The American Revolution
Articles of Confederation
1777-1781. Served as the written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain.
Alexander Hamiliton
A Founding Father of the United States, chief staff aide to General George Washington, one of the most influential interpreters and promoters of the U.S. Constitution, the founder of the nation's financial system, the founder of the Federalist Party, the world's first voter-based political party, the Father of the United States Coast Guard, and the founder of The New York Post. As the first Secretary of the Treasury, the primary author of the economic policies of the George Washington administration. Took the lead in the funding of the states' debts by the Federal government, the establishment of a national bank, a system of tariffs, and friendly trade relations with Britain. He led the Federalist Party, created largely in support of his views; opposed by the Democratic-Republican Party
Marquis de Lafayette
A French general and political leader who enthusiastically supported the American Revolution. The Continental Congress appointed him as major general in 1777, before France had officially entered into an alliance with the United States.
Rationalism
A belief or theory that opinions and actions should be based on reason and knowledge rather than on religious belief or emotional response.
Loyalists
A colonist of the American revolutionary period who supported the British cause.
3/5 Clause (Compromise)
A compromise reached between delegates from southern states and those from northern states during the 1787 United States Constitutional Convention. The dilemma the delegates faced was how to count slaves for the purposes of representation. They reached an agreement that slaves would count as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of determining representation.
Second Continental Congress
A convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting in the summer of 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that, soon after warfare, declared the American Revolutionary War had begun.
Suffolk Resolves
A declaration made on September 9, 1774 by the leaders of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, of which Boston is the major city. The declaration rejected the Massachusetts Government Act and resolved on a boycott of imported goods from Britain unless the Intolerable Acts were repealed.
Treaty of Alliance
A defensive alliance between France and the United States of America, formed in the midst of the American Revolutionary War, which promised America of French military support in case of attack by British forces indefinitely into the future.
Anti-Federalists
A diverse coalition of people who opposed ratification of the Constitution. Although less well organized than the Federalists, they also had an impressive group of leaders who were especially prominent in state politics.
Circular Letter
A letter written by a bishop and addressed to his clergy. Massachusetts Circular Letter, a statement written by Samuel Adams.
Saratoga
A major battle of the Revolutionary War, fought in 1777 in northern New York state. The American victory convinced the French to help them.
Stamp Act Congress
A meeting held between October 7 and 25, 1765 in New York City, consisting of representatives from some of the British colonies in North America; it was the first gathering of elected representatives from several of the American colonies to devise a unified protest against new British taxation. Parliament had passed the Stamp Act, which required the use of specially stamped paper for virtually all business in the colonies, and was coming into effect November 1.
Annapolis Convention
A meeting of 12 delegates from five states (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia) that called for a constitutional convention. The formal title of the meeting was a Meeting of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government.
First Continental Congress
A meeting of delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies that met on September 5 to October 26, 1774 at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution.
Virginia Resolves
A name applied to several sets of resolutions. The most important were on the Stamp Act. Patrick Henry introduced six resolutions, which were adopted by the Virginia House of Burgesses on 30 May 1765 except for the last two, which were considered too radical.
Quartering Act
A name given to a minimum of two Acts of British Parliament in the local governments of the American colonies to provide the British soldiers with any needed accommodations or housing.
The American Crisis
A pamphlet series by 18th century Enlightenment philosopher and author Thomas Paine, originally published from 1776 to 1783 during the American Revolution.
Common Sense
A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775-76 that inspired people in the Thirteen Colonies to declare and fight for independence from Great Britain in the summer of 1776.
Thomas Paine
A patriot and author in the Revolutionary War, whose pamphlets, such as Common Senseand the American Crisis series, urged American independence. He took part in the French Revolution and wrote The Rights of Man to defend it against the criticisms of Edmund Burke.
Boston Tea Party
A political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, on December 16, 1773 by throwing millions of dollars worth of tea into the harbor.
Virginia Plan
A proposal by Virginia delegates for a bicameral legislative branch. The plan was drafted by James Madison while he waited for a quorum to assemble at the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
New Jersey Plan
A proposal for the structure of the United States Government presented by William Paterson at the Constitutional Convention on June 15, 1787.
Townshend Acts
A series of acts passed — beginning in 1767 — by the Parliament of Great Britain relating to the British colonies in North America; imposed duties on glass, lead, paints, paper and tea imported into the colonies.
Federalist Papers
A series of eighty-five essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay in the late 1780s to persuade the voters of New York to adopt the Constitution.
"Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer"
A series of essays written by the Pennsylvania lawyer and legislator John Dickinson (1732-1808) and published under the name "A Farmer" from 1767 to 1768.
Elastic Clause
A statement in the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 8) granting Congress the power to pass all laws necessary and proper for carrying out the enumerated list of powers.
Boston Massacre
A street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770, between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers. Several colonists were killed and this led to a campaign by speech-writers to rouse the ire of the citizenry.
Treaty of Greenville
A treaty of peace and friendship between the United States of America and the tribes of Native Americans called the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanoese, Senacas and Miamies.
Pontiac's Rebellion
A war that was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of elements of Native American tribes primarily from the Great Lakes region, the Illinois Country, and Ohio Country who were dissatisfied with British postwar policies in the Great Lakes region after the British victory in the French and Indian War (1754-1763).
Writs of Assistance
A written order issued by a court instructing a law enforcement official, such as a sheriff or a tax collector, to perform a certain task.
Northwest Ordinance
Adopted July 13, 1787, by the Second Continental Congress, chartered a government for the Northwest Territory, provided a method for admitting new states to the Union from the territory, and listed a bill of rights guaranteed in the territory.
Olive Branch Petition
Adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 5, 1775, in a final attempt to avoid a full-on war between the Thirteen Colonies, that the Congress represented, and Great Britain. The petition affirmed American loyalty to Great Britain and entreated the king to prevent further conflict.
John Paul Jones
American naval hero famous for captaining the Bonhomme Richard and uttering the phrase, "I have not yet begun to fight."
Paul Revere
American silversmith remembered for his midnight ride (celebrated in a poem by Longfellow) to warn the colonists in Lexington and Concord that British troops were coming (1735-1818)
Patrick Henry
An American attorney, planter and politician who became known as an orator during the movement for independence in Virginia in the 1770s. A Founding Father, he served as the first and sixth post-colonial Governor of Virginia, from 1776 to 1779 and from 1784 to 1786.
Whigs
An American colonist who supported the American Revolution.
Tories
An American colonist who supported the British side during the American Revolution.
Stamp Act
An act of the British Parliament in 1756 that exacted revenue from the American colonies by imposing a stamp duty on newspapers and legal and commercial documents. Colonial opposition led to the act's repeal in 1766 and helped encourage the revolutionary movement against the British Crown.
Connecticut Compromise
An agreement that large and small states reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that in part defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would have under the United States Constitution. It retained the bicameral legislature as proposed by Roger Sherman, along with proportional representation in the lower house, but required the upper house to be weighted equally between the states. Each state would have two representatives in the upper house
Sons of Liberty
An organization of American colonists that was created in the Thirteen American Colonies. The secret society was formed to protect the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. They played a major role in most colonies in battling the Stamp Act in 1765.
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold was a general during the American Revolutionary War who originally fought for the American Continental Army but defected to the British Army
Sugar Act
Colonial merchants had been required to pay a tax of six pence per gallon on the importation of foreign molasses.
Constitution
Establishes America's national government and fundamental laws, and guarantees certain basic rights for its citizens. It was signed on September 17, 1787, by delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, presided over by George Washington.
Paxton Boys
Frontiersmen of Scots-Irish origin from along the Susquehanna River in central Pennsylvania who formed a vigilante group to retaliate in 1763 against local American Indians in the aftermath of the French and Indian War and Pontiac's Rebellion.
Samuel Adams
Helped formulate resistance to the Stamp Act and played a vital role in organizing the Boston Tea Party. He urged a final break from Great Britain, and a signee of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
Strict/ Loose Construction
How to interpret the Constitution- loosely or strictly.
Proclamation Line of 1763
Issued October 7, 1763, by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War, which forbade all settlement past a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains.
Treaty of San Lorenzo/ Pinckney's Treaty
It resolved territorial disputes between the two countries and granted American ships the right to free navigation of the Mississippi River as well as duty-free transport through the port of New Orleans, then under Spanish control.
Coercive Acts
Names used to describe a series of laws relating to Britain's colonies in North America, and passed by the British Parliament in 1774. Four of the acts were issued in direct response to the Boston Tea Party of December 1773.
Federalists
Originally those forces in favor of the ratification of the Constitution and were typified by: A desire to establish a strong central government (unlike that which existed under the Articles of Confederation) A corresponding desire for weaker state governments.
Thomas Jefferson
Principal author of the Declaration of Independence and served as president from 1801 to 1809, between John Adams and James Madison. He arranged for the Louisiana Purchase, founded the University of Virginia, and built the mansion Monticello.
Minutemen
Private colonists who independently organized to form well-prepared militia companies self-trained in weaponry, tactics and military strategies from the American colonial partisan militia during the American Revolutionary War. They were also known for being ready in a minute's notice.
Committees of Correspondence
Shadow governments organized by the Patriot leaders of the Thirteen Colonies on the eve of the American Revolution.
Treaty of Paris (1783)
Signed in Paris by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States of America on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War.
Mason and Dixon Line
Surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in the resolution of a border dispute involving Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware in Colonial America.
Declaratory Act
The American Colonies Act 1766 (6 Geo 3 c 12), commonly known as the ______________, was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, which accompanied the repeal of the Stamp Act 1765 and the changing and lessening of the Sugar Act.
Intolerable Acts
The American Patriots' term for a series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea party. They were meant to punish the Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in throwing a large tea shipment into Boston harbor.
Virtual Representation
The British response to the First Continental Congress in the American colonies. The Congress asked for representation in Parliament in the Suffolk Resolves, also known as the first olive branch petition. Parliament claimed that their members had the well being of the colonists in mind.
Gaspee Incident
The Sons of Liberty were very active throughout the colonies, and the British officers charged with enforcing the customs laws and the Stamp Act were becoming aggressive. In June of 1772, a dramatic event was to demonstrate the severity of the crisis.
Deists / Deism
The belief that God has created the universe but remains apart from it and permits his creation to administer itself through natural laws. ______ thus rejects the supernatural aspects of religion, such as belief in revelation in the Bible, and stresses the importance of ethical conduct.
Bill of Rights
The collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. The amendments protect the rights of the people from the government.
Tea Act
The final straw in a series of unpopular policies and taxes imposed by Britain on her American colonies. The policy ignited a "powder keg" of opposition and resentment among American colonists and was the catalyst of the Boston Tea Party.
Ticonderoga
The first American victory of the Revolutionary War, and would give the Continental Army much-needed artillery to be used in future battles.
Bunker Hill
The first great battle of the Revolutionary War; it was fought near Boston in June 1775. The British drove the Americans from their fort but only after the Americans had run out of gunpowder.
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge, near Boston.
Declaration of Independence
The formal statement written by Thomas Jefferson declaring the freedom of the thirteen American colonies from Great Britain.
King George III
The king of Britain during the American Revolutionary War. He was known for insisting on royal privilege. The stubbornness of this king and of his government officials is often blamed for the loss of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.
Siege of Yorktown
The last battle of the Revolutionary War, fought in 1781 near the seacoast of Virginia. There the British general Lord Cornwallis surrendered his army to General George Washington.
Valley Forge
The military camp in southeastern Pennsylvania, approximately 20 miles (30 km) northwest of Philadelphia, where the American Continental Army spent the winter of 1777-1778 during the American Revolutionary War.
Revolutionary War
The war for American independence from Britain. The fighting began with the Battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775, and lasted through the Battle of Yorktown in 1781.
Constitutional Convention
Took place from May 25 to September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Goals included the writing and revision of the American Constitution.
Trenton & Princeton
Two related engagements of the American Revolutionary War with the crossing of the Delaware River by George Washington.
Checks and Balances
Used to keep the government from getting too powerful in one branch. For example, the Executive Branch can veto bills from the Legislative Branch, but the Legislative Branch can override the veto.
Enlightenment
a European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition. It was heavily influenced by 17th-century philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, and Newton, and its prominent exponents include Kant, Goethe, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Adam Smith.