APUSH TEST 2 STUDY GUIDE (Ch 5-8)

French and Indian War - Causes

Sparked by territorial rivalry between Great Britain and France over control of the Ohio River Valley, competing fur trade interests, and conflicting land claims.

French and Indian War - Phases

Phase 1: Localized frontier conflict with early French victories;

Phase 2: British Prime Minister William Pitt took direct control, funding the war and deploying troops;

Phase 3: British forces captured Quebec and Montreal, securing final victory.

French and Indian War - Result & Treaty of Paris (1763)

France ceded Canada and all territory east of the Mississippi River to Britain; Spain gave Florida to Britain; Britain accumulated massive war debt, prompting an end to salutary neglect.

George Grenville

British Prime Minister who ended the policy of salutary neglect in 1763; implemented revenue-raising acts (Sugar, Currency, Quartering, and Stamp Acts) to pay off war debt.

Pontiac's Rebellion (1763)

An uprising of allied Native American tribes led by Ottawa Chief Pontiac against British military expansion and colonial encroachment in the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley.

Proclamation Line of 1763

British royal order that prohibited colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains to reduce conflicts with Native Americans; deeply resented by land-seeking colonists.

Paxton Boys (1763)

A Scots-Irish vigilante group from rural Pennsylvania that murdered peaceful Conestoga Indians and marched on Philadelphia to demand frontier defense and tax relief.

Sugar Act (1764)

Lowered the duty on foreign molasses to discourage smuggling, but heightened enforcement and sent accused smugglers to judge-run vice-admiralty courts without juries.

Currency Act (1764)

British law prohibiting American colonial assemblies from issuing paper money, causing deflation and currency shortages that hurt merchants and farmers.

Stamp Act (1765)

The first direct internal tax on the colonies; required royal revenue stamps on newspapers, legal papers, and printed materials; provoked widespread resistance.

Declaratory Act (1766)

Passed by Parliament immediately upon repealing the Stamp Act; declared Parliament's absolute authority to legislate for the colonies 'in all cases whatsoever.'

Townshend Acts (1767)

External duties on colonial imports of glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea; used revenues to pay royal officials' salaries; triggered colonial nonimportation boycotts.

Intolerable (Coercive) Acts (1774)

British laws punishing Boston for the Tea Party: closed Boston Harbor, suspended the Massachusetts colonial charter, permitted royal trials outside the colony, and expanded quartering.

Internal

directly targeted goods and business within colonies, which colonists argued only their elected assemblies could levy.

Stamp Act Congress (1765)

A gathering of delegates from nine colonies in New York that drafted the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, petitioning the King and asserting that taxation requires representation.

Sons of Liberty

A radical grassroots organization led by Samuel Adams that mobilized protests, enforced nonimportation agreements, and intimidated royal tax collectors through public pressure and intimidation.

Daughters of Liberty

Colonial women who supported anti-British economic boycotts by producing homespun clothing to replace British textiles and promoting domestic substitutes for boycotted tea.

Samuel Adams

Boston political organizer and Sons of Liberty leader who founded the Committees of Correspondence, coordinated the Boston Tea Party, and agitated for complete independence.

Committees of Correspondence

An intercolonial network of letter-writing groups established by Samuel Adams to share news of British policies, coordinate unified resistance, and foster colonial solidarity.

Boston Massacre (1770)

An incident where British troops fired into a heckling Boston crowd, killing five colonists; framed by Paul Revere and Samuel Adams as a deliberate massacre to stir up resistance.

Boston Tea Party (1773)

Protest where the Sons of Liberty, disguised as Mohawk Indians, boarded British East India Company ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor to resist the Tea Act.

Common Sense - Thomas Paine (1776)

A popular pamphlet that denounced hereditary monarchy, argued that an island should not rule a continent, and made a persuasive case for immediate American independence.

First Continental Congress (1774) - Card 1: Purpose & Association

Convened in Philadelphia with delegates from 12 colonies to protest the Intolerable Acts; created the Continental Association to enforce a strict boycott of all British imports and exports.

First Continental Congress (1774) - Card 2: Rights & Preparation

Issued the Declaration of Rights and Grievances acknowledging colonial allegiance while demanding repeal of coercive laws, urged local militias to arm, and agreed to meet again in 1775.

Second Continental Congress (1775) - Card 1: War Leadership

Assumed governing responsibility after warfare began; established the Continental Army, appointed George Washington as commander-in-chief, and issued paper currency to fund operations.

Second Continental Congress (1775) - Card 2: Moving Toward Independence

Extended the Olive Branch Petition before formally voting for independence, approving Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, and drafting the Articles of Confederation.

Virtual Representation

held that Parliament represented all British subjects as an imperial whole;

Declaration of Independence - Authors

Drafted by the Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as the principal writer, alongside Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston.

Declaration of Independence - Key Parts

Contains four sections: the Preamble (stating purpose), the Declaration of Natural Rights (Lockean philosophy), the Grievances against King George III (27 specific abuses), and the formal Resolution of Independence.

Olive Branch Petition & John Dickinson

Written by moderate John Dickinson in July 1775 as a last effort at reconciliation, professing colonial loyalty to King George III; the King rejected it and declared the colonies in open rebellion.

American Revolution - Three Military Phases

Phase 1: Northern conflict centered around Boston (1775-1776);

Phase 2: Mid-Atlantic campaigns focused on New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania (1776-1778);

Phase 3: Southern campaign driven by guerrilla warfare and French naval aid (1778-1781).

Battle of Lexington and Concord (1775)

The opening military engagement of the Revolutionary War; British soldiers marching to seize colonial arms were met by local minutemen, featuring the famous 'shot heard 'round the world.'

Battle of Saratoga (1777)

A decisive American victory in upstate New York that forced British General Burgoyne to surrender his army; persuaded France to formally sign a military alliance with the United States.

Battle of Yorktown (1781)

The final major battle of the Revolution; American forces under Washington and French forces under Rochambeau, backed by De Grasse's fleet, trapped General Cornwallis and forced his surrender.

George Washington (Military Leader)

Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army; kept the army intact using defensive retreats, boosted morale with victories at Trenton and Princeton, and preserved forces through Valley Forge.

Horatio Gates

American general who took credit for the victory at Saratoga; later fled the field during a disastrous rout at the Battle of Camden in 1780, ending his combat command.

Nathanael Greene

American general in charge of the Southern Department; used a strategy of division, mobility, and attrition to wear out Cornwallis's army across the Carolinas.

Benedict Arnold

Talented American general who led crucial charges at Saratoga; driven by debt and lack of recognition, he betrayed the patriots by attempting to surrender West Point to the British.

William Howe

British Commander-in-Chief early in the war; captured New York City and Philadelphia but hesitated to aggressively chase and destroy Washington's retreating army.

Guy Carleton

British general and Governor of Quebec; successfully defended Canada from colonial invasion in 1775 and oversaw the evacuation of British troops and Loyalists from New York in 1783.

John Burgoyne

British general who led an invasion south from Canada to isolate New England; lost supply lines and surrendered his entire force at the Battle of Saratoga.

Charles Cornwallis

British general who commanded operations in the South; won at Camden and Guilford Courthouse but retreated to Virginia, where his army was trapped and surrendered at Yorktown.

Franco-American Alliance (1778)

Treaties of Amity and Commerce negotiated by Benjamin Franklin following Saratoga; France recognized American independence and provided essential ground troops, funds, and naval support.

Loyalists After the Revolution

Roughly 80,000 to 100,000 Loyalists fled the country, many moving to Canada or England; those who stayed faced property loss, disenfranchisement, and hostility despite treaty terms.

Treaty of Paris (1783)

Britain formally recognized United States independence; established borders extending to the Mississippi River, the Great Lakes, and Spanish Florida; granted U.S. fishing rights off Newfoundland.

Republican Motherhood

The post-Revolutionary belief that women held a vital civic role in educating their children in republican principles; served as a justification to expand women's formal education.

Virtuous Citizenry

The republican idea that a self-governing nation survives only if its citizens willingly subordinate private selfish interests for the common good and civic duty.

Democratization

The expansion of political participation to ordinary citizens through lower property requirements for voting, more frequent elections, and broader representation in state legislatures.

State Constitutions - Voting Rights

New state charters created weak governors, strong bicameral or unicameral legislatures, and expanded the franchise by lowering property requirements, though most kept racial and gender exclusions.

Abigail Adams

Early advocate for women's status who famously wrote to husband John Adams to 'Remember the Ladies' in drafting new laws, cautioning against unchecked male authority.

Phillis Wheatley

An enslaved African American woman in Boston who gained fame as a published poet, using her poetry to celebrate liberty and call attention to the injustice of slavery.

Slavery in the 1780s-1790s

Northern states began passing gradual emancipation laws, while southern states maintained slavery; the Northwest Ordinance prohibited slavery in the Ohio country.

Articles of Confederation - Powers Granted

Gave the unicameral national legislature authority to declare war, negotiate peace treaties, manage diplomacy with foreign nations, establish postal systems, and oversee western territories.

Articles of Confederation - Weaknesses & Outcome

Lacked the power to levy taxes, enforce federal laws, regulate interstate commerce, or maintain a standing army; financial distress and domestic unrest led directly to the Constitutional Convention.

Land Ordinance of 1785

Created a standardized system for surveying and selling western public lands into six-square-mile townships, reserving Section 16 in each township to fund public education.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Established a path for western territories to enter the Union as equal states, guaranteed civil liberties, provided for public schools, and banned slavery in the Northwest Territory.

Shays' Rebellion (1786-1787)

An armed rebellion of debt-ridden Massachusetts farmers led by Daniel Shays to stop court foreclosures; highlighted the weakness of the central government under the Articles of Confederation.

Constitutional Convention - Purpose

Convened in Philadelphia in May 1787 originally to revise the Articles of Confederation; delegates quickly decided to replace them with an entirely new national framework.

Constitutional Convention - Key Delegates

George Washington (presiding officer), James Madison ('Father of the Constitution'), Alexander Hamilton (champion of strong central power), and Benjamin Franklin (elder negotiator).

Nationalists - Goals

Leaders such as Madison, Hamilton, and Morris who wanted a strong sovereign central government with authority to levy taxes, regulate commerce, enforce treaties, and check state laws.

Virginia Plan

James Madison's proposal favoring populous states; called for a bicameral legislature with representation based on population and a strong independent national executive.

New Jersey Plan

William Paterson's proposal favoring smaller states; called for a unicameral legislature with equal representation for each state, expanding federal powers while keeping equal state influence.

Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise)

Roger Sherman's proposal creating a bicameral legislature: the House of Representatives based on population, and the Senate offering two equal votes per state.

Federalism

A constitutional division of governing power between a central national authority and regional state governments, each holding defined sovereign responsibilities.

Federalists (Beliefs)

Supporters of the 1787 Constitution; favored strong central government, commercial growth, and separation of powers to balance liberty and order (articulated in The Federalist Papers).

Anti-Federalists (Beliefs)

Opponents of the 1787 Constitution; warned against executive overreach, feared an unchecked national government would override state rights, and demanded an explicit Bill of Rights.

Bill of Rights - Necessity

The first ten amendments to the Constitution drafted by James Madison; promised to Anti-Federalists during ratification debates to protect individual rights from federal overreach.

Three-Fifths Compromise

An agreement counting each african slave as three-fifths of an individual for determining both seats in the House of Representatives and direct federal tax obligations.

President Washington's Cabinet

The first presidential advisory circle: Thomas Jefferson (Secretary of State), Alexander Hamilton (Secretary of the Treasury), Henry Knox (Secretary of War), and Edmund Randolph (Attorney General).

Hamilton's Economic Plan - Debt Assumption & Funding

Proposed funding the national debt at face value and having the federal government assume all unpaid state war debts to establish national credit and bind wealthy elites to the Union.

Hamilton's Economic Plan - Bank & Revenue

Created the Bank of the United States to manage federal deposits and regulate currency, financed through an excise tax on whiskey and protective tariffs on imports.

U.S. and the French Revolution

A major source of partisan division: Democratic-Republicans celebrated the overthrow of monarchy, while Federalists condemned the Jacobin Reign of Terror and anti-clerical violence.

Washington's Neutrality Proclamation (1793)

Declared the United States neutral in the war between Britain and France; protected American commerce, avoided costly entanglements, and resulted in Jefferson's eventual resignation from the cabinet.

Citizen Genêt

French ambassador who bypassed the executive branch in 1793 to commission American privateers and recruit troops against Britain; Washington denounced his actions and requested his recall.

Jay's Treaty (1794)

Treaty with Britain where the British agreed to abandon frontier forts and compensate seized ships, but failed to address impressment; prevented war but provoked intense Democratic-Republican opposition.

Pinckney's Treaty (1795)

Agreement with Spain granting the United States free navigation of the Mississippi River, right of deposit at New Orleans, and fixing the southern border at the 31st parallel.

Whiskey Rebellion (1794)

Western Pennsylvania farmers rebelled against Hamilton's whiskey tax; Washington led 13,000 federalized militiamen to suppress it, demonstrating the power of the new constitutional government.

Election of 1796

The first contested presidential election; Federalist John Adams won the presidency and political rival Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson became Vice President due to old voting rules.

Washington's Farewell Address (1796)

Published address in which Washington warned against partisan political factionalism, sectional rivalries, and long-term entangling military alliances with foreign nations.

Presidency of John Adams

Defined by intense factionalism, the undeclared naval 'Quasi-War' with France, the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts, and internal disagreements with his own Federalist party.

XYZ Affair (1797-1798)

An incident where French agents demanded bribes and loans before allowing American envoys to negotiate; triggered anti-French outrage and the slogan 'Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute.'

Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)

Federalist laws that extended residency requirements for citizenship, permitted the deportation of 'dangerous' foreigners, and made criticizing the federal government or President a crime.

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions (1798-1799)

Drafted anonymously by Madison and Jefferson; argued that the Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional and introduced the compact theory of the Union and state nullification.

External taxes

tariffs on maritime imports to regulate trade

actual representation

demanded that representatives be directly elected by the constituents they tax.