As the 18th century dawned on the North American continent, four powers - the French, the Spanish, the British and the Native Americans were competing to see who would control this remarkable land. However, after half a century of almost continuous wars, a new entity emerged: The Americans. It would be the Americans, and not the other four powers, who would control what would become the United States. By the end of the 18th century the Americans had created the greatest experiment in self-government the world has ever seen.
Disc 4:
1783-1790
Noah Webster issues "Blue-backed Speller"; Continental Congress passes Land Ordinance Acts; Shay's Rebellion; The United States Constitution is created; George Washington elected first president; James Madison proposes the Bill of Rights; Alexander Hamilton becomes Secretary of the Treasury and shapes America's modern industrial economy; Benjamin Franklin dies.
1791-1799
Benjamin Banneker saves the White House; Congress enacts a Fugitive Slave Law; The Whiskey Rebellion is put down; The Jay and Pinckney Treaties protect America's westward expansion; John Adams becomes the second President of the United States inaugurating the two-party system; U.S.S. Constitution is launched; Alien adn Sedition Acts usher in a bleak period of American political freedom; Eulogy for George Washington ends the century.
Documents (can be viewed as Mac Text files, Mac Word files, PC text files, PC word files, or as an HTML web page):
U.S. Constitution; Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence; Treat of Utrecht, Molasses Act, Iron Act; Stamp Act; Treaty of Paris; Land Ordinance Acts; Fugitive Slave Law; Jay and Pinckney Treaties; Alien and Sedition Acts; Washington's Farewell Address; Excerpt form Common Sense; Excerpt from Federalist Papers.
Maps (All maps are in JPEG format.):
North America British Territory circa 1700; Original 13 British Colonies; North American Spanish, French and British Territories circa 1700; Triangular Trade Routes between Europe, the Caribbean, Africa and North America; French and Spanish Forts and Settlements in North America during the first half of the 18th Century; British Territory won in the War of Jenkins Ear 1739; The Ohio River Basin; Louisiana Territory and Purchase; Land ceded to Britain as a result of the French and Indian War; Old Northwest Territory; Wilderness Road; Major Revolutionary War Battle sites; Territory gained by the United States in the Revolutionary War; United States and its Territories circa 1799.