French and Indian War England claimed the eastern seaboard, France held inland America from the Appalachian to Rocky Mountains. England began to move west of the Appalachians, leading to conflict. –French and Indian War. Part of the Seven Years’ War. England won.

French and Indian War hurt relations between England and colonists. –English were fighting for the colonies, and felt the colonists did not fight hard enough. –Colonists felt that English were weak militarily, and wanted to be led by their own colonial officers. –England viewed this as treason. –Colonists began to spread beyond the Appalachian mountains, and did not want English help.

Buildup to War After French and Indian War, colonists wanted to be equal members of the British Empire. –England did not feel colonists should have equal citizenship. England racked up a big debt in the war, and wanted colonies to help pay the cost. Started a series of taxes to help pay off the debt.

Sugar Act – Tax on sugar, molasses, and rum. Quartering Act – Forced colonials to provide housing and supplies to English soldiers in the colonies. Stamp Act – Colonists must pay taxes, in the form of a stamp, on coffee, tea, glass, paper goods (legal documents). Colonists were very angry at being forced to pay taxes when they had no voice in English government. –“No taxation without representation!!”

Sugar ActQuartering Act

Stamp Act

These tax acts led to a boycott of British goods. –Boycott – Refusal to buy. As a result, the British repealed the Stamp Act. –Removed. In its’ place, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act. –Stated that Parliament could make any law it wanted applying to the colonies.

Declaratory Act

Parliament then passed the Townshend Act. –Stamp Act under a new name. Colonists protested the Townshend Act in Boston. –British troops fired on the protesters, killing 5. –Called the Boston Massacre. A rebel group called the Sons of Liberty dressed as Indians and attacked a British ship in Boston Harbor. –Threw cargo of tea overboard. –Boston Tea Party.

Boston Massacre Obituary

Colonists called the tax acts the Intolerable Acts. –It is intolerable to be taxed without representation. Colonies started the First Continental Congress. –Upheld boycott and begged King George III for representation in Parliament. –George III refused to listen. Colonists began to arm themselves for war.

King George III

Revolutionary War Colonials stored weapons in Lexington and Concord. British found out and went to take it. Colonial Minutemen fought British soldiers. –British destroyed weapons in Concord, then returned to Boston. “The shot heard ‘round the world.” Opening battle of the American Revolution.

Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet called “Common Sense”. Said it was time for America to be free. People listened. Second Continental Congress met. –Thomas Jefferson and the 2 nd CC drafted and signed the Declaration of Independence. –Copies were sent to all colonies and King George III. –July 4, 1776.

Thomas Paine

In England, this was just a colony in rebellion. In America, we were a free country fighting for survival. Revolutionary War lasted 1776 – Advantages: –England – More men, more supplies, better trained army, had a navy. –America – Knew the land, fighting for their lives.

Disadvantages: –England – Far from home, long supply line. –America – Outmanned, outgunned, outsupplied.

1781 – England surrendered at Yorktown. Treaty was negotiated in Paris. –By Ben Franklin – Treaty of Paris was signed. –USA was now a free country. –America got all land from the Great Lakes to the Florida border. –From the Atlantic to the Mississippi River.

Articles of Confederation After the war, Continental Congress wrote a document to govern the USA. –Articles of Confederation. Congress could make and enforce laws, declare war. –Could not tax. States had their own court systems and printed their own money. “Strong states, weak federal”.

Articles of Confederation

Over time, it was realized that the Articles of Confederation did not work. The states sent delegates to Philadelphia to the Constitutional Convention to revise the A.o.C. Convention scrapped A.o.C. and wrote a whole new document called the Constitution of the United States of America. Constitution was written in four months. Ratified in “Strong states, strong federal.”

Under the Constitution power was divided between federal and state gov’ts. Division of power between federal and state governments was called federalism. Federal gov’t had Delegated Powers. –Declare war, print money. State gov’ts had Reserved Powers. –Educational systems. Both federal and state had Concurrent Powers. –Taxation.

Constitution also included a separation of powers. –Divide power to prevent dictatorship. Each branch of gov’t acts as a brake on the others. Executive Branch – Enforces laws. –President. Legislative Branch – Makes laws. –Congress. Judicial Branch – Interprets laws. –Supreme Court.

Executive Branch

Legislative Branch

Judicial Branch

The entire U.S. government is based on the idea of popular sovereignty, where the people have ultimate power. –The government runs with the permission of the governed.

Constitution could be changed, using Amendments. First ten Amendments – Bill of Rights. Protects basic human rights from government abuse. Adopted with the ratification of the Constitution.

1 st Amendment – Freedom of speech, religion, press, peaceful assembly, petition.

2 nd Amendment – Right to bear arms.

3 rd Amendment – No quartering of soldiers in private homes.

4 th Amendment – No unreasonable search and seizure without probable cause

5 th Amendment – No trial without Grand Jury indictment; freedom from self-incrimination

6 th Amendment – Right to a speedy and public trial.

7 th Amendment – Right to a trial by jury.

8 th Amendment – No cruel and unusual punishment.

9 th Amendment – Could have other rights besides those in Bill of Rights.

10 th Amendment – All powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states.

The Constitutional Convention of 1787 voted George Washington as the first President of the United States.