Period 3

Salutary Neglect

an English policy of relaxing the enforcement of regulations in its colonies in return for the colonies' continued economic loyalty

Albany Plan of Union

plan proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 that aimed to unite the 13 colonies for trade, military, and other purposes; the plan was turned down by the colonies and the Crown

Benjamin Franklin

American intellectual, inventor, and politician He helped to negotiate French support for the American Revolution.

French Creole

The mixture of continental French and African dialectal sounds that is spoken in Haiti

Iroquois Confederacy

An alliance of five northeastern Amerindian peoples (after 1722 six) that made decisions on military and diplomatic issues through a council of representatives. Allied first with the Dutch and later with the English, it dominated W. New England.

Impressment

British practice of taking American sailors and forcing them into military service

French and Indian War

(1754-1763) War fought in the colonies between the English and the French for possession of the Ohio Valley area. The English won.

Seven Years' War (1756-1763)

Conflict fought in Europe and its overseas colonies; in North America, known as the French and Indian War

William Pitt

The Prime Minister of England during the French and Indian War. He increased the British troops and military supplies in the colonies, and this is why England won the war.

The 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

Proclamation of 1763

A proclamation from the British government which forbade British colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains, and which required any settlers already living west of the mountains to move back east.

Proclamation Line of 1763

Stated that no colonists could settle in lands to the west of the Appalachian mountains-- made the colonists very upset

Sugar Act of 1764

An act that raised tax revenue in the colonies for the crown. It also increased the duty on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies.

Currency Act of 1764

This act applied to all of the colonies. It banned the production of paper money in the colonies in an effort to combat the inflation caused by Virginia's decision to get itself out of debt by issuing more paper money.

Stamp Act

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

Paxton Boys and Regulators

Scots-Irish frontiersmen who protested against colonial elites of Pennsylvania and North Carolina

Scots-Irish

A group of restless people who fled their home in Scotland in the 1600s to escape poverty and religious oppression. They first relocated to Ireland and then to America in the 1700s. They left their mark on the backcountry of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. These areas are home to many Presbyterian churches established by the Scots-Irish. Many people in these areas are still very independent like their ancestors.

Sons and Daughters of Liberty

Organizations that led protests, helped American soldiers, instated a boycott, and generally resisted the British.

Townshend Acts (1767)

passed by Parliament, put a tax on glass, lead, paper, and tea. The acts caused protest from the colonists, who found ways around the taxes such as buying smuggled tea. Due to its little profits, the Townshend Acts were repealed in 1770, except for the tax on tea. The tax on tea was kept to keep alive the principle of Parliamentary taxation.

Boston Massacre

The first bloodshed of the American Revolution (1770), as British guards at the Boston Customs House opened fire on a crowd killing five Americans

Crispus Attucks

A free black man who was the first person killed in the Revolution at the Boston Massacre.

Virtual Representation

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

Tea Act

1773 act which eliminated import tariffs on tea entering England and allowed the British East India Company to sell directly to consumers rather than through merchants. Led to the Boston Tea Party.

Boston Tea Party

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

Intolerable Acts

in response to Boston Tea Party, 4 acts passed in 1774, Port of Boston closed, reduced power of assemblies in colonies, permitted royal officers to be tried elsewhere, provided for quartering of troop's in barns and empty houses

Coercive Acts

This series of laws were very harsh laws that intended to make Massachusetts pay for its resistance. It also closed down the Boston Harbor until the Massachusetts colonists paid for the ruined tea. Also forced Bostonians to shelter soilders in their own homes.

Quartering Act of 1765

Act forcing colonists to house and supply British forces in the colonies; created more resentment; seen as assault on liberties.

First Continental Congress

September 1774, delegates from twelve colonies (not Georgia) sent representatives to Philadelphia to discuss a response to the Intolerable Acts

Committees of Correspondence 1772

Organization founded by Samuel Adams consisting of a system of communication between patriot leaders in New England and throughout the colonies

Petition to the King (1774)

Formal protest by colonists to Britain during the First Continental Congress and the desire for King George III to overturn the Intolerable Acts.

Declaration of Rights and Grievances (1765)

Stamp Act Congress petition to the king urging him to redress colonial grievances and restore colonial rights; recognized Parliament's authority to regulate commerce

Stamp Act Congress (1765)

Twenty-seven delegates from 9 colonies met from October 7-24, 1765, and drew up a list of declarations and petitions against the new taxes imposed on the colonies.

Committees of Correspondence

Organization founded by Samuel Adams consisting of a system of communication between patriot leaders in New England and throughout the colonies

Continental Association of 1774

established by the First Continental Congress; a system created by the First Continental Congress in 1774 for implementing a trade boycott with Great Britain.

Lexington and Concord

the first battle of the American Revolution (April 19, 1775)

Midnight Ride

Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Sam Prescott rode to warn minutemen of approaching British soldiers.

Second Continental Congress (1775)

a convention of delegates from the 13 Colonies, managed the colonial war effort, sent The Olive Branch Petition, moved incrementally towards independence, adopted the Declaration of Independence, acted as the de facto national government.

Olive Branch Petition

On July 8, 1775, the colonies made a final offer of peace to Britain, agreeing to be loyal to the British government if it addressed their grievances (repealed the Coercive Acts, ended the taxation without representation policies). It was rejected by Parliament, which in December 1775 passed the American Prohibitory Act forbidding all further trade with the colonies.

Thomas Paine

American Revolutionary leader and pamphleteer (born in England) who supported the American colonist's fight for independence and supported the French Revolution (1737-1809)

Common Sense

A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that claimed the colonies had a right to be an independent nation

Declaration of Independence

the document recording the proclamation of the second Continental Congress (4 July 1776) asserting the independence of the colonies from Great Britain

Natural Rights

the idea that all humans are born with rights, which include the right to life, liberty, and property

John Locke

17th century English philosopher who opposed the Divine Right of Kings and who asserted that people have a natural right to life, liberty, and property.

Social Contract Theory

The belief that people are free and equal by natural rights, and that this in turn requires that all people give their consent to be governed; espoused by John Locke and Rousseau and influential in the writing of the Declaration of Independence.

Articles of Confederation

1st Constitution of the U.S. 1781-1788 (weaknesses-no executive, no judicial, no power to tax, no power to regulate trade)

Continental dollars

the money paid to Americans by the Continental Congress during and after the American Revolution-few people wanted to receive this scrip which was not backed up by gold or any metal

Marquis de Lafayette

French soldier who joined General Washington's staff and became a general in the Continental Army.

John Laurens

Proposed the radical idea to arm the slaves in the fight against Britain

Baron von Steuben

A stern, Prussian drillmaster that taught American soldiers during the Revolutionary War how to successfully fight the British.

American Advantages/Disadvantages in American Revolution

American advantages

-Have reason for fighting

-Had alliance to help

-Fought with the 'rules'

-knew the land

American disadvantages

-Most people made up militia

-lacked training experience

-less men to fight

-did not have a lot of supplies

British Advantages and Disadvantages in the American Revolution

British advantages

-Experienced officers and soldiers

-Royal navy is largest and most experienced at time

-Well supplied, trained, fed, equipped, funded, and disciplined

-Payed others to fight like Hessians

British disadvantages

-Unfamiliar with territory and far from home

-Lacked recruiting and some inexperienced wealthy officers in higher position

-weapons took longer to load

Battle of Trenton

On Christmas day at night, Washington's soldiers began crossing the Delaware River. The next morning, they surprise attacked the British mercenaries which were Hessians.

Battle of Princeton

A week after the Battle at Trenton, Washington left a few men to tend some campfires and fool the enemy again. He quietly marched his army to Princeton, where they suprised and beat a British force. New Jersey turned Patriot. This battle helped the American morale.

Hessians

German soldiers hired by George III to smash Colonial rebellion, proved good in mechanical sense but they were more concerned about money than duty.

Saratoga

A battle that took place in New York where the Continental Army defeated the British. It proved to be the turning point of the war. This battle ultimately had France to openly support the colonies with military forces in addition to the supplies and money already being sent.

French Alliance of 1778

France aided the U.S. in the American Revolution, and the U.S. agreed to aid France if the need ever arose. Although France could have used American aid during the French Revolution, the U.S. didn't do anything to help. The U.S. didn't fulfill their part of the agreement until World War I.

Yorktown

1781; last battle of the revolution; Benedict Arnold, Cornwallis and Washington; colonists won because British were surrounded and they surrendered

Treaty of Paris 1783

This treaty ended the Revolutionary War, recognized the independence of the American colonies, and granted the colonies the territory from the southern border of Canada to the northern border of Florida, and from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River

Slavery and the American Revolution

- A problem of language and rhetoric

- Weakened the Institution of Slavery in the South temporarily, but strengthened it in the long run

- Weakened the Institution of Slavery in the North

- Gradual Emancipation in the North

Dragging Canoe

He led Cherokees in western Carolina and Virginia to attack outlying settlements in 1776, militias forced him to flee west across Tennessee River, remaining gave up more land

Iroquois in the American Revolution

attacked Americans on the frontier and destroyed crucial crops in New York and Pennsylvania

Women in the American Revolution

support roles, maintained structure in the home, and developed important resources in support of the war effort, participated in the political discussions of the period, a few fought in revolutionary battles

"Remember the Ladies" (Abigail Adams)

In a letter written by Abigail Adams to John Adams in 1776, Abigail was asking Adams to make laws that would offer rights for women, not only men, protecting them against abusive and tyrannical men.

Virginia Statue of Religious Liberty

A constitutional guarantee of religious freedom written in 1786, by Thomas Jefferson, which called for a complete separation of church and state

Northwest Ordinance

Enacted in 1787, it is considered one of the most significant achievements of the Articles of Confederation. It established a system for setting up governments in the western territories so they could eventually join the Union on an equal footing with the original 13 states

Northwest Territory

lands northwest of the Appalachians, covered by the Land Ordinance of 1785

Land Ordinance of 1785

A law that divided much of the United States into a system of townships to facilitate the sale of land to settlers.

Fallen Timbers

Battle fought in Ohio where Anthony Wayne defeated over 1,000 Native Americans

Little Turtle and Blue Jacket

Indian warriors who attacked settlers in Ohio in 1790 and 1791

Treaty of Greenville (1795)

Drawn up after the Battle of Fallen Timbers. The 12 local Indian tribes gave the Americans the Ohio Valley territory in exchange for a reservation and $10,000.

Shays' Rebellion

Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787, protesting mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted the need for a strong national government just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went out.

Society of the Cincinnati

Exclusive, hereditary organization of former officers in the Continental Army. Many resented the pretentiousness of the order, viewing it as a vestige of pre-Revolutionary traditions.

Alexander Hamilton

1789-1795; First Secretary of the Treasury. He advocated creation of a national bank, assumption of state debts by the federal government, and a tariff system to pay off the national debt.

Constitutional Convention

Meeting in 1787 of the elected representatives of the thirteen original states to write the Constitution of the United States.

Virginia Plan

"Large state" proposal for the new constitution, calling for proportional representation in both houses of a bicameral Congress. The plan favored larger states and thus prompted smaller states to come back with their own plan for apportioning representation.

New Jersey Plan

The proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for equal representation of each state in Congress regardless of the state's population.

Great Compromise

Compromise made by Constitutional Convention in which states would have equal representation in one house of the legislature and representation based on population in the other house

James Madison

"Father of the Constitution," Federalist leader, and fourth President of the United States.

Federalist Papers

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

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

Federalists

supporters of the Constitution

Antifederalists

Opponents of ratification of the Constitution and of a strong central government, generally.

Federalist #51 (Madison)

addresses means by which appropriate checks and balances can be created in government and also advocates a separation of powers within the national government.

Federalists #10

An essay written by Madison that argues for the creation of a large republic; large republics diffuse the power of political factions

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the Constitution

10th Amendment

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Hamilton's Financial Plan

Pay off all war debts, raise government revenues, create a national bank

Capital Compromise

Alexander Hamilton proposed this plan to the Southern leaders to move the nation's capital to a district between Maryland and Virginia (Washington D.C.)

Jeffersonian Republicans

one of nations first political parties, led by Thomas Jefferson and stemming from the anti-federalists, emerged around 1792, gradually became today's Democratic party. The Jeffersonian republicans were pro-French, liberal, and mostly made up of the middle class. They favored a weak central govt., and strong states' rights.

Jeffersonian Democracy

This is the phrase used to describe the general political principles embraced by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson favored reducing the size and scope of the national government. Once in office, he announced conservative fiscal policies that reduced the public debt also supported simplicity, disliking especially the ceremonial aspects of the Federalist administrations. Jefferson articulated a clear vision of what type of society and citizenry he thought was best suited for protecting American virtue: an agrarian society in which all men were honest, hardworking, and responsible—promoted independence derived from self-sufficiency.

Democratic-Republicans

Led by Thomas Jefferson, believed people should have political power, favored strong STATE governments, emphasized agriculture, strict interpretation of the Constitution, pro-French, opposed National Bank

French Revolution

The revolution that began in 1789, overthrew the absolute monarchy of the Bourbons and the system of aristocratic privileges, and ended with Napoleon's overthrow of the Directory and seizure of power in 1799.

Whiskey Rebellion

In 1794, farmers in Pennsylvania rebelled against Hamilton's excise tax on whiskey, and several federal officers were killed in the riots caused by their attempts to serve arrest warrants on the offenders. In October, 1794, the army, led by Washington, put down the rebellion. The incident showed that the new government under the Constitution could react swiftly and effectively to such a problem, in contrast to the inability of the government under the Articles of Confederation to deal with Shay's Rebellion.

Citizen Genet

French diplomat who in 1793 tried to draw the United States into the war between France and England (1763-1834)

Genet Affair (1793)

Edmund Genet--French foreign minister who came to the United States trying to recruit Americans to fight the British for France.

Washington is going to have to shut him down because he was stirring up conflict in the United States.

Jay's Treaty (1794)

It was signed in the hopes of settling the growing conflicts between the U.S. and Britain. It dealt with the Northwest posts and trade on the Mississippi River. It was unpopular with most Americans because it did not punish Britain for the attacks on neutral American ships. It was particularly unpopular with France, because the U.S. also accepted the British restrictions on the rights of neutrals.

Pinckney's Treaty (1795)

This treaty between the U.S. and Spain which gave the U.S. the right to transport goods on the Mississippi River and to store goods in the Spanish port of New Orleans

Washington's Farewell Address

Warned Americans not to get involved in European affairs, not to make permanent alliances, not to form political parties and to avoid sectionalism.

Quasi War (1798-1800)

undeclared war fought mostly at sea between the French Republic and the United States, caused by the signing of Jay's Treaty between the UK and the US

XYZ Affair (1797)

Incident that precipitated an undeclared war with France when three French officials demanded that American emissaries pay a bribe before negotiating disputes between the two countries.

Historical Significance:

Led to the Quasi-War with France; convinced John Adams to strengthen the U.S. navy.