Created by viss78 on Feb 18, 2010
Last updated: 03/08/10 at 08:15 PM
After Shay's rebellion, the people knew that something had to be done to change the government that the states had been using. The Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia to discuss what to do within the new country. They were initially going to rewrite the Articles of Confederation, but after discussing the matter, they decided that they needed to write a whole new document. There were many different issues that were debated during the constitutional convention and on most issues a compromise was required, but on September 17, 1787 the constitution was adopted into law.
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_zoom_1.html
There were many farmers who were being hurt financially by taxes and their own debt. They were trying to shut down the courts so that the courts could not seize land from indebted farmers. The farmers actually closed courts in western Massachusetts before the rebellion was stopped around January 25, 1787.
General Washington was hearing that General Cornwallis had an army encamped around the town of Yorktown. Washington decided that the best way to overtake Cornwallis' army was to have the French blockade the Chesapeake Bay and to have the Americans come at the town by land. With the French and American forces combined they outnumbered the British 2 to 1. The British army surrendered and this was the final major battle of the Revolutionary War
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzAyaPP95zw
When the British were trying to overtake Charleston, they thought that they would have a better chance if they cut off the town's connection with the outside world. They fanned out so they would not allow reinforcements to come to the town and sever their lines of communication. On May 9th, after the colonists would not surrender, the bombardment began. On May 12th, General Benjamin Lincoln surrendered Charleston and several thousand troops to the British
The battle of Saratoga is thought of as a major turning point in the Revolutionary war. It helped the patriots gain confidence towards the cause of the war. General Burgoyne was trying to move his army of around 6000 to Albany, NY so he could try and capture the city. The Patriots chased his army along the countryside and eventually surrounded Burgoyne's army until they surrendered.
http://www.theamericanrevolution.org/battledetail.aspx?battle=30
After the Patriots were forced to retreat across the Delaware river by William Howe, the British General left the Hessian General Rahl at Trenton with 1200 men. General Washington was determined to capture the men who were staying at Trenton. They surprised the troops at dawn on December 26, and the British and Hessian troops quickly surrendered.
The Declaration was how the colonists told the British that they wanted to be their own free country. There was three people who talked about what should be in the Declaration, and these three people were Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. The Declaration started the idea that all men should be treated as if they were equal. It also told why the colonists were trying to break their ties with Great Britan
http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1703847/Untitled
The rebel army took position on Breed's Hill near Boston on June 16, 1775. They also intended to take neighboring Bunker Hill. The British, however, attacked on June 17 before these plans were completed. Although the resulting battle was for Bunker Hill, the fighting took place on Breed's Hill. The British attacked the hilltop on three separate charges, with one coming as close as forty yards before the patriots opened fire. The rebels did not flee the hill until they had run out of bullets. Though the British won, about 1,000 redcoats were killed.
On May 10, 1775, the members of the Second Continental Congress met at the State House in Philadelphia. The Second Continental Congress was called to order so that the colonists could decide what to do after the battles of Lexigton and Concord. They decided that they wanted to form a national army and they wanted George Washington to be the general of this army.
The British found out where some of the colonists were storing their weapons, and they were going to take the weapons from the colonists. The colonists found out that the British were coming so they went out to meet them. The British officer told them to leave and the colonists started to leave until a gun went off. Then the British started to fire at the colonists and the battle actually began.
When the colonists wouldn't pay the taxes on other goods that the British shipped over to America, the British tried to find another way to tax the colonies. The East India Trading Company had a surplus of tea that they could sell at a very low price. When they shipped it over to the colonies, the British put a three cents tax onto the tea. Even though it was a very good deal on the tea, because of the tax the colonists wouldn't let them unload the tea. Instead of being forced to pay the tax, a group of colonists went onto one of the boats and duped all of the tea overboard.
http://www.toondoo.com/cartoon/1441862
After the British parliment repealed the Stamp Act, they wanted to show the colonists that Britan still had the power to control them. The Declaratory Act said that the British had the power to enforce laws over the colonists whenever they wanted to. This new law made all of the colonists very mad and then the colonists started to boycott British goods. This also was a cause of the Boston Massacre.
The stamp act was passed by Britan in 1765 and was supposed to help pay for the cost of protecting the colonies along the Appalacian Mountains. When this was passed into effect the colonists had to pay taxes on every piece of paper that they bought, even playing cards. The cost of paying the new tax was not very high, but it was the thought of Britan taxing the colonies without first consulting the colonists was what the colonists were mad about.
After the French and Indian war, Britan thought that they would not be able to protect the colonists if they moved beyond the Appalacian Mountains. Britan passed the Proclamation of 1763 which said that the colonists couldn't move past the Appalacians. The colonists were very mad because they thought that since they won the war they should be able to move into the land that they had won.
When the colonists started to move over the Appalacian Mountains into territory that the French had already claimed, it started a war between the French and the British. It was called the French and Indian war because the native americans sided with the British during the war. After the war was over, the colonists were very happy that they were part of the most powerful nation in the world.
Update Sources