American Revolution and Early Republic Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key concepts of the American Revolution and the Early Republic.

Revenue

Income, especially when of an organization and of a substantial nature.

Taxation without representation

Levying taxes on a population without granting them the right to representation in the governing body.

Enlightenment

An intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Individual rights

Rights held by individual people, such as life, liberty, and property.

Benjamin Franklin

He negotiated French support for the colonists, signed the Treaty of Paris (1783), and helped draft the Constitution(1787-1789).

Patriot movement

Colonists of the Thirteen Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution.

Loyalists

American colonists who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War.

Colonial militias

Military force formed by colonists.

Continental Army

The army formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America.

George Washington

Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army and President of the Constitutional Convention. First president and found father.

Republican government

A form of government in which the people hold power and elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf.

Natural rights

Rights not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and are therefore universal, fundamental and inalienable.

Thomas Paine's Common Sense

Established foundational concepts of democracy, individual rights, and republican governance. It was one of the best-selling pamphlets in American history. It significantly influenced Continental Congress's decision to declare independence, swaying public opinion to support it.

Declaration of Independence

The formal statement written by Thomas Jefferson declaring the freedom of the thirteen American colonies from Great Britain.

American Revolution

A colonial revolt that took place between 1765 and 1783 during which American Patriots fought for independence from Great Britain.

Abolition of slavery

The act of making slavery illegal.

Republican Motherhood

An attitude toward women's roles present in the emerging United States before, during, and after the American Revolution.

French, Haitian and Latin America revolutions

Though they were distinct in contexts, shared common root in Enlightenment thought, resistance to colonial rule, and desire for individual freedoms

State constitutions

Governing document of individual states.

Articles of Confederation

Federalism

A system of government in which the same territory is controlled by two levels of government. (National gov and regional or state government)

Separation of powers

A doctrine of constitutional law under which the three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial) are kept separate to prevent abuse of power.

Federalists

Supporters of the proposed Constitution.

Anti-Federalists

Opposed the creation of a stronger U.S. federal government and which later opposed the ratification of the 1787 Constitution.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution.

Precedents

An earlier event or action that is regarded as an example or guide to be considered in subsequent similar circumstances.

Federalist Party

The first political party in the United States.

Democratic-Republican Party

An American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s that championed republicanism, political equality, and expansionism.

Neutral trade rights

The right of a country to trade with nations at war without interference.