-
The Enlightenment was a time when reason, individualism, and human rights gained traction and started influencing the development of American political thought, legal systems, and social ideals. This was very important and shaped the founding of the United States. -
-
The Stamp Act of 1765 was a law that imposed a direct tax on the colonies by making them pay a tax on all printed papers, like legal documents, newspapers, and playing cards. The colonists protested this saying no taxation without representation. This lead to widespread resistance and its repeal in 1766. -
The Townshend Act of 1767 was a list of laws that placed taxes on goods imported into the American colonies. This was bad for the colonies because it would raise the British revenue. It also was just a show of power, that Britain had over the colonies. -
The Boston Massacre was a deadly battle between British soldiers and American colonists in Boston. The event fueled by growing tensions over British taxation and occupation, became a bug factor in the revolution. -
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest by American colonists against British rule that occurred on December 16, 1773. Not agreeing with the British policies, particularly the Tea Act, colonists boarded ships in Boston Harbor and dumped 342 chests of tea into the water. -
This meeting occurred at the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall. The Congress was a gathering of delegates from the thirteen American colonies, and it played a crucial role in guiding the colonies through the war and towards independence. -
The Battle of Bunker Hill was a significant conflict in the Revolutionary War. Although the British won causing the colonists to retreat, the colonists did much damage to British soldiers while the colonists barely lost any numbers at all. -
It was a document adopted by the Second Continental Congress in July 1775, declaring the colonists' loyalty to the British Crown and seeking a peaceful resolution to the escalating conflict with Great Britain. It was a final effort to avoid a full war, but King George III ultimately rejected it. -
The Declaration of Independence, adopted on July 4, 1776, announced the thirteen American colonies' separation from Great Britain. It highlights the reasons for this separation, primarily focusing on the colonists' rights to self-governance. -
The Articles of Confederation established a friendship between the thirteen newly independent American states. It created a weak central government with limited powers, prioritizing state sovereignty over national unity. -
The Battle of Yorktown was a short battle in Virginia. It resulted in the surrender of Cornwallis on October 19, effectively ending major fighting in the American colonies and leading to peace negotiations. -
The 3/5 Compromise was an agreement during the 1787 Constitutional Convention where enslaved people were counted as three-fifths of a person for purposes of representation and taxation. This compromise primarily aimed to resolve the disagreement between Northern and Southern states regarding the representation of enslaved people in the House of Representatives. -
The Constitutional Convention was a gathering of important figures from twelve of the thirteen original American states in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The primary goal was to revise the existing Articles of Confederation, but they decided to create a new form of government resulting in the Constitution. -
The Great Compromise was an agreement between large and small states. This was important because the compromise caused a two house legislature, the House Of Representatives and the Senate. The Great Compromise also balanced the power in both large and small states. -
The Bill of Rights has the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. It was given after the bitter 1787 debate over the ratification of the Constitution and written to address the objections raised by Anti-Federalists.