Mercantilism was a general economic theory popular in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries and followed by all colonial powers of the time. It contributed to the onset of the American Revolutionary War because of the British policy aimed at building strong, wealthy, and independent national states, and this was to be achieved by promoting economic independence and a favorable balance of trade. The intent was to encourage native shipping so as to avoid dependence on foreign ships (Faulkner 107).
Northwest Ordinances: After the Revolutionary War, the Northwest territories were in dispute among Virginia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York. Thomas Jefferson proposed a plan to divide the Northwest Territory into a number of states, and this plan was embodied in the Ordinance of 1787, providing for the creation of not less than three nor more than five states. The importance of the ordinance is that it set forth the procedure upon which new states might organize (Faulkner 170).
Articles of Confederation: The Articles of Confederation was the first written framework of government for the United States. It was ratified in 1781 and can be seen as the precursor to the Constitution, and it instituted a decentralized governmental form without a strong central government.
Both Axtell and Morrell consider the nature of the impact of the coming of Europeans on the native population in the New World. Both find that that impact, while often couched in positive terms, was negative overall. Many assumed the religious mantle as a justification for their actions, and the depredations wrought upon many Indian populations in the name of religion certainly soured many Native Americans on Christianity, which professed one sort of world and yet seemed to bring another. The hypocrisy of the invasion from Europe was a strong element that continued throughout the conflict between the Europeans and the Native Americans....