Term
| Articles of Confederation |
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Definition
| the first Constitution of the new United States; officially ratified in 1781; a vey loose ultimately weak "league of friendship" between the states; so weak it was unable to enforce laws, tax, or control commerce; this failed attempt led to the Constitution Convention |
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| uprising of New England debt-ridden farmers who had their land taken because they could not pay their high taxes; as a result, they rebelled against the Mass. Government demanding that their land not be taken; this event and other similar uprisings led leaders to realize that the AOC was a failure. |
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| Formally ended the Revolution; formal recognition to the U.S., the treaty: established U.S. boundaries, specified certain fishing rights, allowed creditors of each country to be paid by citizens of the other, restored the rights and property of Loyalists, opened up the Mississippi River to citizens of both nations and provided for evacuation of all British forces. |
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| Law passed by Congress to set out the rules of how to survey, divide up, and sell land "in the west" after the Revolution. |
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| Northwest Ordinance of 1787 |
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| law created by the AOC to establish how states would be created in the US; the same system used to create all states after the original 13. |
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| how a nation and its citizens perceive itself; established through customs, laws, government, and education; the early American identity was based partly on its British roots, partly on the customs of its immigrants, and partly on its traditions of individual rights and freedoms. |
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| an early (1754) attemp by colonial leaders like B Franklin to loosely unite the colonies under a central government; with the F&I War looming, leaders realized the need to stick together AND partner up with the Iroquois nation for protection and trade agreements. |
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| Created a boundary line between the British colonies and American Indian lands; this angered many Colonist who believed that it was their right to obtain more land from the Indians |
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| Act of Parliament forcing the American colonies to ensure that British troops had adequate housing and provisions; If a British troop needed food and a place to stay you HAD to provide it even in your own home; 3rd Amendment to our Constitution bans this practice. |
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| Stamp Act/Stamp Act Congress |
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Definition
| Passed by the Parliament requiring all legal documents, newspapers, wills, pamphlets, and playing cards in the American colonies to carry a tax; Upsetting to many colonist because it made commerce much more expensive; taxing the colonist without representation |
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| underground term for any men resisting new Crown taxes and acts; Most colonies had them, but Boston's was the most militant and was led by Samuel Adams |
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| an incident involving the deaths of five civilians at the hands of British troops on March 5, 1770; led to propaganda that helped change sentiments throughout the colonies. |
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| Committees of Correspondence |
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| bodies organized by the local governments coordinating written communication outside of the colony; rallied opposition on common causes and established plans for collective action, |
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| “Shot heard around the world” |
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| April 1775; The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War; battles ring in a new war in the new world |
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| Sons of Liberty dressed up as Native Americans and dumpedtea belonging to the British East India Company into the Boston Harbor in protest of the Tea Act, very costly ($) act. |
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| Intolerable Acts/Coercive Acts |
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Definition
| series of laws passed by Parliament in 1774 making life and economics very hard for Colonists in Boston; many issued in direct response to the Boston Tea Party (1773); Parliament hoped to make an example of Massachusetts; It didn't work and the Colonies eventually united behind Massachusetts |
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| “No Taxation without representation” |
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| James Otis; summarized a primary grievance of the colonists; belief that they were English citizens and therfore entitled to representation in Parliament |
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| Called in response to the passage of the Intolerable/Coercive Acts by Parliament; 12 of the 13 Colonies sent delegates to Philadelphia; Decided to boycott all British goods and set up another meeting |
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| Thomas Paine’s Common Sense |
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Definition
| presented the American colonists with an argument for independence from British rule; Made it sound like that if you didn't think the Colonies should be independent you didn't have any sense |
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| Declaration of Independence |
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Definition
| the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were now independent states; Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson; By the time it was adopted in July 1776, the Colonies and Great Britain had been at war for more than a year. |
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| Reducing the government’s power by allowing people to vote in a republic, enforcing the RULE OF LAW, dividing the government into different branches, and clearly defining personal rights. |
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| managed the colonial war effort, and moved slowly towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776; ratified the AOC in 1781 |
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