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US/VA Unit 2 Vocab
The American Revolution & Government Beginnings
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Natural Rights | Idea that all people are free, equal and have these... (life, liberty, property that rulers cannot take away) |
Social Contract | Idea that all original power resides in the people, and they consent to enter into a _________ among themselves to form a government to protect their rights. |
Thomas Paine | Said, "Tis time to part"; wrote Common Sense, which challenged the rule of the American colonies by the King of England |
Declaration of Independence | Authored by Thomas Jefferson, this document reflected the ideas of Locke and Paine; it also went on to detail many grievances against the King of England |
Patrick Henry | Patriot who said "No taxation without representation!"; believed the ideas of Locke and Paine |
Boston Tea Party | Famous colonial protest in response to British taxes |
Boston Massacre | Infamous event that occurred when British troops fired on anti-British demonstrators; five people were killed. |
Minutemen | Colonists in Massachusetts who fought a skirmish with British troops at Lexington and Concord. |
1st Continental Congress | First time representatives from various colonies met together |
2nd Continental Congress | Colonists demanded independence |
Patriots | Colonists who believed in complete independence from Britain; they provided troops for the American Army. |
George Washington | Commander of the Continental Army |
Loyalists/Torries | Colonists who remained loyal to Britain because of cultural and economic ties; believed taxes were justified to pay for British troops to protect American settlers from Indian attacks. |
Thomas Jefferson | negotiated a Treaty of Alliance with France; wrote the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom |
Yorktown | Last battle of the American Revolution, where Cornwallis surrendered to Washington |
Articles of Confederation | framework of government created to give Congress no power to tax, there was no common currency, each state got one vote regardless of size, and there was no executive or judicial branch - VERY WEAK. |
Constitution | document that established a government that shared power between the national and state governments, protected the rights of states, and provided a system for orderly change through amendments to the Constitution itself. |
Constitutional Convention | a meeting held to revise the Articles of Confederation |
The Great Compromise | This balanced power between large and small states by creating a Senate (where each state has two senators) and a House of Representatives (where membership is based on population). |
James Madison | "Father of the Constitution", author of the Virginia Plan and much of the Bill of Rights |
Bill of Rights | the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which states specific rights granted to Americans |
Virginia Declaration of Rights | written by George Mason, it reiterated the notion that basic human rights should not be violated by governments |
George Washington | Chairman of Constitutional Convention |
George Mason | wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights |
Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom | written by Thomas Jefferson; outlawed the established church - that is, the practice of government support for one favored church. |
Federalists | Advocated for a strong central government |
Anti-Federalists | Feared an overly powerful central government |
John Marshall and James Madison | 2 Virginians who supported the ratification of the U.S. Constitution |
George Mason and Patrick Henry | 2 Virginians who opposted the ratification of the U.S. Constitution |
John Marshall | the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court |
Marbury v. Madison | the court case that established judicial review |
McCulloch v. Maryland | the court case that established the doctrine of Implied Powers |
Gibbons v. Ogden | the court case that established a broad national view of economic affairs |