Unit 1-3
Study Guide: Dr. Davis’s Preparation Sheet for the Unit 1-3 Assessment
Colonial Systems and Events
General Features of New Spain, New France, and British North America
New Spain: Primarily focused on converting Native Americans to Christianity, gold, and labor. Strong influence of Catholicism.
New France: Based on the fur trade, with fewer settlers, more cooperative relationships with Native Americans.
British North America: Primarily focused on settlement, agriculture, and trade. Conflict with Native Americans and an emphasis on self-government.
Important Systems
Headright System: Land grants given to settlers (in Virginia) to encourage colonization.
Indentured Servitude: People worked for a set number of years in exchange for passage to the New World.
Slave Trade: The forced transportation of Africans to work in the colonies, especially in the southern colonies.
Columbian Exchange: The exchange of goods, people, diseases, and ideas between the Old and New Worlds.
Atlantic World: The interconnected economies and societies across Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
Fur Trade: Economic system in New France where fur, especially beaver pelts, were traded with Native Americans.
Puritan Families (Structure and Roles)
Family was central to Puritan life. Patriarchal society with clear gender roles; men worked outside, while women managed the home and children.
Bacon’s Rebellion (Causes and Effects)
Causes: Frustration with Virginia's government over its handling of Native American relations, and economic inequality.
Effects: Showed tensions between wealthy planters and poor settlers, leading to a shift away from indentured servitude toward African slavery.
Indigenous Responses to Colonization
Varied: some tribes tried to cooperate and trade with Europeans, while others resisted or were displaced through violence, disease, and warfare.
The French and Indian War
Causes and Effects
Causes: Competition between Britain and France for territory in North America; Native American alliances.
Effects: Britain gains control of Canada and much of North America, but it also gains significant war debt, leading to increased taxation on the colonies.
Albany Plan of Union
Proposed by Benjamin Franklin, it called for a unified government for the colonies, but it was rejected. This demonstrated early ideas of colonial unity.
Roles of Britain and France
Britain: Wanted to expand its empire in North America.
France: Focused on trade and maintaining alliances with Native Americans, but ultimately lost the war.
The Road to Revolution
Stamp Act: Tax on paper goods, leading to widespread colonial protest and "No taxation without representation."
Boston Massacre: British soldiers killed five colonists, inflaming anti-British sentiment.
Quartering Act: Required colonists to house British troops, which caused anger.
Intolerable Acts: Punitive measures taken in response to the Boston Tea Party, including closing Boston Harbor.
Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation: Offered freedom to slaves who fought for the British, causing divisions within the colonies.
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense: A pamphlet advocating for independence, urging colonists to break from Britain.
The Declaration of Independence: Declared the colonies' independence from Britain, focusing on unalienable rights (life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness).
Republican Motherhood: The idea that women should educate their children to be virtuous citizens.
Articles of Confederation
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths: Set up a loose confederation of states with a system for handling western lands.
Weaknesses: No power to tax, no executive branch, and no national military.
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
Federalists: Wanted a strong central government (e.g., Alexander Hamilton).
Anti-Federalists: Favored stronger state governments and feared centralized power (e.g., Thomas Jefferson).
The Federalist Papers: A series of essays written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay advocating for ratification of the Constitution.
Constitutional Principles
The Elastic Clause: Allows Congress to make all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out its powers.
The Supremacy Clause: States that the Constitution and federal laws are the supreme law of the land.
Separation of Powers: Divides government into three branches (legislative, executive, and judicial) to prevent abuse of power.
Checks and Balances: Each branch of government can limit the powers of the other branches.
The Bill of Rights: The first ten amendments to the Constitution guaranteeing individual rights and liberties.
Partisanship and Policy, 1790-1803
Ideology of the Federalist Party: Strong central government, pro-British, supported industrialization and a national bank.
Ideology of the Democrat-Republican Party (Jeffersonianism): States’ rights, pro-French, agrarian-based economy, limited federal power.
Quasi War: An undeclared naval war between the U.S. and France in the late 1790s.
XYZ Affair: A diplomatic incident with France that led to anti-French sentiment and the Quasi War.
Alien and Sedition Acts: Laws that targeted immigrants and curtailed freedom of speech.
Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions: Proposed that states could nullify unconstitutional federal laws.
Marbury v. Madison & Judicial Review: Established the principle that the Supreme Court can declare laws unconstitutional.
Louisiana Purchase
Significance: Doubled the size of the U.S., acquired from France under President Jefferson in 1803, expanding westward.
George Washington’s Foreign Policy
The Genet Affair: French ambassador Genet tried to gain American support for France’s war efforts, which violated U.S. neutrality.
Proclamation of Neutrality: Washington declared the U.S. would remain neutral in European conflicts.
Native Wars: Conflicts with Native Americans in the western territories during Washington’s presidency.
Jay’s Treaty: An agreement with Britain to resolve post-Revolutionary War issues, unpopular but helped prevent war.
Farewell Address: Washington urged the nation to avoid foreign alliances and political parties.
Democrat-Republican critiques of GW’s foreign policy: Argued that Washington's neutrality and alliances with Britain were too pro-British and did not respect France.
The War of 1812
Causes and Effects: British interference with American trade and impressment of American sailors. Led to a sense of national pride and the eventual decline of the Federalist Party.
Tecumseh’s Role: A Native American leader who allied with the British against the U.S.
The Creek War: A conflict with the Creek Nation that was part of the War of 1812.
Hartford Convention: A meeting of Federalists who opposed the War of 1812 and discussed secession, which led to the party’s decline.
The Market Revolution
Key Inventions: Steam engine, telegraph, cotton gin—led to industrialization, increased transportation, and communication.
The Lowell System: A factory system that employed young women to work in textile mills in Massachusetts.
The Missouri Compromise
Causes and Effects: The balance of free and slave states; led to Missouri entering as a slave state and Maine as a free state. Established the 36°30' line for future states' slave/free status.
James Monroe’s Foreign Policy
Monroe Doctrine: Warned European powers to stay out of the Western Hemisphere, signaling U.S. dominance in the Americas.
Adams-Onis Treaty: Spain ceded Florida to the U.S. and established a boundary between the U.S. and Spanish territories.
Jacksonian America
Nullification Crisis: Southern states, led by South Carolina, argued they could nullify federal tariffs, leading to a confrontation with Jackson.
Indian Removal: Forced relocation of Native American tribes, notably the Cherokee, leading to the Trail of Tears.
The Bank War: Jackson opposed the national bank, seeing it as a tool for the elite, and fought to dismantle it.
Major Rebellions
Bacon’s Rebellion: Virginia’s poor settlers rebelled against the government’s inability to protect them from Native American raids.
Paxton Boys Uprising/Massacre: A violent response to Native American attacks in Pennsylvania.
Shays’s Rebellion: A revolt of farmers in Massachusetts protesting economic injustices.
Whiskey Rebellion: A protest against the federal excise tax on whiskey, demonstrating the strength of the new national government under Washington.
This guide covers the key events, concepts, and people from the early history of the United States. Study these topics, focusing on causes and effects, important figures, and major themes like the development of government and social structures.