AMERICAN HISTORY 100 FACTS Mr. Tracy Cleland Northwestern Middle School Springfield, Ohio Important Dates 1. 1607 – Jamestown, Virginia became the first permanent English settlement in the New World. 2. July 4, 1776 – The Declaration of Independence was agreed upon (adopted) by Congress. 3. 1787 – The U.S. Constitution was written and accepted. 4. 1861-1865 – The Civil War was fought in the United States. Important Places and Events 5. The first shots of the American Revolution were fired at Lexington, Massachusetts in April, 1775. 6. The Battle of Saratoga was the turning point of the American Revolution. 7. The British defeat at Yorktown, Virginia by George Washington’s Continental Army marked the end of the American Revolution. 8. The first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. 9. The Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point in the Civil War for the North. Confederate troops were forced to retreat and never invaded the north again. 10. The Fall of Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1863, gave Union troops control of the Mississippi River and divided the Confederacy into two major parts. 11. General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate troops to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House to end the Civil War. 12. Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was the site of where the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights were created. 13. Washington, D.C. became the third and final location for the capitol of the United States. New York and Philadelphia were the first two. Important Vocabulary 14. Mercantilism – a financial theory that colonies exist for the sole purpose of raising wealth for the mother country. 15. Abolitionist – a person who wanted to end slavery in the U.S. 16. Tariff – a tax on foreign goods brought into the U.S. in order to protect American manufacturing. 17. Sectionalism – a strong sense of loyalty to a state or section of the country. 18. Manifest Destiny – is the belief that the U.S. should naturally own all of the land between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. 19. Temperance Movement – was a campaign against the sale or drinking of alcoholic beverages. 20. Republic – is a nation in which voters choose representatives to govern its citizens. 21. House of Burgesses – was the first representative assembly in the World. 22. Three Branches of Government – The U.S. Constitution created a 3 branch government including: Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branches. 23. Checks and Balances – is a system set up by the U.S. Constitution in which each branch of the federal government has the power to keep the other branches from gaining too much power. 24. Separation of Powers – is the delegating of powers to the 3 branches of government. 25. Federalism – is the sharing of power between the federal and state governments. 26. Popular Sovereignty – allows each territory to vote to decide for itself to allow slavery or not. 27. Amend – means to change. Amendments are changes to the U.S. Constitution. 28. Tyranny – a cruel and unjust government. Great Britain was accused of this by the colonies. 29. Immigration – when people move from another country into the U.S. 30. Direct Democracy – the citizens vote directly on ALL issues. 31. Representative Democracy – the citizens elect representatives to make decisions for them. 32. Ratify – means to approve by voting. 33. Judicial Review – the right of the Supreme Court to rule that a law is unconstitutional and therefore not a valid law. 34. Federalists – were supporters of the U.S. Constitution and believed that the federal government should be stronger than the state governments. 35. Anti-Federalists – were opposed to the U.S. Constitution and believed that the state government should have more power than the federal government. 36. Nullification – is the idea that a state could determine for itself if a federal law was legal or not and the state should have the power to nullify (cancel) the law if the state chose. 37. Primary Source – are original records of an event. They include eyewitness reports, records created at the time of the event, speeches and letters by people involved in the event, photographs, and artifacts. 38. Secondary Source – are later writings and interpretations of historians and writers. Often secondary sources, like textbooks and articles, provide summaries of information found in primary sources. However, secondary sources are not as reliable as primary sources. 39. Republicanism – was an attitude toward society in the late 1700’s based on the belief that good virtue and morality of the people was essential to sustain the republican form of government. 40. Industrial Revolution – a time period during the 1800’s in which a change from working on the family farm with your hands to the mass production in factories by machinery powered by water and later steam. 41. Representative Government – a political system in which voters elect others to make laws for its citizens. 42. Legislature – a part of the government that makes the laws. (ie. Congress) 43. Bill – a proposal for a law. 44. Law – a bill that is approved by the congress and signed by the President. This becomes legally binding. 45. Secede – to break away from; to leave (ie. South Carolina left the Union and join the Confederacy) 46. Precedent – establishes an example to be followed. 47. Discrimination – denial of equal rights or equal treatment to certain groups of people. 48. Mason-Dixon Line – This was a survey line drawn by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon to settle a boundary dispute between Maryland and Pennsylvania. It later became the line that separated the north (free states) and the south (slave states) in the 1800’s. 49. Reconstruction – is the term given to describe the time immediately after the Civil War in which America attempted to fix all that was destroyed during the war. This included the physical, emotional, and financial aspects of the country. Important Documents and Policies 50. Magna Carta – Signed in 1215 A.D., King John of England agreed to limit the power of the king (Monarch) and have a shared power with the Parliament of England. 51. English Bill of Rights – Protected the rights of English citizens and became the example for the American Bill of Rights. 52. Declaration of Independence – Written by Thomas Jefferson, this document told the king of England of our plans to become an independent country and explained the reasons why we were choosing to do so. Written in 1776. 53. Articles of Confederation – This was the 1st American constitution. It was a weak document that limited the power of the federal government by giving the individual states more authority than the federal government. 54. U.S. Constitution – This document set the limits on government for the United States. 55. Monroe Doctrine – This was a foreign policy statement by President James Monroe stating that A) the U.S. would not interfere in European affairs and that B) the Western hemisphere was closed to colonization and/or interference by European nations. 56. Treaty of Paris (1763) – This document officially ended the French and Indian War (Seven Years War) and removed the French from North America. 57. Treaty of Paris (1783) – This document officially ended the American Revolution (War for American Independence) and forced Britain to recognize America as an independent country. 58. Northwest Ordinance – a policy establishing the procedures for the orderly expansion of the Northwest Territory and the United States. 59. Mayflower Compact – an agreement signed in 1620 by the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts establishing their local government for the colony to be operated in an orderly manner. 60. “Common Sense” – a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine to convince the colonists that it was time to become independent from Great Britain. 61. U.S. Bill of Rights – The first ten (10) amendments to the U.S. Constitution which list the individual freedoms (liberties) of its citizens. 62. Gettysburg Address – a short speech given by President Abraham Lincoln to dedicate a national cemetery for soldiers who died at the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War. It is considered to be a profound statement of American ideals. 63. Emancipation Proclamation – President Abraham Lincoln presented this document to the American people on January 1, 1863 stating that all African-American slaves in states that seceded were to be free. 64. The Great Compromise – this was the agreement between the small and large states to create a Constitution that would have two houses of Congress: One based upon population (House of Representatives) and the other based upon equal representation (Senate). Important People 65. Sam Adams – was a member of the Sons of Liberty who started the Committee of Correspondence to stir public support for American Independence. His nickname was the “Great Agitator”. 66. Benjamin Franklin – was an inventor, statesman, diplomat, signer of the Declaration of Independence and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. 67. Thomas Jefferson – wrote the Declaration of Independence; became the 3rd President of U.S. and purchased the Louisiana Territory which doubled the size of the U.S. 68. Thomas Paine – wrote pamphlets like “Common Sense” and “The Crisis” to encourage American independence and resolve. 69. George Washington – was the leader of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He was the 1st President of the U.S. and known as the “Father of Our Country”. 70. Andrew Jackson – was the leader of the original Democratic Party and a “President of the People”. He was responsible for the “Trail of Tears” which forced all Native Americans west of the Mississippi River. His nickname was “Old Hickory” for his toughness during the War of 1812. 71. John C. Calhoun – was a South Carolina senator who was the leader of the “States Rights” southerners. He was the mouth for the south during the Civil War. 72. Henry Clay – known as the “Great Compromiser”, he negotiated the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. He was the voice of the west (Kentucky); He also introduced his “American System”. 73. Daniel Webster – was the voice of the northeast who wanted to preserve the Union; a senator from Massachusetts. 74. Jefferson Davis – was the President of the Confederate States of America (Confederacy) during the Civil War. 75. Ulysses S. Grant – was the General of the Union Army and was responsible for the north winning the Civil War. He was also the 18th President of the U.S. 76. Robert E. Lee – was the General of the Confederate Army during the Civil War. 77. Abraham Lincoln – was the 16th President of the U.S. who successfully put the Union back together after the Civil War only to be assassinated by John Wilkes Booth 5 days after the Civil War ended. He was responsible for getting slavery abolished. 78. Alexander Hamilton – was the leader of the Federalists, 1st treasurer of the U.S., creator of the 1st National Bank of the U.S. and was killed in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr. 79. Patrick Henry – was a passionate speaker from Virginia for American Independence. His most famous line was ,”give me liberty or give me death”. 80. James Madison – was considered to be the “Father of the U.S. Constitution”; 4 th President of the U.S. and President during the War of 1812 (“Mr. Madison’s War”) 81. Frederick Douglass – was a former slave who became a well-known abolitionist who spoke and wrote about the injustice of slavery. 82. James Monroe – was the author of the “Monroe Doctrine” and the 5th President of the U.S. 83. Harriet Tubman – was an escaped slave who assisted other in escaping slavery as a conductor on the “Underground Railroad”. She was known as the “Black Moses” for bringing so many slaves out of slavery. 84. Elizabeth Cady Stanton – Organized the Seneca Falls Convention which created the Women’s Right’s Movement in the United States. Amendments To The Constitution 85. 1st Amendment: Congress cannot make any laws the restricts our freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, or petition (right to protest). 86. 13th Amendment: Abolished (Got rid of) slavery. 87. 14th Amendment: Guarantees citizenship rights to all people born in the U.S.A. or naturalized citizens. 88. 15th Amendment: Guarantees the right to vote to all citizens regardless of race. 89. 16th Amendment: Government can collect taxes from its citizens. 90. 17th Amendment: Senators are elected by a direct popular vote of the people. 91. 19th Amendment: Women received the right to vote (Women’s Suffrage) 92. 24th Amendment: Outlaws literacy tests and poll taxes as requirements to vote. 93. 26th Amendment: Lowers the voting age to 18 years of age. U.S. Supreme Court Cases 94. Marbury vs. Madison – This case gave the Supreme Court the right to interpret whether a law was Constitutional or not. This is called, “Judicial Review”. 95. Dred Scott vs. Sanford – This is also known as the “Dred Scott Decision”. It stated that slave were property (not people) and therefore not citizens. It further stated that slavery could take place anywhere in the U.S. Inventions 96. Cotton Gin – was invented by Eli Whitney and increased the quickness with which the cotton could be cleaned and therefore increased the need for slavery as farmers increased the acreage of their plantations. 97. Steamboat – Robert Fulton used steam power to move boats up and down rivers dramatically changing the transportation and trade in America. 98. Telegraph – Samuel F.B. Morse invented the ability to communicate from a distance using a series of “dots and dashes” to electronically send messages. This system was called, “Morse Code”. 99. Interchangeable Parts – Eli Whitney created the idea of producing identical pieces to machinery so that a single piece could be replaced when needed, not the whole machine. 100.Mechanical Reaper – invented in 1831 by Cyrus McCormick, the reaper cut stocks of corn much faster than humans.