Unit 3 - Period 3: 1754-1800

Seven Year’s War / French & Indian War (1754-1761)

War between Britain and France over North American territory

• Britain already warring w/ other European powers in Europe

• Britain wins the war but ends up with a lot of debt

• Tension between the colonies & Britain start due to this war

Pontiac’s Rebellion

Native American Rebellion against colonial settlers moving westward into their territory 

• Led by Chief Pontiac 

• Cause British to issue Proclamation of 1763

Proclamation of 1763

A formal declaration that prohibited colonists from settling past the Appalachian mountains 

• purpose was to stop and prevent Native conflicts 

• Colonists grew resentment because they felt that they deserved the land 

Sugar Act (1764)

Britain places “external” duties on many (foreign) imported goods such as Sugar, Coffee, indigo, wine and more

• goal was to raise revenue to pay British war debt & to promote direct trade with Britain

• Much stricter regulation of trade 

  • cracking down on smuggling 

Stamp Act (1765)

Britain placed “internal” taxes on every single paper item in the colonies (newspapers, pamphlets, playing cards, legal documents etc.)

• blatant attempt to raise more revenue

• infuriated the colonists 

Stamp Act Congress (1765) 

Colonial Delegates met to discuss the unfairness of the Stamp Act and to plead Britain for the Act’s repeal through the “Declaration of Rights and Grievances”

Repeal of Stamp Act (1765)

Facing economic pressure from colonial boycotts, London merchants asked Parliament to repeal the Act 

Declaratory Act (1765) 

Created as an effort to save British “face” and to reassert their authority over the colonies by declaring the Parliament had the right to impose any acts over the colonies “in any case whatsoever”

Quartering Act (1765) 

Required colonists to feed, supply, and house British soldiers. 

• Colonists resented the coercive nature of the Act more than the Act itself

• Also disliked that British Colonial troops were stationed during peacetime 

Townshend Acts (1767)

New taxes (“townshend duties”) on imported goods (paper, lead, paint & tea)

• Townshend thought that because these were external taxes, the colonists wouldn’t mind —but he was wrong

Tea Act (1773)

Parliament granted the East India Company (on the verge of bankruptcy) a monopoly on the sale of tea to colonies

• Actually lowered cost of tea but colonies had grown opposed to any taxes by this point 

Boston Tea party (1773)

To protest the Tea Act, colonists dressed up as Native Americans, boarded East India Company ships and dumped tons of tea into the Boston Harbor

• $1-2 million worth of tea lost 

Sons of Liberty

Political group consisting of male colonists who wanted to protest British infringement of colonial rights

• Formed after Stamp Act 

• Protested & Boycotted in response to Stamp Act and later acts

• Harassed & intimidated British stamp distributors, tax collectors, customs officials etc. 

  • Used Tarring & Feathering 

  • Burned down Governor Thomas Hutchinson’s house 

Daughters of Liberty

Sister group of Sons of Liberty who were crucial in the widespread boycotts throughout the colonies

• since women were responsible for purchasing home-goods, they had the power to boycott British goods

  • “homespun movement” - spun their own fabric for clothes

  • promoted consumption of “Liberty Tea”

Boston Massacre (1770)

Group of resentful colonists threw snowballs & rocks at British soldiers, and then a first shot was fired which caused subsequent chaos. British soldiers ended up shooting 5 colonists dead and injuring many others.

• Many colonists took advantage of this situation by creating propaganda that villainized the British 

Coercive/ Intolerable Acts (1774)

British angrily punished the Colonies for the Boston Tea party by imposing these new acts

1. Boston Harbor was closed until the lost money was made back

2. Quartering Act 2.0 (for the extra troops now being sent to MA)

3. Massachusetts self governing powers were drastically reduced

Quebec Act

Restructured Province of Quebec, allowed Catholics to hold office, and restored French Civil Law

• colonists also disliked this Act because it prevented them from moving further into Ohio River Valley

Lexington & Concord

First “battle” of the American Revolution, although it was not recognized as that when it first happened.

• British troops marched into Lexington & Concord with the intention of seizing colonial arms to prevent rebellion.

  • However, colonial minutemen were told of the British’s plans ahead of time, allowing them to stop the British 

• No one knows who fired the first shot 

First Continental Congress (1775) 

Delegates from the colonies convened in Philadelphia, September 1774 to respond to the Intolerable Acts

• agreed to collectively boycott British goods 

• drafted and sent petition to the King 

Olive Branch Petition 

Reconciliatory petition written to King George III in hopes to make amends after the violent exchanges in Lexington & Concord 

“Common Sense”

Pro-independence pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that argued that it was common sense to separate from Britain for a variety of reasons

Declaration of Independence

Formal document that declared the colonies’ decision to become an independent country of their own, thereby breaking away from Britain. 

• full of Enlightenment ideas

  • natural rights: liberty, life, property 

  • social contract 

• full page dedicated to colonial grievances toward the British 

Loyalists 

Colonists who were still loyal to the British crown and did not want independence

• ~20-30% of colonial population

Patriots

Colonists who fought for American independence and no longer felt loyal to Britain

• - 30-40% of colonial population

Articles of Confederation

The first government of the United States that created a relatively weak federal government 

• could not raise taxes 

  • no federal army

  • hard to pay back national debt 

• unanimous consent needed to change Articles of Con. (amendments)

• hard to pass laws: 9/13 states’ approval needed

• Congress could make treaties, but the states were the ones who ratified them 

• Congress could not regulate foreign or interstate commerce

Shay’s Rebellion

A rebellion led by poor farmers who were frustrated with the increasing taxes they had to pay

• the catalyst of switching from the Articles to the Constitution

• many leaders like George Washington realized the need for a stronger federal government

Annapolis Convention

A smaller convention held before the Constitutional Convention that originally only met to discuss matters of interstate trade. However, delegates ended up touching upon the need for another convention to discuss the problems of the Articles.

Constitutional Convention 

A convention held in Philadelphia from May to September that discussed and debated the problems of the Articles, and how to deal with them. 

• ultimately, the delegates here agreed to draft the Constitution to replace the Articles 

• many debates and arguments 

  • many compromises had to be made

The Virginia Plan

To address the matter of government representation, this plan suggested that representation be soley based on population.

• appealed to larger states since it favored them

• smaller states obviously did not like this plan

The New Jersey Plan

Basically the opposite of the Virginia plan: suggested that representation in government be equal for all states 

• larger states did not like it 

• smaller states liked it 

The Great Compromise

A compromise to both plans suggested regarding gov. representation that proposed 2 Houses in Congress

• Senate: Every state has 2 Senators (representatives)

• House of Representatives: States’ # of Reps based on population 

The Three-Fifth’s Compromise 

In order to address the issue of how to count the slave population in southern states towards gov. representation, the delegates came to the decision to count every slave as 3/5th’s a free person. 

• Compromise made to convince Southern States to agree to the Constitution

  • many northern states didn’t want slaves to be counted toward the southern states’ population

Bill of Rights

A document that listed out specific individual rights that the federal government should not infringe

• Anti-federalists strongly advocated for the Bill of Rights

Federalists

The group that supported a stronger federal government, and thus supported the ratification of the Constitution

Anti-federalists

The group that did not want a stronger federal government, and often did not support the ratification of the Constitution or ordered that there must be a Bill of Rights

Federalist Papers 

A series of 85 essays written by federalists Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay to convince the public of why the Constitution should be ratified

• highly persuasive

  • ultimately, most people supported the federalist point of view 

Factions

The term back then for Political Parties 

Federalist Faction

Although the “Federalists” were originally just the group that supported the ratification of the Constitution, they eventually became a faction that advocated for the strengthening of the federal government.

• supported neutrality

Democratic Republican Faction 

The faction that went against the Federalist Faction: they wanted the federal government to not get too involved in the states affairs

• did not support neutrality

  • wanted to support French allies in the French Revolution

Alexander Hamilton

Strong Federalist leader that was the Secretary of Treasury (Washington’s cabinet) 

• brought about many federalist policies

  • assumption of state debts

  • National Bank 

• butted heads with Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

Strong Democratic-Republican leader that was the Secretary of State (Washington’s Cabinet) 

• argued against many federalist policies

• butted heads with Hamilton 

National Bank

Proposed by Hamilton, the National Bank was designed to stimulate, support and protect the American economy by lending to businesses, creating a national currency, and acting as federal government’s fiscal agent.

Assumption of Debt

Also part of Hamilton’s financial plan, this plan would combine all of the states’ debts with the national debt 

• Hamilton believed that this would create more national unity 

• Creditors (those wanting their money back) would now be interested in the prosperity of the Nation, not just the individual state that owed them money 

• Southern states like Virginia who already paid off their debts didn’t like this plan 

Excise Act (1791)

Placed taxes on whiskey which disproportionally hurt western farmers who distilled their grains into whiskey 

• farmers also had to pay in cash which they didn’t have a lot of 

Whiskey Rebellion

From 1791 to 1794, protestors used intimidation and violence to prevent tax collection. The rebellion was ultimately put down when Washington sent federal troops to stop the 500 protestors who were attacking a tax inspectors house.   

Neutrality Proclamation

Washington declared that the United States would not get politically involved in foreign affairs

• a response to Britain and France

  • Because of the French Revolution, other European powers like Britain and Spain were attacking France 

Jay Treaty

Pinckney Treaty 

XYZ Affair

Citizen Genet Affair