The American Revolution

Moving towards Revolution Now that we know the different ideas on government, we need to ask our selves: WHY DO PEOPLE REVOLT? New ideas on government Old leaders are too strict Lack of individual freedoms

Colonial Rules for America American colonies ruled by the British Britain has debt to pay off, so they place part of the debt on the colonies Taxes Sugar ACT-Pay taxes on imports Currency ACT- tax on paper money Stamp Act-Tax on all printed documents The Townshend Act taxed colonial imports of paper, glass, lead, tea, and other articles.

American Revolution America becomes the 1st to make use of Enlightenment idea’s on a large scale In 1776 Americans wanted to gain their independence from King George III of Britain

American Rev. Cont… In 1776 Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence Based on the ideas of John Locke Right to rebel against an unjust ruler

Revolution Ends The colonists were successful with the help of the French First national document was THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION This document gave most of the power to the individual states The only part of the federal government was congress (TOO WEAK!!) CONGRESS HAD POWER TO: declare war issue money

Constitution is written Articles of Confederation had too many problems so in 1787 the constitution was written Constitution used Enlightenment ideas Popular Sovereignty Rule of Law Separation of Powers Federal System Checks and Balances Bill of Rights

Summary Review your lecture notes. Write at least a paragraph summarizing what you learned.