Yankees vs. Brits/Eastblishment of Government

• battles at Lexington and Concord had sparked the beginnings of the Revolutionary War
• the colonies had appointed a government at the Second Continental Congress, George Washington is appointed head of the Continental Army
• his war affairs do not begin well, but it is not until Christmas Day that things begin to turn
• GW and the Continental forces cross the Delaware River and kill Hessian troops at the Battle of Trenton
• British troops arrive and scare the American forces away
• while it was not a true victory, the morale of the Americans was greatly bolstered
• American forces had need of aid from other countries and turned toward the French
• French at first refused but were later convinced by American vicotry at Saratoga, and establish a permanent war and trading alliance
• if America is vicotrious, French agree to stay out of America, and will fight until American independence is conceded by the Birtish
• Declaration of Independence is written and establishes each colony as a state instead
• decide each state should have their own constitution and limit the power of the government, keeping in mind the power the British had over the Americans, power comes from the people
• states have 2 house legislature, 3 states have only 1 house, but all 13 make the legislative branch the ruling power in their states
• some of the states, the upper house of government was chosen by the lower house
• a Bill of Rights was in each state constitution
• in Virginia, the legislative branch was the dominant branch, choosing the governor, who has an advisorial council, and the judges were chosen by the liegislature, the governor had no veto power
• VA Bill of Rights was called the Virginia Declaration of Rights which was written by Thomas Jefferson
• the Virginia Declaration of Rights became a model for the Bill of Rights
• colonies decide they need a stronger national government and make the Articles of Confederation, which was a union of states
• the states are independent but will cooperate on some issues, but each state retaining their sovereignty
• the national government could not collect taxes, forcing them to ask the state governments for moeny, which the states could say NO to
• the national government had no way of regulating trade
• the national government had 1 branch, legislative body, courts were in the states, and had no chief executive
• they had the power to change of Articles of Confederation by required a unanimous vote for such change
• deliberately established the national government to be weak, wanting the power to be within the states