APUSH Units 3 & 4: Colonial, Revolutionary, and Early National Era

Triangular Trade

A series of triangular trade routes that carried British manufactured goods to Africa and the Colonies, Colonial products (like tobacco, indigo, sugar, and rice) to Europe, and Slaves from Africa to the New World.

Mercantilism

An economic policy used by European powers, particularly Great Britain, to increase their wealth and power by controlling their colonies' economies.

Navigation Acts

A series of British laws in the 17th and 18th centuries designed to enforce mercantilism by controlling colonial trade for England's benefit.

Indentured servant

Individuals who were required to labor for another for a period of time, typically 5-7 years, in order to repay a debt.

Chattel slavery

A form of slavery in which individuals were treated as personal property that could be bought, sold, and owned indefinitely.

Middle passage

Refers to the brutal sea journey taken by enslaved Africans from Africa to the Americas as part of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Benjamin Franklin

Negotiated French support for the colonists, signed the Treaty of Paris (1783), and helped draft the Constitution (1787-1789).

Great Awakening

A series of religious revivals in the 18th-century American colonies, characterized by emotional preaching (Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield) and a focus on personal faith, challenging established religious authority and fostering a sense of shared American identity, unity, and questioning of traditional power structures, ultimately paving the way for revolutionary ideals.

John Peter Zenger

The defendant in a landmark 1735 trial that helped establish freedom of the press in colonial America.

Enlightenment

An 18th-century European intellectual and cultural movement that emphasized reason, individualism, and skepticism of traditional authority.

Seven Years' War

Fought in the colonies from 1754 to 1763 between the English and the French for possession of the Ohio River Valley area.

George Washington

A central figure known for leading the Continental Army to victory in the American Revolution and serving as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797.

Albany Plan of Union

Benjamin Franklin's proposal for a unified colonial government to manage defense, trade, and Indian relations during the French and Indian War.

Salutary neglect

Britain's unofficial policy of loosely enforcing laws in the American colonies.

Proclamation of 1763

British decree that prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains after the French and Indian War.

Stamp Act (1765)

A British law imposing a direct tax on the American colonies, requiring stamps on all printed materials.

Sons & Daughters of Liberty

Colonial organizations formed in the 1760s to protest British policies and taxation without representation.

Samuel Adams

A prominent American statesman, political philosopher, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

Parliament

The supreme legislative body of Great Britain that enacted policies and laws, such as taxes.

George III

The British monarch during the American Revolution (1760-1820) who is significant for his role in enforcing policies that led to the revolution.

Sugar Act (1764)

A British law that imposed a tax on sugar, molasses, and other goods imported into the American colonies to help pay off the debt from the French and Indian War.

Quartering Act (1765)

A British law requiring American colonists to provide housing, food, and other supplies for British soldiers stationed in the colonies.

Townshend Acts (1767)

A series of British laws passed that imposed duties on goods like glass, paper, lead, paint, and tea imported into the American colonies.

Declaratory Act (1766)

A British parliamentary act that asserted Parliament's full authority to make laws binding the American colonies in 'all cases whatsoever.'

Tea Act (1773)

A British law granting the East India Company a monopoly on tea sales in the American colonies, allowing it to sell tea cheaper (even with existing taxes) by bypassing colonial merchants, which colonists saw as 'taxation without representation' and an attempt to force acceptance of Parliament's right to tax, leading directly to the Boston Tea Party and escalating tensions towards revolution.

Intolerable Acts

A series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party, comprising the Boston Port Act, Massachusetts Government Act, Administration of Justice Act, and a new Quartering Act.

Coercive Acts (1774)

Punitive British laws passed to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party, asserting control by closing Boston Harbor, restricting government, allowing troop quartering, and trying officials elsewhere, which unified the colonies and led to the First Continental Congress.

Quebec Act (1774)

British legislation that expanded the boundaries of Quebec to include territory south to the Ohio River and west to the Mississippi, granted religious freedom to French Catholics, and restored the French civil law system.

First Continental Congress

A gathering of delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies that met in Philadelphia in September 1774 to organize colonial resistance to Britain's 'Intolerable Acts.'

John Adams

The second President of the United States and a key Founding Father, known for his role in the American Revolution and his Federalist party leadership.

John Jay

A Founding Father, diplomat, and the first Chief Justice of the United States.

Federalist Papers

A series of 85 essays by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, written between 1787 and 1788 to persuade the public to ratify the United States Constitution.

Thomas Jefferson

Founding Father, principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third U.S. President.

Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms

Justifying armed resistance against Britain by listing grievances and asserting loyalty by defending liberties.

Olive Branch Petition

A document sent by the Second Continental Congress to King George III in July 1775 to avoid war and achieve reconciliation with Britain.

Treaty of Paris (1783)

Formally ended the American Revolutionary War, officially recognized the United States as an independent nation, and established its borders.

Loyalists

American colonists who remained loyal to the British Crown during the Revolutionary War, opposing independence.

Patriots

American colonists who supported independence from Great Britain, advocating for self-governance and resistance against British tyranny.

Abigail Adams

A political advisor and confidante to her husband, John Adams, known for her early advocacy for women's rights.

Articles of Confederation

America's first governing document (1781-1789), establishing a weak central government with strong state sovereignty.

Shay's Rebellion

An armed uprising (1786-1787) of indebted farmers protesting high taxes and debt collection, highlighting weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.

James Madison

The 'Father of the Constitution,' a key Framer who designed the government's structure and authored key parts of the Federalist Papers.

Alexander Hamilton

A Founding Father of the United States, the first Secretary of the Treasury, and a key architect of the American financial system.

Federalists

Supporters of the U.S. Constitution and a strong, centralized national government.

Anti-Federalists

Opposed the U.S. Constitution's ratification, fearing a strong central government would threaten individual liberties.

Constitutional Convention

A 1787 meeting in Philadelphia where delegates from 12 states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution.

Federalism

A political system where power is divided between a central (national) government and state governments.

Separation of powers

The principle of dividing governmental authority into three distinct branches to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful.

Virginia Plan

Proposed by James Madison, it was a blueprint for a strong national government with three branches and a bicameral legislature.

New Jersey Plan

A proposal favoring small states with a unicameral legislature where each state got one vote, maintaining state equality.

Great Compromise

An agreement that created a two-house legislature: a Senate with equal representation and a House of Representatives based on population.

Three-Fifths Compromise

Determined that a state's enslaved population would be counted as three-fifths of a person for taxation and representation.

Commercial Compromise

A deal allowing Congress to regulate commerce and levy import taxes but not ban the slave trade until 1808.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791 to protect individual liberties.

National Bank

A financial institution chartered by the federal government to manage the nation's currency and economic stability.

Supreme Court

The highest federal court in the United States with ultimate authority to interpret federal law and the Constitution.

Judiciary Act (1789)

A landmark law that created the structure for the federal judiciary, establishing the Supreme Court and lower federal courts.

Federalist Era

The period in U.S. history when the new federal government was established and largely controlled by the Federalist Party.

Democratic-Republican Party

An early U.S. political party led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, advocating for limited federal government and states' rights.

Washington's Farewell Address

A document warning against divisive political factions and permanent foreign alliances, urging neutrality.

Alien and Sedition Acts

Four laws passed in 1798 that restricted immigration and freedom of speech, targeting the opposing Democratic-Republican Party.

Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions

Declarations of political protest written in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Treaty of Greenville

Ending the Northwest Indian War after the Battle of Fallen Timbers.

Anthony Wayne

Defeated Native American tribes in the Ohio Valley, forcing them to cede most of present-day Ohio for goods, annuities, and an acknowledgment of tribal hunting rights.

Jay Treaty

A controversial agreement between the U.S. and Great Britain, negotiated by John Jay, that sought to prevent war by resolving lingering Revolutionary War issues.

Pinckney Treaty

A crucial diplomatic win with Spain that secured U.S. navigation rights on the Mississippi River and duty-free access to the port of New Orleans.

Proclamation of Neutrality (1793)

President George Washington's declaration that the U.S. would remain impartial in the war between France and Great Britain.

XYZ Affair

A diplomatic incident in 1797 where French agents demanded a bribe and a loan from American diplomats to start negotiations.

Northwest Ordinance

A 1787 act under the Articles of Confederation that established a process for admitting new states from the Northwest Territory.

Eli Whitney

Influential American inventor and mechanical engineer, best known for inventing the cotton gin in the 1790s.

Cotton gin

A mechanical device invented by Eli Whitney in 1793 that efficiently separated cotton fibers from seeds.

Louisiana Purchase

The 1803 U.S. acquisition of 828,000 square miles of land from France for $15 million, which doubled the size of the young nation.

Barbary Pirates

North African privateers from the Barbary States who raided U.S. merchant ships in the Mediterranean and Atlantic.

Aaron Burr

The third Vice President of the United States under Thomas Jefferson, known for killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel.

Lewis and Clark Expedition

A U.S. military and exploration mission commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson to map the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase.

John Marshall

The fourth Chief Justice of the United States who significantly strengthened the federal government and established judicial review.

Judicial Review

The power of the courts to declare laws or executive actions unconstitutional if they violate the Constitution.

Marbury v. Madison

The landmark Supreme Court case where Chief Justice John Marshall established judicial review.

Implied powers

Those not explicitly listed in the Constitution but are inferred as necessary for the government to carry out its enumerated powers.

War of 1812

A military conflict between the U.S. and Great Britain from 1812-1815, driven by American outrage over British impressment of sailors.

Impressment

The British practice of forcibly enlisting American sailors into the British Royal Navy.

War hawks

Young, pro-war members of the Democratic-Republican Party who advocated for war against Great Britain leading up to the War of 1812.

Quids

A faction within the Democratic-Republican party around 1805 who opposed President Thomas Jefferson's policies.

Calhoun

A powerful American politician from South Carolina known for his strong defense of slavery, his argument that slavery was a 'positive good,' and his advocacy for states' rights and the Doctrine of Nullification.

Tecumseh

A prominent Shawnee leader who organized a Native American confederacy to resist U.S. expansion into the Northwest Territory.

William Henry Harrison

Key as the first Whig President (1841), known for his 'Log Cabin & Hard Cider' campaign, military hero status from the Battle of Tippecanoe, and dying after only a month in office, which triggered the first presidential succession crisis and brought VP John Tyler to power.

Battle of Tippecanoe

A crucial US victory led by William Henry Harrison against Tecumseh's Native American confederacy near Prophetstown, Indiana, weakening Native resistance, accelerating US expansion into the Northwest Territory, and fueling anti-British sentiment.

Old Ironsides

Refers to the USS Constitution, a historic U.S. Navy frigate that earned its nickname during the War of 1812 when British cannonballs bounced off its thick oak hull, proving its superior strength and boosting American morale against the Royal Navy.

Battle of Lake Erie

A crucial U.S. naval victory in the War of 1812, where Oliver Hazard Perry's fleet defeated the British, securing the lake, forcing the British retreat from Detroit, and boosting American morale, allowing the U.S. to reclaim the Northwest Territory and defeat Tecumseh's Native American allies.

Oliver Hazard Perry

A U.S. naval officer and War of 1812 hero, famous for his decisive victory at the Battle of Lake Erie (1813).

Fort McHenry

The site of the pivotal Battle of Baltimore (War of 1812), where its successful defense against heavy British bombardment inspired lawyer Francis Scott Key to write 'The Star-Spangled Banner.'

Star-Spangled Banner

A joyous poem after he was relieved that the United States had preserved against British attack, written by Francis Scott Key.

Battle of New Orleans

The final, decisive American victory in the War of 1812, where Andrew Jackson's diverse troops (soldiers, militia, pirates, free blacks) routed a larger British force, boosting national pride, fostering unity, and solidifying Jackson as a national hero.

Treaty of Ghent

The peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain.

James Monroe

The fifth U.S. President (1817-1825) who is most famous for issuing the Monroe Doctrine, a landmark foreign policy statement that warned European powers against further colonization or intervention in the Americas.

Era of Good Feelings

A post-War of 1812 period of supposed national unity and optimism under President James Monroe, which went with the rise of the Democratic-Republican Party.

Sectionalism

A historical term for the loyalty to one's own region or section of the country rather than to the country as a whole.

Protective tariff

A tax on imported goods designed to make domestic products more competitive by increasing the price of foreign alternatives.

Henry Clay

The 'Great Compromiser' for brokering compromises like the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850 to address sectional tensions over slavery.

American System

An economic plan advocated by Henry Clay in the early 19th century that included three key parts: a high protective tariff, a national bank, and federal funding for internal improvements like roads and canals.