American Revolution and the New Nation
From protest to independence
The Stamp Act (1765) taxed printed materials directly and triggered the argument that only colonial legislatures could tax colonists. The Townshend duties, the Boston Massacre (1770), the Tea Act (1773), and the Coercive Acts escalated the conflict. Common Sense (1776) shifted the argument toward independence, and the Declaration of Independence grounded it in natural rights, consent of the governed, and a list of grievances against the king. Saratoga (1777) brought France into the war; Yorktown (1781) ended the fighting; the Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized independence west to the Mississippi.
Confederation to Constitution
The Articles of Confederation could not tax, regulate interstate commerce, or amend without unanimity, and Shays' Rebellion (1786) dramatized the weakness. The Constitutional Convention produced the Great Compromise, the Three-Fifths Compromise, and a stronger executive. Federalists defended a large republic and implied powers; Antifederalists demanded a bill of rights.
The early republic
Hamilton's program of debt assumption, a national bank, tariffs, and excises rested on loose construction of the necessary and proper clause; Jefferson argued strict construction. The Alien and Sedition Acts and the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions framed the states'-rights argument. Marbury v. Madison (1803) established judicial review.
Traps. The Federalist Party is not the principle of federalism, and the Declaration justifies independence while the Constitution structures government.
Worked example. A question asking how Hamilton defended the Bank wants implied powers under the necessary and proper clause, not the Tenth Amendment.