Old World Rivalries, New World Wars
This 1754 meeting brought together seven colonies to coordinate defense during the French and Indian War and proposed a unified colonial government.
What was the Albany Congress? (or Albany Plan of Union)
The passage of direct taxes after 1763 marked the official end of this long-standing British policy of lax enforcement of colonial trade laws.
What was salutary neglect?
Published in January 1776, this widely read pamphlet argued that it was simple "common sense" for the American colonies to break away from Great Britain.
What was Common Sense? (by Thomas Paine)
America’s first national constitution intentionally created a weak central government that lacked the power to tax or regulate trade.
What were the Articles of Confederation?
Alexander Hamilton proposed creating this controversial national financial institution to store federal funds, print currency, and manage government debt.
What was the Bank of the United States? (or the BUS)
This 1763 treaty officially ended the French and Indian War, removing France as a major territorial power in North America.
What was the Treaty of Paris (1763)?
This 1765 act was the first direct internal tax placed on colonial paper goods, prompting widespread protest and the slogan "No taxation without representation!
What was the Stamp Act?
Widely considered the military turning point of the Revolutionary War, this 1777 victory convinced France to form a formal military alliance with the United States.
What was the Battle of Saratoga?
This 1786–1787 uprising of indebted farmers in western Massachusetts highlighted the military and economic weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
What was Shays' Rebellion?
In his 1796 address, George Washington explicitly warned the nation against two main dangers: permanent foreign alliances and these domestic divisions.
What were political parties? (or factionalism / political divisions)
This young Virginian militia leader was sent into the Ohio River Valley in 1754, where his engagement at Fort Necessity helped spark the French and Indian War.
Who was George Washington?
Passed in 1774 to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party, these parliamentary measures closed Boston Harbor and suspended local government.
What were the Intolerable Acts? (or Coercive Acts)
This Enlightenment philosopher’s ideas regarding "natural rights" (life, liberty, property) and the social contract heavily influenced Thomas Jefferson’s drafting of the Declaration of Independence.
Who was John Locke?
Also known as the Connecticut Compromise, this agreement resolved the debate over state representation by creating a bicameral legislature.
What was the Great Compromise?
President Washington demonstrated the power of the new federal government to enforce national law by personally leading troops to suppress this 1794 Pennsylvania uprising.
What was the Whiskey Rebellion?
Issued by King George III following Pontiac’s Rebellion, this decree forbade British colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains.
What was the Proclamation of 1763?
Enacted directly after repealing the Stamp Act in 1766, this act asserted Parliament's absolute right to bind and tax the colonies "in all cases whatsoever".
What was the Declaratory Act?
American victory was secured at this 1781 siege in Virginia when French naval forces blockaded the coast and Washington forced General Cornwallis to surrender.
What was the Battle of Yorktown?
Passed under the Articles of Confederation, this landmark legislation set up a path to statehood and banned slavery in the territory north of the Ohio River.
What was the Northwest Ordinance of 1787?
Signed under John Adams, these controversial 1798 laws made it harder for immigrants to become citizens and criminalized malicious criticism of the government.
What were the Alien and Sedition Acts?
This British Prime Minister took charge of war strategy in 1757 and poured massive financial resources into North America to defeat the French, leading to huge British debt.
Who was William Pitt?
Organized by Samuel Adams, these shadow governments were created throughout the colonies to coordinate communication and resistance against British policies.
What were the Committees of Correspondence?
This post-war ideal charged American women with raising patriotic, virtuous citizens, indirectly expanding women's access to education.
What was Republican Motherhood?
To secure the votes needed for ratification in key states, Federalists promised Anti-Federalists that this specific addition would be added to the Constitution to protect individual liberties.
What was the Bill of Rights?
Written anonymously by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, these state responses to federal overreach put forward the theory that states could nullify unconstitutional federal laws.
What were the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions?