US HISTORY KEYWORDS AND TIMELINES

 

TIMELINE :

 

Year	Events
1777	The Continental Congress approves the Articles of Confederation on November 15.
1778	The United States and France become allies.
1781	On March 1 the Articles of Confederation go into effect after being ratified by all 13 colonies.
1782	Spain completes its conquest of British Florida.
1785	The United States begins using the dollar currency.
1786	Shays’s Rebellion breaks out in Massachusetts.
1787	The Ottoman Empire declares war on Russia.
1787	On May 14, state delegations begin to arrive at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
1791	The Bill of Rights is ratified by the states in December.
1791	The Lady Washington becomes the first U.S. ship to reach Japan.

 

Persons:

James Madison: The father of the American Constitution.

Alexander Hamilton: A federalist who supported the constitution as an excellent plan for government. He defended his views in the Federalist Papers.

George Mason: An Antifederalists who opposed the constitution and believed the constitution needed a section guaranteeing individual rights.

Benjamin Franklin: The author of the Articles of Confederation.

 

 

 

 

Documents and Acts:

Magna Carta: A document signed by the king John in 1215, made the king subject to law.

 

Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom: A document declared that no person could be forced to attend a particular church or be required to pay for a church with a tax money.

 

Articles of Confederation: Congress would become the single branch of the national government, but it would have limited powers in order to protect the liberties of people.

 

Land Ordinance of 1785: which set up a system for surveying and dividing western lands. The land was split into townships, which were 36 square miles divided into 36 lots of 640 acres each. One lot was reserved for a public school, and four lots were given to veterans. The remaining lots were sold to the public.

 

Northwest Ordinance of 1787: The ordinance established the Northwest Territory, which included areas that are now in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

 

Bill Rights: 10 of the proposed amendments intended to protect citizens' rights.

 

Plans and Compromises:

Virginia Plan: A plan that proposed a new federal constitution that would give sovereignty, or supreme power, to the central government.

 

New Jersey Plan: A plan that called for a unicameral, or one-house, legislature. The plan gave each state an equal number of votes, and an equal voice, in the federal government.

 

Great Compromise: The agreement to create a tow-house legislature.

 

Three-Fifths Compromise: Only three-fifths of a state's slave population would count when determining representation.

 

Checks and Balances: A system that keeps any branch of government from becoming too powerful.

 

Economic Terms and Systems:

Tariffs: taxes on imports or exports.

Interstate commerce: trade between two or more states—states followed their own trade interests.

 

Inflation: An increased in prices for goods and services combined with the reduced value of money.

 

Depression: A period of low economic activity combined with a rise in the unemployment.

 

Government System:

Popular Sovereignty: The idea that political authority belongs to the people.

 

Federalism: The sharing of power between a central government and the states that make up a country.

 

Legislative Branch: Congress which is responsible for proposing and passing laws.

 

Executive Branch: The president and the departments that help run the government.

 

Judicial Branch: All the national courts.

 

Events:

Shays’s Rebellion: The farmers' uprising to protest high taxes and heavy debt.

 

The Constitution Convention: A meeting that was held in May 1787 in Philadelphia's Independence Hall to improve the Articles of Confederation.

 

 

 

 

Vocabulary:

 

Constitution: A set of basic principles and laws that states the powers and duties of the government.

 

Suffrage: The right to vote.

 

Ratification: Official approved.  

 

Antifederalists: People who opposed the Constitution.

 

Federalists: People who supported the constitution.

 

Federalist Paper: An essays supporting the constitution were written anonymously under the name Publius.

 

Amendments: Official changes.