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Pontiac's Rebellion
A war waged by Indians of the Great Lakes region against British rule after the French and Indian War. The Indians, who had formed alliances with the defeated French, were dissatisfied with treatment from British officials. -
Paxton Boys attack Pennsylvania Indians
57 drunken settlers from Paxton, Pennsylvania slaughtered 20 innocent and defenseless Conestoga Indians near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, whom they suspected of involvement with other Native Americans who had been pillaging. -
Proclamation of 1763
At the end of the French and Indian War, the British issued a proclamation, mainly intended to pacify the Indians by checking the intrusion of settlers on their lands. In the centuries since the proclamation, it has become one of the cornerstones of Native American law in the United States and Canada -
End of the French and Indian War
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Sugar Act
British legislation aimed at ending the smuggling trade in sugar and molasses from the French and Dutch West Indies and at providing increased revenues to fund enlarged British Empire responsibilities following the French and Indian War. It provided for strong custom enforcement of the duties on refined sugar and molasses imported into the colonies from non-British Caribbean sources. -
Stamp Act
It was passed by the British Parliament and was imposed on all American colonists. It required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. -
Townshend Acts
A series of taxes and laws imposed upon the colonists that helped to reignite anger in the colonies against England. Just the year before, Parliament had repealed the Stamp Tax after heated protests from the colonies. -
Boston Massacre
A deadly riot that occurred on King Street in Boston. It began as a street brawl between American colonists and a lone British soldier, but quickly escalated to a chaotic, bloody slaughter. The conflict energized anti-Britain sentiment and paved the way for the American Revolution. -
Somerset Decision
Judge said that a master could not send a slave outside the country against his will. So, slaves who escaped to England were free. -
Boston Tea Party
Because the Tea Act held ports responsible for products not sold, colonial radicals dumped 45 tons of tea into the ocean in protest. -
Tea Act
A bill designed to save the faltering East India Company from bankruptcy by greatly lowering the tea tax it paid to the British government and, thus, granting it a de facto monopoly on the American tea trade. -
First Continental Congress
Comprised of delegates from the colonies, met in reaction to the Coercive Acts, a series of measures imposed by the British government on the colonies in response to their resistance to new taxes. -
Intolerable Acts
Were passed by the British Parliament as punishment for the destruction wrought during the Boston Tea Party, a violent reaction to the British tea tax of 1773. -
Second Continental Congress
Convened in Philadelphia in the summer of 1775, shortly after the war with the British had begun. G Washington was appointed leader of Continental Army. -
Common Sense
This book challenged the authority of the British government and the royal monarchy. The plain language that Paine used spoke to the common people of America and was the first work to openly ask for independence from Great Britain. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Early in the Revolutionary War the British defeated the Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill in Massachusetts. Despite their loss, the inexperienced colonial forces inflicted significant casualties against the enemy, and the battle provided them with an important confidence boos -
Treaty of Alliance
A defensive alliance between France and the United States of America, formed in the midst of the American Revolutionary War -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord kicked off the American Revolutionary War (1775-83). Tensions had been building for many years between residents of the 13 American colonies and the British authorities, particularly in Massachusetts. -
Declaration of Independence
The 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain. The Declaration summarized the colonists' motivations for seeking independence. -
Battle of Trenton
General George Washington's army crossed the icy Delaware on Christmas Day 1776 and, over the course of the next 10 days, won two crucial battles of the American Revolution. In the Battle of Trenton (December 26), Washington defeated a formidable garrison of Hessian mercenaries before withdrawing. -
Articles of Confederation
Served as the written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain. -
Battle of Saratoga
Marked the climax of the Saratoga campaign, giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War. Caused a major turn in the war. -
Lord Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington
British General Charles Cornwallis formally surrenders 8,000 British soldiers and seamen to a French and American force at Yorktown, Virginia, bringing the American Revolution to a close. -
Newburgh Conspiracy
The Newburgh Conspiracy was a plan by Continental Army officers to challenge the authority of the Confederation Congress. The officers were frustrated with Congress's long-standing inability to meet its financial obligations to the military. -
Treaty of Paris (American Revolution)
Signed in Paris by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States of America on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War. -
Treaty of Fort Stanwix
United States signed a treaty with the Iroquois Confederacy, a confederation of six Iroquoian-speaking American Indian tribes. By signing the treaty, the Iroquois relinquished their claims to land in the Ohio Country, which was then assumed by the United States federal government. -
Annapolis Convention
Regional meeting at Annapolis, Maryland, in September 1786 that was an important rallying point in the movement toward a federal convention to address the inadequate Articles of Confederation. -
Shays' Rebellion
A rebellion among farmers in Massachusetts that began in 1786. It is seen as one of the major factors that led to the writing of the new Constitution. When the United States first became independent, its constitution was called the Articles of Confederation. -
Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia met between May and September of 1787 to address the problems of the weak central government that existed under the Articles of Confederation. -
Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance, adopted by the Second Continental Congress, chartered a government for the Northwest Territory and provided a method for admitting new states to the Union from the territory. -
The Federalist Papers published
Written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, the essays originally appeared anonymously in New York newspapers in 1787 and 1788 under the pen name "Publius." The Federalist Papers are considered one of the most important sources for interpreting and understanding the original intent of the Constitution. -
Election (Inauguration) of George Washington
On April 30, 1789, George Washington took the oath as the first president of the United States. The oath was administered by Robert R. Livingston, the Chancellor of New York, on a second floor balcony of Federal Hall, above a crowd assembled in the streets to witness this historic event. -
Beginning of the French Revolution
The financial strain of servicing old debt and the excesses of the current royal court caused dissatisfaction with the monarchy, contributed to national unrest, and culminated in the French Revolution of 1789. -
Washington DC chosen as the capital
The site of the new capital was the product of political compromise with Alexander Hamilton of the north and Thomas Jefferson of the south. George Washington chose this site and got L'Enfant to design it. -
Hamilton's First Report on Public Credit
Delivered to Congress on January 9, 1790, called for payment in full on all government debts as the foundation for establishing government credit. -
Bill of Rights ratified
These amendments played a key role in the law and government policies. They were symbolic of freedoms and US culture. The fourteen copies of the Bill of Rights are national property of much importance. -
First Bank of the United States Chartered
President Andrew Jackson removed all federal funds from the bank after his reelection in 1832, and it ceased operations as a national institution after its charter expired in 1836. The Bank of the United States was established in 1791 to serve as a repository for federal funds and as the government's fiscal agent. -
Whiskey Rebellion
Was a tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 during the presidency of George Washington. The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax imposed on a domestic product by the newly formed federal government. -
Hamilton's Report on Manufactures
In the report, Hamilton argued that the nation's primary industry should be manufacturing rather than agriculture. -
Citizen Genet Affair
After an incident precipitated by the military adventurism of Citizen Edmond-Charles Genêt, a minister to the United States dispatched by the revolutionary Girondist regime of the new French Republic, which at the time was at war with Great Britain and Spain. -
Battle of Fallen Timbers
The last major conflict of the Northwest Territory Indian War between Native Americans and the United States. At the battle, near present-day Toledo, Ohio, General Anthony Wayne (1745-96) led U.S. troops to victory over a confederation of Indian warriors. -
Jay's Treaty
On November 19, 1794 representatives of the United States and Great Britain signed Jay's Treaty, which sought to settle outstanding issues between the two countries that had been left unresolved since American independence. -
Pinckney's Treaty
Established intentions of friendship between the United States and Spain. It also defined the boundaries of the United States with the Spanish colonies and guaranteed the United States navigation rights on the Mississippi River -
Treaty of Greenville
The Treaty of Greenville was signed in 1795 after the Battle of Fallen Timbers and ended the Northwest Indian War. The Native Americans lost land in the present day Ohio area to the American settlers. -
Election of John Adams
The Federalists' nominee was John Adams of Massachusetts, the incumbent vice president and a leading voice during the Revolutionary period. Most Federalist leaders viewed Adams, who had twice been elected vice president, as the natural heir to Washington. -
XYZ Affair
Was a diplomatic incident between French and United States diplomats that resulted in a limited, undeclared war known as the Quasi-War. U.S. and French negotiators restored peace with the Convention of 1800. -
Quasi-War with France
An undeclared war fought almost entirely at sea between the United States and France from 1798 to 1800 as a result of the XYZ Affair -
Alien and Sedition Acts
These were passed by the Federalist Congress in 1798 and signed into law by President Adams. These laws included new powers to deport foreigners as well as making it harder for new immigrants to vote. -
Judiciary Act of 1800
The Judiciary Act of 1801 reduced the size of the Supreme Court from six justices to five and eliminated the justices' circuit duties. To replace the justices on circuit, the act created sixteen judgeships for six judicial circuits. -
Election of Thomas Jefferson
He is elected the third president of the United States. The election constitutes the first peaceful transfer of power from one political party to another in the United States. Thomas Jefferson possessed impressive political credentials and was well-suited to the presidency.
