Highlands Ranch High School - Mr. Sedivy
Highlands Ranch, Colorado

- World History -
Colonial America and
The American Revolution

The War Is Over, Now What?
Weak Government.

The Articles of Confederation
The Americans got what they wanted, but their government was too weak. They couldn't levy taxes, and there was no enforcement of anything. Basically, the government was a failure.

Left: Benjamin Franklin examines a printed page in a colonial print shop.
Right: Poor Richard's Almanack; bifocals.

A runaway printer's apprentice, Benjamin Franklin arrived in Philadelphia at age 17 with only one Dutch dollar in his pocket. He became the most prominent printer in the Colonies. For 25 years he published the popular Poor Richard's Almanack that contained wise and witty rules for living. When Franklin found that glasses "proper for reading" were "not the best for greater distances," he combined the two, inventing bifocals. As a contributor to both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, Benjamin Franklin helped shape the United States of America.

Constitution and the Bill of Rights
The Constitution meant a stronger form of government. Some objected. The anti-federalists said that the government had too much power. Thus, to get it ratified, the Bill of Rights was added.

The first page of one of George Washington's drafts of the Constitution, including
his notes on the proposed changes. Click the Constitution to view the entire page.

George Washington

George Washington arriving to take office as the first President in 1789

"The decorations of the ships, the roar of cannon, and the loud acclamations of the people" impressed George Washington as he was rowed up the East River in New York. Huge crowds greeted their hero, George Washington, all along his route from Mount Vernon (his estate in Virginia) to New York, then the nation's capital.

"Come along Bobby," sneers the devil in this 1790 cartoon.
Behind the devil is Robert Morris (a signer of the Declaration of Independence)
who carries New York's Federal Hall off to Philadelphia.

Why Does the American Revolution Matter?

It showed the ideas of the Enlightenment could work.

It showed that average people could actually overthrow a mean government.

Painting of Capitol building 1800

In the new city of Washington, on Jenkins Hill, a Capitol was built to house Congress and the Supreme Court. Today the hill is called Capitol Hill. The original building is now part of the North Wing, as shown.

England dominated commerce with America after the war. The British enforced trade rules that were punishing to the American economy.

A tax collector collects a coat of tar and feathers instead

A tax was imposed on home-brewed whiskey. Tempers finally exploded in the brief Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. Federal troops quickly snuffed out this first challenge to the governments's power to tax.

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