Revolution and Civil War Flashcards
José María Morelos
a priest and leader in Mexico’s fight for independence
Constitutional Convention of 1787
Set up a new plan for the American government and fixed the problems caused by the Articles of Confederation, which had a weak central government. Held in 1787 in Philadelphia
Thomas Paine
An English-born American political activist and newspaper editor. Wrote “Common Sense,” a pamphlet urging the colonists to be totally independent from Britain.
Battle of Saratoga
Fought in New York, the American victory is often called the turning point of the Revolutionary War. 1777
John Locke
He was a political thinker who supported the idea of a “social contract” and a “limited monarchy.” Encouraged people to stand up if their monarch didn’t protect their natural rights to life, liberty, and property.
Manifest Destiny
During the 1800s, people thought that the United States would grow from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Plessy v. Ferguson
In this case from 1896, the Supreme Court said that public facilities could be different by race as long as they were “separate but equal.”
Eli Whitney
Invented the cotton gin in 1794
Texas Declaration of Independence
Republic of Texas was formed with this Declaration on March 2, 1836
Gilded Age
Mark Twain came up with this term to describe America in the 1800s. It means that the country looked good on the outside but was full of strife and trouble.
Sugar Act of 1764
A tax enacted on all British colonies by Parliament on sugar, textiles, coffee, wine, and indigo.
Steamboat
Made it easier to sail upriver, which made it easier and less work-intensive to ship things.
5th Amendment
Amendment to the US Constitution that protects people from being accused of wrongdoing without proof, from self-incrimination, and from being charged twice for the same act.
Ex: You can “plead the fifth” to avoid testifying in a case against yourself.
Stamp Act of 1765
This tax was only put on things written in the American colonies.
Civil War
1861-1865. Fought between the northern and southern states of the US. Causes of the war centered on the issue of slavery and the rights of the states vs. the federal government.
Confederate States of America
When South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas broke away from the Union, they formed a group. After the Civil War, it was over.
Nullification Doctrine
The idea that states should be able to get rid of or ignore any federal law that they thought was against the Constitution.
Texas Revolution
Between 1835 and 1836, a fight between American colonists in Texas and the Mexican government.
Know-Nothing Party
A political group that wanted to make it hard for people who were born outside of the country to become citizens or run for office.
Reconstruction
The post-Civil War reunification of Confederate and Union states. A statute was passed to treat former slaves equally, but it had little long-term impact.
Miguel Hidalgo
One of the first leaders in the Mexican fight for independence from Spain. His attempt was unsuccessful and he was executed.
Mexican-American War / Mexican War
1846 - 1848. A war between the United States and Mexico over western territories (specifically sparked by annexation of Texas).
The Battle of Gonzales
first battle in the war over Texas independence when Mexico attempted to disarm the city of Gonzales by removing their cannon
Pendleton Civil Service Act
In 1883, the government set up the Civil Service Commission to control and limit the use of favoritism.
Empresarios
Settlers who signed a contract with the Spanish crown were allowed to settle wherever as long as they recruited and ruled colonists.
John Deere
Designed a steel plow in 1837
Federalists
The first political party in the US. They wanted a strong central government.
Reconstruction Acts of 1867
The major changes to society, the economy, and politics that Republicans in Congress passed
Secession
An official exit from the Union
Jim Crow Laws
After Reconstruction, laws were written that made the South stay separate. limited the civil rights of black people, like the right to vote and the right to a fair education.
Second Continental Congress
Issued the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776
Homestead Act of 1862
American settlers were given 160 acres of land in exchange for farming it. Settlers moved into the Great Plains, but this caused problems with Native Americans.
Three-Fifths Compromise
The Constitution’s framers counted slaves as three-fifths of a person for congressional representation and taxation. Part of a northern-southern slavery truce.
9th Amendment
Amendment to the US Constitution that protects the rights of people whose rights are not named in the Constitution.
Indian Territory
Established in 1830, land in modern-day Oklahoma where Congress planned to move Native Americans
Henry Clay
A lawyer and politician from the U.S. Both the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850 were his ideas. The Great Pacificator is also called the Great Compromiser.
Enlightenment
Locke, Rousseau, Voltaire, and Montesquieu headed a 17th-century intellectual movement that believed reason, science, and progress could improve society.
Nikola Tesla
Invented the alternating current (AC) electric supply.
Cotton Gin
A machine that took the cotton seeds out of the cotton, so that more cotton could be grown and more slaves were needed to gather it.
Thornton Affair
1846 Mexican military attack against US forces in Texas that began the Mexican-American War
Boston Massacre of 1770
The fact that British troops fired into a crowd of protesters shows how angry the colonists were with the British.
13th Amendment
Made slavery illegal in the United States.
Sons of Liberty
In 1765, a group of people who didn’t like the Stamp Act got together to fight it. In the ten years before the Revolution, the group fought against all kinds of British taxes. For example, in 1773, they planned the Boston Tea Party to protest the Tea Act.
Quartering Act of 1765
Required colonists to provide room and board to British soldiers.
Nativists
Americans who opposed immigration
Treaty of Córdoba
the treaty recognizing Mexico’s independence from Spain
Lewis and Clark
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the first Europeans to explore the Louisiana Territory.
Thomas Jefferson
Author of the Declaration of Independence; one of America’s founding fathers; third president of the United States.
Sectionalism
Putting the needs of one area or part of the country ahead of the needs of the whole country.
Dawes Severalty Act
Reservation land was split up into plots that were given to each male head of family.
6th Amendment
Amendment to the US Constitution that protects the right to a fair, quick, and public trial, the right to a lawyer, the right to face your accusers, and the right to an unbiased jury.
Ex: You can’t be stuck in jail for years while awaiting a trial.
Mass Production
The process of making a lot of the same thing with machines and/or a moving assembly line.
