HIS2213 Study Guide Test 2 (PART 2)

Continental Army

• Regular Army - full-time soldiers who joined the army for low pay.

• Irregular Army - made up of state militias, part-time soldiers who only had to fight when war was nearby.

Redcoats

British soldiers who fought against the colonists in the American Revolution were so called because of their bright red uniforms.

John Adams

Boston lawyer John Adams led the opposition to the Stamp Act. In doing so, he unwittingly exposed the contradiction between the colonists’ efforts to protect their own civil liberties and their enslavement of hundreds of thousands of Africans and Indigenous people.

Trenton

First American victory in the Revolutionary War. The battle took place on December 26, 1776, as Washington’s men made a nightmare crossing of the Delaware River and defeated the Hessians. The battle inspired a great deal of confidence in the Continental Army.

Ben Franklin

A delegate from Pennsylvania proposed the "Albany Plan of the Union" as a way to strengthen the colonies.

Battle of Saratoga

Turning point of the American Revolution. It was very important because it convinced the French to give the U.S. military support. It lifted American spirits, ended the British threat in New England by taking control of the Hudson River, and, most importantly, showed the French that the Americans had the potential to beat their enemy, Great Britain.

Valley Forge

In the winter of 1777, the Continental Army encamped at Valley Forge, PA, to await spring. While the British armies were comfortably camping in Boston and PA, the Continental Army was nearly freezing to death. However, in the winter, the continentals turned and became more confident in their skills.

Yorktown

The deciding battle of the war, the American Continental Army trapped the British army against the coastline. The British had always been able to rely on their navy to back them up, but this time the French navy was there to greet them. The British had no choice but to surrender.

Treaty of Paris (1783)

• Great Britain recognizes the United States.

• Sets the boundaries of the new nation.

• The settlement between Great Britain and France that ended the French and Indian War.

Articles of Confederation

• First government of the United States. The AOC was purposely written to be an extremely weak federal government. Americans feared what a strong federal state could do to the liberty of the people.

• The government served as a national legislature, where each state sent representatives.

Northwest Ordinance

a law passed by Congress in 1787 that specified how western lands would be governed

Shay’s Rebellion

Farmers in Massachusetts are rebelling against government authority. These farmers refused to pay taxes. A farmer named Daniel Shays, a former revolutionary officer, led farmers in protest over paying taxes. As the rebellion grew larger, the farmers began to shut down the county courthouse.

Constitutional Convention

A meeting in Philadelphia in 1787 that produced a new constitution.

Virginia Plan of Government

• James Madison drafted the framework for the initial discussions at the Constitutional Convention. His proposals, called the Virginia Plan, started with a radical suggestion: that the delegates scrap their original instructions to revise the Articles of Confederation and instead create a new constitution.

Whiskey Rebellion (1791)

Alexander Hamilton proposed a tax on whiskey to pay for “The National Drink”, and many farmers refused to pay. Eventually, about a thousand farmers around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, were threatening to rebel. Washington circles a large force out to stamp out the rebellion.

Federalists

The party of John Adams and Alexander Hamilton. The party favored higher taxes, strong government, and un urban industrial America. Federalists also tended to favor the British. The strength of the Federalist Party was in New England.

Democratic Republicans

• The party formed to counter the Federalists was known as the Republican Party. The party was led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

• Republicans stood for smaller government, lower taxes, and an America made up of small farmers. Republicans usually favored France over Britain. Republicans’ strength was in the South and the West.

Lewis and Clark

They were instructed to map the region and make detailed observations of land, climate, rivers, and animals. Jefferson also instructed them to go all the way to the Pacific Ocean to strengthen the United States claim to the Oregon Country.

Sacajawea

16-year-old Indian girl who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their journey, along with her husband. Her major duty was to be an interpreter for the group. She delivered a son on the journey, and she helped ease tensions between the expedition and the Indian groups they encountered.

Impressment

British and France naval ships would board American merchant ships and kidnap sailors, forcing them to serve in their navy.

XYZ Affair

To resolve the situation with France, Adams sent 3 delegates to France to negotiate. The French refused to see our delegates. France demanded a $250,000 bribe to even speak to our ambassadors. The American ambassadors returned home without paying the bribe. “Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute.”

Tenskwatawa

Tenskwatawa preached to the people to abandon American culture and return to old ways. He taught the people that if they would stop using American goods and go back to the way things were, the ancestors would fight with them and restore old ways, and they could keep their land.

Tecumseh

Tecumseh prepares the Indians of the Northwest for war. Very skilled warrior and hunter.

Andrew Jackson

The seventh President of the United States (1829-1837), who, as a general in the War of 1812, defeated the British at New Orleans (1815). As president, he opposed the Bank of America, objected to the right of individual states to nullify disagreeable federal laws, and increased the presidential powers.

Red Sticks

Fort Mims Massacre (August 30, 1813). The Red Sticks attacked a United States fort in present-day southern Alabama. The Red Sticks received guns from the British and marched on the fort, occupied by 560 men, women, and children. During the massacre, all but 60 people were killed.

Battle of Horseshoe Bend

The United States sent Andrew Jackson and the Tennessee militia into Alabama to attack the Red Sticks. They caught up with them on the Alabama River on March 27, 1814. Jackson’s men ended by Indian allies from the Choctaws, and they defeated the Red Sticks. To punish them, almost all of the Creek Indian lands were taken from them.

Battle of New Orleans

The next major target of Great Britain was the city of New Orleans. Andrew Jackson was given the task of defending the city with ragtag including militia, Choctaw allies, free African Americans, and local pirates. 7500 well-trained British troops came to Jackson’s defense of the city and were crushed on January 8, 1815, in a major American victory.

Alexander Hamilton

• Abandoned by his family at the age of 11 in the West Indies, showing high intelligence, and some distant relatives paid for him to go to school in New York.

• Brilliant financial mind, but was a bad person to get along with, and he made many political enemies.

Hamilton’s Financial Plan

1. Establish the credit of the United States by making sure that all debts are paid. The federal government bought up all debts accumulated by the states.

2. Creation of the Bank of the United States to bring efficiency to the nation’s monetary system.