Unit Two: From Colonies to Nation · Chapter 7
Use this to navigate the local source without turning the reading into passive copying.
Read the Chapter 7 outline and timeline in 7.0.md first so the sections have a chronological frame.
Move through 7.1.md–7.7.md in order. After each section, answer its chapter objective in one sentence.
Name what changes, who drives the change, and what consequence the chapter emphasizes.
When reviewing, quote only a brief phrase that names the section’s argument; paraphrase the rest in your own words.
What should you write after finishing a section?
One sentence, in your own words, answering that section’s chapter objective.
Got it now? Scroll back up and re-read the section — it should land differently.
When the Second Continental Congress declared American independence in July 1776, Patriot rebels and the British army had been fighting for well over a year. Some of the Patriots had enlisted in the Continental Army that the Congress had created; many others fought in…
We tend to view the American War of Independence as an effectively two-sided conflict: the Patriots on the one side and the British government and army on the other, the first battling for independence and the second attempting to restore the imperial relationship in…
By 1778, it was also clear that the British had failed to put down the Patriot rebellion either in New England or in the Middle Colonies. A new strategy was necessary. As we have seen, once the British were at war with the French…
Well before the Treaty of Paris—indeed, at a time when the rebellion had just begun and its outcome was in serious question—Britain’s North American colonies began to reconstruct themselves politically. Prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Second Continental Congress had…
The War of Independence thus raised questions about slavery, race, and gender that would prove impossible to squelch, questions that challenge us to this very day. But the war also, and quickly, raised questions about whether some larger sort of union would join the…
Initially the idea was to revise the Articles of Confederation so as to meet the challenges posed during the 1780s. That, at least, was the plan as publicly articulated. Under the leadership of Virginia’s James Madison, however, the convention moved instead to draft an…
All that was left was ratification. Unlike the Articles of Confederation, which required unanimity, only three-quarters of the states—meaning nine of them—had to agree before the Constitution could go into effect and a new structure of governance could get up and running. Special conventions…
After each section, name the central change, the people or institutions driving it, and the consequence the chapter emphasizes.
Answer each chapter objective in one sentence, in your own words. If you cannot, mark that section and return to it rather than guessing.
Track comparisons across sections: empire and locality, war and politics, freedom and coercion, and reform versus reaction. Use short anchor phrases from the source, not copied passages.
