Chapter 4: The American Revolution (1765-1783)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, people, and events from Chapter 4: The American Revolution (1765-1783).

Stamp Act

1765 direct tax on printed materials in the colonies; required government stamps showing payment and sparked protests.

Sugar Act

1764 law lowering duty on molasses but increasing enforcement; created courts to prosecute smugglers.

Quartering Act

1765 required colonies to house and supply British troops stationed in America.

Townshend Acts

1767 indirect duties on imported goods (glass, lead, paint, paper, tea) to raise revenue; provoked boycotts.

Declaratory Act

1766 asserted Parliament’s right to legislate for the colonies 'in all cases whatsoever.'

Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts)

1774 punitive laws closing Boston Harbor, increasing royal governor's powers, and expanding Quebec; aimed at Massachusetts.

First Continental Congress

1774 meeting of colonial delegates to coordinate resistance and boycott in response to the Intolerable Acts.

Second Continental Congress

1775 meeting that managed the war, created the Continental Army, and appointed George Washington; moved toward independence.

Sons of Liberty

Secret organization that organized protests and boycotts against British taxes.

Daughters of Liberty

Women who supported resistance by spinning homespun cloth and promoting nonimportation.

Nonimportation agreements

Pledges by colonists to boycott British goods in protest.

Boston Massacre

1770 confrontation in which five colonists were killed; used as propaganda to fuel resistance.

Boston Tea Party

1773 protest against Tea Act in which colonists dumped tea into Boston Harbor.

Tea Act

1773 law allowing the East India Company to sell tea directly in colonies; kept tax and spurred boycott.

Stamp Act Congress

1765 gathering of colonial delegates to organize opposition to the Stamp Act.

Olive Branch Petition

1775 appeal to King George III seeking reconciliation; rejected.

Lexington and Concord

April 19, 1775 battles marking the start of the Revolutionary War.

Battle of Bunker Hill

1775 early battle; technically a British victory but a morale-boosting Patriot fight.

Trenton

Dec 26, 1776 Washington’s surprise victory that boosted morale.

Princeton

Jan 3, 1777 victory that sustained momentum after Trenton.

Saratoga

1777 turning point; American victory that convinced France to ally with the United States.

Valley Forge

Winter 1777-78 camp where the army trained under Baron von Steuben.

Baron von Steuben

Prussian officer who drilled the Continental Army at Valley Forge.

Marquis de Lafayette

French ally who served as general and helped with strategy and morale.

Benjamin Franklin

American diplomat who secured French aid and helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris.

France (ally)

France’s formal alliance starting in 1778 that provided military and financial support.

Spain (ally)

Spain aided the Patriots by diverting British forces; Bernardo de Gálvez captured key forts.

Yorktown

1781 siege where Cornwallis surrendered; decisive end to major fighting.

Treaty of Paris 1783

Peace treaty recognizing American independence and setting new boundaries.

Natural rights

Enlightenment idea that all people have inherent rights (life, liberty, property) to which governments must respond.

All men are created equal

Declaration phrase asserting equality of individuals before the law.

Loyalist

Colonists who remained faithful to Britain and opposed independence.

Patriot

Colonists who supported independence and resisted British rule.

Continental Army

Official American army led by George Washington during the Revolution.

George Washington

Commander of the Continental Army; later became the first U.S. President.

Manumission

Process of freeing enslaved people; pursued in some Northern states after the war.

Common Sense

Pamphlet by Thomas Paine advocating independence and republican government.

Declaration of Independence

1776 document declaring the colonies free and independent, articulating natural rights.

Proclamation of 1763

Royal order prohibiting settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains to reduce frontier conflicts.

Kings Mountain

1780 Patriot victory in South Carolina, undermining Loyalist forces.

Cowpens

1781 crucial Patriot victory in South Carolina under Greene and Morgan.

Guilford Courthouse

1781 NC battle; costly British victory that weakened their southern campaign.

Committee of Correspondence

Network of colonial leaders sharing information and coordinating resistance.