AMERICAN REVOLUTION
 
I.  Political Revolutions
		A.  Definitions  (revolution, state, democratic)
  	B.  “evolution of a revolution”
  	C.  Competing goals
   		1.  protect rights of people
   		2.  increase power of state
  	D.  Philosophical rationale
   		1.  Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
    			a) “state of nature” 
    			b) king’s power 
   		2.  John Locke (1632-1704)
    			a) secular compact
     				-- common consent
     				-- right to terminate (i.e. revolution)
     				-- majority rule
    			b) property owners 
 
II.  The English Precedent 
  	A.  Civil War (1642-49)
   		1.  Catholic Kings 
    			a) James I (r. 1603-25)
   			 b) Charles I (r. 1625-49)
   		2.  Protestant Parliament  
  	B.  Oliver Cromwell (r. 1653-58) 
  			 = military dictatorship
  	C.  Restoration of 1660
   		1.  reestablished monarchy 
    				(Charles II, r. 1660-1685)
   		2.  restored Parliament (both houses)
   		3.  Anglican Church = state religion
  	D.  Glorious Revolution (1688-89)
   		1.  replaced monarchs 
    			a) James II (r. 1685-88) abdicated
    			b) throne offered to William & Mary (1689)
   		2.  constitutional monarchy
    			-- with supremacy of Parliament 
   		3.  Bill of Rights (1689)
    			-- “contract” between monarch & people 

III. The American Revolution
		A.    Prelude to War
   		1. the colonial experience
   			a) religious dissenters 
   			b) absence of aristocracy
   			c) colonial governments 
   		2. Seven Years War (1756-63)
   			a) British (& Americans) vs. French (& Indians)
   			b) to support a military --> colonists taxed
   		3. Stamp Act (1765)
   			a) Parliament passed 
   			b) colonists protested
   			c) Parliament repealed 
   		4. “No taxation without representation.”
   			a) Townshend Acts (1767)
   				--> Boston Massacre (1770)
   			b) Boston Tea Party (1773)
   				--> Coercive Acts
   	B. War of Independence (1775-83)
   		1. Lexington & Concord (1775)
   		2. Declaration of Independence (1776)
   			a) tyrannical acts by king
   			b) natural rights of humankind
   			c) sovereignty of American states
   		3. Supporters 
   			a) patriots (broad social base)
   			b) French alliance 
   		4. Treaty of Paris (1783) 
   	C. Creating a New Government (1789-91)
   		1. Constitution 
   			a) federal government’s powers
   			b) representative self-government
   			c) checks and balances
   		2. Bill of Rights = first 10 amendments
  		 	-- safeguard individual rights
   	D. Impact on Europe
   		1. aristocrats & commoners 
   		2. progress
   
   
   
Think/Write Question
How do you think the American colonists could justify their revolution by citing English history?