American Revolution Unit Study Guide

French and Indian War

A war (1754–1763) where Great Britain defeated France but accumulated massive war debts.

Salutary Neglect

A long-standing British policy of loosely enforcing trade laws and allowing colonies to govern themselves, which ended after the French and Indian War.

Proclamation of 1763

Issued by King George III to prevent conflict between colonists and Native Americans, prohibiting settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Stamp Act

A 1765 tax on printed materials that angered colonists as it was passed without any elected representatives from the colonies.

Intolerable Acts

A series of laws (1774) passed by Parliament to punish Boston for the Boston Tea Party, closing Boston Harbor and restricting town government.

Albany Plan of Union

A proposal by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 to unite the colonies for mutual defense during the French and Indian War.

Sons of Liberty

An organization that coordinated protests and resistance against British policies, including the Boston Tea Party.

Daughters of Liberty

Groups of women who supported economic resistance and boycotts against British goods by producing homespun cloth.

Committees of Correspondence

Secret networks formed to share information about British actions and coordinate responses among colonies.

Edenton Tea Party

A 1774 boycott by a group of 51 women in North Carolina against British tea and manufactured goods.

Patrick Henry

A leader known for his declaration "Give me liberty, or give me death!" at the Virginia Convention in 1775.

Loyalists (Tories)

Colonists who opposed independence from Britain, valuing loyalty to King George III for peace and stability.

Olive Branch Petition

A 1775 request by the Continental Congress to King George III to peacefully resolve conflicts, which was rejected.

Common Sense

A pamphlet by Thomas Paine in 1776 arguing for complete separation from Great Britain and advocating for a republic.

Inalienable Rights

Rights that cannot be taken away, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as stated in the Declaration of Independence.

Social Contract Theory

The theory that government authority is derived from the consent of the governed, and citizens may alter or abolish a government that becomes tyrannical.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

A leader who modeled the Declaration of Sentiments on the Declaration of Independence to demand equal rights for women in 1848.

Frederick Douglass

An abolitionist who highlighted the hypocrisy of celebrating freedom while slavery still existed in his speech "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?".

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

A civil rights leader who referenced the Declaration of Independence in his "I Have a Dream" speech as a call for equal rights.