Notes
The Seven Years' War and its effects
- The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was fought between Britain and France (with Native allies) over the Ohio River Valley. Britain won and gained French land in North America (Treaty of Paris, 1763).
- Britain was left with huge war debts. It ended salutary neglect, taxing the colonies and issuing the Proclamation of 1763, which banned settlement west of the Appalachians.
Road to revolution
- Taxes and laws: the Sugar Act (1764), Stamp Act (1765), Townshend Acts (1767), Tea Act (1773), and the Coercive (Intolerable) Acts (1774).
- Colonists protested "no taxation without representation": boycotts, the Stamp Act Congress, the Sons of Liberty, the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Massacre (1770) became propaganda.
- Thomas Paine's Common Sense (1776) argued for independence in plain language. The Declaration of Independence (1776), drawing on Enlightenment ideas like John Locke's natural rights, said governments get power from the consent of the governed.
The American Revolution
- Loyalists, Patriots and neutral colonists. Advantages for Patriots: fighting on home ground, leadership (George Washington), and French aid after the victory at Saratoga (1777).
- The war ended with victory at Yorktown (1781) and the Treaty of Paris (1783).
- Revolutionary ideals inspired calls for change: some Northern states began gradual emancipation, and women like Abigail Adams pushed for "remember the ladies." Republican motherhood gave women a role in raising virtuous citizens.
Building a new government
- The Articles of Confederation created a weak central government: no power to tax or regulate trade. Shays' Rebellion (1786–1787) showed its weakness. The Northwest Ordinance (1787) set up territorial government and banned slavery in the Northwest Territory.
- The Constitution (1787) created a stronger federal government with separation of powers and checks and balances. Compromises: the Great Compromise (House by population, Senate equal) and the Three-Fifths Compromise.
- Federalists (Hamilton, Madison, The Federalist Papers) vs Anti-Federalists, who demanded a Bill of Rights (ratified 1791).
The early republic
- Washington's presidency: Hamilton's financial plan (national bank, assuming state debts) vs Jefferson's opposition led to the first political parties (Federalists and Democratic-Republicans).
- The Whiskey Rebellion (1794) showed the new government's strength. Washington's Farewell Address warned against parties and foreign alliances.
- Under John Adams, the Alien and Sedition Acts (1798) sparked the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions.
Practice
Victory brought territory but also debt, leading to colonial taxes.
Colonists wanted to move west after the war.
Colonists argued only their own assemblies could tax them.
French money, troops and navy were crucial.
The national government couldn't respond effectively.
It balanced large and small states.
They feared a strong central government would threaten liberties.
Federalists and Democratic-Republicans formed around these disagreements.
Free response
Write your answer first, then open the scoring guide.
Free-response question
Answer (a), (b) and (c).
(a) Briefly describe ONE British policy after 1763 that colonists opposed.
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The Stamp Act (1765) taxed printed materials like newspapers and legal documents.
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(b) Briefly explain ONE way colonists resisted that policy.
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They boycotted British goods, formed the Sons of Liberty, and sent delegates to the Stamp Act Congress, leading Parliament to repeal the act in 1766.
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(c) Briefly explain how Enlightenment ideas influenced the Declaration of Independence.
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Locke's idea of natural rights to life, liberty and property became "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," and the idea that government rests on the consent of the governed justified breaking from Britain.
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