History Key Terms TEST 2

Republicanism

a political philosophy that holds that states should be governed by representatives, not a monarch; as a social philosophy, republicanism required civic virtue of its citizens

Dunmore's Proclamation

the decree signed by Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia, which proclaimed that any enslaved or indentured servants who fought on the side of the British would be rewarded with their freedom

1790 Naturalization Act

defined citizenship in stark racial terms. To be a citizen of the American republic, an immigrant had to be a “free White person” of “good character.”

Boston Massacre

a confrontation between a crowd of Bostonians and British soldiers on March 5, 1770, which resulted in the deaths of five people, including Crispus Attucks, the first official casualty in the war for independence

Coverture

the legal status of married women in the United States, which included complete legal and economic dependence on husbands

Loyalists

colonists in America who were loyal to Great Britain

Battle of Saratoga

October 1777; Turning point in the war, the French join the war on the American side, treaty of Alliance.

Battle of Yorktown

he final major land battle of the American Revolutionary War, fought from September 28 to October 19, 1781, in Yorktown, Virginia

Battle of New Orleans

War of 1812, fought on January 8, 1815, resulting in a decisive American victory.

Common Sense

was first published in January 1776, advocated a republic: a state without a king. Six months later, Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence affirmed the break with England but did not suggest what form of government should replace monarchy, the only system most English colonists had ever known.

Thomas Jefferson

was an American Founding Father, the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third president of the United States (1801–1809).

Federalists

those who supported the 1787 Constitution and a strong central government; these advocates of the new national government formed the ruling political party in the 1790s

Anti

Federalists

Virginia Plan

a proposal for a new national government introduced at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on May 29, 1787

3/5 Compromise

the agreement at the Constitutional Convention that three out of every five enslaved persons would be counted when determining a state's population for purposes of representation

Electoral College

the mechanism by which electors, based on the number of representatives from each state, choose the presidentEnd of search result

Connecticut Compromise

also known as the Great Compromise, Roger Sherman’s proposal at the Constitutional Convention for a bicameral legislature, with the upper house having equal representation for all states and the lower house having proportional representation

New Jersey Plan

to counter Madison’s scheme, proposing that all states have equal votes in a unicameral national legislature.

Impressment

the practice of capturing sailors and forcing them into military service

Bill of Rights

the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, which guarantee individual rights

Revolution of 1800

the peaceful transfer of power from the Federalists to the Democratic

XYZ Affair

the French attempt to extract a bribe from the United States during the Quasi

Marbury v. Madison

the landmark 1803 case establishing the Supreme Court’s powers of judicial review, specifically the power to review and possibly nullify actions of Congress and the president

Democratic Republicans

advocates of limited government who were troubled by the expansive domestic policies of Washington’s administration and opposed the Federalists