AP US History Chapters 7 and 8 Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards based on AP US History notes covering Chapters 7 and 8 from American Pageant.

Republicanism

The belief that government should be based on the people and the common good rather than a king or inherited power.

Radical Whigs

British political writers who warned that government officials could become corrupt and threaten people's liberty.

Mercantilism

An economic system in which a country tries to increase its wealth and power by controlling trade and accumulating valuable resources, especially gold and silver.

Salutary Neglect

Britain's unofficial policy of loosely enforcing colonial regulations prior to the French and Indian War.

Stamp Act

A 1765 law requiring colonists to buy special stamped paper for newspapers, legal documents, licenses, and other printed materials.

Stamp Act Congress

A 1765 meeting of colonial representatives in New York that protested the Stamp Act and declared that only colonial assemblies had the right to tax the colonies.

Sons and Daughters of Liberty

Groups of colonists who organized protests against British taxation, intimidated tax collectors, destroyed property, and encouraged boycotts of British goods.

Taxation Without Representation

The argument that Parliament should not tax colonists because Americans had no elected representatives in Parliament.

Non-importation Agreements

Agreements by colonists to stop importing British goods as a form of protest against British taxation policies.

Declaratory Act

A 1766 act passed by Parliament alongside the repeal of the Stamp Act, stating that Parliament still had the right to make laws for the colonies.

Virtual Representation

Prime Minister George Grenville's argument that members of Parliament represented all British subjects, even those who did not directly vote for them.

Boston Massacre

An incident on March 5, 1770, in which British soldiers fired into a crowd of colonists in Boston, killing five people.

Committees of Correspondence

Colonial communication networks that shared information about British policies and resistance between towns and colonies.

Tea Act

A 1773 law that gave the British East India Company special advantages in selling tea in the colonies.

Boston Tea Party

An event on December 16, 1773, where colonists led by the Sons of Liberty dumped British East India Company tea into Boston Harbor to protest the Tea Act.

Intolerable Acts

A series of laws passed by Parliament in 1774 to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party and restore British authority.

Quebec Act

A 1774 law that expanded Quebec's territory south toward the Ohio River and recognized Catholic religious rights in Quebec.

First Continental Congress

A meeting of colonial delegates in Philadelphia in 1774 to coordinate a response to the Intolerable Acts.

Declaration of Rights

A statement by the First Continental Congress declaring that colonists had the same basic rights as British citizens and that colonial legislatures had the right to tax them.

The Association

A colonial agreement formed by the First Continental Congress to boycott British goods and enforce the boycott through local committees.

Lexington and Concord

The first major military clashes of the American Revolution, fought in Massachusetts in April 1775.

Shot Heard 'Round the World

The first shot fired at Lexington, which initiated the fighting of the American Revolution.

Second Continental Congress

A governing body that met in Philadelphia in 1775 to organize the Continental Army, choose George Washington as commander, manage the war effort, and eventually declare independence.

Olive Branch Petition

A 1775 petition from the Second Continental Congress asking King George III to restore peace and avoid a full-scale war, which the King rejected.

Common Sense

A 1776 pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that advocated for American independence and the creation of a republic.

Republicanism

A system of government where power derives from the people through elected representatives rather than a king.

Declaration of Independence

A document written primarily by Thomas Jefferson and adopted on July 4, 1776, declaring the colonies independent from Britain and explaining natural rights and grievances against King George III.

Patriots

Colonists who supported independence from Britain and backed the American Revolution.

Loyalists

Colonists who remained loyal to Britain during the Revolution, also known as Tories.

Battle of Long Island

A 1776 battle in which British forces defeated Washington's army and forced the Americans to retreat from New York City.

Battle of Trenton

A December 26, 1776 victory in which Washington crossed the Delaware River and captured about 900 Hessian soldiers in New Jersey.

Battle of Saratoga

A 1777 American victory in New York over General John Burgoyne that convinced France to openly ally with the United States.

Benjamin Franklin

An American diplomat in France who helped secure French military and financial assistance for the American Revolution.

Benedict Arnold

An American officer who helped win Saratoga but later turned traitor by plotting to surrender West Point to the British.

Yorktown

The 1781 siege where American and French forces trapped British General Charles Cornwallis, leading to his surrender on October 19, 1781, and effectively ending major fighting in the war.

Treaty of Paris (1783)

The official peace agreement ending the American Revolutionary War, recognizing U.S. independence and establishing borders extending west to the Mississippi River.