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UNIT 2
U.S History-Standards 4 & 5
Benjamin Franklin | ambassador who secured alliance with France during Revolution |
John Adams | ambassador to the Netherlands during the Revolution & later second US President |
George Washington | Leader of the Continental Army during the revolution; later president of the Constitutional Convention & first US president |
Thomas Jefferson | Primary author of the Declaration of Independence; later served as the third US President |
Committee of Five | group of people tasked with drafting a statement to represent the Continental Congress delegates’ decision to seek independence from Britain (Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, & Robert Livingston) |
Declaration of Indpendence | the ideological explanation for America's independence written by Thomas Jefferson |
John Locke | a British philosopher who believed that all individuals naturally possess certain rights regardless of status; developed Social Contract Theory |
Natural Rights | the right to life, liberty, and property that everyone is born with |
Social Contract Theory | People give the government power and in return the government protects people's natural rights. People have the right to overthrow an abusive government |
Continental Army | Army led by George Washington that represented the colonies during the Revolutionary War |
Patriots | a person who wanted the colonies to become independent from Great Britain |
Loyalists | a person who wanted to remain loyal to Great Britain |
Articles of Confederation | the original US government from 1777-1787 |
Baron von Steuden | Prussian commander who helped organize and train troops at Valley Forge-later commanded troops |
Marquis de LaFayette | French nobleman who assisted training troops at Valley Forge; later commanded troops |
Valley Forge | location in Pennsylvania where the Continental Army spent a difficult winter in 1777-1778 |
Battle of Trenton | A decisive victory where the American forces under Washington’s command routed the Hessians in a surprise attack on Christmas 1776 |
Battle of Saratoga | 1777 Revolutionary War battle considered to be a turning point because a Patriot win convinced the French to ally officially with the US |
Battle of Yorktown | last battle of the Revolutionary War where the British surrendered to George Washington & the Continental Army |
1783 Treaty of Paris | treaty that ended the Revolution. The United States won its independence from Great Britain and gained possession of land stretching to the Mississippi River |
Land Ordinance of 1787 | a law that designed a system for managing and settling lands in the Northwest Territories |
Northwest Ordinance of 1787 | a law that established the method by which new territories would be admitted to the U.S. as states |
Shay's Rebellion | farmer's rebellion against high taxes in Massachusetts; showed the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation |
Constitution | a document that establishes the setup of the U.S. government, which went into effect in 1788 |
Great Compromise | a compromise that settled the debate between large and small states. It called for a bicameral legislature; each state will have equal representation in the Senate and representation based on population in the House of Representatives |
Limited Governemt | a principle stating that the government has only as much authority as the people give it, so its power is limited |
3/5 Compromise | a compromise that allowed states to count three-fifths of their slaves when calculating their entire population |
Anti-Federalist | opposed ratification of the Constitution because they believed the national government would be too powerful |
Federalist | favored ratification of the Constitution |
The Federalist Papers | essays written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison that laid out a series of arguments to persuade people to ratify the Constitution |
Alexander Hamilton | Federalist who believed in a strong central government that could stabilize the nation and economy |
James Madison | a Federalist known as the "father of the Constitution" who later became the fourth U.S. president |
Bill of Rights | the first ten amendments to the Constitution that protect individual rights |