Building a Nation LEVELED BOOK • Z2

Building
A Reading A–Z Level Z2 Leveled Book
Word Count: 2,431

a Nation
Connections
Writing
Research the Bill of Rights. Write an essay
about one of these rights, explaining why it
was significant to the colonists and why it is
still important today.
Social Studies
Choose one of the first three presidents
of the United States to research. Create
a biographical poster that includes details
about his childhood, education, career,
and presidency.
Z
2
1•
Z • Z
Part Three of The American Revolution
Written by Terry Miller Shannon

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 Building amend
Words to Know
legislative

a Nation
authority prosperity
checks and balances ratify
compromise rebellion
constitution representatives
debates republic
executive revenue
judicial sovereign
incurred tyranny
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Part Three of The American Revolution Part Three of The American Revolution
Building a Nation tells about the efforts of thirteen colonies to build a nation.
Written by Terry Miller Shannon Read Seeds of Revolution and Battling for Independence to find out what
events led to the creation of the United States of America.
[Link] Building a Nation
Level Z2 Leveled Book

Focus Question © Learning A–Z

Part Three of The American Revolution Correlation
Written by Terry Miller Shannon LEVEL Z2
How did the United States develop from Illustrations by Cende Hill
Fountas & Pinnell Y–Z
thirteen separate colonies to one united nation? All rights reserved. Reading Recovery N/A
[Link]
DRA 70+
 Liberty Bell

Colonists fight British

soldiers at the Battle
of Lexington.

Introduction
In 1776, delegates from the thirteen British
Table of Contents colonies in North America signed the Declaration
of Independence, proclaiming they were free
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
and independent of Great Britain’s rule . At the
The Articles of Confederation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 same time, the colonies declared themselves
a confederation of states united for a common
The Treaty of Paris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
cause . They called their union the United States
Money Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 of America . The new union of states needed
to devise a system of government .
Constitutional Convention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Delegates from the original thirteen colonies,
Arguments Over Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
now called states, began to fashion a plan for a
The Louisiana Purchase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 working central government . It would take five
years for this plan to be firmly established within
Exploration and War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
the new union of states because the war for
Timeline of the American Revolution . . . . . . . . 22 independence from Great Britain continued .
However, it would take another forty years and
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
another war with Great Britain for this new union
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 to feel truly united .

Building a Nation • Level Z2 3 4

 The Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation granted the
In 1777, delegates appointed by each state to the federal government of the United States no
Second Continental Congress agreed to send the authority, no freedom
new plan for government to each state for review . to act on its own, and no
For the plan to work, it needed to be ratified by single leader to speak for
all thirteen states . The document detailing the the union . The United States
plan would become known as the Articles of had incurred debts from the
Confederation . It did not refer to the United States war, but Congress, the one
as a nation, but as a “firm league of friendship” branch of federal government
between thirteen sovereign states . The document created by the Articles, did
outlined a weak federal government and strong not have the authority to
state governments . The states liked the authority tax people to collect revenue
and freedom they had under the Articles . Each to pay the debts . Only the
state drafted its own constitution and printed its states had the power to tax
own currency . their citizens . The lack of
The Articles of Confederation power to tax would prove

MA to be one of the fatal flaws of the Articles of

un

Confederation . Another flaw was that no one

cla

NH
im

New Spain MA
executive was in charge . A president was elected
ed

NY
MA
PA
to oversee the proceedings of Congress but had
CT
Do You Know? CT
NJ
no power to make decisions . Congress also did
The first thirteen states VA not have the power to change the Articles if the
DE
were all located along the union of states decided something about the
NC MD
East Coast of the present-
day United States. SC plan was not working . Nine of the thirteen states
GA had to agree to changes in the Articles for those
ATL ANTIC changes to be legal . It would take several years
New Spain OCEAN
New Spain
after its approval by the states for flaws in the
Articles of Confederation to become apparent .
Land claims of states under the Articles of Confederation

Building a Nation • Level Z2 5 6

 The Treaty of Paris British–controlled
Claimed by both Canada
It took almost five years for all thirteen states Britain and Spain G
RE
to overcome their differences and approve the AT
LA KES

M
iss
Articles . Maryland was the last to ratify the

iss
i p p i R i ve r
document . In 1781, the major fighting of the
Revolutionary War ceased with U .S . General
U.S. states
George Washington’s victory over British General and
Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia, but territories
the war itself wasn’t officially over for another New Spain
ATL ANTIC
two years . OCEAN

Ne
Representatives from the United States and New

wS
Orleans

pa
Great Britain discussed peace terms in Paris,

in
France, from the middle of 1782 until the Treaty
of Paris, also called the Peace of Paris, was signed Thinking Critically
on September 3, 1783 . Only then had the war WHY was it important for the U.S. to be recognized
officially ended . in the Treaty of Paris as independent of Britain?
IN YOUR MIND, what might have happened if
The peace treaty established two important ideas:
the treaty did not recognize U.S. independence?
1 . It recognized the United States as a sovereign
country independent of Great Britain .
Why Did It Take So Long?
2 . It also set the boundaries of the new United The Treaty of Paris was not signed until two years after
States, which included all land from the Atlantic the war ended at Yorktown. Great Britain was in no hurry
Ocean west to the Mississippi River with the to please the United States. Britain also hoped a delay
would increase the chances that colonists who had fled the
exception of New Orleans and the Floridas,
colonies due to their loyalty to Britain would get paid for
which Spain controlled . The northern boundary property they lost when they fled. Estimates vary on how
was set at the Great Lakes and along the borders many colonists loyal to Britain left during and after the war,
of Quebec and Nova Scotia, both part of British- but some put the number around 100,000.
controlled Canada .

Building a Nation • Level Z2 7 8

 Money Problems Constitutional Convention
Once the Revolutionary War was over and To solve the many problems of the United
the Treaty of Paris signed, the United States States, fifty-five men arrived in Philadelphia,
experienced severe financial problems . Soldiers Pennsylvania, for a meeting at Independence Hall
headed home, poor and exhausted . The government in May 1787 . The initial goal of
had no money and no power to tax, so many of the meeting was to modify the
the veterans could not be paid for their service . Articles of Confederation to
But an even bigger financial headache faced the make the federal government
new nation: war debts . The nation had borrowed stronger . Instead of merely
more than $76 million from foreign countries, expanding the Articles, however,
individual Americans, and state banks to finance the delegates agreed to draft a
the war . constitution that would establish
an executive to lead the union,
In Massachusetts, financial issues inspired a
grant Congress the power to tax,
rebellion . Farmers who fought for independence
could not pay their debts and lost their farms; and create a way to amend the
some of them were imprisoned . In 1786, Daniel governing document . Independence Hall

Shays, a former Revolutionary War captain, and Twelve of the thirteen states sent delegates;
about a thousand farmers and other workers Rhode Island declined the invitation . Each
marched on Springfield, Massachusetts, and then delegate was an influential leader in his own state
proceeded to Boston . The U .S . Army confronted and was also known as a leader in the new union .
them there, and gunfire was exchanged . Some of All the delegates were wealthy, educated white
the workers were tried and hanged, while others men . The delegates elected George Washington to
were not punished . Shays’ Rebellion inspired preside over the meeting, which became known
similar conflicts in Connecticut, New York, and as the Constitutional Convention . The convention
Pennsylvania, and persuaded many citizens and would last for several weeks .
leaders that a stronger federal government was
needed to address the issue . Debates over revisions to the Articles of
Confederation raised tempers on two issues

Building a Nation • Level Z2 9 10

related to power in the new government . The The delegates developed a compromise on
first issue was representation . Under the Articles, both representation and slavery . For representation,
each state had only one vote regardless of its they created two houses of Congress . In the upper
population . Some delegates thought that was house, called the Senate, each state would be
unfair . More representatives in Congress would equally represented by two senators . In the
equal more power, so two plans were proposed . lower house, called the House of Representatives,
One based representation on population, which each state would be represented based on its
meant more representatives for states with larger population . On the issue of slavery, the delegates
populations . The other plan made representation prohibited Congress from making any changes
equal for all states, regardless of population . regarding the institution of slavery for twenty
years . They also agreed to count three-fifths of the
The second issue was slavery, which was
slave population for representation purposes and
important to the plantation economy in the
as property for taxation . Delegates also debated
Southern states but less important to the more
how much power the president should have . They
industrial economy in the North . Slaves were
developed a system of checks and balances by
people who were forced to work without pay .
which each power given to one branch of the
Southern states not only wanted to ensure they
government would be matched with equal power
could retain their slaves but also that they could
given to the other two branches . Three branches
have slaves counted for representation—even
were proposed in all—a legislative branch with
though slaves could not vote . The delegates for
two houses of Congress, an executive branch with
the Southern states thought that by counting
a president, and a judicial branch with a system
slaves for representation, their states would be
of courts to
on more equal footing
enforce laws .
with the Northern
A procedure for
states, which had
amending the
larger populations .
Constitution was
An editorial cartoon shows also built into George Washington addresses
debates during the the document . the Constitutional Convention.
Constitutional Convention.

Building a Nation • Level Z2 11 12

 On September 17, 1787, thirty-nine delegates of
the convention signed the Constitution and sent
it out to the states for a vote . People everywhere Thinking
debated whether the Constitution established Critically
WHY did
a good plan for government . the delegates
A group called the Federalists compromise on
supported the Constitution so many issues
and worked to get states to create the
to ratify it . They believed Constitution?
that a large republic IN YOUR
MIND, how does
would be better able to compromise make
protect individuals’ rights . things stronger?
The U.S. Constitution
Another group, called the
Antifederalists, were critical of the Constitution
because they thought the states would lose their
influence and power . They worked against the
Abigail Adams was
Constitution becoming the law of the land . an early supporter
of women’s rights
The Antifederalists said the Constitution in America.
needed to list citizens’ unalienable rights, which
could never be taken away by the government . Liberty for All?
Eventually, all thirteen states would vote in favor Slaves were not free, and neither were women. Women
of the Constitution . The agreement between the weren’t able to vote, and pretty much had to do as their
Federalists and the Antifederalists included ten husbands or fathers told them. John Adams’s wife, Abigail,
amendments to the Constitution, which were frequently mentioned this fact to her husband:
called the Bill of Rights . The Bill of Rights “Whilst you are proclaiming peace and goodwill to men
. . . you insist upon retaining an absolute power over wives,”
guaranteed freedom of speech, freedom of
she wrote to John. In another letter, she wrote: “In the new
religion, and other rights . code of laws . . . I desire you remember the ladies . . . .”

Building a Nation • Level Z2 13 14

 Under the new Constitution, Arguments Over Land
George Washington was elected Another problem faced the new country—what
president of the United States to do with the additional land the United States
of America in a unanimous vote was granted by the Treaty of Paris after the
by the Electoral College and took Revolutionary War . State governments greedily
office on April 30, 1789 . Many claimed the new lands . Some areas were claimed
people thought he was a great by several states at one time . The leaders of the
leader . He served two four-year United States had to figure out how to fairly
George Washington
terms as president . President 1789–1797 divide up the land .
During his first term, The Land Ordinance of 1785 spelled out how
Washington appointed Alexander to divide the new property into townships and
Hamilton as secretary of sections . The sections were to be sold to settlers
the treasury . Hamilton’s plan with some set aside for the government and for
to fix the new nation’s many public schools .
money problems included the
establishment of a policy to tax In 1787, Virginia state delegate Thomas
imports and the creation of the Jefferson designed the Northwest Ordinance .
first national bank . Hamilton’s
John Adams It provided rules for how states would be created
President 1797–1801 in the Northwest Territory and
plan seemed to restore faith in
the government and stimulated would ultimately create six new
growth in the economy by states and outlaw slavery in
paying down the national debt . those states . The ordinance
ensured that the United
After Washington finished States would expand
his second term, John Adams
was elected president in 1796 .
Tecumseh led the Shawnees to fight against
Next was Thomas Jefferson, American settlers moving into the Northwest
Thomas Jefferson Territory where Native Americans had been
who took office in 1801 .
President 1801–1809 living for centuries.

Building a Nation • Level Z2 15 16

through the creation of new states rather than The Louisiana Purchase
by creating colonies as Britain had done . With all this prosperity and expansion, leaders
The Land Ordinance and the Northwest of the United States started making plans . In 1800,
Ordinance set the stage for a massive migration France acquired the land from the Mississippi
of settlers westward in the early 1800s . To enable River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the
this expansion, the government built new roads, west, along with the port of New Orleans, which
canals, and railroads, and appeared to be able to meant U .S . westerners could not access the
keep up with the country’s rapid expansion . Debts Mississippi River or the port of New Orleans
were being paid, land disagreements were settled, to transport crops for trade . The United States
and a division of power for the new government approached Napoleon Bonaparte, France’s
was established . The outlook for the new nation emperor, to attempt to buy New Orleans .
had turned from the grimness that followed the Bonaparte had suffered some major setbacks
war to the brightness of the future . in a war in Europe, and he needed troops and
money . In order to fund his war, he surprised
the U .S . representatives by offering to sell not
only New Orleans but also the entire Louisiana
Territory for $15 million . In October 1803, the
United States purchased the Louisiana Territory
for France’s asking price—and doubled the size
of the nation . The purchase added 800,000 square
miles and 200,000 new citizens to the United States .

Louisiana
New Territory United
Spain States of
PACI F IC America
OCE A N
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
Settlers built homes, such as the one above, when they moved westward. LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Building a Nation • Level Z2 17 18

 Exploration and War The United States would not be able to remain
In May 1804, President Thomas Jefferson neutral, however, because British and French ships
sent two army officers—Meriwether Lewis and began seizing and searching U .S . ships in order
William Clark—plus a 45-member group to chart to keep supplies from reaching their enemies .
a water route across the continent, explore the The British also seized the British-born American
Louisiana Territory, and report back . After more sailors on the ships they took, forcing them to
than two years of traveling, the group returned serve as British sailors and making U .S . citizens
with journals, drawings, samples of three who had gained independence from Britain
hundred species of wildlife that were previously subject to Great Britain’s tyranny again .
unknown, plants, and stories of the almost fifty In 1812, President Madison told Britain to cease
tribes of Native Americans they had encountered searching and seizing U .S . ships or there would
on their travels . be war . Not satisfied with the response, Madison
It seemed that declared war with Britain on June 18, 1812 .
the United States The United States did not have the navy to
had a firm hold fight Britain on the seas . An invasion to conquer
on its land in British-controlled Canada failed, proving the
North America . army was not ready to take on the powerful
However, while nation again . For two and a half years, the
Lewis and Clark United States remained at war with Britain . On
explored the new December 24, 1814, the
western territory, Lewis and Clark’s group travels two countries signed the
an old ally— through the Louisiana Territory.
Treaty of Ghent, agreeing
France—fought a raging war with Great Britain to end the war .
for supremacy in Europe . President Jefferson
worked to keep the United States neutral and
out of the war, and when James Madison became The U.S. ship Constitution defeats
president in 1808, he hoped to do the same . the British ship Guerriere on
August 19, 1812.

Building a Nation • Level Z2 19 20

Battle of New Orleans

Timeline of the
American Revolution
1754–63 French and Indian War

1764–65 Sugar Act, Quartering

Thinking Critically
Act, and Stamp Act
HOW long do you think the
process of forming a new nation 1767 Townshend Acts
Even though the takes—a long time or a short time?
IN YOUR MIND, what does this 1770 Boston Massacre
war had officially
tell you about new governments
ended, the United 1774 Coercive (Intolerable) Acts;
being formed today?
States engaged in First Continental Congress meets
one more battle against the British . On January 8, 1775 Revolutionary War starts;
1815, Americans decisively won the Battle of New Second Continental Congress meets
Orleans under General Andrew Jackson, who was
July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence signed
unaware a peace treaty had been signed . Almost
three hundred British soldiers died in what was 1781 Revolutionary War ends;
one of the worst defeats suffered by the British . Articles of Confederation
The U .S . death toll was less than twenty men . approved by all thirteen states

1786 Shays’ Rebellion

The victory at the Battle of New Orleans made
it clear that the United States, not Great Britain, 1787 Constitutional Convention held
truly controlled the western portion of the country .
1791 Constitution ratified by all states;
It also made U .S . citizens feel as if their new
Bill of Rights ratified
country had won the War of 1812, although, in
truth, neither country was victorious . Maybe the 1812 War with Britain begins again
most important outcome was that the late victory 1814 Treaty of Ghent signed to end
made the new United States of America feel truly War of 1812
united as one nation .

Building a Nation • Level Z2 21 22

 Glossary
amend (v.) to make a change that will improve representatives people chosen to speak, vote, or otherwise
something (p . 10) (n.) act on behalf of an individual or group
(p . 7)
authority (n.) the power, or those with the power,
to govern, give orders, or make decisions republic (n.) a nation whose leadership and
(p . 5) representatives are elected by its citizens
(p . 13)
checks and the division of power among branches
balances (n.) of government so that no one branch can revenue (n.) money received from the sale or taxation
dominate the others (p . 12) of investments, goods, or services (p . 6)

compromise (n.) a decision between parties in an argument sovereign (adj.) independent, with the ability to self-
where both sides give up something to govern (p . 5)
reach an agreement (p . 12) tyranny (n.) harsh or cruel acts by a person or a group
constitution (n.) the basic laws of a state or nation that tell in power (p . 20)
how the government is run (p . 5)
debates (n.) discussions between people or groups Index
who have different opinions on an issue
Adams, Abigail, 14 Lewis, Meriwether, 19
(p . 10)
Adams, John, 14, 15 Louisiana Purchase, 18
executive (adj.) of or relating to a branch of government Antifederalists, 13 Madison, James, 19, 20
that leads a nation and carries out the laws Articles of Confederation, Napoleon (Bonaparte), 18
of the land (p . 6) 5-7, 10, 11, 22 New Orleans, Battle of, 21
judicial (adj.) of or relating to the branch of government Bill of Rights, 13, 22 Northwest Ordinance, 16, 17
that makes sure laws agree with the Clark, William, 19 Second Continental
constitution (p . 12) Constitutional Convention, Congress, 5, 22
10-13, 22 Shays’ Rebellion, 9, 22
incurred (v.) earned or brought upon oneself negative
Federalists, 13 slavery, 11, 12, 16
or unwanted results (p . 6)
Hamilton, Alexander, 15 Treaty of Ghent, 20, 22
legislative (adj.) of or relating to the branch of government Independence Hall, 10 Treaty of Paris, 7–9, 16
that makes laws (p . 12) Jackson, Andrew, 21 Washington, George,
prosperity (n.) success, wealth, or good fortune (p . 18) Jefferson, Thomas, 15, 16, 19 7, 10, 12, 15
ratify (v.) to approve through official means (p . 7) Land Ordinance of 1785,
16, 17
rebellion (n.) a fight against authority or power (p . 9)

Building a Nation • Level Z2 23 24