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Declared the thirteen American colonies as independent from Great Britain. It proclaimed that these colonies were free and independent states, severing their political ties with Great Britain. -
The American Colonies and France signed this military treaty on February 6, 1778. It formalized France’s financial and military support of the revolutionary government in America. -
Drafted by James Madison, and presented by Edmund Randolph to the Constitutional Convention on May 29, 1787, the Virginia Plan proposed a strong central government composed of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. -
The supreme law of the United States, establishing the framework for the federal government and outlining the fundamental rights of its citizens. -
The Federalist Papers is a collection of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States. -
One of the first acts of the new Congress was to establish a Federal court system through the Judiciary Act signed by President Washington on September 24, 1789. -
Guarantees grand jury indictment, protection against double jeopardy and self-incrimination, and due process of law. -
Rights to a speedy and public trial, and to legal counsel. -
Rights not listed in the Constitution are still protected. -
Powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states or the people. -
No quartering of soldiers in private homes without consent. -
Freedom of religion, speech, the press, assembly, and the right to petition the government. -
The given right to bare arms. -
Right to a jury trial in certain civil cases. -
Protection against unreasonable searches and seizures; warrants require probable cause. -
Prohibits excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishments. -
The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. -
Limits the ability of citizens to sue a state in federal court. -
The Louisiana Purchase (1803) was the U.S. acquisition of ~828,000 sq. miles of French territory west of the Mississippi River for $15 million, effectively doubling the nation's size and securing access to the vital port of New Orleans. -
Modifies the Electoral College to require separate, distinct votes for president and vice president. -
This Supreme Court Case addressed the issue of Federal power and commerce. -
This legislation admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a non-slave state at the same time, so as not to upset the balance between slave and free states in the nation. It also outlawed slavery above the 36º 30' latitude line in the remainder of the Louisiana Territory. -
The Monroe Doctrine was articulated in President James Monroe's seventh annual message to Congress on December 2, 1823. The European powers, according to Monroe, were obligated to respect the Western Hemisphere as the United States' sphere of interest. -
This Supreme Court decision forbade states from enacting any legislation that would interfere with Congress's right to regulate commerce among the separate states. -
The Compromise was actually a series of bills passed mainly to address issues related to slavery. The bills provided for slavery to be decided by popular sovereignty in the admission of new states, prohibited the slave trade in the District of Columbia, settled a Texas boundary dispute, and established a stricter fugitive slave act. -
Officially titled "An Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas," this act repealed the Missouri Compromise, which had outlawed slavery above the 36º30' latitude in the Louisiana territories, and reopened the national struggle over slavery in the western territories. -
In this ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court stated that enslaved people were not citizens of the United States and, therefore, could not expect any protection from the federal government or the courts. The opinion also stated that Congress had no authority to ban slavery from a Federal territory. -
At the end of the Civil War, this bill created a framework for Reconstruction and the re-admittance of the Confederate states to the Union. -
Passed on May 20, 1862, the Homestead Act accelerated the settlement of the western territory by granting adult heads of families 160 acres of surveyed public land for a minimal filing fee and five years of continuous residence on that land. -
This act, passed on July 1, 1862, provided Federal subsidies in land and loans for the construction of a transcontinental railroad across the United States. -
Passed on July 2, 1862, this act made it possible for states to establish public colleges funded by the development or sale of associated federal land grants. Over 10 million acres provided by these grants were expropriated from tribal lands of Native communities. The new land-grant institutions, which emphasized agriculture and mechanic arts, opened opportunities to thousands of farmers and working people previously excluded from higher education. -
A presidential proclamation and executive order issued by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War. -
Abolishes slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. -
Grants citizenship, due process, and equal protection to all citizens. -
In this treaty, signed on April 29, 1868, between the U.S. Government and the Sioux Nation, the United States recognized the Black Hills as part of the Great Sioux Reservation, set aside for exclusive use by the Sioux people. -
With this check, the United States purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. -
Prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. -
Yellowstone became the first Federally protected national park by the Act of Congress signed into law on March 1, 1872. -
Allows the federal government to levy an income tax. -
Establishes the direct popular election of U.S. senators. -
Prohibits the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors (Prohibition). -
Guarantees women's suffrage. -
Sets the dates for the end of presidential and congressional terms (Jan. 20 and Jan. 3, respectively). -
Repeals the 18th Amendment. -
Limits the president to two terms. -
Grants the District of Columbia electors in the Electoral College. -
Prohibits the use of poll taxes in federal elections. -
Establishes procedures for presidential disability and succession. -
Lowers the national voting age to 18. -
Prevents any law increasing or decreasing the salary of members of Congress from taking effect until the start of the next congressional