History of the American People to 1877

In this lecture, Dr. Totten argues the Articles of Confederation government was extremely weak and unable to deal with the massive debt and competing interests of states following the American Revolutionary War. The founding generation believed in a concept of "republicanism" that stressed the dichotomy of liberty and power, virtue and luxury that competed in every government. Due to this political ideology, the new governments wanted to limit centralized authority and empower the states with the majority of rights. As issues compounded due to the lack of power, elites believed a new governing document was necessary in order to ensure the success of the American republic. As a result, the constitutional convention was called in order to create a functioning government capable of solving the nation's problems.

In this lecture, Dr. Totten argues the Revolutionary War held several important consequences for Americans, beyond simply maintaining their independence from Great Britain. George Washington, while certainly a flawed man, continually gave away power when he could have set himself up as a king. Furthermore, the war empowered women with "Republican Motherhood," and led to the creation of the first anti-slavery society in the United States, though there was a missed opportunity for Washington to contribute to the decline of slavery in the U.S. The war saddled the young country with a substantial debt that would contribute to the creation of the U.S. constitution. Tens of thousands of loyalists fled the continent in the aftermath of the war. Finally, the most radical aspect of the war was the decline of deference in the United States

In this lecture, Dr. Totten argues the Revolutionary War was a far more complex event than is traditionally taught. George Washington lost more battles than he won, though his victories were important psychologically and strategically for the cause. In addition, women, African Americans, and Native Americans played a key role in the conflict that is often forgotten today.

In this lecture, Dr. Totten argues American colonists launched an insurgency in the face of British punitive actions that resulted from the Boston Tea Party. John Adams once wrote: "But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations. This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution."

The key point was the revolution was not inevitable and every event was contingent on each other. While we in retrospect can see the road to revolution clearly, it is important to note that very few people agreed on what they were doing or where they were going. The founders were eclectic people who vehemently disagreed on confronting Great Britain, disagreed on whether independence should be their goal, and most especially, disagreed on what government would emerge from the conflagration.

In this lecture, Professor Totten argues the American colonists and the British government misunderstood each other's interpretation of the imperial relationship, which led to the American Revolution. Rather than providing a united front, the colonies were "ever at variance and foolishly jealous" of one another, which made their union in the face of British actions more impressive. The British need to pay off their war debt from the French and Indian War, led them to impose direct taxes on the colonies, which had not been forced to pay such duties in the past. In addition, colonials were perturbed by British attempts to assert stricter control over colonial trade, as they pursued smugglers who had operated for decades. The New England colonies, hard hit by a series of imperial wars, were more radical than the other colonies, and as a result, Boston was the hotbed of dissent. Several flash points erupted, which led the colonies to hold a "Continental Congress" in order to debate what steps to take next. The result would lead to the American Revolution.

In this lecture, Professor Totten argues the French and Indian War set the stage for the American Revolution, due to the massive debt the British government incurred prosecuting the conflict.

In this lecture, Professor Totten argues the Enlightenment and First Great Awakening were critical social and intellectual events that contributed to the lead up to the American Revolution. The Enlightenment emphasized empirical evidence, logic, and scientific reason instead of faith as an explanation for the world around them. Scientists and philosophers made critical discoveries and put forward novel ideas that influenced generations, including the founding fathers. The First Great Awakening led to a new expression of evangelical faith that created new Protestant denominations of Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterianism. The challenging of the old religious order, led to a democratization of religion, and the awakening provided a shared cultural experience for colonial Americans that proved pivotal in the coming of the Revolution. After all, if they were willing to challenge social elites and preachers, why not challenge the rule of an arrogant king.

In this lecture, Professor Totten argues economic motivations and white supremacy led to the rise of slavery on the North American continent. The creation of the plantation complex enabled large scale cultivation of sugar, which in turn, fueled the desire for more labor and land. West Africans were knowledgeable about harvesting sugar and their rulers had an economic incentive to sell war captives into a form of European slavery that was hard for these rulers to imagine. After leaving the slave forts on the coast of Africa, enslaved Africans suffered through the horrific Middle Passage. During their journey, they experienced physical and psychological torture, murder, and rape. Slavery was worst in the West Indies, where human beings were literally worked to death as part of a cruel economic calculation to maximize profits. Slavery in the Deep South was little better, where whites used alternating Indian allies as slave catchers, before eventually selling their former natives into slavery abroad. Initially, Georgia was not a slave state, until the colonists there wanted to exploit slavery for financial gain. The Chesapeake and Deep South saw an explosion in the number of enslaved Africans from natural reproduction, which later fueled the inter-state slave trade. The enslaved were subject to slave codes, which regulated every aspect of their lives. Despite the abject cruelty slaves suffered, African traditions endured in the Americas, and the enslaved resisted in acts of everyday sabotage to outright freedom rebellions. Thus, colonial slavery represents an unfortunate aspect of history that has a direct connection to modern day economic and racial inequality in the United Sates and abroad.

In this lecture, Professor Totten argues the Middle Colonies of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware were multi-ethnic and multi-racial societies that practiced more religious and cultural toleration than the Chesapeake or New England. New York began as a Dutch colony, New Netherland, which had relatively positive relations with nearby native tribes. In addition, women had more rights than in English colonies, as they could obtain divorces, own property, and give testimony in court. New Sweden, a Swedish colonial project, was absorbed by New Netherland, Eventually, the English captured the capital of New Netherland, New Amsterdam, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. As a result, the English removed many of the rights enjoyed by women and reinforced slavery in the colony.

Pennsylvania, by contrast, was a proprietary colony run by William Penn and his descendants. This colony differed from others, due to its large population of Quakers, a protestant sect that stressed equality and pacifism. Due to the middle-class origins of many Quakers, the colony quickly prospered. New Jersey and Delaware had large populations of Scottish and western European settlers and had relatively small economies, which were overshadowed by the more powerful New York and Pennsylvania. Thus, the Middle Colonies had eclectic ethnic, racial, and religious populations that were relatively tolerated, compared to the Anglican South and the Puritan North.

In this lecture, Professor Totten argues the Pilgrims and Puritans were radical separatists and reformers who disagreed with Charles I and his Archbishop William Laud who favored a return of Roman Catholic doctrines in the Church of England. Puritans had unique beliefs and goals that influenced their colonization of New England. The Pilgrims' arrival at Plymouth was poorly timed with the near onset of winter and the they suffered greatly. Only the aid of an Native American named Squanto, who had been forcibly abducted and transferred all over the Atlantic World, enabled the Pilgrims to survive. "Plimouth Plantation's" relationship with native tribes was not as cordial as the myth of the first Thanksgiving depicted, as conflict frequently broke out. Though the colony was never financially successful, subsequent waves of Puritan settlers swept into the region, quickly expanding the presence of the English in the face of dwindling native numbers, due to epidemic disease and war.

Puritans suffered less than their English brethren in the Chesapeake, since Puritan families often traveled together and had more property. Unlike the decentralized Chesapeake, Puritan towns were centered around the church and school, to foster literacy in order to pursue religious studies to form a personal relationship with Christ. New England's economy was more balanced than the cash-crop export centered economic of the Chesapeake, though that also meant it yielded fewer profits. The result was a more balanced wealth gap. Without large amounts of capital and no cash crops, native and African slavery was less pronounced in the region. Puritan families worked together, with women serving as "Deputy Husbands," which allowed them greater control over their households. Due to relative balance of genders in New England, women could form tighter social networks with their neighbors to financial, moral, and political support. Premarital sex, abortion, and family planning, though rare, occurred in colonial New England, illustrating the concept of the "prude Puritan" was a myth.

Over time, relations strained between Puritans and Native American tribes. This led to the Puritan-Pequot War and the Mystic River Massacre, where the Puritan militia massacred hundreds of natives after setting fire to a Pequot village. The survivors were sold into slavery across the Atlantic World. Decades later, another conflict, King Phillip's War, broke out due to the abuse heaped upon the Wampanoag tribe. The result killed thousands of settlers and Indians and posed on of the most serious challenges to English colonialism in New England. In the end, the Puritans, aided by native allies, were successful. Metacom, also called King Phillip, was killed, his alliance broke apart, and the survivors were sold into slavery. Thus, New England embarked on a century long project of conveniently forgetting their multi-racial past, as they depicted a "white New England" against a "black South."