Transition to American Identity and Pre-Revolutionary Tensions

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards related to the transition to American identity, pre-Revolutionary events, and key concepts in American history leading up to independence.

Great Awakening

A religious revival that emphasized individual piety and a personal relationship with God.

Revolutionary Republicanism

An ideology grounded in Whig principles, promoting popular sovereignty and republican governance.

Salutary Neglect

British policy of avoiding strict enforcement of laws meant to keep the colonies obedient to England.

Virtual Representation

The British governmental theory that parliamentary members represent all British subjects, regardless of their direct election.

Albany Plan of Union

A proposal by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 to create a unified government for the Thirteen Colonies, and included Iroquois Confederacy. (7 colonies)

Pontiac's Rebellion

A 1763 conflict between Native American tribes and British colonial forces after the French and Indian War.

The Stamp Act

A 1765 law requiring colonists to pay taxes on printed materials, leading to widespread protest.

Sons of Liberty

A group formed in 1765 consisting of colonists who protested against British taxation and authority.

Daughters of Liberty

Women who participated in boycotts of British goods and supported American independence.

Frontier Thesis

Frederick Jackson Turner's argument that the American frontier shaped the national character and democracy.

Common Sense

A 1776 pamphlet by Thomas Paine that advocated for American independence from Britain.

Quartering Act

A 1765 act requiring colonists to provide housing and supplies to British soldiers.

Boston Tea Party

A 1773 protest against the Tea Act where colonists dumped tea into Boston Harbor.

Mercantilism

An economic policy that emphasizes the importance of accumulating wealth through trade and exploitation of colonies.

Navigation Acts

Laws that regulated colonial trade and enabled England to collect taxes from the colonies.

Iriquois confederacy

A powerful alliance of Native American tribes in northeastern North America, formed to promote mutual defense and cooperation between tribes that played a key role in trade and diplomacy with European powers.

Fort Necessity battle

William Pitt

A British statesman and Prime Minister during the French and Indian War who expanded British military involvement and pushed for colonial militias to fight.

Boston Massacre

An incident in 1770 where British soldiers killed five colonial civilians during a confrontation in Boston, fueling anti-British sentiment and contributing to the revolutionary movement.

Declaration of Independence

The document that announced the American colonies' separation from Great Britain, justifying their right to self-govern through a list of grievances against the British crown.

Whigs

A political faction in Britain and the American colonies that sought to limit the power of the monarchy and promote parliamentary sovereignty, advocating for American rights and self-governance.

Locke's Natural Rights

The philosophical idea proposed by John Locke that all individuals are entitled to inherent rights to life, liberty, and property. This concept greatly influenced the founding principles of the United States.

Stamp Act Congress

A gathering of colonial representatives in 1765 to organize opposition against the Stamp Act, asserting colonial rights and promoting unified resistance to British taxation. (9 colonies)

First Continental Congress

A meeting of delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies in 1774 that coordinated responses to Britain's Intolerable Acts, fostering unity among the colonies and establishing a plan for collective action.

Second Continental Congress

A convention of delegates from the thirteen colonies that met beginning in 1775, it managed the colonial war effort and moved incrementally towards independence, ultimately adopting the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Proclamation Line of 1763

An established boundary by the British government to limit colonial expansion westward beyond the Appalachian Mountains and prevent conflict with Native Americans. Created resentment among Americans looking to move westward.

Treaty of Paris (1763)

The agreement that ended the French and Indian War, it greatly expanded British territorial claims in North America while ceding Florida to Spain.

Articles of Association

A document adopted by the First Continental Congress in 1774 to organize colonial resistance against British policies, it called for a boycott of British goods and the establishment of a Continental Association to enforce the boycott.

Quebec Act

Legislation passed in 1774 that extended Quebec's boundaries, recognized Catholicism as the official religion, and reinstated French civil law, angering American colonists and contributing to revolutionary sentiments.

Dunmore’s Proclamation

A 1775 declaration by Virginia's royal governor, Lord Dunmore, that offered freedom to enslaved Africans who joined the British forces in the fight against American rebels, heightening tensions in the colonies.

"No Taxation Without Representation"

A slogan that expressed the resentment of American colonists toward British taxation policies, asserting that they should not be taxed by a government in which they had no elected representatives.

virtual representation

the British Parliament's claim that it represented all British subjects, even those in the American colonies, despite colonists not having direct representatives.