1. Critical Period; 1783-1789: The preiod in this nations time between the signing of the Treaty of Paris and George Washington’s inaguration in which the constitution was born and the first true united governement was formed. A chaotic and unsure time in our history, indeed.
2. Articles of Confederation: Document which created a confederation between the 13 U.S States and was written by John Dickinson. Though originaly establishing a strong govt., it was torn to shreds by oponents of a strong centeralized govt. and is now a laughing stock and a mere footnote in American History.
3. Land Ordinance of 1785: To gain money since the Govt. couldn’t tax states, it was decided to sell land uninhabited that they gained from the Brits to proprietors.
4. Northwest Ordinance of 1787:


5. Republicanisim: the idea of a nation being governed by an elected representative instead of a king.
6. Constitutional Convention of 1787: To replace the Articles of Confederation, a convention was held in Philadelphia to draft a written constitution which would improve upon the confederation’s weaknesses. James Madison, Gouvenor Morris and Judge Wilson were members of the conventions, and Madison is a atributed as “the father of the constitution”, while the others helped.
7. Thomas Jefferson: Virginia Statesman, and 3rd President of the United States. He was an American Envoy to Britan during the Critical Period and of course he was the writer of the decleration of independence. He also wrote the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom
8. John Adams: Lawyer, statesman, politician and 2nd president of the United Staes who was leader during the XYZ afair and followed Washington.
9. George Washinton: Leader of the Continental Army who was called upon by his people to preside over the constitutional convention and then he was appointed as the president of the United States.
10. Treaty of Alliance 1778: Treaty between United States and France in 1778 which insured military support from the French to the Americans for their revolution against Britain.
11. Great Compromise:

12. 3/5 Compromise: Compromise made by American Delegates in which a slave counts as only 3/5’s of a man when taking a census.

13. Federalist: Federalist: Statesmen and public figures supporting ratification of the proposed Constitution of the United States between 1787 and 1789. The Federalist Papers are documents associated with their movement.
14. Anti Federalist: People opposed to the constitution and it’s ratification.
15. Bill of Rights: The First ten Amendments to the United Stes constitution that outlines the given rights to the people of our nation.
16. Ratification: To ratify is to accept and to legalize something, much like the Constitution of the United Staes, which met much opposition.