Chapter 6 Vocabulary

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General George Washington

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Initially the commander of Virginia's frontier troops, he was a colonel military leader for the British in the French and Indian War (Fort Necessity). Later, he was Commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. His greatest achievements were: his surprise victory at Trenton, holding the army together at Valley Forge, and his major victory at Yorktown.

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General Horatio Gates

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A colonial general who forced Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga (1777).

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Battle of Saratoga (1777)

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A multistage battle in New York ending with the surrender of British general John Burgoyne. The victory ensured the diplomatic success of American representatives in Paris, who won a military alliance with France.

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Baron von Steuben

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Inspector general and major general in the Continental Army. Taught military skills and discipline to the army

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Valley Forge

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A military camp in which George Washington’s army of 12,000 soldiers and hundreds of camp followers suffered horribly in the winter of 1777-1778.

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Battle of Yorktown (1781)

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A battle in which French and American troops and a French fleet trapped the British army under the command of General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. The Franco-American victory broke the resolve of the British government.

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Currency Tax

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A hidden tax on the farmers and artisans who accepted Continental bills in payment for supplies and on the thousands of soldiers who took them as pay. Because of rampant inflation, Continental currency lost much of its value during the war, thus the implicit tax on those who accepted it as payment.

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Treaty of Paris (1783)

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The treaty that ended the Revolutionary War. In the treaty, Great Britain formally recognized American independence and relinquished its claim to lands south of the Great Lakes and east of the Mississippi River.

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Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776

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A constitution that granted all taxpaying men the right to vote and hold office and created a unicameral (one-house) legislature with complete power; there was no governor to exercise a veto. Other provisions mandated a system of elementary education and protected citizens from imprisonment for debt.

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Mixed Government

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John Adam’s theory from “Thoughts on Government” (1776), which called for three branches of government, each representing one function: executive, legislative, and judicial. This system of dispersed authority was devised to maintain a balance of power and ensure the legitimacy of governmental procedures.

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Judith Sargent Murray

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Published essay defending women's right for education. Said men and women are equal in intelligence/potential, so they should have same educational opportunities also, have opportunity to earn own living and not just be wives/mothers. inspired future women, but not popular during her lifetime

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Articles of Confederation

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The written document defining the structure of the government from 1781 to 1788, under which the Union was a confederation of equal states, with no executive and limited powers, existing mainly to foster a common defense.

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Northwest Ordinance of 1787

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A land act that provided for orderly settlement and established a process by which settled territories would become the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. It also banned slavery in the Northwest Territory.

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Shay’s Rebellion

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A 1786-1787 uprising led by dissident farmers in Western Massachusetts, many of them Revolutionary War veterans, protesting the taxation policies of the eastern elites who controlled the state’s government.

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Virginia Plan

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A plan drafted by James Madison that was presented at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention. It designed a powerful three-branch government, with representation in both houses of the congress tied to population; this plan would have eclipsed the voice of small states in the national government.

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James Madison

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The author of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, Madison was also the father of the Federalist party and the fourth President of the United States. He was President during the war of 1812 and was also Vice-President under Jefferson. He was a great statesman but was not a strong president.

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New Jersey Plan

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Alternative to the Virginia Plan drafted by delegates from small states, retaining the confederation’s single-house congress with one vote per state. It shared with the Virginia Plan enhanced congressional powers to raise revenue, control commerce, and make binding requisitions on the states.

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Federalists

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Supporters of the Constitution of 1787, which created a strong central government; their opponents, the Anti-Federalists, feared that a strong central government would corrupt the nation's newly won liberty.

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Anti-Federalists

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Opponents of ratification of the Constitution. Antifederalists feared that a powerful and distant central government would be out of touch with the needs of the citizens. They also complained that it failed to guarantee individual liberties in a bill of rights.

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Federalist No. 10

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An essay by James Madison in “The Federalist” (1787-1788) that challenged the view that republican governments only worked in small politics; it argued that a geographically expansive national government would better protect republican liberty.