Studied by 5 peopleArticles of Confederation
1st Constitution of the U.S. 1781-1788 (weaknesses-no executive, no judicial, no power to tax, no power to regulate trade)
Land Ordinances of 1784 and 1785
1784, written by Thomas Jefferson, called to divide western land into districts and governed by Congress. 1785 clarified how the land north of the Ohio River would be sold and the settlement of the land
Old Northwest
Land gained by the government northwest of the Ohio River
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Created the Northwest Territory, established conditions for self-government and statehood, included a Bill of Rights, and permanently prohibited slavery
Empire of Liberty
The idea by Jefferson that the US would not rule its new territories as colonies, but rather would eventually admit them as full member states
Shay's Rebellion
A 1787 rebellion in which ex-Revolutionary War soldiers attempted to prevent foreclosures of farms as a result of high interest rates and taxes
Constitutional Convention
Meeting in 1787 of the elected representatives of the thirteen original states to write the Constitution of the United States
Virginia Plan
Proposal to create a strong national government with three branches (legislative, executive, judicial)
New Jersey Plan
Proposed a one-house (unicameral) legislature with equal votes for each state
Great Compromise
Proposed a bicameral legislature with lower/higher houses
Federalism
A system in which power is divided between the national and state governments
Checks and Balances
A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power
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
Three-Fifths Clause
Slave counted as 3/5 of a person for population/voting in congress
The Federalist Papers
A collection of 85 articles written by Hamilton, Jay, and Madison under the name "Publius" to defend the ratification of the Constitution
Anti-Federalists
People who opposed the Constitution and wanted a Bill of Rights
Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments to the Constitution
Civic Nationalism
A sense of national unity and purpose based on a set of commonly held political beliefs
Ethnic Nationalism
Nationalism based on common ancestry along with the cultural traditions and language associated with a particular ethnic group
Miami Confederation
An alliance of Indian tribes in the Ohio Valley that waged open warfare, under the leadership of Little Turtle, on American forces in the 1790s
Little Turtle
Chief of the Miami who led a Native American alliance that raided U.S. settlements in the Northwest Territory. He was defeated and forced to sign the Treaty of Greenville. Later, he became an advocate for peace
Battle of Fallen Timbers
1794 battle in which Wayne's federal troops defeated the Miami Confederacy of Native Americans
Treaty of Greenville
Gave America all of Ohio after General Wayne battled and defeated the Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers
Annuity System
System of yearly payments to Native American tribes by which the federal government justified and institutionalized its interference in Indian tribal affairs
Letters from an American Farmer
Written by Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, this French work illustrated the process of exclusion of non-white citizens in the American community
Naturalization Act of 1790
Restricted citizenship to "any alien, being a free white person" who had been in the U.S. for two years. In effect, it left out indentured servants, immigrants, slaves, and most women
Open Immigration
The nineteenth century policy of immigration in which almost all white persons were eligible to claim American citizenship, unless they were unwilling to renounce hereditary titles of nobility
American Colonization
Organization founded in 1817 that advocated sending freed slaves to a colony in Africa; it established the colony of Liberia in 1827 and encouraged free African Americans to emigrate there as well
Republic
A form of government in which citizens choose their leaders by voting
Balanced Governments
Structure would reflect the division of society between the wealthy and ordinary men
Suffrage
The right to vote
Wall of Separation
Court ruling that government cannot be involved with religion
Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom
A bill authored by Thomas Jefferson establishing religious freedom in Virginia
Free Labor
Wage-paying rather than slave labor
Inflation
A general increase in prices and fall in the value of money
Free Trade
International trade left to its natural course without tariffs, quotas, or other restrictions
The Wealth of Nations
Book written by Adam Smith in which he spells out the first modern account of free market economies
Loyalists
American colonists who remained loyal to Britain and opposed the war for independence
John Sullivan
An American general in the Revolution who led the Sullivan Expedition
Joseph Brant
Mohawk leader who supported the British during the American Revolution
Abolition
The movement to make slavery and the slave trade illegal. Begun by Quakers in England in the 1780s
Freedom Petitions
Arguments for liberty presented to New England's courts and legislatures in the early 1770s by enslaved African-Americans
Lemuel Haynes
A black member of the Massachusetts militia that urged Americans ''extend'' their freedom to include blacks
Phillis Wheatley
American poet, she was the first recognized Black writer in America
Deborah Sampson
Patriot who disguised herself as a man and served in the Continental Army
Ladies Association of Philadelphia
An organization that raised funds to assist American soldiers, showing how the Revolution propelled women into new forms of political activism
Mercy Otis Warren
Female patriot who wrote poems to convince others to join the patriot cause
Coverture
A common-law doctrine under which the legal personality of the husband covered the wife and he made all legally binding decisions
Republican Motherhood
The idea that American women had a special responsibility to cultivate "civic virtue" in their children
King George III
King of England during the Revolutionary War
Virtual Representation
Theory that claimed that every member of Parliament represented all British subjects, even Americans
Writs of Assistance
Legal document that allowed customs to search anywhere for smuggled goods
Sugar Act
Law passed by the British Parliament setting taxes on molasses and sugar imported by the colonies
Stamp Act
Law passed that gave parliament money by putting direct taxes on papers
"No Taxation Without Representation"
Reflected the colonists' belief that they should not be taxed because they had no direct representatives in Parliament (James Otis)
Patrick Henry
Got Virginia to gain military troops for revolution, "Give me liberty or give me death"
Stamp Act Congress
Meeting in 1765 of delegates from 9 colonies to discuss rights of taxation for the colonists
Committees of Correspondence
Organization founded by Samuel Adams consisting of a system of communication between patriot leaders in New England and throughout the colonies to promote buying goods from within the colonies
Sons of Liberty
Secret society formed to oppose British policies
Declatory Act
March 1766- Repealed Stamp Act, gave parliament authority to tax the colonies
Regulators
Vigilante groups in the 1760s-70s in the western parts of North and South Carolina that violently protested taxes
Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys
Group in Vermont that led a surprise attack on Fort Ticonderoga and Patriots gained valuable supplies
Townshend Acts
A tax that the British Parliament passed in 1767 that was placed on leads, glass, paint and tea in order to raise revenue in the colonies
Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania
Written in response to the Townshend Acts by John Dickinson
Daughters of Liberty
This organization supported the boycott of British goods by urging Americans to use/make homemade goods
Boston Massacre
The first bloodshed of the American Revolution 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 martyr killed in the Boston Massacre
Paul Revere
Alerted the colonists that the British were coming to Lexington and Concord
Tea Act
1773 act which eliminated import tariffs on tea entering England, allowing the British East India Company to sell directly to consumers rather than through merchants
Boston Tea Party
A 1773 protest against British taxes in which Boston colonists disguised as Mohawks dumped valuable tea into Boston Harbor
The Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts)
Response to Boston Tea Party 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
Quebec Act
Law that set up a government for Canada and protected the rights of French Catholics
Suffolk Resolves
Declared that the colonies need not obey the 1773 Coercive Acts, since they infringed upon basic liberties
First Continental Congress
September 1774, delegates from twelve colonies sent representatives to Philadelphia to discuss a response to the Intolerable Acts
Continental Association
Created by the First Continental Congress, it enforced the non-importation of British goods in each colony to fine or arrest violators. It was meant to pressure Britain to repeal the Coercive Acts
Lexington and Concord
Marked the beginning of the American Revolution (April 19, 1775)
Battle of Bunker Hill
First major battle of the Revolutions. It showed that the Americans could hold their own. The Americans were forced to withdraw after running out of ammunition
Second Continental Congress
They organized the continental Army, selected George Washington to lead the army, and appointed the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence
George Washington
1st President of the United States; commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution (1732-1799)
Lord Dunmore's Proclamation
An offer by the British governor and military commander in Virginia for freedom to any slave who escaped to his lines and bore arms for the king
Olive Branch Petition
Last resort of the Second Continental Congress to make peace with England, rejected by King George III after the Battle of Bunker Hill
Thomas Paine
American Revolutionary leader and pamphleteer who supported the fight for independence and supported the French Revolution
Common Sense
A pamphlet that criticized monarchies and convinced many American colonists of the need to break away from Britain
Declaration of Independence
Signed in 1776 by US revolutionaries; it declared the United States as a free state
American Exceptionalism
The idea that the United States has a unique destiny to foster democracy and civilization on the world stage
John Hancock
Patriot leader and president of the Second Continental Congress; first person to sign the Declaration of Independence
Hessians
German soldiers hired by George III to fight colonial rebellion
The American Crisis
An essay by Thomas Paine read by George Washington to his troops shortly before crossing the Delaware River
Battle of Saratoga
American victory over British troops in 1777 that was a turning point in the American Revolution
Valley Forge
Place where Washington's army spent the winter of 1777-1778, a 4th of troops died here from disease and malnutrition
Treaty of Amity and Commerce
France recognized the U.S. as independent and offered trade
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
Francis Marion
Nicknamed the Swamp Fox for his swift hit-and-run raids against British forces in the Carolinas
Marquis de Lafayette
French soldier who joined General Washington's staff and became a general in the Continental Army
Battle of Yorktown
Last major battle of the Revolutionary War. Cornwallis and his troops were trapped in the Chesapeake Bay by the French fleet. He was sandwiched between the French navy and the American army. He surrendered October 19, 1781
Treaty of Paris (1783)
This treaty ended the Revolutionary War, recognized the independence of America. It 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
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