Unit 2 history vocab

Enlightenment

An 18th-century movement that used reason and natural rights to challenge traditional authority.

Pontiac's Rebellion

A Native American uprising against British expansion into French territory after the French and Indian War.

Proclamation of 1763

A British law banning colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains to prevent conflicts with Native Americans.

First Continental Congress

A 1774 meeting of delegates from 12 colonies to organize boycotts against the Intolerable Acts.

Samuel Adams

A Boston Patriot leader who co-founded the Sons of Liberty to resist British taxation.

Sons of Liberty

A secret colonial group formed to lead protests and boycotts against British taxes.

Declaration of Independence

A 1776 document written by Thomas Jefferson that severed political ties with Great Britain.

Natural Rights

Inalienable rights—like life, liberty, and property—that every human is born with and government cannot take away.

Patrick Henry

A Patriot orator famous for declaring, 'Give me liberty, or give me death!'

George Washington

Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution.

Second Continental Congress

The governing body that created the Continental Army and adopted the Declaration of Independence.