American Revolution Vocab

vocab ig

abolish

To formally put an end to.

charter

A written document from a government or ruler that grants certain rights to an individual, group organization, or to people in general. In colonial times, a charter granted land to a person or a company along with the right to start a colony on that land.

committees of correspondence

Committees that began as voluntary associations and were eventually established by most of the colonial governments. Their mission was to make sure that each colony knew about events and opinions in the other colonies. They helped to unite the people against the British.

common good

The good of the community as a whole.

consent

To agree and accept something, approve of something, or allow something to take place.

Daughters of Liberty

An organization formed by women prior to the American Revolution. They got together to protest the treatment of the colonies by their British rulers. They helped make the boycott of British trade effective by making their own materials instead of using British imports.

diplomacy

The practice of carrying on formal relationships with governments of other countries.

First Continental Congress

The body of colonial delegates who convened to represent the interests of the colonists and protest British rule. The First Continental Congress met in 1774 and drafted a Declaration of Rights.

Founders

The political leaders of the thirteen original colonies. They were key figures in the establishment of the United States of America.

government

The people and institutions with authority to make and enforce laws and manage disputes about laws.

higher law

As used in describing a legal system, this term refers to the superiority of one set of laws over another. In the natural rights philosophy, it means that natural law and divine law are superior to laws made by human beings.

indentured servant

A person who voluntarily sold his or her labor for a set period of time in return for the cost of coming to America. The most important source of labor in the colonies in the seventeenth century (1600s) and for a large part of the eighteenth century (1700s).

independence

Self-rule; not ruled by another country.

Loyalist

Colonists who opposed American independence and remained loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution. Also called Tories.

monarchy

A form of government in which political power is held by a single ruler such as a king or queen.

natural law

A higher, unchanging set of rules that governs human relations believed by the Founders to have come from "Nature and Nature's God" (from the Declaration of Independence)

natural rights

A doctrine that human beings have basic rights, such as those to life, liberty, and property in a state of nature and that people create governments to protect those rights.

Parliament

The British legislature, which consists of two houses: the House of Lords, representing the nobility, most of whose appointments were (at the time of the American Revolution) hereditary, and the House of Commons, representing the people.

Patriots

Those Americans who supported the war for independence against Great Britain.

rule of law

The principle that both those who govern and those who are governed must obey the law and are subject to the same laws.

Second Continental Congress

The body of delegates representing the colonies that met in 1775 shortly after the start of the Revolutionary War. They organized the Continental Army, called on the colonies to send troops, selected George Washington to lead the army, and appointed a committee to draft the Declaration of Independence.

self-evident

Easy for anyone to see; obvious.

self-sufficient

Able to provide for most of one's own needs.

social contract

An agreement among people to set up a government and obey its laws. The theory was developed by the natural rights philosopher John Locke to explain the origin of legitimate government.

Sons of Liberty

An organization created in 1765 in every colony to express opposition to the Stamp Act. A popular goal of the organization was to force stamp distributors throughout the colonies to resign.

state of nature

The basis of natural rights philosophy; a state of nature is the condition of the people living in a situation without man-made government, rules, or laws.

subject

Someone who owes allegiance to a government or ruler.

treason

Betrayal of one's country, especially by giving aid to an enemy in wartime or by plotting to overthrow the government.

treaty

An official agreement between two or more countries.

tyranny

A government in which a single ruler possesses and abuses absolute power.

unalienable rights

Fundamental rights that every person has and that cannot be taken away by the government. This phrase was used in the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. Sometimes spelled inalienable rights.

writs of assistance

Documents giving a governmental authority the power to search and seize property without restrictions.