Representatives from twelve of the thirteen states meet in Philadelphia to create a new government.

Copyright © 2021 Mike Chisholm. All rights reserved.

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Representatives from twelve of the thirteen states meet in Philadelphia to create a new government.

Copyright © 2021 Mike Chisholm. All rights reserved.

For comments, email: [email protected]

George Washington uses spies to gather intelligence or spread disinformation to win the war.

Copyright © 2021 Mike Chisholm. All rights reserved.

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George Washington takes command of the Continental army in Massachusetts.

Copyright © 2021 Mike Chisholm. All rights reserved.

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Colonial militia and British soldiers clash for the first time.

Copyright © 2021 Mike Chisholm. All rights reserved.

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Colonists dump British tea into Boston Harbor.

Copyright © 2021 Mike Chisholm. All rights reserved.

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Tobacco saves Jamestown by making it profitable.

Copyright © 2021 Mike Chisholm. All rights reserved.

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Delegates from the states meet in Philadelphia in 1787 to fix the Articles of Confederation.

Copyright © 2020 Mike Chisholm. All rights reserved.

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In July 1776, the representatives of the Continental Congress voted for independence from Great Britain. To win a war against the most powerful country on earth was going to take more than a simple vote. Congress immediately went to work to create a national government to oversee the war. After several drafts and debates, in 1777 Congress approved John Dickinson’s Articles of Confederation.

At this time, states thought of themselves as independent countries and many feared being tied to an all-powerful national government. Hence, it was not until 1781 that the last state ratified the Articles making it the official first government of the United States of America.

The government consisted of a one-house congress where every state had one vote on all matters. Yet, the new government had too many weaknesses to be effective. There was no Supreme Court to settle disputes or a president to enforce the laws. Congress lacked the power to tax or force the states to pay for national expenses. States often ignored foreign treaties and failed to provide Congress with troops when necessary. In the end, Congress could do little to make the country work.

When Massachusetts began seizing mortgaged farms to pay off state debts, former Revolutionary War soldier Daniel Shays started a rebellion. Congress had no ability to act so local authorities raised a militia and put down the rebellion. People like James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington became alarmed at the weakness of the Confederation government. By summer of 1787, delegates from twelve states met in Philadelphia to discuss fixing the Articles of Confederation. Instead, they tossed them aside and create the Constitution—the second and current national government of the United States of America.

Copyright © 2020 Mike Chisholm. All rights reserved.

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The American colonies rebelled against the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts. Colonial patriots opposed taxes passed by members of Parliament who lived an ocean away. In 1770, friction between colonists and British soldiers culminated in the deaths of five people in the Boston Massacre. Then Parliament passed the Tea Act designed to give special tax-exempt status to the British East India Company to sell tea in the colonies that threatened to put many colonial merchants out of business. On December 16, 1773, members of the political action group Sons of Liberty boarded British ships in Boston Harbor and dumped British tea into the water.

Parliament reacted swiftly by passing four acts or laws called the Coercive Acts designed to bring the colonies under control. The colonists referred to these acts as the Intolerable Acts. The Boston Port Act closed Boston Harbor permanently until Boston paid for the dumped tea. The Massachusetts Government Act increased the power of the new royal governor General Thomas Gage and reduced or eliminated elected offices. The Administration of Justice Act allowed British officials accused of murder to be tried in another colony or England. The Quartering Act allowed royal governors to use unoccupied buildings to house British soldiers. Parliament hoped this show of force would intimidate the colonies into obeying British authority.

As so often happened, Britain miscalculated. Instead of bringing the colonies into submission, the colonies banded together in defiance. Twelve of the thirteen colonies sent representatives to Philadelphia in 1774 to craft a colonial policy in reaction to the Coercive Acts. Congress drafted the Declaration of Rights stating their loyalty to the British government but denying the right of Parliament to tax the colonies. Furthermore, Congress called for a boycott on British goods until Parliament repealed the Coercive Acts. Both sides began to take positions from which compromise became impossible.

From this time forward, conflict between the colonies and the British government would grow until militia and British redcoats exchanged shots at Lexington in 1775.

Copyright © 2020 Mike Chisholm. All rights reserved.

For comments, email: [email protected]