UNIT 3

1754-1763

French and Indian War

1775-1783

American Revolution

1776

Declaration of Independence

1787

Ratification of the Constitution

1800

Election of Thomas Jefferson ("Revolution of ____")

French and Indian War

1754-1763. Name for the North American theater of the Seven Years' War. Featured Britain and France, and their colonial and native allies, fighting for control of North America east of the Mississippi. While the British won, they incurred massive debts in the process. This led to trouble down the road for them. See: Treaty of Paris (1763).

George Washington

First President. Served 1789-1797. A land surveyor from Virginia, he led colonial militia as an officer in the French and Indian War. Led the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War at battles such as Valley Forge and Yorktown. Later presided over the Continental Congress. Among many other acts, he established the informal two-term limit for presidents by declining to run for reelection in 1796. See: Farewell Address.

Albany Plan of Union

A proposal by the ______ Congress, under the guidance of Benjamin Franklin, during the French and Indian War. It called for a confederation of colonies to defend against attack by European and native foes. Rejected by the colonial assemblies due to concern over the central consolidation of power, and by the British government because they felt it allowed for too much colonial independence.

Quartering Act

A 1765 act of Parliament that required colonial citizens to provide room and board for British soldiers stationed in America. Wildly unpopular. This practice was later banned by the Third Amendment to the Constitution.

Stamp Act

A pivotal 1765 law. It required that all paper in the colonies, from death and marriage certificates to newspapers, have a stamp affixed signifying that the required tax had been paid.

Boston Massacre

A landmark incident on March 5, 1770 that helped alienate the American people from Parliament and King George III. Angered by the Quartering Act, a crowd of Bostonians harassed the British troops guarding a local customs house. The guards fired upon the crowd, killing five and wounding six protesters. John Adams would defend the guards tried for this incident and secure their acquittal.

Boston Tea Party

In protest of the Tea Act, people dressed as American Indians boarded British merchant ships and dumped their tea into the Harbor. Resulted in closure of the Harbor, the colonial charter of Massachusetts being revoked, and the Quartering Act.

Intolerable Acts

A colonial term for a number of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in response to the Boston Tea Party. See: Quebec Act, Tea Act, Thomas Gage.

Pontiac's Rebellion

An 18-month conflict with the American Indians of the Ohio Valley. Led by Chief _______, leader of the Ottawa people, natives attacked British colonial settlements from the Great Lakes to Virginia. Resulted in the Proclamation of 1763.

Proclamation of 1763

In reaction to Pontiac's Rebellion, King George III barred American colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. The British saw this as a quick and easy way to make peace while securing the fur trade. Colonists, however, were incensed by the crown's interference in their ability to settle land they had won in the French and Indian War. The colonists often ignored it. An important contributing factor to the American Revolution.

Common Sense

A pamphlet that used Enlightenment philosophy to argue that it would be contrary to ______ _____ to allow British injustices to continue. Written and published in January 1776

American Revolution

An anti-colonial revolt (1765-1773) where the Thirteen Colonies threw off the yoke of the British Empire and established the United States of America. Its beginning is traced to the aftermath of the French and Indian War, when Britain sought to resolve the debt that war had created.

Olive Branch Petition

A July 1775 statement by the Continental Congress that reasserted colonial loyalty to King George III and asked him to intervene with Parliament on the colonies' behalf. The king refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Congress to make any such request.

Thomas Jefferson

Founding Father. Authored the Declaration of the Independence. First Secretary of State (1779-1781). Second Vice President (1797-1801). Helped found the Democratic-Republican Party in 1794. Co-authored the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions.

Declaration of Independence

Announced the colonies' official break from England, making the United States a country in its own right. It contained a preamble that heavily reflected Enlightenment philosophy regarding natural rights, as well as 27 grievances and charges of wrongdoing directed at the crown and Parliament. See: Gettysburg Address.

Republican Motherhood

The notion that women should be educated so that they could teach their children, at home, the proper values of being a citizen.

Articles of Confederation

The first constitution of the U.S., drafted alongside the Declaration of Independence but by a separate committee. It strongly favored states' rights and forbid Congress from levying taxes. Ratified in 1781. Replaced by the Constitution following Shays' Rebellion. See: Northwest Ordinance of 1787.

Northwest Ordinance of 1785

A rare triumph under the Articles of Confederation, it established guidelines for attaining statehood: territories with at least 60,000 people could apply for statehood. If accepted by Congress, the new state would have equal status with other states. It banned slavery north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi, thereby guaranteeing future free states in the Midwest.

Shays' Rebellion

An insurrection in Massachusetts (1786-1787) over oppressive taxes and debt collectors. Led by Daniel _____. It helped spur the Constitutional Convention.

James Madison

Founding Father from Virginia. Known as the "Father of the Constitution" for his role in drafting it and the Bill of Rights. Contributed to the Federalist Papers. Co-founded the Democratic-Republican Party.

Alexander Hamilton

Founding Father and co-author of the Federalist Papers. As the first Secretary of the Treasury, he set out to repair the nation's credit and overall financial health. Favored a strong executive, strong military, and political centralization. See: Whiskey Rebellion.

Constitutional Convention

A meeting that took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. Ostensibly called to amend the Articles of Confederation, the majority of the delegates arrived with the intention to simply draft a new constitution, one which is still in use to the modern-day. See: Connecticut Compromise, New Jersey Plan, Virginia Plan.

Virginia Plan

A plan put forth by Edmund Randolph at the Constitutional Convention that favored larger states. It called for representation in both legislative houses to be based solely on population: proportional representation.

New Jersey Plan

A proposal by William Paterson at the Constitutional Convention. It called for equal representation in the legislative branch, regardless of the number of citizens of a state, in one legislative body. This structure would be similar to that under the Articles of Confederation.

The Great Compromise

Also known as the Connecticut ____________. A proposal at the Constitutional Convention that membership in one branch of the legislature be based on state population, and the other branch (the Senate) have equal representation for all states, with each state having one vote. See: Roger Sherman.

House of Representatives

The lower chamber of the United States Congress. Representation is proportional to population. Its size varied over the decades, but was fixed at the current membership of 435 seats by the Reapportionment Act of 1929. See: Connecticut Compromise.

Senate

The upper chamber of the United States Congress. Representation is by state. Each state has two Senators regardless of population. Until 1913, Senators were appointed by state legislatures. Named for the Roman Senate, upon which it is based. See: Connecticut Compromise.

Electoral College

A compromise at the Constitutional Convention regarding how to elect the president. Electors cast votes as representatives of their states, which delegates believed would protect the election process from corruption and the influence of factions (political parties).

Three-Fifths Compromise

Infamous compromise at the Constitutional Convention. It held that an enslaved person in the South was counted as _____-_____ of a person. In addition, the South conceded to the end of the legal importation of slaves in 1808.

Federalists

Supported an orderly, efficient central government that could protect their economic status; these well-organized leaders often wielded significant political control. Members included George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Alexander Hamilton. An early political party.

Anti-Federalists

A post-revolutionary political faction that were wary of centralization and infringements upon individual liberties, especially when it came to taxation. Their criticism spurred the creation of the Bill of Rights, and they would go on to contribute to the formation of the Democratic-Republicans.

Bill of Rights

Umbrella term for the first 10 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. It explicitly lists protections for individual rights and state sovereignty. Created to secure the support of Anti-Federalists in ratifying the U.S. Constitution, which initially had no such guarantees.

Federalist Papers

A collection of letters written in the late 1780s urging ratification of the Constitution. Authors include Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay.

Whiskey Rebellion

An early test of the American government's power under the new Constitution. Angered by the Federalist government's excise tax imposed on distilled liquors such as _______, farmers in western Pennsylvania rebelled over being taxed by a government that seemingly did not represent them. Quickly defeated, it proved the new central government's power to stop rebellions and maintain peace. See: Shays' Rebellion.

Bank of the United States

A national bank in which the federal government held the major financial interest. The national treasury would keep its deposits in the bank, keeping the funds safe and available as loanable funds. The brainchild of Alexander Hamilton. Opposed by Thomas Jefferson on Constitutional grounds.

Democratic-Republicans

Also called Jeffersonian Republicans. Founded by Anti-Federalists and agrarian interests, it was a political party that championed states' rights and the viewpoint of the common man. A later splinter would become the modern Democratic Party.

Proclamation of Neutrality of 1793

A declaration of __________ in the ongoing conflicts between Britain and France resulting from the French Revolution. Supported by Washington and Hamilton. Decried by Jefferson and Madison.

Farewell Address

An open letter penned by George Washington in 1797. It warned the American people to remain neutral with regard to European affairs, to avoid entangling alliances, and to refrain from the formation of political parties. See: French Revolution.

Alien and Sedition Acts

Laws passed by Congress in 1789. The _____ Acts increased the residency requirement for citizenship from 5 to 14 years and gave the president power to detain and/or deport enemy aliens during wartime. The _______ Act criminalized the making of false statements that were critical of the president or of Congress. Both acts were an attempt by the Federalists to silence the Democratic-Republicans. See: Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions.

Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions

Two notable responses to the Alien and Sedition Acts. Declared that states could overrule federal law, as the U.S. Constitution drew its powers only from what the sovereign states delegated to it. An important precedent for later acts of nullification.