Causes of the American Revolution and the Formation of the U.S. Government

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the causes and major events of the American Revolution, the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, and the debates and structures established by the U.S. Constitution.

Proclamation of 1763

A British measure that limited colonial settlement west of the Appalachians following the French & Indian War.

Three British Goals

Britain's objectives after the French & Indian War to raise money, control colonies, and maintain order.

Sugar Act (1764)

A British law that placed taxes on sugar imports and cracked down on smuggling.

Stamp Act (1765)

A tax on paper goods that provoked protests by Patrick Henry and prompted the Sons of Liberty to organize resistance.

Declaratory Act (1766)

Legislation passed upon the repeal of the Stamp Act asserting that Parliament had the power to legislate for the colonies in all cases.

Townshend Acts (1767)

British import taxes on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea that led colonists to boycott British goods.

Boston Massacre (1770)

An incident where British soldiers killed $5$ colonists, resulting in the repeal of most Townshend duties while the tax on tea remained.

Boston Tea Party (1773)

A protest against the Tea Act in which colonists dumped tea into Boston Harbor.

Intolerable Acts (1774)

Punitive British laws that closed Boston Harbor and restricted Massachusetts self-government, uniting the colonists in protest.

First Continental Congress (1774)

A gathering of colonial delegates organized to protest the Intolerable Acts and coordinate a boycott.

Lexington & Concord (April 1775)

The site of the first battle of the Revolutionary War.

Second Continental Congress (1775)

The assembly that created the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as commander.

Lord Dunmore (1775)

Offered freedom to qualifying enslaved people who escaped rebel enslavers and served the British.

King George III (1775)

The British monarch who officially declared the American colonies to be in rebellion.

Common Sense (January 1776)

A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that argued for American independence.

Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776)

A document mainly written by Thomas Jefferson that formally declared independence and asserted natural rights.

Saratoga (1777)

An American Revolutionary War victory that helped bring France into the war as an ally.

Yorktown (1781)

The Revolutionary War battle where British General Cornwallis surrendered.

Treaty of Paris (1783)

The peace agreement in which Britain recognized U.S. independence and established U.S. territory extending to the Mississippi River.

Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

Structural defects of the early national government, including having no power to directly tax citizens, no independent president/executive, no separate national judiciary, and difficulty regulating interstate trade and enforcing national decisions.

Shays' Rebellion (1786–1787)

An armed uprising where farmers protested debt and taxes, exposing critical weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation.

Philadelphia Convention

A meeting officially called to revise the Articles of Confederation where delegates instead drafted an entirely new Constitution.

Virginia Plan

A constitutional proposal that based state representation on population, favoring large states.

Great Compromise

A constitutional agreement establishing a bicameral legislature with representation in the House based on population and $2$ senators per state in the Senate.

3/5 Compromise

A constitutional agreement where enslaved people were counted as $\frac{3}{5}$ for the purposes of congressional representation and direct taxation.

Three Branches of Government

A constitutional division of power where the legislative branch makes laws, the executive branch enforces laws, and the judicial branch interprets laws.

Federalism

A system of government where power is divided between the national and state governments.

Federalists

A political group associated with Alexander Hamilton that supported a stronger national government, a national bank, and commerce and manufacturing.

Democratic-Republicans

A political group associated with Thomas Jefferson that favored a more limited federal government, opposed Hamilton's national bank, and supported an agrarian society of farmers.