Period 3 Flashcards
After the bloodshed at _________ and ______ in April of 1775, about 20,000 _______ swarmed around Boston, where they outnumbered the British
Lexington and Concord; minutemen
The Second Continental Congress met in ________ on May 10, 1775, with no real intention of _________, but merely a desire to continue fighting in the hope that the king and Parliament would consent to a redress of grievances.
Philadelphia; independence
- It sent another list of grievances to Parliament.
- It adopted measures to raise money for an army and a navy.
- It also selected George Washington to command the army.
Second Continental Congress
Washington had never risen above the rank of ______, and his largest command had only been of 1,200 men, but he was a tall figure who looked like a leader, and thus, was a morale boost to troops.
colonel
He radiated patience, courage, self-discipline, and a sense of justice, and though he insisted on working without pay, he did keep a careful expense account amounting to more than $100,000.
George Washington
In the first year, the war was one of ________, as the colonists maintained their loyalty while still shooting at the king’s men.
consistency
In May 1775, a tiny American force called the _____ ______ ____, led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, surprised and captured the British garrisons at Forts Ticonderoga and Crown Point
Green Mountain Boys
The importance of this raid lay in the fact that they captured much-needed
cannons and gunpowder
In June ____, the colonials seized ______ _____ (prior known as Breed’s Hill).
1775; Bunker Hill
Instead of flanking them, the _______ launched a frontal attack, and the heavily entrenched colonial sharpshooters mowed them down until
Redcoats; meager gunpowder supplies ran out and they were forced to retreat.
After Bunker Hill, _______ ___ slammed the door for all hope of reconciliation and declared the colonies to be in open rebellion, a treasonous affair.
George III
The king also hired many German mercenaries, called ______, who, because they were lured by booty and not duty, had large numbers desert and remained in America to become respectful citizens.
Hessians
In October 1775, the British burned ______ (Portland), Maine.
Falmouth
The colonists decided that invading ______ would add a 14th colony and deprive Britain of a valuable base for striking at the colonies in revolt.
Canada
the ______ ______ would support the Americans because they supposedly were bitter about Britain’s taking over of their land.
French-Canadians
captured Montreal. At Quebec, he was joined by the bedraggled army of Gen. Benedict Arnold.
General Richard Montgomery
On the last day of 1775, in the assault of Quebec, _______ was killed and _____ was wounded in one leg, and the whole campaign collapsed as the men retreated up the __ ________ ____, reversing the way Montgomery had come.
Montgomery ; Arnold ; St. Lawrence River
Besides, the French-Canadians, who had welcomed the Quebec Act, didn’t really like the
anti-Catholic invaders.
In January 1776, the British set fire to ______, ______, but in March, they were finally forced to evacuate Boston.
Norfolk, Virginia
In the South, the _____ won a victory against some 1,500 Loyalists at ______ ______ _____, in North Carolina, and against an invading British fleet at Charleston Harbor.
rebels; Moore’s Creek Bridge
In 1776, Thomas Paine published the pamphlet _____ _____, which urged colonials to stop this war of inconsistency, stop pretending loyalty, and just fight.
Common Sense
Nowhere in the universe did a smaller body control a larger one, so Paine argued, saying it was
unnatural for tiny Britain to control gigantic America.
Thomas Paine called King George III the
Royal Brute of Great Britain
Paine argued his idea that there should be a ______ where representative senators, governors, and judges should have their power from the consent of the people.
“republic”
He laced his ideas with ______ imagery, familiar to common folk.
Biblical
His ideas about _______ ______ and _______ and embrace an independent republic fell on receptive ears in America, though it should be noted that these ideas already existed.
rejecting monarchy and empire
The _____ ________ already practiced this type of government in their town meetings.
New Englanders
Some ______, though, favored a republic ruled by a “natural aristocracy”
patriots
Members of the Philadelphia _____ _______ _______, instructed by their colonies, gradually moved toward a clean break with Britain.
2nd Continental Congress
On June 7, 1776, fiery _______ _______ ____ urged for complete independence, an idea that was finally adopted on July 2, 1776.
Richard Henry Lee
To write such a statement, Congress appointed ______ _______, already renown as a great writer, to concoct a Declaration of Independence.
Thomas Jefferson
He did so eloquently, coming up with a list of ________ against King George III and persuasively explaining why the colonies had the right to revolt
grievances
His “explanation” of independence also upheld the ______ ______ of humankind (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness).
“natural rights”
When Congress approved it on July 2nd, ______ _______ proclaimed that date to be celebrated from then on with fireworks, but because of editing and final approval, it was not completely approved until July 4th, 1776.
John Adams
The ____ __ _______ was a war within a war, as not all colonials were united.
War of Independence
There were Patriots, who supported rebellion and were called “______.”
Whigs
There were _______, who supported the king and who often went to battle against fellow Americans. They were also called “Tories.”
Loyalists
There were ________ in the middle and those who didn’t care either way. These people were constantly being asked to join one side or another
Moderates
During the war, the British proved that they could only control ______ ______, because when Redcoats packed up and left other areas, the rebels would regain control.
Tory areas
were generally conservatives, but the war divided families. For example, Benjamin Franklin was against his illegitimate son, William, the last royal governor of New Jersey.
Loyalists
Loyalists were most numerous where the ______ ______ was strongest (the South).
Anglican Church
Loyalists were ___ numerous in New England, where Presbyterianism and Congregationalism flourished. Loyalists were more numerous in the _______ _____ such as Charleston, SC.
less; aristocratic areas
generally the younger generation, like Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry.
Patriots
The ______ ______ constantly harassed small British detachments.
Patriot militias
Patriots typically didn’t belong to the _______ ______ but were Congregational, Presbyterian, Baptist, or Methodist.
Anglican Church (Church of England)
There were also those known as ________ who sold to the highest bidder, selling to the British and ignoring starving, freezing soldiers (i.e. George Washington at Valley Forge).
“profiteers”
After the ________ ___ ________, Loyalists and Patriots were more sharply divided, and ______ often confiscated Loyalist property to resell it (an easy way to raise money).
Declaration of Independence; Patriots
Some ______ Loyalists served the British in one way or another (fighting, spying, etc…), and it was an oddity that the ____ didn’t make more use of them during the war.
50,000; Brits
After the evacuation of Boston, the British focused on ____ ____ as a base for operations.
New York
An awe-inspiring fleet appeared off the coast in ______ ___, consisting of some 500 ships and 35,000 men—the largest armed force seen in America ever until the Civil War.
July 1776
Washington could only muster _______ _______ men to fight, and they were routed at the Battle of Long Island
18,000 ill-trained
Washington escaped to Manhattan Island, crossed the ______ ____ to New Jersey, reaching the Delaware River with taunting, fox-hunt calling Brits on his heels.
Hudson River
Washington crossed the ______ ____ at Trenton on a cold December 26, 1776, and surprised and captured a thousand Hessians who were sleeping off their Christmas Day celebration (drinking).
Delaware River
It was odd that _____ _______ ______, the British general, didn’t crush Washington when he was at the Delaware, but he well remembered Bunker Hill, and was cautious.
Gen. William Howe
______ officials adopted a complicated scheme for capturing the vital Hudson River valley in 1777, which, if successful, would sever New England from the rest of the colonies.
London
capturing the vital Hudson River valley: ______ would push down the Lake Champlain route from Canada
Burgoyne
capturing the vital Hudson River valley: _______ ____ troops in New York, if needed, could advance up the Hudson and meet Burgoyne in Albany.
General Howe’s
capturing the vital Hudson River valley: a third and much smaller British force commanded by______ ______ __ ______ would come in from the west by way of Lake Ontario and the Mohawk Valley.
Col. Barry St. Ledger
However, _______ _____, after failure at Quebec, retreated slowly along the St. Lawrence back to Lake Champlain, where the British would have to win control (of the lake) before proceeding.
Benedict Arnold
The Brits stopped to build a huge force, while ______ assembled a tattered flotilla from whatever boats he could find.
Arnold
Arnold’s “____” was destroyed, but he had gained valuable time, because winter set in and the _____ settled in Canada, thus, they would have to begin anew the next spring.
navy; British
Had Arnold not contributed his daring and skill, the Brits most likely would have recaptured _______ and Burgoyne could have started from there and succeeded in his venture.
Ticonderoga
Burgoyne began his mission with _____ troops and a heavy baggage train consisting of a great number of the officers’ wives. Meanwhile, sneaky rebels, sensing the kill, were gathering along his flanks
7,000
General Howe, at a time when he should be starting up the Hudson, deliberately embarked for an attack on
Philadelphia
wanted to force an encounter with Washington and leave the path wide open for Burgoyne’s thrust. He thought he had enough time to help Burgoyne if needed.
General Howe
Washington transferred his troops to Philadelphia, but was defeated at ________ ____and Germantown. Then, the fun-loving Howe settled down in Philadelphia, leaving Burgoyne “to the dogs.”
Brandywine Creek
___ _________, in Paris, joked that Howe hadn’t captured Philadelphia, but that “Philadelphia had captured Howe.”
Ben Franklin
Washington finally retired for the winter at ______ _____, where his troops froze in the cold, but a recently arrived Prussian drillmaster, _______ ___ _______, whipped the cold troops into shape.
Valley Forge; Baron von Steuben
Burgoyne’s doomed troops were bogged down, and the rebels swarmed in with a series of sharp engagements, pushing __ _______ _____ back at Oriskany while Burgoyne, unable to advance or retreat, surrendered his entire force at The Battle of Saratoga, on October 17, 1777.
St. Legers force
This was perhaps one of the most decisive battles in British and American history.
Battle of Saratoga
The importance of Saratoga lay in the fact that afterwards, ____ sensed America might actually win and came out to officially help America.
France
France was eager to get revenge on ______, and secretly supplied the Americans throughout much of the war.
Britain
The Continental Congress sent delegates to France. The delegates were guided by a “______ _____”, which sought no political or military connections, but only commercial ones.
Model Treaty
_____ ________ played the diplomacy game by wearing simple gray clothes and a coonskin cap to supposedly exemplify a raw new America
Ben Franklin
After the humiliation at Saratoga, the British offered the Americans a measure that gave them ____ ___—everything they wanted except independence.
home rule
After Saratoga, ______ finally was persuaded to enter the war against Britain.
France
_________ ___ ministers argued that this was the perfect time to act, because if Britain regained control, she might then try to capture the French West Indies for compensation for the war.
Louis XVI’s
Now was the time to strike, rather than risk a stronger Britain with its ________ ______.
reunited colonies
France, in 1778, offered a treaty of alliance, offering America everything that Britain had offered, plus
recognition of independence.
The Americans accepted the agreement with caution, since France was _________, but since the Americans needed help, they’d take it.
pro-Catholic
The high church
the Anglican or Episcopal church
Continental congress of 1774 called for
the abolition of slavery
founded the first abolition society in 1775
the Quakers
the women raised the children and therefore held great power and responsibility with the future of the republic in their hands.
republican motherhood
gave America a “Constitutional Convention”
MA
Written documents that reflected fundamental law. Many had a bill of rights, specified annual elections of legislators, and established weak judicial branches.
the new constitutions
branch that was often given nearly all the power
legislative
Congress, makes the law
Legislative
President, carries out the law
Wxecutive
Supreme Court, interprets the law
Judicial
Can override a veto, declare war, or impeach on executive. Can approve judges or impeach on Judicial.
Legislative checks
Can veto a law, ask for war, or propose laws on legislative. Can appoint judges on judicial.
Executive checks
Can declare an act of president or law of Congress as unconstitutional; is appointed for life
Judicial checks
The new states chose a _______ as their first government—a loose union of states where a federal and state level exist, yet the state level retains the most sovereignty to rule as they saw fit.
confederation
became the United States’ first government. All 13 states needed to approve the articles for them to begin.
Articles of Confederation
Congress promised to use the western lands for the good of the “common benefit.”
Northwest Ordinance
set up a very weak government. This was not by accident, but by plan. The reason a weak government was desired was simply to avoid a strong national government that would take away unalienable rights or abuse its power (i.e. England).
The Articles
answered the question, “How will the new lands in the Ohio Valley be divided up?”
Land Ordinance of 1785
A section was 1 mile by 1 mile (1 sq. mile, or 640 acres). A township was 6 miles by 6 miles (36 sq. miles, or 36 sections). Each section was numbered and could be sub-divided for sale.
Land Ordinance of 1785
answered the question, “How will new states be made once people move out there?”
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
rocked the nation with a wake-up call.
Daniel _____ was disgruntled over difficulties involving farmland mortgages. (Notably, the inability to get land is the same motivation for rebellion as Bacon’s Rebellion back in 1676 in Virginia. And, the desire for land was also the motivator of the Paxton Boys in Pennsylvania in 1764.) He and friends staged a take-over in parts of Massachusetts. He was stopped, arrested, convicted, sentenced to death, but pardoned. The importance of this can’t be understated. It was that the fear of such violence lived on and paranoia motivated folks to desire a stronger federal government.
Shay’s Rebellion; Shay’s
when the U.S. Constitution was written.
Constitutional convention
(AKA “Large States Plan”) proposed that representation would be based on a state’s population. They reasoned that the more people a state has, the more representatives they should have in Congress.
VA plan
(AKA “Small States Plan”) objected to Virginia saying that if Congress went solely by population, then the small states’ votes wouldn’t matter since they’d simply be always out-voted. They reasoned that states are equal to one another, regardless of the quantity of people living in them, and therefore states should have an equal vote in Congress.
NJ plan
Congress would be bicameral (have 2 houses).
The House of Representatives would be based on state population, following the Virginia Plan.
Bills pertaining to taxation would begin in the House.
The Senate would have 2 senators from each state making them equal, following the New Jersey Plan.
The Senate would approve/reject presidential treaties and appointments.
The Great Compromise
The president would be elected by a group of official presidential voters rather than by the people
Electoral College
answered the question, “How will slaves be counted when determining a state’s population?”
3/5 compromise
wanted the Constitution ratified.
Federalists
did not want the Constitution ratified.
Anti-Federalists
was the choice for president
Washington
Statement that people have rights that are not even listed here. (The “People’s Rights Amendment).
Amendment 9
Statement that any power not granted in the Constitution is left to the states. (The “State’s Rights Amendment).
Amendment 10
set up the Supreme Court and the Federal Court System.
Judiciary Act of 1789
became the first Supreme Court Chief Justice.
John Jay
- Hamilton insisted on paying debts in full or at 100% face value in what was called
Funding at Par
the federal government would assume the states’ debts, or in other words, the states would simply give their debts over to the federal government. The reason for assuming state debts was to tie the states together in a common endeavor—to jointly pay off the debt.
Assumption
something must specifically be written into the Constitution in black-and-white for it to be legal.
Strict interpretation
said Congress has the power to do whatever is necessary and proper to carry out its appointed duties. He reasoned that Congress was given the duty of regulating commerce and collect taxes; to properly do this, a national bank was necessary and proper.
the “Elastic Clause” of Congress (AKA the “Necessary and Proper” Clause
This reliance on the Elastic Clause was also called a
loose interpretation
was started in 1791 with a charter good for 20 years.
2. It was built in Philadelphia, was to have $10 million worth of capital, and sold out its public stock in only two hours.
Bank of the US
Things came to head in 1794 when violence broke into the _______ ________ in frontier PN
Whiskey rebellion
in 1793. It stated America’s neutral position and urged Americans to think and act that way
“Neutrality Proclamation”
An offshoot of the decision was the action of French Citizen ________ ______. He came to Charleston, SC and thought Washington’s decision didn’t reflect the American people’s views. He foolishly thought the Americans would rise up and somehow overturn the neutrality or government.
Edmond Genêt
led the Army in defeat of the Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in August of 1794.
Gen. “Mad” Anthony Wayne
where the Indians surrendered much of the Ohio Valley.
Treaty of Grenville
- The U.S. would have to pay off its debts to England from pre-Revolution days.
- The British would leave the American frontier posts. (This was a hollow promise since they’d already given that promise 20 years prior, to John Jay none-the-less!).
- England said they’d pay for damages during impressment. (But they said nothing about stopping future impressment. This was the number 1 complaint!).
- War was avoided. (This was the only good thing the U.S. got, was the top goal at the meeting, and Jay returned to America feeling successful).
Jay’s Treaty
gave Americans (a) the right to travel down and out the Mississippi River and (b) the disputed area of Florida.
Pinckney Treaty
- America should avoid political parties (as he thought them to be divisive).
- America should avoid “permanent alliances” with other nations and simply make decisions independently and in America’s own best interest.
Washington’s farewell address
- Their main goal: avoid war. The U.S. delegates were officially rejected by France.
- Then undercover, Mr. “X”, “Y”, and “Z” made a secret offer. If the U.S. delegates issued an apology from Pres. Adams, gave France a loan, and gave the men a bribe, then the Americans would be allowed to speak with the French official Talleyrand.
- The American delegates refused this lop-sided deal and just came home.
- The American people cheered the delegates for not giving in (like John Jay) and called for war with more passion.
XYZ Affair
- The Franco-American Alliance was over.
- Americans had to pay damages to French shippers.
- Adams decision to go the peace-route was unpopular. It cost him re-election (Jefferson was elected in 1800). But, it was the best thing for America at the time and the right thing to do.
Convention of 1800
made it tougher for immigrants to come to the U.S. and become citizens. They had the stated purpose of protecting Americans from foreigners who might come into the country and undermine the U.S. The theory was that the immigrant was more loyal to his home country than the U.S.
Allen Acts
limited the speech and writings of critics of the government. “Sedition” is a strong word that implies stirring up discontent against the government with the intent of overthrowing it.
Sedition Act
- In response to the Alien and Sedition Acts, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison wrote
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions
saying the 13 states had entered a compact (or contract) when they formed the federal government to abide by federal laws that the states approved. In other words, the states had made the federal government, the federal government then makes laws, but since the states made the federal government, the states reserved the right to nullify those federal laws. Notably, this theory goes by several names, all synonymous: the ______ _____ “states’ rights theory,” or “nullification.”
Compact theory
were supported by the upper classes.
Federalists
were supported by the poor and common classes
Republicans
