America's History Chapter 6 Flashcards

5804428713	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	0
5804428714	Lexington and Concord	April 8, 1775: Gage leads 700 soldiers to confiscate colonial weapons and arrest Adam, and Hancock; April 19, 1775: 70 armed militia face British at Lexington (shot heard around the world); British retreat to Boston, suffer nearly 300 casualties along the way (Concord)	1
5804428715	Battle of Saratoga	(1777) 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.	2
5804428716	Battle of Yorktown	Last major battle of the Revolutionary War. Cornwallis and his troops were trapped in the Chesapeake Bay by the French fleet. He was sandwiched between the French navy and the American army. He surrendered October 19, 1781.	3
5804428717	Articles of Confederation	A plan devised by the Continental Congress in November 1777 for forming the national government as a loose confederation of states. The plan did not provide for an executive or national judiciary and instead relied on a congress. The effort to protect Revolutionary principles such as taxation by direct representation made the central government very weak.	4
5804428718	unicameral legislature	A legislature with only one legislative chamber, as opposed to a bicameral (two-chamber) legislature, such as the U.S. Congress.	5
5804428719	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	6
5804428720	Shay's Rebellion	this conflict in Massachusetts caused many to criticize the Articles of Confederation and admit the weak central government was not working; uprising led by Daniel Shays in an effort to prevent courts from foreclosing on the farms of those who could not pay the taxes	7
5804428721	Federalists	Constitution supporters, they argued that the government of the Constitution would correct the defects of the Articles, and the power to forge a secure and prosperous union	8
5804428722	Anti-Federalists	a group that rose up as the opponents of the Constitution during the period of ratification. They opposed the Constitution's powerful centralized government, arguing that the Constitution gave too much political, economic, and military control. They instead advocated a decentralized governmental structure that granted most power to the states	9
5804428723	The Federalist Papers	A series of eighty-five essays by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay that argued for the ratification of the Constitution. These essays suggested that the three separate branches of government (legislative, executive, and judicial) would prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful. The essays were largely successful at convincing skeptical delegates to ratify the Constitution (although the promised Bill of Rights helped too!).	10
5804428724	Constitutional Convention	A meeting held in 1787 to consider changes to the Articles of Confederation; resulted in the drafting of the Constitution.	11
5804428725	checks and balances	structure that gives each of the three branches of government some degree of oversight and control over the actions of the others creating a mixed government	12
5804428726	Great Compromise	A compromise that proposed two houses of Congress; one where a state's population would determine representation and another where all states were represented equally	13
5804428727	Congress	Another name for the Legislative branch for the US federal government: it includes the Senate and the House of Representatives.	14
5804428728	Three-fifths Compromise	Agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention stipulating that each slave was to be counted as three-fifths of a person for purposes of determining population for representation in the U.S. House of Representatives.	15
5804428729	legislative branch	Branch of Gov't charged with creation of new laws.	16
5804428730	executive branch	A branch of government - It carries out and enforces the law.	17
5804428731	judicial branch	Branch that judges the laws - Supreme Court - Judiciary Act of 1789 - interprets the law	18
5968277613	Battle of Long Island	First major engagement of the new Continental army, defending against 32,000 British troops outside of New York City.	19
5968297080	Valley Forge	A military camp in which George Washington's army and hundreds of camp followers suffered horribly in the winter of 1777.	20
5968313312	Philipsburg Proclamation	A 1779 proclamation that declared that any slave who deserted a rebel master would receive protection, freedom, and land from Great Britain.	21
5968324422	Currency Tax	a hidden tax on the farmers and artisans who accepted Continental bills in payment for supplies and on the thousands of soldiers who took them as pay.	22
5968336485	Pennsylvania constitution of 1776	A constitution that granted all taxpaying men the right to vote and hold office and created a unicameral legislature with complete power; there was no governor to exercise a veto. Other provisions mandated a system of elementary education and protected citizens from imprisonment for debt.	23
5968354406	mixed government	John Adam's theory that called for three branches of government, each representing on function; executive, legislative, and judical	24
5968365657	Virginia Plan	A plan drafted by James Madison that was presented at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention. It designed a powerful three-branch government, with representation in both houses of the congress to be tied to population; this plan eclipsed the voice of small states in national government.	25
5968367750	New Jersey Plan	Drafted by delegates from small states, retaining the confederation's single-house congress with one vote per state.	26
5968467603	Federalist No. 10	An essay by James Madison that challenged the view that republican governments only worked in small polities. It argued that a large state would better protect republican liberty.	27