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Pontiac's Rebellion
Pontiac was a leader of the Odawa tribe located in the area of modern-day Ontario, Canada, and the Great Lakes region; He led a rebellion against the British colonists after they expanded their military presence in the Great Lakes area during and after the French and Indian War; failed -
Paxton Boys Attack Pennsylvania indians
vigilante group to retaliated in 1763 against local American Indians in the aftermath of the French and Indian War and Pontiac's Rebellion. -
Proclamation of 1763
British issued a proclamation,mainly intended to conciliate the Indians by checking the encroachment of settlers on their lands. In the centuries since the proclamation, it has become one of the cornerstones of Native American law in the United States and Canada. -
End of the French and Indian War
The Seven Years’ War, a global conflict known in America as the French and Indian War, ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris by France, Great Britain, and Spain. -
Stamp Act
first internal tax levied directly on American colonists by the British government; came at a time when the British Empire was deep in debt from the Seven Years’ War and looking to its North American colonies as a revenue source. -
Sugar Act
known as the American Revenue Act or the American Duties Act, was a revenue-raising act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain -
Townshed Act
a series of measures, passed by the British Parliament in 1767, that taxed goods imported to the American colonies. But American colonists, who had no representation in Parliament, saw it as an abuse of power. -
Treaty of Fort Stanwix
treaty between Native Americans and Great Britain; opened vast tracts of territory west of the Appalachian Mountains to white exploitation and settlement -
Boston Massacre
began as a street brawl between American colonists and a lone British soldier, but quickly escalated to a chaotic, bloody slaughter. The conflict energized anti-Britain sentiment and paved the way for the American Revolution. -
Somerset Decision
James Somerset (a slave) was forcibly taken from England to the colonies. Lord Mansfield presided over the case, and Granville Sharp (a noted abolitionist) attended the case with aims to abolish slavery. -
Boston Tea Party
American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped 342 chests of British tea into the harbor. The event was the first major act of defiance to British rule over the colonists. -
Tea Act
the final straw in a series of unpopular policies and taxes imposed by Britain on her American colonies -
First Continental Congress
met in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia; All of the colonies except Georgia sent delegates. These were elected by the people, by the colonial legislatures, or by the committees of correspondence of the respective colonies. -
Intolerable Acts
punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. The laws were meant to punish the Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in the Tea Party protest -
Battle of Bunker Hill
during the Siege of Boston in the early stages of the American Revolutionary War; British defeated the Americans and despite their loss, the inexperienced colonial forces inflicted significant casualties against the enemy, and the battle provided them with an important confidence boost. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War -
Second Continental Congress
a convention of delegates from the 13 colonies that formed in Philadelphia -
Common Sense
challenged the authority of the British government and the royal monarchy. The plain language that Paine used spoke to the common people of America and was the first work to openly ask for independence from Great Britain. -
Declaration of Independence
first it contains the ideals or goals of our nation. Second it contains the complaints of the colonists against the British king. Third, it contains the arguments the colonists used to explain why they wanted to be free of British rule. -
Battle of Trenton
Washington defeated a formidable garrison of Hessian mercenaries before withdrawing. A week later he returned to Trenton to lure British forces south, then executed a daring night march to capture Princeton on January 3 -
Battle of Saratoga
marked the climax of the Saratoga campaign, giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War; made the indian tribe ally with french and americans in war against britain -
Treaty of Alliance
defensive alliance between France and the United States of America, formed in the midst of the American Revolutionary War, which promised mutual military support in case fighting should break out between French and British forces -
Articles of Confederation
served as the written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain. It established a weak central government that mostly, but not entirely, prevented the individual states from conducting their own foreign diplomacy. -
Treaty of Paris (American Revolution)
The Treaty of Paris of 1783 formally ended the American Revolutionary War. The British Crown formally recognized American independence and ceded most of its territory east of the Mississippi River to the United States -
Newburgh Conspiracy
what appeared to be a planned military coup by the Continental Army in March 1783, when the American Revolutionary War was at its end -
Annapolis Convention
A meeting called by the state of Virginia held in Annapolis, Maryland, in September 1786 to which all 13 states were asked to send delegates. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the commercial problems besetting the United States under the Articles of Confederation. -
Shay's Rebellion
armed uprising in Massachusetts; American Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays led four thousand rebels in a protest against perceived economic and civil rights injustices -
Constitutional Convention
in Philadelphia met between May and September of 1787 to address the problems of the weak central government that existed under the Articles of Confederation. -
Northwest Ordinance
chartered a government for the Northwest Territory, provided a method for admitting new states to the Union from the territory, and listed a bill of rights guaranteed in the territory. -
The Federalist Papers Published
a collection of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the United States Constitution. -
Election (Inauguration) of George Washington
marked the commencement of the first four-year term of George Washington as President; the executive branch of the United States government officially began operations under the new frame of government established by the 1787 Constitution. -
Beginning of the French Revolution
French citizens razed and redesigned their country’s political landscape, uprooting centuries-old institutions such as absolute monarchy and the feudal system -
Hamilton's first report on public credit
called for payment in full on all government debts as the foundation for establishing government credit. -
Bill of Rights Ratified
the first ten amendments to the US Constitution; guaranteeing such rights as the freedoms of speech, assembly, and worship. -
First Bank of the United States Chartered
a national bank, chartered for a term of twenty years, by the United States Congress -
Hamilton's Report on Manufactures
the third major report, and magnum opus, of American founding father and first U.S. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. It was presented to Congress -
Citizen Genet Affair
incident precipitated by the military adventurism of Citizen Edmond-Charles Genêt, a minister to the United States dispatched by the revolutionary Girondist regime of the new French Republic, which at the time was at war with Great Britain and Spain. -
Whisky Rebellion
uprising of farmers and distillers in western Pennsylvania in protest of a whiskey tax enacted by the federal government -
Battle of Fallen Timbers
final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between Native American tribes affiliated with the Western Confederacy, including support from the British led by Captain Alexander McKillop, against the United States for control of the Northwest Territory -
Pinckney's Treaty
established intentions of friendship between the United States and Spain. -
Treaty of Greenville
settlement that concluded hostilities between the United States and an Indian confederation headed by Miami chief Little Turtle by which the Indians ceded most of the future state of Ohio and significant portions of what would become the states of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan. -
Jay's Treaty
The Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, Between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America; sought to settle outstanding issues between the two countries that had been left unresolved since American independence. -
Election of John Adams
the first test of whether the nation could transfer power through a contested election; Thomas Jefferson vs John Adams -
XYZ affair
diplomatic incident between French and United States diplomats that resulted in a limited, undeclared war known as the Quasi-War. U.S. and French negotiators restored peace with the Convention of 1800, also known as the Treaty of Mortefontaine. -
Quasi-War with France
U.S. and French negotiators restored peace with the Convention of 1800, also known as the Treaty of Mortefontaine. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
passed by the Federalist Congress in 1798 and signed into law by President Adams. These laws included new powers to deport foreigners as well as making it harder for new immigrants to vote. -
Judiciary Act of 1800
reduced the size of the Supreme Court from six justices to five and eliminated the justices' circuit duties. To replace the justices on circuit, the act created sixteen judgeships for six judicial circuits. -
Election of Thomas Jefferson
Democratic-Republican Party defeated incumbent President John Adams of the Federalist Party. The election was a realigning election that ushered in a generation of Democratic-Republican rule. -
Washington DC chosen as the capital
the location of the new city was to be a compromise: Alexander Hamilton and northern states wanted the new federal government to assume Revolutionary War debts, and Thomas Jefferson and southern states who wanted the capital placed in a location friendly to slave-holding -
Lord Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington
concludes the American Revolution; after the Battle of Yorktown (VA)
