AP US History Unit 3: Birth Of A Republic Key Terms

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards detailing the key terms, significant figures, treaties, compromises, and events of the American Revolutionary War, the Critical Period, and the Federalist Era.

Baron von Steuben

A Prussian born aristocrat and military leader who assisted the American cause during the Revolutionary War by providing badly needed training to the Continental Army at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-78, improving troop organization, camp sanitation, firing methods, and command structure.

Battle of Saratoga

A turning point of the Revolution in October 1777, when an army of 6,000 British soldiers surrendered in New York after attempting to divide the colonies through the Hudson River Valley; the victory convinced the French to ally with the colonies.

Battle of Yorktown

A siege that ended in October 1781 when Washington trapped 8,000 British soldiers on a peninsula in Virginia after a British campaign in the southern colonies, leading the British to cease large-scale fighting and start peace negotiations.

Ben Franklin

America’s leading diplomat of the Revolutionary era who served as a statesman and advisor, participated in all prerevolutionary congresses, and helped secure the French alliance of 1778 and the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

Boston Massacre

A March 1770 confrontation between British soldiers and Boston citizens in which troops shot and killed five colonials; American radicals used the event to roil relations between England and the colonies over the following five years.

Coercive Acts (1774)

British laws designed to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party by closing the port of Boston, revoking the colony's charter, trying accused officials outside the colony, and housing troops in private dwellings; known in the colonies as the Intolerable Acts.

Declaratory Act (1766)

A face-saving measure passed by the British Parliament upon repealing the Stamp Act, asserting Parliament's sovereignty over colonial taxation and legislative policies.

George III

King of England during the American Revolution who was a strong advocate for harsh policies toward the American colonists, despite their belief prior to 1776 that he supported their rights.

George Washington

Commander of the colonial army whose integrity and judgment kept the army together, making him indispensable to the colonial cause.

John Dickinson

Conservative leader who wrote Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, advocated for colonial rights while urging conciliation with England, opposed the Declaration of Independence, and later helped write the Articles of Confederation.

John Jay

Lead American diplomat in negotiating the Treaty of Paris (1783) who secretly dealt with British representatives in Paris to secure all of America's goals for independence despite French and Spanish meddling.

John Locke

English philosopher who wrote that governments have a duty to protect people’s life, liberty, and property; his ideas were incorporated into colonial political thinking and rhetoric.

Loyalists (Tories)

Colonists who remained loyal to England, often older, better educated members of the Anglican Church, whom the British hoped to use as a pacification force but failed to organize properly.

Marquis de Lafayette

A French aristocrat and military leader who commanded American troops, provided critical assistance during the Revolutionary War (particularly at the Battle of Yorktown), and helped secure French aid.

Patrick Henry

An early advocate of independence and opponent of the Stamp Act who defended individual rights and famously declared in 1775: 'Give me liberty, or give me death.'

Pontiac's Rebellion (1763)

An Indian uprising in the Ohio Valley region that killed 2,000 settlers, prompting the British to issue the Proclamation of 1763 prohibiting colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Salutary neglect

British policy prior to 1763 of generally leaving the colonies alone to conduct their own internal affairs; the abandonment of this policy was a major factor leading to the American Revolution.

Samuel Adams

Agitator and leader of the Sons of Liberty who supported independence once Britain abandoned salutary neglect; he was the primary leader of the Boston Tea Party and later a delegate to the Continental Congress.

Seven Years War

War fought between England and France from 1756 to 1763 (starting in 1754 as the French and Indian War over the Ohio River Valley) that resulted in France's withdrawal from North America and spurred Parliament's new colonial tax policies.

Sons of Liberty

Street gangs formed during the Stamp Act crisis that served as the vanguard of the Revolution by using violence and intimidation to enforce boycotts and prevent the sale of tax stamps.

Stamp Act (1765)

A British tax on over fifty items such as pamphlets, newspapers, playing cards, and dice; it provoked strong protests because colonists viewed it as an unlawful internal tax levied solely to raise revenue.

Stamp Act Congress (1765)

A meeting of delegates from nine colonies in New York City that petitioned the king and organized a boycott, successfully forcing the repeal of the Stamp Act and marking a major step toward colonial unity.

Sugar Act (1764)

The first British measure to tax the colonies to raise revenue rather than regulate trade; it stiffened the Molasses Act (1733), lowered the import tax on sugar to discourage smuggling, and tried smugglers in vice-admiralty courts.

Thomas Jefferson

Lead author of the Declaration of Independence, first secretary of state, and founder of the Democratic Republican Party who opposed Hamilton's centralization policies and was later elected vice president in 1796 and president in 1800.

Thomas Paine

Author of Common Sense, an electrifying pamphlet published in January 1776 that swept the colonies and provided a passionate, clear rationale for breaking away from England.

Townshend Acts (1767)

British legislation that levied taxes on imported items including paper, glass, and tea; although designed to bypass resistance to 'internal' taxation, colonists viewed them as revenue-raising measures and refused to pay them.

Virtual representation

The British doctrine that Parliament collectively represented all Englishmen regardless of where they lived or whether they voted, used to justify Parliament's authority to tax the colonies without direct representation.

Alexander Hamilton

Strong nationalist, first secretary of the treasury, and founder of the Federalist Party who advocated for a strong central government and commercial development.

Alien and Sedition Acts

A series of acts designed to suppress perceived French agents working against American neutrality; they empowered the president to deport 'dangerous' aliens, extended citizenship residency requirements, and restricted freedoms of speech and press.

Annapolis Convention

A 1786 meeting in Maryland attended by delegates from only five states to discuss interstate commerce; Alexander Hamilton used the forum to issue a call for a convention the following spring to revise the Articles of Confederation.

Anti-Federalists

Individuals who opposed the state ratification of the U.S. Constitution because they feared the concentration of power placed in the national government.

Democratic Republican Party

Political party led by Thomas Jefferson that feared centralized power, championed states' rights, opposed Hamilton’s financial plan, favored ties to France, and was heavily influenced by southern agrarian interests.

Farewell Address

Presidential valedictory message in which George Washington warned the nation against domestic political factions and entangling foreign alliances; its ideas formed the foundation of American isolationism for the next 150 years.

Federalist Papers

A collection of eighty-five essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay published in newspapers to persuade New York to ratify the Constitution; regarded as a treatise on constitutional foundations.

Federalist Party

Political party led by Alexander Hamilton that favored a strong central government, commercial interests, Hamilton's financial plan, and close ties to England, drawing its strongest support from merchants and property owners.

Federalists

Individuals who favored the state ratification of the U.S. Constitution (not to be confused with the later political party of the same name).

Great Compromise

Agreement that resolved the impasse over congressional representation at the Constitutional Convention by creating a bicameral Congress: seats in the lower house based on state population and equal representation in the upper chamber.

James Madison

Nationalist leader who organized the Annapolis Convention, authored the Virginia Plan, drafted the amendments that became the Bill of Rights, and co-founded the Democratic Republican Party.

Jay’s Treaty (1794)

An agreement in which Britain agreed to evacuate forts in U.S. Great Lakes territory and partially open the West Indies to American shipping, in exchange for the United States paying pre-Revolutionary War debts.

Loose constructionist

A person who interprets the Constitution's 'elastic clause' broadly, holding that the federal government can exercise powers not explicitly stated as long as they are 'necessary and proper' to execute specifically enumerated powers.

New Jersey Plan

William Paterson's counterproposal to the Virginia Plan, calling for a unicameral Congress with equal state representation, retaining most of the Articles of Confederation while bolstering government powers to tax and regulate commerce.

Northwest Ordinance (1787)

Major legislation under the Articles of Confederation that organized the Northwest Territory, establishing a population threshold of 5,000 for territorial status and 60,000 for statehood, while outlawing slavery in the territory.

Pinckney's Treaty (1795)

An agreement with Spain that opened the Mississippi River to American navigation and granted Americans the right of deposit in New Orleans, conceded by Spain out of fear of an Anglo-American alliance.

Shays’s Rebellion

An August 1786 to February 1787 uprising in western Massachusetts that closed courts and threatened revolt; the confederation government's inability to suppress it reinforced demands to reform or replace the Articles of Confederation.

Strict constructionist

A person who interprets the Constitution very narrowly, believing that the national government cannot exercise powers that are not explicitly stated, thereby aiming to preserve states' rights.

Three-Fifths Compromise

Agreement at the Constitutional Convention that broke the impasse over taxation and representation by counting each enslaved person as three-fifths of a person for representation in the House of Representatives and direct tax assessments.

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

Resolutions written by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson responding to the Sedition Act, asserting that the Constitution is a compact among states and that states have the power to nullify federal laws that exceed constitutional authority.

Virginia Plan

Proposal drafted by Edmund Randolph and James Madison calling for a strong national government with a bicameral Congress (an elected lower house and an appointed upper house) apportioned by state population, favored by large states.

Whiskey Rebellion

A 1794 uprising in western Pennsylvania over a federal excise tax on whiskey; President Washington suppressed it with overwhelming force, proving the new government's power to enforce federal laws.

XYZ Affair

A diplomatic incident under John Adams in which three French agents demanded a bribe before opening negotiations over Jay's Treaty and American neutrality, prompting outrage and war hysteria in the United States.

Amend

To alter or change significantly.

Condemnation

To criticize or disapprove of something, very strongly.

Ratification

The action of signing or giving formal consent to a treaty, contract, or agreement.