Unit 2 Review

Answers

Declaration of Independence

• Written by Thomas Jefferson• "That to secure these rights, governments are

instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.“

• Ensuring Unalienable (Natural) Rights.• Lists colonial grievances against King George III.• Outlines what a government should be

Winter in Valley Forge

• In late 1777 Britain forced Washington to retreat from Philadelphia, they camped at Valley Forge.

• Short on supplies• Freezing temps• Many died from hunger, cold, and diseases• In spite of the hard times, Washington and

his supporters did not quit

Articles of Confederation - Strengths

• Won (governed during) the American Revolution • Created Treaty of Paris 1783• Created Northwest Ordinance 1787• Allowed creation of new states & expansion of US• Native Americans were to be treated fairly and

their lands were not to be taken from them

Articles of Confederation - Weaknesses

• No chief executive or national courts (weak central government)

• No power to settle disputes between states or make treaties.

• No powers to tax, regulate trade, or settle disputes of land. (Only states had these powers)

• No international credibility• BOTH national governments AND each state was

allowed to print and coin (make) it’s own type of money!

Shay’s Rebellion

• Group of farmers led by Daniel Shays rebelled against government because of high debts & high state taxes.

• Forced those in charge to look at our system of government.

• DIRECTLY LED TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION in Philadelphia in 1787 that brought us the new Constitution of the US.

Constitutional Convention 1787

• CONSTITUTION WAS WRITTEN!!!!• WAS CAUSED BY SHAY’S REBELLION!!!!• When our Founding Fathers got together to

discuss problems with the government established after we won the American Revolution

• Instead of revising the Articles of Confederation, they ended up writing a totally new system of government, which we still use today.

Virginia Plan

• Big states wanted to be represented in the legislature based on population.

New Jersey Plan

• Small states (like Delaware and Maryland) wanted one house legislature where every state had equal representation.

Great Compromise

• bicameral (2 house) legislature • In one house states are represented according to

population (House of Representatives) This was modeled after the Virginia Plan.

• In the other, all states would have equal representation (Senate). This was modeled after the New Jersey Plan.

Three-fifths Compromise

• Determines how slaves will be counted for representation and taxes.

• Every 5 slaves = 3 free people to be taxed & represented.

U.S. Constitution

• Written in 1787• Outlined the way the U.S. government would work

– Set up our 3 branches of government:• Legislative• Executive• Judicial

– Made rules for how to amend the Constitution

– Set up procedures for how representatives are elected

Lexington and Concord

• Lexington-

– When the troops reached Lexington they found almost 100 militia men waiting for them.

– The British commander ordered the militia to drop their weapons but someone fired and soon 8 Americans had been killed (B).

– The shot that started the skirmish in Lexington will forever be known as the “shot heard round the world”.

• Concord-

– The British were forced to retreat and were under fire all the way back to Boston (A).

– These were the first battles of the American Revolution though no war had been declared nor had independence been claimed.

– The shot that started the skirmish in Lexington will forever be known as the “shot heard round the world”.

Bunker Hill

• The British technically won the battle but suffered HUGE losses. This was considered a moral victory for the colonists because we really gave the British a run for their money here

Saratoga

• Turning point in the war• A series of battles in Saratoga, New York• An important victory for America• Benjamin Franklin was in France and the victory

convinced France to help us (this also led to Spain helping us because they were an ally of France)

Yorktown

• 1781 – Yorktown• Yorktown is a peninsula. It made it possible for British

troops to receive supplies by ship from New York.

• In August a French fleet blocked the Chesapeake Bay and prevented the British from receiving supplies and escaping

• Washington and a large French force came in from the North & trapped the British on the peninsula.

• (A) British General Cornwallis surrendered

Mnemonic Device

• L/C

• B

• S

• Y

1st Continental Congress

• Meeting held in Philadelphia in 1774 by all the colonies except Georgia, trying to decide what to do about problems with Britain.

• Voted to stop all trade with Britain until they repealed the Intolerable Acts.

• Each colony agreed to start training militia troops in case they had to fight Britain.

2nd Continental Congress

• Most important accomplishment was creating the Declaration of Independence.

• Delegates to the Second Continental Congress voted to organize a national army and appointed George Washington as its commander in chief.

Tea Act

• Gave British East India Co. control of tea trade and forced colonists to buy only this kind of tea. Before the new law, most tea was smuggled to get around paying taxes and now everyone would have to pay.

• CAUSES:

– Britain wanted money and to show control over colonies.

• EFFECTS:

– Committees of Correspondence (Sam Adams forms groups to discuss problem with Britain so no one forgets).

– Boston Tea Party

Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts)

• TO MAKE AN EXAMPLE out of Massachusetts and warn other colonies.

• Closed the Port of Boston until colonists paid for destroyed tea.• Got rid of many Committees of Correspondence.• Let British officials accused of crimes stand trial in Britain.• Let them house troops in colonies whenever and wherever they

wanted to.

• CAUSES:Boston Tea Party

• EFFECTS:First Continental Congress

Common Sense

• Written by Thomas Paine• Argued that the only way to be a thriving,

profitable group of colonies was to become independent from Britain.

• This book sold over 100,000 copies and was very influential in getting people to join the revolutionary leaders.

Proclamation of 1763

• Proclamation by King George III, stated colonists couldn't settle West of the Appalachians Mountains.

• CAUSES:Pontiac’s Rebellion & French and Indian WarBritain wanted peace (too expensive to fight Native Americans).

• EFFECTS:Colonists were FURIOUS they felt they had the right to settle land

and that this was just an attempt by the British to have more control over them.Many colonists had no land or had already bought land as an

investment. Many IGNORED the law!British was angry that colonists wouldn’t help pay for their own

defense.

Stamp Act

• Taxed all paper, documents, newspapers, books, playing cards, wills, deeds to property… everything made from paper.• Required stamp on all documents to prove tax was paid. • Paid for with silver coins which were rare and very hard for colonists to get.• Taxed all colonists since it wasn’t a tariff.

• CAUSES:Britain needed money to pay for French & Indian War.

• EFFECTS:PROTESTS, some violent (burning the paper, attacking officials).BOYCOTT (refusal to buy) British goods.Sam Adams forms the SONS OF LIBERTY (a secret society to oppose British policies).Act was repealed (cancelled) finally in 1766.

– Patrick Henry: » Radical colonial leader who was very opposed to British

taxes. Helped stage boycotts.Was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses.Is famous for saying “Give me liberty or give me death!”

Northwest Ordinance

• Described how the Northwest Territory would be governed.

• As a territory grew in population, it would gain rights to govern itself:

– Population = 5,000 free males – men who owned 50 acres or more could elect an assembly.

– Population = 60,000 people – they could apply to become a new state and write a state constitution.

– Slavery was outlawed.

Grievance

• An injustice. Something wrong that has happened.

Unalienable Rights

• Natural rights that cannot be taken away.

Loyalist

• Colonist that is loyal to the King of England; supports Britain

Patriot

• Colonist that supports the revolution; wants to break away from Britain

Compromise

• 2 sides come to an agreement by combining positions

Federalist

• A person that supported the ratification of the Constitution that was written at the Constitutional Convention in 1787

Anti-Federalist

• A person that opposed the ratification of the Constitution because of the strong central government

Ratify

• To approve; agree with

Sons of Liberty/Sam Adams

• Secret society started by Sam Adams that protested British policy. Responsible for the Boston Tea Party.

Thomas Jefferson

• Wrote the Declaration of Independence.

George Washington

• First General of the colonial army.

Thomas Paine

• Wrote Common Sense which influenced the colonists ideas about government. He believed the only way to be profitable was to become separate from Britain.

General (Lord) Cornwallis

• British general that surrendered at Yorktown

– This ends the revolutionary war