Time Period 3 Vocab

Albany Congress

An intercolonial congress summoned by the British government to foster greater colonial unity and assure Iroquois support in the escalating war against the French.

Pontiac's Uprising

The bloody campaign waged by Ottawa chief Pontiac to drive the British out of the Ohio Country. It was brutally crushed by British troops, who resorted to distributing blankets infected with smallpox as a means to put down the rebellion.

Proclamation of 1763

A decree issued by Parliament in the wake of Pontiac's Uprising, prohibiting settlement beyond the Appalachian Mountains. It contributed to rising resentment of British rule in the American colonies.

Republicanism

The political theory of representative government. It's based on the principle of popular sovereignty, with a strong emphasis on liberty and civic virtue. It was influential in 18th-century American political thought, it stood as an alternative to monarchical rule.

Virtual Representation

Based on the belief that a member of Parliament represented every person in the empire and there was no need for a specific representative.

Stamp Act Congress

An assembly of delegates from nine colonies who met in New York City to draft a petition for the repeal of the Stamp Act. It helped ease sectional suspicions and promote intercolonial unity.

Sons and Daughters of Liberty

A patriotic group that played a central role in agitating against the Stamp Act and enforcing nonimportation agreements

Declaratory Act

Passed alongside the repeal of the Stamp Act, it reaffirmed Parliament's unqualified sovereignty over the North American colonies.

Committees of Correspondence

Local committees established across Massachusetts, and later in each of the thirteen colonies, to maintain colonial opposition to British policies through the exchange of letters and pamphlets.

Intolerable Acts

A series of punitive measures passed in retaliation for the Boston Tea Party, closing the Port of Boston, revoking a number of rights in the Massachusetts colonial charter, and expanding the Quartering Act to allow for the lodging of soldiers in private homes. In response, colonists convened the first Continental Congress and called for a complete boycott of British goods.

First Continental Congress

A convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies that convened in Philadelphia to craft a response to the Intolerable Acts. Delegates established the Association, which called for a complete boycott of British goods.

Second Continental Congress

A representative body of delegates from all thirteen colonies. It drafted the Declaration of Independence and managed the colonial war effort.

Olive Branch Petition

A conciliatory measure adopted by the Continental Congress, professing American loyalty and seeking an end to the hostilities. King George rejected the petition and proclaimed the colonies in rebellion.

Common Sense

Thomas Paine's pamphlet urging the colonies to declare independence and establish a republican government. The widely read pamphlet helped convince colonists to support the Revolution.

Loyalists

American colonists who opposed the Revolution and maintained their loyalty to the king. They were sometimes referred to as "Tories".

Patriots

Colonists who supported the American Revolution. They were also known as "Whigs".

Battle of Saratoga

A decisive colonial victory in upstate New York, which helped secure French support for the Revolutionary War.

Treaty of Paris 1783

A peace treaty signed by Britain and the US ending the Revolutionary War. The British formally recognized American independence and ceded territory east of the Mississippi River while the Americans, in turn, promised to restore Loyalist property and repay debts to British creditors.

Republican Motherhood

An idea linked to republicanism that elevated the role of women. It gave them the prestigious role as the special keepers of the nation's conscience. Its roots were from the idea that a citizen should be to his country as a mother is to her child.

Land Ordinance of 1785

Congress decided to divide western lands and sell the land to pay off debts.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Defined the process by which new states could be admitted into the Union from the Northwest Territory. It forbade slavery in the territory but allowed citizens to vote on the legality of slavery once statehood had been established. It was the most lasting measure of the national government under the Articles of Confederation.

Shay's Rebellion

A rebellion by debtor farmers in western Massachusetts, led by Revolutionary war captain Daniel Shays, against Boston creditors. It began in 1786 and lasted half a year, threatening the economic interests of the business elite and contributing to the demise of the Articles of Confederation.

Bicameral

Created by John Adams to counter the appeal of the Pennsylvania Constitution. It's a two house legislature. His system dispersed authority by assigning the different functions of government-lawmaking, administering, and judging to separate institutions.

Great Compromise

An agreement between the small (New Jersey) and large (Virginia) states reached in the Constitutional Convention of 1787. In part, it defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would be entitled to in the US Constitution. The bicameral legislature and proportional representation in the lower house was retained, but the upper house was required to be weighted equally between states. The main contribution was the appointment of the Senate and Congress.

3/5 Compromise

Determined that each slave would be counted as ⅗ of a person for the purpose of apportioning taxes and representation. The compromise granted disproportionate political power to Southern slave states.

Electoral College

A group selected by the states to elect the president and vice president, in which each state's number of electors is equal to the number of its senators and representatives in Congress.

Ratification

Formal approval; final consent to the effectiveness of a constitution, constitutional amendment, or treaty.

Federalist

Favored the ratification of the Constitution and a stronger central government.

Antifederalist

Wanted a weak central government, more power to the people, and opposed the ratification of the Constitution.

Federalist Papers

The collection of essays by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison, that explained the importance of a strong central government. It was published to convince New York to ratify the Constitution.

Whiskey Rebellion

When farmers in Pennsylvania rebelled against Alexander Hamilton's excise tax on whiskey, as several federal officers were killed in the riots caused by their attempts to serve arrest warrants on the offenders. In October 1794, the army, led by George Washington, put down the rebellion. The incident showed that the new government under the Constitution could react swiftly and effectively to such a problem, in contrast to the inability of the government under the Articles of Confederation to deal with Shay's Rebellion.

Democratic-Republican Party

Mostly Southerners led by Thomas Jefferson, they believed the people should have political power, favored strong state governments, emphasized agriculture, favored strict interpretation of the Constitution, were pro-French, opposed a national bank, and opposed a protective tariff.

Proclamation of Neutrality

A formal announcement issued by George Washington on April 22, 1793, declaring the US a neutral nation in the conflict between Britain and France.

Treaty of Greenville

Gave the US all of Ohio after General Mad Anthony Wade battled and defeated the Native Americans at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1795. It allowed Americans to explore the area with peace of mind that the land belonged to the US and added size and very fertile land to the US.

Washington's Farewell Address

Stressed maintaining commercial but not political ties to other nations, and stressed not entering permanent alliances. The US's uniqueness depended on independent action on foreign affairs.

Alien Act

Made it more difficult for foreigners to become US citizens (5 years to 14 years waiting requirement).

Sedition Act

Made it illegal to criticize the government.

Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions

Political statements drafted in 1798 and 1799, in which the legislatures took the position that the federal Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional. They argued that the states had the right and duty to declare unconstitutional any acts of Congress that weren't authorized by the Constitution.

XYZ Affair

Failed diplomatic meeting between American representatives Elbridge Gerry, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and John Marshall and French representatives known only as X, Y, and Z. It hoped to resolve tensions between the US and France caused by French anger over Jay's Treaty, but Americans were caught off guard. They expected to be meeting with French Foreign Minister Talleyrand, but were instead met with X, Y, and Z demanding $250,000 just to speak with Talleyrand.

Revolution of 1800

The Election of 1800 was between the two parties, Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson and Federalist John Adams. After much debate, Thomas Jefferson was awarded the victory. It's called this because it produced the first orderly transfer of power from one party to another without violence. It was a major success of the political system.