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Virginia Declaration of Rights
George Mason drafted the document in 1776 which declared sovereignty resides in the people and that the government was serving the people. This is important because people had the right to alter or abolish the government. This document ultimately influenced the state constitution and Bill of Rights. -
Ratification of Articles of Confederation
The ratification of the articles of confederation was the first outline of the official government of the United States. However,it took nearly 4 years for it to be ratified since there was a depute over the land claims of Virginia and Maryland. The articles created a weak centralized government,giving the power to the states. The Articles of Confederation was ultimately the first form of written government. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/articles-of-confederation-are-ratified -
Treaty of Paris
The result of the treaty was the negotiated between the United States and Great Britain which ultimately ended the revolutionary war. This is important because it gave the colonies independence to establish their own nation under themselves. John Adams, Ben Franklin, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson and Henry Lauren were nominated to negotiate the treaty. In conclusion, the treaty brought a sigh of relief for the colonist that the war was over and that they were no longer under British rule. -
Land Ordinance of 1785
The US government's selling of the the land west of the Appalachians, east of the Mississippi, and north of the Ohio River. Congress is selling the land to colonist which ultimately forms states. This is important because this is the first step in expanding U.S. territory in this time period. Jefferson had proposed how to distribute the land in which the land was to be divided into "township" http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-land-ordinance-of-1785-definition-lesson.html -
Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom
This was a viriginia bill, written by Thomas Jefferson that gave legal equality to all christian protestant denominations in Virginia. However this bill was not passed by the state legislature until 1786. This bill argues for freedom of belief that there should be a seperation of religion and state. -
Shays' Rebellion
Shay's rebellion exposed the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. in Massachusetts, there was a group of poor farmers who rebelled against the current government. The federal government was not able to help Boston remove these rebel, showing that the Articles of Confederation weren't effectively in controlling their government. -
Constitution Convention
This was the gathering for the purpose of writing a new government for the people of the United States. James Madison was considered the father of the Constitution that took place in Philadelphia on May 14, 1787. This ultimately was the lead up to the replacement of the Articles of confederation due to the fact that this convention was about the improvements that could be done to the AoC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_Convention_(United_States) -
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
This was the process by which states that were in the Northwestern territory of the US could be consider as part of the Union. In this Ordinance, it prevented the Union from owning states,however it allowed people to vote for whether they believed in slavery once statehood had be implemented. Ultimately, this was the most stable national government under Articles of Confederation. -
Ratification of Constitution
For the new constitution to be set in place as the new government principles, 9 of the 13 states had to approve it. The first state to approve it was Delaware in December 7, 1787. On the other hand, states such as Massachuetts opposed the docment because it lacked constitutional protection of basic potical rights, such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-s-constitution-ratified -
George Washington Inauguration
George Washingtion traveled from Virginia to New York City, the nation's first capital, to be nominated as the first President of the United States. Out of respect for Washington as a war hero, the votes where unanimous. This was most likely to make him feel confident about leading the nation on behalf of himself. -
French Revolution
In 1792, France declared war on Austria, which lead to the French seeking help from America through the Franco-American alliance of 1778. Not wanting to get involved, washingtion signed the Neutrality PRoclamation whcih made amercia neutral. Washington signed this due to the fact that he feared of damaging the trade business between the two nation. This resulted in tension between Americans and French. -
Whiskey Rebellion
This was the result of Washington enforecing new taxes to help pay off war debt. Farmers who grew grain to make whiskey were angry because they could no longer afford whiskey. Because of this they rebelled however, Hamilton wanted the governement to look strong so they stopped. As a result Washington proved that the federal government could make people obey law -
Jay Treaty
This treaty was written by John jay which said that Britian was to pay americans ships that were seized in 1793. It also declared that americans had to pay British merchants debts owed from before the revolution. As a result of this Treaty, britian had agreed to remove their troops from the Ohio River Valley. -
Treaty of Greenville
Treaty was signed at Fort Greenville in Ohio between nortwest indians and americans This Treaty Gave America all of Ohio after General Mad Anthony Wayne battled and defeated the Indians at the battle of fallen timbers. As a result, this gave americans the ability to explore the Ohio area with peace that the land belonged to the Americans. This also added size to the nation which was very fertile. -
Pinckney Treaty
The Pinckney Treaty was signed in 1795 where it was a treaty between the U.S. and Spain. This treaty gave the U.S. the right to transport goods on the Mississippi River and to store goods on the Spanish port of New orleans. This treaty was created by Thomas Pinckney who was a U.S. minister to Britain and was dispatched to Spain -
Washington Farewell
This was a document written by George Washington when he retired in office in 1796. It talked about domestic problems. He stated that the nation should stay away from permanent alliances with foreign countries, and temporary alliances should only be mae in "extraordinary emergencies". The document was rejected by Jeffersonian who favored the alliance with French. -
Election of 1796
This was the first real contested presidential election. Federalists supported John Adams, Republicans supported Thomas Jefferson. As a resulted, Adams wins and Jefferson becomes the Vice President. -
XYZ affair
This was the direct result of the Jay's treaty which violated the terms of the Franco-American treaty of 1778. John adams sent over three american diplomats to talk with french foreign minister however the minister demanded one-fourth of a million dollars in order to talk. This resulted in the two countries conducting a naval battle. However France realized that didn't need another enemy due to the fact that they were battling Britain at the moment. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
Contained four parts. 1) raised the residence requirement for american citizenship from 5 year to 14 year. 2) Alien act gave president the power in peacetime to order any alien out of the country. 3) alien enemies act permitted the president in wartime to jail aliens when he wanted to 4) the sedition act provided fines and jail penalties for anyone guilty of sedition. -
Quasi War
This was a undeclared war between France and U.S. This was mainly a naval war, focusing on shipping vessels. Adams avoided real war because he belived that it would divide the colonies and lead to a civil war. Adams sent a diplomat to negotiate a peaceful end. As a result, Adam's call was good because it could have jeopardized the american purchase of Lousiana . -
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
This was a political statement which the Kentucky and Virginia legislature took the position that the Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional. The Resolution argued that the states had the right and duty to declare unconstitutional any acts of congress that were not authorized by the constituition. -
Election of 1800
This election was between Jefferson and Burr who both tied in the number of electoral votes. Hamilton supported Jefferson who eventually won him the election. This was important because the political power was shifted between parties peacefully. However as a result, this conducted a series of conflict between Hamilton and Burr
