America’s First Steps in Self-Governance Introduction Imagine trying to run a country where each state prints its own money, maintains its own army, and can ignore national laws at will. This was the reality of America under the Articles of Confederation. Background: Following the Revolutionary War, the thirteen newly independent states needed a framework for…
Key Military and Diplomatic Events of the American Revolution In December 1776, as American troops huddled around campfires reading Thomas Paine’s stirring words, “These are the times that try men’s souls,” the fate of a nation hung in the balance. Background: The American Revolution wasn’t won through military might alone—it was a complex interplay of…
Imagine a young George Washington, just 22 years old, making decisions that would spark a global conflict and forever change the course of North American history. Background: The French and Indian War (1754-1763) represented a crucial turning point in colonial American history, reshaping relationships between European powers, colonists, and Native Americans. Thesis: The war’s aftermath…
Imagine trying to unite thirteen fiercely independent states into one nation while fighting a war against the world’s most powerful empire – this was the monumental challenge facing America’s founding generation. Background: In 1777, amid the tumult of the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress drafted America’s first written constitution, the Articles of Confederation. Thesis: The…
