Reading...
Play button
Play button
Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
51 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
|
Navigation Acts
|
1651 & 1673
English passed 4 Navigation Acts meant to ensure the proper mercantilist trade balance. 1. Only English or English colonial ships could carry cargo between imperial ports. 2. Certain goods - tobacco, rice, & furs, couldn't be shipped to foreign nations except through England or Scotland. 3. English would pay “bounties” to Americans who produced certain raw goods, while raising protectionist tariffs on the same goods produced in other nations. 4. Americans could not compete with English manuf. in large-scale manufacturing. The Navigation Acts severely restricted colonial trade, to the benefit of England. |
3 Rules for English benefit
|
|
|
French & Indian War
|
Cause: Clash between the French & English over colonial territory and wealth.
Washington and a number of men headed to the Ohio region to deliver a message to the French. Their troops must withdraw from the territory. The demand was rejected. The 1763 Treaty of Paris, which also ended the European Seven Years War, set the terms by which France would capitulate. Under the treaty, France was forced to surrender all of her American possessions to the British and the Spanish. |
|
|
|
Pontiac's Rebellion
|
Ottawa chief Pontiac in 1763 led violent campaign to drive British out of Ohio Valley.
|
|
|
|
Proclaimation of 1763
|
The Proclamation Line
In efforts to keep peace with the Native Americans, the British government established the Proclamation Line in 1763, barring colonial settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania. The Proclamation declared that colonists already settled in this region must remove themselves, negating colonists’ claims to the West and thus inhibiting colonial expansion. |
|
|
|
George Grenville
|
King George III and his prime minister, George Grenville, noted that the colonists had benefited most from the expensive war and yet had paid very little in comparison to citizens living in England.
Prime Minister Grenville and his followers retorted that Americans were obliged to pay Parliamentary taxes because they shared the same status as many British males who did not have enough property to be granted the vote or who lived in certain large cities that had no seats in Parliament. He claimed that all of these people were “virtually represented” in Parliament. This theory of virtual representation held that the members of Parliament not only represented their specific geographical constituencies, but they also considered the well-being of all British subjects when deliberating on legislation. |
|
|
|
Sugar Act
|
The Sugar Act
In 1764, Parliament passed the Sugar Act to counter smuggling of foreign sugar and to establish a British monopoly in the American sugar market. The act also allowed royal officials to seize colonial cargo with little or no legal cause. Unlike previous acts, which had regulated trade to boost the entire British imperial economy, the Sugar Act was designed to benefit England at the expense of the American colonists. A major criticism of the Sugar Act was that it aimed not to regulate the economy of the British Empire but to raise revenue for the British government. This distinction became important as the colonists determined which actions of the British government warranted resistance. |
|
|
|
Stamp Act
|
As a further measure to force the colonies to help pay off the war debt, Prime Minister Grenville pushed the Stamp Act through Parliament in March 1765. This act required Americans to buy special watermarked paper for newspapers, playing cards, and legal documents such as wills and marriage licenses. Violators faced juryless trials in Nova Scotian vice-admiralty courts, where guilt was presumed until innocence was proven.
Like the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act was aimed at raising revenue from the colonists. As such, it elicited fierce colonial resistance. In the colonies, legal pamphlets circulated condemning the act on the grounds that it was “taxation without representation.” Colonists believed they should not have to pay Parliamentary taxes because they did not elect any members of Parliament. They argued that they should be able to determine their own taxes independent of Parliament. |
|
|
|
Quartering Act
|
The Quartering Act required colonial legislatures to pay for certain goods for soldiers stationed within their borders. The goods were generally inexpensive, and the law only applied to soldiers in settled areas, not on the frontier. Most colonies were not dramatically affected by the payments, but New York, which had more soldiers stationed within its boundaries than any other colony, was more greatly burdened by the Quartering Act, and refused to comply with the law.
|
|
|
|
Currency Act
|
- dire need had forced colonies to issue paper money, which depreciated. This restrained colonial legislators from printing paper currency or passing lax bankruptcy laws.
|
|
|
|
Stamp Act Congress
|
Representatives of nine colonial assemblies met in New York City in October 1765 in anger over the Stamp Act. The colonies agreed that Parliament could not tax anyone outside of Great Britain and could not deny anyone a fair trial, both of which had been dictates of the Stamp Act. The meeting marked a new level of colonial political organization.
|
|
|
|
Declaratory Act
|
Passed in 1776 just after the repeal of the Stamp Act. The Declaratory Act stated that Parliament could legislate for the colonies in all cases. Most colonists interpreted the act as a face-saving mechanism and nothing more. Parliament, however, continually interpreted the act in its broadest sense in order to control the colonies.
|
|
|
|
Charles Townshend
|
In August 1766, months after the repeal of the Stamp Act, King George III dismissed the Rockingham government and chose William Pitt as the new prime minister. Pitt opposed taxing the colonies, and the colonists widely supported this move. However, Pitt became seriously ill shortly after assuming office, and effective control of the government, and colonial policy, passed to Charles Townshend, the chancellor of the exchequer (treasurer).
Townshend Duties - Parliament passed the Revenue Act of 1767 on July 2, 1767. Popularly referred to as the Townshend duties, the Revenue Act taxed glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea entering the colonies. The colonists objected to the fact that it was clearly designed more to raise revenue than to regulate trade in a manner favorable to the British Empire. |
|
|
|
Townshend Acts
|
Parliament passed the Revenue Act of 1767 on July 2, 1767. Popularly referred to as the Townshend duties, the Revenue Act taxed glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea entering the colonies. The colonists objected to the fact that it was clearly designed more to raise revenue than to regulate trade in a manner favorable to the British Empire.
|
|
|
|
John Dickenson
|
Published "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies", in an attempt to justify colonial "rights", attacked the Townshend duties that emphasized the illegal collecting internal taxes as opposed to regulating commerce.
In an attempt to create a unified national government, John Dickinson brought the Articles of Confederation to the Continental Congress in July 1776. Congress adopted the Articles and sent copies out for ratification by state legislatures; the Articles became law in 1781. |
|
|
|
Boston Massacre
|
In March 1770, a crowd of colonists protested against Boston customs agents and the Townsend Duties. Violence flared and five colonists were killed.
|
|
|
|
Gaspee Incident
|
The Gaspee, a British customs ship is burned by more than 100 Rhode Island colonists in an open act of defiance against Great Britain.
|
|
|
|
Tea Act
|
In an effort to save the company, Parliament passed the Tea Act in 1773, which eliminated import tariffs on tea entering England and allowed the company to sell directly to consumers rather than through merchants. These changes lowered the price of British tea to below that of smuggled tea, which the British hoped would end the boycott. Parliament planned to use the profits from tea sales to pay the salaries of the colonial royal governors, a move which, like the Townshend Duties, particularly angered colonists.
While protests of the Tea Act in the form of tea boycotts and the burning of tea cargos occurred throughout the colonies, the response in Boston was most aggressive. In December 1773, a group of colonists dressed as Native Americans dumped about $70,000 worth of the tea into Boston Harbor. This event, known as the Boston Tea Party, took on an epic status. |
|
|
|
Boston Tea Party
|
The British East India Company suffered from the American boycott of British tea. In an effort to save the company, Parliament passed the Tea Act in 1773, which eliminated import tariffs on tea entering England and allowed the company to sell directly to consumers rather than through merchants. These changes lowered the price of British tea to below that of smuggled tea, which the British hoped would end the boycott. Parliament planned to use the profits from tea sales to pay the salaries of the colonial royal governors, a move which, like the Townshend Duties, particularly angered colonists.
While protests of the Tea Act in the form of tea boycotts and the burning of tea cargos occurred throughout the colonies, the response in Boston was most aggressive. In December 1773, a group of colonists dressed as Native Americans dumped about $70,000 worth of the tea into Boston Harbor. This event, known as the Boston Tea Party, took on an epic status. |
|
|
|
Intolerable/Coercive Acts
|
Parliament responded swiftly and angrily to the Tea Party with a string of legislation that came to be known as the Intolerable Acts. The Intolerable Acts included the four Coercive Acts of 1774 and the Quebec Act. The four Coercive Acts:
* Closed Boston Harbor to trade until the city paid for the lost tea. * Removed certain democratic elements of the Massachusetts government, most notably by making formerly elected positions appointed by the crown. * Restricted town meetings, requiring that their agenda be approved by the royal governor * Declared that any royal agent charged with murder in the colonies would be tried in Britain. * Instated the Quartering Act, forcing civilians to house and support British soldiers The colonists saw the Intolerable Acts as a British plan to starve the New England colonists while reducing their ability to organize and protest. The acts not only imposed a heavy military presence in the colonies, but also, in the colonists’ minds, effectively authorized the military to murder colonists with impunity. Colonists feared that once the colonies had been subdued, Britain would impose the autocratic model of government. |
|
|
|
First Continental Congress
|
The Intolerable Acts (1774) were the combination of the four Coercive Acts, meant to punish the colonists after the 1773 Boston Tea Party, and the unrelated Quebec Act. The Intolerable Acts were seen in the American colonies as the blueprints for a British plan to deny the Americans representative government and were the impetus for the convening of the First Continental Congress.
Committees of Correspondence were organized by New England patriot leader John Adams. They made up a system of communication between patriot leaders in the towns of New England and eventually throughout the colonies. Committees of Correspondence were responsible for sending delegates to the First Continental Congress. |
|
|
|
Lexington and Concord
|
On April 19, 1775, militias clashed with British troops in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. This unlikely battle sparked the Revolutionary War.
The Battle of Lexington and Concord spurred many to take up arms and fight against the British troops stationed in Boston. The next night 20,000 New England troops lay siege to the British garrison in Boston, which they would continue to attack until March 17, 1776, when the British finally deserted the city. |
|
|
|
Olive Branch Petition
|
The Olive Branch Petition was penned by John Dickinson and sent to King George III by the Second Continental Congress in 1775. It offered peace under the conditions that there be a cease-fire in Boston, the Coercive Acts be repealed, and negotiations between the colonists and Britain be commenced immediately. The Olive Branch Petition reached Britain the same day as news of the June 17 Battle of Breed's and Bunker Hill and was rejected.
John Dickinson composed the Olive Branch Petition, which was sent to Britain by the Second Continental Congress, offering peace to King George III. * A cease-fire in Boston * The Coercive Acts be repealed * Negotiations between the colonists and Britain commence immediately |
|
|
|
Second Continental Congress
|
The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in May of 1775 because the First Continental Congress had vowed to meet again if its attempts at peace with Great Britain failed. In April 1775, it became clear that the colonies were already in an undeclared war against Great Britain, evidenced by the Battles at Lexington and Concord. The Second Continental Congress had the dual responsibility of coordinating the ongoing defensive war effort in the colonies and debating the question of independence.
After fighting had broken out in Massachusetts, the Second Continental Congress convened on May 10, 1775. Most delegates still opposed the drastic move of calling for independence, despite the outbreak of violence. In an effort to reach a reconciliation with the King, John Dickinson penned the Olive Branch Petition, offering peace under the conditions that there be a cease-fire in Boston, the Coercive Acts be repealed, and negotiations between the colonists and Britain be commenced immediately. The Second Continental Congress also created the Continental Army and elected George Washington its commander in chief. |
|
|
|
Battle of Bunker Hill
|
Bunker Hill is in Chelsea, Massachusetts, across the Charles River from Boston. It sits next to Breed's Hill, which rebels occupied in 1775 after the Battles of Lexington and Concord. (The Battle of Bunker Hill actually took place on Breed's Hill.)
|
|
|
|
Battle of Bunker Hill
|
The second battle of the war, the Battle of Breed's and Bunker Hill, on June 17, 1775, set the tone for the war in the North. The redcoats lost 1,154 men to the minutemen's 311 in a successful effort to dislodge the colonials from the hillside stronghold. The news of this battle convinced the British public and Parliament to abandon hopes of reconciliation.
In June of 1775, the English attacked the colonial stronghold outside Boston in the Battle of Bunker Hill. The English Redcoats successfully dislodged the colonials from the hillside stronghold, but lost 1,154 men in contrast to the 311 colonial casualties. |
|
|
|
Benedict Arnold
|
was an American military officer who defected to the British Army during the Revolutionary War. Hamilton tried to capture Arnold in New York, arriving minutes after Arnold escaped.
the talented soldier who had helped the Americans win at Saratoga, defected to the British side. This did not significantly affect the war's outcome, but Arnold's treachery shocked and saddened Washington. After marrying a woman from a loyalist family, he switched allegiances, and fought on behalf of the British for the remainder of the war. Arnold spent the final twenty years of his life ailing and in disgrace in England. |
|
|
|
Thomas Paine
|
Author of influential pamphlet Common Sense, which exhorted Americans to rise up in opposition to the British government and establish a new type of government based on Enlightenment ideals. Historians have cited the publication of this pamphlet as the event that finally sparked the Revolutionary War. Paine also wrote rational criticisms of religion, most famously in The Age of Reason (1794–1807).
|
|
|
|
Common Sense
|
Written by Thomas Paine in 1776. Paine argued that the colonists should free themselves from British rule and establish an independent government based on Enlightenment ideals. Common Sense became so popular and influential that many historians credit it with dissolving the final barriers to the fight for independence.
Proposed that America dispose of traditional forms of government and become a new kind of nation founded on the principles of liberty. |
|
|
|
Declaration of Independence
|
The Declaration of Independence spelled out the reasons for the colonies' decision to break with the mother country, and extolled the virtues of democratic self-government, tapping into enlightenment ideas of equality, liberty, justice, and self-fulfillment.
Once the Declaration of Independence was officially endorsed, war became the only possibility. The Declaration of Independence, endorsed on that day, has remained the most celebrated document in all of American history. Finally approved on July 4th 1776. |
|
|
|
Battle of Saratoga
|
The Battle of Saratoga was the Continentals' first victory in a major battle. General Horatio Gates led his 17,000 troops against the British, under John Burgoyne, near Saratoga New York. After the Continentals had inflicted more than 1,200 casualties, Burgoyne's remaining 5,800 men laid down their weapons and surrendered on October 17, 1777. The victory not only boosted morale within the Continental Army, it also convinced France to recognize US independence and agree to a military alliance.
|
|
|
|
Battle of Yorktown
|
At the battle of Yorktown, on October 17, 1781, the Americans defeated the British. This battle, led by Washington against the British General Cornwallis, involved both American and French troops as well as the French Navy. While Washington's army attacked Cornwallis's army in Yorktown, Virginia, the French Navy blocked British ships from Chesapeake Bay. The army had no hope of escaping and was forced to surrender. This effectively ended the Revolutionary War.
|
|
|
|
Robert Morris
|
Given the limited range of authority in matters of finance, it is amazing that the U.S. Congress managed to stay financially afloat at all. Much of this could be contributed to the abilities of the first Secretary of Finance, Robert Morris, who tried to work within the confines of the system as much as possible. In 1782, he established the Bank of North America. Although this was suspected by some to be an illegal extension of the authority of Congress, it passed Congress and greatly assisted in financial stability. However, his attempts, along with Alexander Hamilton, to pass an amendment empowering Congress to collect a 5% impost failed in both 1781 and 1783.
Robert Morris resigned from the position, haunted by accusations of corrupt politics and inability to perform his job due to the limitations of Congress. |
|
|
|
Articles of Confederation
|
The document that served as the first official constitution of the United States from 1781 through 1789. The Articles of Confederation dictated a loose organization of 13 independent states, joined together with equal representation in a Congress, in order to provide for the common defense. The Articles proved too weak to effectively govern the young nation, however, and delegates meeting at the Annapolis Convention in 1786 recommended that a new convention be called to discuss revision of the Articles. This convention, called the Constitutional Convention, met beginning in May of 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and produced an entirely new government for the United States.
In an attempt to create a unified national government, John Dickinson brought the Articles of Confederation to the Continental Congress in July 1776. Congress adopted the Articles and sent copies out for ratification by state legislatures; the Articles became law in 1781. The Articles of Confederation favored the rights of individual colonies, now called states, instead of a strong centralized system. The central government established by the Articles was virtually powerless. |
|
|
|
Treaty of Paris
|
Signed on September 3, 1783 and ratified by Congress on January 14, 1784, the Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War and granted the United States its independence. It further granted the US all land east of the Mississippi River, and contained clauses that bound Congress to urge state legislatures to compensate loyalists for property damage during the war and allow British creditors to collect debts accrued before the war. While generally acceptable, the Treaty of Paris opened the door to future disputes.
|
|
|
|
Land Ordinance
|
Proposed by Thomas Jefferson just a month after Virginia officially handed over western lands to congress, this ordinance established the process by which new lands would be divided into states, the process for surveying and sale, and the qualifications of new states to enter into Congress. This ordinance set the precedent to prohibit any attempts to colonize newly ceded lands.
|
|
|
|
Northwest Ordinance
|
A revision of the earlier Land Ordinance of 1784, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 refined some of the earlier qualifications for statehood. It further provided that a certain amount of land had to be reserved for public education, and that slavery was to be prohibited in this territory north of the Ohio River.
|
|
|
|
Annapolis Convention
|
Held in September 1786 at the request of Virginia, this meeting of the states aimed to improve the uniformity of commerce. Only 12 delegates showed, including Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. Sensing a statewide agreement on the importance of revising the Articles of Confederation, this convention resolved to call another statewide convention in May of 1787. This convention would become known as the Constitutional Convention.
|
|
|
|
Shay's Rebellion
|
Daniel Shays organized farmers throughout New England to protest legislation that increased taxes and demanded immediate debt-repayment. When the state legislature refused to respond, Shays and his armed followers closed the courts in western Massachusetts in protest of foreclosed properties. The rebellion came to a head when Shays was defeated while trying to seize a federal arsenal of weapons in Springfield, Massachusetts, on January 25, 1787. This rebellion demonstrated the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, and convinced many states of the need for a stronger central government.
|
|
|
|
Daniel Shays
|
A farmer from western Massachusetts and a former captain in the Continental Army, Daniel Shays staged a protest and led a rebellion against what he perceived to be unfair taxation and debt repayment legislation.
Daniel Shays, angered by high taxes and debt he could not repay, led about 2,000 men in closing the courts in three western Massachusetts counties to prevent foreclosure on farms. The rebellion exposed the inability of the central government to control revolt and impose order, and heightened an already growing sense of panic nationwide. For many Americans, Shays’s Rebellion, along with the economic depression, revealed the shortcomings of national government under the Articles of Confederation. Congress could neither suppress revolt nor regulate inflation; it had neither policing nor financial power. |
|
|
|
Virginia & New Jersey Plans
|
The Virginia Plan called for a strong, unified national government rather than a loose confederation of states. The Plan gave Congress unbridled powers of legislation and taxation, and allowed Congress to veto state laws and use military force against the states. The Plan further called for a bicameral legislature with representation in both houses based on state population. The lower house would choose the members of the upper house from a pool selected by the state legislatures. These houses would jointly name the president and federal judges.
William Patterson, a delegate from New Jersey, presented an alternative to the Virginia Plan, called the New Jersey Plan, to counter Madison's proposal. The New Jersey Plan called for a unicameral congress in which each state would have an equal number of seats. This was the only main difference between the plans, as both would strengthen the national government at the expense of state power. The Virginia Plan would have granted the four largest states a majority in Congress, leaving the 9 smallest states as a minority. On the other hand, under the New Jersey Plan, the smallest seven states would constitute a majority in Congress while those states held only 25 percent of the nation's citizens. The question of representation proved to be the most significant obstacle to the drafting of the Constitution. In fact, passions ran so strongly in favor of each of the alternate Plans that the Connecticut Compromise, which seems, in retrospect, the logical solution to the debate, was not even entertained for weeks after the subject of representation came up. |
|
|
|
Federalist Papers
|
A series of newspaper articles written by John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers enumerated the arguments in favor of the Constitution and refuted the arguments of the Anti-federalists.
|
|
|
|
Bill of Rights
|
The first ten amendments of the Constitution, which guarantee the civil rights of American citizens. The Bill of Rights was drafted by anti-federalists, including James Madison, to protect individuals from the tyranny they felt the Constitution might permit.
|
|
|
|
Tariff & Tonnage Acts
|
Tariff revenues depended on vigorous foreign trade= crucial link in Hamilton's overall economic strategy for new Republic. 1st- imposing low tariff- 8% on value of dutiable imports passed by first Congress in 1789; Excise Tax.
Tariff Act of 1789 – It placed heavy tonnage duties on all foreign shipping, a mercantilistic measure designed to stimulate the American merchant marine. |
|
|
|
Report on Manufacturers
|
Alexander Hamilton did not stop with the creation of the Bank of the United States. His next initiative was to encourage industrialization and a higher degree of national self-sufficiency. In his December 1791 Report on Manufacturers, Hamilton proposed the passage of protective tariffs to spur domestic production. Further, he called for the reduction of duties on goods carried by American ships.
|
|
|
|
Report on National Bank
|
A report written by Hamilton stating the process by which the United States would charter a commercial bank called the Bank of the United States in an effort to handle federal tax collections, disbursements and aiding private business transactions. A federally chartered bank would also provide money for circulation and credit for investment.
|
|
|
|
Report on Public Credit
|
proposed a plan for putting national finances on a sound basis. Now that the gov't had a guaranteed revenue from taxes and duties, it pay its own creditors. It should also take over or "assume" the remaining state debts incurred during the war for independence.
|
|
|
|
Funding Act
|
Part one of enacting the Hamilton Program - Allowed all present holders of national securites to convert them into federal bonds at face value, though at varying rates of interest.
|
|
|
|
Bank of the United States
|
Chartered in 1791, the bank was a controversial part of Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist economic program.
Bank |
|
|
|
Jay Treaty
|
Jay's Treaty provided for the removal of British troops from American land, and avoided the outbreak of war with Britain. While seen as unsuccessful by the majority of the American public, Jay's Treaty may have been the greatest diplomatic feat of the Washington administration, avoiding the outbreak of war.
|
|
|
|
Whiskey Rebellion
|
In 1791, Hamilton pushed a high excise tax on whiskey as part of his federalist economic policy. In 1794, violence broke out in western Pennsylvania, the area most hurt by the tax. In a show of national strength, Washington himself led a force of militiamen to crush the rebellion.
|
|
|
|
Pinckney's Treaty
|
This treaty, offically known as the Treaty of San Lorenzo, was negotiated by Thomas Pinckney with Spain. Signed in 1795, it opened the Mississippi River to American goods. This made settlement of the Ohio River Valley and much of the Midwest possible. It was considered Washington's greatest foreign policy victory.
|
|
