APUSH P3

Key Terms:

• Natural Rights: Philosophy that John Locke advocated for that entailed the American's rights to life, liberty, and property. The Americans had the right to overthrow the government if they deemed it unjust.

• Stamp Act: 1765 tax that Britain imposed on the American colonies to pay off the debt from the French and Indian War. It taxed the colonists without representation and challenged Parliament's power over the Americans.

• Kentucky & Virginia Resolutions: Thomas Jefferson and James Madison covertly wrote those documents to argue that states had the right to nullify (invalidate) the Federal Government's legislation if it was unconstitutional.

• Boston Tea Party: A political protest organized by the Sons of Liberty in 1773, where colonists, disguised as Mohawk Indians, dumped 342 chests of British tea into Boston Harbor as a response to the Tea Act, asserting their rights against taxation without representation.

  1. French and Indian War / Seven Years' War

• Treaty of Paris (1763) — Ended the French and Indian War; Britain gained French Canada and land east of Mississippi River.

• Proclamation of 1763 — British law forbidding colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains to avoid Native conflict.

• Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763) — Native American uprising against British forts and settlers; led to British issuing the Proclamation.

2. Road to Revolution

• Sugar Act (1764) — Tax on sugar and molasses imports; aimed at raising revenue to pay war debt.

• Stamp Act (1765) — First direct tax on printed materials; sparked widespread colonial protests (“No taxation without representation”).

• Townshend Acts (1767) — Taxes on imports like glass, paper, tea; reignited protests and boycotts.

• Boston Massacre (1770) — British soldiers killed five colonists during a confrontation; used as anti-British propaganda.

• Tea Act (1773) — Allowed British East India Company to sell tea cheaply in colonies, undermined colonial merchants.

• Boston Tea Party (1773) — Colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor to protest Tea Act.

• Sons of Liberty — Secret group that opposed British policies using protests and intimidation.

3. Revolutionary War

• Lexington and Concord (1775) — First battles of the Revolution (“shot heard ‘round the world”).

• Declaration of Independence (1776) — Document declaring U.S. independence; justified with Enlightenment ideas.

• Battle of Saratoga (1777) — Turning point of war; American victory convinced France to ally with U.S.

4. Articles of Confederation and Constitution

• Articles of Confederation (1781–1789) — First U.S. government; weak central power, strong states.

• Northwest Ordinance (1787) — Law organizing Northwest Territory and setting rules for statehood; banned slavery there.

• Shays’ Rebellion (1786–1787) — Farmer uprising in Massachusetts against taxes; showed weaknesses of Articles.

• Constitutional Convention (1787) — Meeting to revise Articles; created the U.S. Constitution.

• The Great Compromise — Combined Virginia (population-based) and New Jersey (equal state) plans; created bicameral Congress.

• Three-Fifths Compromise — Counted 3/5 of enslaved people for representation and taxation purposes.

• Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists — Federalists supported Constitution; Anti-Federalists wanted more state power & Bill of Rights.

• The Federalist Papers — Essays by Hamilton, Madison, Jay defending the Constitution.

• Bill of Rights (1791) — First 10 amendments protecting individual liberties.

5. Early Republic / Washington and Adams Administrations

• George Washington’s Farewell Address (1796) — Warned against political parties and foreign alliances.

• Hamilton’s Financial Plan — Plan to stabilize U.S. economy: assume state debts, create national bank, tax whiskey, encourage manufacturing.

• First Bank of the United States (1791) — National bank to stabilize economy and manage government funds.

• Whiskey Rebellion (1794) — Farmers’ revolt against whiskey tax; crushed by Washington, showing federal power.

• Proclamation of Neutrality (1793) — U.S. stayed neutral during French Revolutionary Wars.

• Jay’s Treaty (1794) — Treaty with Britain to resolve issues post-Revolution; unpopular but avoided war.

• Pinckney’s Treaty (1795) — Treaty with Spain; U.S. got access to Mississippi River and New Orleans port.

• Alien and Sedition Acts (1798) — Laws to silence immigrants and critics of Federalist government.

• Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions (1798–1799) — Asserted states could nullify unconstitutional federal laws.

• Election of 1800 ("Revolution of 1800") — Peaceful transfer of power from Federalists to Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson).

6. Political Ideologies & Movements

• Republican Motherhood — Belief that women should educate their children in republican values.

• Enlightenment Ideas — Philosophical ideas promoting liberty, equality, democracy (John Locke = natural rights, Montesquieu = separation of powers).

• Mercantilism — Economic theory that colonies exist to benefit the mother country (Britain).

• Salutary Neglect — British policy of loosely enforcing colonial laws, leading to self-government traditions.