Q1- Foundations Vocabulary (Part I)

Q1- Foundations Vocabulary



List 1: 

Unit 1: The Cracks in the Colonial Foundation

Focus: Empire, economic control, and rising resistance.

  1. boycott: An organized refusal to buy or use goods as a form of political protest.

  2. repeal: To officially revoke, cancel, or annul a law or act of parliament.

  3. tyranny: Cruel, unreasonable, or arbitrary use of power and control by a ruler or government.

  4. propaganda: Information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread to influence public opinion, promote a specific political cause or point of view, or damage an opposing cause, often through biased, emotional, or misleading claims.



Unit 2: The Push For Revolution — Declaring Independence

Focus: Ideology, natural rights, and excluded populations.

  1. natural rights: Fundamental rights that all human beings are born with—such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—that no government can take away.

  2. popular sovereignty: The democratic principle that government gets its power directly from the consent of the people ("consent of the governed").

  3. grievance: An official statement of a complaint over something believed to be wrong or unfair (e.g., the 27 grievances listed against King George III).

  4. unalienable: Unable to be taken away, transferred, or denied.

  5. hypocrisy: Preaching or claiming to hold beliefs, standards, or values that one's actual actions contradict (e.g., declaring "all men are created equal" while owning enslaved people).

Unit 3: The American Revolution

Focus: Warfare, strategy, alliances, and political resolve.

  1. guerrilla warfare: Unconventional hit-and-run fighting tactics used by smaller, mobile forces against a larger, traditional army.

  2. alliance/ally: A formal agreement or treaty between nations to cooperate and support one another, especially in war (e.g., the Franco-American alliance).

  3. ratify: To formally approve or give official sanction to a legal document, treaty, or amendment.

  4. sovereignty: The supreme authority and power of a state or nation to govern itself independently.



Unit 4: The Constitution and America’s Form of Government

Focus: Institutional design, balancing power, and constitutional compromise.

  1. Separation of Powers: The division of government authority into three distinct branches (Legislative, Executive, Judicial) so no single branch holds total control.

  2. Checks and Balances: A system that gives each branch of government ways to limit or block the actions of the other two branches.

  3. Federalism: A system of government where power is shared and divided between a central national government and state governments.

  4. compromise: An agreement reached by two opposing sides, where each side gives up a portion of their demands (e.g., Great Compromise, 3/5 Compromise).

  5. amendment: A formal addition, change, or modification made to a constitution or legal document.