Road to Revolution
This 1763 decree closed western lands to colonial settlement, angering frontier settlers.
What is the Proclamation of 1763?
This 1776 pamphlet by Thomas Paine turned colonial anger into a call for independence.
What is Common Sense?
The Articles of Confederation created this type of legislature, meaning there was only one house of Congress.
What is a unicameral legislature?
This compromise created a bicameral legislature, satisfying both large and small states during the Constitutional Convention.
What is the Great Compromise?
Washington’s swift suppression of this 1794 uprising proved the new government’s ability to enforce federal law.
What is the Whiskey Rebellion?
This Enlightenment thinker’s ideas about natural rights and the social contract heavily influenced Jefferson’s writing of the Declaration of Independence.
Who is John Locke?
This 1777 American victory convinced France to openly join the war against Britain.
What is the Battle of Saratoga?
This 1787 law became one of the Articles’ greatest successes by creating a model for orderly territorial expansion and banning slavery in new territories.
What is the Northwest Ordinance of 1787?
To satisfy Anti-Federalist concerns, Federalists promised to add this to the Constitution to protect individual liberties
What is the Bill of Rights?
Washington’s refusal to support revolutionary France revealed this guiding principle of his foreign policy and his vision for U.S. survival.
What is neutrality (or avoiding foreign entanglements)?
These 1767 laws placed duties on imported goods like glass, lead, and tea.
What are the Townshend Acts?
This European nation’s alliance provided the navy, funds, and troops that helped secure victory.
What is France?
Because Congress lacked this specific power under the Articles of Confederation, the national government struggled to raise revenue, pay war debts, and fund its basic operations.
What is the power to tax?
The framers established this indirect method of choosing the president as a compromise between those who favored direct popular election and those who feared too much democracy.
What is the Electoral College?
Washington’s farewell address warned against these two dangers to national unity.
What are political parties and foreign alliances?
This 1774 meeting of colonial delegates was called in response to the Intolerable Acts and sought to coordinate resistance by forming the Continental Association to enforce a boycott of British goods.
What is the First Continental Congress?
The Revolution inspired these two groups to question their roles in the new nation, though few gained full rights.
Who are women and enslaved people?
This 1786–1787 uprising of indebted farmers symbolized the growing tension between liberty and order in the postwar republic.
What is Shays’ Rebellion?
This clause, found in Article VI, establishes the Constitution as the highest law of the land, even over state laws.
What is the Supremacy Clause?
Passed under Adams, these controversial laws made it harder to become a citizen and punished criticism of the government
What are the Alien and Sedition Acts?
Many historians view this 1775 petition, issued after the outbreak of fighting, as the colonies’ final attempt to reconcile with Britain before fully committing to independence.
What is the Olive Branch Petition?
The decisive American victory at this battle was made possible by Washington’s coordination with French forces under General Rochambeau and Admiral de Grasse, demonstrating the crucial role of foreign alliances in securing independence.
What is the Battle of Yorktown?
The requirement that this many states approve any amendment to the Articles made it nearly impossible for the government to correct its own weaknesses
Unanimous or all 13 states
Articles I, II, and III of the Constitution establish the three branches of government. Name the branch created by each article.
What are the Legislative (I), Executive (II), and Judicial (III) branches?
During Washington’s presidency, two major treaties shaped early U.S. foreign policy. One eased tensions with Britain over forts and trade, while the other secured navigation rights on the Mississippi River with Spain.
What are Jay’s Treaty and Pinckney’s Treaty?