Unit 2 Terms - AP U.S. History (Fall 2025)

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering major Unit 2 terms from AP U.S. History (Fall 2025).

Paxton Boys

Frontier settlers in Pennsylvania who led armed protests against colonial government, seeking protection from Native Americans.

Regulator movement

Backcountry uprising in North Carolina (1760s–1771) demanding fairer taxation and representation against colonial elites.

New York slave revolt

Slave uprising in New York City (1712), quelled; contributed to stricter slave codes.

South Carolina slave revolt

Stono Rebellion of 1739, a large slave uprising in SC that led to tighter slave laws.

Triangular Trade

Transatlantic network linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas for slaves and goods (slaves, molasses, rum).

Molasses Act

1733 British law taxing sugar-rich goods from non-British colonies to protect Caribbean sugar production.

Arminianism

Theological system stressing free will and conditional salvation, opposing predestination.

Great Awakening

Religious revival (1730s–1740s) emphasizing personal conversion and evangelical fervor.

Old Lights

Traditional clergy who were skeptical of revivalist movements during the Great Awakening.

New Lights

Supporters of revivalism during the Great Awakening, emphasizing emotional preaching.

Poor Richard’s Almanack

Benjamin Franklin’s popular yearly almanac (with maxims, weather, and bits of wisdom).

Zenger Trial

1734–35 trial of John Peter Zenger that helped establish freedom of the press and truth as a defense.

Royal Colonies

Colonies governed directly by the Crown through appointed governors.

Proprietary Colonies

Colonies granted to individual or group proprietors who appointed governors.

Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur

French-American writer famous for Letters from an American Farmer, describing colonial life.

Jacobus Arminius

Dutch theologian whose ideas inspired Arminianism, stressing free will in salvation.

Jonathan Edwards

Preacher of the Great Awakening; famous for Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.

George Whitefield

English evangelical preacher whose itinerant revivals spread the Great Awakening.

John Trumbull

American painter known for historical scenes of the Revolutionary War era.

John Singleton Copley

Colonial American portrait painter who later worked in Britain.

Phillis Wheatley

Enslaved African American poet who published literary works in the colonial era.

John Peter Zenger

New York printer whose publication and trial helped establish press freedom.

French and Indian War

1754–1763 North American theater of the Seven Years’ War between Britain and France.

Albany Congress

1754 meeting to discuss colonial defense; led to Franklin’s Plan of Union.

Battle of Québec

1759 campaign culminating in British victory at Quebec (Plains of Abraham).

Pontiac’s War

1763 Native American uprising led by Ottawa leader Pontiac against British policies.

Proclamation of 1763

British ban on settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains to reduce frontier conflicts.

Republicanism

Political ideology valuing civic virtue and opposing arbitrary government; basis of American Revolution.

Radical Whigs

18th-century British political thinkers warning about corruption and tyranny; influenced American thought.

Mercantilism

Economic theory that wealth is measured in gold/silver; global power through favorable balance of trade.

Sugar Act

1764 British law imposing duties on sugar and molasses; increased enforcement in colonies.

Quartering Act

1765 required colonies to house and provide for British troops.

Stamp Act

1765 tax on printed materials in the colonies, sparking widespread protest.

Admiralty Courts

British maritime courts without juries used to prosecute smuggling and maritime cases.

Stamp Act Congress

Delegates from colonies (1765) organized to oppose the Stamp Act.

Nonimportation Agreements

Colonial boycotts of British goods in protest of parliamentary acts.

Sons of Liberty

Secret society opposing British policies; organized protests and resistance.

Daughters of Liberty

Women who supported boycott efforts and promoted home-spun goods.

Declaratory Act

1766 Parliament asserted its authority to legislate for the colonies in all cases.

Townshend Acts

1767 Duties on colonial imports (taxes on glass, paint, paper, tea) used to raise revenue.

Boston Massacre

1770 clash in which British troops killed five colonists; used as revolutionary propaganda.

Committees of Correspondence

Colonial networks coordinating communication about British actions.

Boston Tea Party

1773 protest against the Tea Act; colonists dumped tea into Boston Harbor.

Intolerable Acts

1774 punitive measures against Massachusetts (Port Act, MA Government Act, etc.).

Québec Act

1774 law expanding Quebec’s territory and grants to Catholics; angered colonists.

First Continental Congress

1774 meeting of delegates from 12 colonies to coordinate resistance to Britain.

The Association

Continental Association: 1774 networked boycott of British goods.

Battles of Lexington & Concord

April 1775; first battles of the American Revolutionary War.

Valley Forge

Winter encampment (1777–78) where the Continental Army endured hardship and trained.

William Pitt

British statesman who led Britain during crucial years of the war against France.

Pontiac

Ottawa leader who organized a confederation to resist British expansion after the war.

George Grenville

British prime minister who tightened imperial controls, including the Sugar Act.

Charles Townshend

British minister who proposed the Townshend Acts taxing colonial imports.

Crispus Attucks

African American man killed in the Boston Massacre; often regarded as a martyr.

George III

King of Great Britain during the American Revolution.

Lord North

British prime minister during much of the Revolutionary War.

Samuel Adams

Leader of colonial resistance; organizer of the Sons of Liberty and Committees of Correspondence.

Marquis de Lafayette

French aristocrat who aided the American cause with troops and leadership.

Baron von Steuben

Prussian officer who trained the Continental Army at Valley Forge.

Second Continental Congress

Continental Congress (1775–1781) acting as national government and drafting key documents.

Bunker Hill

1775 battle (Breed’s Hill) showing colonial resolve despite British victory.

Olive Branch Petition

Final attempt at reconciliation (1775); rejected by King George III.

Hessians

German mercenaries hired by Britain to fight in America.

Common Sense

Pamphlet by Thomas Paine advocating independence from Britain.

Declaration of Independence

1776 document declaring colonies free and independent states; authored largely by Thomas Jefferson.

Declaration of the Rights of Man

French revolutionary document (1789) outlining natural rights.

Loyalists

Colonists loyal to Britain and opposed to independence.

Battle of Long Island

1776 major British victory that forced the Americans to retreat to Manhattan and New Jersey.

Trenton

1776 American victory after crossing the Delaware; boosted morale.

Saratoga

1777 turning point; American victory convincing France to ally with the United States.

Model Treaty

Guidelines drafted by Congress for potential foreign alliances and trade agreements.

Treaty of Fort Stanwix

1784 treaty securing Iroquois cession of most lands in the Ohio Valley.

Privateers

Privately owned ships authorized to attack enemy merchant shipping.

Yorktown

1781 decisive American victory; Cornwallis’s surrender effectively ends the war.

Treaty of Paris

1783 peace treaty ending the Revolutionary War; recognized American independence.

Benedict Arnold

American general who defected to the British; infamous for treason.

Thomas Paine

Author of Common Sense and The American Crisis; prolific revolutionary writer.

Abigail Adams

Advocate for women’s rights and education; wife of John Adams.

Richard Henry Lee

Virginia delegate who proposed the motion for independence (Lee Resolution).

Lord Charles Cornwallis

British general who surrendered at Yorktown; key figure in the British defeat.

John Burgoyne

British general defeated at Saratoga; his surrender helped turn the war.”

Benjamin Franklin

Founding Father; diplomat, scientist, and key Franco-American negotiator.

Comte de Rochambeau

French general who commanded Allied forces with Washington, notably at Yorktown.

Nathaneal Greene

American general known for strategic use of troops in the Southern campaigns.

Joseph Brant

Mohawk leader who allied with Britain during the Revolutionary War.

George Rogers Clark

American frontier officer who captured key British posts in the Northwest.

Admiral de Grasse

French admiral who helped trap British forces at Yorktown by sea.