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Virginia Declaration of Rights
The Virginia Declaration of Rights was drafted in 1776 to proclaim the inherent rights of men. It influenced a number of later documents, such as the United States Declaration of Independence. It was originally drafted by George Mason. -
Ratification of Articles of Confederation
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Treaty of Paris
This was siged by King George 3, ending the Ameican Revolutionary War. Britain aknowledged the United States as sovereign and independent. This set further boundaries between Britian and the United States -
Land Ordinance of 1785
It set up a system where settlers could purchase title to farmland in the west. The 1785 ordinance laid the foundations of land policy. It also set up a designted sot fr public schools. -
Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom
The Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom was drafted by Thomas Jefferson in Virginia in 1777, but it was not passed by the state legislature until 1786. The statute disestablished the Church of England in Virginia and guaranteed freedom of religion to people of all religious faiths. -
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Shay's Rebellion
Shays' Rebellion was an armed uprising in Massachusetts during 1786 and 1787. This rebellion called for a stronger national government to suppress future rebellions. The cause of this rebellion was economic policy, aggressive tax and debt collection, and Political corruption. -
Constitution convention
The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia on May 14, 1787. Delegates from five states called for a Constitutional Convention in order to discuss possible improvements to the Articles of Confederation. The result of the Convention was the creation of the United States Constitution. -
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
The Northwest Ordinance was an act of the Congress of the Confederation of the United States passed July 13, 1787. it established that the government would be sovereign and expand westward with the admission of new states, rather than with the expansion of existing states. -
George Washington Inauguration
George Wahington took his oath to become the first president of the United States on April 30, 1789.The inauguration marked the commencement of the first four-year term of George Washington as President. This would set example for how inaugurations would go for all future presidents to come. -
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
Kentucky and Virginia legislatures took the position that the federal Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional. The resolutions argued that the states had the right and the duty to declare unconstitutional acts of Congress that were not authorized by the Constitution. -
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French Revolution
Following the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War, the French government was deeply in debt and attempted to restore its financial status through unpopular taxation schemes. This fueled the revolution, and also set tensions between the US and France due to trade treaties between US and Britain. -
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Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion was a tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791. It became law and was intended to generate revenue to help reduce the national debt. The new excise was a program to pay war debt incurred during the American Revolutionary War. The tax was resisted by farmers in the western frontier regions. -
Jay Treaty
Jay's Treaty was a 1794 treaty between the United States and Great Britain that resolved issues remaining since the Treaty of Paris of 1783 which ended the American Revolutionary War and facilitating ten years of peaceful trade between the United States and Britain in the midst of the French Revolutionary Wars. -
Treaty of Greenville
The Treaty of Greenville was signed on August 3, 1795, at Fort Greenville.It ended the Northwest Indian War in the Ohio Country. The treaty is considered the beginning of modern Ohio history.The treaty established the Greenville Treaty Line, which was a boundary between Native American territory and lands open to settlers. -
Pinckney Treaty
The Pinckney Treaty stablished intentions of friendship between the United States and Spain.This treaty defined the boundaries of the United States with the Spanish colonies and guaranteed the United States navigation rights on the Mississippi River, which allowed for colonists in the West to trade more efficiently. -
Washington Farewell
Washington wrote the farewell letter near the end of his second term as President, before his retirement.The farewell letter warned Americans of the political dangers they can and must avoid if they are to remain true to their values. -
Election of 1796
The United States presidential election of 1796 was the third presidential election. It was the first American presidential election and the only one in which a president and vice president were elected from opposing tickets. -
XYZ Affair
This was a diplomatic incident between French and United States diplomats that resulted in an undeclared war known as the Quasi War. U.S. and French negotiators restored peace with the Convention of 1800. -
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The Quasi-War
The Quasi-War was an undeclared naval war between the United States and France. This was fueled by the United States refusing to continue repaying its debt to France on the grounds that it had been owed to a previous regime. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
The Alien and Sedition Acts were four bills passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by President John Adams in 1798. The Federalists argued that the bills strengthened national security during an undeclared naval war with France. Critics argued that they were primarily an attempt to suppress voters who disagreed with the Federalist party. It was thought to have suppressed freedom of speech. -
Election of 1800
Vice President Thomas Jefferson defeated President John Adams. This ushered in a generation of Democratic-Republican Party rule and the eventual demise of the Federalist Party. This election included innovative new forms of politicking capitalizing on a growing technology.
