APUSH (Period 3)

• French and Indian War


  The American side of the Seven Years War, where the French and their Native American Allies fought the British and the American colonist over the territory in the Ohio River Valley
• Albany Plan of Union


  • Created by Benjamin Franklin to promote Colonial Unity
• The British were victorious in the French and Indian War and the war officially ended with the Treaty of Paris
• France gave up all of its North American land to the British, whose boundary now extended to the Mississippi River
• American colonists flooded into the Ohio River Valley territory


  Upsetting the Native Americans living in the region
• This led to Pontiac's Rebellion and the British troops were forced to help defend the colonists
• This ended salutary neglect, the British troops maintained their presence in the colonies
• Proclamation of 1763


  Passed by King George III, Parliament began taxing the colonies to help cover the war debts
• Taxes passed by Parliament


  • Sugar Act
  • Stamp Act
  • Townshend Acts (taxing tea, glass, paper, and lead)
• Stamp Act


  • First Direct Tax on the colonies
• Colonists responded with the Stamp Act Congress, the formation of the Sons and Daughters of Liberty, and the phrase "no taxation without representation"
• Parliament was forced to repeal the Stamp Act but passed the Declaratory Act declaring absolute power over the colonies
• The presence of British troops and agents increased tensions, especially in port cities like Boston
• The Tea Act forced the colonists to only buy British tea, leading to the Boston Tea Party
• Intolerable Acts


  Included the Boston Port Act, Massachusetts Government Act, Administration of Justice Act, and Quartering Act
• The other colonies feared Britain could do this to them as well, leading to the First Continental Congress
• At this point, colonists were forced to pick a side - either Patriot or Loyalist
• The American Revolution officially started after shots were fired at Lexington and Concord
• This forced all 13 colonies to meet again in the Second Continental Congress, where they made the Declaration of Independence, established the Continental Army, and wrote the Articles of Confederation
• England


  • Had one of the most powerful armies and navies, with a large population to recruit additional troops, and the ability to fund and supply the war
• Continental Army


  • Knew the land, were willing to engage in Guerilla Warfare, and had an ideological commitment to Independence, with the leadership of George Washington
• Key events of the Revolutionary War

  • Valley Forge
  • Saratoga
  • Yorktown
• The war officially concluded with the Treaty of Paris, where the British acknowledged American independence and ceded their North American territory east of the Mississippi River
• Enlightenment


  A period of intellectual and cultural change in Europe based on logic and reason, which played an instrumental role in colonists starting to question authority
• Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" used logic and reason to prove that most of the colony's problems were the fault of the British
• Jefferson included Enlightenment ideas, especially consent of the governed and natural rights, in the Declaration of Independence
• Articles of Confederation


  The first government of the United States, written by the Continental Congress, which created a weak central government with no executive power or ability to tax or maintain a standing army
• The Articles of Confederation had some successes, such as signing the Treaty of Paris and passing the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance
• The struggles to govern under the Articles of Confederation reached their breaking point with Shays' Rebellion, leading the colonies to agree that the Articles needed revision
• Constitutional Convention


  The meeting where the founding fathers abandoned the Articles of Confederation and created a new form of government, including debates over representation (New Jersey Plan vs. Virginia Plan) and the Three-Fifths Compromise on slavery
• The Constitution set up the three branches of government, a system of checks and balances, and a federal system of shared power between the federal government and the states
• Federalists


  Faction that wanted a stronger central government, wrote the Federalist Papers to convince states to ratify the Constitution
• Anti-Federalists


  Faction that opposed the Constitution, felt it made the federal government too strong, and demanded a Bill of Rights before ratification
• After ratification, James Madison wrote the first 10 amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, to protect individual liberties, though this did not extend to women
• George Washington was elected the first president unanimously in 1789, and immediately set up his presidential cabinet
• One of Washington's biggest foreign policy challenges was the French Revolution, and he ultimately issued a proclamation of neutrality
• One of Washington's biggest domestic issues was the Whiskey Rebellion, which he led American troops to put down, showing the power of the executive branch
• After Washington's presidency, the struggles led to the formation of the first two-party system in the United States - the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties
• John Adams, the only Federalist president, was overshadowed by the French Revolution and the Quasi-War, and passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, leading to his political downfall
• Thomas Jefferson, the Democratic-Republican candidate, won the election of 1800