The American Revolutionary Era, 1754-1789 (Very Important)

The French and Indian War (caused relationship between the colonies and Britain)
-Albany Plan of Union (Join or Die), British victory (French kicked out of North America after Treaty of Paris, 1763), British looked unfavorable at the Colonists, Colonists unimpressed with British
The Imperial Crisis and resistance to Britain
First Phase of the Crisis, 1763-1767
-Pontiac’s Rebellion (British troops put down Indian Uprising in the Ohio Valley), Proclamation of 1763 (colonist ignored boundary line set by British), End of Salutary Neglect (Began enforcing the Navigation Acts), Sugar Act, Quartering Act, Stamp Act (boycott of Sons of Liberty led to repeal), Declaratory Act
Second Phase of the Crisis, 1767-1773
Townshend Acts (tax on glass, tea, lead, paper, allowed search of private homes for smuggled goods, revenues used to pay crown officials), Boston Massacre, Committees of Correspondence (Sam Adams), Boston Tea Party (like Kansas-Nebraska in terms of importance in leading to split), Coercive Acts, First Continental Congress formed to deal with problems
The War for Independence
-Second Continental Congress and Articles of Confederate (govts. during the war), Patriots v. Loyalists (colonies never fully united, 1/3 for 1/3 against 1/3 neutral), African Americans fought on both sides (slavery gradually ended in the North following the war) , Native Americans fight mainly for the British (promised them land) , Saratoga (turning point of the war, French sided with Colonies), Women (fought in battle, maintained farms, spies, became Republican mothers), Inflated currency, War debt, Treaty of Paris, 1783 (officially ended the war)
State Constitutions (by 1777, ten former colonies had new written State Constitutions)
-Contained a list of rights (precursor to the Bill of Rights), Separation of powers (legislative, judiciary, executive), Voting for white male property owners, Elected officers held more property (all provision laid foundation for the US Constitution)
Articles of Confederation
-Weaknesses: Unable to raise taxes to pay war debts, respected little by foreign nations, Shays’ Rebellion, unable to regulate interstate commerce, too much power to the states, difficult to amend Articles, Unicameral national legislature
-Accomplishments: Winning the war, Land Ordinance of 1785 (township system, education), Northwest Ordinance (rules for creating new states, prohibited slavery), stepping stone to the Constitution
The Federal Constitution
Bundle of Compromises (large v. small states, Northern v. Southern states)
-Great Compromise (House and Senate), 3/5 Compromise and Slave Trade Compromise, Trade Compromise (could place tariffs on imports but not exports), Electoral College (president), Needed 9 out 13 states for ratification by special conventions, Bill of Rights (Federalist agree to add Bill of Rights to appease the anti-Federalists who didn’t want ratification