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Time Period 3
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Seven Years' War
The Seven Years War was a global conflict which ran from 1756 until 1763 and pitted a coalition of Great Britain and its allies against a coalition of France and its allies. The war escalated from a regional conflict between Great Britain and France in North America, known today as the French and Indian War. -
Pontiac's Rebellion
In 1763, Ottawa Chief Pontiac led a few French-allied tribes in a brief but bloody campaign through the Ohio Valley, but the whites quickly and cruelly retaliated after being caught off guard. One commander ordered blankets infected with smallpox to be distributed. The violence convinced whites to station troops along the frontier -
Sons & Daughters of Liberty
Sons and Daughters of Liberty took the law into their own hands, tarring and feathering violators among people who had agreed to boycott the goods. They also stormed the houses of important officials and took their money Stunned, demands appeared in Parliament for repeal of the stamp tax, though many
wanted to know why 7.5 million Brits had to pay heavy taxes to protect the colonies, but 2 million colonials refused to pay only one-third of the cost of their own defense. -
Minutemen
Minutemen were civilian colonists who independently organized to form well-prepared militia companies self-trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies from the American colonial partisan militia during the American Revolutionary War. They were also known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. -
Lexington & Concord
In April 1775, the British commander in Boston sent a detachment of troops to nearby Lexington and Concord to seize supplies and to capture Sam Adams and John Hancock. Minutemen, after having eight of their own killed at Lexington, fought back at Concord, pushing the Redcoats back, shooting them from behind rocks and trees, Indian style. -
1st & 2nd Continental Congresses
First Continental Congress: Americans’ response to the Intolerable Acts and considered ways of redressing colonial grievances. Congress created The Association which called for a complete boycott of English goods. The Association was the closet thing to a written constitution until the Constitution.
2nd Continental Congress The Congress took on governmental duties and united all the
colonies for the war effort. They selected George Washington as commander of the army. -
Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was a final attempt by the colonists to avoid going to war with Britain during the American Revolution. It was a document in which the colonists pledged their loyalty to the crown and asserted their rights as British citizens. The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by Congress on July 5, 1775. -
Dec of Independence
This was formally approved by the Congress on July 4, 1776. This "shout heard round the world" has been a source of inspiration to countless revolutionary movements against arbitrary authority. The document sharply separated Loyalists from Patriots and helped to start the revolution by allowing England to hear of the colonists’ disagreements with British authority. -
Common Sense
A pamphlet written in 1776 that was one of the most potent publications ever. It called for the colonists to realize their mistreatment and push for independence from England. The author, Thomas Paine, introduced ideas such as the fact that nowhere in the universe was a smaller heavenly body control a larger. For this reason there was no reason for England to have control over the vast lands of America. The pamphlet was high-class journalism as well as propaganda. -
Battle of Saratoga
Burgoyne’s doomed troops were bogged down, and the rebels swarmed in with a series of sharp engagements, pushing St. Legers force back at Oriskany while Burgoyne, unable to advance or retreat, surrendered his entire force at The Battle of Saratoga, on October 17, 1777. This was perhaps one of the most decisive battles in British and American history. The importance of Saratoga lay in the fact that afterwards, France sensed America might actually win and came out to officially help America. -
Sugar, Quatering, Stamp, Declaratory, Townshend, Tea & Coercive Acts
The Taxation of Colonies Act 1778 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, under the order of the king, of which declared that Parliament would not impose any duty, tax, or assessment for the raising of revenue in any of the colonies of British America or the British West Indies. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles were the first "constitution" governing the Untied States after the revolution. It was ratified in 1781 and provided for a "firm league of friendship." The legislative branch (Congress) had no power to regulate commerce or forcibly collect taxes and there was no national executive or judicial branch. Despite its weaknesses, it was an important stepping-stone towards the present Constitution because without it the states would never have consented to the
Constitution. -
Treaty of Paris 1783
The British recognized the independence of the United States. It granted boundaries, which stretched from the Mississippi River on the west, to the Great Lakes on the north, and to Spanish Florida on the south. The Yankees retained a share of Newfoundland for fishing, which greatly upset the Canadians. -
Federalist Papers
These were a series of articles written in New York newspapers as a source of propaganda for a stronger central government. The articles, written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, were a way for the writers to express their belief that it is better to have a stronger central government. The papers turned out to be a penetrating commentary written on the Constitution. -
Shay's Rebeliion
A rebellion led by Captain Daniel Shays, Revolutionary War veteran. It was an uprising that flared up in western Massachusetts. Impoverished backcountry farmers, many of them Revolutionary War veterans, were losing their farms through mortgage foreclosures and tax delinquencies. The importance of the rebellion was that it struck fear in the hearts of the propertied class. The rebellion exposed the need for a stronger central government and helped launch the Constitutional Convention -
3/5s Compromise
The Three-Fifths Compromise was a compromise reached between the northern and southern states of the U.S. in 1787. The compromise was reached during a debate over whether or not slaves should be counted when a state was determining its total number of residents for legislative and tax purposes -
Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments of the Constitution are the Bill of Rights. It was added in 1791 when it was adopted by the necessary number of states. Notably, several states would not ratify the Constitution until a Bill of Rights was promised. The Bill of Rights guarantees such civil liberties as freedom of speech, free press, and freedom of religion. It was written by James Madison -
Whiskey Rebellion
This was a small rebellion that began in southwestern Pennsylvania in 1794 that was a challenge to the national government’s unjust use of an excise tax on an "economic medium of exchange." Washington crushed the rebellion with excessive force, proving the strength of the national government’s power in its military, but was condemned for using a "sledgehammer to crush a gnat." The lesson learned was that this government, unlike the Articles of Confederation, was strong -
Jay Treaty 1794
This was a 1794 a treaty that offered little concessions from Britain to the U.S. and greatly disturbed the Jeffersonians. Jay was able to get Britain to say they would evacuate the chain of posts on U.S. soil and pay damages for recent seizures of American ships. The British, however, would not promise to leave American ships alone in the future, and they decided that the Americans still owed British merchants for pre-Revolutionary war debts. It said nothing of future
impressments. -
Washinton's Farewell Address
The Farewell Address was made by George Washington in 1796, when he retired from office. It wasn't given orally, but was printed in newspapers. He stressed that we should stay away from permanent alliances with foreign countries. He also warned against the growing formation of political parties. The document was rejected by the Jeffersonians, who favored the alliance with France.
