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Puritans Flee England
Most of the Puritans fled England to have a better life in the colonies. Most of the people who fled were usually poor, and had a goal of becoming wealthy in America. In fleeing England, the Puritans were mainly focused on purifying their religion, and not changing it from what it was like, when they lived in England. Controversy starts when the Puritans meet the Native Americans who lived on the colonies with different religious beliefs. This influences the freedom of religious beliefs today. -
Bacon's Rebellion
Settlers led by Nathaniel Bacon, had a rebellion against the governor of Virginia, William Berkeley, because William increased taxes and restrictions for the people of Virginia. The settlers also didn't like the fact that William was pro-Native American and that he liked many based on their class. The rebellion was called, Bacon's Rebellion. It showed the government that the people are more powerful then they had thought. Voting today in the US is a way to have fairness in our country. -
Penn Founds Pennsylvania
At first, Pennsylvania began as debt paid to William Penn, who embraced the Quaker faith. Then, the king of England gave Penn the land west of the Delaware River, as the colony of Pennsylvania, meaning Penn Woods. He later established the capital, Philadelphia. All the people kept peace with the Indians to insure safety and to make peace. In this way, no rebellions were led, because the Native Americans supplied many things to the settlers, and Penn also influenced freedom of religion to all. -
Dinwiddie Sends Troops
The new fort established by the French, created a spark on on British Governor, Robert Dinwiddie, so he sent British troops to attack the French, and drive them out of the land. One of the troops, George Washington, went and fought against a small, French group. The French then counterattacked and Washington had to surrender. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris ended the war for the British. The British were able to have the land, and the French were driven out. The Mississippi River became the boundary between the British and Spanish claims in North America. -
Native Americans Capture British
Since the British were able to obtain most of the land in North America, including Canada, the Indians were not happy about this. Members of Native American groups surprised and captured many British forts. This uprising of Native Americans affecting the British settlements, is known as Pontiac's Rebellion. The goal of the Indians were to eliminate the British, and lure the French back in to the lands. -
The Stamp Act
The British Parliament issued an act called the Stamp Act, which required colonists to pay a tax on almost all printed materials. This became the first time the Parliament imposed a direct tax within the colonies. In response to this act that seemed unfair to the colonists, they angrily protested. People living in Britain were already paying taxes, so to Britain, it was fair to tax the colonists as well. -
Boston Tea Party
The colonists continued to be outraged about the fact they were being taxed. This anger really started to become more involved when the British Parliament passed a new law that allowed the British East India Company to sell directly to the colonists without being taxed. This started an outrage, and the colonists protested. The colonists got on East India Company Ships and dumped all tea to show their frustration and anger because of what their country was becoming. -
The First Continental Congress
Since the Boston Tea Party Protest act wasn't exactly a "complete" success for the colonists, the British Parliament issued new acts called, the Coercive acts. People of the colonies saw the acts as unfair, and a threat to their freedom. In return, the colonists formed the First Continental Congress, in Philadelphia. They planned a way to boycott all British imports. -
Adams is Elected President
Adams barely beats Jefferson in the election of 1796 to become President of the United States. Jefferson got most of the southern electoral votes and Adams won most of the northern states' electoral votes. Jefferson became Adams' vice president because of an awkward feature of the Constitution. This part of the Constitution later affects Jefferson when Burr becomes his vice president. -
XYZ Affair
During the presidency of Adams, in 1796, the French began seizing American ships. As a result, Adams sent envoys to France to form peace between the countries. However, three French officials, code named, X, Y, and Z, demanded humiliating terms including $250,000 in bribes. Adams in return called everything off and Congress expanded the army to win victories over French warships. In expanding the military, taxes were raised to pay for all of the soldiers. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
The Alien Act authorized the president to arrest and deport non-citizens who criticized the federal government as a whole. Adams was a federalist, and because most non-citizen immigrants supported the Democratic Republicans, the federalists made it harder for them to become US Citizens. The Sedition Act made it a crime for citizens to publicly criticize the federal government...which affects the rights of the first amendment. -
The Election of 1800
In the Election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr tie in Electoral Votes. Voters had meant for Jefferson to become President and Burr to become Vice President. The Constitution didn't allow a distinction between Electoral Votes, so Congress needed to get involved. Hamilton preferred Jefferson to become President. Burr felt so humiliated and deceived by Hamilton, he challenged Hamilton to a duel. Hamilton was killed. -
Jefferson Streamlines Government
Jefferson made it clear to ban the Alien and Sedition Acts as well as the fact that he hated the stamp acts and other taxes that weren't fair to the people. Jefferson wanted wanted to retire the national debt by paying it down. He made major cuts to the army and navy. He also streamlined the governments bureaucracy. -
The Louisiana Purchase
Jefferson formed the idea that he could prevent war by offering to buy the New Orleans from the French. The purchase nearly doubled the size of the United States and the United States only paid $15 Million for the land. The Purchase also served as a contradiction to Jefferson's principles. Jefferson believed highly in the Constitution, and the Constitution didn't authorize the federal government to buy land from a foreign country. -
Missouri Compromise
Crafted by Henry Clay, the Missouri Compromise was formed to equal the number of slave states and free states in the US with the addition of the state of Missouri. The northern part of Massachusetts changed its name to Maine and was entered as a free state, so Missouri could enter as a slave state to balance evenly. The addition of continuously adding slave states and free states eventually later on led to the Civil War. -
Monroe Doctrine
Formulated by John Q. Adams, this policy served as a threat to European powers. The document "closed" the western lands of North America. This was the US's way of saying that they wanted the land for themselves, and they would eventually claim it all in years to come. This document clearly showed that there was a great amount of nationalism existing in America. -
Erie Canal
The best-known canal of this era was the Erie Canal. It ran 363 miles across the New York state from Lake Erie to the Hudson River. The canal greatly lowered shipping costs for goods and products. The Canal made New York City the greatest commercial center, which meant the population rapidly grew. Railroads were then formed after the introduction of Canals in the United States. -
Eli Whitney
Eli Whitney was an inventor who introduced the idea of interchangeable parts. It took a long time for American manufacturers to make these parts reliably, such as the sewing machine. He is very famous for the invention of the cotton gin to easily remove seeds from raw cotton. Eli greatly influenced new ideas during the industrial revolution. -
Cotton Production and Slavery at a High
In the South, there were high demands for cotton to grow to then be supplied to the North. This meant there needed to be more land to grow the cotton, and there needed to be more slaves to take care of it. Slaves became more valuable for this demand. This is part of the reason was still existing in the South and not in the North.
