apusv6

Vocabulary Chapter 6 (American Revolution)

George Washington- He was the 6 foot 2 inches Commander of the Continental forces. He was a humble general who commanded forces in the 7 years� war. He helped to defeat the forces of Cornwallis.
Whigs-were those who believed in independence form the Crown and the Empire. They hated loyalists and Tories.
Tories-Those favoring unity were Tories. They did not want to separate and loyalists were among them.
Marquis de Lafayette- He was a Frenchman with connections to Louis the 16th. HE brought morale to the American troops and helped secure French assistance for the American war effort.
Battle of Saratoga- After 2 indecisive battles in the same area, General Horatio Gates defeated General James Burgoyne and as such, proved that the Americans could win in a major battle.
Horatio Gates- He was the famous general who led American troops to victory in Saratoga.
Benjamin Franklin- Was a very brilliant man. He was a printer in Philadelphia. At an older age, he became the wise politician everyone looked up to. He was on the committee of 5 who write the declaration of independence.
Valley Forge- It was a miserable winter of 1777. It tested the fervor of the troops, who were plagues by a food shortage along with ammunition and morale shortages. Washington managed to keep his army together.
Lord Charles Cornwallis- Was the British General who after initially defeated Washington in the north moved southward to Charleston. HE captured the city and moved north while chasing, or being chased by Americans. When he failed to take Richmond, the weakened army rallied at Yorktown, Virginia, but was surrounded by the French Navy, Washington, and other American and foreign troops.
Battle of Yorktown- was the battle in Yorktown, Virginia, where Washington, the French, other nations, and other generals pounded Cornwallis. Cornwallis, weakened form months of running, surrendered his army. It spelled the end of the British victories.
Peace of Paris- It was the 2nd treaty by this name, but it gave all lands north of Spanish lands to Canada, and also from the 13 colonies to the Mississippi, to the confederation. It made the colonists pay pre-war debts, but forced all British to leave the confederation�s lands.
The Articles of Confederation- was the founding documents of our nation. They gave all power to a council where each representing district had only 1 vote, and any 1 state could veto. Because of this, the government was cumbersome and nothing ever got done. States were threatening to secede. As such, the constitutional convention was called.
Ordinance of 1785- was the foundation for the surveying of the land of the frontier. IT split land up into townships and plots of land for families and schools.
Northwest Ordinance- This established principles for the territories gained in the peace of Paris to become states. It allowed for functioning territorial governments that would eventually allow a state constitution to be created and a state to be firmed with it.
Alexander Hamilton- was a very smart man. He was an illegitimate child of a Scottish sailor, and he eventually became a great artillery sergeant. HE would also become the 1st secretary of the treasury since he worked out the famous compromise where the southern states assumed war debts in return for the capital being built in the south.

James Madison- was a sickly young man who was in the Constitutional convention. His conception was called the Virginia plan. HE was also a writer in the Federalist Papers.
Shay�s rebellion- In Massachusetts, the legislature voted to pay off war debt in 3 years, and the economy had to face high takes and a shortage of valuable coinage. To stop an influx of worthless paper money, the government required all payment in coinage. This caused poor farmers to get in an uproar, since they always paid in grain. Daniel shay led 2000 fellow farmers to take over the courts in western counties to stop the foreclosure of farms. They were stopped by state militia, but in the process of attempting to raid a federal arms depot, ignited the spark for a stronger nation.
Virginia plan- Developed by Madison, this plan made the legislature a bicameral one, and both houses depended upon population to make up representation. The big states loved this plan because NY, VA, MA, and PA would control the majority of votes. It, along with other plans all gave the national government more power.
The New Jersey plan-was alike with the Virginia plan in the fact that it strengthened the national government against the states, but it differed in the fact that it wanted only one chamber with an equal vote for all states. It was the first plan to recognize the laws of congress as the supreme laws of the land.
The Connecticut compromise- To stop the endless debate over representation, a grand committee was created to find a suitable compromise. The Virginia plan gave the 4 largest states power where as the NJ plan gave the 7 smaller states power that only held 25% of the population. The committee adopted the plan from the Connecticut delegation. It mandated that the legislature would be of 2 houses, and the upper house would have equal representation, whilst the lower house had representation based upon population.
Federalists- While the name may mean wanting to have a strong federal state, the federalists were a semi-organized political party whose main mission was the ratification of the constitution. They succeeded.
Anti-federalists- were a political party that was less organized than the federalists. Most wanted a stronger government, so the name antifederalist is not really fair. If anything they were antiratificationists. They only opposed the ratification of the constitution, for mainly, it had no guarantee of rights. When they lost the ratification fight they set out to ensure that a bill of rights was in the end, passed, so they forced many state assemblies to vote in favor, but with the condition of a bill of rights.