3.10, 3.11 & 3.12 (copy)

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the Constitution. These ten amendments helped reassure Americans who feared that the federal government established under the Constitution would infringe on the rights of individuals and states.

Bank of United States

A national bank established in 1791. The bank was responsible for holding large portions of federal funds,distributing loans and currency, and funding the national debt. 

French Revolution

1789-1799 A revolution in which French people, inspired by the ideals of the American Declaration of Independence, overthrew King Louis XVI. Disrupted French agriculture and led to significant political + social change.

Neutrality Proclamation

1793—— declaring U.S. —— in any conflicts between other nations, including France and Great Britain. Britain largely ignored U.S. neutrality and seized American merchant vessels heading for France.

Jay Treaty

1796 treaty that required British forces to withdraw from U.S. soil, required American repayment of debts to British firms, and limited U.S. trade with the British West Indies.

Whiskey Rebellion

Uprising by western Pennsylvania farmers who led protests against the excise tax on whiskey in the early 1790s.

Democratic-Republicans

Political party that emerged out of opposition to Federalist policies in the 1790s. The party chose Thomas Jefferson as their presidential candidate in 1796, 1800, and 1804.

Alien & Sedition Acts

1798 security acts passed by the Federalist-controlled Congress. The Act allowed the president to imprison or deport noncitizens and placed significant restrictions on political speech.

XYZ Affair

1798 incident in which French agents demanded bribes before meeting with American diplomatic representatives.

Naturalization Acts

1798 act passed by the Federalist-controlled Congress that raised the residency requirement for citizenship from five to fourteen years to delay the naturalization of immigrants who largely voted Democratic-Republican. The act only included free white persons excluding everyone else.

Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions

Resolutions passed by legislatures in two southern states that declared the Alien and Sedition Acts (1798) “void and of no force” in their states.

John Jay

A patriot representative who attempted to negotiate peace terms with the French. Writer of the Federalist Papers.

Henry Knox

The first secretary of defense, appointed by Washington as means to bring order to the newly established administration.

King Louis XVI

The tyrannical king of France who was beheaded by the non-wealthy people of France as a result of the French Revolution.

Charles Pinckney

A prominent American statesman from South Carolina who was a signer of the U.S. Constitution. He served multiple terms as Governor of South Carolina, and also as a U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative. Initially a Federalist, he later became a Democratic-Republican.

Edmund Randolph

The first attorney general at the head of the department of justice, appointed by Washington as means to bring order to the newly established administration.

Adam Smith

Scottish economist who shared Jefferson’s belief that an international division of labor could best provide for the world’s people.

Philip Freneau

A poet who highlighted the lost heritage of native culture in New England with his poem “Indian Burying Ground” This was a result of the American focus on Native culture as a means to create a unique national identity.

Benjamin Banneker

A free black man who was a self-taught clock maker, astronomer, and surveyor. Was hired as an assistant to the surveyor Major Andrew Ellicott. Also elped to plot the 100-square-mile site on which the capital was to be built.

Noah Webster

A schoolmaster who declared that “America must be as independent in literature as in Politics, as famous for arts as for arms.”

Samuel Jennings

A painter who offered a more radical perspective on the nation’s character by incorporating women and African Americans into his works, highlighting the importance of learning and rationality.

Charles Wilson Peale

Painter who served in the Continental Army known for portraits of Revolutionary generals, especially George Washington.

Battle of Fallen Timbers

Battle at which U.S. General Anthony Wayne won a major victory over a multi-tribe coalition of American Indians in the Northwest Territory in 1794.

Treaty of Greenville

1795 treaty signed following the Battle of Fallen Timbers. The treaty forced American Indians in the Northwest Territory to cede vast tracts of land to the U.S.

Pinckney Treaty

1796 treaty that defined the boundary between U.S. and Spanish territory in the South and opened the Mississippi River and New Orleans to U.S. shipping

Thomas Pinckney

U.S. envoy who negotiated the Pinckney Treaty (1796), establishing the U.S.-Spanish boundary and opening the Mississippi River and New Orleans to U.S. trade.

Anthony Wayne

U.S. general who led 2,000 troops to victory over American Indian forces at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, leading to the Treaty of Greenville.

Little Turtle

A war chief of the Miami nation who gathered a large force of numerous Native American tribes to defeat federal troops in Ohio River Valley around the same time as the Whiskey Rebellion.