All* APUSH Laws/Acts/Important Legal Documents: Their Years, Descriptions, and/or Most Important Impacts

*All laws/acts/important legal documents that were bolded in the in-class packets

Molasses Act of 1733

Heavy tax on molasses, sugar, and rum imported from islands in the West Indies not controlled by the British

Iron Act of 1750

Provided tax-free importation of iron into any English port

Proclamation of 1763

Forbids colonists from expanding west of the Appalachian Mountains

Sugar Act of 1764

Lower the molasses duty; place a tax on sugar, linen, wine, and silk

Writs of Assistance (1688)

General search warrants that authorized customs officers to search private warehouses and homes for contraband

Currency Act of 1764

Colonists may no longer print their own currency

Stamp Act of 1765

First direct tax issued by Parliament onto the colonies; All diplomas, newspapers, playing cards, writs, licenses, and deeds are taxed; Violators are tried in Admiralty Courts

Admiralty Courts

No jury; Guilty until proven innocent; Judges paid more for guilty verdicts

Direct Tax

A property tax, determined by a property’s financial worth

Declaratory Act (March 1766)

Repealed Stamp Act

Quartering Act of 1765

Compelled colonists to provide room and board for English troops

Townshend Acts (1767)

Place duties on paper, glass, paint, and tea from the East India Company; customs officials forced to reside in colonies; judges and governors paid by taxes

Name the Intolerable Acts (1774)

Boston Port Act, Massachusetts Government Act, Administration of Justice Act, Quartering Acts, and the Quebec Act

Boston Port Act

Closed and blockaded the harbor/port of Boston

Massachusetts Government Act

The king can appoint members of the state council, and the governor appointed by the king could appoint judges and sheriffs

Administration of Justice Act

Massachusetts governor can transfer a court cases (involving magistrates, people suppressing riots, and customs officials) from his jurisdiction in Massachusetts to another colony or to Britain

Quartering Acts of 1774

Allow British offers to demand board and lodging in uninhabited buildings

Quebec Act

The boundaries of Quebec were expanded to include the land north of the Ohio and Illinois Rivers, allowed French Catholics to have the freedom to be Catholic, and recognized French civil law

Olive Branch Petition (1775)

2nd Continental Congress ask Washington to stop the war and asks Britain to repeal the Intolerable Acts

The Peace of Paris (1783)

Ends American Revolution

The Treaty of Paris (1763)

Ends French+Indian War; eliminates France as a major power in North America

Articles of Confederation (1781-1787)

Loose federal confederation; each state sends 2-7 representatives and each state has one vote; 9/13 states must consent to pass new laws; no executive (no President, VP, or Cabinet); states are mostly sovereign; no power to tax; no power to regulate interstate commerce; no power to enforce its own decrees; no federal army; the FATAL FLAW—any amendment to the Articles had to be unanimously approved

Law of Ordinance of 1785

Western territory divided into 10 sections; each section divided into 36 parts; part #16 set aside for public schools

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Each district was granted a government after 5,000 males live there; district granted statehood at 60,000 people; slavery PERMANENTLY ILLEGAL in these territories

The Virginia Plan (Constitutional Convention)

Lower house elected by popular vote; upper house elected by lower house; national legislature appoints national judiciaries and executives

The New Jersey Plan (Constitutional Convention)

Each state has one vote (same idea as in the Articles)

The Great (Connecticut) Compromise (Constitutional Convention)

House of Representatives appointed by popular vote; 3/5 of slave population is considered in counting total state population; Senate consists of two representatives from each state

Other concessions won in the Constitution

President is commander-in-chief of army and navy; property requirements for voting and the holding of federal offices are defeated; slavery could not be regulated against for at least twenty years after ratification

Separation of Powers (Constitution)

States must enforce any federal law; judiciary has the power to void any law that is deemed unconstitutional; Electoral College elects president

Bill of Rights (1791)

First Ten Amendments to the Constitution

1st Amendment

Freedom of religion and political views2

2nd Amendment

Right to bear arms

3rd Amendment

Protection against forced quartering

4th Amendment

No unreasonable search and seizure

5th Amendment

Due process (established legal procedures) guaranteed

6th-8th Amendment

Protection in criminal trials

9th Amendment

Rights are not limited to the rights explicitly listed

10th Amendment

If a power is not specifically listed in the Constitution to be a federal power, it is assumed to be a power held by the state (Reserved Powers)

Judiciary Act of 1789

Supreme Court has one Chief Justice and 5 associate justices; 13 federal district courts; 3 federal circuit courts; any case dealing with a state/federal conflict could be examined by the Supreme Court if it reaches the highest level in its state of origin

Hamilton’s Fiscal Plan (1790)

Creation of bonds to pay off foreign and domestic debts; assumption of outstanding state war debt; create Bank of the United States that could establish branches across the country; excise tax and Tariff of 1789 instated to raise revenue

Excise tax

Tax on specific goods in order to raise a revenue to fund a specific public service

Strict Construction

Constitution must be interpreted literally, with the same meaning as was originally intended

Proclamation of Neutrality (1793)

France declared war on Britain; rather than taking a side, Washington calls Americans to be impartial in mind and action

The Jay Treaty (1794)

Britain evacuates forts in Canada; American ship given right to trade with the British in the West Indies; American pre-war debts to Britain were paid; British compensate America for illegal maritime seizures; the Maine/Canada border was “firmed up”

Convention of 1800

The French stop seizing US ships; compensate US for shipping losses

Naturalization Act of 1798

Immigrants must reside in US for at least 14 years before acquiring citizenship

Alien Act of 1798

President has the power to expel suspected foreigners; expires in 1801

Sedition Act of 1798

Speech made against the president or Congress “with intent to defame” was punishable by fines or imprisonment

12th Amendment

Different elections for president and vice president

Judiciary Act of 1801

Created new federal district and circuit courts

Judicial Review

The practice of the Supreme Court determining the Constitutionality of any law passed by Congress

Louisiana Purchase

US purchased Louisiana for $15 million

Embargo Act of 1807

No US ship could sail to foreign ports; destroyed Jefferson's popularity and the American shipping industry; led to the creation of American industry

Non-Intercourse Act (1809)

Replaced the Embargo Act

Macon's Bill #2

Trade with Britain and France resumed; when one country recognizes American neutrality, US would cease to trade with the other country

Hartford Convention (1814)

Federalists wanted to change Constitution to protect the interests of New England states; Federalists are labeled unpatriotic and lose power

Treaty of Ghent (1814)

Ends the War of 1812

Tariff of 1816

Protective tariff for manufacturers; a 20% or higher import tax

2nd Bank of the United States

Same as the first Bank, just a different charter

Missouri Compromise (1820)

No slave state could be admitted north of the Mason-Dixon Line and the Ohio River; Missouri enters as a slave state, while Maine enters as a free state; no slaves can exist north of Missouri’s southern border (36° 30’)

Tallmadge Amendment (1818)

No new slaves could enter Missouri; children of slaves in Missouri would be free

Monroe Doctrine (1823)

The American continents were not to be considered for colonization by Europeans; any attempt to colonize the Americas is viewed as a threat to US security; the US will not involve itself in any existing European colony or in wars between European powers

Treaty of Velasco (1836)

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (Mexican) declares that Texas is independent from Mexico

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)

US receives Texas with the border being the Rio Grande; US receives New Mexico and Upper California; Mexico is given $15 million as a “payment” for the newly acquired territories

The Wilmot Proviso (1846)

Proposal that no newly acquired territory from Mexico should have slavery; failed to pass the Senate

Fugitive Slave Act of 1793

Escaped slaves must be returned to their owners; free states did not return fugitive slaves to their owners

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

Domestic slave trade in D.C. is abolished

Millard Fillmore

Millard Fillmore (nothing to note, his name was just randomly in all caps in the notes)

Japan (important, though not a law)

Commodore Matthew Perry “convinces” Japan to open its doors to foreign influence, in 1854

Ostend Manifesto (1854)

Offer $120 million to Spain to purchase Cuba; never sent to Spain because news outlets discovered the proposal, and there was a massive public outcry

Gadsden Purchase (1853)

Small plot of land bought from Mexico to facilitate a potential Southern Transcontinental Railroad

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Nebraska territory split into Kansas (slave state) and Nebraska (free state)

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) (important, but not a law)

Decision: Blacks are not citizens because the framers of the Constitution did not consider blacks when outlining the rights of citizens; a slave is a slave, regardless of their place of residence; slaves could not be “emancipated” because slaves are property and the government cannot deny someone the right to their property without due process

Southern Secession (1860)

Constitution was very similar to the Union’s Constitution, except: States’ rights were stressed; and it was pro-slavery, repelling any potential foreign aid

Morrill Tariff Act (1861)

Short-lived income tax made to support the Union in the Civil War

National Banking Act (1863)

Stabilized Union currency and increased federal bonds sales to support the Union in the Civil War

Writ of Habeas Corpus (Lincoln suspended it during the Civil War)

Government needs a reason to arrest you; government needs to tell you what you are being charged for

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

Legally, slavery is illegal in states in the Confederacy

Confiscation Acts (1861 and 1862)

Slaves are considered “contraband of war” and are not returned to their owners when taken by Union soldiers

Black Codes (passed first by Mississippi in 1865)

Forbids freedmen from marrying white people; former slaves are forced into labor contracts that keep them employed by their former masters; breaking the labor contract results in fines that are to be paid off by labor — former slaves could not afford those fines, so they are forced to pay the fines by continuing to work (debt peonage); Blacks cannot vote; Blacks must share some of their crops with the owner of the land they work on (sharecropping)

13th Amendment (1865)

No slavery

Civil Rights Act (1866)

Recognize Black citizenship

14th Amendment (1868)

All freedmen had the rights of all US citizens except the right to vote; no state could deny Blacks the ballot; no former Confederate could hold office; debts incurred by the Confederacy were null and void

Reconstruction Act (1867)

The South (except Tennessee) divided into 5 military districts, each ruled by a Union general; Confederate states MUST ratify 14th Amendment before being allowed to reenter the Union; establish military courts and martial law

15th Amendment (1870)

Black voting is federally safeguarded

Tenure of Office Act (1867)

A president cannot remove any official who was appointed by senatorial consent with receiving the consent of the Senate

Enforcement Acts of 1870 and 1871

It is a federal offense for state election officials to discriminate against voters based on color; in cities of 20,000+ people, congressional elections were federally supervised

Interstate Commerce Act (1887)

Requires train carriers to publish their fares; prohibit railroad trusts, rebates, and discriminatory fares

Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890)

Any “combination” which unnecessarily hindered trade was illegal; loopholes allowed for the act to provide no power until 1914

Morrill (1862) and Hatch (1887) Acts

Founded public colleges; no other notes

Comstock Law (1873)

Illegalized the selling of any materials that could be used for contraception or abortion

The Homestead Act (1862)

Government offers 160 acres of land in exchange for a fee, 5 years of residence, and a promise that the land will be improved; failed because it was mostly bought by investors and “improvements” were falsified or ridiculous

Dawes Act of 1887

Native Americans are to be Americanized; tribes are dissolved; each head of a family was given 480 acres; more schools were established to separate Native Americans from their traditions (ex: Carlisle Indian School; est. 1879); Indians are citizens within 25 years (1924)

Grandfather Clauses

You are exempted from poll taxes if your ancestor(s) had voted in 1867

Poll tax

Tax levied on each person, rather than a piece of property or a purchase

Treaty of Paris of 1898

End Spanish American War; Spain cedes Guam, Puerto Rico, and Cuba to the US

Foraker Act of 1900

Denies Puerto Ricans complete freedom and US citizenship

Teller Amendment (1898)

Forces US to free Cuba

Platt Amendment (1901)

Cuba forced to ratify it; forbids Cuba from involving itself in treaties or programs that that would endanger its economic or political freedom; US could land troops or establish bases in Cuba (Guantanamo Bay)

The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1904)

“Preventative intervention”: only the US could step in if a country in the Americas was unstable/disorderly; the US would act as an “international police power”