American Revolution n America was originally a British colony n The U.S. won it’s independence and

became it’s own country during the American Revolution

n The Declaration of Independence was written and approved during the American Revolution to formally announce separation from Great Britain

n Written by Thomas Jefferson n Approved on July 4, 1776n Provides persuasive argument for why

Americans want independence from the British king

n First law of the land of the U.S. n Went into effect in 1781n Created a loose confederation of states

Why don’t we still have it? n IT WAS TOO WEAK!!!

– No executive – Congress could not tax, regulate trade

between states or enforce laws – Shays’ Rebellion showed the government was

too weak to handle a crisis and led to a call for a constitutional convention to fix the problem.

From Ideas to Independence Timelinen Using pages 43-57 in your book, put the following events in order of when

they occurred starting from the earliest date to the latest. You only have to list the date by year (Ex: 1776) For each event you should have 1) the date 2) the title of the event 3) a brief description of what occurred.

n Before putting the events on the timeline, use a scratch sheet of paper to find the dates for all of the events and put them in order before putting them on your timeline sheet.

n Events: – Virginia House of Burgesses - End of French and Indian War– English Bill of Rights - Constitution Goes Into Effect– Magna Carta - Declaration of Independence Approved– Mayflower Compact - Petition of Right– Stamp Act - Constitutional Convention – 1st Continental Congress - Articles of Confederation Approved– Lexington and Concord

n The Articles weren’t working, so the founding fathers got together to revise them.

WHO? n All 13 states except Rhode Islandn Leading Americans like Benjamin Franklin,

George Washington and James Madison

WHAT? n Meeting to fix the AOC; the delegates end

up making a new Constitution

WHEN? n May 1787

WHERE? n Pennsylvania State housen Same place Declaration of Independence

was signed

WHY? n National government too weakn Problems with trade between statesn Shays’ Rebellion

Major Conflicts of Convention n Representation à large state vs. small

statesn Slavery à North vs. South

Goal of Convention? n COMPROMISE!!!!