A Historical Overview of Immigration and Settlement in America - Prof. Vidal, Apuntes de Idioma Inglés

¡Descarga A Historical Overview of Immigration and Settlement in America - Prof. Vidal y más Apuntes en PDF de Idioma Inglés solo en Docsity! HISTORY AND SOCIETY OF USA 1) The country and the people • “Exceptionalism” = Americans believe they are unique (mission of saving the world). There is a sense of destiny. To understand America they look back to the past: • American history is quite thriving = museums, exhibitions, popular writing (novels). Americans want to know what happened in the past (also politicians are interested in the past) • Rapid change. After the 11th september they want to look back to the past, the past was a better time (guidance and reassurance) • Societies in the margins become important and they are placed in the centre (this creates problems) • “America in the World” = America is everywhere, the culture has power. It has do to with globalisation, which has also affected American culture and history (the world has also influenced America). People in the margins also include ordinary people who were never heard of and they have become important. • Diversity = mosaic culture and a strong sense of unity. It has to do with the politics of America = if you have a law is because you have to follow it, people follow the norms. • Local and regional way of working • Science and technology. All scientists go to America because there they have more possibilities to success. People who are valuable are helped to go up; they put the money and help you to go ahead. • Environmental history. They have used most of the reserves, they had a big problem with pollution. They weren’t worried about the environment but now this tendency is changing. HISTORY • Native Americans (“The Indians” = they were called in this way by Columbus) = Immigration: great number of people went to America and they settled in the Eastern coast, then there was an expansion towards the west. The frontier line is the space where the colonisers met the Native Americans (Native Americans were pushed away) = there was a West expansion of the natives. • War of Independence (1775-1783) = Declaration of Independence (4th July 1776) and Constitution (1787) • Civil War. The Union (North) against the Confederates (South) between 1861 and 1865. • Capitalism. • There are 3 types of cultures in America: a) Ethnic culture. (Black slavery ----- “Americanization”/melting pot). The basic culture of America should be the Native American but mainly in ethnic culture we have the British (strong ethnic culture which comes from Britain). White Anglo- American Protestant Culture = these values are in The Declaration of Independence and influence all history. In the 19th century in America there were European people (from North-Western countries) and also many Asian people moving to the USA. At the end of the 19th century we also find people from Southern and Eastern Europe. In the 1980s-1990s there were a lot of people from the Caribbean and from South America. In the American ethnic culture we find the importation of the black slaves to America (“infamous slave trade” and “Triangle slave trade”). b) Political culture. America has more importance at a regional and a local level rather than at a state level. c) Economical and consumer culture. You as an individual have all the power but there is economic competition and the individual is lost (contradiction). • Religious groups: religion is extremely important in the lives of the Americans (at the bottom there is Puritanism) • American symbols (national identity) a) Declaration of Independence b) The American flag = symbol of unity, strength, pride, inspiration; it is an icon. • It has 13 horizontal stripes (7 red and 6 white) = they represent the 13 colonies which signed the Declaration of Independence • 50 stars = represent the states • Red: symbolises strength, bravery; White: represents purity and innocence; Blue: represents the justice and perseverance. • Betsy Ross in May 1776 had sewn the first American flag c) The Liberty Bell = it was rung on 8th July in a public reading of the Declaration of Independence (it has a circumference of 4 m and it has the motto: “Proclaim Liberty to all the land”) d) Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation = it was issued by Lincoln on the 1st January 1863: it proclames the freedom of slaves. e) Gettysburg Address = important battle of the American Civil War (July 1863) “the place where hell bubbles up”. The Old Faithful (a geiser) always erupts at the same time of the day. Yellowstone is located mainly in Wyoming and in some areas of Montana and Idaho. Thomas Moran was a painter of the park and William H. Jackson was one of its photographers. In the 1960s a big fire burnt a lot of the area, however the fire helped to open the seeds of the trees (new vegetation appeared). • Great Teton (located as well in Wyoming)= there are lakes completely covered by snow. The name comes from the Great Teton Mountain (Tetons) and they have such name because they have the shape of women’s breasts. Wild animals are very important: elks, mooses, bears (they are quite dangerous especially at the beginning of the spring when they are waking up). We can find also the Jackson Hole (famous area for skiing) and the Snake River. • Glacier (Canada and at the very top of Montana) = it has to do with ice, mammals are important. • Rocky Mountains National Park (Colorado, 1915) = it is quite extensive, there is the highest road in US (hours and hours walking and driving). There are big horn sheep and important areas are: Estes Park and Great Lake. • Mesa Verde (Colorado) = we find the cliff dwellings, it is a place where the Indians have lived in puebloes and they were very well looked after. There were a lot of different tribes living in this area (e.g. Anasasi, the ancient ones) • Arches National Park (Utah) = there are sand stone arches and the most famous one is the Delicate Arch (some of them are going to disappear). • Grand Canyon (Arizona) • Petrified Forest (Arizona) = the biggest concentration of the world of petrified wood (Chinle Formation and Painted Desert) • Death Valley = lowest part in the USA and the driest and the hotest (Colorado) • Sequoia National Park • Yosemite National Park • Lassen National Park • Crater Lake = created by a vulcano explosion (Oregon) • Carlsbad Caverns (New Mexico) it is divided in different rooms: • “Big room” = there is a picture called A Lion’s Tale • King’s Palace Room • Lower Cave (different stallactite formations one of them is called “toothpeak” and another is called “soda straws”) • Spider Cave • Papeese Room (Blastful Elephant) Indian Tribes • Not only one culture of Native Americans existed but many different cultures: there were 10 milions of Indians = they spoke several hundred of languages and they couldn’t understand each other and there were also different social structures: • Maize: the Northeastern Maize (Iroquois, Huron, Mohican) was a corn growing area, they lived out of hunting and they had a staple diet = maize. The Southeastern Maize instead was more advanced in agriculture that the group in the North. • They built houses out of wood and they had thatching roofs (leaves and straw) • Roles of women: they had a strong role, they could attend the meetings and they had the role to remember what to tell to the children (oral historians), they knew how to prevent from having children and they did abortion with herbs. Women worked in the farms whereas men hunted and fished. • Tribes: The Iroquois, the Huron, the Mohicans, Delaware, Cherokees. • Bison Region (The Plains) = it is a very arid and flat region (there were few people). They moved near rivers and they were farming and hunting. They didn’t have any way of transportations, but then they used the horses which came from the Spanish. They had a comuna buffalo hunting (they kill them to eat). They discovered the use of the horse at the beginning of the 18th century and the culture transformed after the introduction of horses (they moved over the north). They started moving around with the horses and they became nomadic.They started living in the tipis (tendes de campanya) as they were moving to other places and began to fight with other groups. • Southwest: (Comanche, Zuni) they were mainly nomadic, they were farmers. The places where they lived were very much like puebloes and there were farms around the puebloes. Navajo and Apache tribes went later to this area. • California Intermontane: it was a barren territory (not an easy place to live). They were hunters and gatherers (getting what they could from the fruit they found), not farmers. So they just got as much as they can from nature. The poorest Indian groups lived in this area. They are known as peaceful people, they have the idea of democracy (living in big family groups and love for nature). • Northwest: There were fishing groups (salmon), they used canoes and they were moving with pieces of wood. They have something called a “potlach” (several days of feasting, drinking and dancing). There were peaceful and generous people. • Alaska: Inuit = they arrived in the area later than the Aleute. Inuits were sea hunters, they hunted big animals and they are linked with eskimos. The Inuits lived in settled villages and the houses were sometimes underground. • Hawaiaries: They lived in the tropical forests, they grew crops and were fisher people. They built circles around the sea side to have fish. Society was organised into two groups: )a High people (the ones who owned the land) = priests )b Common people (the ones who worked the land). For Indians the land is owned in community but Hawaii is different. Cultural regions in contemporary US These divisions have to do with the European settlement = different ways of life and culture: 1) The Northeast can be divided into two subregions: a) New England (Southern New England and Northern New England) b) Mid Atlantic • In Southern New England = Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. It is the culture cradle of America. New England is the place where the first colonists arrived, they were escaping prosecution in England. They established some stability with institutions. In New England there was the Puritan movement and Puritanism is linked with the idea that America is exceptional (exceptionalism). In the Puritan mind there is also the “work-ethic” = good work and you will go to heaven. Yankees = mill owners, factory workers, area for high education and research. • Northern New England. Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. It is a mountain area, with woods. They work in some areas and they have second homes (cottages). • Mid Atlantic. Nations Commercial Industrial Hub. It is more American-European diversity (area of the melting pot). It became more important in trade than New England. Boston is the Hub = the centre of things, where all the things go around (the core), from here is where people moved towards West. The Erie Canal = (1825) it was proposed to open a Canal to the Lake Erie to NY (Hudson River). It was such a good work that is considered one of the Marvels of the World. Thanks to the Canal, transportations became cheaper. Some of these industrial areas are called “smokestack” or “stack” = because of the heavy industry there is there. Boston is considered Irish and New York Jewish, Italian and Caribbean Black. In the 1970s this area was also referred as “Rust Belt”, they are called CAPs (Capitalised Phrases). were thought to be the Mongol People. People came from Russia, Asia and the Pacific Islands. It seems they started migrating 14,000 – 16,000 years ago, they entered the north towards the south. By the year 8,000 BC these migrations have reached South America. At the beginning of the 16th century the Europeans began to encounter North America. It is thought that in 1500 10 milion people were living in America. • The civilisations of the South: • In Perú there were: The Incas, The Mayas and the Aztecs (the latter first they were warriors, they settled in South Mexico and had a sophisticated system of government). Mayas and Incas were sophisticated civilisations, and in the north people subsisted in hunting and fishing. - The civilisations of the North: (hunting, gathering and fishing) • There was a place near St. Louis: Cahokia which was a very important centre. In 1200 already had people living in this area, it was a big community of 40,000 inhabitants. • Iriquois: they lived in confederacy (around NY) • In southern region: Muskogean tribes • These people were very far from each other and there were very different languages = they couldn’t understand themselves. • Before the 15th century Europeans didn’t know that America existed. One of the first who glimpsed America was Leif Erikson (11th century), who was a seeman who thought he had seen the land although he didn’t know it was the new land. • In the 15th century Europe changed and it helped the discovery of America. There was a growing population, governments became more powerful and they wanted to move outside. • Marco Polo returned from Asia with exotic things and the Europeans started to dream of the East. • The Portuguese went with Prince Henry the Navigator to India but around Africa (Cape of Good Hope). • Columbus wanted to find another way to reach India. He did it sailing west to the Atlantic. Queen Isabella agreed to support the voyage. The first voyage was in 1492 (Niña). 10 weeks later he reached the Bahamas. He thought he had reached China. He settled for a short time in Hispaniola. He described the area as something fantastic but saying that “towns and people of no importance”. One of the last letters he says he felt betrayed by his people. • The 3rd voyage (1498) = North coast of South America. It was here when he realised it wasn’t Asia. He started feeling as a hero and ended really badly because he was betrayed by his people. • Amerigo Vespucci = America • The 1st circumnavigation of the world took place from 1519-1522 by Magellan. The Spanish Empire • The Spanish movements into America were due to: find a way towards India and something to make money. • The first Spaniards settled in the Caribbean and then in the American continent. In Mexico, Hernán Cortés arrived in 1518 = he decided to have a military expedition and he fought against the Aztecs, its emperor was called Montezuma (Moctezuma). In Mexico, the natives were killed by an European disease called smallpox. • The conquistadores in America usually had a very bad reputation, they were considered cruel and brutal like Hernán Cortés. Pizarro was another conquistador in Perú and he was looking for gold and silver. • Other people travelled to America for other reasons: missionary activities, to teach the Christian religion (other ways to approach the Indians). The Indians were considered by the Europeans : accepted as human beings (the colonisers became colonised) or savages. • By the end of the century, the Spanish and the Portuguese united Brazil under Spanish jurisdiction. • When the Spanish moved towards the United States, they had important posts: • 1525 Fort St. Augustine in Florida = the first permanent settlement in the north of Mexico. • They started moving towards the south west in 1598 (Juan de Onate). They went through land that had puebloes and they began to establish a colony in this area (New Mexico). The Spanish granted encomiendas(the right to get tributes from the natives = that was of favour of the Spaniards). • Santa Fe (1609) = by 1680 there were 2000 Spaniards and 30,000 puebloes= they were living of cattle and sheep, they had ranchos. In 1680, the Indians had a revolt and destroyed Santa Fe. The Spaniards had the converts in closed places and they died. The Indians who accepted Christianity were following both rituals (animism and Christianism). The revolt took place because the Spaniards wanted to suppress the Indian rituals and the Indians didn’t accept it. Pope was one of the main Indian leaders in the revolt. The Indians got Santa Fe and the Spaniards had to leave the area. • The Spaniards followed different approaches with the Indians. Most mixed with the Indians and in this assimilation they learnt that they could accept the traditional Indian rituals (there was tolerance). However, the Indians had negative influences in these exchanges, e.g. smallpox, measles, typhus, influenza (flu) = in some areas everybody died (extermination). The positive aspects in the exchange were that the European introduced new crops among them sugar, bananas and more than anything animals such as cattle, sheep, horses (something important to transform societies). From America the Europeans got silver, gold, ways of looking at crops to produce more, maize, squash, pumpkins, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and sweet potatoes. • In Hispaniola when Columbus landed there were 1 million of people and few decades later only 500,000. In Mexico only a 5% of the population survived (the people who suffered more were the ones in the 1st contacts). • Some Indians didn’t want to work for the Spaniards so they forced them to work (coersive labour force, indentured labours) in the mines but lots of Indians died and needed people. Then, they brought black people from Africa (slave trade increased at that time). Blacks were also considered silly and were treated as animals= the first ones were indentured servants. Then it became a real business to bring slaves from Africa. The blacks were believed to be uncivilised although they had very structured societies. The first people who went to Africa were the Portuguese, they stopped in West Africa and slavery began to go on there. The first contact with Africa was to get ivory, the Spanish and the English joined the group and started slave trade (Infamous Triangular Slave Trade = The Middle Passage horrid in the history of America because a lot of people died). Olaudah Equiano (Gustavo Vassa) was a slave and he talks about the area of Guinea but he was from Nigeria (Yorubas, Hausa/Fulani, Igbos/Ibos). • In Africa there were matrilineal societies, we have women in the farms. They had many god and deities (“the ancestors of the elders”). The elders had power because they had experience. The ancestors believe in this animistic religion, they also believe in rincarnation = those who die will come to life again. • The slave trade began much earlier. In Africa there were already slaves, to have slaves was something positive = slaves had to jump into the death grave of their masters and to die alive. • The first documented arrival of the English in America comes from 1497. A person called John Cabot was the 1st English person who reached the coast of North America, he was trying to find a passage to India. Reasons why the English moved to the New World: )1 Because of the problems they had in England. They have been suffering problems with religions and there was an important demand of wool. The land became scarce in St. Mary’s, at the mouth of the Potomac River (Maryland). The Calverts had the power to make laws, they divided the state in small farms, but agriculture was not going and they cultivated tobacco. • In the East of America Indians had a line which they couldn’t go across (frontier line). Virginia from the 1640 to the 1660 the population rose and they wanted more land. • The people in the West were left out of the power. There was a clash between the colonisers, between the backcountry and the Eastern Planters. This conflict was led by Nathaniel Bacon, who had a good farm in the west and had some power in the assembly but he started a conflict with the governor of Virginia (Berkley) because the latter didn’t give him right for furs and asked for protection to the governor. He didn’t follow the orders of the governor and there was Bacon’s rebellion. He formed his own army and fought against Virginia, he attacked Jamestown twice with his militia but he died. The rebellion showed there was a strong fight between the whites and the Indians, and also there was a clash among the whites (those who had power). Then they decided to take many more black people in the country (Virginia and Maryland) because they wouldn’t give any trouble. Settlements in the North = New England • “New England” was a name given by John Smith in his exploratory journey. • At the beginning, the Scrooby separatists went to the area of Plymouth (they were from Scrooby village near Nottingham in England). First, these people moved to Holland (Leyden), they spent some time there but then left and went to America (pilgrims). They got permission to go to Virginia from the Virginia Company and in September 1620, they left Nottingham in a ship named the Mayflower. There were 35 saints and 67 strangers and they were led by William Bradford (Of Plymouth Plantation) The first harvest they had was the 1st Thanskgiving Day (1st Sunday of November). • When James I died (1625), he was succeeded by Charles I, who was even more hostile to the Puritans than his father. Charles I dissolved the Parliament (1629-1640) and he had the power. • Because of that political situation, a group of Puritan Merchants left to Massachusetts (they obtained some grant by Charles I) and were named The Bay Company and moved in a ship called Arbella. Then, in 1630 they eloped from England to New England. They elected John Winthrop as a governor and they wrote The Charter Massachusetts’s Bay Company. Boston became the capital of the colony. A Model of Christian Charity was a sermon by Winthrop = he said they would consider themselves as a “city upon a hill”. Their government was a theocracy, so they followed the rules of the Church. A lot of people died in the first winter of 1630 even though there were helped by the Indians. The earth near Boston is very sandy because of the beach, so they moved to other places such as Connecticut, which is much more fertile than Boston. • Thomas Hooke, a minister in Massachusetts, moved to Harford in 1635 (beginning of a new group). There was a Constitution The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut = men had more power to vote but only could vote those men who had land. • Another group moved to New Haven (next to Connecticut) = Fundamental Articles of New Haven (1639). They wanted to be stricter. Until 1662 it remained independent as a colony. • Rhode Island (Roger Williams) = he didn’t agree with Massachusetts people, he was a Separatist. He wanted to be away of the Church of England and he didn’t like the way the white were taking the Indians their lands. He settled there in 1635-1636 and he went to live with a tribe which gave the name to the colony. • Narragansett Bay (funded of Providence). Every one could go there (Jewish, Christians, Puritans). • Anne Hotchinson (Boston) didn’t agree with Massachusetts either. She was challenging the Church, its legitimacy. A group of women followed her because she was telling them that they had to do their rule and live their life. She was convicted for heresy in 1638, she was vanished and was considered “a woman not fit for the colony”. In 1642, her husband died and she moved to Long Island (New Amsterdam = New York), which was under Dutch jurisdiction. Then, they moved from Massachusetts to the south because the land was more fertile. Settlement in the north was much more difficult, so they went to Maine and New Hampshire in 1629. In 1639, John Wheelwright (Hutchinson’s disciple) led some of his followers to New Hampshire (dependent colony in 1679) and Maine was part of Massachusetts until 1820. • There was a battle, the King Philip’s War (1637-1657) where most of the natives were dead. In 1676, Mohawk and the English ambushed King Philip and killed him. In this war they used muskets (rifles) and were introduced by Myles Standish. It was completely forbidden to sell muskets to the Indians or to teach them how to repair these weapons. • Indians were good at building forts. The Great Swamp of Rhode Island fort was destroyed in 1645 by the British and the Stone Fort was also destroyed by the British who killed the people inside. Restoration Colonies • The English Civil War (1642-1649) lasted for 7 years. With Charles I from 1629 to 1640 the Parliament vanished and when they went back in session to get taxes, the subjects formed a military force to fight against the King in 1642. The supporters of the King were the Cavaliers and the supporters of the Parliament were the Roundheads. The Roundheads won the battle and beheaded Charles I. The head of the Roundheads was Oliver Cromwell and he was named as the “protector”, but when he died in 1658 his son was not like at all his father, so they restored the monarchy with Charles II. The price to those faithful to the King was land in the New World and 4 colonies were established. • The Restoration colonies were: Carolina, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. • Carolina • 1663 – 1665 = charters first people to go there but they abandoned • It was called Carolina after Charles II, for its Latin name • It had the headright system • There were Anglican people, however, also other faiths were allowed. • Anthony Ashley Cooper persisted and convinced people to have expeditions from England to Carolina. In 1670, there was the 1st expedition with 300 people and the first settlement was in Port Royal. • The two rivers in Carolina were named after Anthony Ashley Cooper (Ashley River and Cooper River) • Charlestown (Charleston in 1680) was named after the King who became Earl of Shaftesbury. • John Locke and Anthony Ashley Cooper created the Fundamental Constitution of Carolina in 1669. This constitution divided the zone in counties, and each county was divided in small equal parcels. It had also a division of classes: )1 At the top there were the proprietors, the “seigniors” )2 Below the Local Aristocracy (caciques) )3 Below the caciques we find the Ordinary People / settlers or “leet-men” )4 The lowest were the Poor Whites and the African Slaves • In the North of Carolina, people were farmers; and in the south, lands were much more fertile and prosperous and it became much more stratified than the north. So, the settlements grew on the South, which became rich thanks to Carolina’s rice. Carolina had close ties with the Caribbean (especially Barbados Island). South Carolina started to have slaves. • Mid-17th century = started passing laws from London: The Navigation Acts in order to control the commerce. The 1st Act was passed in 1660 = the colonies could only trade with British ships, tobacco and other products were going to England. The 2nd Act was passed in 1663 = all goods sent from Europe to the colonies had to pass through England, and England would tax the goods. The 3rd Act was passed in 1673 = the coastal trade had to pay duties, it put duties to trade among the colony. The Navigation Acts is the beginning of the regulation of the colonies, before them the Americans were independent from the Crown. • In 1675 Lords of Trade = it was a new body the King created, following it they increased the power on some of the colonies. James II tried to put the colonies together and have the dominion of New England. They appointed a governor, Sir Edmund Andros, a single governor had all the dominion. • The Glorious Revolution in England. James II (Catholic) was not very liked in America and England. In the 1688, the Parliament invited Mary and William of Orange, who replaced James II, the latter left the country and went into exile and fled to France. It was a coup with no blood. The new King and Queen abolished the dominion of New England and the colonies separated again. • In Maryland, (Lord Baltimore), John Coode organised a revolt in 1689 and through it Lord Baltimore lost the property and Maryland became a Royal Colony in 1691. In 1715 Maryland was given again to Lord Baltimore. • The colonists were becoming part of a British Empire, people of different areas were in America. Women in the colonies became midwives and they assisted women in child- birth. There was a theory in medicine: humoralism (theory of humours) = there are 4 humours located in 4 bodily liquids: yellow bile (bad mood), black bile (melancholy), blood and phlegm. The four liquids are balanced if we are healthy. At that time, there were no women unmarried, indentured servants were forbidden to marry the owners = a lot of children born out of the marriage. Women usually had a lot of children and they died. In the area of New England there were more stable families, they could protect more the children. It was a very patriarchal society, men had the power and women had to be good at taking care of the husbands and children. • P. Dutch (Deutsch) = Scotch Irish moved to America in 17th century in South Carolina. Farming was very important = boom- and-bust cycles= times were things were going well or very bad, in 1640 there was a bust. In South Carolina and Georgia there was rice, there were black people working there because they were used to the weather. It was a cash-crop economy because it depended on crops (you cultivate and you sell). • The North was more technological advanced: New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut produced a lot of wheat and there were people learning jobs (artisans). Some people started small mills for granding grain and wheat. One important fact in 1640s in Massachusetts was the metal industry but in the 1668 had to shut. However, metalworks became important. In 1764, Peter Hasenclever in New Jersey gave work to a lot of people (successful 100 years later). • Indigo = was a very important flower to dye. It was used for jeans later on and slaves were using these types of clothes with this colour. • Fur trade was in decline (wood, fish and mining) • At the beginning it was a very poor society, people had no money (currency), in the transactions there were exchanges (bartev) and often they had beaver skins to pay. They traded with the West Indies and emerged in the middle 17th century. A merchant class was protected by the Navigation Acts. • When in Europe there was the Industrial Revolution, in America they were advancing very quickly. At that moment, they had merchants and salesmen (luxuries became important), there was a certain refinement, acting gentlemanly or lady- like. There were a lot of portraits, started building gardens like in England. There was a social mobility in America (not as structured as in England). The masters and slaves in plantations are important: slave culture brought a way of thinking. There was a slave rebellion, Stono Rebellion in South Carolina in 1739 = 100 slaves rose up and killed the whites and tried to escape to Florida. • The Puritan community lived in villages where there were “commons”, a Meeting House (meet and go to the church). Puritans in New England lived typically in a town (not isolated farms). They had a “covenant”, an agreement, to work together. They had to participate in everything going on in the town. “Town meeting”: every year they chose the selectmen in charge of the affairs of the town. They could only be members of the church, it had to be evidence that they were elected members of the church = a visible saint. They adopted the system of passing the land to all the children, having power over all the family. • In 1680s -1690s in New England appeared the fear to witchcraft. The most famous was in Salem (Massachusetts). The Crucible of Arthur Miller was based in this historical event. Many women were killed because they were thought to be witches. The trials ended in 1692. However, the Salem witchcrafts were not the only ones. The Puritans feared witches because they thought they were Satan friends. Satan was always there to do evil = Puritan thought. • In the 1770s there were two large colonial ports: Philadelphia and New York. Such ports had more population than many of the biggest cities in Britain. They were trade centres and they became also centres of industry and education. However, not only good things happened in cities but also bad things such as crime. Shops, taverns and coffee houses were new ideas that entered from the outside. • Intellectual life was still Puritanism. God marked the life of the individuals, but in Europe something new was growing The Age of Reason (Enlightenment). This new spirit made emphasis on science and human reason (reason vs. faith). The supporters of the Enlightenment defended that there are “natural laws” and that they have self-control over their lives. This movement was the product of scientific advances, the power of reason and thought. Celebrating the “reason” meant that people got educated, interested in politics and other aspects of life. In Europe we have Locke and Bacon and in America Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson. • Then, the Puritans felt that they were losing power and control, so it appears The Great Awakening. • John and Charles Wesley = founders of Methodism, they started preaching again the Puritan religion. George Whitfield was another preacher but the most important one was Jonathan Edwards (“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”) = he was preaching in Northampton (Massachusetts). Edwards believed in predestination, salvation only by the grace of God. The Great Awakening divided the people in the colony: New Lights vs. Old Lights (Traditional). • They had to create places to educate, education was only directed to men (white male) in the 18th century. At the time of the Revolution, white male could write and read, but women had no opportunities. • Apart from the Bible, Puritans had at home Almanacs (1700).They had medical advice, information in agriculture, prediction for the future (weather), the farmers used them as a basis. The most famous almanac was Poor Richard’s Almanac was written by Benjamin Franklin. This became available thanks to the printing press in 1639 and by the end of the century it was in more towns in America than in England had printers. They published the first newspaper Publick Occurrences in Boston (1690). It was the 1st step for a very important industry (The Stamp Act passed in 1765, all newspapers, books had to pay a stamp). • Giving value to education, they tried to teach the children at home. They passed a law in 1647 in Massachusetts which required that every town should have a school. Some quakers already had their church schools but they weren’t public. “Dameschools” = widows and wives were given and also established courts to judge the smugglers; with the Currency Act (1764) paper money was not made in America anymore and in 1765 the Stamp Act imposed a tax on every printed document. Paxton Boys (Pennsylvania) money to defend themselves from the British. That is when the colonies started to work and join together. • Virginia Resolve. The speech was given in 1775 by Patrick Henry. There were resolutions to change: to have the same rights as the English, if they had to be taxed, it should be Virginia who taxed them. In summer 1775 many colonies read the Virginia Resolve and were against the Stamp Act. • The last town to get together was Boston and from there we have the Boston Massacre (Sons of Liberty) • The acts created a lot of economic problems and finally they took the Stamp Act out. • The Marquis of Rockinham. 1st Ministry of England and was the one who repealed the law in 18th March 1766. • At the same time England was gaining a lot of money and the Declaratory Act gave power to the colonies to the Parliament but people didn’t complain. William Pitt was back to the power and Marquis of Rockinham was dismissed by the King. • In 1767 Charles Townshed’s duties reinforced the act which gave shelter to the British troops. The colonies rejected it because it was imposed by London. Massachusetts and New York refused to do it. • Thurshed thought that if he was against one colony the others would surrender and he imposed new taxes on paper, lead, paint and tea. He thought that putting these taxes would not create problems because he considered it to be external products. However, all the colonies were forced to accept these taxes and they created the “Non Importation Agreement”. They started boycotting goods from the outside. The same years that he created the duties died, and the new Prime Minister (Lord North) in 1770 took away most of the duties and at the same time there was the Boston Massacre. = Troops looking for smugglers and soldiers were poorly paid and tried to get jobs in Boston. In 1770 people from Boston “The Liberty Boys” protected the building at the British port, they put soldiers and started firing and killed 5 people. A pamphlet was circulating after the massacre making propaganda against the soldiers. • In 1771 small scale Civil War started protesting against taxes in Carolina and farmers moved with arms to stop the taxes. • The Committee of Correspondance in Boston = people had to communicate and a group of people wrote this down and spread around the colonies. Samuel Adams protested against the Boston massacre. He proposed the Committee away to communicate with all the groups (13 colonies) all the problems they had with England. They wanted the power to be decentralised, that is to say, America a government for each colony and in England 1 King governed all. • The movements “no taxation without representation” started. For England, it didn’t make any sense because everybody was represented but America wanted every community had at least one representative. This created problems with the power of England, there were problems of soveranity since America asked for an autonomous power. America revealed in different ways: Rhode Island = The Gaspeship incident, it was set fire into a ship and the ship sank. • The tavern was important because people discussed politics there. But church and schools were also important. But most acts were decided in the taverns since they planned there pamphlets and rebellions. • 1773 Tea Act (Boston). It was involved in the business of the tea. The East Indian Company produced the tea that they sold. In an effort to save this Company, the Tea Act appeared. The company had the right to sell and export and not to pay taxes. Colonial merchants were angry, they didn’t accept that and finally the colony boycotted the tea. Another group appeared in Boston “The Daughters of Liberty”. Now women played and important role, they were the leaders of the boycott of the tea. • Boston Tea Party (1773). 3 groups working dressed like Indians like Mohawk, went aboard of that ship and poured all the tea in the harbour. The news spread quickly and in other ports they did the same. • England reacted with the Intolerable Act and the Parliament passed 4 acts: a) To close the port of Boston b) The power in Massachusetts was reduced c) To apply again the shelter of US soldiers d) People as royal officers had to go on trial in other colonies. They gave power to Catholics under the Pope of Rome. • Consequences: a) Massachusetts became a kind of example to follow. b) Resolution helping Massachusetts c) Women revealed and helped Massachusetts. 61 women in North Carolina signed to stop English resolutions. d) First Continental Congress in Philadelphia = 12 colonies joined to decide what to do (except Georgia): 1) Rejected a plan of colonial union from England. 2) They wrote a letter to the King and demanded to repeal repressive laws 3) They have their own military force 4) They said they would meet again the following spring. • From England, they proposed the “Conciliatory Prepositions” and the Parliament tried to peace them, and divided that they could tax themselves. They tried to make another agreement but it was too late because American people were moving = Battle of Lexiston and Concorde. • America created a body of military people called “minute man” because they had to be ready to go and fight. • Thomas Cragy was a British general who commanded the British troops and received orders to arrest people from Lexiston because he was told that people had a big number of gun powder and he decided to act. It got 1000 men and went towards Lexiston but some people in Boston went to tell people from Lexiston, so when the British troops arrived they were prepared. • Shoots of way = one shoot of the American Revolution. It is considered the first battle of the American Revolution. Thomas Paine “Common Sense” = this document was given to the American soldiers: “It is time to part”, it is time to separate from England Education • The system of education in America is distinctive but has a lot of common with the European system. • The Church and the State work together • It has a tone of optimism = education is seen as something positive, through education people discover themselves and it is also thought that education would help democracy. • For those living in the frontier, education meant putting them a leveller = education would level them to the people from the coast • Education was also the meaning of self-improvement • Education was telling women and blacks what to do, it also told Indians to be “civilised” and was telling immigrants to become American workers. • In the 1950s with the Civil Rights Movement, the schools changed its goals. • At the beginning of the 21st century a very important organisation called Gallop Organization Polls said which were the new attitudes towards school. People are not satisfied with public education: half of the people thought that private related to the Church schools were better. If Americans could afford it, they would send their children to these schools. • George W. Bush was offering vouchers for education and such vouchers were to send people to private schools. • At the end of the 20th century, in America they were pretending to have national standards, it was a sort of levelling (special tests and a change in the quality of the system was required) 1971, the problem ended (2 million and a half veterans had benefits from this act) = a sign of mass education. • Launching of a Soviet satellite (1957), the “Sputnik”. The Americans were frightened and there was a change in public education in America. They passed a new act: “The National Defence Education Act” in 1958 gave loans for students, they gave their money back when they worked. • 1950s teachers had to sign “loyalty oaths” • 1954 Brown vs, Board of Education of Topeka case = no separation of races, racial balance in schools. So the Plessy vs. Fergusson case was rejected. Busing services were engaged after this case, to get blacks and whites together. It lasted for about 20 years (“Lily white” schools = schools for whites). • 1974 The Supreme Court stopped the 1954 Case and the busing service stopped working. • The 30% of schools in USA in 2000 were schools for blacks. The Federal Government gave money to schools which had no discriminatory ideas. • Help poor schools: Government passed laws “Low income” for poor schools. The poorest places had help from the government if they had low incomes and grants to students. Also, the government put three times more money to social or educational problematic schools. Affirmative action: helping the minorities. In the 1970s the books had to be changed, introducing sentences like “positive role models”, so blacks were not anymore working as slaves but as bankers and managers. Also history and literature changed. The hiring of teachers changed as well, blacks and whites had the same opportunities to teach. Women were also hired and it was done by law = if they did not follow the laws, the government would stop giving them funds. • At that time there were two other programmes in primary and secondary schools: a) Head Start = provided pre-school classes for children (it is still working) b) Upward Bound = Pre-medial school (the money was not anymore given) • Court Case: Allan Bakke (1977). He was a white male and had a very good curriculum but he was not accepted in university because a 16% minority quota had to be accepted. After that case, the minority quota was declared anticonstitutional. • All 50 State Constitutions have a Special Provision for education. Each state has districts which have also independent schools in each district: 1) Kindergarten (start at 5) 2) Elementary schools (6-12) 3) Middle Schools (13-15) 4) High Schools (16-18) = then university Elementary and Secondary Schools • Independent school districts = unless human rights are not respected, the Federal Government takes no part. • 1950’s Office of Education in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. It became a separate Department of Education in the 1970s (Federal Government) • The State Board of Education sets the minimum standards, the calendars, the core curriculum, age of finishing each stage. [From rate of power we have: 1st the Department of Education, then the State Board of Education and finally the Independent School districts] • The core curriculum is really helpful if you want to change from schools to others in other states or districts. • Education is very localised. Localism means the delegation of authority to school districts. There are three kinds of localism: a) Financial localism. The responsibility of having funds to found schools. In the 1980s there was increase in budget money and the Federal Government gave also money but still needed local money (46% local money, 70% from the Federal Government). The richer the district the more money for schools. The Redistribution Plans of money: the taxes of the state are put in a “box” for education = more money for poorer districts and less for the richest. b) Political localism. It is exercised by the Local Board of Education which has more power over the schools than the State Board of Education. Anyone who lives in the district can be elected for the Local Board: generally teachers, parents and students (one can be elected) = they are responsible for the hiring or firing of teachers, the selection of text books and the curriculum. They also help people to ask for money and grants. The PTSA = Parent, teacher, Student Association (no legal authority) c) Social localism. Educational priorities in the district = to have social attitudes (different races, cultures and religions). Industrial teaching, commercial studies, agricultural methods, introducing new authors in the curriculum (black authors, sex education, drugs). They do not forget that America is the Greatest State in the world, so pluralism in schools had to do more with the theory than with the practice. Private schools = America is worldly known because of Elementary and Secondary Education. Pluralism allowed private schools. In American education, there is an emphasis in religion and the largest number are Catholic institutions • Montessori Schools. A specific method of teaching. • Prep-schools (boarding schools)= to goal of these schools is to prepare the students to go to private universities. • Military Academies. Private, problematic children go there and they depend mainly on donations. Children can have help for nutrition, transportation, health but not for tuition. Private schools are more strict, they easy expel students. Higher Education www.usastudyguide.com/usaeducationsystem.htm Grade Point Average (GPA) Grade Points Grade Equivalent 4 A High Achievement 3 B Satisfactory 2 C Minimum Passing 1 D Failure • The Colleges and Universities select their students on their own criteria • The Public Sector includes military academies, 50 state universities and 100’s “specialty schools. Community Colleges and City Universities. In the Private Sector there are Church related colleges and students requirements vary. • In National Education there are very well-known tests: • SAT = scholastic achievement test / scholastic assessment test • LAST = The Law School Admission Test • MCAT = The Medical College Admission Test • GRE = The Graduate Record Examination • The Acredity / Acreditation Universities are special tests to test universities. • Some institutions are known as “post-secondary technical” or “specialty schools”, when you want to specialise in one area. • Communities colleges = requirements for the 1st two years of college you graduate in : AA (associate in Arts) or AAS (Applied Science Degree) and in 3 or 4 years you become a BA (Bachelor of Arts) or BSc (Bachelor of Science) • Education in USA is cheaper: it is a life long learning (continue education) • Public universities have Campus that are better than others, that have to succeed. In America “Public University” is