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Credit Sprint's Guide to U.S. History, Period 3: Revolution and the New Nation, 1754 to 1800

AP® weight 10–17%CLEP® Exam I

After the French and Indian War, Britain tried to tax and control the colonies. Colonial resistance grew into the American Revolution. The Articles of Confederation failed to solve national problems, so a new Constitution created a stronger federal government with checks and balances.

Checks and balancesCongressmakes laws Presidentenforces laws Courtsinterpret laws veto / treaties judicial review appoints judges

What you need to know

  • The Seven Years' War (French and Indian War, 1754–63) ended with Britain gaining French lands east of the Mississippi. The Proclamation of 1763 tried to limit settlement, angering colonists.
  • Britain needed revenue. The Sugar Act, Stamp Act (1765), Townshend Acts and Tea Act raised the issue of taxation without representation. Colonists resisted through boycotts, the Sons of Liberty and committees of correspondence.
  • The Boston Massacre (1770) and Boston Tea Party (1773) led to the Coercive (Intolerable) Acts (1774). The First Continental Congress met in 1774. Fighting began at Lexington and Concord in 1775.
  • Common Sense (1776) by Thomas Paine argued for independence. The Declaration of Independence drew on Enlightenment ideas of natural rights and consent of the governed.
  • The war was won with help from France after Saratoga (1777). The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and set the western boundary at the Mississippi.
  • State constitutions limited executive power. The Articles of Confederation (1781) created a weak central government with no power to tax. The Northwest Ordinance (1787) set rules for new states and banned slavery north of the Ohio River. Shays' Rebellion (1786) showed the need for a stronger government.
  • The Constitution (1787) came out of a Convention that created a federal system with separation of powers, checks and balances, and compromises: the Great Compromise on representation and the Three-Fifths Compromise on slavery. Federalists supported ratification; Anti-Federalists feared a strong central government, and the Bill of Rights (1791) answered some of their concerns.
  • Washington's presidency set precedents. Hamilton's financial plan (national bank, assumption of state debts, tariffs) clashed with Jefferson's agrarian vision, creating the first party system of Federalists and Democratic-Republicans.
  • Foreign policy tested the new nation: Washington's Neutrality Proclamation, Jay's Treaty, the XYZ Affair and the Alien and Sedition Acts. The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions argued states could judge federal laws.

Exam traps

Watch forThe Declaration of Independence is not a plan of government. The Articles and the Constitution are.
Watch forThe Great Compromise created a two-house Congress. The Three-Fifths Compromise counted enslaved people for representation and taxation.
Watch forThe Bill of Rights was added after ratification to win support. It is not part of the original text.

Key terms

  • French and Indian War: The North American part of the Seven Years' War (1754–63); Britain defeated France.
  • Proclamation of 1763: A British order that banned colonial settlement west of the Appalachians.
  • Stamp Act (1765): A tax on printed materials that sparked colonial protest.
  • No taxation without representation: The colonial argument that only their own assemblies could tax them.
  • Sons of Liberty: A colonial group that organized protests against British taxes.
  • Boston Tea Party (1773): Colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor to protest the Tea Act.
  • Intolerable Acts (1774): Laws that punished Massachusetts, including closing Boston Harbor.
  • First Continental Congress: A 1774 meeting of colonial delegates that organized a boycott of British goods.
  • Common Sense: A pamphlet by Thomas Paine that urged independence from Britain.
  • Declaration of Independence: A 1776 document that explained why the colonies were separating, based on natural rights.
  • Battle of Saratoga (1777): A key American victory that convinced France to join the war.
  • Treaty of Paris (1783): The treaty that ended the Revolutionary War and recognized American independence.
  • Articles of Confederation: The first U.S. constitution (1781), which created a weak national government.
  • Northwest Ordinance (1787): A law that set rules for creating new states and banned slavery in the Northwest Territory.
  • Shays' Rebellion: A 1786 uprising of Massachusetts farmers that showed the weakness of the Articles.
  • Great Compromise: A plan for a Congress with a House based on population and a Senate with equal votes per state.

Practice questions

Five of the 51 Period 3 questions in Credit Sprint. Every choice is explained in the app.

1. What was the main effect of the French and Indian War on Britain's policy toward its colonies?
  1. Britain withdrew all troops because France no longer threatened
  2. Britain ended all colonial trade with the French West Indies
  3. Heavy war debt led Britain to tax
  4. Victory convinced Britain to grant the colonies broad self-rule
Show answer

Heavy war debt led Britain to tax. Victory doubled Britain's debt, so Parliament sought colonial revenue and stationed troops to hold the new territory.

2. Colonists responded to the Townshend duties mainly by
  1. organizing boycotts of British goods
  2. raising armies to seize British forts along the frontier
  3. moving to Spanish colonies where taxes were lower
  4. paying the duties quietly while petitioning the king
Show answer

organizing boycotts of British goods. Nonimportation agreements pressured British merchants, and Parliament repealed most of the duties in 1770, keeping the tax on tea.

3. Which event convinced France to ally with the United States?
  1. The British capture of Philadelphia in 1777
  2. The American victory at Saratoga in 1777
  3. The signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783
  4. The Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775
Show answer

The American victory at Saratoga in 1777. Burgoyne's surrender showed that the Americans could win, and France signed an alliance in 1778.

4. The Three-Fifths Compromise counted
  1. free Black citizens as three-fifths of a person
  2. every enslaved person as a full person for representation
  3. each enslaved person as three-fifths of a person for representation
  4. women as three-fifths for purposes of voting
Show answer

each enslaved person as three-fifths of a person for representation. It increased Southern power in the House and the Electoral College even though enslaved people could not vote.

5. Hamilton's financial program included federal assumption of state war debts. Why did he propose it?
  1. To punish states that had refused to pay taxes to Congress
  2. To reduce the nation's tariffs and encourage free trade
  3. To prepare for the abolition of state governments altogether
  4. To build national credit
Show answer

To build national credit. Assumption convinced investors that the federal government would honor debts, and it gave creditors a stake in the nation's success.