UNIT 3.1 APUSH

Time Period 3 ( $1754$--$1800$ )

• Significance: the era when the colonies become the United States; key documents written: $Declaration of Independence$, $Constitution$, $Bill of Rights$.
• DBQ scope: Period 3 (and later) are used for the DBQ; material from Period 1–2 does not count.
• Instructional allocation: College Board recommends about $12\%$ of class time to this period.
• Core timeline in brief: start with $1754$ (French and Indian War) and end around $1800$ (Jefferson elected; beginnings of a United States government).
• Simplified framing: in $1754$ colonies were separate settlements; by $1800$ a bonafide United States of America exists.

Key Concept 3.1

• British attempts to assert tighter control over its North American colonies.
• Colonial resolve to pursue self-government.
• Result: colonial independence movement and the Revolutionary War.
• Scholarly view: the Revolution is often framed as a story of bad government—a stubborn king out of touch—and British overreach.
• Enlightenment influence: social contract theory (the king must protect citizens and enforce laws; if the king breaks the contract, people may overthrow him) provides the intellectual basis for the Declaration of Independence.

How the United States moved from colonies to nation

• 1754: the colonies are a mosaic of settlements (e.g., Maryland Catholic, Pennsylvania Quaker, Virginia); New France to the north; alliances with Native Americans; fur trade network.
• British westward expansion and land encroachment lead to conflict with France and Native nations; culminates in the French and Indian War (British victory).
• 1763: Proclamation of 1763 aims to limit westward migration and manage imperial costs; fuels colonial resentment.
• Postwar taxation: after the war, Britain imposes taxes (e.g., Stamp Act, Sugar Act, Tea Act) to pay down debt; new political costs for the colonies.
• Colonial response: development of the slogan no taxation without representation and arguments that Parliament lacked legitimate authority over colonial affairs.
• Ideological underpinning: Enlightenment ideas, especially social contract theory, shape colonial grievances and the move toward independence.
• 1776: Declaration of Independence articulates the new political philosophy and asserts independence from Britain.
• The constitutional framework follows (Constitution and Bill of Rights) as the new nation is formed; Jefferson’s 1800 election signals a transition to a republican government.