The American Revolution (Vocabulary Flashcards)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the lecture notes on The American Revolution.

Stamp Act

1765 internal tax on printed materials in the colonies; first direct tax of its kind, sparking widespread resistance (e.g., Virginia Resolves, Stamp Act Congress).

Virginia Resolves

May 1765 resolutions in the Virginia House of Burgesses asserting colonists’ rights and opposing taxation without representation.

Stamp Act Congress

1765 intercolonial meeting of delegates (nine colonies) that issued a Declaration of Rights and Grievances and pressed Parliament for repeal.

Sugar Act

1764 law lowering the duty on molasses but increasing enforcement, including vice-admiralty courts; tightened imperial control.

Currency Act

1764 act restricting colonial paper money and requiring hard currency, contributing to cash shortages.

Declaratory Act

1766 assertion by Parliament that it possessed the right to legislate for the colonies in all cases whatsoever.

Townshend Acts

1767 external duties on imported goods (lead, glass, paint, tea); created enforcement mechanisms and paid royal officials to enforce compliance.

Nonimportation/Nonconsumption (Continental Association)

1774 strategy of boycotting British goods and enforcing self-imposed economic sanctions to pressure repeal of acts.

Committees of Correspondence

Colony-to-colony networks established to share information and coordinate resistance against Britain.

Boston Massacre

March 5, 1770; five colonists killed by British troops; used as propaganda to inflame anti-British sentiment.

Paul Revere’s Bloody Massacre engraving

Propaganda image depicting the Boston Massacre to galvanize colonial anger against Britain.

Tea Act

1773 act allowing the East India Company to sell tea directly in colonies with a monopoly; cheaper tea but sparked resistance to monopoly.

Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts)

1774 punitive laws—Boston Port Act, Massachusetts Government Act, Administration of Justice Act, Quartering Act—aimed at coercing Massachusetts and tightening royal control.

First Continental Congress

Sept–Oct 1774 assembly of colonial delegates (except Georgia) that produced the Declaration of Rights and Grievances and discussed a Continental Association.

Lexington and Concord

April 1775 battles that opened the American Revolutionary War; minutemen clashed with British forces.

Olive Branch Petition

1775 colonial appeal to King George III seeking reconciliation; rejected, signaling slides toward war.

Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms

1775 document by the Continental Congress justifying armed resistance to British coercion.

Common Sense

1776 pamphlet by Thomas Paine arguing for independence and critiquing monarchy; helped galvanize popular support.

Declaration of Independence

July 4, 1776 declaration by the colonists proclaiming independence from Britain; articulates natural rights and grievances.

Saratoga

1777 turning point battle (New York) that helped convince France to ally with the Americans.

Yorktown

1781 decisive victory where Cornwallis surrendered; with French aid, effectively ended the war.

Articles of Confederation

1781 framework for a new nation with a weak central government; no power to tax or regulate commerce; no federal judiciary.

Constitution

Drafted 1787 and ratified 1787–1788; created a stronger federal government with checks and balances (later supplemented by the Bill of Rights).

Republicanism

Political ideology emphasizing virtue, public good, and citizen involvement; suspicion of concentrated power and elite tyranny.

Loyalists

American colonists loyal to the Crown; many fled or were exiled after the war; properties were often seized.