Cours n°1

Cours n°1


Intro





The new century begins with lethal confrontation between islamists and americans poeple. Reaction of grief, and after the collapsing of americain safety feeling.
Since the civile war 1960 - 1965 and Pearl Arbor 1941 7th december, the usa were never again under attack.
Fear of internationnal terrorism leads to very sophisticate systems of defense. Great union of all americans for the defense of their nation, their value and economic system. This response was : let it stick together as a democratic nation.
It appears that beyond social discreapences and ethnic differences, all americans including immigrants share a faith in the values of the nation. (ahah).
This attachment to civil rights and public liberties is very strong. Low abidding society.

How the americans become as they are today?
How in a such ethnic diversity americans have remains a very united nation? In particular when lows implies more security for the nation.
Particularity : the state existed before the nation.
Constitution 1787. When the declaration was signed, in 1776. Many poeple at that time hardly knew how poeple lived elsewhere. At the beginning of their history, they thought that a federal structure will best serve their economic and political interest. They gradualy learned who they where and how biger was their country. Also the promises that such a territory held. The insitutions grew depper and depper.

They went through a lot of crisis (economic, politic and social) learned them to overpass obstacles and bunches. Many americans began to believe in American Manifest Destiny => John L.O'Sulivan was an editor of the american stade magazine and american revue : "The USA should open the bracket overspread the continent alloted by providence for the free development of our yearly multipling millions" (1845 - 1855 )

Of course this idea involved americans to own lands belonging to native americans. They started pushing back the indiens. At first, an invisible phenomenon. The natives americans were sacrificed to expansion. This notion is important as it has accompagned american history as this day. To reclaim territories for farming, ranching and development has contribuited to the vision of america as a land of endless opportunity. To the myth of an inexaustable reserve of richies. It has giving birth of the myth of the self made man who fights against adversity, who graples with adversity and makes the most of his capacities to transcent his own limites as a mortal beeing.

We realise that it took a hundred and fifty years to america to become the political and territorial entity that we know actually. 1959 = Alaska became part of america.
1920 = women can vote. Twenty years before french's.

America has the territorials, politicals and economics capacities to become the stade we know today. Even if they have been a lot of change by the two wars (apartheid, civil right act, black power), the faith of americans in their own culture is something that has existed in their whole history. 1960 = periode of troubles during the vietnam war, then with the watergate, etc...



We will work on America between 1607 and 1920.


America before the United States

Colonial life, a brief survey of the thirteen colonies, the embryo of democratic practices through local colony.

A. New England





New England communities were :
-Maine
-Massachussets
-New Hampshire
-Rhode Island
-Connecticut

Boston is an economical, political and cultural center.

New England territories where near to the north west border => fishing
Many year after the arriving of the communities, the new england economic system was based on agriculture. The colonial period (Between 1607 and 1976) has homogenius population about seven hundred thousand poeple (700000) very alike in their language, maneers, way of thinking and religion. We called they the Yankee. Poeple of the northern colonies, poeple of New England.

a. Economy

They came into a very study independant english stock. They cultivated the lands, fished the seas. The farmers lived from what they produced and consume what they had rase. Subsistance agriculture. Labors was difficult to find because poeple wanted to have they own clothes, own food, own possessions. Poeple where capable to do a large kind of things.
When New England was 20 years old export 3 hundred thousand of crowd. They must import some kind of products to the indiens lands.

In 1697 they opened the slave trade. It paid the way for a triangular trade. ( Europa =>Afrique => New England ) Exchange poeple / marchandises.




Vert : Les royaumes européens où s'armaient les navires négriers.
Rouge : Zone d'origine des esclaves.
Bleu : Zone de destination.

b. New england society

95% of the colony come from England. In 1776 this is 80%. The church was the center of the community. They feard the Indiens that they didn't know very well. They were too narrow in their thinking => puritinism. They were well educated and believed very strongly in education (they must read the bible : the book). In 1647 Massachussets passed a low that provided that each town must paid for a public school and set up a structure to everyone be able to read and write.

They were locals self government. In New England local government meant town government. You've to own to vote, to have a property. They had a habbit of public meeting, public debates => Bases of Democracy even if women were not egals to men, education was not perfect, but there was an embryon of democracy.