American Revolution and Early Republic Vocabulary

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering major political, military, legal, and historical terms, events, and figures from the lecture notes on early American history.

Abigail Adams

Influential wife and adviser of the second president who advocated greater educational and legal opportunities for women and famously urged revolutionary leaders to "remember the ladies."

Alexander Hamilton

Revolutionary War officer and first secretary of the treasury who promoted a strong national government, federal assumption of state debts, a national financial institution, and encouragement of commerce and manufacturing.

Alien & Sedition Acts

Four laws passed in 1798 that made citizenship requirements stricter, increased federal authority over certain noncitizens, and criminalized some forms of criticism of the federal government.

American Revolution

Political and military struggle through which thirteen British colonies declared independence and established the United States, with major warfare lasting from 1775 to 1783.

Anti-Federalist

Opponent or critic of the proposed Constitution who feared excessive national power and often demanded stronger protections for individual and state rights.

Articles of Confederation

First national framework of government for the United States, creating a weak central government with a one-house Congress but no separate executive or national court system and little power to tax or regulate commerce.

Bank of the United States

National financial institution created in 1791 as part of Hamilton's economic program to hold government funds, provide credit, assist financial transactions, and help manage the nation's money supply.

Battle of Bunker Hill

June 1775 battle near Boston in which British forces captured colonial positions but suffered extremely heavy casualties, demonstrating that colonial forces could fight experienced British troops.

Battle of Saratoga

Major 1777 American victory in New York in which British general John Burgoyne surrendered; the outcome helped convince France to form a formal alliance with the United States.

Battle of Yorktown

1781 campaign in Virginia in which American and French forces, aided by the French navy, trapped British general Cornwallis and forced his surrender, effectively ending major fighting.

Bill of Rights

First ten amendments to the Constitution, ratified in 1791, protecting freedoms such as religion, speech, press, assembly, due process, and other individual rights.

Boston Massacre

March 1770 confrontation in which British soldiers fired into a hostile Boston crowd, killing five colonists and providing Patriot leaders with powerful anti-British propaganda.

Boston Tea Party

December 1773 protest in which colonists boarded British ships in Boston Harbor and dumped shipments of tea into the water to oppose Britain's tea policies.

Coercive Acts

Punitive laws passed by Parliament in 1774 after the destruction of tea in Boston, including closing Boston Harbor and restricting Massachusetts self-government.

Continental Army

Unified military force created by the colonial congress in 1775 to fight British forces, with the Virginia commander-in-chief placed in charge.

Daniel Boone

Frontiersman and explorer who helped establish settlements in Kentucky and opened the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap, encouraging westward migration.

Declaration of Independence

Document adopted on July 4, 1776, announcing separation from Britain, stating principles of natural rights and government by consent, and listing grievances against the British king.

Declaratory Act

1766 law passed after the repeal of the stamp tax declaring that Parliament had the authority to make laws governing the colonies "in all cases whatsoever."

Deism

Enlightenment-influenced religious belief that a creator established the universe and its natural laws but that human reason, rather than church doctrine or miracles, should guide understanding of religion.

Democratic-Republicans

Political organization associated with Jefferson and Madison that favored a more limited national government, emphasized an agricultural republic, and generally sympathized with revolutionary France.

Federalist

Supporter of the Constitution and a stronger national government; the name later became associated with the political organization led by figures such as Hamilton and the second president.

French & Indian War/Seven Years’ War

1754–1763 conflict between Britain and France for control of North America that ended with a major British victory but left Britain deeply in debt.

General Edward Braddock

British military commander whose large force was defeated by French and Native American troops near Fort Duquesne in 1755; he was mortally wounded in the battle.

George Grenville

British prime minister who sought to reduce Britain's debt and make the colonies contribute more toward imperial defense through stricter trade enforcement and new taxes.

George Washington

Virginia planter and former military officer selected in 1775 to command American forces during the Revolutionary War; he later became the first president of the United States.

Intolerable Acts

Colonial name for harsh British measures passed in 1774, especially the punishment of Massachusetts after the destruction of tea in Boston.

James Madison

Virginia political leader who played a major role in designing the Constitution, helped write essays supporting its ratification, and later introduced amendments protecting individual liberties.

Jay Treaty (1794)

Agreement with Britain that secured British evacuation of western military posts and established procedures for resolving several disputes, although it failed to end British interference with American shipping.

John Adams

Revolutionary leader, diplomat, and former vice president who became the second president in 1797 and faced major disputes with France and intense conflict between the nation's emerging political parties.

John Locke’s Social Contract

Political theory that government receives its legitimate authority from the consent of the governed and exists to protect natural rights; citizens may resist a government that violates those rights.

Kentucky & Virginia Resolutions

Statements written secretly by Jefferson and Madison in response to the 1798 laws that argued the federal government had exceeded its constitutional powers and advanced the idea that states had a role in challenging unconstitutional federal actions.

King William’s War

1689–1697 conflict in North America between England and France, along with their Native American allies, as part of a larger European war.

Lexington & Concord

April 19, 1775 battles in Massachusetts between British troops and colonial militia that marked the beginning of armed conflict between Britain and its American colonies.

Molasses Act

1733 British law placing a heavy duty on molasses imported from non-British Caribbean colonies in order to protect British sugar producers; colonists frequently avoided it through smuggling.

New Jersey Plan

Proposal at the Constitutional Convention that preserved equal representation for each state in a one-house legislature while giving the national government additional powers over taxation and commerce.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Law establishing a system of government and a process for creating new states from territory north of the Ohio River while banning slavery in that territory and protecting certain civil liberties.

Olive Branch Petition

1775 appeal sent to King George III expressing continued loyalty and asking him to help restore peace between Britain and the colonies; the effort at reconciliation failed.

Patrick Henry

Virginia lawyer and political leader who strongly opposed British taxation and promoted colonial resistance through speeches and resolutions.

Pontiac’s Rebellion

1763 Native American uprising led by an Ottawa leader and involving several Native nations that attacked British forts and settlements in the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley regions.

Proclamation of 1763

British order restricting colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains in an attempt to reduce conflict with Native Americans and control western expansion.

Proclamation of Neutrality (1793)

Washington administration announcement declaring that the United States would remain impartial in the European war between revolutionary France and its enemies, including Britain.

Quartering Act

1765 British law requiring colonial governments to provide lodging and supplies for British troops stationed in America.

Quebec Act

1774 British law that expanded the Canadian province into the Ohio Valley and protected Catholic worship and French civil law, alarming many American colonists.

Republican Motherhood

Idea that women played an important role in the new republic by raising educated, independent, and virtuous citizens who would preserve representative government.

Samuel Adams

Massachusetts political leader who organized resistance to British policies, helped establish committees of correspondence, and became an influential supporter of colonial independence.

Second Continental Congress

Colonial assembly beginning in May 1775 that directed the Revolutionary war effort, created a unified army, selected its commander, and eventually moved toward independence.

Shay’s Rebellion

1786–1787 uprising led by Daniel Shays and other Massachusetts farmers protesting taxes, debt, and farm foreclosures; the crisis strengthened calls for a more effective national government.

Sons & Daughters of Liberty

Colonial protest groups that resisted British taxation through demonstrations, boycotts, political organizing, production of homespun goods, and other forms of resistance.

Stamp Act

1765 British law placing a direct tax on newspapers, legal papers, licenses, playing cards, and many other printed materials in the colonies.

Stamp Act Congress

1765 meeting of delegates from nine colonies that protested parliamentary taxation and declared that colonists could not be taxed without their consent.

Sugar Act

1764 British law that lowered the existing duty on molasses but strengthened enforcement and imposed duties on additional imported goods to raise revenue from the colonies.

The Albany Congress

1754 meeting of representatives from several colonies in Albany, New York, to discuss defense against France and relations with the Iroquois Confederacy.

The Albany Plan of Union

Benjamin Franklin's 1754 proposal to create an intercolonial government for common defense and other shared concerns; colonial governments rejected it.

The Continental Congress

1774 gathering of delegates from twelve colonies in Philadelphia that coordinated resistance to British policies, supported a boycott of British goods, and petitioned the king.

The Federalist Papers

Collection of eighty-five essays written mainly by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, with John Jay, under the name "Publius" to explain and defend the proposed Constitution.

The Great Compromise

Agreement creating a two-house Congress with representation based on population in the House of Representatives and equal representation for every state in the Senate.

The Pinckney Treaty (1795)

Agreement with Spain establishing the southern boundary of the United States at the thirty-first parallel and giving Americans navigation rights on the Mississippi River and access to New Orleans for trade.

Thomas Jefferson

Virginia planter, political leader, and Enlightenment thinker who drafted the Declaration of Independence and later became an important leader of the Democratic-Republican movement.

Thomas Paine’s Common Sense

Highly influential 1776 pamphlet arguing that monarchy was unreasonable and that the American colonies should become fully independent from Britain.

Three-Fifths Compromise

Constitutional agreement that counted three-fifths of the enslaved population when determining a state's representation in the House of Representatives and its share of direct federal taxes.

Townshend Acts

1767 British measures placing import duties on items such as glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea while strengthening customs enforcement in the colonies.

Treaty of Paris - 1763

Agreement ending the Seven Years' War that removed France as a major territorial power in mainland North America and left Britain dominant east of the Mississippi River.

Treaty of Paris - 1783

Peace agreement in which Britain formally recognized American independence and accepted United States territory extending west to the Mississippi River.

Virginia Plan

Proposal at the Constitutional Convention favoring a strong national government with three branches and a two-house legislature in which representation would be based largely on population.

Washington’s Farewell Address

1796 message announcing the first president's retirement and warning Americans about intense political factionalism and long-term entanglement in European rivalries and alliances.

Whigs

Political label used by many colonial opponents of British policies who believed concentrated government power threatened individual liberty.

Whiskey Rebellion

1794 uprising by western Pennsylvania farmers against a federal tax on distilled liquor that was ended when the national government mobilized a large militia force.

XYZ Affair

1797–1798 diplomatic crisis in which French intermediaries demanded payments before negotiations with American representatives could proceed, producing widespread anger in the United States and contributing to an undeclared naval conflict with France.

Minutemen

Specially prepared members of colonial militias who were expected to be ready for military service on very short notice.

Salutary Neglect

Britain's long-standing practice of loosely enforcing trade laws and allowing the American colonies considerable freedom to manage their own political and economic affairs.