What was the first English settlement in North

America? Why was it founded?

Jamestown, to establish a colony well suited for

growing tobacco in the Chesapeake region

Why did the Puritans want to leave England? What boat did they travel on? What was their purpose?

religious persecution, the Mayflower, to form a perfect community

through their covenant with God

Name 2 characteristics of the New England colonies.

education, small farms, harbor cities, Puritanically based morals and religion

Name 2 characteristics of the middle colonies.

religious tolerance, commerce, craftsmanship, heavy Dutch influence, big

cities like New York and Philadelphia

Name 2 characteristics of the southern colonies.

Loyalty to the crown, plantations & cash crops, low population density,

controlled by small group of wealthy plantation owners

What religious movement was focused on getting an

emotional response from its audience? What was its “non-religious” impact?

Great Awakening, caused people to start thinking

more democratically and questioning authority

How did this movement help feed revolutionary

fervor?

equality in the eyes of God, pushed people to think

democratically

Which enlightenment thinker pushed for a three branch government and a

system of checks and balances?

Montesquieu

Which enlightenment thinker was an advocate for the

protection of “natural rights” (life, liberty, property) and the

idea that people should overthrow a government that does not protect these rights?

John Locke

Which enlightenment thinker pushed a social

contract that emphasized government by the general

will?

Rousseau

Which Enlightenment thinker was a serious

advocate for civil liberties like freedom of religion, speech, and the press?

Voltaire

What did Thomas Paine argue in his pamphlet

Common Sense?

That the time had come to declare our independence

What is the name for the British policy of lax

enforcement of colonial navigation and trade

restrictions? When did they end this policy?

Salutary neglect, after the French and Indian War

Why did the British begin taxing the colonists in

1763?

pay for the debts they ran up in the French & Indian

(or 7 yrs.) War

What was the first major tax placed on the colonists after the Seven Years’ War? Why

did many colonists feel taxation was unfair?

Stamp Act, colonists felt they had no

representation in Parliament

Name two ways the colonists protested this tax.

boycotts, demonstrations, harassment of public

officials, formed groups like Sons of Liberty

What British law required colonists to feed and house

British soldiers?

Quartering Act, a form of taxation that was

resented by the colonists

What group of colonists wanted to remain loyal to

Great Britain? Why?

Tories/Loyalists, strength of empire, rights as British citizens, etc.

Who led the mob to the Customs House to set off the Boston Massacre in

1770? What organization was he from?

Samuel Adams, Sons of Liberty

How did the British respond to the Boston Tea Party in

1774?

Intolerable (Coercive) Acts (in these the British closed the

port of Boston, took over the MA gov’t, quartered soldiers

in colonists homes)

What group called made the decision to split with Britain

and called for the Declaration of Independence?

Second Continental Congress

Declaration signed on July 4, 1776

Who was the primary author of the Declaration of

Independence? Who were his two primary

Enlightenment influences?

Thomas Jefferson, Locke and Voltaire

What were the two main purposes of the Declaration

of Independence?

Establish the ideology behind revolution and list

grievances vs. King George and Parliament

Where was the first actual fighting of the Revolutionary

war? Why did it happen?

Lexington and Concord, British sent troops to

arrest colonial leaders and clashed with

Minutemen

What Colonial victory brought increased support

from the French? Why were the French willing to help

us?

Saratoga, French were hoping to regain influence in North America they’d

lost in 7 yrs war

What was the British strategy at the start of the

Revolutionary War?

Take control of New York (esp. Hudson River) and cut off Massachusetts from the rest of the

Colonies

What was the freezing cold low point for the Continental

Army? Why was it significant?

Valley Forge, it showed the Colonial Army’s resolve in

sticking with it and winning the war

Where did the British surrender to Washington? What Treaty officially gave

us our independence?

Yorktown, Treaty of Paris (1783)

What document set up our nation’s first national

government? What was the basic configuration of this

government?

Articles of Confederation, loose Confederation of

states run by a unicameral legislature

Name two weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.

no power to tax, no power to coin money, no

executive branch, weak central government

What was the significance of Shay’s Rebellion (1786)?

Demonstrated the weaknesses of the government under the

Articles of Confederation, showed gov’t couldn’t

respond effectively to crisis

How did the Connecticut Compromise help create our

Congress?

It established a bicameral (2 house)Congress with rep by population in the House of Reps and equal

rep in the Senate

Who appoints Justices & Ambassadors? Who

approves them?

President, Senate

What branch has the power to veto propose legislation?

Executive (the President)

How did the Constitutional Convention resolve the

issue of slavery?

3/5 Compromise – which made every 5 slaves

count for 3 people when counting a state’s

population

41) Which part of the Constitution gives Congress

to make all laws deemed “necessary and proper”?

Elastic Clause

What determines the number of representatives

that a state gets in the House of Reps.? In the

Senate?its population (each state has

Congressional Districts), each state gets two

Senators (originally chosen by state legislatures – now by people of each state)

Who has the power to enforce laws?

President (Executive Branch)

Who has the power to declares laws/acts unconstitutional?

Judicial Branch, headed by the Supreme Court

What is the group of the President’s advisors called?

Who were the two most influential advisors to

President Washington?

Cabinet, Hamilton (Treasury) & Jefferson

(State)

Who has the power to tax and declare war?

Congress

How many amendments are included in the Bill of

Rights? What group pushed for it? Why?

10, Anti-Federalists – they were afraid the new

national gov’t would be too powerful and infringe on the

rights of the people

What amendment protects you from unlawful search &

seizure?

4th

Which amendment protects your right to bear arms?

2nd

What right do some people feel is violated by the Death

Penalty?

No cruel or unusual punishment (8th)

What amendment protects the rights of the accused?

6th

What amendment protects you from self-incrimination?

5th

What freedoms are guaranteed by the First

Amendment?

Speech, religion, press, assembly, petition

What was Hamilton’s (Federalist Party) vision for

America?

A country based on manufacturing and a

strong central government, national

bank, lots of commerce

What was Jefferson’s (Democratic-Republican

Party) vision for America?

Agricultural society, everybody owns land, individual rights, weak

central gov’t

What did Washington warn against in his farewell

address as he left office after his second term?

The formation of political parties, which pretty much happened right

away after he left (Feds and Dem-Reps)

What laws were passed by the Federalists in 1798 to

limit opposition to the government and slow

membership in the Dem-Reps?

Alien & Sedition Acts

Why was Jefferson’s election in 1800 significant?

Peaceful transition of power from Federalists to

Democratic Republicans, tie vote decided in House of

Reps

Who did Jefferson send to explore the Louisiana

Territory? Why did he send them?

Lewis & Clark, promote the territory & build

excitement about the West

How did we get “sucked in” to the war of 1812?

GB & France were at war & we’re caught in the

middle (impressment, blockades, etc.)

What were the key outcomes of the War of

1812?

Brits give up so we win, survive first big foreign policy crisis, establish ourselves as a truly independent nation

What was the basic message that the Monroe Doctrine sent to Europe? Why was this significant?

stay out of our hemisphere & we’ll stay out of yours’ , sets the course for U.S. foreign

policy in Latin America (Nationalist Diplomacy)

Who was the first President to supposedly represent the common man? What party

did he help build?

Andrew Jackson, the Democrats

Trail of Tears, vetoing Nat’l Bank, spoils system, “bare

knuckle” politics, expanding the use of

Presidential Power

Identify two things Jackson was famous for.

What major economic transformation occurred

during the Age of Jackson?

Market Revolution, our economy became a

modern market based economy