Causes of the American Revolution Vocabulary

navagation acts

Laws that governed trade between England and its colonies. Colonists were required to ship certain products exclusively to England. These acts made colonists very angry because they were forbidden from trading with other countries.

New france

french colony in north america

george washington

1st President of the United States; commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution (1732-1799)

French and Indian war

(1754-1763) War fought in the colonies between the English and the French for possession of the Ohio Valley area. The English won.This conflict was part of a larger imperial struggle between Britain and France, which also involved Native American allies.

Pontiac

Indian Chief; led post war flare-up in the Ohio River Valley and Great Lakes Region in 1763; his actions led to the Proclamation of 1763; the Proclamation angered the colonists.

Proclamation of 1763

law forbidding English colonists to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains to prevent conflicts with Native Americans.

Sugar Act of 1764

The first act that Parliament passed that raised taxes on the colonies. Indirect tax on imported foods from the West Indies. Colonists became so angry that Parliament lowered the duties.The Sugar Act of 1764 was a law enacted by the British Parliament to reduce the previous tax on molasses but increased enforcement and aimed to curb smuggling. This act intensified colonial resentment and contributed to the revolutionary sentiment.

stamp act

1765; law that taxed printed goods, including: playing cards, documents, newspapers, etc.

Mercantilism

An economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver, by having colonies, and by selling more goods than they bought

Salutary Neglect

An English policy of not strictly enforcing laws in its colonies

Boston Massacre

The first bloodshed of the American Revolution (1770), as British guards at the Boston Customs House opened fire on a crowd killing five Americans

Boston Tea Party

A 1773 protest against British taxes in which Boston colonists disguised as Mohawks dumped valuable tea into Boston Harbor.

Minutemen

Member of a militia during the American Revolution who could be ready to fight in sixty seconds

Samuel Adams

American Revolutionary leader and patriot, Founder of the Sons of Liberty and one of the most vocal patriots for independence; signed the Declaration of Independence

Paul Revere

American silversmith remembered for his midnight ride (celebrated in a poem by Longfellow) to warn the colonists in Lexington and Concord that British troops were coming (1735-1818)

Townshed Acts

taxed goods such as glass, paper, paint, lead, and tea. taxes were low but colonists still objected

King George

King of England during the American Revolution

Second Continental Congress

Convened in May 1775, the Congress opposed the drastic move toward complete independence from Britain.

Olive Branch Petition

An offer of peace sent by the Second Continental Congress to King George lll

Declaration of Independence

the document recording the proclamation of the second Continental Congress (4 July 1776) asserting the independence of the colonies from Great Britain

Thomas Jefferson

Wrote the Declaration of Independence

Loyalists

Americans who supported the British

Patriots

Colonists who wanted independence from Britain