American Revolution

American Revolution

The war between Great Britain and its American colonies,

1775-83, by which the colonies won their independence.

Declaration of independence

the document recording the proclamation of the second

Continental Congress (4 July 1776) asserting the inde-

pendence of the colonies from Great Britain authored by

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

author of the Declaration of Independence. He borrowed

ideas on natural rights from John Locke

The bill of rights

1st 10 Amendments to the Constitution that detail the

protections of our personal liberties

Checks & balances

A system that allows each branch of government to limit

the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse

of power

No taxation without representation

reflected the colonists' belief that they should not be taxed

because they had no direct representatives in Parliament

U.S. Constitution

The government of the United States. A set of principles

(guidelines) that describe the duties and powers of the

government.

George Washington

led the Continental Army during the American Revolu-

tion/1st president of the United States

Yorktown

1781; last battle of the revolution; Benedict Arnold, Corn-

wallis and Washington; colonists won because British

were surrounded and they surrended

Lexington & concord

"The Shot Heard Round the World"- The first battle of the

Revolution in which British general Thomas Gage went

after the stockpiled weapons of the colonists in Concord,

Massachusetts.

Stamp act

1765; law that taxed printed goods, including: playing

cards, documents, newspapers

Sugar act

(1764) British deeply in debt partly to French & Indian War.

English Parliament placed a tariff on sugar, coffee, wines,

and molasses. colonists avoided the tax by smuggling and

by bribing tax collectors.

Quartering act

1765 - Required the colonials to provide food, lodging, and

supplies for the British troops in the colonies.

Townshend act

Duties (taxes) on glass, lead, paint, paper and tea to help

pay for military costs and salaries of colonial governors.

Sons of liberty

A group of colonists who formed a secret society to op-

pose British policies before the American Revolution

Declaratory act

(1766) The British Parliament emphasized its authority to

make binding laws on the American colonies.

The French and Indian war

A war with the French and Indians versus the British and

other Indian tribes over the Ohio River Valley.

The proclamation of 1763

Boundary set up between colonies and the Native Ameri-

can lands East of the Appalachian Mountains.

The Boston massacre

Incident on March 5, 1770 where the redcoats killed

eleven colonists. This is significant because it added to the

resentment of the British by the colonists.

The Boston tea party

(1773) Colonists in Boston throws millions of dollars of tea

off of British ships in protest of their Tea Tax and Boston

Massacre.

Coercive acts/intolerable acts

These acts were laws that punished the colonists for the

Boston Tea Party. Called the Coercive Acts in England.

The Americans called them Intolerable.

boycott

A refusal to buy or use goods and services.