APUSH the American Pagent Chapter 7 Review

Second Continental Congress (1775)

Meeting in Philadelphia of representatives from all 13 colonies that selected George Washington to command the Army and drafted the Olive Branch Petition.

Olive Branch Petition (1775)

Plea sent to King George III by the Second Continental Congress professing loyalty and begging for an end to hostilities, which was rejected by the Crown.

Hessians

German mercenary troops hired by King George III to assist the British military in suppressing the American rebellion.

Common Sense (1776)

Pamphlet written by Thomas Paine arguing that it was contrary to common sense for a small island like Britain to rule a vast continent.

Republicanism

Political ideology advocating for government authority to derive entirely from the consent of the governed rather than hereditary monarchy.

Declaration of Independence (1776)

Formal document drafted by Thomas Jefferson and adopted on July 4, 1776, articulating universal natural rights and severing ties with Great Britain.

Loyalists (Tories)

American colonists who remained loyal to the British Crown, often older, wealthier, and affiliated with the Anglican Church.

Patriots (Whigs)

American colonists who supported independence and fought against British rule, heavily concentrated in regions like New England.

Model Treaty (1776)

Draft created by the Continental Congress outlining basic principles for international relations that emphasized commercial partnerships over military alliances.

Franco-American Alliance (1778)

Formal pact negotiated by Benjamin Franklin following Saratoga, providing the Continental Army with vital French military and financial support.

Armed Neutrality (1780)

Alliance formed by Catherine the Great of Russia uniting minor European powers in passive hostility against British naval supremacy.

Treaty of Paris (1783)

Peace treaty ending the Revolutionary War in which Britain recognized American independence and granted territorial boundaries to the Mississippi River.

Battle of Bunker Hill (1775)

Early Revolutionary War engagement on Breed's Hill where colonists inflicted heavy casualties on British regulars before running out of gunpowder.

Battle of Trenton (1776)

Surprise attack led by Washington on Christmas night against sleeping Hessians after crossing the ice-choked Delaware River.

Battle of Saratoga (1777)

Turning point of the Revolutionary War where American forces defeated Burgoyne's army in New York, convincing France to form an alliance.

Battle of Yorktown (1781)

Final major campaign of the war where Washington's ground forces and De Grasse's French fleet trapped General Cornwallis in Virginia.

George Washington

Virginian planter appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army who maintained army unity and moral leadership throughout the war.

Benedict Arnold

Brilliant American general who co-captured Ticonderoga and delayed British forces at Lake Champlain before turning traitor in 1780.

Thomas Paine

Radical English immigrant who published Common Sense in 1776, urging colonists to reject monarchy and fight for republican independence.

Thomas Jefferson

Virginian delegate chosen by the Continental Congress to draft the formal Declaration of Independence.

Lord Cornwallis

British commander in the South whose army was trapped and forced to surrender at Yorktown in October 1781.

General John Burgoyne

British general whose army was forced to surrender at Saratoga in 1777 during a failed attempt to sever New England from the other colonies.

Benjamin Franklin

American envoy to Paris who negotiated the Franco-American Treaty (1778) and played a central role in securing the Treaty of Paris (1783).

George Rogers Clark

Frontiersman who captured British forts in the Illinois country, helping secure the Old Northwest for the United States.