Cours n°3

Cours n°3


The backcountry : In the back country, poeple were linving on basis of solidarity. Some of pioners of the backcountry became succesfull farmers, and became to use slaves. There was also a embryo of upper class. Life became more compfortable for thos pioners.

These backcountry is going to move west more and more, and we find the same kind of life more west in the continent.


D) The middle colonies

Like the Southern's, they had rivers (but much larger), and served as highways into the land away from the coast. Climat was warmer then New England and cooler than the Southern's. The land was richer to the New England's.

Economic life : the bread colonies.

Must poeple living in these colonies were farmers. These farms were more productive then New england's because of the climat and the soils. The name of the bread colonies : a lot of wheet (blé). In particular in Pensylvania, the german colonists already knew the use of fertilizer and how to rotate crops. They were excellent farmers. There were fruits that rased in New York in particular. These colonies exported quite a bit, solt (sel), beaf, porc, hams, butter (beurre) and cheese. In these colonies industry developped cloth and hat industry (industrie du drap). The germans workers were talented. We may deduce that this industry was pretty succesfull that before to the end of the colonial period englands passed laxs to stop some kind of activities because it was unfair competition with english products. There was a real dynamism in those colonies. More dynamism that the New england's.

The poeple. New York was capital of Dutch's. There was a long war for New York and Dutch (Néerlandais) people. New York was basically a place with great melting of cultures. It was a cosmopolitain city. The Dutch influence remains all along the Hudson river. The King of England gave a land to William Penn in repaid.
Pennsylvania governed by Quakers. They guickly became outnumbers by new settlers who became quite agitated toward the government. They felt that they were not really protected from the indiens. At the time of the revolution about one third of pensylvania was inhabited by germans. They even printed out newspapers in german.

The Scotish Irish came from the presbiterian churches. They moved to the west part of pensylvenia to find cheaper lands. Adj : Scotish. Noun : a Scot / a Scotman. There was some slaves in the middle colonies. At a very early stage of US history, New York appeared at a worldly city (mondaine). The rich in N-Y lives in a more sophisticated way that in Boston.

e) local government

The middle states were counties (comptés), broken up in townships (circompscription). Counties were a little bit dominants at the end of the colonial person.


Unit One : Forming a New Nation

Chapter one : The American Revolution

1) The road to revolution




There was a war between Englands and Frenchs, the French and England war. The English won, and they took all the territories exept New Orlean to the France. Paradoxically, this victory brought troubles with the colonies.

a) Britain drives France from North America

Traité de Paris : peace of Paris, 1763

French owned a enormous land near to the apaleanchan mountains. The english colonist outnumbers french. George Washingtion had fight to the English toward french. Louisiana belong to Spain, as well as all the territories west to the Mississipi. East, territories were no more French's, but Britanic territories. Colonies gained experiences, there is a sort of common feeling, a kind of identity. The thought that they could have a different destiny of the destiny of the mother country.

Since the peace of Paris, there is a evolution leading to a commun feeling of identity, destiny.

b) Britain tightens its grip on the colonies

The king realised that this ware made britains aware of a need for a more efficient government of the colonies. The British needed more money to cost the price of a bigger empire. The war det was enormous. Britains needed money quickly, and felt that after all the colonies now free to expand west, in safety, have to paid the price of it. There were british subjects as far.

The proclamating in 1763 : a law witch closed the lands to the west of the english settlers. This law injured many settlers who were thinking moving west. Very few people paid any atention to this law.
In 1764 : The sugar act. Lowered the taxt of molasses. It was a law to force the colonist to paid the taxt of the United Kingdom. Sugar, Wine, Coffee were most taxed.
1765, march, the 25th : The stamp act. Any legal document must comport a stamp, playing cards were taxt, all printed document were taxed. All the revenu of these taxt was used to paid the cost of british troups in America.

=> It was interpreted as a reduction of the freedom of the colonies and a placement into tutel.

The reaction of refusal of the poeple was a very big suprised for the British and the Americans because there already have been stamp act.