AP U.S. History Period 3 (1754–1800): Conflict, Nation-Building, and Expansion

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering major events, concepts, legislation, and key figures from Period 3 (1754–1800) of United States History.

Proclamation Line of 1763

A British boundary established after the French and Indian War limiting westward colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains, enacted due to fears of Native American conflict and the expense of protecting the frontier.

Albany Plan

Benjamin Franklin's 1754 proposal to unite the American colonies under a shared government to fight against France, which ultimately failed after the British crown viewed it as a potential threat.

Salutary Neglect

The British policy of lenient enforcement of parliamentary trade laws in the American colonies, which ended following the French and Indian War as Britain began directly enforcing colonial taxes and regulations.

Stamp Act of 1765

A direct British tax imposed on printed colonial materials, requiring stamps on legal documents, newspapers, playing cards, printed signs, almanacs, books, and dice.

Townshend Acts (1767)

A series of British parliamentary acts that levied import duties on colonial goods including lead, tea, paper, paint, and glass.

Boston Massacre (March 1770)

A violent clash in King Street between British soldiers and a Boston crowd that left several colonists dead; Paul Revere produced an influential engraving of the event used as Patriot political propaganda.

Intolerable Acts (1774)

British coercive measures enacted in response to the Boston Tea Party that closed the port of Boston, banned town meetings, placed the Massachusetts colonial government under royal control, cracked down on local assemblies, and expanded the Quartering Act.

Olive Branch Petition (1775)

A formal petition adopted by the Second Continental Congress and led by moderate delegates proposing compromises to avoid open war with Great Britain, which was rejected by King George III.

Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776)

A foundational document principally drafted by Thomas Jefferson that used Enlightenment philosophy from John Locke to assert unalienable rights to 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,' supported by a list of grievances against King George III.

Common Sense (1776)

An influential political pamphlet published anonymously by Thomas Paine that applied Enlightenment reasoning to convince American colonists that independence from Britain was necessary.

Battle of Yorktown (October 1781)

The final major military campaign of the Revolutionary War, in which combined American and French forces forced British General Cornwallis to surrender to General George Washington.

Articles of Confederation

The first national governing charter of the United States, which established a weak unicameral legislature lacking the power to levy taxes, enforce laws, regulate commerce, or establish an executive or judicial branch.

Shays' Rebellion (1786–1787)

An armed uprising of indebted farmers in western Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays over economic hardships, which exposed the central government's inability under the Articles of Confederation to maintain order.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Legislation establishing a structured pathway for governing and admitting new equal states from the Great Lakes region into the Union while explicitly prohibiting slavery in the Northwest Territory.

Federalists (1787–1788)

Proponents of the newly drafted U.S. Constitution who supported replacing the Articles of Confederation with a strong central government over an extended republic, originally arguing that a federal Bill of Rights was unnecessary.

Anti-Federalists

Opponents of the U.S. Constitution who favored retaining state supremacy, maintaining smaller local republics, and amending rather than abandoning the Articles of Confederation, demanding a Bill of Rights to safeguard personal liberties.

Great Compromise

An agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention establishing a bicameral Congress: a House of Representatives based on state population and a Senate granting equal representation of two seats per state.

Three-fifths Compromise

A constitutional agreement permitting Southern states to count three-fifths of their enslaved populations for congressional representation in the House of Representatives and taxation purposes.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, ratified to guarantee fundamental personal liberties and state protections against federal overreach.

Neutrality Proclamation (1793)

A formal announcement issued by President George Washington declaring the United States neutral in the escalating armed conflict between Britain and France, establishing an early American precedent for isolationism.

Whiskey Rebellion (1794)

A domestic protest in western Pennsylvania against an excise tax on whiskey, which President Washington quelled using federal militia to demonstrate the newly strengthened executive authority to enforce national laws.

Washington's Farewell Address (1796)

A published valedictory message where George Washington stressed religion and morality as indispensable civic pillars while warning Americans against entangling foreign alliances and divisive political parties.

XYZ Affair

A 1797 diplomatic scandal under President John Adams during which French agents demanded bribes and loans before opening peace talks with American diplomats, prompting widespread anti-French hostility and domestic nationalism.

Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)

Federalist statutes that heightened naturalization barriers for immigrants and criminalized published criticisms or speech made against the federal government, its laws, or its officials.

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

Political declarations drafted secretly by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson contending that states hold the right to nullify federal statutes that infringe upon constitutional liberties.

Judiciary Act of 1801

A late-term legislative measure passed by Federalists that created new federal judicial posts filled by John Adams with Federalist 'midnight judges' immediately prior to Thomas Jefferson's inauguration.

Revolution of 1800

The presidential election in which Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson defeated Federalist incumbent John Adams, marking the first peaceful democratic transfer of power between opposing political factions in United States history.