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18 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Saratoga
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This battle of the Revolutionary War was fought in Saratoga NY. It was won by the Americans under Horatio Grant on October 17, 1777. Burgoyne completely surrendered his army after being surround by the Americans. The American victory in this battle caused France to give aid to the American cause.
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Articles of Confederation
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The Articles of Confederation were written by Thomas Burke. Ratificaiton of the Articles of Confederation came in 1781. They created a strong statehood for every state. Large states had wanted congressional power divided by population but small states wanted equal representation. The central government that was created by the Confederation raised funds by either petitioning the states for money or printing it.
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Yorktown
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The battle at Yorktown was the decisive American victory that ended the Revolutionary War. Washington sailed his 5,000 Continentals down the Chesapeake Bay and surrounded all escape routes from Yorktown. The French assisted Washington heavily in the battle of Yorktown. French general Rochambeau led his troops of 5,000 to the outskirts of Yorktown. The French navy also won a victory at sea that prevented British reinforcements. On October 19, 1781, Cornwallis surrendered his entire army of 8,000 men. The battle at Yorktown caused the British government to collapse in March of 1782. And it paved the way to peace treaties in Paris.
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Northwest Ordinance of 1787
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The Land Ordinance of 1785 was a precessor to the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. In the Land Ordinance of 1785, the northwest territories were to be surveyed into townships and sections and sold to the public for a dollar an acre. The Ohio Land company bought 1.5 million acres for 1 million dollars. The Constitutional Convention met in July of 1787 to discuss how the Northwest Territory should be governed. The Northwest Oridinance came into being. It authorised the creation of between 3 and 5 states to be admitted to the Union as full equals to the original 13. The congress is to appoint a govornor of the territory until they become states. Arthur St. Clair is appointed govornor. He was the head of the Ohio Land Company. The Northwest Ordinance prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory.
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shay's rebellion
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In 1786 the country was in a deep depression. The Americans are in debt and inflation was soaring. Many states issed stays on debts that were outstanding. Massachusetts increased taxes dramatically. This caused farmers in western Massachusetts to take up arms. It resulted in what is known as Shay's Rebellion. Daniel Shay organizes a militia and attacked a federal arsenal. The rebellion was put down by Benjamin Lincoln and a army of volunteers. Shay's rebellion convinced many people that there was a need to strengthen the central government in order to be protected against these types of rebellions.
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The Great Compromise
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In 1787 the Philidalphia convention met to discuss different plans to strengthen the central government. There were two plans presented at the convention. The Virinia plan was favored by large states because representatives of the states were based on population. The Virgina plan also gave no power to the central government to levy taxes or regulate trade. The New Jersey plan favored smaller states. In New Jersey plan each state had one vote in the legislature. The New Jersey plan gave the Congress the power to levy taxes and levy import duties.
The debate between these two plans was fierce. Roger Sherman introduced the Great Compromise. The Great Compromise was bicameral. In one legislative body, a state elected 2 senators. The other legislative body representatives were elected according to the state's population. The sum of representatives in the Congress would be the electors in the Electoral College that voted for the President. Five slaves counted as three votes in the slave states. It also included the power regulate trade and levy taxes. |
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Citizen Genet
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Citizen Genet is a French ambassador that came over from France to try and enlist American support in the French Revolution. Citizen Genet was very warmly received in America. Before he visited Washington, he started to give letters of marquee to ship owners so that they could pirate British ships. This caused Washington to declare neutrality in the conflict and renounce the treaty with France. The U.S. asked that Citizen Genet be recalled to France.
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Whiskey Rebellion
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The Whiskey Rebellion took place in Pittsburg in July of 1794. Farmers there refused to pay the Whiskey tax. The rebels attacked the tax collector's house and he fled. Two weeks later 6,000 militiamen assembled and threatened to attack Pittsburg. Washington reacted by sending 12,000 federal troops to put down the rebellion. When the army got there, they met no resistance. The result of the Whiskey Rebellion showed that the federal government was powerful and was able to keep order.
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Jay and Pinckney's Treaties
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Jay's treaty in 1794 gained one objective for the US. It made the British redraw their troops from the north-east. In all other aspects the treaty accomplished nothing. It was unpopular in the west and the south.
Pinckney's Treaty with Spain was popular in the south and west. It garanteed the US shipping ability through the city of New Orleans. It established the border between Spain and the US in favor of the US. It's popularity helped Jay's treaty get ratified. |
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XYZ Affair
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When Adams took the presidency a crisis with France was in full swing. France was angered by Jay's treaty and the abrogation of the American-French treaty of 1778.
John Adams sent three delegates to Paris to try and repair relations. They were ignored when they reached the city. Finally three French officials asked for a $250,000 bribe in order to let the Americans see the leader. The Americans responded with "No not a sixpence." It came to be known as the XYZ affair because the French officials were named XYZ in order to not offend the French. |
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Agrarianism
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The agrarian era was roughly between 1790 and 1820. In this era the country was composed largly of rural inhabitants. This culture desired to own property on which they could base their freedom, rank, and power as citizens.
Farmers of the agrarian era were largly self-supporting. Many wives completed industrial outwork. Thomas Jefferson was an Agrarian. He envisioned American yeomen trading farm surpluses for European manufactured goods, thus preventing the growth of factories and cities. |
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Louisiana Purchase
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In 1803 Jefferson bought Louisiana territory from France. Louisiana territory cost 15 million dollars. It was about 800,000 sq. miles.
In 1802 Napoleon had sent a large army to Hispanola to try and retake the island from rebels. It was planned that the army would go on and settle the Mississippi valley after conquering Hispanola. The French army failed to take Hispanola so Napoleon had no need for the Louisiana territorry. President Jefferson had been concerned with France's desire to reconstitute a North American colony, so Jefferson had sent over an emissary to try and negotiate for a tract of land or free passage through New Orleans. France instead offered him the Louisiana Territory. |
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Impressment
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In 1803 Napoleon declared war on Britain. By British law they were able to seize any ships that were trading with France. They could also impress any British citizens on those ships into military service. These practices angered Americans. About 100,000 seamen were impressed into military service including 6,000 American native born citizens. This would in part lead to the Embargo Act.
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Embargo Act
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The Embargo Act was a reaction to the many grievances that the English navy was causing American ships. In one instance, a British frigate named Leopard had opened fire on an American frigate called the Chesapeake. 3 Americans were killed and 18 were wounded. This coupled with the impressment of American sailors into the British navy caused Jefferson to sign the Embargo Act in 1807.
The Embargo Act banned all exports and imports with foriegn countries. Jefferson thought that the British would have valued American food and raw products more than Americans needed European manufactured goods. The Embargo Act failed miserable. The economy had tanked and the end of tarriffs caused a 90% decrease in the federal revenue. |
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Tecumseh
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Tecumseh and his prophet brother rallied Shawnee Indians and other tribes together to try and defeat American expansion into their lands.
Since there was no overall leader among the tribes, some Indians called accomodationists signed treaties with the whites that gave up their land. The Prophet and Tecumseh and their followers founded a town that they called Prophetstown pledged to end further encroachment by whites. Tecumeseh then made an alliance with the British around 1811. This caused Harrison to lead an army against the confederacy. Both sides lost about 150 men but the Americans were able to burn Prophetstown. The Tecumseh confederacy was a threat until after the War of 1812. |
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War Hawks
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A War Hawk was a person that favored war with England. Besides reasons of impressment and the alliance with Tecumseh's Confederacy, War Hawks wanted to take British Canada and Florida. Most War Hawks were from the south. Some famous War Hawk representatives in Congress were Henry Clay and John Calcoun.
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Defense of New Orleans
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In 1815, the British attacked New Orleans right after a peace treaty had been signed. The city was defended by an army of made up of U.S. regulars, Kentucky and Tennesee militiamen, clerks, workingmen, free blacks and about a 1,000 French pirates. They were all under the command of Andrew Jackson. The two armies traded artillary fire until the British launched a frontal assault of 6,000 against an American army of 4,000. After the charge, there were 2,000 British casualties and 70 American.
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Erie Canal
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Rivers and canals were a much faster and cheaper way to move goods than along the roads. In 1817 New York Govornor Dewitt Clinton talked the state legislature into building a canal to link the Hudson River with Lake Erie. This would open the whole great lakes region to shipping. The legislature approved the 7.5 million dollar plan.
The canal was an engineering feat. It spanned 394 miles was 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep. It was completed under budget and on time. Most of the work was done by farmers and Irish immigrants. The canal caused an economical boom for grain farmers and the city of New York. |
