Early America, Revolution, & Constitution Review

These flashcards cover the key vocabulary and concepts from the early colonial period, the causes and aftermath of the American Revolution, and the creation of the United States Constitution.

New England Colonies

A colonial region comprising New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, characterized by a cold climate and an economy focused on rum exports, shipbuilding, and fishing.

Middle Colonies

The region including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, known for its ethnic and religious diversity and lush farmland for grain and livestock.

Southern Colonies

A region consisting of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, with an economy revolving around large-scale cash crops like tobacco, rice, and indigo.

House of Burgesses

The first elected assembly in the colonies, representing an early form of representative government.

Headright System

An early method for attracting settlers that offered land to individuals who paid for a servant's trip to the colonies.

Indentured Servants

Laborers who agreed to serve for $7$ years in exchange for $50$ acres of land.

Triangular Trade

A trade network involving phosphorus Europe, Africa, and the West Indies, where the colonies exported raw materials like fish and lumber in exchange for manufactured goods.

Magna Carta

A historic document that influenced colonial identity by recognizing the right to be consulted before being taxed.

Rule of Law

The principle argued by colonists that everyone, including the king, must obey the law.

Mercantilism

The British policy, enforced by the Navigation Acts, which heavily regulated colonial trade to ensure the colonies only traded within the British Empire.

Navigation Acts

Laws that regulated trade between Britain and its colonies, forcing trade to remain within the British Empire.

The Enlightenment

An intellectual movement that strongly influenced colonial debates from $1763$ to $1776$, leading leaders to argue that the British government violated these ideals.

Stamp Act

A British tax on paper that prompted resistance from groups such as the Sons and Daughters of Liberty.

Intolerable/Coercive Acts (1774)

British laws that punished Bostonians by declaring martial law, suspending the legislature, closing Boston Harbor, and implementing the Quartering Act.

Quartering Act

A law forced upon colonists that required them to provide housing for British troops.

British Forces Troop Strength

The total number of troops comprising the British Forces at the height of the war, which was $133,000$.

Continental Army Troop Strength

The total number of troops that served in the Continental Army at the height of the war, which was $96,500$.

Declaration of Independence

The document outlining key ideas of limited government, equality for all, and the protection of natural rights.

British Prison Ships fatalities

Colonial soldiers were $3\times$ more likely to die on these vessels than in actual battle.

Treaty of Paris 1783

The treaty that officially ended the Revolutionary War and granted the United States all land east of the Mississippi River.

Republic

A form of government favored by 18th-century Americans in which citizens rule through their elected representatives.

Articles of Confederation

The first system of government for the U.S., written in $1777$ and adopted in $1781$, which vested primary power in the states.

Virginia Plan

A proposal for a bicameral legislature with representation in government based on the population of each state.

New Jersey Plan

A proposal for a unicameral legislature where each state would receive equal representation.

Great Compromise

The agreement establishing a bicameral Congress consisting of a Senate with equal representation and a House of Representatives based on population.

Three-Fifths Compromise

A resolution stating that Southern states would count slaves as $\frac{3}{5}$ of a person for federal taxes and representation.

Slave Trade Agreement

An agreement made during the Constitutional Convention that allowed the slave trade to continue until the year $1808$.

Federalism

A system of government established by the Constitution in which power is shared among federal, state, and local levels.

Separation of Powers

The division of government power into three branches: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial, creating a system of checks and balances.

Federalists

Individuals in favor of the ratification of the Constitution who believed in a strong central government.

Antifederalists

Individuals against the ratification of the Constitution who believed in strong state governments and the necessity of a bill of rights.

Bill of Rights

The first $10$ amendments to the Constitution, written in $1789$, which limit the national government from infringing on individual rights.