Lexington and Concorde
British troops marched to take a militia's weapons. They we're beaten back and chased back to boston by militia minutemen
Ethan Allen and the Green mountain boys surround fort Ticonderoga, steal it's cannons, and bring them back to Boston
Declaration of Independence
pinckney's treaty
George Washington's Presidency
Established many precedents for the office of the president. Created a cabinet-style government, appointed cabinet officials based on merit, and stepped down after 2 terms
British won, but had many casualties. They eventually abandoned Boston
Colonial attitude towards independence
They didn’t want it. Initially the revolution was a petition to get the same rights as other British citizens
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.
First political parties
Divisions over neutrality in the French revolution, the Jay treaty, the financial plan, and existing sectionalism created the first political parties.
Election of 1797
First contested election in American history, won by John Adams (Washington's vice president)
Articles of confederation
Congress would have 2 houses, one with equal representation and one with population based representation.
Different branches of government could check each other to prevent abuse of power.
The middle ground
The areas where both colonists and native people would trade and coexist
They viewed the colonies as subordinates. They had spent billions on defending them, and thought they'd want to help pay the debt.
2nd Continental Congress
How would the colonists win? George Washington would lead an army
How would they pay for it? New currency
12/13 states met to amend the articles of confederation. They eventually decided to draft a new constitution
Jay treaty
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.
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.
Stamp act congress
Delegates met in New York to send the "declaration of rights & grievances" to the king. They also organized a boycott of British goods.
Democratic Republicans
alien laws
authorized the president to deport "aliens" and permitted their arrest imprisonment and deportation during war time
Federalism
The division of powers between different levels of government.
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.
Boston massacre
Declaratory act
Parliament repealed the stamp act, but enacted the declaratory act, saying they could pass any law they wanted.
Annapolis convention
Secret meeting between delegates of 6 states to discuss how to fix the articles of confederation
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
Townshend Acts
Politics was very negative with the rise of political parties, political violence, and deep political divisions
