Study guide: American Revolution and Constitution

📋 Course Outline

1. British Power and Colonial Tensions
2. Escalation Toward Independence
3. Declaration and Revolutionary War
4. Constitutional Government and Checks

📖 1. British Power and Colonial Tensions

★ Must-know

• The French and Indian War, also called the Seven Years’ War, opposed France and Britain from 1756 to 1763.

• After the Seven Years’ War, France lost all its colonies, including Canada, and Britain became a leading world power.

• The Seven Years’ War doubled British national debt and did not create wealth because additional land and soldiers increased costs rather than money.

Further detail

• Britain tried to make the colonies contribute financially through measures including the 1764 Sugar Acts, which imposed duties on sugar.

💡 Memory Hook

Seven Years’ War debt → British taxation → colonial resistance

📖 2. Escalation Toward Independence

★ Must-know

• The 1765 Stamp Act imposed a tax on printed material in the colonies.

• The Boston Massacre occurred in 1770, when British opposition resulted in the deaths of five Americans.

• Colonists argued that only their elected American representatives had the right to tax them.

Further detail

• The 1774 Coercive Acts, also called the Intolerable Acts, intensified tensions between Britain and the colonies.

💡 Memory Hook

Taxes → Boston Massacre → Boston Tea Party → war

📖 3. Declaration and Revolutionary War

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Declaration of Independence: Declaration of Independence, 1776 — written by Thomas Jefferson, expressed Enlightenment ideas about natural rights and government by consent

📝 Essential Points

• Thomas Paine’s 1776 pamphlet Common Sense was widely sold, attacked monarchy itself, and called for independence.

• In 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted for independence, which was formally adopted two days later and signed by delegates on the Fourth of July.

• The American War of Independence lasted from 1775 to 1783 and ended with the 1783 Treaty of Versailles.

💡 Memory Hook

Common Sense → Declaration → Continental Army → Treaty

📖 4. Constitutional Government and Checks

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Three branches: The constitutional system consists of three branches: legislative, executive, and judiciary.

★ Must-know

📌 Checks and balances require the three branches to remain separate while controlling one another, making them equally important.

Further detail

• The Continental Army was led by George Washington after delegates asked him to command it.

• The states had their own laws and constitutions, while the Continental Congress encouraged them to adopt independence.

💡 Memory Hook

Three branches holding one another in balance

📊 Synthesis Tables

Constitutional Branches