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The Stamp Act Congress
The Stamp Act Congress issued a “Declaration of Rights and Grievances,” passed by the Virginia House of Burgesses in response to the Stamp Act. But also reasserted the idea that colonists were entitled to the same rights as native Britons. -
American colonies
An early draft blamed the British for the transatlantic slave trade and even for discouraging attempts by the colonists to promote abolition. Delegates from South Carolina and Georgia as well as northern states who profited from the trade all opposed this language and it was removed. -
Declaration of Independence
Two months before the Declaration of Independence, the Congress voted a resolution calling on all colonies to wrest control from royal officials. The Congress also recommended that the colonies should begin preparing new written constitutions. -
British defeated in the south
The British were fighting France, Spain, and Holland. The British public’s support for the costly war in North America waned. The Americans took advantage of the British southern strategy with significant aid from the French army and navy. In October, Washington and his troops marched from New York to Virginia in an effort to trap the British southern army. -
The Virginia Plan
The Plan proposed a legislative branch consisting of two chambers. The New Jersey Plan proposed a unicameral legislature in which each state would have one vote. The Connecticut Compromise established a bicameral legislature, with the House of Representatives apportioned by population as desired by the Virginia Plan and the Senate granted equal votes per state as desired by the New Jersey Plan. -
The Articles of Confederation
The need for a stronger Federal government soon became apparent and eventually led to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The present United States Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation on March 4, 1789. -
The Naturalization Act
The Act defined citizenship in stark racial terms. To be a citizen of the US republic, an immigrant had to be a “free white person” of “good character.” By excluding slaves, free blacks, Native Americans, and Asians from citizenship, the act laid the foundation for the United States as a republic of white men. Women were granted but were denied many basic rights. -
Bill of rights
The bill consisted of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution and outlined many of the personal rights state constitutions already guaranteed.
