US HISTORY REGENTS

• Virginia House of Burgesses was the FIRST DEMOCRATICALLY elected lawmaking body.
• Plymouth established a self gov through the Mayflower Compact.
• Mercantilism was the economic system in the colonies.
• The British used the colonies to benefit themselves
• John Zenger Trial helped ESTABLISH FREEDOM OF PRESS
• The British imposed new taxes. Colonists protested against this, saying they had no voice. Taxation without representation
• John Locke had the ideas of life, liberty and property
• Montesquieu created the separation of powers (the 3 branches)
• Voltaire wrote on freedom of speech and religion
• Sons of Liberty were a group that protested against the taxes. When the British fired, this was known as the Boston Massacre
• British imposed a new tax; tea tax. Patriots dumped the tea off the ships. This is known as the Boston Tea Party
• Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence stating the colonies are now independent and states all the grievances the British provided.
• The British did not accept the declaration of independence, this led to the American Revolution (Independence war)
• In 1783, the Peace Treaty was signed and the war for independence ENDED.
• First plan of government was called the Articles of Confederation. This was a fail because the government had little power.
• The Great Compromise established the House of Reps and Senate
• The president's cabinet is known as the unwritten constitution.
• Alexander Hamilton created the national bank.
• Hamilton created taxes for whiskey, leading to the whiskey rebellion.
• Thomas Jefferson was a strict constitutionalist
• Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the country and gave America control of the Mississippi River & New Orleans (trading port)
• James Madison placed an embargo on France & Britain. This angered both countries and led to the British kidnapping American soldiers, forcing them to fight with them against the French. War of 1812.
• Monroe Doctrine was a hands off policy towards the Europeans.
• Andrew Jackson created a spoils system in which his friends and supporters were given government jobs. He claimed this increased the democracy.
• Jackson passed an Indian Removal Act in which natives are relocated off their land. As they moved, many natives died. This was known as the Trail of Tears
• Northwest Ordinance created a method for new states to join the union
• The government offered free land to anyone willing to move out west and settle for at least 5 years. This is known as the Homestead Act
• Jefferson hired Merriweather Lewis and William Clark to explore and claim territory for the US.
• American pioneers traveled west and many began to settle in Texas. At this time, it was apart of Mexico. As population grew, settlers desired independence and wanted to become a state. Texas was then annexed by the US and this contributed to the Mexican-American war.
• Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was when the US gained Mexico's land.
• Negatives of westward expansion were natives lost land and lives. The debate on slavery would become a cause for a long and bloody war.
• Causes of the civil war are sectionalism, slavery and states' rights
• Sectionalism is the different needs and desires of each section, or geographic area of the country.
• New states would be divided along the line 36/30. Any new state above would be a free state and any south would be a slave state. This is known as the Missouri Compromise
• The Fugitive Slave Act called for any escaped slaves in the north to be captured and sent back down to the south
• Popular sovereignty meant the people living in the new state would vote and decide on slavery themselves.
• Uncle Tom's Cabin was a novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It was an anti slavery story. This made many feel for the slaves and many became abolitionists.
• Dred Scott v Sanford was a case that involved a slave who sued for his freedom. The court decided that slaves are property, not citizens
• The election of 1860, Lincoln won the election and was opposed to slavery.
• The South believed Lincoln would abolish slavery. When he won, serval states decided they want to secede, break away, from the union and create their own nation. Lincoln believed the secession was unconstitutional