peacemakers: The Great Powers and American Independence . New York: Harper & Row 1965.

Norton Mary Beth. Founding Mothers and Fathers: Gendered Power and the Forming of American Society . New York: Alfred A. Knopf 1996.

Norton Mary Beth. Liberty’s Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women 1750-1800 . Boston: Little Brown 1980.

Norton Mary Beth. Liberty’s Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women 1750-1800 . Ithaca: Cornell University Press 1996.

Paine Thomas. Common Sense in Common Sense and Related Writings ed. Thomas Slaughter. Boston: Bedford St. Martins 2001.

Rakove Jack. James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic . New York: Pearson/Longman 2007.

Saillant John. Black Puritan Black Republican: The Life and Thought of Lemuel Haynes 1753-1833 . New York: Oxford University Press 2003.

Storing Herbert ed. The Anti-Federalist: Writings by the Opponents of the Constitution . Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1985.

Storing Herbert. What the Anti-Federalists Were For: The Political Thought of the Opponents of the Constitution . Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1981.

Taylor Alan. American Revolutions: A Continental History 1750-1804 . New York: W.W. Norton 2016.

Wood Gordon. The Creation of the American Republic 1776-1787 . Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press 1998.

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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

In our resource history is presented through a series of narratives, primary sources, and point-counterpoint debates that invites students to participate in the ongoing conversation about the American experiment.

British Parliamentary System Advantages and Disadvantages

Parliamentary system: introduction, advantages of the british parliamentary system, disadvantages of the british parliamentary system, parliamentary system advantages and disadvantages: conclusion, works cited.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of parliamentary democracy? Find the answer here! This essay presents a criticism of parliamentary system as a form of government.

A parliamentary system is a form of governance in a nation from where the executive branch obtains its power (Rodner 54). The executive is accountable to the House of Commons in Britain. Hence, the two are interrelated. It is important to note that the head of state is different from the head of government. Thus, it is different from the presidential form of democracy. It is usually practised in monarchies and parliamentary republics. A parliamentary system could be a bicameral system that consists of two chambers, or a unicameral house (Rodner 58). This essay focuses on discussing the advantages and disadvantages of the British Parliamentary system.

In order to understand the advantages of the British Parliamentary system, it is important to highlight its components (Rodner 59). First, the executive is linked with the legislature. Second, the executive organ is composed of the prime minister and cabinet ministers. Finally, it has a separate head of state and head of government (Rodner75). The above features give the system many advantages. One of the main advantages of this system is unity (Rodner 79).

This is for the reason that the executive and the legislative organs support each other. According to Rodner (83), unity is key because the legislative arm can pass a vote of no confidence if it is not contented with the performance of the executive branch. The process of making and amending laws is easier and faster (Rodner 85). The executive arm has the majority party in the parliament, meaning that it has the majority votes. This implies that it is easier to pass legislations without much resistance from the opposition (Rodner 85).

Moreover, the British Parliamentary system draws the attention of ethnic communities, making the leadership very effective in achieving national and regional goals (Gamble 404). Gamble (406) states that power is spread evenly on the platform of the British Parliamentary system. The prime minister is as important as the monarch because voters focus on voting for party ideas, but not for persons. Gamble (409) contends that the system also allows serious debates in parliament that could lead to changes of power without holding elections. Elections in Britain can be held anytime, especially if the assembly passes a vote of no confidence vis-a-vis the executive (Gamble 411). Parliamentary system in Britain is associated with less corruption (Gamble 411).

In fact, leaders who do not perform as expected are removed from offices. The system is also advantageous for the reason that the nation functions without a formal constitution (Bevir and Rhodes 216). Through the parliamentary arrangement, relatively small political parties grow and achieve national outlooks with a lot of ease (Bevir and Rhodes 218). For example, some leaders are indirectly elected by different districts that vote for representatives of the legislative body. Bevir and Rhodes (220) argue that in the British Parliamentary system, there is a dual relationship between the Upper House and the Lower House.

This is for the reason that both cooperate to promote the developments of the state. It is vital to state that proponents of parliamentary system argue that all political parties are included in the executive, including the minority parties (Bevir and Rhodes 224). This implies that diverse views are incorporated during the law-making process. Notably, the system has made the monarch and members of the House of Lords depend on the parliament (Bevir and Rhodes 226).

This has resulted in the promotion of accountability and transparency of the government towards citizens’ representatives. The system has developed a progressive and innovative electoral system that ensures efficiency during elections (Bevir and Rhodes 229; Lijphart 165). It allows the executive to implement its manifestos through the legislature (Bevir and Rhodes 131). This is because the executive and the legislative organs are interrelated.

The British Parliamentary system has allowed a relatively peaceful change from monarchical to a liberal democracy (Bevir and Rhodes 232). This has improved efficiency in the running of the country’s affairs. It has also allowed flexibility of legislative structures (Bevir and Rhodes 234). For example, the bicameral house is composed of the Upper House and the Lower House, which consults each other to avoid conflicts during implementation of government policies.

The British Parliamentary system has many advantages compared with other systems of governments. Despite the many advantages, it has been characterised by many disadvantages. First, the executive power is not separated from the legislature (Oliver 154; Lijphart 167). As a result, laws that are not good have been passed. Although the parliament can pass a vote of no confidence, there are limited checks and balances (Oliver 156; Lijphart 168).

This has been the case because the majority party forms the government and would always aim at protecting the government. Cabinet members are appointed from the upper house, which interferes with the functions of the upper house with regard to monitoring what the executive does (Oliver 156; Lijphart 169). Nonetheless, the informal constitution that is used in Britain can be changed at anytime by the executive and the legislative arms through a bill or an amendment (Prosse 479).

It would be important to note that the powers that are inherited are undemocratic and could cause constitutional crises (Prosse 483). Reserve powers are derived from conventions, and issues could arise when employing them. The absolute powers of the executive and the legislature have contributed to an autocratic form of government that is controlled by the prime minister (Prosse 483). This has interfered with effective functioning of other organs.

Prosse (485) supports the fact that the prime minister is not elected directly and has little autonomy, interferes with his or her decision-making process. In addition, voting of the prime minister that is done strategically might not represent the voters’ interests (Prosse 487). It is crucial to note that the British Parliament is as a result of historical processes that derived power from an absolute monarch (Prosse 487).

In conclusion, the British Parliamentary system has advantages and disadvantages. It has been used as an example that has achieved a lot across the world. It is typified by the dependence of the executive on the parliament. Prime minister and the monarch are answerable to the House of Commons, promoting accountability and transparency as aforementioned. The fact that the system lacks a clear distinction between the legislature and the parliament makes the two collaborate. Voting that is done on the basis of party manifestos implies that citizens’ interests would be addressed. However, the system utilises informal constitution that is based on multiple sources of the law. Thus, it can be manipulated by the legislature and the executive.

Bevir, Mark, and Rod Rhodes. “Studying British government: reconstructing the research agenda.” The British Journal of Politics & International Relations 1.2 (1999): 215-239. Print.

Gamble, Andrew. “Theories of British politics.” Political Studies 38.3 (1990): 404-420. Print.

Lijphart, Arend. “ Patterns of democracy: governance forms and performance in 36 countries .” New Haven, CT: Yale university press. (1999). Print.

Oliver, Dawn. “Constitutional reform in the United Kingdom.” Oxford, United Kingdom: OUP Oxford. (2004). Print.

Prosser, Tony. “Understanding the British constitution.” Political Studies 44.3 (1996): 473-487. Print.

Rodner Brazier. “ Constitutional practice: The foundations of British Government .” Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford university press. 1999. Print.

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IvyPanda . 2023. "British Parliamentary System Advantages and Disadvantages." October 31, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/british-parliamentary-system-advantages-and-disadvantages/.

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Bibliography

IvyPanda . "British Parliamentary System Advantages and Disadvantages." October 31, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/british-parliamentary-system-advantages-and-disadvantages/.

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