Period 3 and Academic Vocabulary

Acquisition

(n) The act of gaining possession

Adherence

(n) The act of doing what is required by a rule, belief, etc.

Advocate

(n) A person who argues for or supports a cause or policy

Assimilate

(v) To bring into conformity with the customs, attitudes, etc., of a group, nation, or the like; to adopt the ways of another culture

Autonomy

(n) The state of existing or acting separately from others; being self-sufficient

Bellicose

(adj) Inclined or eager to fight: aggressively hostile

Commodity

(n) A good or product that is bought and sold

Conciliate

(v) The action of stopping someone from being angry; placating

Correlate

(v) To show that a close connection exists between (two or more things); the idea that things are closely related

De facto

(adv) Used to describe something that exists but that is not officially accepted or recognized; often used to refer in US History to segregation that existed, but was not legally sanctioned.

Decimate

(v) To destroy a large number of (plants, animals, people, etc.)

Disavow

(v) To say that you are not responsible for (something) : to deny that you know about or are involved in (something)

Dissident

(n) Someone who strongly and publicly disagrees with and criticizes the government

Efficacy

(n) The power to produce a desired result or effect

Egalitarian

(n) Aiming for equal wealth, status, etc., for all people

Encroachment

(n) Intrusion on a person's territory, rights, etc.

Franchise/Suffrage

(n) The right to vote (You may use either)

Grassroots

(n) The ordinary people in a society or organization : the people who do not have a lot of money and power

Grievance

(n) A feeling of having been treated unfairly

Ideology

(n) The set of ideas and beliefs of a group or political party

Immutable

(adj) Unable to be changed

Impede

(v) Delay or prevent the movement, progress, or action of (someone or something)

Indigenous

(adj) Produced, living, or existing naturally in a particular region or environment

Integrate

(v) To combine (two or more things) to form or create something

Piety

(n) Reverence for or devotion to God

Repudiate

(v) To deny the truth or validity of

Sanction

(n) An order that is given to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country, by not allowing economic aid for that country, etc., usually plural

Secular

(adj) Referring to attitudes, activities, or other things that have no religious or spiritual basis.

Sovereign

(n) To have the power or authority

Subjugation

(n) To defeat and gain control of (someone or something) by the use of force : to conquer and gain the obedience of (a group of people, a country, etc.)

Subsidize

(v) To help someone or something pay for the costs of (something)

Subversive

(adj) Secretly trying to ruin or destroy a government, political system, etc.

Xenophobia

(n) Fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners

Bolster

(v) Support; prop up

Incur

(v) To bring about

Prevalence

(n) How common or frequent something is

Partisan

(n) Devoted to or biased in support of a party, group, or cause

Homogeneous

(adj) Of the same kind; alike

Heterogeneous

(adj) Different; dissimilar

Hierarchy

(n) A system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority.

Tariff

(n) A tax on imported goods

Acquiesce

(v) To accept without protest; to agree or submit

Fervor

(n) Intense and passionate feeling

Evangelism

(n) The spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness

Reconciliation

(n) the resolution of a dispute

Deterrent

(n) A thing that discourages or is intended to discourage someone from doing something

Despotism

(n) Form of government in which an entity rules with absolute power often in cruel and oppressive ways.

Intransigent

(adj) Refusing to compromise, irreconcilable

Celibacy

(n) Abstinence from sex

Coerce

(v) To force by using pressure, intimidation, or threats

Languish

(v) To become weak or feeble; to lose strength

Stringent

(adj) Strict, severe

Conviction

(n) A fixed or firm belief

Dissent

(v) To disagree

Precedent

(n) An example that may serve as a basis for imitation or later action

Empirical

(adj) Based on observation or practical experience rather than theory

Insurrection

(n) Rebellion or revolt by the people against a government or established authority

Confiscate

(v) To take possession of

Perpetual

(adj) Never ending or changing

Substantiate

(v) To support with proof or evidence

Martyr

(n) A person who dies for a cause

Amicable

(adj) Peaceable, friendly

Status quo

(n) Existing state or condition

Subsistence

(n) Style of farming in which provides only enough food to supply for ones own family

Manumission

(n) A grant of legal freedom to an individual slave.

Unilateral

(adj) One-sided

Tout

(v) To promote or praise energetically

Precipitate

(v) To come before or cause

Albany Plan

This was coordinated by Benjamin Franklin in order to have an intercolonial council to secure recruitment of troops and taxes for the French and Indian war. It didn't work well at this time but set a precedent for later Revolutionary congresses.

Treaty of Paris of 1763

Ends the French and Indian war, and gives Britain control of most of North America

Salutary Neglect

This was the policy of leaving colonies alone and not interfering with their political and economic systems. This set a precedent that made the colonists upset when Britain changed it and started taxing and regulating them after the French and Indian war.

Pontiac's Rebellion

This was the first major test to new British imperial policy. After the French and Indian war, American Indians were mad because the colonists kept moving west. An alliance of Native Americans burned forts and settlements. This rebellion led the the Proclamation of 1763.

Proclamation of 1763

(YES YOU NEED THE YEAR) This was made by the British government which forbid the colonists from settling west of the Appalachian mountains, and which required any settlers already living west of the mountains to move back east. Made colonists very unhappy and so they moved west anyway.

Stamp Act

British legislation passed which required that all illegal or official documents used in the colonies, such as wills, deeds, and contracts, had to be marked and taxed. It was the first direct tax to be "felt" by the common man and it was so unpopular that it caused riots. Because of this opposition, and the decline in British imports caused by the non-importation movement, Parliament eventually repealed it.

Sons/Daughters of Liberty

This was a radical "secret" society at first formed for the purpose of intimidating tax agents. They incited riots and burned the customs house where stamped British paper was kept. After the repeal of the Stamp Act, many of local chapters formed the Committees of Correspondence which continued to promote opposition of British policies towards the colonists.

Declaratory Act

Passed at the same time that the Stamp Act was repealed, the act declared that Parliament had the power to tax and make laws for the colonies, and had absolute power of the colonial legislatures. Kind of like saying, even though you got us to repeal the stamp act, we can still do whatever we want with you, colonies.

Townshend Acts

This taxed colonial imports and used money to pay the salaries of royal officials in the colonies. This also allowed for searches of suspected smugglers homes with a general license instead of a search warrant. Guess what, the colonists were not fans of this.

Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer

Written by John Dickinson arguing no taxation without representation. He said Parliament could regulate commerce, but duties were taxed and needed approval from colonial assemblies (which obviously was not going to happen). Again guess who were not fans of this.

Boston Massacre

The colonists didn't like it much that British troops were in Boston. A group of colonists started throwing rocks and snowballs at some British troops; the soldiers ended up shooting into the crowd killing a few (5) colonists. This outraged the colonists and fueled a propaganda campaign. John Adams defended the soldiers.

Boston Tea Party

Colonists are mad (surprise!) Britain is trying to help the British east India company out of its financial problems and makes the cost of tea cheaper than the smuggled Dutch tea. Sons of Liberty thought if they dressed up like Native Americans no one would know who they were, and made a little party in the Boston harbor. (If you don't know this, you should be very sad and worried)

Coercive/Intolerable Acts

The King is mad at Boston (because, really the Native American disguise didn't fool anyone) and passes these acts to try and bring the unruly colonists back under control. They included things like closing the Boston harbor, making people house British troops in their homes, and letting bad British officials be tried in Britain not in the colonies( that isn't suspicious at all).

Lord North

Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. You don't need to know the exact years, but that he led Great Britain through most of the American War of Independence (and most of those menacing taxes)

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.

virtual representation

The idea that the colonists were represented in Parliament, because that is how it was in Britain. This would be different than the direct representation the colonists thought was "representation".

sovereignty

This concept determines who has the power and control. "We the people" in the Constitution.

First Continental Congress

This was the first time the colonists met to figure out how to respond to Britain's new taxation policies. At this point they do not want independence, they just want to put things back to how they were before the Seven Years War.

Suffolk Resolves

Called for an immediate recall of the Intolerable Acts, and for the colonists to resist them by making military preparations and boycotting British goods.

Lexington and Concord

These were the first battles of the Revolutionary War. British troops were attempting to seize colonial supplies. Sam Adams and John Hancock were warned by Paul Revere that "The British are coming!". Actually, it was Revere, Dawes and Prescott :) Actually, it was Prescott, because Revere was arrested and Dawes got lost. Actually, they didn't say the British are coming, because they still thought of themselves as British, and it was supposed to be all hush hush.

Second Continental Congress

They adopted the Declaration of Causes and Necessities for taking up Arms and called on the colonies to provide troops, led by Washington. They tried to both wage war and seek a peaceful settlement. We know how that turned out…

Thomas Paine

He wrote Common Sense. This publication was on January 1, 1776, to encourage the colonists to seek independence. It spoke out against the unfair treatment of the colonies by the British government and was instrumental in turning public opinion in favor of the Revolution

Olive Branch Petition

A petition to King George asking him to help the colonists out and intervene with Parliament. He dismissed the plea and declared them in rebellion.

Patrick Henry

This famous Anti-Federalist said "Give me Liberty or give me Death!"

British Imperial System

The policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies.

Declaration of Independence

Statement adopted in 1776 by the Continental Congress that announced the Colonies as independent states. Jefferson wrote about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Loyalists/Tories

Supporters of British Troops and loyal to Parliament in the Colonies

Saratoga

Turning point battle that led to France helping out the colonists during the Revolutionary War.

Yorktown

This was the last major battle of the Revolutionary War.

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. Americans would pay debts owed to British merchants and honor loyalist property claims.

Articles of Confederation

This delegated most of the powers (the power to tax, to regulate trade, and to draft troops) to the individual states, but left the federal government power over war, foreign policy, and issuing money. Proved to be weak and was replaced by the Constitution.

Northwest Ordinances

This was one of the successes of our first Constitution and set up a system for adding new states to the Union, along with setting aside money from public land sales for public education.