APUSH Period 3 (1754-1800) Important Dates

Important Dates in 1754-1800, Focuses on the year as the term / Definition is event title + some context

1754-1763 (American Theater)

French and Indian War (Seven Years' War)

-fought between British and French

-causes: Britain and France competing for the control of colonial territories (Ohio River Valley)

-William Pitt was the British prime minister

-Ended by Treaty of Paris in 1763

1763

Proclamation of 1763

-forbids colonial settlement past the Appalachian Mountains

-angered colonists who wanted westward expansion into new territories

-marks end of Britain’s salutary neglect

-turning point of British-Colonial relations

1765

Stamp Act

-taxed all paper-related goods produced within the colonies…led to boycotts

-This was the first direct tax, collected from those who used the goods and paid by the people in the colonies

-"no taxation without representation” - James Otis

-Demonstrated that colonies' tradition of self-taxation was being unjustly taken by Parliament

-Was later repealed (1766)

-Declaratory Act (1766) passed instead (Parliament can tax and legislate in all cases, anywhere in the colonies)

1770

Boston Massacre

-March 5th 1770, colonists harassed British guards near the customs house, resulted in British troops firing into the crowd, killing five colonists.

-Colonial resentment toward British Troops who were there to protect customs officials from attacks by colonial protest groups like the Sons and Daughters of Liberty.

-Crispus Attucks, a dockworker of African and Native American heritage, later became a symbol for the antislavery movement.

-Soldiers defended by John Adams at trial, they were acquitted of murder; two were found guilty of manslaughter.

-Samuel Adams’ Propaganda campaign that followed suggested that the soldiers had shot into a crowd of innocent bystanders

1773

Boston Tea Party

-was event of Son’s of Liberty members dumping tea to protest the Tea Act (1773)

-Tea Act (1773) created a tax that meant colonists were practically forced to buy East India Company’s tea as the act gave the East India Company a monopoly on tea imports

-Results in British response with Intolerable Acts (1774) which closes Boston Harbor to tighen control over Massachusetts gov.

1774

First Continental Congress

-Was called for in response to the Intolerable Acts (1774)

-supported Massachusetts and approved of a general boycott of British goods

-issued the Declaration of Colonial Rights and Grievances, which denied Parliament’s right to tax the colonies and rejected the stationing of troops in Boston

-This document, while it criticized England’s authority in the colonies, did not challenge colonial loyalty to the British

1775

Battles of Lexington and Concord

-April 19, 1775, first military clashes of the American Revolutionary War

-Beginning of American Revolutionary War

1776

Declaration of Independence

-articulated the principle of individual liberty and government's responsibility to serve the people (heavily inspired by Englightenment)

September 1777

Battle of Saratoga

-Took place in September 1777

-Major turning point in the Revolutionary War

-America emerged victorious, which helped Ben. Franklin to convince France to ally with the Americans, (France was hoping to weaken their enemy Britain)

-Spain and Holland also joined a year later

1777 (Ratified in 1781)

Articles of Confederation

-First national constitution of the United States
-Based on states constititions constitutions

-Lasted from 1781-1789

-The only branch of government was the legislative, the Confederation Congress,

-limitations included:

• gave the federal gov. no power to raise national army,

• no executive or judicial branches,

• gave each state one vote regardless of state pop.

1778

Franco-American Alliance

-negotiated by Benjamin Franklin

-brings French into war on the colonists side

-because of Battle of Saratoga (1777)

1781

Battle of Yorktown

-the last major battle of the Revolutionary War, wherein Gen. Cornwallis surrendered to Gen. Washington

-started a long period of negotiations between American colonies and Great Britain, which would finally end the war in Oct. of 1783

1783

Treaty of Paris ends the American Revolution

1787

Constitutional Convention

-Great compromise: HOR (representation according to state pop.) & Senate (2 represent.s per state)

-Pro for Southern states

-3/5ths Compromise:

—Count 3/5 of the slave pop. towards representation

1788

Washington's Election/ Start of his presidency

-National Bank created (pro-Federalist move)

-Hamilton’s financial plan to reduce debt (Whiskey Rebellion)

-Neutrality Proclamation

-high point of the presidency is Pinckney's treaty (1796)

-chose not to do third term (sets precedent)

1791

Bill of Rights

-Bill of Rights added to the Constitution (many states refused to ratify the constitution unless it contained a list of individual rights)

-10 are ratified at first

1793

Proclamation of Neutrality

-Washington issued a proclamation of U.S. neutrality in the conflict.

-Jefferson resigned from the cabinet in disagreement with Washington’s policy.

-“Citizen” Edmond Genêt French minister to the United States, broke all the rules of diplomacy and appealed directly to the people for support of the French cause

—which resulted in him being recalled by his government

1794

Jay Treaty

-was with Great Britain
-John Jay brought back a treaty in which Britain agreed to evacuate its posts in the western US Frontier

-angered Americans who supported the French cause, but it maintained G. Washington’s policy of neutrality, which kept the United States at peace.

-Low point of G. Washington’s presidency

1798

XYZ Affair

-Ended Franco-American alliance

-G.Washington sent John Jay to negotiate a treaty with the British Jay's Treaty (1794)-which started splintering of French-American relations

-John Adams sent a delegation to Paris to negotiate with the French government.

-Certain French ministers, known only as X, Y, and Z because their names were never revealed, requested bribes as the basis for entering into negotiations. (they were denied)

-led to American public wanting war, but J. Adams resisted

1798 (Acts)

Alien and Sedition Acts are passed

-Thanks to anti-French sentiment, Federalists are majority in both houses which led to them passing acts to protect them against their opponents (Democratic-Republicans)

-Alien act authorized the president to deport aliens considered dangerous and to detain enemy aliens in time of war.

-Sedition Act made it illegal for newspaper editors to criticize either the president or Congress and imposed fines or imprisonment for editors who violated the law.