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American Revolution
Indiana World History Standards
WH.6.1 Examine how the Scientific Revolution, as well as technological changes and new
forms of energy, brought about massive social, economic, and cultural change.
(Economics, Government, Psychology, Sociology)
WH.6.3 Explain the concept of “the Enlightenment” in European history and describe its
impact upon political thought and government in Europe, North America and
other regions of the world. (Economics, Government)
WH.6.4 Compare and contrast the causes and events of the American and French
Revolutions of the late eighteenth century and explain their consequences for the
growth of liberty, equality and democracy
Today’s Objectives
- To understand the ideas of the Enlightenment and how it impacted the development of the American
Revolution & the formation of the United States of America
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• Paying for the French & Indian War
→ Expected the colonies to help Britain pay-off its war debts
…series of taxes on American colonists
…significantly strained relationship between the British gov’t
and her American subjects
→ Without representation in Parliament, the colonists rejected these unfair
taxation policies, violated their natural rights
• Enlightenment in Action
video: Crash Course “American Revolution”
→ Series of protests and boycotts failed to change British policy
→ Colonists declared their independence from the British Empire on the
basis that King George III had violated the social contract (Locke)
- The Declaration of Independence
→ The American colonies were home to diverse religious and ethnic groups
…blurring the lines between social classes
…unlike the rigid social classes in Europe within the Old Order
• Birth of a Nation
→ Colonists fought and won the American Revolution
…but it took assistance from France to win the war
- Battle of Saratoga convinced the French that the colonist had
a chance
→ Following the American Revolution, the first government of the
newly formed United States of America was a confederation
→The Articles of Confederation (1781)
- A relatively weak, one branch, national government: the Congress.
-Most power rested in the hands of the individual states
Articles of Confederation
• Changing Course
→ By 1787, it was clear the limits placed on the national gov’t had created
an ineffective gov’t
→ The Constitution was written in Philadelphia to replaced the ‘A of C’
…based on a federal system
…Bill of Rights which was based on enlightenment ideals
- speech, religion, assembly, and press
…creates a new optimistic view that reason could prevail over tyrants
Philadelphia Convention
Essential Question
Compare and Contrast the Articles of Confederation and the
Constitution
Target Questions
• What role did the F&I War play in the American
Revolution?
• How were social classes in Europe different from those in
the colonies?
• Why was the Battle of Saratoga important?
• What replaced the Articles of Confederation?
Required Reading Question(s)
1) The idea of separation of powers in the Constitution was
borrowed from which Enlightenment thinker?