The Seven Years' War (The French and Indian War)
This was the British attempt to prevent colonists moving west of the Appalachian Mountains and coming into conflict with Native Americans; it set aside massive tracts of land for Native reservations, angering colonists who believed they were being denied the spoils of their victory.
What is the Royal Proclamation of 1763?
This was done in response to the passage of the Tea Act, which gave the British a monopoly on the tea trade in America; colonists dressed themselves as Native Americans and dumped 3 shiploads worth of tea into Boston harbor.
What is the Boston Tea Party?
This was the broader European philosophical movement that gave foundation to American revolutionary thought about government and their place in the British imperial system, making colonists question the legitimacy of the British crown.
What is the Enlightenment?
This foundational American document, written by Thomas Jefferson, was filled with Enlightenment beliefs such as natural rights (Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness) and the social contract, and outlined the reasons for American independence.
What is the Declaration of Independence?
This revolution in Europe was heavily inspired by the American Revolution, with Lafayette and Thomas Paine at the forefront and influenced by the ideas of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
What is French Revolution?
This was the sole branch of the federal government under the Articles of Confederation, which severely limited its ability to enforce laws and govern the new nation.
Wha tis the legislative branch (Congress).
This agreement resolved a dispute over how enslaved people would be counted for taxation and representation; the south wished for them to count as 1 person, and the north not at all. It ultimately decided that only a portion of them would count toward a state's population.
What is the 3/5ths Compromise?
Ratified in 1791, this collective name refers to the first ten amendments to the Constitution, which guarantee individual freedoms such as speech, religion, and the right to a fair trial.
What is the Bill of Rights?
Proposed in 1790 as part of Alexander Hamilton’s economic program, this institution was meant to stabilize the U.S. economy, issue currency, and manage government debt—sparking fierce opposition from Jefferson and Madison, who viewed it as unconstitutional.
What is the National Bank?
Invented by Eli Whitney in 1793, this device made cotton processing far more efficient, leading to an explosion in cotton production and a dramatic increase in the demand for enslaved labor in the South; this in turn led to slavery expanding into the southwest.
What is the cotton gin?
This treaty ended the French and Indian War, giving Britain all French North American colonies east of the Mississippi River, and Spain all French land west of the Mississippi River, effectively kicking France off the continent.
What is the 1763 Treaty of Paris?
This was the most successful tactic used by the colonists to protest British taxation by refusing to purchase British goods; women were vital to this effort, making their own clothes and brewing their own teas for example.
What is boycott?
This concept, created by John Locke, stated that people had certain rights given by their creator, and that they could not be violated by any government. For Locke, these were life, liberty, and property.
What are natural rights?
After declaring the colonists in open rebellion and fighting breaking out in Lexington and Concord, American colonial society was split into these three groups respectively: those supporting independence, those opposing independence, and those too far from the conflict to have an opinion.
What are Patriots, Loyalists, and Neutrals?
After the American Revolution northern states began doing this as a means of exercising the ideals of the American Revolution; this contrasted with the south, who did the opposite.
What is abolishing slavery?
This was the number of votes needed under the Articles of Confederation to amend or change it, making it very difficult to fix any issues that came up.
What is 13 (Unanimous)?
These were the two groups debating the ratification of the Constitution. While one group supported a strong central government and the new Constitution, the other feared tyranny and demanded a Bill of Rights to protect individual liberties.
What are the Federalists and Anti-Federalists?
This principle, designed to prevent any one branch of government from gaining too much power, divides authority among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
What is the separation of powers?
Led by figures like Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, these were the first two political parties in the United States, disagreeing over issues like the national bank, tariffs, and the scope of federal power.
What are the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans?
Fought from 1785 to 1795 between the United States and a confederation of Native tribes for control of the Ohio Valley, this war ended with the U.S. victory at Fallen Timbers.
What is the Northwest Indian War?
This was the territory disputed between France and Britain, a fertile land critical to the fur trade, that ultimately led to the French and Indian War breaking out.
What is the Ohio River Valley?
This was a tax on paper goods, and the first direct tax on the colonists, leading to widespread outrage and resistance. In particular, colonial elites organized a Congress to plan their response to the new tax.
What is the Stamp Act?
This concept, developed by John Lock, people have an agreement with their government to give up certain liberties and freedoms in exchange for the government securing all other rights. If the government were to break this agreement, they could be justifiably overthrown.
What is the social contract?
This was the key turning point in the American Revolution; after a crushing defeat of the British by George Washington's forces, France was convinced to join the war effort on America's side, providing supplies and naval support that helped secure US victory at Yorktown.
What is the Battle of Saratoga?
This theory, popularized after the American Revolution, held that women had a particularly important role in this society, instructing their children in the virtues of republicanism, attributing a higher value to the role of women as mothers.
What is Republican Motherhood?
This was a rebellion against the Massachusetts government undertaken by farmers under heavy debt; because the Articles of Confederation did not allow for a standing army, it was difficult to deal with. While the rebellion was put down, it emphasized the need for a stronger Constitution.
What is Shay's Rebellion?
Written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay under the pseudonym "Publius," this series of essays argued for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
What are the Federalist Papers?
This system ensures that each branch of government has the power to limit the actions of the others—for example, the president can veto laws, but Congress can override that veto.
What is checks and balances?
This 1794 uprising by Pennsylvania farmers over an excise tax was crushed by federal troops, demonstrating the new government’s ability to enforce its laws under the Constitution.
What is the Whiskey Rebellion?
First published in 1828, this work aimed to standardize American English, reflecting national identity and distinguishing U.S. spelling from British forms.
What is Webster's Dictionary?
As part of the Haudenosaunee, this Native nation was one of the few to side with the Americans during the Revolutionary War, later losing much of their land despite treaties promising otherwise.
What is the Oneida Nation?
This provided for one intercolonial government and a system for recruiting troops and collecting taxes from the colonies for their common defense. Though never implemented due to concerns over taxation power, it is an early example of attempted unity between the colonies.
What is the Albany Plan of Union?
This series of laws is collectively known as this, passed by Parliament in response to the Boston Tea Party. It shut down Boston's harbor, dissolved the Massachusetts government, and expanded the Quartering Act.
What are the Intolerable Acts?
This pamphlet, written by Thomas Paine, argued that the colonies should become independent states and break all political ties with the British monarchy in simple language easy to understand by the common person. Britain, he believed, should not rule a much larger continent thousands of miles away; moreover, the monarchy had proved itself to be corrupt and politically fraught, in his opinion.
What is Common Sense?
At the Second Continental Congress, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, this was the final attempt by the colonists to pledge loyalty to and repair their relationship with the crown. In response, King George passed the Prohibitory Act, declaring the colonists in open rebellion.
What is the Olive Branch Petition?
This revolution, led by Toussaint-Louverture and inspired by America's fight for independence, occurred in 1791 and saw the French kicked off this particular Carribean Island and the formation of the first Black-led nation in the Americas.
What is the Haitian Revolution?
This was largely seen as the greatest success under the Articles of Confederation, wherein the government created a system to admit territories as states and outlawed slavery in the Northwest Territories (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan Minnesota).
What is the Northwest Ordinance of 1787?
The Great Compromise combined these two plans, creating our bicameral Congress consisting of the Senate and House of Representatives?
What are the Virginia Plan and New Jersey Plan?
This principle divides power between the national government and state governments, allowing both to share authority while maintaining distinct responsibilities.
What is federalism?
In his 1796 Farewell Address, George Washington warned the young nation against these two dangers.
What are political parties and foreign alliances?
Inspired by ancient Greece and Rome, this artistic and architectural style became popular in the early United States, symbolizing ideals of democracy, order, and civic virtue—seen in buildings like the U.S. Capitol.
What is neoclassicism?
Signed in 1794 between the United States and the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, this treaty recognized Haudenosaunee land rights in New York and established peace and friendship, though tensions persisted afterward.
What is the Treaty of Canandaigua (Pickering Treaty)?
This was a conflict between Native Americans living beyond the Appalachian Mountains and colonists wishing to migrate to that land following the French and Indian War. Though it was quickly subdued, it did garner the attention of the British government, who took action against colonial migration west.
What is Pontiac's Rebellion?
This was a law passed by the British Parliament after they repealed the Stamp Act. In essence, it said that even though they would ease up on some laws, the Parliament still possessed absolute authority to impose taxes on the colonies whenever it wished.
What is the Declatory Act?
This was a common belief among the founding fathers, professing a belief in God, but one who established natural laws and then withdrew from direct involvement in human affairs, allowing them to instead make their own choices.
What is deism?
The First Continental Congress, founded after the passage of the intolerable acts, rejected calls to organize the colonies into one political union and passed this, acknowledging King George III’s “royal authority over us.” Thus, the goal of this first Congress was to repair, rather than sever, ties with the crown.
What is the Declaration and Resolves?
This woman is best known for her correspondence with her husband, where she reminded him to "remember the ladies," alluding to their contributions to the independence movement and increasing demands for more rights.
Who is Jane Adams?
These largely based themselves on the Articles of Confederation and ideas of republicanism and severely limited governorships; concerns about instability caused many of them to be rewritten by the 1780s.
What are state constitutions?
To appease both Northern and Southern states during the Constitutional Convention, this 1787 agreement allowed Congress to regulate interstate and foreign trade but forbade any laws banning the slave trade for 20 years.
What is the Commerce Compromise?
This amendment states that powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states or the people, reinforcing the principle of federalism.
What is the 10th amendment?
Negotiated in 1794 to ease tensions with Britain, this treaty secured the withdrawal of British troops from the Northwest Territory but angered many Americans because it failed to address impressment of sailors and required America to abandon the trade of staples like sugar and molasses.
What is Jay's Treaty?
As the first major piece of legislation passed under the Constitution, this 1789 law placed duties on imported goods to raise revenue for the federal government and protect fledgling American industries; it also highlighted cultural differences between the North and South.
What is the Tariff Act of 1789?
Signed in 1795 after the Battle of Fallen Timbers, this treaty forced Native tribes in the Ohio Valley to cede much of their land to the U.S., opening the region to American settlement.
What is the Treaty of Greenville