American Revolution and Early US Government Key Terms

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, documents, events, and concepts from the American Revolution and early United States government formation.

13 Colonies

A group of British colonies founded in the 17th and 18th centuries whose experience with the American Enlightenment led to the American Revolutionary War.

Boston Tea Party

An American political and mercantile protest in 1773 by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, in which colonists dressed as Native Americans dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor.

Stamp Act

An act of the British Parliament in 1765 that exacted revenue from the American colonies by imposing a stamp duty on newspapers and legal and commercial documents.

French and Indian War

A segment of the Seven Years' War that pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side supported by various Native American tribes.

Boston Massacre

A confrontation in Boston on March 5, 1770, in which nine British soldiers shot several people in a crowd of three or four hundred who were harassing them verbally and throwing projectiles.

Lexington and Concord

Leading military engagements of the American Revolutionary War fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay.

Common Sense

A 47-page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–1776 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies.

Continental Congress

The governing body by which the American colonial governments coordinated their resistance to British rule during the first two years of the American Revolution.

2nd Continental Congress

A late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolution and established American independence from the British Empire.

No Taxation Without Representation

A political movement that originated in the American Revolution expressing one of the primary grievances of the American colonists against Great Britain.

Right to Revolt

The right of the people to alter or abolish a government that acts against their common interests or threatens their safety without cause.

Unalienable Rights

Rights that are pre-political and not transferable, meaning they are not created by persons or society but set standards for politics.

Consent of the Governed

The principle that a government's legitimacy and moral right to use state power is justified and lawful only when agreed to by the people.

Grievances

A complaint over something believed to be wrong or unfair.

Articles of Confederation

The written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after declaring independence from Great Britain.

Ratification

The act of giving formal consent to a treaty, contract, or agreement, making it officially valid.

Virginia Plan

A proposal at the Constitutional Convention for the creation of a supreme national government with three branches and a bicameral legislature.

Three-Fifths Compromise

An agreement reached in 1787 establishing that three out of every five slaves were counted when determining a state's total population for legislative representation and taxation.

Popular Sovereignty

The principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, who are the source of all political power.

Judicial Review

The power of the Supreme Court to determine whether laws of Congress are constitutional and to strike down any that are not.

Olive Branch Petition

A petition adopted by Congress on July 5, 1775, to be sent to the King as a last attempt to prevent formal war from being declared.

Republicanism

A political ideology emphasizing the participation of citizens for the common good of the community.

New Jersey Plan

A proposal presented at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 for the structure of the U.S. government that advocated for equal representation of states regardless of population size.

King George III

King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760 until his death in 1820.