American Revolution Lecture Notes

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers key events, figures, and concepts leading up to and during the American Revolution based on the provided history notes.

American Revolution

A war in which the Thirteen Colonies in North America fought to gain independence from Great Britain.

Loyalists

Colonists who stayed loyal to Britain and did not want independence.

Stamp Act

A law passed in $1765$ requiring colonists to pay taxes on printed materials like newspapers, legal documents, and playing cards.

No Taxation Without Representation

A famous protest slogan used by colonists angry about having no representatives in Parliament.

Boston Massacre

An event on March $5$, $1770$, where British soldiers fired into a crowd, killing $5$ colonists.

Crispus Attucks

One of the first people killed in the American Revolution during the Boston Massacre.

Boston Tea Party

A protest on December $16$, $1773$, where the Sons of Liberty dumped $342$ chests of British tea into Boston Harbor.

Sons of Liberty

A group of colonists who disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians to carry out the Boston Tea Party.

Tea Act

A law that gave the British East India Company control over tea sales, leading to colonial opposition.

Intolerable Acts

A series of laws passed to punish Massachusetts by closing Boston Harbor, limiting self-government, and allowing soldiers to stay in colonists' homes.

First Continental Congress

A meeting organized by the colonies to coordinate boycotts and responses to the Intolerable Acts.

Declaration of Independence

A document officially adopted on July $4$, $1776$, stating that the colonies were independent from Britain.

Thomas Jefferson

The main author of the Declaration of Independence who expressed ideas about freedom and equality.

Natural Rights

The idea mentioned in the Declaration of Independence that all people possess inherent rights.

John Locke and Baron de Montesquieu

Enlightenment thinkers whose ideas influenced the writing of the Declaration of Independence.

George Washington

The Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army who led colonial forces throughout the war.

Benjamin Franklin

A diplomat who negotiated with other countries and helped convince France to support the American cause.