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| Olive Branch Petition | A document of American colonial grievances addressed to King George III and signed by members of the Continental Congress in July 1775. The King refused to see the man who delivered it or the document. An effort by the Americans to resolve differences with Britain and to avert the Revolutionary War. It would be most accepted by the moderates and conservatives |
| Hessians | A German mercenary that fought for the British Army in America during the Revolutionary War. They helped the British fight and attempt to beat the Americans in the Revolutionary War. As a result of being experienced, they were able to assist the British Army/ |
| Republicanism | A government in which the power comes from the people, and not the monarch. This theory became one of the political ideologies for the Founding Fathers of the American Revolution. |
| Common Sense | A pamphlet penned by Thomas Paine, in which he was able to explain the importance of declaring independence to the common person. He used arguments such as the King and the system of ruling was to blame as they allowed a corrupt monarchy. Most literate people in America could read the pamphlet. They were able to understand in plain terms what the Continental Congress had been talking about. |
| John Locke | He was an English philosopher who is often considered the father of Liberalism. During the Enlightenment, he penned the ideas of social contract and natural rights in his work "Two Treatises of Government". His work became the basis for Thomas Jefferson's writing of the Declaration of Independence. Locke's ideas are seen through Jefferson's writing of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". |
| Northwest Ordinance | This was a law passed in 1787 that split the land of the Ohio River Valley into several territories. When a territory reached a population of 60,000, it was granted statehood. The state that was formed had no slavery in it. The ordinance was the most significant achievement of Congress under the Articles of Confederation. It set the form by which subsequent Western territories were created and later admitted into the Union as states and marked the beginning of Western expansion of the United States. |
| Articles of Confederation | This was a written document that provided ideas for a national government. It gave congress the authority to conduct wars, foreign relations, and borrow/issue money. However, they were not allowed to regulate trade, draft troops, or levy taxes. Eventually the Articles were ratified, but they lacked the powers to deal with interstate issues and inability to enforce rules. As a result of the many problems the Articles had, they document was replaced by the US Constitution |
| Benedict Arnold | He was a general for the Continental Army at the beginning of the war, but later switched his allegiance to the British army. His name is synonymous with treason or traitor. |
| Tories/Loyalists | Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal British monarchy during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. Throughout everything that occurred in the Revolutionary war, most remained in support of the British Approximately 1/3 of the colonists settled in the US were loyalists. Most of these wealthy people were forced out of their homes during the Revolution, because they were seen as traitors. The poorer members of their cities often overtook those houses, causing social changes. |
| Shays' Rebellion | An uprising led by farmer Daniel Shay, whose followers were called Shayites. They attempted to stop the courts from taking property from poor farmers who were in debt. Although Shays' Rebellion might have been a failure, it showed that there were many faults in the Articles of Confederation. The congress realized that they needed a new document to replace the old. Therefore, the US Constitution was created. |
| Declaration of Independence | An important document in the history of the United States of America. It was written in 1776 and says that the American colonies were no longer under the rule of Great Britain, but were a new country. It not only kicked off the revolution, but stated that the colonists had enough of British crown rule and were determined to seek their own path. |
| Thomas Jefferson | He was the author of the Declaration of Independence, and a member of the Continental Congress. A young man from Virginia, he married into wealth. He was well versed in prior political theories. He was a major figure in US history. He almost single-handedly wrote the Declaration of Independence and was a significant figure among the Founding Fathers. |
| Conflict over the National Bank | The constitution says nothing about the creation of a national bank, so strict constructionists (who thought that the government only had the powers that the constitution explicitly stated didn't believe the government had any right to create such a thing. Most of these strict constructionists were Republican. |
| The Missouri Compromise | Combined proposed states of Maine and Missouri into one bill. Maine was to be a free state, and Missouri a slave state, so that the balance of free and slave states would not be upset. also, the land south of the southern border of missouri will never be slave land. |
| Dartmouth v. Woodward | The New Hampshire legislature wanted to change Dartmouth College into a state university. The legislature changed the school's corporate charter by transferring control of trustee appointments to the governor. The old trustees filed suit against William H. Woodward in an attempt to regain authority over Dartmouth College. Dartmouth wins, as the legislature cannot interfere with a contract between private parties. |
| McCulloch v. Maryland | In 1816, Congress chartered the Second National Bank. In 1818, Maryland passed legislation to impose taxes on the bank. McCulloch, the cashier of the Baltimore branch of the bank refused to pay the tax.The Court decided Congress had the power to incorporate the bank, and Maryland couldn't tax instruments of the national government. |
| Gibbons v. Ogden | An NY state law gave 2 individuals the exclusive right to operate steamboats on waters within state jurisdiction. These laws were duplicated elsewhere which led to friction as some states would require an out-of-state boat to pay a fee for navigational purposes. A steamboat owner who did business between NJ and NY challenged NY's monopoly, which forced him to obtain a special permit to navigate there. The court found NY's requirements inconsistent with a congressional act. |
| Indentured Servants | The “headright” system enabled Chesapeake tobacco farmers to obtain both land and labor by importing workers from England. English indentured servants were the chief source of agricultural labor in Virginia and Maryland before 1675. They accounted for 75 percent of the 130,000 English immigrants to Virginia and Maryland during the seventeenth century. |
| Bacon's Rebellion 1676 | The rebellion exposed tensions between backcountry farmers and the tidewater gentry. The rebellion prompted the tidewater gentry to reevaluate their commitment to the system of indentured servants. |
| THE STONO REBELLION, 1739 | The Stono Rebellion was one of the earliest known acts of rebellion against slavery in America. It was organized and led by slaves living south of Charleston, South Carolina. The slaves tried unsuccessfully to flee to Spanish Florida, where they hoped to gain their freedom. |
| Anne Hutchinson | challenged Puritan religious authorities in Massachusetts Bay. Puritan authorities banished her because she challenged religious doctrine, gender roles, and clerical authority, and she claimed to have had revelations from God. |
| Monroe Doctrine | With all the revolutions in the Spanish empire, the USA was afraid that spain's allies would step in, especially France. The USA was also afraid that England wanted Cuba. Based on this reasoning, Monroe wrote the This proclimation telling all European powers to stay out of the Americas, because it was US land. |
| Headright System | This was used in Virginia to encourage immigration by giving 50 acres of land to any settler who brought a servant. |
| Puritans | English Protestants who wished not only to rid the Church of England of its Catholic traditions, but also to reform English society; they came to New England to set up a model community as an example to the rest of Europe. |
| Roger Williams | In 1635 he was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony because he said that the government had no authority over the personal opinions of individuals. He founded Rhode Island as a colony for religious freedom. |
| Pilgrims | A radical separatist group of English Protestants who settled at Plymouth in order to be left alone to lead a pure and religious life. |
| Johnathan Edwards | This Puritan theologian was the leader of the first Great Awakening in New England. |
| John Winthrop | He led about 1000 Puritans to America in 1630 and was elected the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. |
| Nathaniel Bacon | He led a rebellion in Virginia against the autocratic government of Lord Berkeley in the late 17c. |
| William Marbury | This "midnight judge" lost his case for appointment in a celebrated Supreme Court decision. |
| Samuel Adams | This political agitator led the Boston Tea Party and attended the First Continental Congress as a delegate from Massachusetts. |
| Impressment | The process of taking of sailors off of American ships by the British and claiming that they were Englishmen who had deserted the Royal Navy. |
| Navigation Act | This law passed in Parliament was specifically designed to regulate American trade. |
| Albany Plan | In an attempt to bring the Iroquois into the Seven Years' War and deal with other military affairs, this proposal, drafted by Benjamin Franklin, presented the idea that colonial defense problems should be handled by a royally-appointed president-general and a federal council of delegates chosen by the colonies. It was rejected by the colonies and the Iroquois remained neutral during the war. |
| Coercive Acts | Lord North's attempt to punish Americans for the Boston "Tea Party"; it closed Boston Harbor. |
| Olive Branch Petition | A final attempt by moderates in the Continental Congress to prevent an all-out war with Britain. |
| Declaratory Act | This legislation was a defense of Parliament's sovereignty over the colonies; it was passed to compensate for the repeal of the Stamp Act. |
| Sons of Liberty | This network of lawyers, merchants, tradesmen, and other townspeople organized colonial protests against British regulations. |
| Virginia Plan | This plan called for the establishment of a national government with a bicameral legislature whose members would be proportional to population. |
| Committees of Correspondence | Colonial radicals formed these groups in each town and colony to spread the word of any new English aggression. |
| Federalists | Supporters of the ratification of the Constitution and the shift of power from local and state governments to the central government. |
| Missouri Compromise of 1820 | It prohibited slavery north of the 36 30' line. |
