Period 3: 1754-1800

Period 3 (1754-1800) runs from the French and Indian War to the end of the 1790s. Focus on cause and effect: Britain's war debt led to new taxes and tighter control, colonists answered with Enlightenment arguments about natural rights and representation, and that conflict became the Revolution. After independence, the weak Articles of Confederation (no power to tax, Shays' Rebellion) led to the Constitution's compromises, the Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist ratification fight, and the Bill of Rights. Finish with Washington's and Adams's presidencies, Hamilton's financial plan, the first party system, and early conflict with Native nations over western land.