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79 Cards in this Set
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confederation |
A group of sovereign states that unite for specific purposes (defense, foreign policy, trade, and so on), yet otherwise act as independent bodies. |
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consensus school |
Disagreeing with the emphasis (and, in some cases, with the evidence) produced by the progressives, the consensus school argued that what had really shaped America was not the social, economic, and political conflicts on which the progressives dwelled, but the remarkable degree of agreement that had existed. Had it not been for this consensus on such issues as representative government, popular participation, economic opportunity, and social mobility, the Revolution could not have succeeded. It was to preserve the liberties gained during salutary neglect, liberties threatened by England's new colonial system, that the Revolution had been fought. After the Revolution, the Constitution had been written to guarantee that these hard-won liberties would continue to be enjoyed by all American citizens.
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constitution |
The fundamental laws and principles by which an organization (nation, state, and such) is governed. In America, after the Revolution had begun, the state constitutions were written so as not to rely on tradition and previous legal practices as guides for governing. |
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constitutional convention |
A special assembly of the people, inaugurated in Massachusetts and later used by the United States as a whole, that would meet only for the purpose of writing a constitution. |
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depression |
The reverse of inflation, caused by a reduction of the money supply that retards economic activity, drives prices down, and results in business failures and unemployment. |
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imperial school |
Following on the heels of the Nationalists, and in many ways as a reaction to them, the Imperial school placed the thirteen American colonies within the context of the whole British Empire. Writing for the most part in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and influenced by America's growing international involvement, the Imperial school concluded that Britain's colonial policy, when considered as a whole, had been far from oppressive. Instead, it had been beneficial to colonies and mother country alike, which seemed to suggest that the American Revolution could not have been solely an attack on British policies. |
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inflation |
The economic condition caused by an oversupply of money (generally paper) in a market undersupplied with goods to buy. The result is high prices and a corresponding reduction in the value (buying power) of money. If the inflation is prolonged, a serious disruption of the economy might occur. |
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Nationalists |
This group, writing mainly in the nineteenth century, was greatly influenced by the spirit of nationalism (a strong belief in, and devotion to, the nation; a willingness to put national interests first; a glorification of the national character) that prevailed at that time. To them, the Revolution had been a struggle of an oppressed people against a tyrannical king determined to subject them to his will. Seen in heroic terms, patriot leaders were pictured as champions of liberty who had brought the nation through the Revolution and the "critical period" that followed and who had given us the most perfect blueprint for government yet devised--the Constitution. |
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New Left or neoprogressives |
At present, no single school of interpretation has taken hold. Instead, historians seem to be combining elements of past interpretations in an effort to find a more satisfactory view of the past. Influenced by the disruptions of the 1960s, a group of scholars, designated the New Left, has sought and found evidence of deep social and economic divisions that were overlooked in previous works. Joining the New Left in its search, but less radical in its interpretation of the evidence, is a group whose emphasis seems to hark back to the days of the progressives. However, armed with new means of analysis (especially computers), these historians have been able to digest more complex data on economic growth and sociopolitical patterns than have their namesakes. What has begun to emerge is something of a meeting of the consensus and progressive schools, which, by using a variety of research techniques, may give us a clearer understanding of the forces that shaped early America. |
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progressive historians |
This group added to the imperial school's interpretation by focusing on the struggles for power among the colonists themselves, struggles that had made use of the tensions aroused by Britain's colonial policies. Stressing economic and social conflicts that had manifested themselves in politics, the progressives saw the war, and the period that followed, as an era in which the crucial questions had been not only that of home rule, but also that of "who would rule at home." Although they failed to agree on the meaning of the outcome of the latter struggle, the progressive historians forced Americans to realize that their Revolution had touched the entire fabric of society. |
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rebellion |
The rising against a power or government; organized resistance. |
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revolution |
A successful rebellion, in which one form of government or one ruling group is replaced by another. |
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speculation |
The practice, especially prevalent in western land dealings, in which an individual or a company (the speculator) purchased large blocks of land at a low price per acre (often on credit), divided the land into small units, and resold the property at a higher price per acre. This made many speculators rich, but the land did go to the farmers who could not have afforded large purchases. |
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Second Continental Congress |
Met in Philadelphia three weeks after the battles of Lexington and Concord. Delegates from all colonies, except Georgia, who had not yet sent a representative, met and agreed to support the war, although they did not agree with the purpose of it. There were two sides, at one extreme was a group led by John and Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee, and others, these people had already favored independence and wanted to gain it from the war. At the other end of the extreme was a group led by such moderates like John Dickinson who hoped for a quick reconciliation with Great Britain. |
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Richard Henry Lee |
Virginian, who was a leader of one of the sides of the Second Continental Congress. The side that he led was for independence and hoped to gain it from the war. |
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John Dickinson |
Pennsylvanian that led one end of the extreme at the Second Continental Congress. He led a group of moderates, much like himself, that hoped for a quick reconciliation with Great Britain. |
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"Hessians" |
German mercenaries hired by the British to fight in the Revolutionary War. Many colonists were enraged when the British military recruited them. Americans, both Rebel and Tory, often feared them, believing them rapacious and brutal. About 30,000 German soldiers fought for the British as an ally during the American Revolutionary War. |
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Thomas Paine (1737-1809) |
Political writer who had emerged from England to America less than two years before he published his impassioned pamphlet that crystallized the feeling of the colonists about the British resentment. It was called Common Sense and was published in January 1776.
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Common Sense (Jan 1776) |
Political pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. It's purpose was that Paine wanted to turn angered Americans away from particular parliamentary measures and more toward what he considered the root of the problem, the English Constitution itself. In his pamphlet he wrote for Americans to break completely with a political system that could inflict such brutality on its own people. This sold over 100,000 copies in only a few months and helped create a rapid growth of support for the idea of independence in the early months of 1776. |
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Declaration of Independence |
Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence is at once the nation's most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson's most enduring monument. Here, in exalted and unforgettable phrases, Jefferson expressed the convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people. The political philosophy of the Declaration was not new; its ideals of individual liberty had already been expressed by John Locke and the Continental philosophers. What Jefferson did was to summarize this philosophy in "self-evident truths" and set forth a list of grievances against the King in order to justify before the world the breaking of ties between the colonies and the mother country. |
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Articles of Confederation |
The first constitution of the United States of America that was adopted as a plan for the union in November 1777. This document confirmed the existing weak, decentralized system. |
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Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) |
33-year old Virginian at the Second Continental Congress who wrote the Declaration of Independence. |
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John Locke |
A philosopher whose ideas from his social contract theory was used in the first part of the Declaration. His theory was that the government was formed to protect what Thomas Jefferson called, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." |
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Continental Currency |
When the colonies needed money for the war they turned to the idea of printing paper money. They soon printed too much and inflation occurred, Congress realized that the money was virtually worthless. In the end the war was financed by borrowing money from other nations especially France. |
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Gen. George Washington (1731-1799) |
Single commander in chief of the Continental army during the American Revolution. |
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Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1854) |
Foreign military expert from France that gave aid to George Washington and the new Continental army. With his help the army was able to prevail against the mightiest power in the world. Helped train the new army. |
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Baron von Steuben |
Foreign military expert from Prussia that aided George Washington and the Continental army. He also helped train the colonists to prevail against the British. |
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Battle of Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775) |
A battle that was actually fought on Breed's Hill on July 17, 1775, in which the patriots suffered severe casualties and withdrew. However, they were able to inflict even greater losses on the British enemy. Americans lost about 400 while the British lost about 1,000. The Boston siege continued and the British were forced to withdraw to Nova Scotia. |
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Loyalists |
American colonists who remained loyal to the British monarchy during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men; Patriots called them "persons inimical to the liberties of America." |
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Invasion of Canada (1775) |
The first major military initiative by the newly formed Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. The objective of the campaign was to gain military control of the British Province of Quebec. The target was Quebec City in December, where they assaulted the city in a snowstorm on the last day of the year. The battle was a disastrous defeat for the Americans; Montgomery was killed and Arnold wounded, and the city's defenders suffered few casualties. |
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Gen. Benedict Arnold |
A Colonel in the Connecticut militia at the outbreak of the Revolution and soon became a General in the Continental Army. He won key victories for the colonies in the battles in upstate New York in 1777, and was instrumental in General Gates victory over the British at Saratoga. After becoming Commander of Philadelphia in 1778, he went heavily into debt, and in 1780, he was caught plotting to surrender the key Hudson River fortress of West Point to the British royal army. He is the most famous traitor in American history. |
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Gen. Richard Montgomery |
American general who unsuccessfully threatened Quebec in the late 1775 and early 1776 in a battle where he was killed. |
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Gen. William Howe (1729-1814) |
A British General that arrived in New York in the summer of 1776, with hundreds of British ships and 32,000 British soldiers. He offered Congress a choice between royal pardon or a battle against overwhelming odds. The Colonists refused the offer and fought, but were pushed back out of Manhattan, then retreated over the plains of New Jersey, across the Delaware River, and into Pennsylvania. |
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Gen. John Burgoyne |
A British commander of the northern forces, who was supposed to lead his forces down from Canada and meet William Howe in Albany. He began a two-pronged attack to the south along the Mohawk and the upper Hudson approaches to Albany. He was abandoned by Howe, however, who instead of meeting with him, went to capture Philadelphia. This left him alone to carry out the plan in the north. Defeated at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777 ... an embarrassing defeat for the British. |
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Battle of Trenton (Dec. 26, 1776) |
Three groups of soldierscrossed the Delaware River in boats during different times through thenight. When they reached the other side, early in the morningon December 26, 1776, the Continental Army led by Washington joinedtogether and attacked the Hessians, who were still sleeping anddrunk from their celebrations. The Continental Armyby using surprise as their greatest weapon captured between 900and 1,000 prisoners and took over Trenton. Only four Patriotswere wounded and their wounds were not severe. |
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Battle of Princeton (Jan. 3, 1777) |
Feeling victorious after Trenton, theContinental Army continued later that night towards Princeton,New Jersey and again took their enemy by surprise.These two victories gavethe soldiers the courage and hope to go on and they were ableto take from their captives ammunition, food and other equipmentthat would help them survive the winter of 1777. |
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Barry St. Leger |
British colonel who was sent up the St. Lawrence River towards Lake Ontario by General Burgoyne. They ambushed the American forces in the Battle of Oriskany, but the fort's occupants sortied and raided their camp. |
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Battle of Oriskany |
One of the bloodiest battles in the North American theater of the American Revolutionary War and a significant engagement of the Saratoga campaign. This was one of the few battles in the war in which almost all of the participants were North American: Loyalists and allied Indians fought against Patriots and allied Oneida in the absence of British soldiers. |
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Gen. Horatio Gates |
After General John Burgoyne was mauled by New England minutemen on August 16, he was sent into a need for supplies. Short of materials, he fought several costly battles and finally he was forced to withdraw to Saratoga, where this American general surrounded him and took his surrender on October 17, 1777. |
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Battle of Saratoga (Sep. 19 & Oct. 7, 1777) |
The town where John Burgoyne surrendered to Horatio Gates after he surrounded him on October 17, 1777. Burgoyne was forced to surrender because he had been short on supplies. Costly defeat for the British because France became a promising ally for the Patriots. |
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Joseph and Mary Brant |
A Mohawk brother and sister who were among some members of the Iroquois Confederacy who allied themselves with the British, even though they had declared their neutrality on the Revolutionary War in 1776. This alliance was fatal to the Iroquois Confederacy that was already divided and weakened because only three of the Iroquois nations followed them in their support for the British. |
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Gen. John Sullivan |
In 1779, a patriot general from New Hampshire who harshly retaliated against Iroquois series of raids on white settlements in upstate New York. Wreaking such destruction on Indian settlements that large groups of Iroquois fled north never to return. |
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Count de Vergennes |
France's foreign minister who agreed (due the efforts of Benjamin Franklin in Paris) to formal recognition of the United States of America in February 6, 1778. And to provide the new country greatly expanded military assistance. He wanted evidence America could win before he backed them. After getting news of Saratoga, that was enough. And also he wanted Britain to weaken. |
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Gen. Henry Clinton |
British general who replaced Howe in 1778, and then decided to move his army back to NY, and order Cornwallis to return to Yorktown after a bad defeat. Washington trapped Cornwallis and he surrendered
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Gen. George Rogers Clark |
American general who led a patriot expedition over the Appalachian Mountains and captured settlements in the Illinois country from the British and their Indian allies. Greatly weakened British influence in the Northwest Territory. |
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“Southern Strategy” (1778-1781) |
In 1778. Rather than mounting a full-scale military campaign against the Continental Army, the British decided to focus their efforts on the loyalists, who they still believed were the majority of the American population.Believing the loyalists were strongest in the South and hoping to enlist the slaves in their cause--an objective that seems incompatible with a focus on Southern loyalists--the British turned their efforts to the South. In fact, the British had some important military successes in the South. They occupied Savannah, Georgia, in late 1778 and Charleston, South Carolina, in May 1779. It would fail. |
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Thomas Sumter |
Patriot guerrilla leader in the Carolinas who constantly harassed the British. Nicknamed the "Gamecock." Cornwallis paid him the finest tribute when he described the "Gamecock" as his greatest plague. |
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Andrew Pickens |
Patriot guerrilla leader in the Carolinas who constantly harassed the British. After Tory raiders destroyed most of his property and frightened his family, he informed the British that they had violated the terms of his parole and rejoined the war. Served at Cowpens. |
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Francis Marion |
"The Swamp Fox," he was the most famous Patriot guerrilla leader in the Carolinas who constantly harassed the British. Due to his irregular methods of warfare, he is considered one of the fathers of modern guerrilla warfare, and is credited in the lineage of the United States Army Rangers. |
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Lord Cornwallis (1731-1805) |
Was the British Commander in the south, appointed by the new British General Clinton, who crushed by a Patriot force under George Washington on August 17, 1781 at Yorktown. |
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Gen Nathanael Greene (1742-1786) |
One of the ablest American generals of his time. He was Horatio Gates' replacement after congress recalled him. It was George Washington who chose him to be the replacement. |
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Battle of Camden (August 16, 1780) |
A major victory for the British in the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War. On August 16, 1780, British forces under Lieutenant General Charles, Lord Cornwallis routed the American forces of Major General Horatio Gates about five miles north of Camden, South Carolina, strengthening the British hold on the Carolinas following the capture of Charleston. |
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Battle of Cowpens ((January 17, 1781)) |
A decisive victory by the Continental Army forces under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan in the Southern campaign of the American Revolutionary War over the British Army led by Colonel Banastre Tarleton. It was a turning point in the reconquest of South Carolina from the British. It took place in northwestern Cherokee County, South Carolina, north of the town of Cowpens. |
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Battle of Guilford Courthouse (Mar. 15, 1781) |
In North Carolina, on March 15, 1781, proved pivotal to the American victory in the American Revolutionary War (1775-83). Although British troops under Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis (1738-1805) scored a tactical victory at Guilford Courthouse over American forces under Major General Nathanael Greene (1742-86), the British suffered significant troop losses during the battle. Afterward, Cornwallis abandoned his campaign for the Carolinas |
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Siege of Yorktown (Oct. 17, 1781) |
Ending on October 19, 1781 at Yorktown, Virginia, was a decisive victory by a combined force of American Continental Army troops led by General George Washington and French Army troops led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by British lord and Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis. The culmination of the campaign, the siege proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in the North American theater, as the surrender by Cornwallis, and the capture of both him and his army, prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict. |
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Lord Shelburne |
Succeeded Lord North as prime minister after Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown. |
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John Jay |
One of the three American negotiators for peace with the British government. Benjamin Franklin and John Adams were the other two. |
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Treaty of Paris (signed Sept. 3, 1783) |
This peace treaty was 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. This treaty, along with the separate peace treaties between Great Britain and the nations that supported the American cause: France, Spain and the Dutch Republic. |
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Chief Dragging Canoe |
The leader of the Cherokee in the western Carolinas and Virginia who launched a series of attacks on outlying white settlements in the summer of 1776. Patriotic militias responded in great force, ravaging Cherokee lands and forcing the chief and many of his followers to flee west across the Tennessee River. |
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"Remember the Ladies" |
The famous words written by Abigail Adams to her Husband John Adams in 1775. She talks about how she thinks that in the new code of laws being written that the men should be more favorable and generous to women than their ancestors were. Abigail was also calling for new protection against abusive and tyrannical men. |
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Republicanism |
A political system in which all power came from the people, rather than from some supreme authority (such as a king). This was the government that the Americans agreed on and its success depended on the nature of its citizenry. If the population consisted of sturdy, independent property owners imbued with civic virtue, then the republic could survive. If it consisted of a few powerful aristocrats and a great mass of dependence workers, then it would be in danger. From this came the ideal of the small freeholder was basic to the American political ideology. |
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Statute of Religious Liberty (1786) |
Was enacted in 1786 in Virginia, and written by Thomas Jefferson. This called for the complete separation of church and state. It was drawn up because even though most Americans believed that church should play some role in government, they did not wish to give special privileges to any particular domination. |
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Ohio and Scioto Companies |
Bought much of the land from Congress under the Ordinances of 1784 and 1785, |
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Ordinances of 1784 & 1785 |
The first ordinance for territorial government, approved by Congress on 23 April 1784, invited settlers to form temporary governments that would adopt the "constitution and laws" of one of the existing states. When the new "state" gained a population of twenty thousand free inhabitants, it would be entitled to draft its own constitution and claim admission to the union "on an equal footing with the … original states." The ordinance, eventually adopted by Congress on 20 May 1785, incorporated the prior survey principle, dividing the national domain into townships of six square miles each. |
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Northwest Ordinance of 1787 |
Became about in 1787 because of the criticisms of old policies, it was a new law governing western settlement. It created a single Northwest Territory out of the lands north of the Ohio; the territory could be divided subsequently into between three and five territories. It also specified a population of 60,000 as a minimum for statehood, guaranteed freedom of religion and the right to trial by jury to residents of the Northwest, and prohibited slavery throughout the territory. One of the few successes of the new national government under the Articles of Confederation. |
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Little Turtle |
Chief of the Miami who led a Native American alliance that raided U.S. settlements in the Northwest Territory. He was defeated and forced to sign the Treaty of Greenville. Later, he became an advocate for peace. |
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Anthony Wayne |
President George Washington recalled this American general from civilian life in order to lead an expedition in the Northwest Indian War, which up to that point had been a disaster for the United States. On August 20, 1794, Wayne mounted an assault on the Indian confederacy at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, in modern Maumee, Ohio (just south of present-day Toledo), which was a decisive victory for the U.S. forces, ending the war. |
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Battle of Fallen Timbers (Aug. 20, 1794) |
The final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between American Indian tribes affiliated with the Western Confederacy under Little Turtle, including minor support from the British, against the United States for control of the Northwest Territory. General Anthony Wayne led 4,000 soldiers into the Ohio Valley in 1794 to defeat the Indians. |
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Treaty of Greenville |
1795 Treaty that gave America all of Ohio after General "Mad" Anthony Wayne battled and defeated the Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. Allowed Americans to explore the area with peace of mind that the land belonged to America and added size and very fertile land to American territory. |
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Robert Morris |
An American merchant and a signer to the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the United States Constitution. Significance: He played an important role in personally financing the American side in the Revolutionary War from 1781 to 1784. Hence, he came to be known as the 'Financier of the Revolution'. Head of the Confederation's treaty. Alexander Hamilton was his young protege. Argued in favor of a "continental impost" |
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Alexander Hamilton |
The illegitimate son of a Scottish merchant in the West Indies who had become a successful New York lawyer. Earlier called for a "continental impost", a 5% duty on imported good to be levied by Congress and used to fund the national dept. Congress failed to approve the new impost in 1781 and again in 1783.He was also the most resourceful advocate of a stronger national government. Called for a national convention to overhaul the Articles of Confederation. |
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"continental impost" |
A proposed new 5% duty on imported good to be levied by Congress and used to fund the national dept. Congress failed to approve the new impost in 1781 and again in 1783. |
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Daniel Shays |
An American soldier, revolutionary, and farmer famous for being one of the leaders of Shays's Rebellion, a populist uprising against controversial debt collection and tax policies in Massachusetts in 1786 and 1787. It failed. He and the other principal figures of the rebellion fled first to Rhode Island and then to Vermont. Shays was pardoned in 1788 and he returned to Massachusetts from hiding in the Vermont woods. He was, however, vilified by the Boston press, who painted him as an archetypal anarchist opposed to the government. |
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Shays's Rebellion (1786-1787) |
A series of protests in 1786 and 1787 by American farmers against state and local enforcement of tax collections and judgments for debt. Although farmers took up arms in states from New Hampshire to South Carolina, the rebellion was most serious in Massachusetts, where bad harvests, economic depression, and high taxes threatened farmers with the loss of their farms. The uprising in Massachusetts began in the summer of 1786. The rebels tried to capture the federal arsenal at Springfield and harassed leading merchants, lawyers, and supporters of the state government. The state militia, commanded by Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, crushed the rebels in several engagements in the winter of 1787. |
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Job Shattuck |
One of the principal leaders of the 1786 uprising, Shays's Rebellion. He was arrested in late 1786 on charges of treason, but was pardoned in 1787 by Governor John Hancock. |
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manumission |
The act of a slave owner freeing his or her slaves. |
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patriarchal legal system |
A social system in which males hold primary power, predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property; in the domain of the family, fathers or father-figures hold authority over women and children. |
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executive power |
The branch of federal and state government that is broadly responsible for implementing, supporting, and enforcing the laws made by the legislative branch and interpreted by the judicial branch. i.e. governor or president. |
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state constitutional conventions |
Drafted at first to limit executive powers but later changed to bring it back. |
