 | Term | Definition |
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Mayflower Compact |
This document was drafted in 1620 prior to settlement by the Pilgrims at Plymouth Bay in Massachusetts. It declared that the 41 males who signed it agreed to accept majority rule and participate in a government in the best interest of all members of the colony. This agreement set the precedent for later documents outlining commonwealth rule. |
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Thanksgiving |
celebration of the Pilgrims one year after they landed, 4th Thursday in November |
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Toleration Act of 1649 |
made restricting religious rights of Christians a crime |
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Magna Carta |
This document, signed by King John of Endland in 1215, is the cornerstone of English justice and law. It declared that the king and government were bound by the same laws as other citizens of England. It contained the antecedents of the ideas of due process and the right to a fair and speedy trial that are included in the protection offered by the U.S. Bill of Rights |
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Parliament |
Great Britain's law making body |
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Great Awakening |
Religious revival in the American colonies of the eighteenth century during which a number of new Protestant churches were established. |
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French and Indian War |
this struggle between the British and the French in the colonies of the North America was part of a worldwide war known as the Seven Years' War |
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Proclamation of 1763 |
issued by King goege III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War. organize Britain's vast new North American empire, and to stabilize relations with North American Indians through regulation of trade, settlement, and land purchases on the western frontier. forbade Americans from settling or buying land west of the Appalachians. |
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Sugar Act |
A tax put on sugar by the British. |
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Stamp Act |
1765, All paper must have a stamp on it and stamp taxes were raised |
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Declaratory Act |
1766; Britains proclaimed the right to tax colonists for no reason without challenge |
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Townshend Act |
an act that stated new taxes applied only to imported goods |
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Boston Massacre |
conflict between colonists and british soldiers in which four colonists were killed |
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Tea Act |
tax on tea; made the east india company the only tea company allowed to colonists; reason for Tea Party (1773) |
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Boston Tea Party |
protest against increased tea prices in which colonists dumped british tea into boston harbor |
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Intolerable Acts |
A series of laws set up by Parliament to punish Massachusetts for its protests against the British |
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Quartering Act |
an act passed by the British that allowed British troops to live in the homes of the colonists |
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First Continental Congress |
Delegates from all colonies except georgia met to discuss problems with britain and to promote independence |
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Second Continental Congress |
The meeting of colonial delegates that approved the Declaration of Independence |
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Treay of Paris |
confirmed US independence and set boundaries of the new nation in sept of 1783 |
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Election Day |
the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November |
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Electoral College |
the body of electors who formally elect the United States president and vice-president |
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constitution |
law determining the fundamental political principles of a government |
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Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom |
laws that separation church and state, statement of religious liberty, written by Thomas Jefferson |
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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 |
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Declaration of Independence |
this document was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. It established the 13 colonies as independent startes, free frome rule by Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson wrote the majority of this docuent |
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Shay's Rebellion |
was led by Daniel Shays it was a protest against the land being taken away and the taxes that they had just worked so hard to get rid of |
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Great Compromise |
the agreement by which Congress would have two houses, the Senate (where each state gets equal representation-two senators) and the House of Representatives (where representation is based on population). |
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Three-Fifths Compromise |
was a compromise between Southern and Northern states reached during the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 in which three-fifths of the population of slaves would be counted for enumeration purposes regarding both the distribution of taxes and the apportionment of the members of the United States House of Representatives. It was proposed by delegates James Wilson and Roger Sherman. |
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The Federalist Papers |
a series of essays written in support of the Constitution to build support for its ratification |
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State of the Union Address |
The president's annual statement to congress and the nation |
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French Revolution |
an uprising of the people that led to the end of the French monarchy and the beheading of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette |
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Neutrality Proclamation |
the United States would not support either side in the war and Americans could not aid either Britain or France |
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The Whiskey Rebellion |
Farmers refused to pay a federal excise tax on whiskey and even attacked federal tax collectors. |
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XYZ Affair |
3 american delegates sent to France to negotiate, caused by British and French threatening American shipping, French bribe delegates but US leaves |
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Alien and Sedition Acts |
A series of laws that sought to restrict the activities of people who opposed Federalist policies. |
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Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions |
These documents drafted by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson claimed that the Alien and Sedition Acts violated the U.S. Constitution. These resolutions affirmed the principle of states' rights |
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Indian Removal Act |
removed indians from southern states and put them on reservations in the midwest |
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Marbury vs. Madison |
the Supreme Court has the ultimate power of Judicial review as demonstrated by the Constitution. The main questions posed- did marbury have the right, is there a remedy, and is the writ of mandamus a correct remedy. He had the right, there is a remedy, but it wasn’t within the jurisdiction of the supreme court to issue the writ of mandamus. It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department [the judicial branch] to say what the law is |
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Monroe Doctrine |
A statement of foreign policy which proclaimed that Europe should not interfere in affairs within the United States or in the development of other countries in the Western Hemisphere. |
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Era of Good Feelings |
a newspaper term used to describe the two terms of President James Monroe presidency |
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American System |
a plan presented to Congress by President Madison for making the United States economically self-sufficient |
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McCulloch vs. Maryland |
Supreme Court ruling: states had no right to interfere with federal institutions within their borders; strengthened federal power |
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Nat Turner's Rebellion |
a slave rebellion that took place in Southampton County, Virginia during August 1831. Over 50 people were reported killed |
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Embargo Act |
signed by thomas jefferson in 1807 - stop export of all american goods and american ships from sailing for foreign ports |
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Panic of 1837 |
a series of financial failures that led to an economic depression |
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Battle of San Jacinto |
battle that ended the war with Mexico |
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Seneca Falls Convention |
Conventin held in 1848 to argue for women's rights |
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Declaration of Sentiments |
declared that all me and women are created equal and lested injustcies against women; demanded full equality for women in all areas of life |
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The Compromise of 1850 |
Slavery becomes outlawed in Washington D.C., California is admitted as a free state, and Utah and New Mexico will determine whether slavery is allowed through popular sovereignty. Also, the Fugitive Slave Law is passed. |
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Fugitive Slave Act |
Law that provided for harsh treatment for escaped slaves and for those who helped them |
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Pottawatomie Massacre |
John Brown let a part of six in Kansas that killed 5 pro-slavery men. This helped make the Kansas border war a national issue. |
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Anaconda Plan |
three-part union strategy to win the Civil War |
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Battle of Antietam |
Union army routes Lee's offensive strike, allows Lincoln to give emancipation proclamation |
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Siege of Vicksburg |
a Union victory in the Civil War that enabled that enabled the Union to control the entire Mississippi River |
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Emancipation Proclamation |
issued by Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, it declared that all slaves in the rebellious Confederate states would be free |
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New York Draft Riots |
Anti-conscription violence that protested the unfair $300 draft evasion fee that made poor people have to fight the war |
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Battle of Gettysburg |
Turning point of the War that made it clear the North would win. 50,000 people died, and the South lost its chance to invade the North. |
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March to the Sea |
Sherman's march to Savannah which cut off confederate supplies received by the sea |
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Louisiana Purchase |
A territory in the west central United States purchased from France in 1803; extended from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, and the gulf of Mexico to Canada. (p. 409) |
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Treaty of Ghent |
Treaty that ended the War of 1812 |
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Reconstruction |
the period after the Civil War in the United States when the southern states were reorganized and reintegrated into the Union |
