Road to Revolution
The Revolutionary War
Ideas & Founding Documents
The Constitution
The Early Republic
100
Britain's end to salutary neglect after 1763 was driven largely by this economic problem created by the cost of this war.
French and Indian War
100
The war began in April 1775 with battles at these two Massachusetts towns.
Lexington and Concord
100
This January 1776 pamphlet by Thomas Paine used plain language to argue for American independence.
Common Sense
100
In 1786–87, indebted farmers in western Massachusetts led by a Revolutionary War veteran rose up in this event, exposing the weakness of the national government.
Shay's Rebellion
100
As the first Treasury Secretary, he proposed a national bank and federal assumption of state debts.
200
This British decree forbade colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains, angering colonists eager for land.
The Proclamation line of 1763
200
In 1778, the United States signed a treaty of alliance with this European power, bringing money, troops, and a navy.
France
200
John Locke's Enlightenment idea that people have rights to life, liberty, and property that government must protect is known by this term.
Natural Rights
200
Added in 1791 to win over critics of the Constitution, these first ten amendments protect individual liberties.
The Bill of Rights
200
Washington sent militia to put down this 1794 uprising of western Pennsylvania farmers protesting a federal excise tax on distilled spirits.
The Whiskey Rebellion
300
These 1767 laws placed duties on imported glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea, prompting new colonial boycotts.
The Townsend Acts
300
This October 1777 American victory in New York convinced France to openly support the American cause.
Saratoga
300
Emphasizing civic virtue, the common good, and distrust of aristocracy and corruption, this political ideology shaped the new American states.
Republicanism
300
This compromise created a two-house Congress, with the House based on population and equal representation in the Senate.
What is the Great (Connecticut) Compromise?
300
In his 1796 Farewell Address, Washington warned against permanent foreign alliances and against this domestic danger.
Political parties/factions and foreign alliances/wars
400
These 1774 British laws, which closed Boston Harbor and limited self-government in Massachusetts, were called
The Coercive/Intolerable Acts
400
This 1783 treaty ended the war and recognized American independence.
Treaty of Paris
400
After the Revolution, this ideal held that women, as mothers, had a civic duty to raise their sons to be virtuous, informed citizens of the new republic, which helped fuel greater support for girls’ education.
Republican Motherhood
400
Under this system, each branch of government can limit the powers of the other two branches.
Checks and Balances
400
Passed by a Federalist Congress in 1798, these laws made it harder to become a citizen and criminalized criticism of the government.
What are the Alien and Sedition Acts?
500
In September 1774, delegates from twelve colonies met in Philadelphia and agreed to boycott British goods at this gathering.
First Continental Congress
500
Colonists who remained faithful to the British Crown during the war were known by this name.
Loyalists/Tories
500
This principle divides power between the national government and the state governments.
Federalism
500
Proposed at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, this plan called for a single-house legislature with equal representation for every state, a design favored by smaller states.
The New Jersey Plan
500
Written by Jefferson and Madison in 1798–99, these documents argued that states could judge federal laws unconstitutional.
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
600
Britain defended taxing colonists who couldn't vote for Parliament by claiming Parliament spoke for all British subjects under this theory.
Virtual Representation
600
In 1775, Virginia's royal governor issued this proclamation offering freedom to enslaved people who joined the British.
Dunmore's Proclamation
600
Ratified in 1781, this first national constitution created a weak central government with no power to tax or regulate trade.
The Articles of Confederation
600
This plan proposed a strong national government with a two-house legislature in which representation in both houses was based on state population, which favored large states.
The Virginia Plan
600
In 1797–98, French agents demanded bribes from American diplomats, nearly leading to war, in this scandal.
The XYZ affair