12 - CP Gov - Unit 1 Test - American War for Independence + Declaration of Independence

Seven Years Was - who, what, where

who: French, Native American tribes, Britain

what: Ohio River valley territory, expansion of fur trading operations

where: Ohio River valley

“taxation without representation“ & usurpation (of what?)

usurpation of right to self-government/local decision-making processes

Importance of French involvement

French helped win the war with the Battle of Yorktown

Key battles

1. Victory @ Saratoga, New York (1777): proved to French that colonists could win war

2. Victory @ Yorktown, Virginia (1781): British General Cornwallis surrounded by Continental Army and French Army and navy, had to surrender to Washington → signing of Treaty of Paris 1783 that formally recognized American Independence

Declaration of Independence: setting in which written and purpose

Independence Hall at Philadelphia

Declaration of Independence: influence of Locke on Jefferson

1. Natural rights: freedoms that are necessary for human life

2. Social contract theory: people form governments to protect their natural rights but do they not surrender all power to their government- if government doesn’t follow consent of the governed, people have right to revolt

Declaration of Independence: “all men are created equal“ - Jefferson’s meaning vs. today’s meaning

only white, educated, property-only men- afraid that uneducated people would make bad decisions