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US History > Country is Born > Flashcards

Country is Born Flashcards

1
Q

abolition

A

the act of ending or abolishing something, such as slavery

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2
Q

Alexander Hamilton

A

the first secretary of the treasury, leading Federalist, and proponent of a strong federal government

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3
Q

Anti-Federalists

A

opponents of the U.S. Constitution at the time when the states were contemplating its adoption.

They didn’t agree with the constitution.

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4
Q

Articles of Confederation

A

An agreement among the 13 original states of the United States of America that served as its first frame of government. It was approved after much debate by the Second Continental Congress on November 15, 1777, and sent to the states for ratification. Ratified in 1781.

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5
Q

Baron von Steuben

A

Prussian officer who trained and reorganized the Continental Army during the American Revolution

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6
Q

Battle of Bunker Hill

A

The American Revolution on June 17, 1775

Costly victory for British troops over the patriots in Charlestown, Massachusetts.

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7
Q

Battle of Long Island

A

a 1776 battle in New York in which more than 1,400 colonists were killed, wounded, or captured

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8
Q

Battle of Saratoga

A

a 1777 battle in New York in which colonial forces won a decisive victory against the British

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9
Q

Battle of Trenton

A

a 1776 battle in New Jersey in which Continental forces surprised and defeated Hessian troops

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10
Q

Battle of Yorktown

A

the 1781 American victory in Virginia that forced the British to surrender

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11
Q

Battles of Lexington and Concord

A

in 1775, the conflicts between Massachusetts colonists and British soldiers that started the Revolutionary War

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12
Q

Benjamin Franklin

A

an author, inventor, and statesman who helped persuade France to enter the Revolutionary War on the side of the Americans. He was actively involved in framing the Declaration of Independence.

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13
Q

bicameral

A

an adjective describing a legislative body composed of two chambers

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14
Q

Bill of Rights

A

Fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed to U.S. citizens by the Constitution’s first 10 amendments

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15
Q

blockade

A

to use troops or ships to cut off access to an enemy location

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16
Q

Boston Massacre

A

Incident on March 5, 1770, in which British soldiers killed five colonists in Boston

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17
Q

Boston Tea Party

A

a 1773 protest in which colonists dressed as Native Americans dumped tea into Boston Harbor

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18
Q

boycott

A

to abstain from using or buying something as an act of protest

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19
Q

Charles Cornwallis

A

general who commanded Britain’s southern forces and surrendered at Yorktown in 1783

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20
Q

Coercive Acts

A

British laws were enacted in 1774 to punish Boston and the rest of Massachusetts for the destruction of tea during the Boston Tea Party; with Quebec Act, dubbed “Intolerable Acts” by colonists

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21
Q

Committees of Correspondence

A

groups of colonists formed in the 1770s to spread news and information about protests against the British

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22
Q

Common Sense

A

a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that argued for independence from Great Britain.

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23
Q

Confiscation Acts

A

statewide acts that made it legal for state governments to seize loyalists’ property

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24
Q

Connecticut Plan/Great Compromise

A

the plan proposed for creating a national bicameral legislature in which all states would be equally represented in the Senate and proportionally represented in the House.

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25
Q

Constitutional Convention of 1787

A

the gathering of state delegates in Philadelphia in May 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation, which were replaced with the Constitution

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26
Q

Continental Army

A

a regular fighting force organized by the Second Continental Congress and raised from all of the colonies

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27
Q

Currency Act

A

a 1764 British law that barred the colonies from issuing their own paper to pay public or private debts to Britain

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28
Q

Daughters of Liberty

A

a colonial women’s group organized in 1766 as a counterpart to the Sons of Liberty to oppose British policies through boycotts of British goods and other measures.

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29
Q

Declaration of Independence

A

a 1776 document stating that the 13 English colonies were a free and independent nation.

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30
Q

Declaratory Act

A

a 1766 British law that repealed the Stamp Act of 1765 but said that Parliament could legislate for the colonies in “all cases Whatsoever”

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31
Q

democracy

A

form of government in which citizens hold political power

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32
Q

Dunmore’s Proclamation

A

a decree signed by Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia, that proclaimed any slaves or indentured servants who fought alongside the British in the Revolutionary War would be rewarded with their freedom.

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33
Q

duty

A

an import tax

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34
Q

Electoral College

A

a system in which each state selects presidential electors according to the number of its senators and representatives in Congress by whatever method it prefers, and these electors then select the president

35
Q

Federalist Papers

A

a series of essays by Federalists James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay in support of ratifying the Constitution

36
Q

Federalists

A

supporters of the U.S. Constitution at the time when the states were contemplating its adoption

37
Q

First Continental Congress

A

meeting of delegates from most of the colonies held in Philadelphia in 1774 in response to British efforts to tax the colonies

38
Q

George Washington

A

general of the Continental Army and first U.S. president

39
Q

Hessians

A

German soldiers hired by Britain to fight in the American Revolution

40
Q

homespun

A

yarn and cloth that is spun and woven at home

41
Q

inoculate

A

to inject a weakened form of a disease into a person to protect against the illness

42
Q

James Madison

A

renowned U.S. statesman and fourth president of the United States; often called the “father of the Constitution” for the major role he played at the Constitutional Convention of 1789, which framed the federal Constitution

43
Q

John Adams

A

a leader in the American Revolution. He went on to serve as the first Vice President and second President of the United States

44
Q

John Hancock

A

colonial leader, president of the Continental Congress, and signer of the Declaration of Independence

45
Q

John Jay

A

fifth president of the Continental Congress and U.S. diplomat to Spain and France who helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris

46
Q

John Locke

A

English philosopher whose ideas influenced the Declaration of Independence

47
Q

loyalists

A

American colonists remained loyal to Britain and opposed the war for independence. They didn’t want their land to be taken away.

48
Q

majority rule

A

the principle that the government follows the ideas supported by the greatest number of people

49
Q

manumission

A

the act of releasing a slave from slavery or servitude

50
Q

Marquis de Lafayette

A

a French aristocrat who fought with the patriots against the British during the American Revolution

51
Q

mercenary

A

a soldier who is paid to fight for another country

52
Q

militia

A

an army of citizen volunteers who train to fight during emergencies

53
Q

minutemen

A

colonial militia volunteers who were prepared to fight at a minute’s notice

54
Q

Nathanael Greene

A

major general in the Continental Army who became commander in chief of the southern forces and helped trap the British at Yorktown

55
Q

natural rights

A

rights inherent in human beings, not dependent on governments, which include life, liberty, and property; the concept of natural rights was central to English philosopher John Locke’s theories about government and was widely accepted among America’s founders

56
Q

New Jersey Plan

A

the plan that was presented as an alternative to the Virginia Plan at the Constitutional Convention; called for a unicameral legislature in which each state would be equally represented

57
Q

Non-Importation Movement

A

a colonial effort launched in 1765 to avoid buying British goods in order to pressure the British Parliament to repeal taxes

58
Q

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

A

legislation passed by Congress under the Articles of Confederation that provided for public schools and the sale of government land and prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territories

59
Q

Patrick Henry

A

the first governor of the independent state of Virginia and a patriot leader during the American Revolution

60
Q

patriots

A

American colonists who opposed British rule

61
Q

Pontiac’s Rebellion

A

an armed resistance in 1763 organized by Ottawa leader Pontiac among several Native American tribes that resulted in great loss of life; also known as Pontiac’s War (original, based on OpenStax 5.1)

62
Q

Proclamation Line of 1763

A

a royal proclamation in 1763 designed to protect Native American tribes by setting a boundary at the peaks of the Appalachian Mountains beyond which no western white settlement was to take place

63
Q

propaganda

A

the use of ideas, including factual information or allegations, to further one’s cause

64
Q

Quartering Act

A

a 1765 British law requiring colonists to provide housing and provisions for British troops stationed in the colonies

65
Q

republican motherhood

A

the belief that women should have more rights and a better education so that they might support husbands and raise sons who would actively participate in the political affairs of society

66
Q

republicanism

A

form of government in which citizens appoint or elect leaders to represent and make decisions for them

67
Q

Shays’s Rebellion

A

a series of attacks on courthouses by a small band of farmers led by Revolutionary War captain Daniel Shays to block foreclosure proceedings

68
Q

siege

A

a military blockade or encirclement of an enemy town or position with the purpose of forcing it to surrender

69
Q

social contract

A

Enlightenment theory that says individuals form governments as a way to enforce laws and to protect rights; if the government violates the rights of the people, the people have the right to overthrow the government and form a new government

70
Q

Sons of Liberty

A

a colonial organization formed in 1765 in opposition to the Stamp Act and other British laws and taxes

71
Q

Stamp Act

A

law passed in 1765 by the British Parliament that imposed taxes on items such as newspapers and pamphlets in the American colonies; repealed in 1766

72
Q

Stamp Act Congress

A

a formal meeting of representatives from nine of the 13 American colonies to discuss and coordinate a response to the Stamp Act of 1765

73
Q

Sugar Act

A

a British law passed in 1764 that revised and enforced the tax on the sale of molasses, sugar, and other goods in the colonies, making it easier for British officials to bring colonial smugglers to trial

74
Q

tariff

A

taxes on imports or exports

75
Q

Tea Act

A

a law passed by British Parliament in 1773 stating that only the British East India Company could sell tea directly to the American colonies and permitting the company to bypass customs duties

76
Q

Thomas Jefferson

A

author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson also served as minister to France and later as the third president of the United States.

77
Q

Three-Fifths Compromise

A

an agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention that a slave would be counted as three-fifths of a person when counting the population of a state

78
Q

Townshend Acts

A

laws passed by British Parliament in 1767 that taxed goods such as glass, paper, paint, lead, and tea imported by the American colonies

79
Q

Treaty of Greenville

A

a treaty agreed to in 1795 in which Native Americans in the Northwest Territory were forced to cede the land that is most of the present states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin to the United States

80
Q

Treaty of Paris

A

the treaty signed in 1783 ending the war between the United States and Great Britain

81
Q

unicameral

A

an adjective describing a legislative body composed of one chamber

82
Q

Valley Forge

A

the Pennsylvania site of Washington’s Continental Army encampment during the winter of 1777–1778

83
Q

Virginia Plan

A

the plan presented by the delegates from Virginia at the Constitutional Convention; called for a three-branch government with a bicameral legislature in which each state’s membership would be determined by its population or its financial support for the federal government

84
Q

William Howe

A

general who served as commander in chief of the British forces in North America during the American Revolution

US History (7 decks)

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