1750’s -1800
Important Dates 1752: Ben Franklin conducts kite experiment 1753: African American Ben Banneker made first striking clock 1754: French/Indian war begins 1765: Stamp Act passed by British 1767: Townsend Act imposes another tax 1773: Tea Act prompts Boston Tea party
Important Dates Cont. 1774: First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia 1775: American Revolution begins 1776: Declaration of Independence 1783: Revolutionary War ends 1789: George Washington 1793: Eli Whitney invents cotton gin
The Age of Reason A movement in thought Valued reason over faith Believe people are by nature good Believe that a perfect society is possible
Wars & Unhappiness French vs. England -over North America -called the French Indian war -France didn’t win 1765 The Stamp Act was put into place to help England pay for the war 1767 The Townsend Acts taxed paper, paint, glass, lead, and tea
Unrest Builds 1770: Boston Massacre- only five people really killed Tea Act, Coercive Acts, Intolerable Acts September of 1774 First Continental Congress met to discuss possibility of war
Revolution On April 19, 1775, 700 hundred British troops met 70 Americans, someone shot, and war began! Fought until won our freedom Once freedom won, it was very hard to unify the states -states vs. federal: states didn’t want to lose individual freedoms to the government Followed by election of new president
Literature Political writings (expressions of opinions) Poetry Slave narratives Developed own culture and art
What we will be reading this unit Poor Richard’s Almanac by Ben Franklin Writings by Olaudah Equiano The Declaration of Independence Patriotic Poetry