U3 1754 - 1800: Creating a New Nation

Flashcard deck · A.P. U.S. History · 1754 - 1800 - Creating a New Nation · History

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Covers the French and Indian War, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, Federalist Papers, and figures like Hamilton, Jefferson, and Franklin.

Terms in this deck

Declaration of Independence: The 1776 document, primarily authored by Thomas Jefferson, announcing the colonies' separation from Britain and asserting natural rights.
Articles of Confederation: The first governing document of the United States (1781–1789), which created a weak central government that proved ineffective.
Patriots: Colonists who supported American independence from Britain and actively opposed British imperial policies.
Seven Years' War: A mid-18th-century global conflict (also called the French and Indian War) in which Britain defeated France, reshaping North American territorial control.
Proclamation of 1763: A British law forbidding colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains after the Seven Years' War, angering many colonists.
Natural rights: The idea, drawn from Enlightenment thinkers, that all people are born with inherent rights (life, liberty, property) that government cannot take away.
Self-government: The principle that people have the right to govern themselves through elected representatives, a core colonial ideal challenged by British imperial policy.
French and Indian War: The North American theater of the Seven Years' War; British colonists and Native allies fought French forces and their Native allies for control of the continent.
American Revolution: The colonial war for independence from Britain (1775–1783) that produced the United States and was shaped by Enlightenment ideals.
Pontiac: Ottawa leader who organized a major Native uprising against British expansion in 1763, symbolizing Indigenous resistance to colonial encroachment.
Townshend Acts: A series of 1767 British laws taxing goods imported to the colonies (like glass and tea), increasing colonial resentment.
Enlightenment: An 18th-century intellectual movement emphasizing reason, individual rights, and limited government that deeply influenced American revolutionary thought.
Washington, George: Commander of the Continental Army and first U.S. president, whose leadership was central to both the Revolution and the early republic.
Hamilton, Alexander: First Secretary of the Treasury whose financial program shaped the early republic's economy and sparked political divisions.
Coercive Acts: Laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 to punish Massachusetts after the Boston Tea Party, called the "Intolerable Acts" by colonists.
Constitutional Convention: The 1787 Philadelphia meeting at which delegates drafted the U.S. Constitution, replacing the Articles of Confederation.
Federalist Papers: A series of essays written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay (1787–1788) arguing for ratification of the Constitution and explaining its principles.
Antifederalists: Opponents of ratifying the U.S. Constitution who feared centralized power and demanded a bill of rights to protect individual liberties.
Stamp Act: A 1765 British law taxing printed materials in the colonies, sparking widespread colonial protests and resistance.
Separation of powers: The constitutional principle dividing government authority among legislative, executive, and judicial branches to prevent tyranny.
Bill of Rights: The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791, guaranteeing individual liberties such as free speech and due process.
Taxation without representation: The colonial grievance that Parliament taxed the colonies without giving them elected representatives, a central cause of the Revolution.
Republican ideals: Political values emphasizing citizen participation, civic virtue, and government by elected representatives rather than hereditary rulers.
Declaratory Act: A 1766 British law asserting Parliament's right to make laws for the colonies "in all cases whatsoever," passed alongside the repeal of the Stamp Act.
Checks and balances: The system in which each branch of the U.S. government can limit the powers of the other branches, preventing abuse of authority.
Federalists: Supporters of ratifying the U.S. Constitution who favored a strong central government, including Alexander Hamilton and James Madison.
Jefferson, Thomas: Author of the Declaration of Independence and third U.S. president who championed agrarian democracy and states' rights.
Franklin, Benjamin: Colonial leader, diplomat, and Founding Father whose efforts helped energize the movement for American independence.
Pontiac's Rebellion: A 1763 uprising led by Ottawa chief Pontiac in which Native nations resisted British expansion into the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley region.
U.S. Constitution: The supreme law of the United States, drafted in 1787, establishing the framework of the federal government with separation of powers.
Popular sovereignty: The principle that government authority comes from the will of the people, reflected in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Salutary neglect: Britain's unofficial policy of loosely enforcing colonial trade laws before 1763, which allowed colonial self-governance to develop.
XYZ Affair: A 1797–1798 diplomatic incident in which French agents demanded bribes from American diplomats, straining U.S.-French relations.
Neutrality: The U.S. foreign policy stance of avoiding military alliances and staying out of European wars, established in the 1790s by Washington.
Pinckney's Treaty: A 1795 treaty with Spain granting the U.S. navigation rights on the Mississippi River and establishing the southern border.
Political parties: Organized groups competing for political power; the First Party System (Federalists vs. Democratic-Republicans) emerged in the 1790s.
Continental Congress: The governing body of the American colonies and later the new nation, which declared independence and conducted the Revolutionary War.
Social contract: The Enlightenment idea that government derives its legitimacy from the consent of the governed, influencing revolutionary thought.
Common Sense: Thomas Paine's 1776 pamphlet arguing for American independence and republican government, widely read and highly influential.
Alien and Sedition Acts: 1798 laws that made it harder to become a citizen and criminalized criticism of the government, sparking controversy over civil liberties.
Shays' Rebellion: A 1786–1787 armed uprising by Massachusetts farmers protesting debt and foreclosure, revealing the weakness of the Articles of Confederation.
Mercantilism: The economic theory that colonies exist to enrich the mother country through trade restrictions and resource extraction.
Ohio Company: A land speculation company whose 1750 survey of trans-Appalachian territory helped trigger the Seven Years' War.
Impressment: The British practice of forcibly seizing American sailors and making them serve in the Royal Navy, a source of conflict in the 1790s.
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions: Documents written by Jefferson and Madison in 1798–1799 arguing states could nullify unconstitutional federal laws.
Jay's Treaty: A 1794 treaty with Britain that resolved some post-Revolutionary tensions but was controversial for failing to address impressment.
Loyalists: Colonists who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolution and opposed independence.
Washington's Farewell Address: Washington's 1796 address warning against permanent foreign alliances and political factions, shaping early U.S. foreign and domestic policy.
American identity: The emerging sense of shared culture, values, and nationhood that developed among Americans after independence.
Northwest Ordinance: A 1787 law establishing a process for admitting new states from the Northwest Territory and banning slavery there.

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