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77 Cards in this Set
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republicanism
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Political theory of representative government, based on the principle of popular sovereignty, with a strong emphasis on liberty and civic virtue. Influential in eighteenth century American political thought, it stood as an alternative to monarchical rule.
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Sugar Act
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Duty on imported sugar from the West Indies. It was the first tax levied on the colonists by the crown and was lowered substantially in response to widespread protests.
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admiralty courts
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Used to try offenders for violating the various Navigation Acts passed by the crown after the French and Indian War. Colonists argued that the courts encroached on their rights as Englishmen since they lacked juries and placed the burden of proof on the accused.
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nonimportation agreements
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Boycotts against British goods adopted in response to the Stamp Act and, later, the Townshend and Intolerable Acts. The agreements were the most effective form of protest against British policies in the colonies.
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Declaratory Act
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Passed alongside the repeal of the Stamp Act, it reaffirmed Parliament’s unqualified sovereignty over the North American colonies.
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committees of correspondence
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Local committees established across Massachusetts, and later in each of the thirteen colonies, to maintain colonial opposition to British policies through the exchange of letters and pamphlets.
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Intolerable (Coercive) Acts
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Series of punitive measures passed in retaliation for the Boston Tea Party, closing the Port of Boston, revoking a number of rights in the Massachusetts colonial charter, and expanding the Quartering Act to allow for the lodging of soldiers in private homes. In response, colonists convened the First Continental Congress and called for a complete boycott of British goods.
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First Continental Congress
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Convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies that convened in Philadelphia to craft a response to the Intolerable Acts. Delegates established Association, which called for a complete boycott of British goods.
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Battles of Lexington and Concord
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First battles of the Revolutionary War, fought outside of Boston. The colonial militia successfully defended their stores of munitions, forcing the British to retreat to Boston.
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mercantilism
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Economic theory that closely linked a nation’s political and military power to its bullion reserves. Mercantilists generally favored protectionism and colonial acquisition as means to increase exports.
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Second Continental Congress
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Representative body of delegates from all thirteen colonies. Drafted the Declaration of Independence and managed the colonial war effort.
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Olive Branch Petition
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Conciliatory measure adopted by the Continental Congress, professing American loyalty and seeking an end to the hostilities. King George rejected the petition and proclaimed the colonies in rebellion.
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Declaration of Independence
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Formal pronouncement of independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson and approved by Congress. The declaration allowed Americans to appeal for foreign aid and served as an inspiration for later revolutionary movements worldwide.
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Declaration of Rights of Man
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Declaration of rights adopted during the French Revolution. Modeled after the American Declaration of Independence.
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Battle of Long Island
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Battle for the control of New York. British troops overwhelmed the colonial militias and retained control of the city for most of the war.
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Model Treaty
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Sample treaty drafted by the Continental Congress as a guide for American diplomats. Reflected the Americans’ desire to foster commercial partnerships rather than political or military entanglements.
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Treaty of Fort Stanwix
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Treaty signed by the United States and the pro-British Iroquois granting Ohio country to the Americans.
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privateers
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Privately-owned armed ships authorized by Congress to prey on enemy shipping during the Revolutionary War. Privateers, more numerous than the tiny American Navy, inflicted heavy damages on British shippers.
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Society of Cincinnati
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Exclusive, hereditary organization of former officers in the Continental Army. Many resented the pretentiousness of the order, viewing it as a vestige of pre-Revolutionary traditions.
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Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
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Measure enacted by the Virginia legislature prohibiting state support for religious institutions and recognizing freedom of worship. Served as a model for the religion clause of the first amendment to the Constitution.
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Articles of Confederation
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First American constitution that established the United States as a loose confederation of states under a weak national Congress, which was not granted the power to regulate commerce or collect taxes. The Articles were replaced by a more efficient Constitution in 1789.
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Northwest Ordinance
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Created a policy for administering the Northwest Territories. It included a path to statehood and forbade the expansion of slavery into the territories.
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New Jersey Plan
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“Small-state plan” put forth at the Philadelphia convention, proposing equal representation by state, regardless of population, in a unicameral legislature. Small states feared that the more populous states would dominate the agenda under a proportional system.
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civil law
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Body of written law enacted through legislative statutes or constitutional provisions. In countries where civil law prevails, judges must apply the statutes precisely as written.
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federalists
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Proponents of the 1787 Constitution, they favored a strong national government, arguing that the checks and balances in the new Constitution would safeguard the people’s liberties.
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Land Ordinance of 1785
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Provided for the sale of land in the Old Northwest and earmarked the proceeds toward repaying the national debt.
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Bill of Rights
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Popular term for the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The amendments secure key rights for individuals and reserve to the states all powers not explicitly delegated or prohibited by the Constitution.
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assumption
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Transfer of debt from one party to another. In order to strengthen the union, the federal government assumed states’ Revolutionary War debts in 1790, thereby tying the interests of wealthy lenders with those of the national government.
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Bank of the United StatesChartered by Congress as part of Alexander Hamilton's financial program, the bank printed paper money and served as a depository for Treasury funds. It drew opposition from Jeffersonian Republicans, who argued that the bank was unconstitutional.
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Reign of Terror
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Ten-month period of brutal repression when some 40,000 individuals were executed as enemies of the French Revolution. While many Jeffersonians maintained their faith in the French Republic, Federalists withdrew their already lukewarm support once the Reign of Terror commenced.
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Battle of Fallen Timbers
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Decisive battle between the Miami confederacy and the U.S. Army. British forces refused to shelter the routed Indians, forcing the latter to attain a peace settlement with the United States.
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Farewell Address
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George Washington's address at the end of his presidency, warning against "permanent alliances" with other nations. Washington did not oppose all alliances, but believed that the young, fledgling nation should forge alliances only on a temporary basis, in extraordinary circumstances.
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Alien Laws
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Acts passed by a Federalist Congress raising the residency requirement for citizenship to fourteen years and granting the president the power to deport dangerous foreigners in times of peace.
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Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
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Statements secretly drafted by Jefferson and Madison for the legislatures of Kentucky and Virginia. Argued that states were the final arbiters of whether the federal government overstepped its boundaries and could therefore nullify, or refuse to accept, national legislation they deemed unconstitutional.
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Hessians
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German troops hired from their princes by George III to aid in putting down the colonial insurrection. This hardened the resolve of American colonists, who resented the use of paid foreign fighters.
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common law
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Laws that originate from court rulings and customs, as opposed to legislative statutes. The United States Constitution grew out of the Anglo-American common law tradition and thus provided only a general organizational framework for the new federal government.
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antifederalists
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Opponents of the 1787 Constitution, they cast the document as antidemocratic, objected to the subordination of the states to the central government, and feared encroachment on individuals’ liberties in the absence of a bill of rights.
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Battle of Trenton
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George Washington surprised and captured a garrison of sleeping German Hessians, raising the morale of his crestfallen army and setting the stage for his victory at Princeton a week later.
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Whiskey Rebellion
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Popular uprising of Whiskey distillers in southwestern Pennsylvania in opposition to an excise tax on Whiskey. In a show of strength and resolve by the new central government, Washington put down the rebellion with militia drawn from several states.
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Battle of Yorktown
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George Washington, with the aid of the French Army, besieged Cornwallis at Yorktown, while the French naval fleet prevented British reinforcements from coming ashore. Cornwallis surrendered, dealing a heavy blow to the British war effort and paving the way for an eventual peace.
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Pinckney’s Treaty
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Signed with Spain which, fearing an Anglo-American alliance, granted Americans free navigation of the Mississippi and the disputed territory of Florida.
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disestablished
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To separate an official state church from its connection with the government. Following the Revolution, all states disestablished the Anglican Church, though some New England states maintained established Congregational Churches well into the nineteenth century.
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Convention of 1800
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Agreement to formally dissolve the United States' treaty with France, originally signed during the Revolutionary War. The difficulties posed by America’s peacetime alliance with France contributed to Americans’ longstanding opposition to entangling alliances with foreign powers.
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excise tax
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Tax on goods produced domestically. Excise taxes, particularly the 1791 tax on whiskey, were a highly controversial component of Alexander Hamilton’s financial program.
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Shays’ Rebellion
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Armed uprising of western Massachusetts debtors seeking lower taxes and an end to property foreclosures. Though quickly put down, the insurrection inspired fears of “mob rule” among leading Revolutionaries.
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Armed Neutrality
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Loose alliance of nonbelligerent naval powers, organized by Russia’s Catherine the Great, to protect neutral trading rights during the war for American independence.
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stamp tax
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Widely-unpopular tax on an array of paper goods, repealed in 1766 after mass protests erupted across the colonies. Colonists developed the principle of “no taxation without representation” which questioned Parliament’s authority over the colonies and laid the foundation for future revolutionary claims.
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Old Northwest
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Territories acquired by the federal government from the states, encompassing land northwest of the Ohio River, east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes. The well-organized management and sale of the land in the territories under the land ordinances of 1785 and 1787 established a precedent for handling future land acquisitions.
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Great Compromise
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Popular term for the measure which reconciled the New Jersey and Virginia plans at the constitutional convention, giving states proportional representation in the House and equal representation in the Senate. The compromise broke the stalemate at the convention and paved the way for subsequent compromises over slavery and the Electoral College.
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Judiciary Act of 1789
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Organized the federal legal system, establishing the Supreme Court, federal district and circuit courts, and the office of the attorney general.
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Neutrality Proclamation
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Issued by George Washington, it proclaiming America's formal neutrality in the escalating conflict between England and France, a statement that enraged pro-French Jeffersonians.
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XYZ Affair
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Diplomatic conflict between France and the United States when American envoys to France were asked to pay a hefty bribe for the privilege of meeting with the French foreign minister. Many in the U.S. called for war against France, while American sailors and privateers waged an undeclared war against French merchants in the Caribbean.
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radical Whigs
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Eighteenth-century British political commentators who agitated against political corruption and emphasized the threat to liberty posed by arbitrary power. Their writings shaped American political thought and made colonists especially alert to encroachments on their rights.
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Stamp Act Congress
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Assembly of delegates from nine colonies who met in New York City to draft a petition for the repeal of the Stamp Act. Helped ease sectional suspicions and promote intercolonial unity.
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Townshend Acts
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External, or indirect, levies on glass, white lead, paper, paint and tea, the proceeds of which were used to pay colonial governors, who had previously been paid directly by colonial assemblies. Sparked another round of protests in the colonies.
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Quartering Act
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Required colonies to provide food and quarters for British troops. Many colonists resented the act, which they perceived as an encroachment on their rights.
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Sons of Liberty
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Patriotic groups that played a central role in agitating against the Stamp Act and enforcing non-importation agreements. (See also Daughters of Liberty)
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Daughters of Liberty
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Patriotic groups that played a central role in agitating against the Stamp Act and enforcing non-importation agreements. (See also Sons of Liberty)
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Boston Massacre
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Clash between unruly Bostonian protestors and locally-stationed British redcoats, who fired on the jeering crowd, killing or wounding eleven citizens. (133) (Chapter 7)
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Boston Tea Party
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Rowdy protest against the British East India Company’s newly-acquired monopoly on the tea trade. Colonists, disguised as Indians, dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston harbor, prompting harsh sanctions from the British Parliament.
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Quebec Act
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Allowed the French residents of Québec to retain their traditional political and religious institutions, and extended the boundaries of the province southward to the Ohio River. Mistakenly perceived by the colonists to be part of Parliament’s response to the Boston Tea Party.
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The Association
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Non-importation agreement crafted during the First Continental Congress calling for the complete boycott of British goods.
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Valley Forge
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Encampment where George Washington’s poorly-equipped army spent a wretched, freezing winter. Hundreds of men died and more than a thousand deserted. The plight of the starving, shivering soldiers reflected the main weakness of the American army–a lack of stable supplies and munitions.
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Battle of bunker Hill
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Fought on the outskirts of Boston, on Breed’s Hill, the battle ended in the colonial militia’s retreat, though at a heavy cost to the British.
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Common Sense
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Thomas Paine’s pamphlet urging the colonies to declare independence and establish a republican government. The widely-read pamphlet helped convince colonists to support the Revolution.
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Loyalists
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American colonists who opposed the Revolution and maintained their loyalty to the King; sometimes referred to as “Tories”.
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Patriots
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Colonists who supported the American Revolution; they were also known as “Whigs”.
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Battle of Saratoga
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Decisive colonial victory in upstate New York, which helped secure French support for the Revolutionary cause.
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Treaty of Paris
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Peace treaty signed by Britain and the United States ending the Revolutionary War. The British formally recognized American independence and ceded territory east of the Mississippi while the Americans, in turn, promised to restore Loyalist property and repay debts to British creditors.
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civic virtue
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Willingness on the part of citizens to sacrifice personal self-interest for the public good. Deemed a necessary component of a successful republic.
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Virginia Plan
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“Large state” proposal for the new constitution, calling for proportional representation in both houses of a bicameral Congress. The plan favored larger states and thus prompted smaller states to come back with their own plan for apportioning representation.
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three-fifths compromise
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Determined that each slave would be counted as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of apportioning taxes and representation. The compromise granted disproportionate political power to Southern slave states.
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The Federalist
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Collection of essays written by John Jay, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton and published during the ratification debate in New York to lay out the Federalists’ arguments in favor of the new Constitution. Since their publication, these influential essays have served as an important source for constitutional interpretation.
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funding at par
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Payment of debts, such as government bonds, at face value. In 1790, Alexander Hamilton proposed that the federal government pay its Revolutionary war debts in full in order to bolster the nation’s credit.
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tariff
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Tax levied on imports. Traditionally, manufacturers support tariffs as protective and revenue-raising measures, while agricultural interests, dependent on world markets, oppose high tariffs.
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Treaty of Greenville
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Under the terms of the treaty, the Miami Confederacy agreed to cede territory in the Old Northwest to the United States in exchange for cash payment, hunting rights and formal recognition of their sovereign status.
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Sedition Act
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Enacted by the Federalist Congress in an effort to clamp down on Jeffersonian opposition, the law made anyone convicted of defaming government officials or interfering with government policies liable to imprisonment and a heavy fine. The act drew heavy criticism from Republicans, who let the act expire in 1801.
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