Unit 2: American Revolution & The Critical Period

Annapolis Convention

A convention held in September 1786 to consider problems of trade and navigation, attended by five states and important because it issued the call to Congress and the states for what became the Constitutional Convention

Navigation Acts

Laws passed by the British to control colonial trade, some objects could only go to Britain

Writs of Assistance

allowed officers to search for goods that might be smuggled

James Otis

A colonial lawyer who defended for free colonial merchants who were accused of smuggling. Argued against the legality of the Stamp Act.

Committees of Correspondence

Spread spirit of resistance, founded by Sam Adams

First Continental Congress

Delagates from all colonies except georgia met to discuss problems with britain, wrote declaration of rights

Galloway plan

Pitched at first continental congress, creation of an American colonial parliament to act together with the Parliament of Great Britain.

Suffolk Resolves

Passed through First Continental Congress gather weapons, boycott goods, petition to get rid of intolerable acts

Loyalists (tories)

American colonists who remained loyal to Britain and opposed the war for independence

Rights of an Englishman

rights/freedoms that american colonists expected: life, liberty, pursuit of happiness

Patriots (rebels)

American colonists who wanted independence from the British

Natural rights

Life, Liberty, and Property

Impact of the French and Indian War

Seeds of discontent. Moral gap between British solders and colonists, view of who sacrificed for whom, colonists can't expand, British are in debt, need to pay it off, raise taxes

Treaty of Paris (1763)

Ended French and Indian War, France lost Canada, land east of the Mississippi, to British, New Orleans and west of Mississippi to Spain

Mercantilism

colonies exist for the benefit of the mother country

Salutary neglect

An English policy of not strictly enforcing laws in its colonies

Proclamation of 1763

British forbid Americans from expanding west of Appalachian Mountains

External tax

A tax levied on goods coming into an area, such as the tax the British Parliament imposed on sugar entering the American colonies

Sugar Act

law passed by the British Parliament setting taxes on molasses and sugar imported by the colonies

Non-importation

A movement under which the colonies agreed to stop importing goods from Britain in order to protest the Stamp Act.

Riots in the colonies

Lower class got violent, tar and feathering, tax collectors were ran out of town

Boston tea party

A 1773 protest against British taxes in which Boston colonists disguised as Mohawks dumped valuable tea into Boston Harbor to protest tea act

Internal taxes

Taxes which arose out of activities that occurred within the colonies. The Stamp Act was considered an internal tax

Stamp act

1765; law that taxed printed goods, including: playing cards, documents, newspapers, etc.

Stamp act congress

Meeting of representatives of nine of the thirteen colonies held in New York City in 1765, during which representatives drafted a document to send to the king listing how their rights had been violated, declaration of American Rights

Declaratory Act

1766, British can control colonists in all cases whatsoever

Intolerable acts

Response to Boston Tea Party. Boston port act, Massachusetts Gov Act, administration of justice act, quartering act, Quebec act

Virtual Representation

British governmental theory that Parliament spoke for all British subjects, including Americans, even if they did not vote for its members

Townsend duties

New taxes on various goods imported to the colonies from England such as lead, paint, paper, tea.

Second Continental Congress

Had to plan for war, made their own money and borrowed a lot

Common Sense

Written by Thomas Paine, lays out philosophical argument for breaking away from England

Battle of Saratoga

Colonists victory in 1777, colonists targeted British officers, this battle convinced the French to join the colonists

Battle of Yorktown

Last battle of the revolution, British were trapped by George Washington, Nathaniel Green, and France in the sea

Treaty of Paris 1783

Treaty Between England and the Colonies , formally ended the American Revolutionary War

Lexington and Concord

British troops were looking for weapons and Sam Adams an John Hancock. Paul revere warns. Minutemen meet British at Lexington. Had to retreat but slowed the British down. They didn't get to Concord on time. Minutemen hid in trees and hide, killed many British

Articles of confederation

A weak constitution that governed America during the Revolutionary War.

Western land claims

seven of the 13 original states had claims to areas in the West

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Created the Northwest Territory (area north of the Ohio River and west of Pennsylvania), established conditions for self-government and statehood, and permanently prohibited slavery

War debts

America has lots of debts from the war, and doesn't want to tax to pay it back.

Interstate trade

states would tax/tariff each other and didn't even use the same money.

America and Spain after the revolution

Treaty of Paris gave America land to Mississippi River, Spain controlled mouth of river and didn't let Americans trade

America and Great Britain after the revolution

Britain restricted trade with America

New state constitutions

Constitutions adopted by states that gave most of the power to legislatures/almost none to the executive

Annapolis Convention

Meeting to discuss interstate commerce but only five states showed up, preceded by congress meeting

Shay's Rebellion

A series of attacks on courthouses by a small band of farmers led by Revolutionary War Captain Daniel Shays to block foreclosure proceedings.

Philadelphia Convention

1787--12 colonies send delegates to revise the Articles of Confederation; Delegates soon agree the United States needs a new Constitution

Philadelphia convention other name

Convention of demigods

The federalist papers

A collection of 85 articles written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison to defend the Constitution in detail.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the Constitution

Ratification Process of the Constitution

has to be ratified 9 out of 13 states, went into effect June 1788.

States that did not want constitution

Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island

Federalists

Loved strong central government, supported constitution

Authors of the federalist papers

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay

Antifederalists

Opposed strong federal government, did not like constitution

Patrick Henry

Anti-Federalist

Supreme Law of the Land

all laws made by governments within the United States must be in compliance with the Constitution.

Separation of Powers

Constitutional division of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, with the legislative branch making law, the executive applying and enforcing the law, and the judiciary interpreting the law

Federalism

a form of government in which power is divided between the federal government and the states

Republican form of government

System of government in which power is held by the voters and is exercised by elected representatives

Necessary and Proper Clause

constitutional authorization for Congress to make any law required to carry out its powers

Checks and Balances

used to keep the government from getting too powerful in one branch

Three-Fifths Compromise

the agreement by which the number of each state's representatives in Congress would be based on a count of all the free people plus three-fifths of the slaves

James Wilson

Proposed the 3/5 compromise

Great Compromise

agreement providing a dual system of congressional representation, house and senate, for large and small states

Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth

proposed the Great Compromise

Virginia plan

Large state plan, in which states got a number of representatives in Congress based on their population

James Madison and Edmond Randolph

Wrote the Virginia plan

New Jersey Plan

"Small-state plan" proposing equal representation by state, regardless of population=

bicameral legislature

A law making body made of two houses Congress is made of two houses, The House of Representatives and The Senate.

Delegated powers

powers given to the federal government

Reserved powers

Powers given to the states

Concurrent powers

Given to the states and federal government

Foreign affairs France

France wanted their money paid back