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French& Indian War
This war was part of a long struggle between France and Britan for territory and power. In 1755, Britan sent 1,400 troops to Virginia to finish the job that Washington had begun. They were led by General Braddock and their orders were to clear out all the Frenchout of the Ohio valley. But when they marched into the Ohio valley it was a bloodbath nearly two thirds of the soldiers were killed. The turning point of the war was in 1763 when britian and France signed a peace treaty that ended the war -
Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 had several main purposes. It established the boundaries of four new colonies and their governments. It also established a line, known as the Proclamation Line, that divided British ruled territory between British settlers and Indians. Settlers could live only on one side and Indians could live only on the other. The line of demarcation was the crest of the Appalachian Mountains that runs down the eastern portion of the U.S. -
Stamp Act of 1763
The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. The money collected by the Stamp Act was to be used to help pay the costs of defending and protecting the American frontier near the Appalachian Mountains (10,000 troops were to be stationed there. -
Intolerable Acts
The British closed the Boston Harbor pending the people of Boston paying for the lost tea, and paying the required tax. They also eliminated the Massachusetts elected government council. They gave the governor new powers, such as the ability to control public meetings. They also changed the Justice Act so that people charged with violent crimes would be tried in England. They expanded the Quartering Act requiring British troops to be housed in private homes. -
Boston Massacre
The Massacre was the 1770, pre-Revolutionary incident growing out of the anger against the British troops sent to Boston to maintain order and to enforce the Townshend Acts. The troops, constantly tormented by irresponsible gangs, finally on Mar. 5, 1770, fired into a rioting crowd and killed five men: three on the spot, two of wounds later. -
Boston Tea Party
In response to the unpopular act, tea agents in many American cities resigned or canceled orders, and merchants refused consignments. In Boston, however, Governor Thomas Hutchinson resolved to uphold the law and ordered that three ships arriving in Boston Harbor be allowed to despoit their cargoes and that appropriate payment be made for the goods. This policy prompted about sixty men,which were PATRIOTS, who were to board the ships on the night of December 16, 1773. -
First Continental Congress
The first Continental Congress met in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia, from September 5, to October 26, 1774. All of the colonies except Georgia sent delegates. These were elected by the people, and by the colonial legislatures. The colonies presented there were united in a determination to show a combined authority to Great Britain.The first few weeks were consumed in debate.On October 14,Congress voted to meet again the following year if these grievances were not attended to by England. -
Revolutionary War
The conflict arose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain's 13 North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown. Skirmishes between British troops and colonial militiamen in Lexington and Concord in April 1775 kicked off the armed conflict. France entered the American Revolution on the side of the colonists in 1778, turning what had essentially been a civil war into an international conflict.The Americans won the war in 1779. -
Second Continental Congress
On May 10, 1775, what became known as the Second Continental Congress was called into session as the British stormed Boston in an attempt to arrest the patriots that publicly voiced their grievances against the crown.The original purpose was not to declare independence from Britain, but rather to come up with an action to present the grievances of the colonies.They began making provisions to form the American CONTINENTAL ARMY as GEORGE WASHINGTON as the General. -
Decleration of Independence
Congress sent a petition to KING GEORGE 3 asking him to end the quarrel . John Adams called this the OLIVE BRANCH petition.Then in 1776 THOMAS PAINE published a fiery pamphlet entitled the COMMON SENSE. This document explained to the colonists why they should accept the independence of the new country. -
Articles of Confederation
The first written constitution of the United States, superseded by the Constitution in 1788. From the beginning of the American Revolution, Congress felt the need for a stronger union and a government powerful enough to defeat Great Britain. A fear of central authority inhibited the creation of such a government, and widely shared political theory held that a republic could not adequately serve a large nation such as the United States. Benjamin Franklin wrote the first draft in 1775. -
Treaty of Paris
The Continental Congress named a five-member commission to negotiate a treaty--John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Jay, Thomas Jefferson, and Laurens. Thier plan was to double the new nation by securing the land with Great Britain that was between the Allegheny Mountains on the east and the Mississippi River on the west. -
Shay's Rebellion
Shays' Rebellion is the name given to a series of protests in 1786 and 1787 by American farmers against state and local enforcement of tax collections and judgments for debt. Although farmers took up arms in states from New Hampshire to South Carolina, the rebellion was most serious in Massachusetts, where bad harvests, economic depression, and high taxes threatened farmers with the loss of their farms. The rebellion took its name from Daniel Shays of , a former captain in the Continental Army. -
Constitutional Convention
By 1786, Americans recognized that the Articles of Confederation, the foundation document for the new United States adopted in 1777, had to be substantially modified.The 3/5 COMPRIMISE incorperated that one black slave was equal to 3/5 of one white male. When it came time to vote for a new represenative the ELECTORAL COLLEGE was made up of a group of men who voted for the people of the U.S. -
Northwest Ordinance
Congress enacts the Northwest Ordinance, structuring settlement of the Northwest Territory and creating a policy for the addition of new states to the nation. In 1784, Thomas Jefferson first proposed a method of incorporating these western territories into the United States. His plan effectively turned the territories into colonies of the existing statesWhen the population reached 5,000, the residents could elect their own assembly. When the population reached 60,000 it could be a state. -
Constitution
The U.S. Constitution established America's national government and fundamental laws, and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. It was signed on September 17, 1787, by delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, presided over by George Washington. At the 1787 convention, delegates devised a plan for a stronger federal government which used three branches of government the Executive branch, Legislative branch and the Judicial branch. -
Bill of Rights
The roots of the Bill of Rights--the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution--lie deep in Anglo-American history. In 1215 England's King John, under pressure from rebellious barons, put his seal to Magna Carta, which protected subjects against royal abuses of power.Madison undertook to fulfill his promise. Carefully sifting amendments from proposals made in the state ratifying conventions.
