Unformatted text preview: GIVE ME LIBERTY!
AN AMERICAN HISTORY Brief Fourth Edition GIVE ME LIBERTY!
AN AMERICAN HISTORY Brief Fourth Edition ERIC FONER
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1234567890 ABOUT THE AUTHOR E R I C F O N E R is DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University, where
he earned his B.A. and Ph.D. In his teaching and scholarship, he focuses on the Civil War
and Reconstruction, slavery, and nineteenth-century America. Professor Foner’s publications include Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the
Civil War; Tom Paine and Revolutionary America; Nothing but Freedom: Emancipation and Its
Legacy; Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877; The Story of American Freedom; and Forever Free: The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction. His history of Reconstruction won the Los Angeles Times Book Award for History, the Bancroft Prize, and the
Parkman Prize. He has served as president of the Organization of American Historians
and the American Historical Association. In 2006 he received the Presidential Award for
Outstanding Teaching from Columbia University. His most recent book is The Fiery Trial:
Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, winner of the Lincoln Prize, the Bancroft Prize, and
the Pulitzer Prize. CONTENTS About the Author ... v
List of Maps, Tables, and Figures ... xviii
Preface ... xx
1. A NEW WORLD ... 1
THE FIR ST A M E RIC A N S . . . 3
The Settling of the Americas ... 3 Indian Societies of the Americas ... 3 Mound Builders of the Mississippi River Valley ... 5 Western Indians ... 6 Indians of Eastern North America ... 6 Native American Religion ... 7 Land and Property ... 9 Gender Relations ... 10 European Views
of the Indians ... 10 INDIAN FRE EDO M , EU RO PE A N F RE ED O M . . . 1 1
Indian Freedom ... 11 Christian Liberty ... 12 Freedom and
Authority ... 12 Liberty and Liberties ... 13 THE EXPA NS ION O F E UR O PE . . . 1 3
Chinese and Portuguese Navigation ... 14 Freedom and Slavery in
Africa ... 14 The Voyages of Columbus ... 16 CONTACT .. . 1 6
Columbus in the New World ... 16 Exploration and Conquest ... 17 The Demographic Disaster ... 19 THE SP ANIS H E M PIRE . . . 2 0
Governing Spanish America ... 21 Colonists and Indians in Spanish
America ... 21 Justifications for Conquest ... 22 Piety and Profit ... 23 Reforming the Empire ... 24 Exploring North America ... 25 Spanish in Florida and the Southwest ... 25 The Pueblo Revolt ... 27
Voices of Freedom: From Bartolomé de las Casas, History of the Indies
(1528), and From “Declaration of Josephe” (December 19, 1681) ... 28 THE FRE NCH AN D D UT CH EM PIRE S . . . 3 0
French Colonization ... 32 New France and the Indians ... 32 The
Dutch Empire ... 34 Dutch Freedom ... 34 The Dutch and Religious
Toleration ... 35 Settling New Netherland ... 36 Features of European
Settlement ... 36 REVIEW . .. 37 2. BEGINNINGS OF ENGLISH AMERICA, 1607–1660 ... 38
ENGLAN D AND TH E N E W W O RLD . . . 4 0
Unifying the English Nation ... 40 England and Ireland ... 40 England
and North America ... 40 Motives for Colonization ... 41 The Social
Crisis ... 42 Masterless Men ... 43 C o nt e n t s vi i THE COMIN G OF T HE EN G LI S H . . . 43
English Emigrants ... 43 Indentured Servants ... 44 Land and
Liberty ... 44 Englishmen and Indians ... 45 The Transformation
of Indian Life ... 46 SETTLING TH E CHE S A PEA K E . . . 47
The Jamestown Colony ... 47 Powhatan and Pocahontas ... 48 The
Uprising of 1622 ... 49 A Tobacco Colony ... 50 Women and the
Family ... 50 The Maryland Experiment ... 52 Religion in
Maryland ... 52 THE NEW EN GLA ND W A Y . . . 53
The Rise of Puritanism ... 53 Moral Liberty ... 53 The Pilgrims at
Plymouth ... 54 The Great Migration ... 55 The Puritan Family ... 55 Government and Society in Massachusetts ... 56 Church and State in
Puritan Massachusetts ... 58 NEW ENGLAN DER S D IVID ED . . . 59
Roger Williams ... 60 Rhode Island and Connecticut ... 60 The Trials
of Anne Hutchinson ... 61 Puritans and Indians ... 61
Voices of Freedom: From “The Trial of Anne Hutchinson” (1637),
and From John Winthrop, Speech to the Massachusetts General Court
(July 3, 1645) ... 62
The Pequot War ... 64 The New England Economy ... 65 A Growing
Commercial Society ... 66 RE LIGION, POLIT ICS , A N D FRE ED O M ... 67
The Rights of Englishmen ... 67 The English Civil War ... 68 England’s Debate over Freedom ... 68 The Civil War and English
America ... 69 Cromwell and the Empire ... 70 RE VIEW . .. 71 3. CREATING ANGLO-AMERICA, 1660–1750 ... 72
GLOBAL CO M PET ITI O N A N D TH E E XP A N S IO N O F
ENGLAND’ S E MPIR E . . . 74
The Mercantilist System ... 74 The Conquest of New Netherland ... 74 New York and the Indians ... 75 The Charter of Liberties ... 77 The
Founding of Carolina ... 77 The Holy Experiment ... 78 Land in
Pennsylvania ... 79 ORIGINS OF A ME RI CA N S LA V ER Y . . . 80
Englishmen and Africans ... 80 Slavery in History ... 81 Slavery
in the West Indies ... 81 Slavery and the Law ... 82 The Rise of
Chesapeake Slavery ... 83 Bacon’s Rebellion: Land and Labor in
Virginia ... 83 A Slave Society ... 85 v iii Con t en ts COLON IE S IN CR IS IS . . . 86
The Glorious Revolution ... 86 The Glorious Revolution in America ... 87 The Salem Witch Trials ... 89 THE GR OWT H O F C O LO N IA L A M E RIC A . . . 90
A Diverse Population ... 90 The German Migration ... 91
Voices of Freedom: From Memorial against Non-English Immigration
(December 1727), and From Letter by a Swiss-German Immigrant
to Pennsylvania (August 23, 1769) ... 92
Religious Diversity ... 95 Indian Life in Transition ... 95 Regional
Diversity ... 96 The Consumer Revolution ... 97 Colonial Cities ... 97 An Atlantic World ... 98 SOCIAL CLA SS ES IN T H E CO L O N IES . . . 99
The Colonial Elite ... 99 Anglicization ... 100 Poverty in the
Colonies ... 100 The Middle Ranks ... 101 Women and the
Household Economy ... 101 North America at Mid-Century ... 102 REVIEW . .. 10 3 4. SLAVERY, FREEDOM, AND THE STRUGGLE FOR EMPIRE,
TO 1763 ... 104
SL AVERY A ND E M PIR E . . . 106
Atlantic Trade ... 106 Africa and the Slave Trade ... 107 The Middle
Passage ... 109 Chesapeake Slavery ... 109 The Rice Kingdom ... 110 The Georgia Experiment ... 111 Slavery in the North ... 112 SL AVE CULT URE S A N D S LA V E R ES IS T A N CE . . . 113
Becoming African-American ... 113 African Religion in Colonial America
... 113 African-American Cultures ... 114 Resistance to Slavery ... 115 AN EMP IRE O F FRE ED O M . . . 116
British Patriotism ... 116 The British Constitution ... 117 Republican
Liberty ... 117 Liberal Freedom ... 118 THE P UB LIC S PH E R E . . . 119
The Right to Vote ... 119 Political Cultures ... 120 The Rise of the
Assemblies ... 121 Politics in Public ... 121 The Colonial Press ... 122 Freedom of Expression and Its Limits ... 122 The Trial of Zenger ... 123 The American Enlightenment ... 124 THE GR EA T AWA K E N IN G . . . 125
Religious Revivals ... 125 The Preaching of Whitefield ... 126 The
Awakening’s Impact ... 126 IMPERI AL RI VALR IES . . . 127
Spanish North America ... 127 The Spanish in California ... 127 The
French Empire ... 129 Co n t e n t s ix BATTL E F O R T HE CO N T IN EN T . . . 130
The Middle Ground ... 130 The Seven Years’ War ... 130 A World
Transformed ... 131 Pontiac’s Rebellion ... 132 The Proclamation
Line ... 132
Voices of Freedom: From Pontiac, Speeches (1762 and 1763), and
From The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or
Gustavus Vassa, the African (1789) ... 134
Pennsylvania and the Indians ... 136 Colonial Identities ... 137 RE VIEW . .. 13 8 5. THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1763–1783 ... 139
THE CRISIS BE GIN S . . . 140
Consolidating the Empire ... 140 Taxing the Colonies ... 142 Taxation and Representation ... 143 Liberty and Resistance ... 144 The Regulators ... 145 THE ROAD T O RE VO LU TIO N . . . 145
The Townshend Crisis ... 145 The Boston Massacre ... 146 Wilkes
and Liberty ... 147 The Tea Act ... 148 The Intolerable Acts ... 148 THE COMIN G OF IND E PEN D EN C E . . . 149
The Continental Congress ... 149 The Continental Association ... 150 The Sweets of Liberty ... 150 The Outbreak of War ... 151 Independence? ... 151 Paine’s Common Sense ... 152 The Declaration
of Independence ... 153 An Asylum for Mankind ... 154 The Global
Declaration of Independence ... 155
Voices of Freedom: From Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776), and
From Jonathan Boucher, A View of the Causes and Consequences of
the American Revolution (1775) ... 156 SECURING IN DEPE ND EN C E . . . 158
The Balance of Power ... 158 Blacks in the Revolution ... 158 The
First Years of the War ... 159 The Battle of Saratoga ... 161 The War
in the South ... 162 Victory at Last ... 162 RE VIEW . .. 16 6 6. THE REVOLUTION WITHIN ... 167
DEMOCRATIZIN G FR E ED O M . . . 169
The Dream of Equality ... 169 Expanding the Political Nation ... 169 The Revolution in Pennsylvania ... 170 The New Constitutions ... 171 The Right to Vote ... 171 TOW ARD RE LIGIO US TO L ER A TIO N . . . 172
Catholic Americans ... 173 Separating Church and State ... 173 Jefferson and Religious Liberty ... 174 Christian Republicanism ... 175 A Virtuous Citizenry ... 175 x Co n te n ts DEF INI NG E CON O M IC FRE ED O M . . . 176
Toward Free Labor ... 176 The Soul of a Republic ... 176 The Politics
of Inflation ... 177 The Debate over Free Trade ... 178 THE LIM ITS OF LIB ER TY . . . 178
Colonial Loyalists ... 178 The Loyalists’ Plight ... 179 The Indians’
Revolution ... 181 SL AVERY A ND T H E RE VO L UT IO N . . . 182
The Language of Slavery and Freedom ... 182 Obstacles to Abolition ... 183 The Cause of General Liberty ... 183 Petitions for Freedom ... 184 British Emancipators ... 185 Voluntary Emancipations ... 185
Voices of Freedom: From Abigail Adams to John Adams, Braintree,
Mass. (March 31, 1776), and From Petitions of Slaves to the
Massachusetts Legislature (1773 and 1777) ... 186
Abolition in the North ... 188 Free Black Communities ... 188 DAUGH TE RS OF LI BE RT Y . . . 189
Revolutionary Women ... 189 Republican Motherhood ... 190 The
Arduous Struggle for Liberty ... 190 REVIEW . .. 19 2 7. FOUNDING A NATION, 1783–1791 ... 193
AMER ICA UNDE R T H E CO N F ED ER A TIO N . . . 195
The Articles of Confederation ... 195 Congress, Settlers, and the West ...
196 The Land Ordinances ... 198 The Confederation’s Weaknesses ...
200 Shays’s Rebellion ... 200 Nationalists of the 1780s ... 201 A NEW CONS T ITU TIO N . . . 202
The Structure of Government ... 202 The Limits of Democracy ... 203 The Division and Separation of Powers ... 204 The Debate over Slavery
... 205 Slavery in the Constitution ... 205 The Final Document ... 207 THE RA TIFIC AT IO N D E B A T E A N D T H E O R IG IN O F T H E B IL L
OF RIGHT S . .. 208
The Federalist ... 208 “Extend the Sphere” ... 208 The AntiFederalists ... 209
Voices of Freedom: From David Ramsay, The History of the American
Revolution (1789), and From James Winthrop, Anti-Federalist Essay
Signed “Agrippa” (1787) ... 210
The Bill of Rights ... 214 “W E TH E PE OPL E” . . . 215
National Identity ... 215 Indians in the New Nation ... 215 Blacks and
the Republic ... 217 Jefferson, Slavery, and Race ... 218 Principles of
Freedom ... 219 REVIEW . .. 22 0
Co n t e n t s xi 8. SECURING THE REPUBLIC, 1791–1815 ... 221
P OL ITICS I N AN A GE O F P A S S IO N . . . 222
Hamilton’s Program ... 223 The Emergence of Opposition ... 223 The
Jefferson-Hamilton Bargain ... 224 The Impact of the French Revolution
... 225 Political Parties ... 226 The Whiskey Rebellion ... 226 The
Republican Party ... 226 An Expanding Public Sphere ... 227
Voices of Freedom: From Judith Sargent Murray, “On the Equality of
the Sexes” (1790), and From Address of the Democratic-Republican
Society of Pennsylvania (December 18, 1794) ... 228
The Rights of Women ... 230 THE ADAMS PR ES IDE N C Y . . . 231
The Election of 1796 ... 231 The “Reign of Witches” ... 232 The
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions ... 233 The “Revolution of
1800” ... 233 Slavery and Politics ... 234 The Haitian
Revolution ... 235 Gabriel’s Rebellion ... 235 JEFF ERSON IN PO WE R . . . 236
Judicial Review ... 237 The Louisiana Purchase ... 237 Lewis and
Clark ... 239 Incorporating Louisiana ... 240 The Barbary Wars ... 241 The Embargo ... 241 Madison and Pressure for War ... 242 THE “SE CON D W AR O F IN D EP EN D EN C E” . . . 243
The Indian Response ... 243 The War of 1812 ... 244 The War’s
Aftermath ... 246 The End of the Federalist Party ... 247 RE VIEW . .. 24 8 9. THE MARKET REVOLUTION, 1800–1840 ... 249
A NE W ECO NOM Y . . . 251
Roads and Steamboats ... 251 The Erie Canal ... 252 Railroads
and the Telegraph ... 254 The Rise of the West ... 255 The Cotton
Kingdom ... 257 MARKET SO CIET Y .. . 259
Commercial Farmers ... 260 The Growth of Cities ... 260 The Factory
System ... 261 The “Mill Girls” ... 262 The Growth of Immigration ...
263 The Rise of Nativism ... 265 The Transformation of Law ... 266 THE FREE IN DIVIDU A L . . . 267
The West and Freedom ... 267 The Transcendentalists ... 267 The
Second Great Awakening ... 268 The Awakening’s Impact ... 269
Voices of Freedom: From Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The American
Scholar” (1837), and From “Factory Life as It Is, by an Operative”
(1845) ... 270
The Emergence of Mormonism ... 272 x ii Con te n ts THE LIM ITS OF PR O S PE RIT Y . . . 273
Liberty and Prosperity ... 273 Race and Opportunity ... 274 The Cult
of Domesticity ... 275 Women and Work ... 276 The Early Labor
Movement ... 277 The “Liberty of Living” ... 277 REVIEW . .. 27 9 10. DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA, 1815–1840 ... 280
THE TRIUM PH OF DE M O C R A CY . . . 281
Property and Democracy ... 281 The Dorr War ... 282 Tocqueville on
Democracy ... 282 The Information Revolution ... 283 The Limits of
Democracy ... 284 A Racial Democracy ... 284 NATION ALIS M AN D ITS D IS C O N TE N TS . . . 285
The American System ... 285 Banks and Money ... 287 The Panic
of 1819 ... 287 The Missouri Controversy ... 288 NATION , S ECT IO N , A N D PA R TY . . . 289
The United States and the Latin American Wars of Independence ... 289 The Monroe Doctrine ... 290 The Election of 1824 ... 291
Voices of Freedom: From President James Monroe, Annual Message
to Congress (1823), and From John C. Calhoun, “A Disquisition on
Government” (ca. 1845) ... 292
The Nationalism of John Quincy Adams ... 294 “Liberty Is Power” ... 294 Martin Van Buren and the Democratic Party ... 294 The Election
of 1828 ... 295 THE AG E OF JA CK S O N . . . 296
The Party System ... 296 Democrats and Whigs ... 297 Public and
Private Freedom ... 298 South Carolina and Nullification ... 299 Calhoun’s Political Theory ... 299 The Nullification Crisis ... 301 Indian Removal ... 301 The Supreme Court and the Indians ... 302 THE BA NK W AR A N D A FTE R . . . 304
Biddle’s Bank ... 304 Pet Banks, the Economy, and the Panic
of 1837 ... 306 Van Buren in Office ... 307 The Election of 1840 ... 307 REVIEW . .. 31 0 11. THE PECULIAR INSTITUTION ... 311
THE OLD S OUT H . . . 312
Cotton Is King ... 313 The Second Middle Passage ... 314 Slavery
and the Nation ... 314 The Southern Economy ... 314 Plain Folk
of the Old South ... 316 The Planter Class ... 317 The Paternalist
Ethos ... 318 The Proslavery Argument ... 318 Abolition in the
Americas ... 320 Slavery and Liberty ... 320 C on te nt s xi i i L IFE UNDER SLA VE R Y . . . 321
Slaves and the Law ... 321 Conditions of Slave Life ... 322 Free
Blacks in the Old South ... 322 Slave Labor ... 323 Slavery in the
Cities ... 324 Maintaining Order ... 325 SLAVE CU LT UR E .. . 326
The Slave Family ... 326 The Threat of Sale ... 327 Gender Roles
among Slaves ... 327 Slave Religion ... 328 The Desire for Liberty ... 329 RE SISTANC E TO S LA V ER Y . . . 330
Forms of Resistance ... 330
Voices of Freedom: From Letter by Joseph Taper to Joseph Long
(1840), and From “Slavery and the Bible” (1850) ... 332
The Amistad ... 334 Slave Revolts ... 335 Nat Turner’s Rebellion ... 336 RE VIEW . .. 33 8 12. AN AGE OF REFORM, 1820–1840 ... 339
THE REFORM IMP ULS E . . . 340
Utopian Communities ... 341 The Shakers ... 343 Oneida ... 343 Worldly Communities ... 344 Religion and Reform ... 345 Critics of
Reform ... 346 Reformers and Freedom ... 346 The Invention of the
Asylum ... 347 The Common School ... 347 THE CRUSA DE AG AIN S T S LA VE RY . . . 348
Colonization ... 348 Militant Abolitionism ... 349 Spreading the
Abolitionist Message ... 350 Slavery and Moral Suasion ... 351 A
New Vision of America ... 352 BL ACK AND WHIT E A BO LIT IO N IS M . . . 353
Black Abolitionists ... 353 Gentlemen of Property and Standing ... 354 THE ORIGIN S O F F EM IN IS M . . . 356
The Rise of the Public Woman ... 356 Women and Free Speech ... 356 Women’s Rights ... 357 Feminism and Freedom ... 358 Women and
Work ... 358 The Slavery of Sex ... 359
Voices of Freedom: From Angelina Grimké, Letter in The Liberator
(August 2, 1837), and From Frederick Douglass, Speech on July 5,
1852, Rochester, New York ... 360
“Social Freedom” ... 362 The Abolitionist Schism ... 363 RE VIEW . .. 36 5 13. A HOUSE DIVIDED, 1840–1861 ... 366
F RUITS OF MA NIFE S T DE S T IN Y . . . 368
Continental Expansion ... 368 The Mexican Frontier: New Mexico and
California ... 368 The Texas Revolt ... 370 The Election of 1844 ... 370 The Road to War ... 372 The War and Its Critics ... 372 Combat x iv Co n te n ts in Mexico ... 373 Race and Manifest Destiny ... 374 Gold-Rush
California ... 376 Opening Japan ... 377 A DOSE OF A RS EN IC . . . 378
The Wilmot Proviso ... 378 The Free Soil Appeal ... 379 Crisis and
Compromise ... 380 The Great Debate ... 380 The Fugitive Slave
Issue ... 381 Douglas and Popular Sovereignty ... 382 The KansasNebraska Act ... 382 THE RISE O F TH E R E PUB LIC A N PA R TY . . . 383
The Northern Economy ... 383 The Rise and Fall of the KnowNothings ... 385 The Free Labor Ideology ... 386 “Bleeding Kansas”
and t...
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