promised mutual military support in case fighting should break out between French and British forces, as the result of signing; had a secret clause to allow for Spanish involvement.

promised mutual military support in case fighting should break out between French and British forces, as the result of signing; had a secret clause to allow for Spanish involvement.

October 19, 1781; Last major battle of the Revolutionary War) American troops under George Washington and Comte de Rochambeau trapped British troops under Charles Cornwallis and his troops in the Chesapeake Bay, with the help of Admiral de Grasse and the French fleet. Cornwallis was forced to surrender.

signed in Paris between representatives of Great Britain and the United States; Sept.3, 1787; officially ended the American Revolution

a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.

Written by Thomas Jefferson and passed by the Virginia General Assembly on January 16, 1786, it is the forerunner of the first amendment protections for religious freedom

the original constitution of the US, ratified in 1781,

a treaty finalized on October 22, 1784, between the United States and Native Americans from the six nations of the Iroquois League

set up a standardized system whereby settlers could purchase title to farmland in the undeveloped west;set up a survey system that eventually covered over three-fourths of the area of the continental United States

An uprising led by a former militia officer, which broke out in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787; protested the foreclosures of farms for debt and briefly succeeded in shutting down the court system.

enacted July 13, 1787; organize the new territories and set up the steps each territory needed to take in order to become a state; outlawed slavery.

meeting of delegates in 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation, which produced the new U.S. Constitution

an American statesman and Founding Father;hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights; 4th President

The first ten amendments, or additions, to the Constitution which give people their civil liberties

supporters of the proposed constitution

powers and responsibilities are divided among the legislative branch, executive branch, and judicial branch.