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Proclamation of 1763
The act closed western lands beyond the Appalachian Mountains to colonel expansion. This was done to calm Native American anxieties and to secure and protect the front lines from Native American attacks. Some colonist did not follow the proclamation and sometimes royal officials connived with land speculators in schemes involving tribal lands. The colonists did this because they were unhappy with the proclamation and wanted more land. -
Sugar Act
The act reduced the price of imported molasses & represented a net gain in customs collections. Since the British assumed that the colonists could not afford to buy molasses, they would be compelled to buy molasses produced in the British West Indies. The colonists objected to the act as merchants had long established procedures to sidestep imperial measures & smuggled. The act could disrupt merchants businesses & hurt profits. Also passed when the colonies were struggling economically(war). -
Currency Act
The act prohibited the issue of any new bills and reissue of currency. There was confusion because the only way to get currency was through trade with Britain and most colonies felt no alternative to printing own money in the form of Bills of Credit. Also, there were no common regulations & no standard value on which to base the notes. The colonists protested vehemently against the act. They suffered a trade deficit with Britain to begin with and the shortage of hard capital would make it worse. -
Stamp Act
The first direct tax on the colonies, taxed new papers, almanacs, pamphlets, broadsides, legal documents, dice, and playing cards. This was to assert their power to control colonial policy. The colonists had many protests and made a mock stamp which the text read, "An emblem of the Effects of the STAMP. O! the Fatal STAMP." This is because there were numerous concerns among the colonists about the Stamp Act. -
The Quartering Act
Required colonial governments to provide & pay for feeding & sheltering any troops stationed in their colony. after the F-I war Britain kept some troops to help protect the colonies but because they were in debt from the war, the colonies had to pay their share of keeping the men in the colonies. NYPA refused to provide to cover costs of feeding & housing 1,500 troops sent to NYC. This is because many of the colonists saw this as one more way Parliament was attempting to tax them without consent -
Declaratory Act
The Parliament had full power and authority to make laws and statues of sufficient force. All colonial acts, resolutions, votes, and proceedings that questioned this power and authority were null and void. This was because of the counter-productivity of the Stamp Act. Thomas Paine wrote an essay say that what was said in the Declaratory Act meant so unlimited a power can only belong to god. They realized the Declaratory Act presented new dangers to their rights. -
Townshend Revenue Act
Placed duties on various consumer items like paper, paint, lead, tea, and glass. Since the colonies did not have the manufacturing base to make the items, they would have to get the items from Britain who saw this as a way to get more money. The colonists argued back at the Parliament for the repeal of the act. They thought the right to lay internal taxes was never supposed to be in Parliament. -
The Tea Act
The act reduced the tax on imported tea. This gave the British merchants an unfair advantage in selling their tea in the colonies. The colonists boycotted because of this act. This is because many of them condemned the act. -
The Boston Massacre
Colonists were unhappy with the Quartering acts and started throwing stuff like ace at the soldiers and teasing them. One night, the colonists had to soldiers backed up to a wall. Then, apparently the captain of the soldiers yelled "Fire". This caused many of the soldiers to fire killing many colonists. -
The Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was organized by the Sons of Liberty. It was to protest the tax on tea and the Britain lowered their prices to be lower than Dutch Smugglers. Though even with this, the colonists were still unhappy because they didn't want to buy stuff from people doing wrong things. So then they dumped all of the tea on a shipment into the Boston Harbour and wasted it. Some even tried to keep some for themselves as well. -
The Intolerable Acts
The act closed the port in Boston and placed it under martial law. It was intended to surpress unrest in colonial Boston. The colonists, lead by the Sons of Liberty, boycotted. The law was meant to unrest Boston so they were mad and panicked. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The British went to go steal the weapons and resources the Americans had been stockpiling to ever use against them but the Americans wouldn't let that happen. The British won at Lexington but lost the big battle at Concord. Only after losing 300 men while the colonists only lose 93. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The British wanted the high ground against the Americans and also to be able to watch over Charleston but the Americans planned to get it first. But when they did go they took the wrong hill called Breed's Hill which was, unfortunately, in range of British ships. Also, Breed's Hill was 35 feet shorter than Bunker Hill. The British won. -
The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was the document signed by the Second Continental Congress. It was to the king declaring independence from Britain and the American government was now in charge. -
Battle of Trenton
In the Battle of Trenton, George Washington was leading the American army. They were planning to catch the British off guard, and did. There were only 5 American deaths during this battle and 900 British, including Hessians he were german soldiers hired by the British. The battle was pretty obviously won by the Americans and created new battle tactics and boosted morale. -
Battle of Saratoga
In the Battle of Saratoga, the Americans were lead by Horatio Gates. Gates ordered his army to surround the British on all sides. This was probably the most decisive point in the Revolutionary War as it mad France recognize the USA. The USA also gained many allies from it. In the end, the Americans won with 330 casualties vs the 1140 British casualties. -
Valley Forge
At Valley Forge, the Americans were lead by George Washington. There never was a Battle at Valley Forge. It was a winter encampment while the British conquered Philadelphia. But, the Americans were very unprepared for the harsh weather and close to 2000 of the 12000 died. This was very important though because having to survive all together brought the American soldiers together. -
Battle of Yorktown
In the Battle of Yorktown, the Americans were lead by George Washington. In this battle, the Americans now had the French working with them. The French drove the British out of Chesapeake Bay while the Americans beat Cornwallis. The Americans won with only 389 casualties compared to a staggering 8589 British. This was the final battle of the Revolutionary War and what destroyed the British. The Americans were now free. -
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Abolitionism
Abolitionism was the movement that made people think that the transatlantic slave trade should be abolished. People who though that it shouldn't were usually sectionalists and people who agreed were usually nationalists. Sectionalism played a huge role in this because sectionalists believed that it should not be banned and this was a huge factor leading up the Civil War because of the tension between the North and the South with their views on slavery. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was written by a few people. This is including John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay. This is what completely separated the United States from Britain. It ended the revolution for good. It also gained the US more land, made the US more wealthy, and permanently altered the balance of power in the US. -
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Westward Expansion
Westward expansion was the push to the west that the United States had from 1787 to 1861. This came with the addition of many new states but also a few problems. One of those problems were the Northern states being added were free states and nationalists while the southern states were slave states and separatists. The United States was on the brink of a civil war during westward expansion making westward expansion harder. -
The 3/5 Compromise
The 3/5 Compromise was made when the northern states of the U.S. were nationalists and free states meaning they had a small slave population and the southern states were separatists and slave states meaning they had a high slave population. This gave them an advantage in voting because the southern states had a higher population and nationalists and separatists have different beliefs. So in solution the 3/5 Compromise said that only three fifths of the slaves population would count as a vote. -
Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion was when the federal government needed money to pay for debts from the Revolutionary war. Therefore, they passed a tax on spirits. This tax affected people in different regions differently. In the south, farmers were affected because distilleries had less money to pay them. On the East Coast distilleries had to raise prices to make more money and customers bought less. There were a bunch of riots and George Washington had to send the army in to stop them. -
States' Rights
The tenth amendment states "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." But in 1791, southerners felt that the federal government was too powerful. They felt that it was robbing the states of the 10th amendment. This most affected the south because as sectionalists, they believed states should have their own power. Also, there was no law about slavery so the states could decide. -
XYZ Affair
The XYZ Affair was when France was attacking American Ships. The Americans wanted peace so they sent three representatives to France but the French foreign minister refused to meet with them and instead sent three representatives of his own. These three were know as X, Y, and Z. They said if the Americans wanted to talk to the minister they would have to pay him money. This insulted many and Feds wanted war with France as France did not respect the USA. -
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions was when the Democratic-Republicans, or anti-feds, thought the Alien and Sedition acts were and abuse of power. So they argued that the acts were unconstitutional as they interfered with the Constitutional rights given to the states. They said the states should be able to nullify acts they found unconstitutional. the law was not changed, but expired after John Adam's term as president. -
Alien & Sedition Acts
The Americans were worried about European immigrants who could side with the French. So to deal with this, Congress passed the Alien and Sedition acts. The Alien Act said the president could imprison or deport anyone considered to be dangerous who was not a U.S. citizen. The Sedition Act was a law stating it was a crime to speak, or publish and false , scandalous, and malicious criticism of the government. The acts then expired in 1801. -
The Embargo Act
The Embargo Act was a response to increasing tensions between the U.S., Britain, and France in the Napoleonic Wars. Both countries were stopping American trade with other European countries. So they passed the act which stopped American ships from leaving port for any foreign destination, which cut off trade. This was meant to hurt the French and Britain economies so there is a chance they stop attacking American ships. But this also hurt the Americans and was repealed in 1809. -
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The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network system that helped lead thousands of slaves to freedom. It was mainly lead by abolitionists who would help the slaves escape from the south to the north where it was nationalists who went with what the Federal government said, thought that slaves should be free from the sectionalists who did not agree that the federal government has that power. -
War of 1812
The war of 1812 started with France and Britain attacking American ships. In response, the U.S. tried to do many things to get them to stop. This including stopping trade to hurt the French and British economies, passing acts, and sending representatives to try to negotiate peace. But non of this worked. Eventually, the U.S. had to do something against it. They had to decide whether they did it peacefully, or with war. They chose war. The US won. -
McCulloch v. Maryland
McCulloch v. Maryland was a trial about the issue that the Constitution did not expressly give Congress the power to create national banks. McCulloch was with Congress and Maryland was against. Maryland said things like the state had power under the Constitution to tax businesses within its borders. On the other hand McCulloch was saying that Constitution allowed Congress to pass things to carry out Constitutional Powers. McCulloch won the case. -
The Compromise of 1820 (Missouri Compromise)
The Compromise of 1820 was a solution to the ongoing problem at the time of Missouri wanting to join the United States. The problem with it was that Missouri was a slave state and were separatists. This made the nationalist north states angry as they were free states and this would disrupt the balance of power in the U.S.. The solution was admitting Missouri and also Maine, a free state. With the Louisiana Purchase it made north states above 36º 30'N free states and south of it slave states. -
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman, born in 1822 (exact date is unknown), was born as a slave in the south. Tubman escaped slavery in 1845 but instead of running away forever, she helped lead many missions to save numerous other slaves and help them to the North where people were nationalists and with the federal government who were against slavery. Tubman was really an important person in history and will never be forgotten. -
The Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was issued by James Monroe. European countries were trying to colonize the Americas but the U.S. did not like this. The Monroe Doctrine said that the Western Hemisphere was no longer open to European colonization and that the U.S. would view any attempt by European countries to interfere with stuff in the Americas as a hostile act. It also stated that the U.S. would not interfere with the internal affairs of European countries. -
The Fugitive Slave Law
The Fugitive Slave Law was one of the parts of the Compromise of 1850. Because slaves were trying to escape into the northern states because they were free and nationalist states instead of the south separatist and slave states, this law was in the compromise. It stated that any escaped slave caught in the northern states should be returned to the owner in the south. -
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 came with the problem of the addition of the Oregon Territory & Mexican Cession. With these new states a problem was some were slave states and sectionalists joining the south and some were free states and nationalists with the north. To keep the balance in the U.S. the compromise said California was a free state, UT & NM would have Popular Sovereignity, Texas recieves $10 million & ends the border dispute with NM, passes the Fugitive Slave Law, & bans slave trade in D.C.. -
Secession
When Abraham Lincoln was elected president, people & states knew he was against slavery. Therefore, this caused the southern states, who were slave states & sectionalists who thought that the states should make their own laws on slavery, to start seceding from the U.S.. The other states that left were Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, & North Carolina. These 11 states made up the Confederacy & what was the start of the U.S. Civil War. -
The Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation was what freed all slaves. The proclamation was passed by Abraham Lincoln, who was a nationalist, during the Civil War. This obviously angered the sectionalists in the South because they believed that the States should be able to make that law and not the Federal government. But it only lasted for 2 years until it was abolished by the U.S.' 13th amendment.