XYZ Affair
- France was seizing US ships, sailors, and goods ( Impressment )
- They were doing this because we did not support them against britain
- When contacted, the ambassadors wanted a bribe to even talk about it.
- America did not pay and used the money to build a navy and wage a 2 year undeclared war.
Alien and Sedition act
- Alien acts raise residence requirement for american citizenship to 14 years and allowed the president to deport or jail any alien considered undesirable
- Sedition act made it illegal to speak out against government
- Both considered unconstitutional
3/5 Compromise
- 3/5 of a state’s slave population counted as population for representation and taxation. Gave congress the power to regulate trade but prevented congress from interfering with slave trade for 20 years.
Great Compromise
- 2 house congress where each state has equal representation in senate and population size determines representation in house of representatives
French and Indian war
- Just to be extra ( this is not in our notes anywhere )
- Britain won
Congress
- We do not really have a bullet point on congress specifically either
- I know what congress is ( to the required degree )
House of representatives
- Same as congress - no bullet point
Senate
- Yet again, no bullet point
Stamp act
- Tax all documents, newspapers and playing cards by forcing colonists to place a special stamp on the items
Sugar act
- Yet again, no bullet point
- Parliament, desiring revenue from its North American colonies, passed the first law specifically aimed at raising colonial money for the Crown. The act increased duties on non-British goods shipped to the colonies.
Quartering act
- Allowed troops to live in your house without permission
Causes of american revolution
- Primarily taxation
- Salutary Neglect- Social injustice, they were treated unfairly
- Britain did not pay close attention to their colonies
- Colonies ended up governing themselves
Britain Strengths:
Well trained and equipped army / navy strong central government with central economy support of loyalists and many native Americans ( 4 of 6 tribes )
United States strengths:
Familiar Territory Solid leadership of Washington and other generals Common cause
Britain weaknesses:
Far from home and unfamiliar terrain many enemies in Europe ( France Spain Netherlands etc ) ( they will help US ) Poor military leaders No common cause to rally army or British people
United States Weaknesses:
Many soldiers untrained Shortages of food and ammunition No central government Tiny navy ( but 1,000 privateers. ( Basically pirates ) )
Protesting
- Shays rebellion - ( taxation )
- Whiskey rebellion - ( taxation ) ( Who’d have thunk we would revolt to avoid taxation, and then tax ourselves too much !!!?!? )
Boycott
- to refuse to buy or use
- we boycotted english goods
- our boycotts were successful
Olive branch petition
- was a last ditch attempt at avoiding war. many Americans felt loyalty to the king and blamed the violence on the king’s ministers.
- it urged a return to the former harmony.
- It was rejected, and the King declared the colonies to be in rebellion.
Declaration of Independence
- The document that explained the colonist’s reasons for declaring independence.
- declared on july 4th, 1776
Treaty of Paris
- In 1783, the delegates signed the Treaty of Paris, which cofirmed the US Independence and set the boundaries of the new nation.
- The US now stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River, and from Canada to the Florida border.
- After the war, European nations recognized the USA
Shays rebellion
- Farmers who were veterans of the revolutionary war returned to their farm in heavy debt and faced debtors’ prison.
- Shays felt he was the victim of too much taxation. Shays led an army of 1200 farmers to force the courts closed. Eventually put down with minimal bloodshed
Whiskey Rebllion
- An armed rebellion of about 700 Pennsylvania rebels who were protesting the tax on distilled spirits (alcoholic drinks) of which whiskey was the most popular
- George Washington and an army of 13000 put down the rebellion with minimal bloodshed.
- Showed that the National Government had the will and ability to suppress violent uprisings without resorting to tyranny
Articles of Confederation
- The first attempt at forming a post-war government, Congress proposed a new type of government in which two levels of government shared fundamental powers. State governments were supreme in some manners, while the national government would be supreme in others.
- Ultimately fails
National bank
- proposed by Alexander Hamilton, it would be a national bank funded by the government and wealthy private investors. It would issue paper money and handle tax receipts and other government funds. Set off a wave of controversy. Catering to the elite; possibly unconstitutional.
Louisiana purchase
- Not in notes
- we paid 15 million for 828 thousand square miles of land.
Northwest ordinance of 1817
- Congress provided a procedure for dividing the land into territories. Guaranteed Religious freedom, and barred slavery.
- Provided a path to statehood: Congress would appoint a territorial governor and judges. At 5,000 voting residents, settlers could write a temporary constitution and elect a local government. At 60,000 free inhabitants, the settlers could write a state constitution, which congress had to approve before it granted statehood.
Political parties and George Washington’s opinion
- two dominant political parties in Politics.
- Washington opposed a two party system because people will dislike and distrust people in the other party and will work against them. It will cause problems instead of solving problems. One party might join forces with a foreign government to gain power against the other party.
Constitution
- no bullet in our notes and i know what the constitution is
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
- condemned the Alien and Sedition Acts as unconstitutional and claimed that because these acts overstepped federal authority under the Constitution, they were null and void.
Sectionalism
- Placing the interest of one region over those of the nation as a whole. Big problem in the election of 1796.
The Reynolds Pamphlet
- Hamilton is having sex with a man’s wife and it is big news because he is not embezzling funds
Bill of rights
- Codified freedoms to prevent government overreach of of a person’s individual liberties. Was necessary to get the antifederalists on board.
Election of 1796
- The election of 1796 was split on completely sectional lines with the North voting for and ultimately electing John Adams over the South who voted for Thomas Jefferson.
- Adams became president and Jefferson became VP
- This was problematic because the Pres and VP came from different parties and had different values and goals.
Election of 1800
- Set the precedent that in the event of a tie, house of Representatives will choose the winner of the election.
- Jefferson wins.
- Hamilton convinces Federalists to switch their votes to Jefferson.
Peaceful revolution of 1800
- i do not see anything in our notes for this
Judicial Review
- the ability of the Supreme Court to declare an act of congress unconstitutional.
Marbury v Madison
- Marbury was a midnight judge who did not get his official papers; The judiciary act of 1789 was supposed to provide them. Marshall said that the provision of the act was unconstitutional because Congress did not empower the Supreme Court to issue such orders. Ruled against Marbury.