Key Events and Figures of the American Revolution

Battle of Bunker Hill

June 17, 1775 in Massachusetts (Breed's Hill). First stage of the American Revolution. American Patriots vs. the British (victory). Colonists held back the British advance until they ran out of ammunition.

Battle of Saratoga

1777. America (victory) vs. the British. British General John Burgoyne was defeated by General Willam Howe's troops (major turning point in the war). France joined sides with America.

Battle of Yorktown

1781. Washington marched his troops from New York to Virginia to trap General Charles Cornwallis (Britain). Continental & French armies beat the British to Yorktown for supplies. Led to the forced surrender of Cornwallis (October 17, 1781).

Boston Tea Party

December 16, 1773. Protest by the Sons of Liberty (dressed as Native Americans) against taxes on tea & mercantilism. Threw 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor.

Civic Duty

Responsibility citizens have because they live & benefit from the services provided to them (owed to a country).

Committees of Correspondence

American political organizations to coordinate opposition to the British Parliament. Sent delegates to the Continental Congress.

Common Sense

Written by Thomas Paine. Argued independence by denouncing monarchy (corrupt government) & challenging the logic behind the British Empire.

Declaration of Independence

July 4, 1776. Main authors = Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, & John Adams. Official separation of the 13 colonies from Britain.

Declaration of Rights and Grievances

Passed by the Stamp Act Congress (represented by delegates of 9 colonies). Idea that colonists were entitled to the same rights as British citizens.

Deism

Opposed barriers to moral improvement & to social justice. Belief that a divinity set the world in motion & then did not interfere.

First Continental Congress

September 5, 1774 in Philadelphia. Meeting of delegates from 12 out of the 13 colonies. Discuss the crisis caused by the Coercive (Intolerable) Acts.

French & Indian War

Fought between France (& colonists / Native American tribes) & Great Britain (victory). Conflict over control of the Ohio River Valley.

Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts)

Parliament passed 4 Acts (Boston Port Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, & Quartering Act). Purpose was to punish the colony of Massachusetts Bay for the Boston Tea Party.

Loyalists

In the 13 colonies, but remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolution.

Natural Rights

John Locke - life, liberty, & property. Declaration of Independence - life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness.

Olive Branch Petition

Adopted by Congress on July 5, 1775. Sent to the King to prevent formal war from happening.

Proclamation Line of 1763

Created by the Royal Proclamation of 1763. Marked the Appalachian Mountains as the boundary between the British colonies and land held by Native Americans.

Quartering Act

Part of the Coercive Acts. Allowed the British army to quarter newly arrived soldiers in colonists' homes.

Second Continental Congress

Governed from May 10, 1775 to the end of the war. Established an army, created its own money, & declared independence.

Social Contract

Age of Enlightenment. Agreement that establishes moral & political rules of behavior.

Sons of Liberty

(1775) Founded to advance the rights of the colonists & to fight taxation by the British government.

Stamp Act

Passed by Parliament in March 1765. Acquired that many documents be printed on paper that had been stamped to show the duty had been paid.

Stamp Act Crisis

Parliament had the right to regulate colonial trade. It denied that Parliament had the power to tax the colonies.

Sugar Act

Passed by Parliament in 1764. Combat widespread smuggling of molasses in New England by cutting the duty in half but increasing enforcement.

Taxation without Representation

1768. Population required to pay taxes to a government without having any say in that government's policies.

The Enlightenment

Creation of a nation without an established religion. Main ideas - individual liberty & religious tolerance.

The Great Awakening

Encouraged nationalism & individual rights. Series of evangelical religious revivals.

Townshend Acts

June of 1767. Created new customs duties on common items (lead, glass, paint, & tea) instead of direct taxes.

Treaty of Paris 1783

Signed by representatives of King George III & representatives of the United States. Britain formally recognized American independence.

Valley Forge

Brutal winter in 1777 & 1778. Over 2,500 Americans died from disease & exposure.

Abigail Adams

Wife & closest advisor of John Quincy Adams.

Baron von Steuben

Prussian military officer & a founding father of the United States. He reformed the Continental Army into a professional fighting force.

Benedict Arnold

American military officer & a Son of Liberty. Became major general before defecting to the British in 1780.

Benjamin Franklin

Founding father of the United States. Signed the Declaration of Independence. Successfully got the French to join the United States in the war.

George Washington

Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States. Commander in chief of the Continental Army.

John Adams

Founding Father who serves as the second president of the United States. Signed the Declaration of Independence.

John Dickinson

Founding Father of the United States. Delegate who attended the Stamp Act Congress in New York City. Opposed taxation w/o representation.

John Hancock

Founding Father of the United States & prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. President of the Second Continental Congress.

Jonathan Edwards

American Revivalist preacher. Leading figure of the Enlightenment. His most famous sermon is "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."

King George III

Took the crown of Britain in 1760. He lost the American colonies in war.

Marquis de Lafayette

French military officer (aristocrat) who joined the Continental Army.

Samuel Adams

Founding Father of the United States. Leader of the Boston Sons of Liberty.

Thomas Jefferson

Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States. Drafted / signed the Declaration of Independence.

Antifederalist

Opposed the creation of a stronger U.S federal government and the ratification of the 1787 Constitution.

Articles of Confederation

The written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after independence.

Bank of the United States

(1791) Part of Hamilton's financial system that helped fund the public debt from the American Revolution.

bicameral

(of a legislative body) Having two branches or chambers.

cabinet

A body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders.

check and balances

Provides each branch of government with individual powers to check the other branches.

Congress

A national legislative body established by the Constitution of 1787, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Constitutional Convention

(May and September of 1787) Met to address the problems of the weak central government under the Articles of Confederation.

Democratic-Republican Party

Also referred to as Jeffersonian Republican Party, believed in strong state governments and strict interpretation of the constitution.

electoral college

538 electors process used in the US to elect a president.

Embargo Act of 1807

Closed U.S. ports to all exports and restricted imports from Britain.

excise tax

A legislated tax on specific goods or services at purchase such as fuel, tobacco, and alcohol.

federalism

The division and sharing of power between the national and state governments.

Fort McHenry

Known as "The Birthplace of the National Anthem," defended during the War of 1812.

Gabriel's Rebellion

In 1800, a highly intelligent and literate enslaved man named Gabriel, who was owned by Thomas Henry Prosser of Brookfield plantation in Henrico County, conceived and organized a plan for a widespread slave uprising. The state of Virginia executed 27 blacks, including Gabriel, by public hanging.

gradual emancipation

a legal mechanism used by some states to abolish slavery over some time without causing unrest among slave-owners and without making slavery immediately illegal.

House of Representatives

makes and passes federal laws. It's the lower house of the United States Congress. It's based on population of the states.

implied powers

the abilities and powers that a government branch has that are not explicitly stated in the U.S. Constitution but are suggested to be applicable in some or all cases.

Impressment

the practice of forcing men to serve in the military against their will. Most often used by the British Navy, impressment often involved violence.

Indian Confederacy

a loose confederacy of Native Americans in the Great Lakes region of the United States created after the American Revolutionary War.

judicial branch

decides the constitutionality of federal laws and resolves other disputes about federal laws. Included the Supreme Court and other federal courts.

judicial review

power of the Supreme Court and federal courts. The ability of the Court to declare a Legislative or Executive act in violation of the Constitution.

Judiciary Acts of 1798 and 1801

eliminated a Supreme Court seat and relieved justices of circuit court responsibilities.

Land Ordinances of 1785

was passed to regulate trade in the Northwest Territory. The Articles of Confederation gave states claims to western lands.

legislative branch

established by Article I of the Constitution, the Legislative Branch consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which together form the United States Congress.

loose or broad interpretation

the Federal government can do what is good for the country even if the Constitution doesn't explicitly allow it.

Marbury v. Madison

(February 24, 1803) the U.S. Supreme Court first declared an act of Congress unconstitutional, thus establishing the doctrine of judicial review.

narrow or strict interpretation

interpreting the Constitution based on a literal and narrow definition of the language without reference to the differences in conditions when the Constitution was written and modern conditions.

Neutrality

the state of not supporting or helping either side in a conflict.

New Jersey Plan

The Plan called for each state to have one vote in Congress instead of the number of votes being based on population. Created by William Paterson.

Pinckney Treaty of 1787

defined the border between the United States and Spanish Florida, and guaranteed the United States navigation rights on the Mississippi River.

popular sovereignty

that the leaders of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, who are the source of all political legitimacy.

Proclamation of Neutrality of 1793

announcement issued by U.S. President George Washington on April 22, 1793, that declared the nation neutral in the conflict between revolutionary France and Great Britain.

protective tariffs

taxes, dues, or fees placed on foreign goods. They are a tool countries use to protect domestic industries by reducing competition from international businesses.

Quasi-war

(1789-1801) between America and France. A limited naval war against French privateers who were seizing U.S. shipping in the Caribbean.

ratification

the action of signing or giving formal consent to a treaty, contract, or agreement, making it officially valid.

Republican Motherhood

is an 18th-century term for an attitude toward women's roles present in the emerging United States before, during, and after the American Revolution.

Republicanism

support for a republican system of government.

Revolution of 1800

Vice President Thomas Jefferson defeated the Federalist Party candidate, incumbent president John Adams, marking a political realignment.

Shays' Rebellion

led by farmers in Massachusetts who couldn't pay back war debts from the revolution, exposing the weakness of the government under the Articles of Confederation.

Supreme Court

the highest court in the United States and is elected by popular vote.

The Star-Spangled Banner

"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814.

Treaty of Fort Jackson

Ended Creek War; ceded 22 million acres to U.S.

Treaty of Ghent

Peace treaty ending the War of 1812.

Unicameral

Legislative body with a single chamber.

Virginia Declaration of Rights

Influenced the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence.

Virginia Plan

Proposed a strong national government with two legislative bodies.

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

Foundation for First Amendment's religious freedom protections.

War Hawks

Young politicians advocating military action against Britain.

War of 1812

Conflict over British maritime violations; lasted 1812-1815.

Whiskey Rebellion

Tax protest against the whiskey tax; 1791-1794.

XYZ Affairs

Diplomatic incident involving French bribe demands.

Aaron Burr

Third vice president; co-founded Bank of New York.

Alexander Hamilton

First Secretary of Treasury; created financial recovery plan.

George Mason

Authored Virginia Declaration of Rights and Constitution.

Henry Clay

Leader of War Hawks; represented Kentucky.

James Madison

Fourth President; 'Father of the Constitution.'