Introduction:

America's War for Independence led to the separation of 13 British North American Colonies from Britain.  The Colonists' cause was liberty.  Britain wanted to crush a rebellion. The result was the United States of America. 

The textbook tells us of the problems between the 13 Colonies and Britain.  Unable to ameliorate the problems, the 13 Colonies penned the most elegant break up letter of all time, The Declaration of Independence.  A war was fought and independence was gained, but not for all.  

After a few years, the new nation realized it needed to reform the Articles of Confederation.  In the summer of 1787, delegates from the states gathered in Philadelphia to find a fix.  By the end of the convention, they drafted The United States Constitution, creating a federal republic.   In order to secure individual liberties and ensure federal power was held in check by the states, The Bill if Rights was ratified in 1791.   

Prompt:

Based on America's Founding Documents and the readings from the text , how revolutionary was this new nation?  What changed after the 13 Colonies separated from Britain?  What stayed the same?  Was this a new form of government or just a modification of what they left behind?

Post Guidelines:

• Please post a thoughtful response of 200 to 300 words.
• Cite, in an academic style (Chicago, MLA, APA...), your sources.
  • This means, when you refer or use evidence from a source to support your argument, you must say where that information comes from.
  • For help with citation style, I've  posted a citation style reference page.
    • If you do not have a preference, please use the Chicago Manual of Style
• For max points, I recommend the following template:
  • Answer the question and/or state your argument in your opening paragraph.
  • Follow with a few paragraphs of supporting evidence from the prompt's source(s).
  • Sum up your argument with a conclusion paragraph.

Advice:

• These are simple questions with complex answers.  Do your best to stay within the historical time period.  Think about what was revolutionary for the late 18th century.
• Rely on the documents and your readings.  Use them to support your argument.
•   You can have a qualified answer.  "Yes, but..."  "No, but..."

Reminders:

• Unlike other units, this is the only option for a discussion. 
• The early posting bonus date is 11:59 PM on Sunday, 9/26. You receive half-point (0.5) bonus if you post before that date. There's no penalty for posting after that (well, as long as it's before the unit ends).
• Replies are optional, but you will receive a half-point (0.5) bonus for making a quality reply to another student. 
• Please make sure to use frequent line breaks.  Otherwise, your post will appear as a big block of text, which is very difficult for me to read. You'll need to start a new paragraph much more often than you would in a tradition paper written in Word.