7 years war
A dispute over a french fort spiraled into a global conflict. Indigenous tribes tried to play Britain and France off of each other.
Sugar act
Reduced the tax on molasses, but strengthened the court system to end smuggling, making many wealthy smugglers angry.
Ambassador from France came to America to encourage Americans to side with the French. Washington declared neutrality, but the ambassador remained in America to not get beheaded back home.
They didn’t want it. Initially the revolution was a petition to get the same rights as other British citizens
The New Jersey plan
The plan for representation favored by small states. It called for 1 house of Congress with each state getting equal representation.
Articles of confederation
Looked to balance national coordination and states rights to prevent tyranny. It featured a unicameral legislature, but the federal government had no money and no military
British beliefs after 7 years war
They viewed the colonies as subordinates. They had spent billions on defending them, and thought they'd want to help pay the debt.
Olive branch petition
First political parties
Divisions over neutrality in the French revolution, the Jay treaty, the financial plan, and existing sectionalism created the first political parties.
Attacked the obstacles to independence. It was the best selling work in American history because it presented his ideas in a vernacular way.
Lexington and Concorde
Philadelphia convention
12/13 states met to amend the articles of confederation. They eventually decided to draft a new constitution
Election of 1797
First contested election in American history, won by John Adams (Washington's vice president)
Britain didn't want to spend more money defending the colonies from the natives, so they banned settling beyond the Appalachian mountains
Congress would have 2 houses, one with equal representation and one with population based representation.
Thomas Gage
The new appointed governor of Massachusetts who began to strictly enforce parliaments laws
Britain agreed to abandon outposts on the western frontier. In return the U.S. would favor trade with Britian. However, the treaty failed to address the british kidnapping, and American hatred of Britian caused riots.
Failures of the articles of confederation
The idea that each representative in parliament represented the empire as a whole, and therefore, the colonies were represented.
The Virginia plan
alien laws
authorized the president to deport "aliens" and permitted their arrest imprisonment and deportation during war time
Jefferson and Hamilton agreed to pass Hamilton's financial plan in exchange for making Washington D.C. the Capital of the country
the character of a good participant in a system of gov
Parliament sent 1,000 troops to boston to enforce the townshend acts. Protesters began throwing snowballs, and eventually rocks at a group of soldiers. Someone fired a shot, and the soldiers killed 5 protesters
XYZ affair
French and british continued to kidnap american sailors, so Adams sent ministers to negotiate. When they arrived, 3 agents demanded a bribe just to speak to the foreign minister. John Adams almost declared war.
British won, but had many casualties. They eventually abandoned Boston
Strong national government
Farmers had to take debt because they weren’t getting paid. Their land was being repossessed so they rebelled and closed the courts. They used Republican ideals to justify it.
sedition act
applied restrictions to immigration and speech in US made it a crime for americans to print, utter, or publish any false, scandalous, malicious writing about the government
Federalism
The division of powers between different levels of government.
