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Stamp Act
Parliament's 1765 requirement that revenue stamps be affixed to all colonial printed matter, documents, and playing cards; was repealed the following year.
Virtual representation
The idea that the American colonies although they had no actual representative in Parliament were "virtually" represented by all members of Parliament.
Writs of assistance
One of the colonies' main complaints against Britain; the writs allowed unlimited search warrants without cause to look for evidence of smuggling.
Sugar Act
1764 decision by Parliament to tax refined sugar and many other colonial products.
"No taxation without representation"
The rallying cry of opponents to the 1765 Stamp Act. The slogan decried the colonists' lack of representation in Parliament.
Committee of Correspondence
Group organized by Samuel Adams in retaliation for the Gaspee incident to address American grievances, assert American rights, and form a network of rebellion.
Sons of Liberty
Organization formed by Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and other radicals in response to the Stamp Act.
Regulators
Groups of back country Carolina settlers who protested colonial policies.
Townshend Acts
1767 Parliamentary measures that taxed tea and other commodities, and establishes a Board of Customs commissioners and colonial vibe-admiralty courts.
Boston Massacre
Clash between British soldiers and a Boston mob March 5th, 1770, in which five colonists were killed.
Crispus Attucks
During the Boston Massacre, the individual who was supposedly at the head of the crowd of hecklers; was killed when the British fired.
Boston Tea Party
The incident on December 16th, 1773, in which the Sons of Liberty, dressed as Indians dumped chests of tea into Boston Harbor to protest the Tea Act of 1773.
Intolerable Acts
Four Parliamentary measures in reaction to the Boston Tea Party that forced payment for the tea, disallowed colonial trials of British soldiers, forced their quartering in private homes, and reduced the number of elected officials in Massachusetts.
Continental Congress
First meeting of representatives of the colonies, held in Philadelphia in 1774 to formulate actions against British policies; in the Second Continental Congress, the colonial representatives of conducted the war and adopted the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation.
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The first shots fired in the Revolutionary War on April 19th, 1775, near Boston; approximately 100 minutemen and 250 British soldiers were killed.
Battle of Bunker Hill
First major battle of the Revolutionary War; took place at nearby Breeds Hill, Massachusetts on June 17th, 1775.
Continental Army
Army authorized by the Continental Congress in 1775 to fight the British; commanded by General George Washington.
Lord Dunsmore's Proclamation
A proclamation issued in 1775 by the earl of Dunmore, the British governor of Virginia that offered freedom to any slave who fought for the king.
"Common Sense"
A pamphlet anonymously written by Thomas Paine in January 1776 that attacked the English principals of hereditary rule and monarchical government.
Declaration of Independence
Document adopted on July 4th, 1776, that made the break with Britain official; drafted by a committee of the second Continental Congress, including principal writer, Thomas Jefferson.
Hessians
German soldiers, most from Hesse-Cassel principality (hence, the name) paid to fight for the British Revolutionary War.
Battle of Saratoga
Major defeat of British general John Burgoyne and more than 5000 British troops at Saratoga, New York, on October 17th, 1777.
Benedict Arnold
A traitorous American commander who planned to sell out the American garrison at West Point to the British. His plot was discovered before it could be executed, and he joined the British Army.
Battle of Yorktown
Last Battle of the Revolutionary War; General Lord Charles Cornwallis, along with over 7000 British troops surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, on October 17th, 1781.
Treaty of Paris
Signed on September 3rd, 1783, the treaty that ended the Revolutionary War recognized American independence from Britain, established the border between Canada and the United States, fixed the western border at the Mississippi River, and ceded Florida to Spain.
republic
Representative political system in which citizens govern themselves by electing representatives or legislators to make key decisions on the citizens' behalf.
suffrage
The right to vote.
Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom
A Virginia law, drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1777 and enacted in 1786, that guarantees freedom of, and freedom from, religion.
inflation
An economic condition in which prices rise continuously.
Free trade
The belief that economic development arises from the exchange of goods between different countries without governmental interference.
The Wealth of Nations
In 1776 work by economist Adam Smith that argued that the "invisible hand" of the free market directed economic life more effectively and fairly than governmental intervention.
loyalists
Colonists who remained loyal to Great Britain during the War of Independence.
Joseph Brant
The Mohawk leader who led the Iroquis against the Americans in the Revolutionary War.
abolition
Social movement of pre-Civil War era that advocated the immediate emancipation of the slaves and their incorporation into American society as equals.
Freedom petitions
Arguments for liberty presented to New England's courts and legislators in the early 1770s by enslaved African-Americans.
Free blacks
African-American persons not held in slavery; immediately after the Civil War, there were nearly half a million in the united states, split almost evenly between North and South.
Republican Motherhood
The ideology that emerged as a result of American independence where women played an indispensable role by training future citizens.
Articles of Confederation
First frame of government for the US; in effect from 1781 to 1788 and provided for a weak central authority and was soon replaced by the constitution.
Ordinance of 1784
A law drafted by Thomas Jefferson that regulated land ownership and defined the terms by which western land would be marketed and settled. Established stages of self-government in the west. First Congress would govern a territory and then territory would be admitted to the Union as a full state.
Ordinance of 1785
A law that regulated land sales in the Old Northwest. The land surveyed was divided into 640-acre plots and sold at 1$ per acre.
Northwest Ordinance
Law created the Northwest territory and established conditions for self government and statehood, included a Bill of Rights and permanently prohibited slavery.
Shay's Rebellion
Attempt by Massachusetts and farmer Daniel Shays along with 1200 compatriots seeking debt relief through issuance of paper currency and lower taxes to prevent courts from seizing property and in-debt farmers.
Constitutional Convention
Meeting in Philadelphia of representatives from 12 colonies (-Rhode Island) to revise existing Articles of Confederation; convention soon resolved to produce a new constitution.
Virginia Plan
Virginia's delegation to the Constitutional Conventions plan for a strong central government and a two-house legislature adopted by a population.
New Jersey Plan
New Jersey's delegation to the Constitutional Convention's plan for one legislative body with equal representation for each state.
federalism
System of government in which power is divided between the central government and the states.
Division of powers
Division of political power between the state and federal governments under the US Constitution. (also known as federalism)
Checks and balances
Systemic balance to prevent any one branch of the national government from dominating the other two.
Separation of powers
Power is divided between executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the national government so not one branch can dominate the other two and endanger citizens' liberties.
3/5 compromise
Provisions signed to the Constitution in 1787 hat 3/5 of the slave population would be counted in determining each states' representation in the House of Representatives and its electoral votes for president.
The Federalist
Collection of 85 essays that appeared in the New York press in 1787-1788 in support of the Constitution written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay written under the pseudonym "Publius."
Anti-federalists
Opponents of the Constitution who saw it as a limitation of states; rights; their demands led to the addition of a Bill of Rights to the document.
Bill of Rights
First ten amendments to the US Constitution adopted in 1791 to guarantee individual rights against infringement by the federal government.
Gradual emancipation
Series of acts passed in state legislatures throughout the North in the years following the Revolution that freed slaves after they reached a certain age, following lengthy "apprenticeships."
Open immigration
African immigration laws under which nearly all white people could immigrate to the US and become naturalized citizens.
Notes on the State of Virginia
Thomas Jefferson claimed black people were incapable of becoming citizens and living in harmony alongside white people due to the legacy of slavery and what Jefferson believe were "racial distinctions that nature has made" between races.
Bank of the United States
Proposed by Alexander Hamilton, the Bank of the United States was established in 1791 to serve as a repository for federal funds and as the government's fiscal agent.
impressment
The British navy's practice of using press gangs to kidnap men in British colonial ports who were forced to serve in the British navy.
Jay's Treaty
Treaty with Britain negotiated in 1794 by Chief justice John Jay; Britain agreed to vacate forts in the Northwest territories, and festering disagreements would be settled by commission.
Federalist and Republican
Two increasingly coherent political parties that appeared in Congress by the mid 1790s. The federalists favored a strong government. The Republicans supported a strict interpretation of the Constitution, which they believed would safeguard individual freedoms and states rights from the threats posed by a strong central government.
Whiskey Rebellion
Violent protest by Western Pennsylvania farmers against the federal excise tax on whiskey, 1794.
Democratic-Republican Societies
Organizations created in the mid-1790s by opponents of the policies of the Washington administration and supporters of the French Revolution.
Judith Sargent Murray
She was an early advocate of women's equality, access to education, and the right to control their earnings. Her essay, “On the Equality of the Sexes,” was published a year before Mary Wolstonecraft's renowned 1792 Vindication of the Rights of Women.
XYZ Affair
Affair in which French foreign minister Talleyrand's 3 anonymous agents demanded payments to stop French plundering of American ships in 1797; refusal to pay the bride was followed by two years of undeclared sea war with France. (1798-1800)
Alien and Sedition Acts
Four measures passed in 1798 during the undeclared war with France that limited the freedoms of speech and press and restricted the liberty of non-citizens.
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
Legislation passed in 1698 and 1799 by the Virginia and the Kentucky legislators; written by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts, the resolutions advanced that state-compact theory of the Constitution. Virginia's resolution called on the federal courts to protect free speech. Jefferson's draft for Kentucky stated that a state could nullify federal law but this was deleted.
Revolution of 1800
First time that an American political party surrendered power to the opposition party; Jefferson, a Republican, had defeated incumbent Adams, a Federalist, for President.
Haitian Revolution
A slave uprising that led to the establishment of Haiti as an independent country in 1804.
Gabriel's Rebellion
An 1800 uprising planned by Virginia slaves to gain their freedom. The plot was led by a blacksmith named Gabriel but was discovered and quashed.
Marbury v. Madison
First US Supreme Court decision to declare a federal law, the Judiciary Act of 1801, unconstitutional.
Louisiana Purchase
President Thomas Jefferson's 1803 purchase from France of the important part of New Orleans and 828,000 sq miles west of the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mts; it more than doubled the territory of the United States at a cost of only $15 million.
Lewis and Clark Expedition
Led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, a mission to the Pacific coast commissioned for the purposes of scientific and geographical exploration.
Barbary Wars
The first wars fought by the United States, and the nation's first encounter with the Islamic world. The wars were fought from 1801-1805 against plundering pirates off the Mediterranean coast of Africa after President Thomas Jefferson's refusal to pay them tribute to protect American ships.
Embargo Act
Attempt in 1807 to exert economic pressure by prohibiting all exports from the Unite States, instead of waging War in reaction to continued British impressment of American sailors; smugglers easily circumvented the embargo, and it was repealed two years later.
Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa
Tecumseh was a leader of the Shawnee tripe who tried to write all Indians into a confederation to resist white encroachment on their lands. His beliefs and leadership made him seem dangerous to the American governments. His brother, Tenskwatawa, who was a religious prophet who called for the separation from whites, the revival of Indian culture and resistance of federal politics.
War of 1812
A conflict fought between the United States and Great Britain over British violations of U.S. maritime rights.
Fort McHenry
Fort in Baltimore Harbor unsuccessfully bombarded by the British in September 1814; Francis Scott Key, a witness to the battle, was moved to write the words to the Star Spangled Banner.
Battle of New Orleans
Last battle of the War of 1812, fought on January 8th, 1815, weeks after the peace treaty was signed but prior to the new reaching America; general Andrew Jackson led the victorious American troops.
Hartford Convention
Meeting of New England Federalists on December 15th, 1814, to protest the War of 1812; proposed seven constitutional amendments, but the war ended before congress could respond.
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