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| 1809514544 | Society of Cincinnati | Continental Army officers formed an exclusive hereditary/military order in 1783; most Americans ridiculed the lordly pretensions for their aristocratic ideas and tendencies. | 0 | |
| 1809514545 | Disestablished | To separate an official state church from its connection with the government; Following the Revolution, all states disestablished the Anglican Church, though some New England states maintained established Congregational churches well into the 19th century | 1 | |
| 1809514546 | Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom | 1786; Measure enacted by the virginia legislature prohibiting state support for religious institutions and recognizing freedom of worship. Served as a model for the religious clause of the first amendment of the constitution. | 2 | |
| 1809514547 | Civic Virtue | Central to republican ideology was this concept; the notion that democracy depended on the unselfish commitment of each citizen to the public good | 3 | |
| 1809514548 | "Republican motherhood" | the idea that mothers were trusted to morally educate their young and cultivate the virtues of American republicanism. Republican women now bore crucial responsibility for the survival of the nation | 4 | |
| 1809514549 | Abigail Adams | The wife of John Adams (second president). She attempted to get rights for "Ladies" from her husband who at the time was on the committee for designing the declaration of independence | 5 | |
| 1809514550 | Philadelphia Quakers | 1775; Founded world's first anti-slavery society, shows hostility toward trade in "black ivory" | 6 | |
| 1809514551 | British constitution | an accumulation of laws, customs, and precedents (not formally written document) | 7 | |
| 1809514552 | State constitutions | contracts that defined the powers of the government, as did the old colonial charters, but they drew their authority from the people, not from the royal seal of a distant king. As written documents the state constitutions were intended to represent a fundamental law, superior to the transient whims of ordinary legislation. Most of these documents included bills of rights, required the annal election of legislators and all of them deliberately created weak executive and judicial branches. | 8 | |
| 1809514553 | Sovereignty | This is defined as supreme political power. When the Continental Congress in 1776 asked the colonies to draft new constitutions, it was asking them to become new states, whose sovereignty, according to republicanism, would rest on the people's authority. Power in the people's hands is the basis for democracy. | 9 | |
| 1809514554 | bills of rights | Laws that specifically guaranteed long-prized liberties against later legislative enroachment | 10 | |
| 1809514555 | Executive and Legislative Brach | two branches of government; intentionally weakened because the people were suspicious of former royal governors and judges | 11 | |
| 1809514556 | Roger Morris | example of Loyalist property that was confiscated; this man's large New York estate was cut up into 250 parcels | 12 | |
| 1809514557 | Brandywine Creek | South of Philadelphia; provided power for many mills/factories; shows how America was trying to rise up the commercial scale | 13 | |
| 1809514558 | Empress of China | an example of a Yankee ship that boldly sailed the world to trade with foreign countries; carried ginseng; led the way into the East Asian markets | 14 | |
| 1809514559 | Articles of Confederation | The first "constitution" governing the United Sates after the revolution. It was adopted by the Second Continental Congress in 1777 and ratified in 1781. It provided for a "firm league of friendship." The legislative branch (congress) had no power to regulate commerce or forcibly collect taxes and there was no national executive or judicial branch. Despite its weaknesses, it was an important step toward the present-day Constitution because without it the states would never have consented to the Constitution. | 15 | |
| 1809514560 | Old Northwest | This area of land lays northwest of the Ohio River, east of the Mississippi River, and south of the Great Lakes. | 16 | |
| 1809514561 | Land Ordinance of 1785 | A law establishing a plan for surveying and selling western lands (west of Appalachians). Stated that the disputed land of the Old Northwest was to be equally divided into townships (6 miles by 6 miles) and sold for federal income. Also promoted education (by reserving the section number 16 for schools) and ended confusing legal disagreements over land | 17 | |
| 1809514562 | Northwest Ordinance of 1787 | Established procedures for western lands to become territories, and, eventually, states. Set requirements for the admission of new states to the Union. It said that sections of land were similar to colonies for a while, and under the control of the Federal Government. Once a territory was inhabited by 60,000 people, then congress would review its constitution and admit it as a state; Slavery was prohibited in the Northwest territories, though it exempted slaves already represent. This plan worked so well it became the model for other frontiers | 18 | |
| 1809514563 | Lord Sheffield | Wrote a popular pamphlet in England that proclaimed Britain would win back America's trade and that commerce would naturally follow old channels | 19 | |
| 1809514564 | Spain | Country was openly unfriendly to America; controlled the mouth of the all-important Mississippi; closed the river to American commerce in 1784 and closed other ports/rivers. Held Natchez, on disputed soil (which was an important fort). | 20 | |
| 1809514565 | John Jay | The First Chief Justice of the United States and Secretary of foreign Affairs. Supporter of the Constitution. Significance: Came up with "Jay's Treaty" to help settle issues with Great Britain that were left unresolved from the American Revolution. | 21 | |
| 1809514566 | Shay's Rebellion | A rebellion led by captain Daniel Shays, Revolutionary War veteran. It was an uprising that flared up in Western Massachusetts, in 1786. Impoverished backcountry farmers, (many of them Revolutionary War veterans) were losing their farms through mortgage foreclosures and tax delinquencies. They demanded cheap paper money, lighter taxes, and a suspension of mortgage foreclosures. Hundreds of angry agitators attempted to enforce these demands. However, Massachusetts authorities, supported by wealthy citizens, raised a small army (under General Lincoln). This movement was smashed (and Shays was condemned to death but then later pardoned). Significance: It struck fear in the hearts of the propertied class. The rebellion exposed the need for a stronger central government and helped launched the Constitutional Convention | 22 | |
| 1809514567 | Alexander Hamiliton | Hamilton was a high political leader and 32 year old New Yorker who saved the Annapolis convention from complete failure by engineering the adoption of his report. It called upon Congress to summon a convention to meet in Philadelphia the next year, not to deal with commerce alone but to bolster the entire fabric of the Articles of Confederation. Congress, because of Hamilton's influence, issued the call for a convention "for the sole and express purpose of revising" the Articles of Confederation. Hamilton was present as an advocate of the central government. He gave a five hour speech that did not reach anyone but himself. He was one of the youngest and most brilliant founding fathers.Hamilton joined John Jay and James Madison in penning a masterly series of articles for the New York newspaper called The Federalist Papers. Their essays are the most penetrating commentary ever written on the Constitution. He later became the 1st Secretary of the Treasury and his 4-part financial plan (which was successful) got American on firm financial footing. His plan included: (1) paying the debt in full, (2) a national Bank of the U.S., (3) a tariff, and (4) an excise tax on whiskey. | 23 | |
| 1809514568 | James Madison | Nicknamed "the Father of the Constitution," he was a talented politician sent to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787. His notable contributions to the Constitution helped to convince the public to ratify it. He later wrote the Bill of Rights | 24 | |
| 1809514569 | The "large-state plan" | A plan proposed by Virginia to set up Congress where the number of representative per state would be based on population, giving the larger states an advantage | 25 | |
| 1809514570 | The "small-state plan" | A plan proposed by New Jersey that provided for equal representation in a unicameral Congress by states, regardless of size and population, as under the Articles of Confederation | 26 | |
| 1809514571 | The Great Compromise | The Constitutional Convention's compromise to establish a two-house national legislature, with all states having equal representation in upper house (Senate) and each state having representation based on its population in the lower house (House of Representatives); was proposed by Roger Sherman Significance: It saved the Constitutional Convention, and, probably, the Union. Also this Compromise set the stage for future compromises at the Convention, like the 3/5 compromise. | 27 | |
| 1809514572 | Electoral College | The body of electors who formally elect the United States president and vice-president. A body of electors chosen or appointed by a larger group | 28 | |
| 1809514573 | Three-Fifths Compromise | This was a compromise where a black slave counted as 3/5 of a person when they were counting the population. The southern states wanted them counted as one whole person for more representation in the House of Representatives. The northern states did not want them counted at all, so they came to an agreement and 3/5 was negotiated. Significance: Solved the political issue but not economic issue of slavery. Basically, agreeing to slavery and temporarily solved conflict between North and South. | 29 | |
| 1809514574 | Checks and Balances | Three separate branches of government share power. This principle has prevented any one branch from taking over the government and making all the decisions | 30 | |
| 1809514575 | Anti-federalists | an opponent of a strong central government. They disagreed with the Constitution because they believed people's rights were being taken away without a Bill of Rights. They were angered by dropping annual elections, the non-existence of God in government, a standing army, the strengthening of the federal government and the highly questionable procedure of ratifying with only 2/3 of the states. Significance: Anti-Federalists were unsuccessful in the prevention of the adoption of the Constitution but, their efforts were responsible for the creation and implementation of the Bill of Rights. | 31 | |
| 1809514576 | Federalists | Federalists believed in advocating a strong federal government and fought for the adoption of the United States Constitution in 1787-1788. | 32 | |
| 1809514577 | The "Federalists Papers" | a series of essays (85) defending and explaining the constitution. Written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. Significance: Propaganda for stronger central government. "The Federalist Papers" outlined the form of government preferred by the Federalists and government is still governed based on these principles. | 33 | |
| 1809514578 | The Constitution of the United States | This is the foundation of our country's national government. It was drafted in Philadelphia in 1787 and ratified two years later. The Constitution establishes a government with direct authority over all citizens, it defines the powers of the national government, and it establishes protection for the rights of states and of every individual. | 34 |
