CH.7: THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION (1763-1775) - VOCABULARY FLASHCARDS

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, concepts, and events from the Road to Revolution (1763–1775), including enlightenment influence, colonial grievances, legislative acts, protests, and the move toward independence.

The Enlightenment

Intellectual movement emphasizing reason, natural rights, and progress that influenced colonial revolutionary thought.

Salutary Neglect

British policy of lax enforcement of trade laws that allowed the colonies to govern themselves and grow economically.

Mercantilism

Economic theory that national wealth comes from accumulating gold and silver and maintaining a favorable balance of trade, with colonies serving the mother country.

Navigation Laws

Mercantilist regulations restricting colonial trade to English ships and ports to benefit Britain.

Stamp Act

1765 tax on printed materials in the colonies that sparked protests and the slogan 'No Taxation without Representation.'

No Taxation without Representation

Colonists argued Parliament lacked legitimate authority to tax them because they had no elected colonial representatives.

Virtual Representation

Idea that Parliament represented all British subjects, including colonists, even without direct elections in the colonies.

Stamp Act Congress

1765 assembly of colonial delegates that petitioned Parliament and coordinated resistance to the Stamp Act.

Sons of Liberty

Secret colonial organization that resisted British policies like the Stamp Act through protests and intimidation.

Repeal of Stamp Act

1766 repeal of the Stamp Act following colonial protests; taxes were redirected but many acts remained.

Townshend Acts

1767 measures imposing duties on imported goods (glass, lead, paint, paper, tea) to raise revenue and tighten control.

Boston Massacre

March 5, 1770 confrontation in which British soldiers killed five colonists; used to fuel colonial anger.

First Continental Congress

1774 gathering of colonial delegates to coordinate resistance and organize collective action.

Continental Association

1774 colonial commitment to boycott British goods and enforce non-importation and non-consumption.

Tea Act

1773 law granting the East India Company a monopoly on tea sales in the colonies, provoking protests.

Boston Tea Party

1773 protest where colonists dumped tea into Boston Harbor to oppose the Tea Act and monopoly.

Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts)

1774 punitive measures against Massachusetts aimed at punishing colonial resistance, strengthening royal control.

Boston Port Act

Part of the Intolerable Acts; closed Boston Harbor until damages from the Tea Party were paid.

Quebec Act

1774 act expanding Quebec’s territory and recognizing Catholic rights, seen by colonists as limiting western expansion and self-government.

Dunmore Proclamation

1775 Lord Dunmore’s pledge to grant freedom to enslaved people who joined the British side.

Lexington and Concord

April 19, 1775: first battles of the American Revolution; marked by the 'Shot Heard Round the World.'

The Shot Heard Round the World

Phrase describing the opening gunfire at Lexington (1775) that signaled the start of the Revolution.

Continental Army

The colonial army created by the Continental Congress to fight Britain in the Revolutionary War.

Camp Followers

Noncombatant supporters who accompanied the army, providing labor, nursing, and supply services.

Black Patriots

African American soldiers and sailors who aided the American war effort, sometimes conscripted or motivated by promises of freedom.