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French and Indian War
The war was fought between the colonies of Britain and New France from the countries of Britain and France. The English and the French battled for seven years for the colonial territory in North America, Carabbean and the India. Although the English did dominate colonial territories the result was the debt they had from the war, this is what caused tension on countries over taxes that lead to the Revolutionary War. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
These were the battles that sparked the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. Hundreds of British troops marched to Concord from Boston to seize colonial weapons. Paul Revere warns the colonists about their arrival and the colonial militiamen prepare to confront them at Lexington. Many more battles followed, but in 1783 the colonists won independence. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a document signed by all thirteen colonies in which they declare themselves as an independent nation free of any British rules. This document was a summarized document explaining the reasons why the colonies wanted to be independent. An official alliance with the government of France for French assistance followed after the colonies declared themselves independent. -
Battle of Yorktown (British Surrender)
The last major battle of the Revolutionary War was fought between the Franco-American and the British army. General George Washington and Lieutenant General Jean-Baptiste Ponton de Rochambeau found out that the British under the command of Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis were near Yorktown, VA and they decided to plan an attack on them so the Franco-American army begin marching south. This lead to the Battle of the Chesapeake. Cornwallis and his army surrendered on October 19. -
Ratification of the Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was a written document that established a national government in the United States after their independence. This gave very little power to the national government which caused many problems for it to lead efficiently. Under this constitution the states had more power than the federal government. Congress had no president and was responsible for the states rather than for the people. These problems lead to the revision of the Constitution.
1781 March 1 -
Treaty of Paris
Representatives of the Untied States, Great Britain, France and Spain sign a treaty to officially end the Revolutionary War. This treaty gave American Independence and granted them as a free nation. Benjamin Franklin had negotiated with John Adams and John Jay over a peace treaty with British, in which he agreed with Britain to use the Canadian fishing waters and gained southern Canada. -
Shays' Rebellion
The rebellion lead by Daniel Shays in which they demand a stronger national government and revise the AOC. After the war, Massachusetts was left with a great war debt and raised taxes on the citizens which frustrated them. Farmers were impacted the most by this and couldn't pay because the farm prices had dropped. Daniel Shays lead a group of farmers in the rebellion which resulted in a convention for the states to revise the Articles of Confederation. -
Constitutional Convention
On May 15, 1776 Delagates meet in the Second Continental Congress at the Independence Hall in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation. The thirteen colonies had adopted a republican form of government that gave more power to the federal government and included a Bill of Rights that assured the rights of the citizens within the United States. The purpose of the new document was to secure the right to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness of the people. -
Ratification of the US Constitution
On September the 17, 1789 the US Constitution was ratified by the majority of the delagates in the Constitutional Convension. Nine states had to ratify the US Constitution in order for it to go in effect. North Carolina and Rhode Island were the last two states to approve it because they had demanded citizen rights to be included in the US Constitution. After the Bill of Rights was adopted in the Constitution, North Carolina ratified it in 1789, and then Rhode Island ratified it in 1790;
