Revolution Unit Exam

Pontiac's Rebellion

1763 - An Indian uprising after the French and Indian War, led by an Ottowa chief named Pontiac. They opposed British expansion into the western Ohio Valley and began destroying British forts in the area. The attacks ended when Pontiac was killed.

Stamp Act

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

John Dickinson

Drafted a declaration of colonial rights and grievances, and also wrote the series of "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania" in 1767 to protest the Townshend Acts. Although an outspoken critic of British policies towards the colonies, Dickinson opposed the Revolution, and, as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1776, refused to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Townshend Duties

Popularly referred to as the Townshend Duties, the Revenue Act of 1767 taxed glass, lead, paper, paint, and tea entering the colonies. The colonists objected to the fact that the act was clearly designed to raise revenue exclusively for England rather than to regulate trade in a manner favorable to the entire British empire.

Tea Act

1773 act which eliminated import tariffs on tea entering England and allowed the British East India Company to sell directly to consumers rather than through merchants. Led to the Boston Tea Party.

Albany Plan of Union

plan proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 that aimed to unite the 13 colonies for trade, military, and other purposes; the plan was turned down by the colonies and the Crown

Proclamation of 1763

A proclamation from the British government which forbade British colonists from settling west of the Appalacian Mountains, and which required any settlers already living west of the mountains to move back east.

Saratoga

A battle that took place in New York where the Continental Army defeated the British. It proved to be the turning point of the war. This battle ultimately had France to openly support the colonies with military forces in addition to the supplies and money already being sent.

Yorktown

1781; last battle of the revolution; Benedict Arnold, Cornwallis and Washington; colonists won because British were surrounded and they surrended

Continental Congress

The legislative assembly composed of delegates from the rebel colonies who met during and after the American Revolution

Treaty of Paris 1783

This treaty ended the Revolutionary War, recognized the independence of the American colonies, and granted the colonies the territory from the southern border of Canada to the northern border of Florida, and from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River

writ of assistance

court document allowing customs officers to enter any location to search for smuggled goods

Sugar Act

(1764) British deeply in debt partl to French & Indian War. English Parliament placed a tariff on sugar, coffee, wines, and molasses. colonists avoided the tax by smuggling and by bribing tax collectors.

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

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

Declatory Act

1766: , after parliament repealed the Stamp Act, the prime minister passed this act that confirmed parliamentary authority over the colonies "in all cases whatsoever", but the Americans paid little attention to this.

Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts)

This series of laws were very harsh laws that intended to make Massachusetts pay for its resistance. It also closed down the Boston Harbor until the Massachusetts colonists paid for the ruined tea. Also forced Bostonians to shelter soilders in their own homes.

Continental Association

Created by the First Continental Congress, it enforced the non-importation of British goods by empowering local Committees of Vigilence in each colony to fine or arrest violators. It was meant to pressure Britain to repeal the Coercive Acts.

treaty of paris 1763

Ended French and Indian War, France lost Canada, land east of the Mississippi, to British, New Orleans and west of Mississippi to Spain

Olive Branch Petition

On July 8, 1775, the colonies made a final offer of peace to Britain, agreeing to be loyal to the British government if it addressed their grievances (repealed the Coercive Acts, ended the taxation without representation policies). It was rejected by Parliament, which in December 1775 passed the American Prohibitory Act forbidding all further trade with the colonies.

Loyalists

American colonists who remained loyal to Britain and opposed the war for independence

Patriots

American colonists who were determined to fight the British until American independence was won

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.

Common Sense by Thomas Paine

powerful pamphlet telling the colonists to break free. British were trying to destroy colonies' natural rights. Government is there to protect life liberty and property. Power came from people, not kings. Colonies don't benefit from British Empire.

Thomas Paine

American Revolutionary leader and pamphleteer (born in England) who supported the American colonist's fight for independence and supported the French Revolution (1737-1809)

Thomas Jefferson

Author of the Declaration of Independence

Thomas Hutchinson

British governor of Massachusetts whose stubborn policies helped provoke the Boston Tea Party

Bunker Hill

(June 17, 1775) Site of a battle early in the Revolutionary War. This battle contested control of two hills (Bunker Hill and Breed's Hill) overlooking Boston Harbor. The British captured the hills after the Americans ran-out of ammunition. "Don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes!" Battle implied that Americans could fight the British if they had sufficient supplies.

Lexington and Concord

April 8, 1775: Gage leads 700 soldiers to confiscate colonial weapons and arrest Adam, and Hancock; April 19, 1775: 70 armed militia face British at Lexington (shot heard around the world); British retreat to Boston, suffer nearly 300 casualties along the way (concord)

King George III

King of England during the American Revolution

Quatering Act of 1765

Made colonists' house British troops and provide them food, weapons, and supplies.

Steps to the Revolution

American colonists had grown used to governing themselves and felt strong about their right to do so.

Patrick Henry

a leader of the American Revolution and a famous orator who spoke out against British rule of the American colonies (1736-1799)

declaration of the causes and necessity of taking up arms

1775, all the reasons why the colonists thought that the monarchy had failed them and why they must "take up arms" - written by a 7 man committee after the second continental congress

God, Gold, Glory

the three main reasons for the European age of exploration

Salutary Neglect

an English policy of relaxing the enforcement of regulations in its colonies in return for the colonies' continued economic loyalty

Currency Act

prohibited colonies from issuing paper money, destabilized colonial economy

Repeal of Stamp Act and Declaratory Act

Act of assertion that Parliament still had 'power' over colonies.

First Continental Congress

September 1774, delegates from twelve colonies sent representatives to Philadelphia to discuss a response to the Intolerable Acts

Second Continental Congress

They organized the continental Army, called on the colonies to send troops, selected George Washington to lead the army, and appointed the comittee to draft the Declaration of Independence

Third Continental Congress

Summer 1776 - convention of delegates employs Lockean ideals to craft the Declaration of Independence stating grievances against King George III and declaring war

4 key battles of the Revolution

Bunker Hill
Lexington and Concord
Saratoga
Yorktown

Republican Motherhood

The idea that American women had a special responsibility to cultivate "civic virtue" in their children

Boston Tea Party

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

East India Company

British joint-stock company that grew to be a state within a state in India; it possessed its own armed forces.

Patriots/Revolutionaries

group who was pro-independence of the American colonies

Patriots in the Revolution

many in New England, soldiers rotated since most of them were farmers and still needed to manage and work them; often poorly equipped and rarely paid

Quebec Act

Extended boundaries of Quebec and granted equal rights to Catholics and recognized legality Catholic Church in the territory; colonists feared this meant that a pope would soon oversee the colonies.

15-20% of the white population of the colonies

were loyalists

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)

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

Alexander Hamilton

1789-1795; First Secretary of the Treasury. He advocated creation of a national bank, assumption of state debts by the federal government, and a tariff system to pay off the national debt.

Aaron Burr

Aaron Burr was one of the leading Democratic-Republicans of New york, and served as a U.S. Senator from New York from 1791-1797. He was the principal opponent of Alexander Hamilton's Federalist policies. In the election of 1800, Burr tied with Jefferson in the Electoral College. The House of Representatives awarded the Presidency to Jefferson and made Burr Vice- President.

Minutemen

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

Lord Dartmouth

the colonial secretary who proclaimed the colonies to be in a state of "open rebellion". He ordered General Gage to march against the colonies.

Lord Dunmore

Royal governor of Virginia who issued a proclamation promising freedom for any enslaved black in Virginia who joined the British army

Lord Dunmore's War

War between Virginians and the Shawnee and Mingo Indians in 1774. The two forces met at Point Pleasant on the Virginia side of the Ohio River, and the Indians were defeated. During the peace conference that followed, Virginia gained uncontested rights to lands south of the Ohio in exchange for its claims on the northern side.

House of Burgesses

the first elected legislative assembly in the New World established in the Colony of Virginia in 1619, representative colony set up by England to make laws and levy taxes but England could veto its legistlative acts.

Prohibatory Act

King George angrily dismissed the congress' plea and instead signed Parliament's this in August 1775, which declared the colonies in rebellion.

Popular Sovereignty

A belief that ultimate power resides in the people.

Battle of Long Island

A 1776 battle in New York in which more than 1,400 Americans were killed, wounded, or captured.

Radical Whigs

Eighteenth-century British political commentators who agitated against political corruption and emphasized the threat to liberty posed by arbitrary power. Their writings shaped American political thought and made colonists especially alert to encroachments on their rights.

Burgoyne

British general in the American Revolution who captured Fort Ticonderoga but lost the battle of Saratoga in 1777 (1722-1792)

Lafayette

Marquis de Lafayette was a French major general who aided the colonies during the Revolutionary War. He and Baron von Steuben (a Prussian general) were the two major foreign military experts who helped train the colonial armies.

Hercules Mulligan

A spy who helped get information for George Washington during the American Revolution

James Madison

"Father of the Constitution," Federalist leader, and fourth President of the United States.

the colonies suffered _____ which damaged the _______

inflation; economy

Valley Forge

Place where Washington's army spent the winter of 1777-1778, a 4th of troops died here from disease and malnutriton, Steuben comes and trains troops

Treaty of Alliance, 1778

Alliance between France and the America in the American Revolution, formed after the Battle of Saratoga which showed France that the Americans had a chance to beat England.

Phillipsburg Proclamation 1779

a proclamation declaring that any slave that deserted a rebel slave owner would receive protection, freedom, and land from Great Britain

Nathaniel Greene

Quaker-raised American general who employed tactics of fighting and then drawing back to recover, then attacking again. Defeated Cornwallis by thus "fighting Quaker".

How did GB lose the battle of Yorktown?

- miscommunication
- thought they could rest & not fall behind (wrong)
- americans had spies
- small GB mistakes

Treaty of Versailles (1783)

Britain made peace w/ Spain and France. Spain reclaimed Florida. France gained control of Caribbean Island of Tobago

Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776

A constitution that granted all taxpaying men the right to vote and hold office and created a unicameral (one-house) legislature with complete power; there was no governor to exercise a veto. Other provisions mandated a system of elementary education and protected citizens from imprisonment for debt.

mixed government

Also known as a mixed constitution, is a form of government that integrated facets of government by democracy, oligarchy, and monarchy. It means there are some issues (often defined in a constitution) where the state is governed by the majority of the people, in some other issues the state is governed by few, in some other issues by a single person (also often defined in a constitution). The idea is commonly treated as an antecedent of separation of powers.

Thoughts on Government

Written by John Adams in 1776; insisted that the new state constitutions should create ''balanced governments.''

Only white men enjoyed full _______

citizenship