Unit 3 - Road to Revolution Vocabulary

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering key terms, historical figures, acts, and events from Unit 3: Road to Revolution.

King Philip's War

A brutal conflict (1675–1676) between Native American tribes and English colonists in New England; the deadliest war per capita in American history that shattered Native American resistance in the region and allowed English colonists to expand settlements without major opposition.

Great Awakening

A religious movement that swept through the colonies in the 1730s and 1740s.

Enlightenment

A movement that took place during the 1700s that spread the idea that reason and logic could improve society.

John Lock

An English professor during the Enlightenment who argued that there was a social contract between people and their government, influencing the writers of the Declaration of Independence and the U. S. Constitution.

Natural Rights

Basic rights that all human beings are born with, and that no government or person can justly take away.

Social Contract

An unwritten or implicit agreement where people give up a few of their individual freedoms in exchange for safety, laws, and protection from a government or ruling authority.

Allies

A person, group, or nation that cooperates with or supports another for a common purpose.

George Washington

A Revolutionary War hero and Patriot leader who served as a representative to the Continental Congresses, commanded the Continental Army, and was unanimously elected to two terms as president of the United States.

Treaty of Paris (1763)

A peace agreement that officially ended the Revolutionary War and established British recognition of the independence of the United States.

Pontiac’s Rebellion

A major armed conflict fought between a confederation of Native American tribes and the British Empire following the French and Indian War.

Proclamation of 1763

A law made by King George III of Great Britain on October 7, 1763, that banned American colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Parliament

A supreme legislative body—a group of elected officials who have the power to make, change, and vote on laws for a country.

King George III

The King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760 until 1820; the longest-reigning male monarch in British history, most famously known for losing the American colonies in the American Revolutionary War.

Taxation Without Representation

When colonists were being forced to pay taxes even though they had no elected members or say in the government passing those laws.

Sugar Act

A British law that taxed molasses, sugar, and other goods imported into the American colonies.

Stamp Act

A law passed by Parliament that raised tax money by requiring colonists to pay for an official stamp whenever they bought paper items such as newspapers, licenses, and legal documents.

Boycott

When a group of people refuses to buy, use, or deal with a business, country, or product as a peaceful way to show disapproval and force a change.

Sons of Liberty

A secret political group of American colonists formed in 1765 to fight British taxation and protect the rights of the colonies.

Samuel Adams

An American revolutionary who led the agitation that led to the Boston Tea Party and signed the Declaration of Independence.

Townshend Acts

A series of laws passed by the British Parliament in 1767 that placed taxes on imported goods like glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea in the American colonies.

Boston Massacre

An incident in 1770 in which British soldiers fired into a crowd of colonists, killing five people.

Crispus Attucks

A Black and Native American dockworker who became the first person killed in the Boston Massacre, making him the first casualty of the American Revolution.

Propaganda

A biased or misleading message designed to persuade people, shape public opinion, and trigger an emotional reaction rather than a logical one.

Tea Act

An act passed in 1773 which allowed the British India Company to sell tea directly to colonists.

Boston Tea Party

A law passed in 1773 by Parliament allowing the British East India Company to sell its low-cost tea directly to the colonies, undermining colonial tea merchants; led to the Boston Tea Party.

Intolerable Acts

Laws passed in 1774 by Parliament to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party and tighten government control of the colonies.

Quartering Acts

One of the Coercive or Intolerable acts that required each colonist to provide a place in their home, or quarter, for British soldiers.