Study sheet: 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

Branch	Role stated in the course	Relationship
Legislative	Branch of government	Controls the other branches
Executive	Branch of government	Controls the other branches
Judiciary	Branch of government	Controls the other branches