History Defination

Shays’s Rebellion 1786

Massachusetts farmer Daniel Shays and 1,200 compatriots, seeking debt relief through issuance of paper currency and lower taxes, attempted to prevent courts from seizing property from indebted farmers.

Three-Fifths Clause

A provision signed into the Constitution in 1787 that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted in determining each state's representation in the House of Representatives and its electoral votes for president.

The Federalist

Collection of eighty-five essays that appeared in the New York press in 1787–1788 in support of the Constitution; written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay and published under the pseudonym "Publius”.

Bill of Rights

First ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1791 to guarantee individual rights against infringement by the federal government.

Gradual emancipation

Opponents of the Constitution who saw it as a limitation on individual and states' rights; their demands led to the addition of a Bill of Rights to the document.

Jay’s Treaty

Treaty with Britain negotiated in 1794 by Chief Justice John Jay; Britain agreed to vacate forts in the Northwest Territories, and festering disagreements (border with Canada, prewar debts, shipping claims) would be settled by commission.

Whiskey Rebellion

Violent protest by western Pennsylvania farmers against the federal excise tax on whiskey, 1794.

Alien and Sedition Acts

Four measures passed during the undeclared war with France that limited the freedoms of speech and press and restricted the liberty of noncitizens.

Expedition of Lewis and Clark

An expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the new territory acquired by the Louisiana Purchase. They sought to discover how the region could be exploited economically, establish trading relations with western Indians, and locate a water route to the Pacific Ocean.

Hartford Convention

Meeting of New England Federalists on December 15, 1814, to...