American Colonial History

A New Country

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© North Carolina Community College System

We know King George III of England

angered the colonists.

• He required the colonists to keep British soldiers in their homes for free.

• He required the colonists to pay high taxes.

• He did not let the colonists have self-government.

So the colonists declared their independence.

The men who led the country to

independence are called

Founding Fathers.

Thomas Jefferson is a Founding Father.

He wrote the Declaration of Independence.

The colonies adopted it on July 4, 1776.

George Washington is a Founding Father.

• Washington led the American army fighting the British.

• Washington was also the first President of the United States.

• He is called the “Father of Our Country.”

The Founding Fathers wrote the U.S. Constitution in 1787 at the

Constitutional Convention.

As free people, Americans had to set up a government.

To encourage people to vote for (ratify) the Constitution, New York newspapers

printed a series of 85 essays.

We call these essays the

Federalist Papers.

Nobody knew who was writing the Federalist Papers. The essays had the

signature “Publius.”http://www.foundingfathers.info/

(“Publius” is a senator in Shakepeare’s play “Julius Caesar.”)

Today we know that “Publius” was three Founding Fathers:

• Alexander Hamilton (First United States Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton wrote 52 of the essays.)

• James Madison (Fourth President of the United States, Madison wrote 28 of the essays.)

• John Jay (President of the Continental Congress and first Chief Justice of the United States, Jay wrote 5 of the essays.)

Benjamin Franklin is one of the most amazing Founding

Fathers.

• Franklin was the oldest member of the Constitutional Convention.

• He was the first Postmaster General of the United States.

• He was the first American Diplomat.

He went to France.

He got France to support America in her fight for independence from Britain.

• He wrote “Poor Richard’s Almanac.” His almanac had a calendar, weather predictions, Franklin’s own wise sayings, and astrological signs.

Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. -Benjamin Franklin

• He started the first free libraries.

The Founding Fathers established the important principles of American

democracy in

• the Declaration of Independence,

• the Constitution, and

• the Bill of Rights.

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In the next lesson, we will see how the United States faced new problems

in the 1800s.