history exam study guide

magna carta

a charter of liberties agreed to by king John of England; it made the king obey the same laws as citizens

constitution

a set of basic principles and laws that states the powers and duties of the government

virginia statute for religious freedom

a document that declared that no person could be forced to attend a particular church or be required to pay tax money to a church (religious freedom)

suffrage

the right to vote

Articles of Confederation

the document that created the first central government for the US; was replaced by the constitution in 1789

ratification

official approval

\- Magna Carta

\- English Bill of Rights

\- Mayflower Compact

\- Declaration of Independence

What documents influenced ideas about government in the United States?

\- trading issues

\- Great Britain cut off trade

\- Spain cut off trade in the Mississippi river

What problems did the United States experience with Spain and Great Britain?

To fix the Articles of Confederation

Why did Madison and Hamilton call for the constitutional convention?

constitutional convention

a meeting held in Philadelphia at which delegates from the states wrote the constitution

virginia plan

the plan for government proposed at the constitutional convention in which the national government would have supreme power and the legislative branch would have two houses with representation determined by state population

new jersey plan

a proposal to create a unicameral legislature with equal representation of states rather than representation by population

great compromise

an agreement worked out at the Constitutional Convention establishing that a state's population would determine representation in the lower house of the legislature, while each state would have equal representation in the upper house of the legislature

3/5 compromise

an agreement worked out at the Constitutional Convention stating that only three-fifths of the slaves in a state would count when determining its population for representation in the lower house of Congress

legislative branch

Congress; responsible for proposing and passing laws

executive branch

the president/governor/mayor; makes sure laws are carried out

judicial branch

the courts; interprets laws

checks and balances

a system established by the Constitution that prevents any branch of government from becoming too powerful

antifederalists

people who opposed ratification of the Constitution

To revise the Articles of Confederation

Why did the confederation congress call for a constitutional convention?

federalists

people who supported ratification of the Constitution

federalist papers

a series of essays that defended and explained the Constitution and tried to reassure Americans that the states would not be overpowered by the proposed national government

amendments

official change, correction, or addition to a law or constitution

Bill of Rights

the first 10 amendments to the constitution; ratified in 1791

No taxation without representation

an expression used by colonists to protest taxes passed by the British king and parliament

Boston Massacre

an incident in which British soldiers fired into a crowd of colonists, killing five people

Boston Tea Party

a protest against the Tea Act in which a group of colonists boarded British tea ships and dumped more than 340 chests of tea into Boston Harbor

Intolerable Acts

laws passed by Parliament to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party and to tighten government control of the colonies

First Continental Congress

a meeting of colonial delegates in Philadelphia to decide how to respond to the closing of Boston Harbor, increased taxes, and abuses of authority by the British government; delegates petitioned King George III, listing the freedoms they believed colonists should enjoy

Shot Heard 'Round the World

a phrase that refers to the opening shot of the battles of Lexington and Concord

Battles of Lexington and Concord

marked the start of the American War of Independence

Battle of Bunker Hill

a revolutionary war battle in Boston that demonstrated that the colonists could fight well against the British army

Dorchester Heights

a site where Colonists expelled British forces in Boston in 1776, overlooks the harbor and the South Boston neighborhood

George Washington

Commander of the Continental Army

Continental Army

the army created by the second continental congress in 1775 to defend the american colonies from Britain

patriots

American colonists who fought for independence from Great Britain during the Revolutionary War

redcoats

British soldiers who fought against the colonists in the American Revolution; so called because of their bright red uniforms.

minutemen

American colonial militia members ready to fight at a minute's notice

Common Sense

a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that criticized monarchies and convinced many American colonists of the need to break away from Britain

Thomas Paine

Author of Common Sense; argued that citizens should make laws, not kings and queens.

Thomas Jefferson

Wrote the Declaration of Independence; argued that all people possess unalienable rights, including the rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"

loyalists

colonists who sided with Britain in the American Revolution

Declaration of Independence

the document written to declare the colonies free from British rule

Mercenaries

hired foreign soldiers

Battle of Trenton

a Revolutionary War battle in New Jersey in which Patriot forces captured more than 900 Hessian troops

Battle of Princeton

was a battle of the revolutionary war that was fought near Princeton, New Jersey.

Battle of Saratoga

a Revolutionary War battle in New York that resulted in a major defeat of British troops; marked the Patriots' greatest victory up to that point in the war

Battle of Yorktown

the last major battle of the revolutionary war; site of British general Charles Cornwallis's surrender to the patriots in Virginia

Treaty of Paris

A peace agreement that officially ended the Revolutionary War and established British recognition of the independence of the United States.

General Charles Cornwallis

British general who fought the Patriots in the south; surrounded at Yorktown and surrendered to George Washington

Spain

What European country controlled much of North and South America after the Treaty of Paris?

Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay

Who helped negotiate the treaty of Paris?

shortage of food, clothing, and medicine

What difficulties did the patriots face at Valley Forge?

France and Spain

Which European countries helped the colonists in the Revolutionary War?