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| 925179967 | War in the North | Causes: British government had access to wealth generated by the South Atlantic System and the emerging Ind. Rev. Cherokees resisted colonists' demands for their lands by allying with Brits. Americans-lacked a strong central government and a reliable source of tax revenue. George Washington-commander of Continental army. | |
| 925179968 | Battle of Long Island | Causes: Lord North ordered General Howe to capture NYC to demonstrate Britain's military superiority. Effect: Howe defeated the Americans. The British army pushed the rebels back into Pennsylvania. Washington led a surprise attack, forcing the surrender of German soldiers. | |
| 925179969 | Howe | Thanks to Howe, the rebellion survived. He opposed the Coercive Acts of 1774, hoped for pol. compromise. He wanted to persuade the Continental Congress to give up the struggle. | |
| 925179970 | Military Draft | VA gentry imposed this draft and three years of service on propertyless men. The legislature had to pay them substantial bounties and agree to shorter terms of service. The Continental army was poorly supplied, held in suspicion by Radical Whig Patriots-believed standing army was a threat to liberty. | |
| 925179971 | Victory at Saratoga | Germain planned a three-pronged attack involving John Burgoyne, Iroquois, and Howe and his troops. Howe's slow capaign against Phil. contributed to defeat of Burgoyne's army at Saratoga. Americans led by General Gates, forced Burgoyne to surrender. Significance: this victory was the turning point of the war. It ensured the diplomatic success of Am. reps in Paris, who won a military alliance with France. Effect: A Br. navy blockade cut off supplies of European manufactures. Farmers and artisans adapted to a war economy. | |
| 925179972 | War economy | Asked citizens for coats, shirts, and soldiers. Patriot women assumed the burdens of farm work. British and American armies forced Patriot and Loyalist families to flee their homes to escape arrest. War divided farm communities. | |
| 925179973 | Financial crisis | This defiance exposed weakness of Patriot governments. Paper money lost its worth. The finances of Cont. Congress collapsed, despite Morris, the government's chief treasury official's efforts. Cong. lacked authority to impose taxes. The exchange rate deteriorated, sparking social upheaval. Patriot leaders feared the rebellion would collapse. | |
| 925179974 | Valley Forge | Washington's army retreated to Valley Forge, soldiers suffered. Baron von Steuben-raised readiness of American army by instituting a strict drill system. | |
| 925179975 | War of Independence | Cont. Cong. concluded a mil. alliance with France. Gave Americans money, supplies, and troops. | |
| 925179976 | The French Alliance | Cause:The Comte of Vergennes persuaded King Louis XVI to provide the rebellious colonies with a secret loan and much-needed gunpowder. When they heard of the Victory at Saratoga, Vergennes sought a formal alliance. | |
| 925179977 | Treaty of Alliance of February 1778 | once France entered the war, neither partner would sign a separate peace without "liberty, sovereignty, and independence" of the United States. In return, Cont. Con. recognized any French conquests in the West Indies. | |
| 925179978 | George III | Cause: the war had become unpopular in Britain. Effect: He authorized North to seek a negotiated settlement. North persuade Parliament to repeal Tea and Prohibitory acts and to renounce its power to tax the colonies. | |
| 925179979 | War in the South | Cause of entering war: Fr. hoped to seize all of Britain's sugar islands. Br. effect: Br. defended the west Indies and captured the rich tobacco-and rice-growing colonies. Sir Clinton launched a seaborne attack on Savannah, Georgia. 1780- Br. forces marched from victory to victory. Southern strategy-working for Br. Fr. effect: Marquis de Lafayette of France dispatched troops to Am. mainland. Lafayette persuaded King Louis XVI to send troops to R.I. Threatened the Br. forces holding NYC. | |
| 925179980 | Warfare in the Carolinas | Wash. dispatched Gen. Greene to recapture the Carolinas. Patriot milita defeated a regiment of Loyalists at King's Mt, South Carolina. Br. general decided to concede the Carolinas to Greene and seek a decisive victory in VA. The Franco-American victory broke the resolve of the Br. govnt. The Br. ministry gave up active prosecution of the war on the Amer. mainland. | |
| 925179981 | Rampant inflation | Cause: Wash. won support of Cont. Con. and the state govnts. He pursued a defensive strategy. Effect: every paper dollar held for a week lost value, imposing a hidden "currency tax" on those who accepted the paper currency. The Currency taxes paid by ordinary citizens financed the Am. mil. victory. | |
| 925179982 | Diplomatic Triumph | Cause: Fr. and Sp. tactics infuriated Am. diplomats. Effect: Am. negotiated secretly with the British. Parliament wanted peace, and they feared the loss of a rich sugar island. | |
| 925179983 | Treaty of Paris, 1783 | Br. formally recognized Am. independence and relinquished claims to lands south of Great Lakes and east of Miss. R. Cherokees forced to relinquish claims. Effect: granted Americans fishing rights, prohibited Br. from carrying away negroes or property, and guaranteed freedom of navigation. Significance: officially ends war. | |
| 925179984 | Treaty of Versailles | Br. made peace with Fr. and Sp. Spain reclaimed FL. France received the Caribbean island of Tobago. Only Americans profited. | |
| 925179985 | Republicanism | meant more than ousting the king. The Dec. of Ind. stated the principle of pop. sovereignty. voters elected. | |
| 925179986 | Pennsylvania's Controversial Const. | What is it? these insurgents ousted every officeholder of the Penn family's proprietary government, abolished prop ownership as a qualification of voting, granted all taxpaying men the right to vote and hold office. Effect: This democ. constitution alarmed many leading Patriots and they denounced the unicameral leg. | |
| 925179987 | Adams | Effect of Penn: To counter appeal of Penn. Const., published the Thoughts on Government. Legislatures would make laws, executives would administer them, judiciary would enforce them, demanded a bicameral legislature. | |
| 927156726 | Women during the Revolutionary era | Effect of Revolutionary era: women did not insist on civic equality with men; they sought only an end to restrictive customs and laws. Abigail Adams demanded equal legal rights for married women. Significance: In the new American republic, only white men enjoyed full citizenship. Judith Sargent Murray argued for equality for sexes. 1790s: attorney general of Massachusetts declared that girls had an equal right to schooling under the state constitution. 1850- women challenged their subordinate legal and political status. | |
| 928036338 | The Loyalist Exodus | Effect of success of republican institutions: departure of 100,000 monarchists suffered severe financial losses. Refugees suffered psychologically. Significance: When state governments did seize Loyalist property, they often auctioned it to the highest bidders, who were usually wealthy Patriots rather than ambitious yeoman farmers or propertyless foot soldiers. The Revolution did not drastically alter the structure of rural society. Effect: The war replaced a traditional economic elite-who invested profits from trade in real estate-with a group of republican entrepreneurs who promoted new trading ventures and domestic manufacturing. This shift facilitated America's economic development. | |
| 928036339 | The Articles of Confederation | Cause: The Patriots envisioned a central government with limited powers. Effect: These articles provided for a loose union in which "each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence." The delay of ratification stemmed from conflicts over western lands. | |
| 928036340 | Continuing Fiscal Crisis | The Confederation had a weakness: it lacked the power to tax either the states or the people. Significance: So, General Washington called for a national tax system led by Robert Morris. | |
| 928036341 | Robert Morris | He led the national tax system. Significance: He created a central bureaucracy that paid army expenses, apportioned war costs among states, and assumed responsibility for the Confederation's debts. He proposed an import tax of 5%. | |
| 928036342 | The Northwest Ordinance | The Confederation Congress banned slavery north of the Ohio River. The Ordinances established the principle that territories could become states as their populations grew and prohibited slavery and earmarked funds from land sales for the support of schools. What is it?: the land ordinances of the 1780s were an achievement of the Confederation Congress and provided for orderly settlement and admission of new states on the basis of equality. Significance: These extended the geographical division between slave and free areas which haunted the nation in the coming decades. | |
| 928596142 | Shay's Rebellion | Cause: The war had crippled American shipping and cut exports of tobacco, rice, and wheat, and the fiscal condition of the state governments was dire, primarily because of the war debts. The new state constitutions apportioned seats on the basis of population. What is it? To protect their livelihoods, farmers called extralegal conventions to protest high taxes and property seizures. Significance: This revolt against taxes imposed by a distant government resembled American resistance to the British Stamp Act. The rebellion failed, however it showed that many middling Patriot families felt that American oppressors had replaced British tyrants. After: American leaders urged purposeful action to save their republican experiment. | |
| 928596143 | The Constitution of 1787 | What is it? It was a controversial document, acclaimed for solving the nation's woes and condemned for perverting its republican principles. Advocates stated that the Constitution extended republicanism by adding another level of government added by the people. It was a new two-level political federation in which the national government would exercise limited, delegated power. | |
| 928596144 | Nationalists | What is it? There was a rise of nationalists who aimed to undercut the democratic majorities in the state legislatures, creditors joined the movement for a stronger central government. Significance: This rise of nationalists was caused by Shays's Rebellion. After this, nationalists in Congress secured a resolution calling for the convention to revise the Articles of Confederation. | |
| 928596145 | The Philadelphia Convention | What is it? 55 delegates arrived in Philadelphia, mostly strong nationalists. Some insisted on increased national authority. The delegates elected Washington as their presiding officer. They decided not to revise the Articles but to consider the Virginia Plan. Significance: The convention created a powerful national government. | |
| 928596146 | Virginia Plan | What is it? a scheme for a powerful national government devised by James Madison. This differed from the Articles of Confederation. Significance: A majority of the states agreed to use Madison's Virginia Plan as the basis of discussion. | |
| 928596147 | New Jersey Plan | What is it? This as a plan devised by William Paterson which gave the Confederation much power. Significance: This plan was vigorously opposed by the more populous states. | |
| 928596148 | The Great Compromise | What is it? Some of the delegates proposed that the national legislature's upper chamber (Senate) have two members from each state, while seats in the lower chamber (House of Reps) be apportioned by population. Significance: This was the compromise between big and small states, and it is still in use today. By allowing states to have important roles in the new constitutional system, the delegates hoped that their citizens would accept limits on state sovereignty. | |
| 928596149 | Negotiations over Slavery | What is it? The delegates devised slavery-related compromises resulting in a "fugitive clause" that allowed masters to reclaim enslaved blacks (or white indentured servants) who fled to other states. Significance: The delegates ultimately agreed that each slave would count as three-fifths of a free person, which made southern planters dominate the national government. | |
| 928596150 | Ratification | What is it? The Federalists vs. Antifederalists. Significance: The procedure for ratifying the new constitution was controversial, but resulted in the "Thoughts on Government" which Madison, Jay, and Hamilton pointed out that authority would be divided among a president, a bicameral legislature, and a judiciary. This was the beginning of the system of checks and balances we have today. | |
| 928596151 | Federalists | Who are they? They were nationalists who suggested that they supported a federal union- a loose, decentralized system, and obscured their commitment to a strong national government. Launched a campaign in newspapers to justify the Philadelphia constitution. Significance: | |
| 928596152 | Antifederalists | Who are they? The opponents of the Constitution who feared that the central government would be run by wealthy men. They argued that republican institutions were best suited to small polities. Significance: | |
| 928596153 | The Constitution Ratified | What is it? Eleven states ratified the Const. Significance: Most Americans accepted the verdict of the ratifying conventions. |
