Help
Options
Didn't know it?
click below
click below
Knew it?
click below
click below
Don't Know
Remaining cards (0)
Know
retry
shuffle
restart
0:00
Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Unit 2 Vocabulary
U.S. History
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Benjamin Franklin | an influential statesman, inventor, and scientist who published Poor Richard's Almanac; delegate from Pennsylvania & ambassador who secured alliance with France during Revolution. |
| John Adams | delegate from Massachusetts during First Constitutional Convention; ambassador to the Netherlands during the Revolution & later second US President. |
| John Jay | President of the Continental Congress who helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris 1783; Federalist who wrote essays to support the ratification of the Constitution. |
| George Washington | delegate from Virginia and leader of the Continental Army during the revolution; later president of the Constitutional Convention and first US President. |
| Thomas Jefferson | delegate from Virginia during the first Constitutional Convention and 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, and Robert Livingston) |
| Declaration of Independence | the ideological explanation for America's independence written by Thomas Jefferson. |
| John Locke | a British philosopher who believed that all individuals naturally posses certain rights regardless of status; developed Social Contract Theory. |
| Natural Rights | the right of 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. |
| Olive Branch | a plea directly to King George III by the colonists' Second Continental Congress in 1775 for negotiation to avoid armed conflict, which was ignored by the king |
| Continental Army | Army lef 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 | a Prussian soldier who helped teach the Continental Army drill and fire tactics during the winter at Valley Forge |
| Marquis de LaFayette | a French soldier who assisted in the professionalization and training of American forces during the winter at Valley Forge |
| 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 and 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 Territory |
| Northwest Ordinance of 1787 | a law that established the method by which new territories would be admitted to the US 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 US 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 Government | a principle stating that the government has only as much authority |
| 3/5th 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 that 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 US President |
| Bill of Rights | the first ten amendments to the Constitution that protect individual rights. |
Created by:
karenbarajas
Popular U.S. History sets