Social Studies Mrs. IngoldTest Cheat Sheet Early Republic Test

TEST DATE: Wednesday, April 5th

The exam for third quarter will consist of the following 4 chapters of information:

Chapter 7:The American Government and Constitution

The Constitution- a document that sets out the laws and principles of a government

Articles of Confederation-First constitution of the United States completed in 1777-created a “loose alliance” or “firm league of friendship” among 13 states-weak central government- real power in gov’t was still in the hands of individual states- Western expansion was first challenge for new gov’t

Land Ordinance of 1785- enabled Congress to raise money and encourage the orderly settlement of new territory

Northwest Ordinance of 1787-set up a gov’t for the Northwest Territory and outlawed slavery there-also called for religious freedom and fair treatment of Native Americans-provided a way for new territories to become states

Constitutional Convention of 1787- 55 delegates attended the convention, including James Madison (age 36),

Benjamin Franklin (age 81), Alex Hamilton and George Washington. Some leaders declined to attend and Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams were in Europe. Instead of revising the Articles, the delegates sat down and wrote the new US Constitution.- Virginia Plan – Part of new constitution that called for strong national gov’t with three branches: legislative, judicial and executive. Also called for a two-house legislature in Congress. Seats in both houses based on population larger states would have more representation.

- New Jersey Plan - called for single house legislature, where each state has one vote regardless of population

- Great Compromise – Rep. Roger Sherman (CT) proposes two house legislature with upper (Senate) and lower (House of Representatives) house. The House of Representatives is based on population. The Senate has two senators from each state (equal representation).

\ -Three-fifth’s Compromise – addressed issue of slavery. Should slaves be counted as citizens?? Delegates decided that 3/5th’s of the slaves in any state would be counted.

** Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787 creating our new republic. A republic is a nation in which voters elect representatives to govern them.

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-Many ideas for America’s new gov’t came from the League of the Iroquois . In the League, member nations governed their own affairs, but banned together for defense.

-Ideas in the Constitution also came from Enlightenment Thinkers in Europe. A. John Locke declared that all people have certain natural rights to life, liberty, and property. If the people feel that their natural rights are being violated, they have the right to rebel.B. French Thinker Montesquieu developed Separation of Powers: thought that gov’t should be divided into three branches to keep any one branch from becoming too powerful.

US Constitution established Federalism: Division of power in government exists between state and a central government.

-Gave Americans flexible system of gov’t. The federal gov’t has the power to act for the nation as a whole. State gov’t’s have power over local matters.- Constitution was made “supreme law of the land” or final authority on any

dispute.Separation of Powers

-Legislative Branch: (Congress) Makes laws-Executive Branch: (President) Enforces Laws-Judicial Branch: (Supreme Court) Interprets Laws

Checks and Balances: -each branch has the power to check the other two to ensure that no one branch becomes too powerful

How A Bill Becomes A Law

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Amendment: -A proposed change to the Constitution. The Amendment process was designed to ensure that the constitution could always be changed to meet societies changing needs.

Impeach:- bringing formal charges against an elected official. Elected official can only be removed by two-thirds majority vote

Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists*Federalists : supporters of the Constitution; strong central gov’t essential *Anti-Federalists: opposed the Constitution; felt that the national gov’t had too much power, states not enough

Bill of Rights: Chief argument of Anti-Federalists. First ten amendments of the Constitution were added in December 1791. The first ten amendments are listed to protect people’s natural rights to prevent the gov’t from taking them away.

*Amendments 5-8: Protect Due Process: gov’t must follow same fair rules in all cases brought to trial. Protect the rights of the individual (innocent until proven guilty in a court of law)

Chapter 8: The New Government

First President: George Washington - As commander of American troops during the Revolutionary War,

Washington was the nation’s greatest hero, both respected and loved by all Americans across the country

First Cabinet of Advisors- Henry Knox ( Secretary of War), Alex Hamilton (Secretary of Treasury),

Thomas Jefferson ( Secretary of State), Edmund Randolph (Attorney General)Precedent: an act or decision that sets an example for others to follow.

-Washington established many precedents, but his most famous was only serving two terms as president elect.

Judiciary Act of 1789: called for the Supreme Court to have one Chief Justice and five Associate Justices. Also set up lower district courts to handle individual state’s problems across the nation.

Hamilton’s compromise: Alexander Hamilton wanted to build a strong national economy. Hamilton developed a plan to repay both national and state debts. Many Southern states had already paid off their debts and did not want to inherit the bad debts of the Northern States. Hamilton proposed moving the nation’s capital to the south (between Virginia and Maryland) if the Southern States would accept his idea of repayment of state debts. The problem of the national debt was solved!

The National Bank : 1791 THE bank of the United States was created from all the money that the gov’t collected in taxes. The bank took the gold and reissued paper money in it’s place to pay bills.

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**To give American manufacturing a boost, he proposed protective tariffs or (taxes). This made the prices on imported goods more, therefore people would keep mostly buying American manufactured goods.

Whiskey Tax/Whiskey Rebellion-1791, Congress taxed all whiskey made and sold in the United States. Whiskey

was made mostly by grain process by small farmers. Farmers could not afford to pay the tax, so they rebelled. President Washington sent national troops to crush the Whiskey Rebellion. Farmers responded to the national army by laying down their weapons. This was the first big challenge of the new government and proved that the new gov’t was not only strong but merciful. All leaders of the rebellion were pardoned.

The French Revolution & American Neutrality-President Washington knew that the new gov’t was not strong enough after just

finishing the American Revolution to get involved in another war in Europe. Meanwhile, the French had decided to declare their independence from their gov’t, a monarchy, which they felt was oppressive. Britain did not support the independence either since it was rebellion against the monarchy and King Louis XVI. Washington declared that America would remain neutral and not get involved in the conflict, choosing not to side with either Britain or France.

Washington’s Farewell Address_Washington is mostly remembered for his advice given on foreign policy in his

Farewell Address. He warns of “steering clear of foreign alliances” and staying out of the affairs of European countries. Relationships should be strictly about business and trade.

Political parties – Differing views-first political parties developed due to differences in opinion on politics

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Alien & Sedition Acts-Gov’t was controlled by Federalists at this point. Federalists tried to deport any

person who was not a US citizen (Alien Act) and to jail and silence any person who spoke out against the gov’t (Sedition Act) in an attempt to stop people from voting the Democratic-Republican Party (people’s party) into power.

XYZ Affair-After John Adams became nation’s second president, French foreign minister Talleyrand sent three secret agents – X,Y, and Z- to the U.S. to try to bribe the president for large sums of money. “Not a sixpence” or “Not a cent” replied one of the diplomats. When Americans heard of the XYZ Affair, they replied “millions for defense, not one cent for tribute”, meaning they were willing to pay to defend their country, but refused to pay bribes. Nullify – Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

-nullify means “to cancel” a law passed by the federal gov’t. With the help of Republicans Jefferson and Madison, Kentucky and Virginia passed resolutions that said each state has the right to decide for itself if laws passed by the federal gov’t are constitutional. If a state decides the law is unconstitutional, the law can be cancelled within its borders. These resolutions were the result of the people feeling the Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional and violated people’s rights.

Elections of 1796 & 18001796- REMEMBER: POLITICAL PARTIES: John Adams (Federalist) wins

presidency with most electoral votes. Thomas Jefferson (D-R) received second highest number of votes and became VP. The president and VP were from two different political parties and political tensions remained high.

1800-REMEMBER: 12TH AMENDMENT: Thomas Jefferson (D-R) vs. Adams (Federalist). Thomas Jefferson becomes the nation’s third president. Congress passes the 12th Amendment stating that a president and vice-president must be on the same ticket from the same political party. Jefferson’s election marked the end of the Federalist controlled gov’t.

Chapter 9: Jeffersonian Era

President Thomas Jefferson – limited government-3RD president of the United States. Wanted the gov’t to limit its role in the lives of the people – sought to protect and expand the rights of the ordinary citizen. - ---- Wanted to create pure democratic gov’t.

Democratic: ensuring that all people have the same rights.

Laissez-faire: “let alone” or “hands off” – gov’t should play as small role as possible in economic affairs. In contrast, Alex Hamilton wanted the gov’t to promote trade, commerce and manufacturing.

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Marbury vs. Madison - Judicial Review-John Adams appoints “midnight judge” (Marbury) to Supreme Court. Jefferson

orders Secretary of State Madison to not process papers. Marbury sues Madison and case goes to Supreme Court. Supreme Court denies appointment. Sets precedent that the Supreme Court has the power to decide if laws passed by Congress are unconstitutional. This makes the Supreme Court the highest law in the land.

The Louisiana Purchase – Presidential Power- President Jefferson uses his power to make treaties as the basis for his deal to

buy the Louisiana territory from Napoleon. Napoleon agreed to sell the Louisiana territory to Jefferson because he needed the money to continue fighting his war in Europe more than he needed the lands in the US. The purchase doubled the size of the United States.

Pickney Treaty – New Orleans-Spain owned the port of New Orleans and threatened to close it to American

trade. 1795, President Washington sent Thomas Pickney to negociate a treaty. Spain agreed to let Americans ship their goods down the Mississippi and store them in warehouses in New Orleans.

Lewis and Clark’s Expedition-continental divide: a mountain ridge that separates river systems-Sacajawea: Shoshone Indian woman who contributed greatly to the success of Lewis and Clark’s expedition. She guided and got her people to support Lewis and Clark on their journey over the Rockies.

Lewis and Clark were to map out the Louisiana territory, learn about its inhabitants; and study its climate, wildlife, mineral and soil resources. They accomplished all the things that Jefferson had instructed them to do and found a route to the Pacific Ocean.

Barbary StatesTo protect American ships, America paid a yearly tribute ( $ bribe) to the Barbary States in North Africa (Tripoli). When Jefferson refused to pay Tripoli a larger bribe than usual, Tripoli declared war. The war boosted American trade, however, Britain and France tried to cut off America’s trade with each other.ImpressmentsBritain began impressments of American sailors. Britain commandeered American merchant ships and forced American sailors to work in the British NavyEmbargo Act

The Embargo Act embargo: ban on trade with another country

-was meant to deprive France and Britain of badly needed American goods, thus forcing them to respect American neutrality. However, Americans suffered more economically than Britain and France, therefore the Nonintercourse Act was passed allowing America to trade with all nations except Britain and France.

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George Washington John Adams

Thomas Jefferson

The Early Republic Review Packet

Name:_______________________

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