Terms & Names: Chapter 6

republicanism: governing a nation as a republic, with an emphasis on liberty, rule of law, popular sovereignty and the civic virtue practiced by citizens, as employed by the fledgling nation of United States of America.

Articles of Confedereation: (1777: proposed, 1781: ratified) governing constitution of the alliance of thirteen independent and sovereign states styled "United States of America."

Powers of the Confederation Congress: opened in the last stages of the American Revolution, passed important laws including Northwest Ordinance, issued a Constitution to replace the Articles.


Benedict Arnold: a general during the American Revolutionary War who originally fought for the American Continental Army, but switched sides to the British Empire.

Nathanael Greene: a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War.

Battle of Princeton: (January 3, 1777) a victory for General Washington's revolutionary forces over British forces near Princeton, New Jersey.

John Burgoyne: British army officer, politician and dramatist. During the American Revolutionary War, on October 17, 1777, at Saratoga he surrendered his army of 9,000 men.

Brandywine Creek: (September 11, 1777) battle of the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War. Decisive victory for the British, left Philadelphia, the revolutionary capital, undefended. The British captured the city on September 26, beginning an occupation that would last until June, 1778.

Marquis de Lafayette: French military officer, a general in the American Revolutionary War, in the Continental Army under George Washington, negotiated an increased French commitment to the war.

Vergennes: French supporter of the Thirteen Colonies, approved of support for secret French assistance, as arms and volunteers supplied to the Americans.

Francois de Grasse: French navy admiral, came to the aid of Americans with 3,000 men, landed reinforcements in Virginia, decisively defeated the British fleet in the Battle of the Chesapeake (September 1781). Drew away English forces, blockaded the coast until Lord Cornwallis surrendered, ensuring the independence of USA.

Pierre de Beaumarchais: French, founded a commercial enterprise, Roderigue Hortalez and Co., supported by the French and Spanish crowns, whose real purpose was to supply the American rebels with weapons, munitions, clothes, and provisions.

Thoughts on Government: (1776) by John Adams, suggestions on the establishment of a new government and the drafting of a constitution. "Politics is the Science of human Happiness -and the Felicity of Societies depends on the Constitutions of Government under which they live."

Bicameralism: a legislature which consists of two chambers or houses, adopted under the US Constitution.

Loyalists: those Americans who fought with the British during the American Revolution.

Banastre Tarleton: British soldier and politician, reputation for ruthlessness, involvement in the Waxhaw (Tarleton) Massacre earned him the nickname "Bloody Ban" and "Butcher" amongst American revolutionaries. The British and American loyalists hailed him as an outstanding leader of light cavalry.

Battle of Cowpens:(January 17, 1781) victory by American Revolutionary forces under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan, in the Southern campaign of the American Revolutionary War. It was a turning point in the reconquest of South Carolina from the British, and an American tactical masterpiece.

Yorktown: (1781) victory by American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by General Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by General Lord Cornwallis. It proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War, as the surrender of Cornwallis’s army (the second major surrender of the war) prompted the British government to eventually negotiate an end to the conflict.

Daniel Boone: led settlers west, blazed Wilderness Trail, militia officer during the American Revolutionary War, in Kentucky was fought primarily between settlers and British-allied American Indians.

Virginia Plan: Advocated by more populous states, call for two houses of Congress, both elected with proportional representation.

New Jersey Plan: Response to Virginia plan, less populous states adamantly opposed to giving most of the control to larger states, proposed an alternate plan that gave one vote per state for equal representation under one legislative body (i.e., a Unicameral Legislature).

Powers of Congress: authority over financial and budgetary matters, role in national defense, "To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof."

"necessary and proper" clause: The Congress shall have Power - To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Three-fifths Compromise: for taxation purposes, slaves would count as 3/5 of a person

Great Compromise: defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would have, a bicameral legislature, resulting in the current United States Senate and House of Representatives.

Criticism of the 1787 Constitution: it had no definitive decision regarding slavery, it was weighted toward the interests of larger states.

Ratification of the 1787 Constitution: nine states to ratify the constitution for it to go into effect. Convention submitted the Constitution to the Congress of the Confederation, where it received approval.

Massachusetts Constitution: (September 1 and October 30, 1779) Drafted by John Adams, Samuel Adams, and James Bowdoin during the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention. Structured, replicated by the US Constitution, preamble, declaration of rights, description of the framework of government, and articles of amendment.

"Republican Mother": belief that children should be raised to uphold the ideals of republicanism, making them the perfect citizens of the new nation.

Jay Treaty: (1794) Designed primarily by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton with strong support from President George Washington and chief negotiator John Jay. The treaty averted war and increased trade, which pleased both sides. British withdrawal from the posts they occupied in the Northwest Territory of the United States, which they had promised to abandon in 1783. Wartime debts and the US-Canada boundary were sent to arbitration.

Lord North: prime minister during American Revolution, first prime minister, in Britain or indeed anywhere else in the world, to be forced out of office by a motion of no confidence, resigning on 20 March 1782 on account of the British defeat at Yorktown the year before. In an attempt to end the war, he proposed the Conciliation Plan, in which he promised that Britain would eliminate all disagreeable acts if the colonies ended the war. The colonies rejected the plan, as their motivation was independence.

Ben Franklin: a national hero in America when he spearheaded the effort to have Parliament repeal the unpopular Stamp Act. An accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired among the French as American minister to Paris and was a major figure in the development of positive Franco-American relations.

Northwest Ordinance: ( July 13, 1787)creation of the Northwest Territory as the first organized territory of the United States out of the region south of the Great Lakes, north and west of the Ohio River, and east of the Mississippi River.

Battle of Trenton: (December 26, 1776) after General George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River north of Trenton, New Jersey. Washington to led the main body of the Continental Army against Hessian soldiers garrisoned at Trenton, captured, inspired re-enlistments.

Lord Cornwallis: leading British generals, 1781 defeat by a combined American-French force at the Siege of Yorktown is generally considered the end of the war, as the bulk of British troops surrendered with Cornwallis.

The Howes: British sympathetic to Colonists, William- costly assault on Breed's Hill known as the Battle of Bunker Hill and the successful capture of New York City and Philadelphia - the latter of which would have significant strategic implications. Richard- written to Franklin in a peacemaking effort. Because of his known sentiments, he was selected to command in America. He was joined in a commission with his brother, General Sir William Howe, head of the land forces, to attempt a reconciliation.

Continental Army: the army of the rebelling nation, soon to be the fledgling United States of America.

Valley Forge: (1777–1778) site of the camp of the American Continental Army, time of great suffering for George Washington's Army, but it was also a time of retraining and rejuvenation.

Battle Saratoga: (1777) decisive American victories resulting in the surrender of an entire British army of over 9,000 men invading New York from Canada

Slavery during the War: (1775) Dunmore issued a proclamation promising freedom to any slave of a rebel who could make it to the British lines. New England slaves fought for America, Southern, only Maryland allowed slaves to fight, Brits used fear of slave revolts to scare Americans to their side.

Popular Sovereignty: the legitimacy of the state is created by the will or consent of its people, who are the source of all political power.

Separation of Powers: state is divided into branches or estates, each with separate and independent powers and areas of responsibility. The normal division of estates is into an executive, a legislature, and a judiciary.

Constitutional Convention: (1787) address problems in governing the United States of America James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, was from the outset to create a new government rather than "fix" the existing one.

Joseph Brant: Mohawk leader and British military officer during the American Revolution, participated with Howe, urged Iroquois to support British

Robert Morris: American merchant and a signer to the United States Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the United States Constitution. Financier of the Revolution.

Treaty of Paris: (1783) formal end of American Revolution, British recognize new nation

Wilderness Road: principal route used by settlers to reach Kentucky, 1775, Daniel Boone blazed a trail for the Transylvania Company.

Daniel Shays: (1786-1787) led an army of farmers in Shays' Rebellion, which was a revolt against the state government of Massachusetts, and a key event in the early history of the United States. The rebellion underscored the weakness of the Articles of Confederation and played a significant part in the formation of the United States Constitution.

The Federalist: 85 articles advocating the ratification of the United States Constitution published in The Independent Journal and The New York Packet.

Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776: Voting franchise for all tax-paying free men, unicameral legislature, Supreme Executive Council, judiciary, President elected by the Assembly and Council together

Annapolis Convention: Assembly of the Counties of Maryland that functioned as the colonys’ revolutionary government from 1774 to 1776.

Indian Allegiance during the War: Most Native Americans who joined the struggle sided with the British, hoping to use the American Revolutionary War to halt further colonial expansion onto Native American land.

Religious Transformation: Anglican Church became vulnerable- dissenters disestablished it in every southern state, Virginia’s 1786 Statute for Religious Freedom guaranteed free choice in religion and made church attendance and support of ministers voluntary activities, Congregational Church in north fared better, most states restricted office holding to Christians or Protestants, Jews and Catholics benefited from the new atmosphere of tolerance.

Emancipation: Most slaves who reached British lines won their freedom, even though the British army never became an instrument of systematic emancipation, revolution freed tens of thousands of slaves, but it also gave new vitality to slavery within the region that people were beginning to call “the South,” within a generation, slavery was abolished in North, race became a defining factor in both regions

Women's Rights: Subtle changes, 
women assumed new responsibilities as men left farms and homes to fight in the Revolution, Northeast women learned to read and write.
Post War Relations Between the U.S. and Britain: independence was recognized in 1783

Spain: fought on the side of USA in the Revolution, in 1779, Spain joined France in its war against Britain, hoping to retake Gibraltar and to stabilize Spain’s North American borders, Treaty negotiated with Spain in 1786 offered northern merchants trading privileges with Spanish colonies in exchange for closure of Mississippi River to American traffic for 25 years



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