APUSH Wilson Vocab Period 3 1-25

French and Indian War

Conflict between Britain and France (with Native allies) over the Ohio River Valley that ended French power in North America and led to British colonial debt.

Treaty of Paris 1763

Agreement ending the French and Indian War; France surrendered its North American territories to Britain and Spain.

Proclamation of 1763

British royal decree prohibiting colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains to avoid conflicts with Native Americans.

Pontiac's Rebellion

Native American uprising against British post-war expansion in the Great Lakes region, leading directly to the Proclamation of 1763.

Salutary Neglect

The informal British policy of leniently enforcing trade regulations, allowing American colonies to develop economic independence and self-governance.

Sugar Act

British law that lowered taxes on imported molasses but strictly enforced anti-smuggling laws to raise revenue from the colonies.

Stamp Act

First direct British tax on American colonists, placing a tax on printed paper goods and sparking widespread protests ("No taxation without representation").

Quartering Act

British measure requiring colonial assemblies to provide housing, food, and supplies for British soldiers stationed in America.

Townshend Acts

British taxes on imported glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea, which renewed colonial boycotts and led to increased British troop presence.

Boston Massacre

Incident where British soldiers fired into a provocative colonial mob in Boston, killing five people and escalating anti-British sentiment.

Tea Act

British law giving the East India Company a monopoly on tea sales in the colonies, undercutting local merchants and provoking colonial resistance.

Boston Tea Party

Protest by the Sons of Liberty who disguised themselves as Native Americans and dumped British tea into Boston Harbor to protest the Tea Act.

Intolerable Acts

Punitive laws passed by Parliament in response to the Boston Tea Party, closing Boston Harbor and suspending Massachusetts' local government.

First Continental Congress

1774 meeting of delegates from twelve colonies to organize a response and boycott against the Intolerable Acts.

Lexington and Concord

The first military armed engagements of the American Revolutionary War ("the shot heard 'round the world").

Second Continental Congress

Colonial governing body during the Revolution that formed the Continental Army, issued paper money, and drafted the Declaration of Independence.

Olive Branch Petition

Final petition sent to King George III by the Second Continental Congress offering peace and loyalty in exchange for colonial rights; rejected by the king.

Common Sense

Inspirational pamphlet written by Thomas Thomas Paine advocating for total American independence from Great Britain and republican government.

Declaration of Independence

Document adopted on July 4, 1776, declaring the thirteen American colonies free and independent from British rule based on natural rights.

Battle of Saratoga

Crucial American victory that served as the turning point of the Revolutionary War, convincing France to form an official alliance with the U.S.

Valley Forge

Pennsylvania military camp where Washington's Continental Army endured severe hardship, hunger, and cold during the winter of 1777–1778.

Treaty of Paris 1783

Peace agreement ending the Revolutionary War, in which Great Britain recognized the independence of the United States.

Articles of Confederation

The first national constitution of the U.S., which established a intentionally weak central government with no power to tax or enforce laws.

Land Ordinance of 1785

Law creating a standardized system for surveying and selling western public lands in grid-pattern townships, reserving land for public schools.

Northwest Ordinance

Law establishing a process for admitting new states from the Northwest Territory to the Union and banning slavery in the region.