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Virginia Declaration of Rights
Proclaimed the inherent/natural rights of men and allowed for the abolishment of inadequate government; acted as a template for the Bill of Rights. -
Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom
Thomas Jefferson wrote this bill in regards to giving legal equality to Protestant Christians who inhabited Virginia; also prohibited religious requirements for holding office; the Virginia General Assembly enacted into state law -
Ratification of Articles of Confederation
The Raifcation occurred on March 1st, 1781; occurred before the end of the American Revoltion and served as a temporary government however lacked structure as the central government lacked power (weak); the United States gov't was not recognized/ acknowledged internationally. -
Treaty of Paris
After the Battle of Yorktown in 1781, major fighting ceased and ultimately gave way to the Treaty of Paris in 1783 which was the official end to the war. -
Land Ordinance of 1785
This law was adopted by the Continental Congress on May 20, 1785 andset up a system which defined land territory in an attempt to end the dispute over land; set up system of dividing land. -
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Shays' Rebellion
American farmers began a uprising as a result of their rage towards the state and local tax; acted as a precedent for splitting classes as well as pointing out necessary revision for the Articles of Confederation. -
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Western land North of the Ohio River was clearly indicated and the land east of the Mississippi River could be settled; ultimately, this occurrence spurred the expansion of settlers to these newly obtained land. -
Constitutional Convention
Meeting in which the Constitution was planned; attempted to reinforce the central government; met in the Philadelphia state house in Pennsylvania; took place May 25-September 17, 1787. -
Ratification of Constitution
The defects of the Articles of Confederation were becoming apparent (weak authority of the central government); a minimum of 9 states was needed to ratify the Constitution; Delaware was the first to ratify;in order to obtain a majority, the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution; New York and Virginia were hesitant to ratify but they were needed to give legitimacy to this document. -
George Washington Inauguration
The new government needed to be led by George Washington in order to promote legitimacy; the first president of the infant nation and believed to be the only man for the job -
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French Revolution (related to U.S.)
U.S. prompted to remain neutral as a result of the infant government not being strong enough to withstand these European conflicts; as France transitioned from a Monocratic government to a dictatorship, America refused to continue to finance the French war debt -
Whiskey Rebellion
During the Washington presidency/ newly formed federal government, this whiskey tax was the first time a tax was imposed on a domestic product; people began to protest this tax; disaffected whiskey rebels fought back & farmers who produced it from grain angered at the tax as well; Hamilton propsed this tax as a mtheod of gaining revenue to support the government & pay off war debt -
Jay Treaty
In an attempt to relieve unresolved issues with Britain, this treaty ultimately avoided war between America and Britain; since British were still on U.S. territory and continued to impress (draft until war of 1812) and treaty convinced British to slowly leave American forts; British were granted land but did not give American equal grants; France claimed this was a violation of their treaty as new American government would not pay war money as compensation. -
Treaty of Greenville
Ended the Northwest Indian war (year prior occurred); leaders of Indian-American tribes released land south and east of mouth of Cuyahoga River; tribes included the Wyandot, Delaware, Shawnee, Ottawa, Miami, Eel River, Wea, Chippewa, Potawatomi, Kickapoo, Piankashaw, and Kaskaskia; $20,000 worth of goods were given to tribes; agreement not followed and fighting continued between tribes and white settlers. -
Pinckney Treaty
This treaty was settled by diplomats who wished to end the dispute between Spain and the U.S. in regards to problems arising as a result of territorial disputes; this was a success for America since they were granted the right to freely navigate the Mississippi River and conduct duty-free transport through New Orleans (controlled by Spanish). -
Washington Farewell
After his second term of presidency, Washington gave his farewell in Philadelphia and set the premise for Presidents only being allowed to hold office for 2 terms; set the standard for proceeding presidents -
Election of 1796
John Adams won the election with 71 electoral votes while Thomas Jefferson won the position of vice-president since he came in a close second; opposing federalist: Adams and anti-federalist/ democratic-republican: Jefferson. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
These new laws allowed for deportation of foreigners to be stricter process and made it difficult for new ones to vote since the law raised the years of residency for being able to vote from 5 years to 14 years; laws signed by John Adams; Federalists believed foreigners put American security at risk. -
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Quasi War
Commenced after the unresolved dispute from the XYZ affair; naval war that was undeclared and occurred during John Adams' time as president; ended with the signing of the Treaty of Mortefontaine on September 30, 1800. -
XYZ affair
American diplomats attempted to negotiate a treaty with French diplomats as conflict ha arise as a result of America refusing to continue funding the French war debt; American diplomats refused the bribe the French asked for and led to the Quasi-War; peace re-established at the Convention of 1800. -
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
Enacted in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts and argues that those acts had no right to exercise power outside of what the constitution had depicted; Virginia resolution was authored by James Madison while the Kentucky Resolution was authored by Thomas Jefferson. -
Election of 1800
Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams; Federalists slandered Jefferson; this election was believed to endanger the country's survival; undeclared political war
