Unit 3.3 - 3.4 Vocab

Shays’ Rebellion

Daniel Shays and other leaders were indicted for treason, and several were sentenced to death, but eventually Shays and most of his followers received pardons. Their protest, which became known as Shays’s Rebellion, generated intense national debate.

Virginia Plan

James Madison intended to produce a completely new national constitution. In the preceding year, he had completed two extensive research projects—one on the history of government in the United States, the other on the history of republics around the world. He used this research as the basis for a proposal he brought with him to Philadelphia. It came to be called the Virginia Plan

New Jersey Plan

Each state would still get one vote in Congress, no matter its size

Great Compromise

each state would have two senators, who could vote independently. In addition to establishing both types of representation, this compromise also counted three-fifths of a state’s enslaved population for representation and tax purposes.

Federalists

Leaders James Madison supported the new Constitution (1787) and a strong central government supported by the upper class they wanted a strong federal gov’t was needed for order, stability, and to manage trade/defense

Federalists Papers

Purpose was to persuade Americans to ratify the Constitution.

Anti-Federalists

Leaders such as Thomas Jefferson opposed the Constitution because they feared it gave too much power to the central gov’t had support of the lower class they wanted strong state governments and protections for individual rights

Bill of Rights

The first 10 Amendments to the Constitution.

Hessian

are German mercenaries

(Battle of) Trenton

Washington needed something to lift morale and encourage reenlistment. Therefore, he launched a successful surprise attack on the Hessian camp at Trenton on Christmas Day by ferrying the few thousand men he had left across the Delaware River under the cover of night. The victory won the Continental Army much-needed supplies and a morale boost following the disaster at New York.

(Battle of) Saratoga

This victory proved a major turning point in the war. Benjamin Franklin had been in Paris trying to secure a treaty of alliance with the French. However, the French were reluctant to back what seemed like an unlikely cause. News of the victory at Saratoga convinced the French that the cause might not have been as unlikely as they had thought.

(Battle of) Yorktown

Cornwallis had dug his men in at Yorktown awaiting supplies and reinforcements from New York. However, the Continental and French armies arrived first, quickly followed by a French navy contingent, encircling Cornwallis’s forces and, after laying siege to the city, forcing his surrender. The capture of another army left the British without a new strategy and without public support to continue the war. Peace negotiations took place in France, and the war came to an official end on September 3, 1783

Popular sovereignty

that the power and authority of the government derived from the people

Articles of Confederation

The articles allowed each state one vote in the Continental Congress. But the articles are perhaps most notable for what they did not allow. Congress was given no power to levy or collect taxes, regulate foreign or interstate commerce, or establish a federal judiciary. These shortcomings rendered the postwar Congress weak and largely ineffectual.

Republican Mother(hood)

Republican societies required virtuous citizens, and it became mothers’ responsibility to raise and educate future citizens. This opened opportunity for women regarding education, but they still remained largely on the peripheries of the new American polity.