Social Studies American Revolution

Militia

A military force that is raised from the civilian population.

French And Indian War

A war fought between France and England for land.

Proclamation Of 1763

A law issued by Britain, banning American Colonists from crossing the Appalachian Mountains into the Ohio Territory.

Writs Of Assistance

Documents allowing British Soldiers to search the homes of possible smugglers without a warrant.

Sam Adams

Leader of the Sons of Liberty.

Sons Of Liberty

A group of men who protested against taxes in the colonies.

Effigies

A rag figure that represented a tax collector. They were abused by the colonists as part of their protest.

Stamp Act Congress

A group of colonists who met to discuss a colonial response to the Stamp Act.

Boycott

Refusing to buy something as a form of protest.

Nonimportation

An agreement to not import anything from a foreign country.

Declaratory Act (1764)

Britain announced that they had the right to tax the colonists.

Townshend Acts (1767)

Taxes enacted on the colonists for a variety of imported goods such as glass, paint, and tea.

Daughters Of Liberty

Women who helped protest against taxes by creating goods at home.

Propaganda

Information used to try and persuade public opinion.

Committee Of Correspondence

A group of colonists who spread secret messages.

Tea Act (1773)

An act designed to help the British East India Company by allowing them to not pay the tea tax.

Intolerable Acts

A group of acts issued by the British government in order to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party.

Continental Congress

Convention of delegates who represented the colonies.

Minutemen

Colonial militiamen who said they could be ready in a minute’s notice.

Concord

A small town in Massachusetts where the British were forced to retreat.

Paul Revere

A man who is famous for his midnight ride to warn the countryside of the approaching British Soldiers and for the poster of the Boston Massacre.

William Dawes

A man who is not so famous for his midnight ride to warn the countryside of the approaching British Soldiers.

Sugar Act (1764)

A law passed in 1764 that technically lowered the tax on sugar, but which was more strictly enforced by the British than the previous tax.

Stamp Act (1765)

A 1765 law putting a tax on all printed materials in the colonies.

Battle Of Bunker Hill

Early battle of the American Revolution. The colonists lost when they ran low on ammunition but proved they could put up a fight.

Loyalists

Colonists who were loyal to the king.

Patriots

Colonists who fought against the British government.

Second Continental Congress

Convention of delegates who wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence.

Continental Army

The army for the American colonies.

Petition

A written document making an official request.

Olive Branch Petition

A petition to the king for peace; the king turned it down.

Thomas Paine

A writer of the document “Common Sense”.

Common Sense

A document written by Thomas Paine. It explained why the colonists should rebel.

Declaration Of Independence

One of America’s founding documents. It explained why the colonists had the right to rebel.

Preamble

An introductory statement to a document.

John Locke

Enlightenment philosopher who believed the government’s job was to protect natural rights.

Mercantilism

An economic policy that seeks to increase a country's wealth and power through trade restrictions.

Parliament

The national assembly of elected representatives in England responsible for making laws and governing the country. It consists of two houses: the House of Commons and the House of Lords.