Study Guide Pre-Revolution, Revolutionary War, Constitution
· Pre-Revolution
o Benign Neglect
§ Idea that the colonies ran themselves from 1607-1763
o Mercantilism (define, how did it hurt the colonies economic growth?)
§ Colonies exist only to make England rich
§ Colonies can only trade with England and not make extra $ by trading with the world
o Boston Massacre
· English troops open fire on Am. Protestors in Boston
· Eng. Army looks like the enemy (not protectors)
§ Crispus Attucks
· Leader of protestors, shot dead by Eng. Troops (called 1st casualty of Rev. War)
o Acts
§ Sugar Act (define, what was it cutting down on?)
o All ships on way to America first had to land in England and pay a tax, meant to cut down of smuggling sugar (to make rum) from West Indies/Caribbean
· Admiralty Courts (define, why would Americans dislike this law so much? Tie to Colonial charters)
o 3 Royal appointed judges decide smuggling cases
o Americans lose trial by jury
§ Stamp Act (define, Why did Americans oppose it so much? 2 reasons)
o Tax on all printed goods
o $ went to England to pay for Fr/Ind War
o No taxation w/out Representation
· How did Americans resist the Stamp Act
§ Boycott (colonies were England’s largest customer- mercantilism) stop buying English goods
o Committees of Inspection
§ Gangs that went into shops to make sure English goods were not being sold (often intimidated shop owners and destroys products)
o Committee of Correspondence
§ Colonies communicated with each other to ensure boycott was being enforced
§ One of the first displays of colonial unity
o Sons of Liberty
§ Boston gang devoted to standing up against England (lead by Samuel Adams and responsible for Boston Tea Party)
§ Declaratory Act (define, think- were the colonists successful in their protests against Stamp Act)
· Stated England could make any law what so ever (replaced Stamp Act)
· Not really because colonists still can’t vote and the King has a right to tax colonists any time he wants
§ Tea Act (define, why did Americans oppose it? Think-trick)
o Tax on tea that lowered price of tea (bc British East India Company was given a monopoly to sell tea in colonies)
o Seen as a trick to defy no taxation w/out representation (anyone who drank taxed tea at a lower price would be a hypocrite)
· Boston Tea Party- define, How did England and the King react
o Sons of Liberty dress up as Indians and board tea boats in Boston Harbor and dump thousands of pounds of tea into harbor
o England sees BTP as an act of defiance against king and Eng. feels colonies want independence
§ Intolerable Act/ Coercive Act- Why did England pass the bill? What colony was directly affected?
o Meant to punish Boston for the BTP
· Boston Port Bill
o Boston Harbor closed until Eng. is paid back for tea destroyed
· Quartering Act
o English soldiers could be forcibly housed in anyone’s home
· Mass. Governor’s Act
o Mass. Lost its charter (rights as Englishmen)
o Why did the other colonies care about the Intolerable Act if it did not apply to them?
§ If Intolerable Acts can happen in Boston, Mass, it could happen to any other colony
o 1st Continental Congress (Why was it called and in reaction to what? Why was it significant? Think- Unity)
· Called to see what the colonies response should be to the Intolerable Acts
· 1st time every colony met together and realized they have something in common (they are American)
§ 2 goals of the 1st CC
o Boycott of English goods (again)
o Arm the colonists
§ Olive Branch Petition
o 1st CC letter to King George saying the colonies do not want independence but a return to Benign Neglect
· What was the ultimate goal of the 1st CC? (Hint- Not the same as the 2nd CC)
o saying the colonies do not want independence but a return to Benign Neglect
o 2nd CC wrote the Declaration of Independence
o Loyalists vs. Patriots/Tories (define, ID what type of person would be attracted to each group)
§ Loyalist- loyal to the King, did not want war (businessmen who made money trading with England)
§ Patriot- wanted independence and war (farmer who did not need much from the Government)
· Revolutionary War
o Lexington and Concord
§ 1st shots fired in Revolutionary war
o Common Sense
§ Thomas Paine, stated Americans should seek independence, most popular essay in colonies and responsible for pushing Americans to want to seek independence, not benign neglect
o 2nd Continental Congress (Why was it called?)
· 2nd time colonies meet, in response to Lexington and Concord (war or peace)
§ Declaration of Independence
· Author
o Thomas Jefferson
· 2 rights guaranteed to all Americans/people
o Inalienable Rights- life, liberty, pursuit of happiness (based on John Locke’s Natural Rights- life, liberty, property), purpose of government is to protect those rights and people can overthrow the government if those rights are not protected
o Equality- all men created equal (of opportunity and under the law)
· Reason it was written for the world
o So the world knew why the colonies were rebelling by listing the abuses by the king
o Strategy
§ British
o Conventional war, take cities
· Advantages
o Best army, large navy, $
§ US
· style of warfare
o Guerilla warfare, drag war out until England quits
· Advantages
o Defensive war, knew terrain, fighting for a cause
· Disadvantages
o Need to build an army, will Americans fight?
o Fighting began in NE, moved to Middle Colonies, Ended in South
o Battle of Saratoga (importance?)
· 1st major battle won by Continental Army
§ French alliance
o Fr. Ally with US against England, Saratoga shows that colonies could win the war especially with some help
· Rochambeau
o Commander of French troops
o Valley Forge (define, importance)
§ Americans die of exposure during winter, shows American troops willing to fight and die for cause of independence
o Battle of Yorktown (define)
§ Final battle of war, England surrenders
o Treaty of Paris (negotiators for US, US original Borders, Why was it such a victory for US?)
§ John Adams, Ben Franklin, John Jay
§ Mississippi River, no Florida, border w Canada
§ US was only 13 colonies along the coast but England gave them extra land in west so US would not side w France
· Constitution
§ Creates a strong central government that defines how the Government is run and limitations of Government’s power
o Articles of Confederation (define)
§ 1st national Government of US
· Confederation (define, how did the colonies view themselves?)
o Loose grouping of nations
o Sovereign- each state felt it was independent
§ Weaknesses (What was the A of C most glaring problem? )
· 9/13 majority to pass laws, no president, unable to collect taxes
§ Strength (think- unity)
o AofC established the idea that 13 states were united
· Northwest Ordinance (define)
o Plan to incorporate territories in west into states (at 60,000 people)
o No slavery in Ohio Valley
o Virginia Plan (How was representation based?)
· Representation per state based on population (large state plan)
· 3 branches of Government
§ James Madison
· Author of Constitution
o New Jersey Plan (How was representation apportioned?)
§ Equal representation per state (small state plan)
o Great Compromise (Identify, explain the two houses created?
· Settled issue of representation so both large and small states agreed to join new Constitutional stronger central government
· Senate- 2 representatives per stae (favors small states)
· House of Representatives- representatives based on population (favors large states)
§ What was the greatest issue every state wanted resolved? How did the GC resolve that problem?)
· Representation- each state saw themselves as independent and were giving up sovereignty, GC allowed each state to feel the had influence in the new Government
o 3/5’s Compromise (define)
§ Slaves were counted as 3/5s of a person for the census/population
§ Representation on the House was based on population, allowed southern states to earn several more representatives by partially counting their slave population
o Electoral College (define, what branch of Government is elected directly by the people?)
§ Elects the president by counting the number of votes given to each states (#of House Reps+2 Senators=# of votes per state)
§ Legislative Branch is elected by the people (House of Reps and Senate)
o 3 Branches of Government (list and define responsibilities)
§ Executive- President (enforce laws, head of military, veto power over laws made by legislative branch)
§ Legislative (Congress- House of Reps and Senate) make laws, controls $, declares war
§ Judicial- Supreme Court, make sure laws made by other two branches are fair
o Rhode Island and Western Lands- Rhode Island never showed up at the convention, lands in west were a major controversy)
o Federalists (define, what groups of people)
· Supported the Constitution
· Businessmen, wealthy, urban areas
o Wanted a strong central government that could protect their property
§ Federalist Papers (What were they? How would the Gov. prevent tyranny? Checks and Balances
o Federalist Papers Essays written by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton explaining why the Constitution will work
o Checks and Balances- prevents one group from taking total control of country by dividing government power
· #10 (Explain why no one group dominates in US?)
o With diversity, no one group can dominate the country
o Anti-Federalists (define, what groups of people)
· Against Constitution bc fear of tyranny/too powerful central government like England’s King
· Farmers (don’t need much from government) afraid they will be taxed
§ Bill of Rights
· 1st 10 amendments to Constitution
· Protects individual rights from government
o Barbary Coast- pirates off Libya stealing US trade goods (showed need to have a strong central government and navy)