APUSH Chapter 6: Making War and Republican Government, 1776-1789

Antifederalists

Opponents of ratification of the Constitution. Antifederalists feared that a powerful and distant central gov't. would be out of touch with the needs of citizens. They also complained that it failed to guarantee individual liberties in a bill of rights

Articles of Confederation

The written document defining the structure of the government from 1781-88, under which the Union was a confederation of equal states, with no executive and limited powers, existing mainly to foster a common defense

Baron von Steuben

Organizational genius who turned raw colonial recruits into tough military soldiers

Battle of Long Island

First major engagement of the new Continental army, defending against 32,000 British troops outside of NYC

Battle of Saratoga

A multistage battle in NY ending with the surrender of British general John Burgoyne. The victory ensured the diplomatic success of American representatives in Paris, who won a military alliance with France

Battle of Yorktown

A battle in which French and American troops and a French fleet trapped the British army under the command of General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. The Franco-American victory broke the resolve of the British gov't.

Currency Tax

A hidden tax on the farmers and artisans who accepted Continental bills in payment for supplies and on the thousands of soldiers who took them as pay. Because of rampant inflation, Continental currency lost much of its value during the war; thus, the implicit tax on those who accepted it as payment

Federalist No. 10

An essay by James Madison that challenged the view that republican gov'ts. only worked in small polities; it argued that a geographically expansive national gov't. would better protect republican liberty

Federalists

Supporters of the Constitution of 1787, which created a strong central gov't; their opponents, the Antifederalists feared that a strong central gov't. would corrupt the nation's newly won liberty

General George Washington

Virginian who was Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army and President of the Constitutional Convention. Later became the first President. Founding Father

General Horatio Gates

American general (former British soldier) who led the Americans at Saratoga and forced General Burgoyne to surrender

General William Howe

British general who commanded forces at Bunker Hill and took leisurely the mission to capture General Washington's forces

James Madison

Known as the father of the constitution, this delegate representing Virginia played a major role in creating specific articles of the Constitution at the Constitutional Convention

Judith Sargent Murray

Published an essay in 1784, defending the right of women to education, and arguing that men and women were equal in intellect and potential. Women, therefore, should have the same educational opportunities as men, to earn their own livings and to establish roles for themeselves in society apart from their husbands and families. Her ideas attracted relatively little support

Mixed Government

John Adams's theory which called for three branches of government, each representing one function: executive, legislative, and judicial. This system of dispersed authority was devised to maintain a balance of power and ensure the legitimacy of governmental procedures

New Jersey Plan

Alternative to the Virginia Plan drafted by delegates from small states, retaining the confederation's single-house congress with one vote per state. It shared with the Virginia Plan enhanced congressional powers to raise revenue, control commerce, and make binding requisitions on the states

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

A land act that provided for orderly settlement and established a process by which settled territories would become the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. It also banned slavery in the Northwest Territory

Pennsylvania constitution of 1776

A constitution that granted all taxpaying men the right to vote and hold office and created a unicameral legislature with complete power; there was no governor to exercise a veto. Other provisions mandated a system of elementary education and protected citizens from imprisonment for debt

Philipsburg Proclamation

A 1779 proclamation that declared that any slave who deserted a rebel master would receive protection, freedom, and land from Great Britain

Robert Morris

Superintendent of finance in the final years of the Revolutionary War. Morris became the most influential figure in the government

Shays's Rebellion

A 1786-87 uprising led by dissident farmers in western Massachusetts, many of them Revolutionary War veterans, protesting the taxation policies of the eastern elites who controlled the state's gov't.

Treaty of Paris of 1783

The treaty that ended the Revolutionary War. In the treaty, Great Britain formally recognized American independence and relinquished its claims to lands south of the Great Lakes and east of the Mississippi River

Valley Forge

A military camp in which George Washington's army of 12,000 soldiers and hundreds of camp followers suffered horribly in the winter of 1777-78

Virginia Plan

A plan drafted by James Madison that was presented at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention. It designed a powerful three-branch government, with representation in both houses of the congress tied to a population; this plan would have eclipsed the voice of small states in the national gov't.