Chapter 5

Olive branch pettion

A final peace offer sent by the Second Continental Congress to King George III, asking to avoid war.

common sense

A 1776 pamphlet by Thomas Paine that urged colonists to support independence from Britain.

2nd contenital congress

A meeting of colonial leaders in 1775 that managed the war and later declared independence.

DOI 

A 1776 document that officially announced the colonies’ break from Britain.

Hessians

German soldiers hired by the British to fight against the American colonists.

battle of trenton

A surprise American victory in 1776 where Washington’s troops captured Hessian forces in New Jersey.

battle of saratoga

A 1777 American victory that was the turning point of the war and convinced France to join the colonists.

Sam Adams

A patriot leader who helped organize resistance to British policies and co-founded the Sons of Liberty.

Lafayattee

A French nobleman who volunteered to fight with the American colonists and became a key military leader.

Treaty of Paris

The 1783 agreement that officially ended the Revolutionary War and recognized U.S. independence.

Republicanism 

A political philosophy that supports a government ruled by the people through elected representatives.

Republican motherhood

The idea that women should raise children to be informed and virtuous citizens in a republic.

Land ordiances of 1784 and 1785

Laws that organized western lands for settlement and divided them for sale.

Northwest ordiances of 1787

A law that set rules for governing new western territories and banned slavery there.

Shays rebellion 

A 1786 uprising of Massachusetts farmers protesting taxes and debt, showing weaknesses in the Articles.

AOC

The first U.S. government that could make laws and wage war but was too weak to tax or enforce rules.