32 - The American Revolution (abridged)

French and Indian War

1754-1763 conflict between Britain and France in North America; part of a larger global struggle between those colonial powers and their allies also fought in Europe and India; resulted in the surrender of New France to Britain

Proclamation Line of 1763

British prohibition on colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains or purchase of Indian land

Stamp Act

1765 law passed by Parliament that required colonists to pay taxes on printed materials

No taxation without representation

slogan of the American Revolution; colonists protested taxes imposed by the British Parliament as unfair theft of private property since the colonies had no representatives serving in Parliament

Sons of Liberty

secret organization formed in 1765 to resist the Stamp Act; prominent members included Samuel Adams, Benedict Arnold, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, and Paul Revere

Boston Massacre

incident on March 5, 1770 in which British soldiers killed five colonists in Boston

Tea Act

allowed the British East India Company to sell tea directly to colonists at lower prices than colonial merchants

Boston Tea Party

1773 protest in which Sons of Liberty dressed as Native Americans dumped British East India Company tea into Boston harbor

Coercive Acts

1774 series of harsh laws to punish Boston for the Boston Tea Party; aka Intolerable Acts

Continental Congress

body of representatives from the British North American colonies who first met to respond to the Coercive Acts; later declared independence in July 1776 and drafted the Articles of Confederation

George Washington

commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American War of Independence (1775-1783); later established precedents and proclaimed American neutrality in foreign affairs as first President of the United States of America (1789-1797)

American Declaration of Independence

1776 document drafted by Thomas Jefferson asserting that all men are created equal with inalienable natural rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; stated that the 13 English colonies were a free and independent nation

Franco-American Alliance

1778 agreement by France to supply money, equipment, armed forces, and naval forces to the American colonial rebellion; negotiated by Benjamin Franklin

battle of Yorktown

1781 final battle of the American War of Independence where British general Charles Cornwallis surrendered to French and American forces

Articles of Confederation

first United States constitution from 1781 to 1789; Congress had no power to tax and it lacked executive and judicial branches

United States Constitution

second supreme governing document of the United States drafted at the Philadelphia Convention of 1787; created a federal system with the functions of national government divided between co-equal legislative, executive, and judicial branches; ratified 1789

federalism

system in which power is shared between a national and local state governments

American Bill of Rights

first ten amendments to the Constitution guaranteeing individual freedoms and protections against tyrannical government