2544 Lecture Notes

LECTURE 1: AMERICAN HISTORY
 With European contact, Indigenous people did worse over time

 Indigenous lost land over time
o Disease
 Smallpox killed 90% of Indigenous people who had no immunity
 Iroquois sided with British
 Algonquin with French
 Continualization of tribalism after European contact
o Worsened by European weapons
 Loss of land, territories and populations
 Double the number of Indigenous people than in Canada
o But percentage of indigenous people, as part of the population, is much smaller
o So, it gets talked about less (compared to Canada)
2 major ways to look at American history

1. Good
 First liberal democracy in the world
 Checks and balances, federalism, good governance, exporting these ideas
around the world
 Fighting fascism, militarism, authoritarianism, Marxist Leninist, terrorism
2. Genocidal
 Indigenous people
 Slavery for Black Americans
 Treatment of other minorities, Japanese, Hispanics,
 Never lived up to its ideals, only serve rich white males
 Colonial
 No better than the British
Main players in North America:

 Spain
 France
 Britain/England
British outcompeted the French

1760s, Defeat of French
Revolutionary War
- with French help and Indigenous help, made British give up on 13 colonies
Idea was that US, post revolution, would form a different sort of governance
 Some loyalists moved to British North America (Canada)
Confederation in the US
 13 colonies were sovereign
 Very weak centrally
 Sort of like the EU
 No common army, currency, laws
1787
 Created Constitution
 Created Federal system
 Federalism
o 2 levels, states and central government would share power
 Started to govern themselves under President George Washington
Slavery in America
 Started in 1619
 Black slaves from Africa
 Most were in Caribbean, Portugeuse and Spanish areas
 Not introduced by Europeans, Indigenous practiced too
 But it was a particular type of slavery for Europeans
o Blacks from Africa
 Very inhumane and harsh under British
o Treated as animals, property
o Better under Portuguese with influence of Church
 America had a chance to get rid of slavery after the Revolution
o Idea of property rights was so strong in the constitution that no one had the
courage to do it
 Shame that they didn’t do more to live up to their slogans
o Live up to highest happiness etc.
 Early 1800s, cotton gin, profitable
o Suddenly, demand for slavery took off
o Pool of people already here
o Very strong in the South
o Cotton becomes king
 Harder and harder to abolish because it was such a big part of the economy in the South
 A missed opportunity after the revolution to end slavery
 North increasingly against it for moral and religious reasons
 Growing sense it was an outrage to liberalism and humanity
 Small minority of whites owned slaves, but many bought into the idea that as whites,
they were superior to blacks
o Caste system
Manifest Destiny
 Americans are destined by God to rule all of the Western hemisphere throughout the
Americas
War of 1812
 About 3 years
 Stalemate
 Torching of the White House
 Solidified the border more than anything else
 For Canada, there was a great sense of pride at holding back America
 Set a lot of animosity between the two countries
Disappointing for Manifest Destiny people
So, they turned West, against Spain and Mexico

 Where most of Manifest Destiny occurred
Big victories in the West against Indigenous and Mexico
Should slavery be extended into the West?
Civil War
 Forged the modern US more than anything
 Culmination of slavery
 Lincoln, anti-slavery
 South decides to leave
o Confederate flag
o Succession
 Lincoln decided to resist by warfare
 4 bloody years
o Killed many civilians too
 Robert E. Lee
o South at a disadvantage
o Brilliant at North from winning for a long time
 Ulysses Grant
 Jefferson Davis
 Union forces in Washington DC trying to get to Richmond, Confederate forces
 In the East, Confederate starting to get battered
 In the West, Union did better, up to Mississippi river, Kentucky, burning of Atlanta
 Confederates isolated from 1864.
 Union wins, abolished slavery
 Almost create the third version of US
 Civil war creates the beginnings of a more centralized US,
o Washington is more powerful
o Really starts with efforts to impose power on South
 Jim Crow
o Couldn’t entirely restrict South from doing what they wanted
 Another big opportunity was lost after the Civil war to really improve the lives of black
people
 Missed opportunity to create a better America
Industrial revolution
 World’s biggest economy
 Becoming very powerful internationally
 19th century
 High immigration from Europe
 Post-civil war = growth of American power domestically and internationally
 Confident
 A stronger nation after the civil war
 The US are, vs The US is
 Industrialization a big reason why North won the war
o Cannons, ships, guns
WWI
 French and British
 Saving France, paying them back after Revolution
America has a history of isolationism, early 20th century was isolated
Great Depression
 Capitalism should be more regulated
 Welfare state
 Democratic party embraced this and started to change their trajectory
America never fully went

 Strong respect for capitalism, small government
FDR = One of the greatest American presidents

WWII
 Crucial entry of US into WWII
 Vast industrial might and population
 Weaponry
 Left America as the most country power by far
o Homeland untouched
 Decided to take world leadership
 Formed UN
Cold War
 NATO vs Warsaw Pact
 Nuclear weapons
 US outlasts USSR
 Defeats fascism, Marxist-Leninism
21st century
 9/11
 War on terror
 US has not withdrawn internationally
 Occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan
What happened with civil rights?

 Slavery abolished but
 Apartheid in South
 Long time for black people to win civil rights
 Martin Luther King
 Court rulings
 Some constitutional amendments
 Legally, the realization of first class citizenship
 Economically, still many issues
 Civil rights struggle is still ongoing
US closer to its ideals today

Has it gone far enough? Comparatively perfect?
Or really still lacking to this day? Class basis? Too much poverty. Fail to meet human dignity
ideals.
LECTURE 2: CONSTITUTION
 Always meant to be a liberal democracy

o Flawed but the first one
o And most important in the world
 Individual freedom
 Individual Rights
 Constitutions
o Written
o Basic rights and freedoms are protected
o US was the first to put down in a written form, hard to change
 Articles of Confederation
o 13 colonies were truly sovereign
o Like the EU, even weaker
 More perfect union around 1787 = US today
Preamble
 We the people
o People are sovereign
 Fairly decentralized
 10 amendments to the bill of rights?
 9 and 10 have not been as powerful as originally intended
 First 10 amendments are not really amendments, always intended
 1787 inly really limited federal government
o But amendment 14 changed it and made it more centralized, federalised system
 14 & 15 did not have effect until later
 16 taxation, grew government power
 33 repeals prohibition amendment
 Designed so that the constitution is hard to change
 Electoral college may need changes
 Possibly very big changes to the constitution

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LECTURE 1: AMERICAN HISTORY

 With European contact, Indigenous people did worse over time

2 major ways to look at American history

Main players in North America:

British outcompeted the French

So, they turned West, against Spain and Mexico

Big victories in the West against Indigenous and Mexico

Should slavery be extended into the West?

America has a history of isolationism, early 20th century was isolated

America never fully went

FDR = One of the greatest American presidents

What happened with civil rights?

US closer to its ideals today

 Always meant to be a liberal democracy

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