Legacy of the First Great Awakening (1730s-1740s)
1.  audiences were middle to lower class, with little
education or influence in colonies
2.  wealthy, ruling class elites preferred traditional
worship
3.  emotionalism became an important part of
Protestant services
4.  ministers began to lose influence as people began to
study the Bible individually
éBecause people were taught they could make their
own religious decisions, why could they not make their own political decisions?
éanti-authority sentiment continued to grow
Legacy of the First Great Awakening (continued)
5.  new Protestant sects began to emerge = Baptists,
Methodists = more religious diversity
6.  “Old Lights” faced competition with new sects for
followers 7.  the GA planted the seeds for the principle of
separation of church and state
8.  new colleges and universities were established to train
religious leaders but also provided study in natural
sciences and natural philosophy
éGA was the 1st shared colonial experience in America
Legacy of the French and Indian War
1. The Treaty of Paris, 1763 = GB acquired the vast territories
of French Canada and Spanish Florida = unchallenged
supremacy in North America
-GB would now be the dominant naval power in the
world
2. The British government, deeply in debt after the war, would
reorganize its empire and demand that the 13 colonies pay
their fair share for defense
-Parliament would vote to enact laws aimed at increasing
revenue through a series of taxes on the colonies
3. The British would look down upon the contributions of the
colonial militias, viewing them as poorly trained,
undisciplined and unreliable
Legacy of the French and Indian War (continued)
4. The colonists were filled with a sense of pride after the
war, confident that they could provide for their own
defense and eager to expand west
-Americans eliminated the threat of foreign attack and
took notice that the traditional British military tactics were not effective on American terrain
5. France was forced to give up its claim to the Louisiana
territory, ending its power on the North American
continent -France would be deeply in debt after the war and thirsty for revenge
6. Native American tribes allied with the French would
lose their military support and be subjected to further
violence and loss of land as American settlers moved
west
Legacy of the War of 1812 1. Having survived 2 wars with G.B., the U.S. gained respect of
other nations
2. U.S. came to accept Canada as a neighbor and part of British
Empire
3. Federalist party came to an end as a national force after talk of
secession
4. Talk of nullification and secession in New England set a precedent
later used by the South to defy federal policies
5. Abandoned by British allies, Native Americans in the west were
forced to surrender land
6. After the Embargo Act and British naval blockade, more U.S.
factories were built, a big step towards self-sufficiency
7. War heroes became future political leaders
8. Nationalism grew with a future that lay to the West
Legacy of the Antebellum Reform Movement (1820-1860)
1.  Inspired by the Second Great Awakening (1790s-mid 1800s), all
sections of the U.S. were influenced by the spiritual revival 2.  in the North the Second GA inspired social reform = abolition of
slavery, public education, temperance, women’s rights
3.  19th century reformers had a deep faith in progress and
perfectibility of the individual and society
4.  reform movements of the era were diverse and often overlapped
5.  important to focus on the goals of the reformers and the tactics
and practices needed to achieve major reforms
6.  historians have concluded that the most successful reforms
(education, temperance) of the antebellum period had broad
support across society, often for a variety of reasons
7.  reforms succeeded at the state level in the north and west, but had
little impact on many areas of the south
8.  by the 1850s, the reform movement was overshadowed by the
crisis over slavery
The End of Reconstruction
1.  Economic depression of 1873 helped to elect a
Democratic House in 1874
2.  Elites in North and South shared mutual
economic interests
3.  Republican party had power in North and West
4.  Corruption and scandal were rampant
5.  Compromise of 1877 -Republican Rutherford B. Hayes became
president -Democrats relinquished contested votes and
Federal troops were removed from South
Legacy of Reconstruction for African Americans
1.  New educational opportunities
2.  Right to vote and elect new political leaders
3.  Restrictions on voting rights
­ poll taxes and literacy tests
 grandfather clauses
4.  Denied access to public facilities
 Jim Crow laws and segregation
 Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) established the doctrine of
“separate but equal”
5.  Most southern whites and blacks remained poor
farmers, deeply in debt
é100 years later black Americans still fought for the rights
promised during Reconstruction
The Legacy of Populism
1. After the 1896 election, the Populists ceased to exist as a national political party
2. The power of monopolies was too great to overcome
3. Populist leaders in the South could not overcome racism despite common economic interests
4. The Populist platform was absorbed by both the Democrats and Republicans during the Progressive era
5. The graduated income tax (16th amendment) and direct election of senators (17th) would become a reality during the Progressive era
6. The belief that government should be redefined, not overthrown, continued with the New Deal in the 1930s
7. The belief that government could be a tool to bring opportunities for all citizens inspired future reformers
Legacy of the New Deal
1. F.D.R.’s policies stimulated the economy = prices, production,
and investment increased
2. Confidence in the economy and government improved
3. The New Deal did not end the depression, but by 1942, 1/3 of
the economy was devoted to the war effort
4. Many Americans came to accept the expanded role of the
government to confront economic problems
5. The New Deal led to the emergence of the modern Democratic
Party = gained African American voters
6. Critics claimed that the New Deal was conservative = the same
class of people were in power, inequality still existed
7. Government spending increased and a welfare state was created
Consequences of the Korean War, 1950-1953
1.  more than 54,000 Americans had died, $67 billion
spent
2.  over 4 million Korean and Chinese had died
3.  Democrats = containment policy and “limited war” had
worked, military must be expanded, more overseas
bases
4.  Republicans = “loss” of China and stalemate in Korea
indicated that Truman and Democrats were “soft on
Communism”
5.  Eisenhower’s pledge to end the war won the ‘52
election
6.  Korea remained divided into two countries at the DMZ
7.  War intensified the Red Scare against Communists in
U.S.
Effects of the Vietnam War
1.  over 58,000 American lives lost, skepticism of
government grew
2.  Great Society programs lacked funding due to
military spending 3.  over $118 billion spent began inflationary cycle
of the 1970s
4.  1975: fall of Saigon marked a low point of
American prestige overseas and confidence at
home
5.  fall of Vietnam and Cambodia did not fulfill
domino theory- U.S. intervention bought time for
other nations “little tigers” to resist communism