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Period: to
Changes to American Society and Culture from 1700 to 1812
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Virginia Slave Act of 1705
The Virginia Slave Act is one of the official laws that made colonist begin to look at slaves by race. Previously slave and indentured servants were treated in a very similar manner. After rebellions and a need for more control The Virginia Slave Act of 1705 made people of color slaves for life with no change of freedom. Until this point most colonists considered themselves to be Englishmen. After this they term "white" was used to distinguish themselves as better than the "others". -
The Seven Years' War 1756-1763
This was a war between the French and British over primarily the Ohio River Basin. At the end of this war the colonial militia were they only ones who had real success on the battlefield. British generals were utterly ineffective. The colonist were better than the "trained" British and this revelation would sit in the back of the minds of the colonist.
UTA History Department "The Seven Years' War" -
The Boston Massacre of 1770 and Paul Revere's engraving of it
Paul Revere used propaganda and engraving to show his version of what happened during the "massacre". The people of boston attacked the "redcoats" with rocks and other projectiles. Someone shot and the "lobster backs" opened fire. When all was said and done 5 colonist were dead and Revere had a story to stoke the fire of revolution. https://gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/road-revolution/resources/paul-revere%E2%80%99s-engraving-boston-massacre-1770 -
The Declaration of Independence
This singular document is one of the most important in our short history. This was our announcement to not just out ruler but to the world, that we can have enough confidence in ourselves that we are going to govern ourselves from here on out. We will be better at governing ourselves than you would ever be. -
Treaty of Paris 1783
The treaty of Paris was at the of the American Revolution. This was a major boost to the confidence of the newly won country. We just defeated a superpower and this was the first time Great Britain recognized the United States was an independent country. UTA History dept. " Challenges to Imperial Rule" -
The Constitution becomes the governing document of our new country
The Constitution was officially ratified by all 13 colonies and it officially at this time became the framework of our new government. We fought for our Independence and now wanted to make sure we never fell under that type of tyranny again. We needed to make a more perfect union and this was it. https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-day-the-constitution-was-ratified
