[APUSH 1] The Revolution Vocabulary

Declaration of Independence

Written by Thomas Jefferson; establishes natural rights for the US and declared US independence from Great Britain

• Death warrant for all those involved. If you were caught, you were hanged.

  • Writing D.O.I was considered treason to the King of England

• This is a MUST WIN WAR, if not, the D.O.I. and everything is meaningless (a footnote in history)

Mum Bett

Massachusetts slave sued for her freedom after war and won

• There were 51 Constitutions

  • 1 national constitution

  • 50 for each of the states

• Court ruling for Mum Bett's trial based on Massachusetts State Constitution

Articles of Confederation (AOC)
1777

Drafted by John Dickinson, first constitution of the US which included state sovereignty

Paul Revere

William Dawes

Dr. Samuel Prescott

Patriot riders who warned Lexington & Concord of the oncoming British

• Paul Revere & William Dawes saw British leave Boston

• Dawes alerts South Boston, Revere alerts North Boston of incoming British troops

• Revere had someone place two lanterns on Old North Church steeple in Boston to alert other members of Sons of Liberty about British troops in case Revere wasn't able to leave the town

• Dr. Samuel Prescott, Civil Luddington, & Israel Bristol continue to warn the rest of the colonists after Dawes & Revere

Friedrich von Steuben

Prussian general who updates & trains the Continental Army at Valley Forge, P.A.

• Prussia = located at Poland & Germany's current border; and used to be a German state

• Steuben theorized to have been a homosexual, causing exclusion from Prussian military

• Many foreigners are willing and happy to fight against the British

  • British ally with Hessians

  • Colonists ally with France, Spain, and the Netherlands

Marquis de Lafayette

French colonel who was George Washington’s right-hand man who helped train the Continental Army

• George Washington didn’t have children; his wife was a widow with 2 children already

• Washington took Lafayette under his wing

• British General Cornwallis (2nd in command) only agrees to surrender to Lafayette & Rochambeau, and not Washington

  • Cornwallis viewed Washington as his inferior

Thaddeus Kosciuszko

Polish general who trains the Continental Army’s artillery

Casimir Pulaski

Polish general who trains the Continental Army’s cavalry

George Rogers Clark

Patriot Indian fighter who defeated British Henry "the Hair Buyer" Hamilton on the frontier

“Mad” Anthony Wayne

Patriot who fought like the Indians on the frontier

Chief Joseph Brant

British allied/backed Indian chief on the frontier

General William Howe
(commander-in-chief 1775-1778)

British general; takes NYC & Philadelphia; fired after Battle of Saratoga

General Henry Clinton
(commander-in-chief 1778-1782)

British general; takes over for Howe; focus is on the "Southern Strategy"

General John Burgoyne

"Gentleman Johnnie"; British general who surrendered at Saratoga

Southern Strategy

British strategy adopted in 1778 to focus on the $ colonies of the South & to unite Loyalist support

• Most Loyalist support located in South because plantation owners NEEDED British trade for their crops

John Paul Jones

“Father of the American Navy”; Continental Navy captain; “I have not yet begun to fight”

• First real American navy captain

• Wins in the North Sea (by England) in Battle of Flamborough Head

Francis Marion

“Swamp Fox”; used guerilla tactics to bother the British in the South

Nathaniel Greene

Led Patriot victory v.s. Loyalists at King's Mountain, S.C. (South Carolina).

He was also the commander of the troops during Britain's Southern Strategy.

Henry Knox

Continental artillery general who brought cannons to Boston, ultimately moving the war out of Boston

Alexander Hamilton

Continental colonel & George Washington's right-hand man during the war

Siege/Battle of Yorktown

Last battle of the Revolutionary War where British General Cornwallis surrenders; effectively ending British support of the war in Parliament

“The World Turned Upside Down”

The song that the British played during their surrender at Yorktown

Treaty of Paris 1783

Treaty that ends the Revolutionary War

• Land east of Mississippi River = America

• Recognized Independence

• Fishing rights off of Canada

• Pay all debts to British

• Loyalist amnesty

• British must abandon all forts

• Spain gets Florida back (separate treaty w/ Spain)

(make sure to put the year!)