Chapter 6 Key Terms APUSH

Antifederalists - 1782

Opponents of ratification of the Constitution. Antifederalists feared that a powerful and distant central government would be out of touch with the needs of citizens. They also complained that it failed to guarantee individual liberties in a bill of rights.

Articles of Confederation - 1781-1788

The written document defining the structure of the government from 1781-1788, under which the Union was a confederation of separate states, with no executive and limited powers, existing mainly to foster a common defense.

Battle of Long Island - 1776

First major engagement of the new Continental army, defending against 32,000 British troops outside of New York City.

Battle of Saratoga - 1777

A multistage battle in New York ending with the surrender of British general John Burgoyne. The victory ensured the diplomatic success of American representatives in Paris, who won a military alliance with France.

Battle of Yorktown - 1781

A battle in which French and American troops and a French fleet trapped the British army under the command of General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. The Franco-American victory broke the resolve of the British government.

Common Sense - 1776

A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that criticized monarchies and convinced many American colonists of the need to break away from Britain

Currency Tax - 1764

A hidden tax on the farmers and artisans who accepted Continental bills in payment for supplies and on the thousands of soldiers who took them as pay. Because of rampant inflation, Continental currency lost much of its value during the war; thus, the implicit tax on those who accepted it as payment.

Federalists - 1782

Supporters of the Constitution of 1787, which created a strong central government; their opponents, the Antifederalists, feared that a strong central government would corrupt the nation's newly won liberty.

Federalists No. 10 - 1787

An essay by James Madison in The Federalist (1787-1788) that challenged the view that republican governments only worked in small polities; it argued that a geographically expansive national government would better protect republican liberty.

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.

Loyalists

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

Mixed Government - 1776

John Adams's theory from Thoughts on Government (1776), which called for three branches of government, each representing one function: executive, legislative, and judicial. This system of dispersed authority was devised to maintain a balance of power and ensure the legitimacy of governmental procedures.

New Jersey Plan - 1787

Alternative to the Virginia Plan drafted by delegates from small states, retaining the confederation's single-house congress with one vote per state. It shared with the Virginia Plan enhanced congressional powers to raise revenue, control commerce, and make binding requisitions on the states.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

A land act that provided for orderly settlement and established a process by which settled territories would become the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. It also banned slavery in the Northwest Territory.

Patriots

American colonists who were determined to fight the British until American independence was won

Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776

A constitution that granted all taxpaying men the right to vote and hold office and created a unicameral (one-house) legislature with complete power; there was no governor to exercise a veto. Other provisions mandated a system of elementary education and protected citizens from imprisonment for debt.

Philipsburg Proclamation - 1779

A 1779 proclamation that declared that any slave who deserted a rebel master would receive protection, freedom, and land from Great Britain.

Shay's Rebellion

A 1786-1787 uprising led by dissident farmers in western Massachusetts, many of them Revolutionary War veterans, protesting the taxation policies of the eastern elites who controlled the state's government.

Virginia Plan - 1787

A plan drafted by James Madison that was presented at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention. It designed a powerful three-branch government, with representation in both houses of the congress tied to population; this plan would have eclipsed the voice of small states in the national government.

General George Washington

Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. Brilliantly led America to victory and freedom in the American Revolution. Became 1st US president

General William Howe

He took command of British troops in North America after the Battle of Bunker Hill. He captured New York and Philadelphia, but botched the plan to isolate the New England colonies in 1777. He resigned in 1778.

General Horatio Gates

American general at Battle of Saratoga. Formed a new Southern army after defeat at Charles Town. Lost to Cornwallis in Camden.

Robert Morris

an American merchant and a signer to the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the United States Constitution. Significance: He played an important role in personally financing the American side in the Revolutionary War from 1781 to 1784. Hence, he came to be known as the 'Financier of the Revolution'.

Judith Sargent Murray

A writer and early feminist thinker prominent in the years following the American Revolution.

James Madison

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

Lord Charles Cornwallis

British general in the Revolutionary war, was defeated at Yorktown on October 19, 1781.

Benedict Arnold

American General who was labeled a traitor when he assisted the British in a failed attempt to take the American fort at West Point.