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Anti-Federalist v. Federalist Debate
heated discussion occurred over the details of a new Constitution for the U.S. Those one one side wanted a strong federal government, wanted the wealthy and educated to lead and was led by Alexander Hamilton. The opposing group believed the states should hold more power all people should be represented in the government, and was led by Thomas Jefferson.
Articles of Confederation
first constitution of the United States created in reaction to the abuses of the British crown. Had many weaknesses like a weak federal government, states could print their own money and only one branch of government--the legislative branch.
3/5 Compromise
One part of the new Constitution (1787) which addressed concerns about representation in Congress. It said slaves would be counted as three-fifths a free person when apportioning Representatives, as well as Presidential electors and taxes in a given state.
Great Compromise
One part of the new Constitution (1787) which addressed concerns about representation in Congress. It reconciled the Virginia Plan (a House of Representatives based on state population) and New Jersey Plan (a Senate based on equality of each state) to create a bicameral legislature.
New Jersey Plan
A proposal led by small states during the Constitutional Convention. It proposed creating a single house Congress based on the equal representation for each state (a Senate).
Virginia Plan
A proposal led by large states during the Constitutional Convention. It proposed creating a single house Congress based on the population of each state (House of Representatives).
Coercive/Intolerable Acts
a series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. They were meant to punish the Massachusetts colonists for their defiance of throwing a large tea shipment into Boston Harbor in reaction to being taxed by the British.
Proclamation of 1763
was issued by King George and forbade all British colonial settlement past a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains in favor of reserving the western land for American Indians.
Stamp Act (1765)
an act of Parliament that imposed a direct tax on the colonies of British America and required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp. Enacted to raise money for the crown.
Sugar Act (1764)
a law enacted and aimed at ending the smuggling trade in sugar and molasses from the French and Dutch West Indies to the British colonies and at providing increased revenues to pay back the crown for fighting the French and Indian War.
Tea Act (1773)
law enacted to reduce the massive amount of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses and to help the struggling company survive. A related objective was to undercut the price of illegal tea, smuggled into Britain's North American colonies.
Townshend Acts (1767)
series of laws enacted to tax certain goods such as: glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea. In response to the sometimes violent colonial protests, Great Britain sent more troops to the colonies.
Common Sense (1776)
a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1776 advocating colonial independence from Great Britain. Published when many colonists did not want independence from Britain, it made a clear and persuasive argument using Enlightenment thought to encourage colonists to fight for egalitarian government.
The American Crisis
a pamphlet series by 18th century Enlightenment philosopher and author Thomas Paine, originally published from 1776 to 1783 during the American Revolution. One of the pamphlets is famous for starting with the line, "These are the times that try men's souls..."
First Continental Congress (1774)
was a meeting of colonial delegates in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was called in response to passage of the Coercive Acts (also known as Intolerable Acts by the Colonial Americans) by the British Parliament. The Intolerable Acts had punished Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party.
Non-Importation Agreement
were a series of commercial restrictions adopted by American colonists (boycott) to protest British revenue policies prior to the American Revolution.
Olive Branch Petition (1775)
a letter to King George III, from members of the Continental Congress, which represents the last attempt by the colonists to resolve the tension with Britain peacefully. The King rejected the letter and threatened to hang the Congressmen.
Abigail Adams
the closest adviser and wife of John Adams, as well as the mother of John Quincy Adams. She is considered to have been a Founder of the United States due to her influence over her husband. She had some radical beliefs such as she wanted women and blacks involved in politics.
Alexander Hamilton
Founding Father and leader of the Federalist party. He was the architect of the American economic system. Was killed in a dual with the Aaron Burr.
Crispus Attucks
runaway slave living in Boston. He was the first person killed in the Boston Massacre and considered by some to be the first casualty of the American Revolution.
James Madison
was an American statesman and Founding Father from Virginia who served as the fourth President of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Prior to the presidency, he wrote large parts of the Constitution.
John Adams
was a leader of the American Revolution, and served as the second U.S. president from 1797 to 1801. Continental Congress leader from Massachusetts.
King George III
King of Great Britain during the American Revolution.
Lord Cornwallis
Led the British Southern army during the American Revolution. His army was finally defeated at Yorktown by George Washington Daniel Morgan and Nathaniel Greene.
Loyalist/Tories
were American colonists who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War.
Sons of Liberty
secret society was formed to fight taxation and other forms oppression by the British government. A group of men from the "lower sort" but was organized by the wealthy patriots Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
Thomas Paine
English-American writer and political pamphleteer whose Common Sense and "American Crisis" papers espoused Enlightenment ideas and were important influences on the American Revolution.
Battle of Saratoga
A major battle of the Revolutionary War, fought in 1777 in northern New York state. Benedict Arnold, who had not yet turned traitor, was a leader of the American offensive, which forced the surrender of British troops under General John Burgoyne.
Boston Massacre
was an incident on March 5, 1770, in which British Army soldiers shot and killed a group of colonials while under attack by a colonial mob.
Boston Tea Party
incident in which 342 chests of tea belonging to the British East India Company were thrown from ships into Boston Harbor by American patriots disguised as Mohawk Indians.
French Revolution
a period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France that lasted from 1789 until 1799. It was inspired by Enlightenment thought and the American Revolution.
Haitian Revolution
a successful anti-slavery and anti-colonial insurrection that took place in the former French colony of Haiti that lasted from 1791 until 1804. It was inspired by the French and American Revolutions.
Pontiac's Rebellion
was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of elements of Native American tribes, primarily from the Great Lakes region, the Illinois Country, and Ohio Country who were dissatisfied with British postwar policies after the British victory in the French and Indian War.
Shays' Rebellion
an armed uprising in Massachusetts during 1786 and 1787. Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays led four thousand rebels in an uprising against perceived economic and civil rights injustices. It exposed the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
Paul Revere
American silversmith remembered for his midnight ride (celebrated in a poem by Longfellow) to warn the colonists in Lexington and Concord that Redcoats were coming (1735-1818) specifically to get John Hancock and John Adams
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The first military engagement of the Revolutionary War. It occurred on April 19, 1775, when British soldiers fired into a much smaller body of minutemen on Lexington green. Known as the "Shot heard round the world."
John Hancock
Patriot leader and president of the Continental Congress; first person to sign the Declaration of Independence. Leader of the Sons of Liberty.
Samuel Adams
American Revolutionary leader and patriot, Founder of the Sons of Liberty and one of the most vocal patriots for independence; signed the Declaration of Independence
Battle of Yorktown (1781)
Was a decisive victory by a combined assault of American forces led by General George Washington with help from the French navy. It proved to be the last major battle of the American Revolutionary War.
Daughters of Liberty
This organization supported the boycott of British goods. They urged Americans to wear homemade fabrics and produce other goods that were previously available only from Britain. Organized in protest of the Townshend Acts.
Treat of Paris 1783
a peace agreement that officially ended the Revolutionary War and established British recognition of the independence of the US gave and made the boarders of the new country the Mississippi River, Great Lakes and Florida/Georgia border.
Washington's Farewell Address
Warned Americans not to get involved in European affairs, not to make permanent alliances, not to form political parties.
Republican Agrarianism
Jefferson's vision of America that every family had to have their own land and farm.
Shay's Rebellion
Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787, protesting mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted the need for a strong national government and federal military just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went out.
“Virtual Representation”
British governmental theory that Parliament spoke for all British subjects, including Americans, even if they did not vote for its members.
The Federalist Papers
a series of 85 essays written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay (using the name "publius") published in NY newspapers and used to convice readers and state leaders to ratify the new constitution
Gradual Emancipation
A series of acts passed in state legislatures throughout the North in the years following the Revolution that freed slaves after they reached a certain age.
Enlightenment
A movement in the 18th century that advocated the use of reason in the reappraisal of accepted ideas and social institutions.
John Locke
English philosopher who advocated the idea of a "social contract" in which government powers are derived from the consent of the governed and in which the government serves the people; also said people have natural rights to life, liberty and property.
Diesm
Natural Religion, the idea that god created a rational universe based on natural law and does not intervene. Popularized among intellectuals during the Enlightenment.
