Atlantic Unit One Key Terms

Enlightenment

Began late 1600s to early 1800s

Common areas:

"Age of reason" -> applying reason = improvement

Everything in question -> searching for justifications for everything

Questioning divine right/religious zeal

In the name of creating a better society

Questions ->

Is inequality a law of nature?

How did inequality begin?

How to make an equal society?

Age of reason

Applying reason = improvement

Shared ideas between intellectuals(enlightenment)

Rejecting absolute power, religious zealotry, and anything that threatened the liberty of the people

Reason vs. superstition

Reasonable logic is prioritized over superstition

Thomas Hobbes

Argues state of nature bad; believes that nature of gov is to tell ppl what they can/cant have

John Locke

State of nature good; ppl have rights to life liberty and property

Gov needs to keep state of nature -> otherwise reject it

Gov needs a social contract to function

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

State of nature good; social contract means giving up some rights

Everything is a community decision

Popular sovereignty

People have all the power; need social contract

encyclopedie

book about enlightenment thought

Natural rights

What rights are people born with in the state of nature

Noble savage

Describes native Americans as savage to use them to determine the state of nature

Absolutism

Where one ruler holds absolute power with no checks

Divine Right

Logic for why kings were in power; a divine power gave them the power to rule

Privilege

Privilege was given based on the class you were born into

Nobility

Did not pay taxes; very fixed privileges that you are born into.

Albany Plan of Union

Proposed by Ben Franklin to create control over the colonies.

Navigation Acts

A mercantilist policy forbidding American trade with countries besides England.

Smuggling

Major business; imports and exports were smuggled to other countries to get around the Navigation Acts.

Balance of Payments Deficit

Exports were worth less than imports; caused shortages of gold and silver coins.

Power of the Purse

Colonists could withhold salaries from British ambassadors to gain political capital.

Salutary Neglect

British avoided conflict with the colonists by treating taxes permissively.

Magna Carta

Precedent for kings accepting limits to power.

Whigs/Tories

Whigs = pro parliament;

Tories = pro monarchy.

Glorious Revolution

Encouraged enlightenment thinkers in 1688; overthrow of King James II.

French and Indian War

Also known as the 7 years war; highlights American need for English military support. fought over land in the Ohio valley

Treaty of Paris

After the 7 years war; France gave up Canada but retained several islands.

Pontiac's Rebellion

Pontiac rebelled against British forces near the Great Lakes.

Proclamation of 1763

Prevented colonists from settling west of Appalachians.

Sugar Act

Decreased tax on sugar but increased enforcement of the tax.

Stamp Act

Required all British issued stamps to be on all legal documents.

Declaratory Act

Gave parliament the power to exert power over the colonists.

Sons of Liberty

Colonists who were annoyed with British taxes; destroyed Andrew Oliver's home.

Admiralty Courts

New courts only for suspected smugglers created with the Sugar Act.

Townshend Duties

A collection of many tax acts such as taxes on glass, lead, tea, and paint.

Boston Massacre

Colonists tried to resist British taxes in 1770; some died.

only referred to as a massacre by the colonists

Tea Act

Colonists removed all taxes in the Townshend duties except for tea. to show that they still held power

Boston Tea Party

In 1773, people tarred and feathered British representatives.

Intolerable Acts

Britain's response to the Tea Party; seized control of Boston and shut down trade.

General Thomas Gage

Leader of executing the Intolerable Acts.

Lexington and Concord

Culmination of tensions between the British and colonists. - nobody knew who fired the first shot

Stop colonial militias from stockpiling weapons

British army given order to capture and destroy supplies

Colonists strike back

Continental congress

Colonial government from 1774-89

The First Continental Congress

In 1774; rejected the Intolerable Acts and began training of their own militia.

First successful attempt at a colonial assembly.

The Second Continental Congress

Centralized effort to raise armies, direct strategy, and write petitions (Olive Branch petition)

George Washington

Leader of the colonial military.

The Olive Branch Petition

Asking for reconciliation and peace

Asking for Britain to take control again in order to stop the chaos

Very supplicant attitude(still liked the king very much)

Lord Dunmore's Proclamation

Guaranteed freedom for slaves who fought against colonists.

Common Sense

Meant to persuade people that independence was necessary.

The Declaration of Independence

Created to unite many ideologies across the 13 colonies.

Mostly written by Thomas Jeffferson

Conceived in creative ambiguity, allowing for some interpretations

Clear things:

Rejection of monarchy

"Equal freedoms" "equal rights"

Thomas Jefferson

Credited as the main writer of the DOI.

Bourbon Reforms

Spanish policies created to promote economic and military development in the 1760-70s.

Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes

French minister who aided the patriot cause.

Articles of Confederation

The first constitution of the United States.

created a weak central government

unicameral legislative branch creating few checks and balances

no stable income for gov(they can't force taxes)

no hard currency but debt was high -> rebellion

Fugitive Slave Clause

Part of the Constitution regarding escaped slaves. Forces slaves and other workers to go back to working if they escaped

Three-fifths Compromise

Agreement on how "all other persons"(slaves) would be counted for representation.

Constitutional Convention

Meeting to address the problems of the weak central government.

rushed a new constitution bc articles of confederation were too weak and bad

Molly Brant

Native American example who tried to hold alliance with the British, forced to flee to Canada after the war

Republican Motherhood

A compromise made in America to deal with the question of what role women should play; signers of the DOI support Jean-Jacques Rousseau's argument on women; revolution against tyranny but what about the tyranny of husbands to wives; women important to transmitting republican values to children.