Chapter 2-Forming a New Nation Flashcards
Sugar Act (1764)
British taxed sugar from the French and Spanish West Indies, forcing the colonists to buy sugar from the British West Indies.
“Taxation without representation”
Samuel Adams
Stamp Act (1765)
Required colonists to pay for an official government stamp on certain paper items. First act that taxed the colonists directly. Was eventually repealed.
Quartering Act (1765)
Said that colonists must provide food, drink, fuel, living space, and transportation for British soldiers stationed in America.
Townshend Acts (1767)
Taxed certain goods that were imported from England. Have customs officers the right to search anyone’s house for smuggled goods without a search warrant.
Tea Act (1773)
Gave the British East India Company nearly complete control over the tea market.
Intolerable Acts
Furious over the Boston Tea Party, the British enacted 4 laws to punish Massachusetts and to set an example for the other colonists.
Boston Massacre (1770)
Boston was the center of protest. 5 colonists died there when British soldiers fired into an angry crowd that had gathered outside a customs house. One victim was an African-Native American, Crispus Attucks.
First Continental Congress (1774)
Delegates from 12 colonies met in Philadelphia and agreed to issue a Declaration of Rights, protesting Britain’s actions. Also agreed to boycott certain goods and form a force of minutemen.
Why did the British troops set out to Concord?
British general Thomas Gage was ordered to arrest local patriots and capture gunpowder and weapons stored in Concord, near Boston.
Battle of Lexington
Colonial alarm riders rode to warn the minutemen and about 70 of them were waiting for the British. Yet 8 colonists were killed.
Responses in Second Continental Congress
Some wanted full independence but many felt loyalty to King George III.
Olive Branch Petition
Asked for a “happy and permanent reconciliation” with Britain. The king refused to read it.
Battle of Bunker Hill
British troops withdrew to Boston, where they were met by 10,000 militia. Th colonists lost, but the battle encouraged resistance.
Battle of Dorchester Heights
Washington sent Knox to Fort Ticonderoga to being back captured British weapons. He eventually forced British troops to evacuate the city.
Common Sense
Written by Thomas Paine, the pamphlet condemned the whole system of the monarchy and the rule of King George III. He called not for protest but for independence. Based on Enlightenment thinking.
Virginia Declaration of Rights
First official call for American independence. Led to Declaration of Independence.
Three main ideas of the Declaration of Independence
- Men possessed certain rights
- King George had passed unfair laws
- Colonists had the right to break away because the king has violated the social contract
Tories
Quarter of the population of colonists still loyal to the British.
Attack of New York City
British took over NYC and forced Washington’s troops to cross the Delaware River into Pennsylvania.
Christmas Night of 1776
Washington and his men crossed the Delaware River to reach Trenton and takes the Hessians, German mercenary soldiers, by surprise and took their weapons.
What was Burgoyne’s strategy for cutting New England off from the other colonies?
Burgoyne was to invade from Canada and move south while Howe would sail up the Hudson to meet them. However, Howe changes plans, leaving Burgoyne alone in Saratoga, New York, surrounded by Continental forces.
African Americans in the Revolution
Although Washington at first barred the enlistment of African Americans, the need of manpower became so great that Washington approved the recruitment of African Americans. About 5,000 fought.
Deborah Sampson
Disguised as a man to fight in Continental Army
How did the Revolutionary War change after the Battle of Saratoga?
Actions shifted to the South and western frontier.
Key allies
Bernardo de Galvez, governor of Spanish Louisiana and Marquis de Lafayette of France.
British strategy in the South
Loyalist sympathies were stronger in the South so they planned to campaign instead of sending more troops and supplies.
Francis Marion
Nicknamed Swamp Fox for his daring raids from the Carolina marshes.
Battle of Yorktown
British general Cornwallis took his troops to Yorktown Peninsula in Chesapeake Bay and built a fort while waiting for British rescue. Lafayette and Washington trapped them and planned a blockade. This was the last battle of the Revolutionary War.
Treaty of Paris
Britain recognizes independence of the United States.
Articles of Confederation (1777)
First national constitution that established a confederation. The central government had power to set national policies and carry on foreign relations and could also borrow and coin money and set up post offices.
Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
- No executive branch; Congress was the chief agency
- 9 out of 13 had to agree on a law
- All 13 had to agree to amend the Articles
- Did not have power to impose taxes
Shay’s Rebellion
With the end of the valuable trade with Britain, inflation occurred, hurting poor farmers who were already in debt. Daniel Shay, formerly in the Continental Army, shut down debtor courts.
Land Ordinance of 1785
Land will be surveyed and divided into a neat grid of townships, each 6 miles square. Within a township were 36 sections, each 1 mile square. The government would own 4 of them and a fifth would be sold to support public schools.
Northern Ordinance
- Encouraged orderly settlement and formation of new states (Ohio, Indiana etc)
- Promised religious freedom and other civil rights
- No slavery
Constitutional Convention
At the Annapolis meeting, Congress called for all the states to meet in Philadelphia. James Madison tells in his diary of the convention, earning him the nickname Father of the Constitution.
Framers of the Constitution
Roger Sherman, Alexander Hamilton, James Wilson
Virginia Plan
- Gave more power in national government to large states
- Bicameral
- Based on population
New Jersey Plan
- Gave equal power in national government to all states
- Unicameral
- Equal number of representatives
Upper House
Senate. Two representatives from each state.
Three-Fifths Compromise
All whites plus three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for both representation and taxation.
Legislative
Congress. Makes laws.
Executive
President and departments that help run the government. Carries out laws.
Judicial
Supreme Court and lower courts. Interprets laws as they relate to the Constitution.
The Federalist Papers
Written by Publius, who in fact were James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay. Discussed and defended each part of the Constitution to persuade New York delegates to ratify it.
What did Washington do as president?
Set up the cabinet, a group of advisers to the president. Created the first three executive departments-state, treasury, and war.
Secretary of War
Henry Knox
Secretary of State
Thomas Jefferson
Secretary of Treasury
Alexander Hamilton
Attorney General
Edmund Randolph
Democratic-Republicans
Some saw a more rural than urban country, with power residing closer to the people, in the state governments. Led by Jefferson and Madison
Judiciary Act of 1789
Congress organized the judicial branch. Had a six-person Supreme Court with one chief justice and drive associates. Set up district courts and circuit courts of appeal. John Jay was first chief justice.
Hamilton’s financial plan
- Federal government should take on both state and national debt
- Government should raise revenue by passing tariffs
- US should create a national bank and a national mint to stabilize the banking system
First two political parties
- Democratic-Republicans led by Jefferson (strict constructionist)
- Federalist led by Hamilton (loose constructionist)
Neutrality Proclamation
Washington believed that the growth and prosperity of the US depended on staying neutral and did not help in the French Revolution.
Jay’s Treaty
Britain agreed to pay damages for America ships they had seized. They also agreed to vacate their forts in the Northwest territory.
Pinckney’s Treaty
Peacefully settled boundary disputes with Spain over Spanish Florida.
Whiskey Rebellion
Farmers in western Pennsylvania objected violently to Hamilton’s excise tax on whiskey. They attacked tact collectors and burned down barns. Washington responded quickly.
Conflicts in the Northwest Territory in 1794
General Anthony Wayne defeated a confederacy of Native Americans at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. US claims most of Indian land in Northwest Territory.
What did John Adams do first as the president?
He wanted to improve the relationship between US and France. He sent 3 diplomats to France (Pinckney, Gerry, Marshall) but instead France sent 3 minor diplomats who demanded bribes and a loan.
XYZ Affair
The three French agents were nicknamed X, Y, and Z. Many Americans wanted war. The affair brought new suspicions about the Republicans’ pro-French sympathies and a general resentment of foreigners.
Alien and Sedition Acts
Prohibited the criticism of the federal government. Argued unconstitutional later by Jefferson and Madison.
Why was the election of 1800 significant?
- First American election in which power was passed from one political party to another
- Tied election (Jefferson and Burr tied )
- 12th Amendment
12th Amendment
Set up separate ballots for president and vice president.
Midnight judges
Adams worked late into the night before Jefferson’s inauguration appointing Federalists to new judgeships.
Marbury v. Madison
James Madison refused to deliver commission to one of the midnight judges; however the Supreme Court ruled that the Court did not have the power to make Madison deliver the commission in the first place. Thus the Judiciary Act of 1801 was unconstitutional.
Judicial review
Supreme Court’s right to declare that a law violates the Constitution
Louisiana Purchase
Purchased from France and roughly doubled the size of the US.
Lewis and Clark Expedition
Sent out to survey the natural history of the country. Met Sacajawea, who guided them. Reached the Pacific Ocean.
Policy of impressment during the Napoleonic Wars
British, in their fight against France, seized Americans at sea and drafted then into the British navy.
War Hawks
Americans discovered that the British were aiding the Native Americans to fight them. A group go Congressmen known as the War Hawks began calling for war with the British, starting the War of 1812.
Effects of War of 1812
- Foreign respect for US
- Pride
- Increase in American manufacturing
- Less Native American resistance
- End of the Federalist Party who opposed the war
