American History Beginnings To 1877 Myworld Interactive May 2026

The Proclamation of 1763 banned colonial settlement west of the Appalachians—enraging land-hungry colonists. Then came a series of acts: Sugar Act (1764), Stamp Act (1765), Townshend Acts (1767) . Colonists shouted, “No taxation without representation!” They boycotted British goods, formed the Sons of Liberty (led by Samuel Adams), and staged protests like the Boston Tea Party (1773) dumping tea into the harbor.

Declared the Western Hemisphere closed to future European colonization—a bold statement of U.S. influence. american history beginnings to 1877 myworld interactive

Seeking a sea route to Asia, Christopher Columbus (sailing for Spain) landed in the Caribbean in 1492. This contact began the Columbian Exchange —a vast transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and people between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Europeans brought horses, wheat, and sugar; they took back maize, potatoes, and tobacco. Devastating diseases like smallpox wiped out up to 90% of some Native populations. The Proclamation of 1763 banned colonial settlement west

The first national government was weak—no president, no courts, no power to tax or raise an army. Shays’ Rebellion (1786) —an uprising of indebted farmers in Massachusetts—showed the Articles were failing. Declared the Western Hemisphere closed to future European

Britain and France (plus Native allies) fought over control of the Ohio River Valley. Britain won but was deeply in debt. To raise money, Parliament began taxing the colonists directly.

In April 1775, British troops marched to Concord, Massachusetts, to seize colonial weapons. At Lexington and Concord , the “shot heard ‘round the world” started the war.