AP History Final
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50 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Columbus | Italian navigator who discovered the New World in the service of Spain while looking for a route to China (1451-1506) |
| Line of Demarcation | This was the line drawn by Alexander VI that gave Portugal most of Brazil and Spain the rest of South America, imaginarry north to south line running down the middle of the atlantic and granted spain the west of the line and portugal the east |
| Indentured Servants | People who could not afford passage to the colonies could become indentured servants. Another person would pay their passage, and in exchange, the indentured servant would serve that person for a set length of time (usually seven years) and then would be free. |
| Jamestown | The first successful settlement in the Virginia colony founded in May, 1607. Harsh conditions nearly destroyed the colony but in 1610 supplies arrived with a new wave of settlers. The settlement became part of the Virginia Company of London in 1620. The population remained low due to lack of supplies until agriculture was solidly established. Jamestown grew to be a prosperous shipping port when John Rolfe introduced tobacco as a major export and cash crop. |
| The Mayflower | a group of 102 (half separatists), negotiated with the VA Company to settle in its jurisdiction, non-separatists included Captain Myles Standish, Plymouth Bay was outside the domain of the VA Comp., had no right to settle in land or set up government, landed in New England in 1620- not on Plymouth Rock like originally expected |
| Captain John Smith | English explorer who helped found the colony at Jamestown, Virginia |
| Puritans | A religious group who wanted to purify the Church of England. They came to America for religious freedom and settled Massachusetts Bay. |
| predestination | doctrine of John Calvin that adhered to the idea that each person's fate is predetermined by god |
| triangular trade | A three way system of trade during 1600-1800s Aferica sent slaves to America, America sent Raw Materials to Europe, and Europe sent Guns and Rum to Africa |
| house of burgesses | the first elected legislative assembly in the New World established in the Colony of Virginia in 1619, representative colony set up by England to make laws and levy taxes but England could veto its legistlative acts. |
| navigation acts | Laws that governed trade between England and its colonies. Colonists were required to ship certain products exclusively to England. These acts made colonists very angry because they were forbidden from trading with other countries. |
| Battle of Saratoga | Turning point of the American Revolution. It was very important because it convinced the French to give the U.S. military support. It lifted American spirits, ended the British threat in New England by taking control of the Hudson River, and, most importantly, showed the French that the Americans had the potential to beat their enemy, Great Britain. |
| Treaty of Paris 1763 | Treaty between Britain, France, and Spain, which ended the Seven Years War (and the French and Indian War). France lost Canada, the land east of the Mississippi, some Caribbean islands and India to Britain. France also gave New Orleans and the land west of the Mississippi to Spain, to compensate it for ceeding Florida to the British. |
| Proclamation Act 1763 | prohitibted colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. Prevent future hostilities between colonists and Native Americans. Colonists reacted with anger and defiance |
| Boston Tea Party | demonstration (1773) by citizens of Boston who (disguised as Indians) raided three British ships in Boston harbor and dumped hundreds of chests of tea into the harbor |
| Intolerable Acts | in response to Boston Tea Party, 4 acts passed in 1774, Port of Boston closed, reduced power of assemblies in colonies, permitted royal officers to be tried elsewhere, provided for quartering of troop's in barns and empty houses |
| 1st Continental Congress | On September 1774, delegates from 12 colonies gathered in Philadelphia. After debating, the delegates passed a resolution backing Mass. in its struggle. Decided to boycott all British goods and to stop exporting goods to Britain until the Intolerance Act was canceled. |
| Bunker Hill | British and American troops poured into the Boston area. Americans killed over one thousand British soldiers and the British killed nearly four hundred. The Americans had to fled because they were nearly out of supplies. King George III suspended trade between Britain and the American colonies. |
| Common Sense | a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that criticized monarchies and convinced many American colonists of the need to break away from Britain |
| Yorktown | The last major battle of the war in which Charles Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington. The French helped us. The was over, and colonists had won! |
| Treaty of Paris 1783 | This treaty ended the Revolutionary War, recognized the independence of the American colonies, and granted the colonies the territory from the southern border of Canada to the northern border of Florida, and from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River |
| Thomas Jefferson | Virginian, architect, author, governor, and president. Lived at Monticello. Wrote the Declaration of Independence. Second governor of Virgina. Third president of the United States. Designed the buildings of the University of Virginia. |
| Mercantilism | an economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver and by selling more goods than they bought |
| Battle of Lexington | A conflict marking the beginning of the Revolutionary War in Lexington, Massachusetts, on April 19, 1775. An American force of about seventy minutemen under Capt. John Parker assembled on Lexington green after receiving word from dispatch riders, including Paul Revere, that a British force of about 250 men, under Maj. John Pitcairn, was advancing to Concord to confiscate provincial military supplies. British soldiers fired on Parker's force after hearing a gunshot, although which side the shot came from is uncertain, and it may have been accidental. |
| Battle of Concord | These two battles occurred on the same day. They were the first military conflicts of the war. Lexington was the first one, in which a shot suddenly rang out as minutemen were leaving the scene at Lexington. Fighting then occurred. The British won the brief fight. In the second battle, Concord, the British had gone onto Concord and, finding no arms, left to go back to Boston. On the bridge back, they met 300 minutemen. The British were forced to retreat, and the Americans claimed victory. |
| Declaration of Independence | the document recording the proclamation of the Second Continental Congress (4 July 1776) asserting the independence of the colonies from Great Britain |
| Stamp Act | an act passed by the British parliment in 1756 that raised revenue from the American colonies by a duty in the form of a stamp required on all newspapers and legal or commercial documents |
| Boston Massacre | British soldiers fired into a crowd of colonists who were teasing and taunting them. Five colonists were killed. The colonists blamed the British and the Sons of Liberty and used this incident as an excuse to promote the Revolution. |
| Sons of Liberty | A radical political organization for colonial independence which formed in 1765 after the passage of the Stamp Act. They incited riots and burned the customs houses where the stamped British paper was kept. After the repeal of the Stamp Act, many of the local chapters formed the Committees of Correspondence which continued to promote opposition to British policies towards the colonies. The Sons leaders included Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. |
| Quartering Act | an act passed by the British that allowed British troops to live in the homes of the colonists |
| 2nd continental congress | The congress met in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775. Three delegatres added to the Congress were Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Hancock. The Congress took on governmental duties and united all the colonies for the war effort. They selected George Washington as commender of the army. They encouraged the colonies to set themselves up as states. On July 4, 1776 they adopted the Declaration of Independence. The Congress ended March 1, 1781 when a Congress authorized by the Articles of Confederation took over. |
| benedict arnold | He had been 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 in exchange for a commission in the royal army. He is the most famous traitor in American history. |
| articles of confederation | this document, the nations first constitution, was adopted by the second continental congress in 1781during the revolution. the document was limited because states held most of the power, and congress lacked the power to tax, regulate trade, or control coinage |
| george washington | He had led troops (rather unsuccessfully) during the French and Indian War, and had surrendered Fort Necessity to the French. He was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, and was much more successful in this second command. |
| federalists beliefs | The Federalist Party was one of the first political organizations in the United States. The members of this party supported a strong central government, a large peacetime army and navy, and a stable financial system. |
| alexander hamilton | 1789-1795; First Secretary of the Treasury. He advocated creation of a national bank, assumption of state debts by the federal government, and a tariff system to pay off the national debt. |
| great compromise | Compromise made by Constitutional Convention in which states would have equal representation in one house of the legislature and representation based on population in the other house |
| anti-federalists beliefs | felt that the traditional view of republics was a sound one; virtuous leaders were necessary and small size was necessary; feared that if the state was too large corruption will creep in |
| northwest ordinance of 1787 | Created the Northwest Territory (area north of the Ohio River and west of Pennsylvania), established conditions for self-government and statehood, included a Bill of Rights, and permanently prohibited slavery |
| land ordinance of 1787 | between the United States and Spain guaranteed Spain's exclusive right to navigate the Mississippi River for 30 years. It also opened Spain's European and West Indian seaports to American shipping. However, the Treaty was not ratified under the Articles of ConfederationLand was to be systematically surveyed into square "townships", six miles (9.656 km) on a side. Each of these townships was sub-divided into thirty-six "sections" of one square mile (2.59 km²) or 640 acres. These sections could then be further subdivided for sale to settlers and land speculators |
| virginia plan | Virginia delegate James Madison's plan of government, in which states got a number of representatives in Congress based on their population |
| 3/5's compromise | This compromise said that slaves count both as 3/5 of a person when counting population for representatives and for taxation. This was based on saying that a slave worked only 3/5 as well as a free worker. |
| slave trade compromise | In 1787 some northern states had banned slave trade in their borders, urged that slave trade should be banned in the entire nation, southerners-no, Compromised that congress could not outlaw slave trade for at least 20 years. Northerners agreed that no state could stop a fugitive slave from being returned to someone who claimed that slave |
| Bank of US | a bank chartered by the US congress on feb. 25, 1791. the charter was for 20 years. The bank was created to handle the financial needs and requirements of the central government of the newly formed us, which had previously been 13 individual colonies with their own banks, currencies, and financial institutions and policies. |
| necessary and proper cause | Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to make all laws that are "necessary and proper" to carry out the powers specifically delegated to it by the Constitution. It is also known as the "elastic clause" because of the vagueness of the phrase "necessary and proper." |
| enumerated powers | Powers specifically given to Congress in the Constitution; including the power to collect taxes, coin money, regulate foreign and interstate commerce, and declare war. |
| XYZ affair | incident of the late 1790s in which French secret agents demanded a bribe and a loan to France in lieu of negotiating a dispute over the Jay Treaty and other issues |
| virginia and kentucky resolves | -VP Jefferson led the opposition to Alien and Sedition Acts - him and Madison drafted the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions -argued that the states had the right to judge the constitutionality of federal laws |
| 1st amendment | Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. |
| separation of powers | Constitutional division of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, with the legislative branch making law, the executive applying and enforcing the law, and the judiciary interpreting the law |
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