American Revolution Study Guide

Tyranny

A cruel or unjust ruler.

Olive Branch Petition

Drafted by the Second Continental Congress to King George III.
Offered to reconcile differences between America and England to avoid war.
King George III refused to read it.

Second Continental Congress

A convention with representatives from the 13 colonies that met after the war began.
Most important role was writing the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

King George III

Tyrannical king of England during the American Revolution.

Haym Solomon

Helped fund the American Revolution with his own money.
Died young and poor.

Patrick Henry

Member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and 1st Continental Congress.
Famously said "give me liberty or give me death".

Thomas Jefferson

Author of the Declaration of Independence.
Later became the third president.

Marquis de Lafayette

Frenchman who aided the colonists with food, clothing, and money.
Encouraged France to help the American cause.

Thomas Paine

Author of "Common Sense", a pamphlet that encouraged Patriots to take a stand.

George Washington

Commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution.
Later elected the first president.

General Cornwallis

British general who surrendered to the American Army at the Battle of Yorktown.

Common Sense

Pamphlet written by Thomas Paine advocating American independence.

Valley Forge (1777-1778)

Location used to train and unify American troops despite harsh winter conditions.

Battle of Yorktown

Final major battle of the Revolutionary War.
General Cornwallis surrendered to American troops.

Treaty of Paris (1783)

Officially ended the Revolutionary War.
Gave America its independence.

Abigail Adams

Letter writer and advocate of women's rights.
Wife of John Adams.

John Adams

Patriot; lawyer who defended British soldiers after the Boston Massacre.

Wentworth Cheswell

African American teacher, judge, and soldier during the Revolutionary War.

Samuel Adams

Patriot; leader of the Sons of Liberty.

Mercy Otis Warren

Influential female poet and writer during the Revolution.

James Armistead

Personal aide to George Washington.
Slave and spy for America.

Benjamin Franklin

Writer, inventor, diplomat.
Helped draft the Declaration of Independence and served as a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention.

Crispus Attucks

First colonist to die in the Boston Massacre; African American.

Declaration of Independence

America's break-up letter to King George III.
The most important accomplishment of the Second Continental Congress.

Quartering Act

Colonists were forced to feed and house members of the British Army.

Stamp Act

Tax on paper goods in the colonies.

Intolerable Acts

A series of acts passed by the British as punishment for the Boston Tea Party.
Colonists were greatly angered and could not stand these laws.

French and Indian War

American phase of ongoing war fought between France and England.
Considered a cause of the American Revolution due to taxes imposed afterward to repay war debt.

Boycott

To refuse to purchase or use something.

Abolish

To formally put an end to.

Charter

A written document from a government or ruler that grants certain rights to an individual, group organization, or to people in general.
In colonial times, a charter granted land to a person or a company along with the right to start a colony on that land.

Committees of Correspondence

Committees that began as voluntary associations and were eventually established by most of the colonial governments.
Their mission was to make sure that each colony knew about events and opinions in the other colonies.
They helped to unite the people against the British.

Common Good

The good of the community as a whole.

To agree and accept something, approve of something, or allow something to take place.

Daughters of Liberty

An organization formed by women prior to the American Revolution.
They got together to protest treatment of the colonies by their British rulers.
They helped make the boycott of British trade effective by making their own materials instead of using British imports.

Diplomacy

The practice of carrying on formal relationships with governments of other countries.

First Continental Congress

The body of colonial delegates who convened to represent the interests of the colonists and protest British rule.
The First Continental Congress met in 1774 and drafted a Declaration of Rights.

Founders

The political leaders of the thirteen original colonies.
They were key figures in the establishment of the United States of America.

Government

The people and institutions with authority to make and enforce laws and manage disputes about laws.

Higher Law

As used in describing a legal system, this term refers to the superiority of one set of laws over another.
In the natural rights philosophy, it means that natural law and divine law are superior to laws made by human beings.

Indentured Servant

A person who voluntarily sold his or her labor for a set period of time in return for the cost of coming to America.
The most important source of labor in the colonies in the seventeenth century (1600s) and for a large part of the eighteenth century (1700s).

Independence

Self-rule; not ruled by another country.

Loyalist

Colonists who opposed American independence and remained loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution.
Also called Tories.

Monarchy

A form of government in which political power is held by a single ruler such as a king or queen.

Natural Law

A higher, unchanging set of rules that governs human relations believed by the Founders to have come from "Nature and Nature's God" (from the Declaration of Independence).

Natural Rights

A doctrine that human beings have basic rights, such as those to life, liberty, and property in a state of nature and that people create governments to protect those rights.

Parliament

The British legislature, which consists of two houses: the House of Lords, representing the nobility, most of whose appointments were (at the time of the American Revolution) hereditary, and the House of Commons, representing the people.

Patriots

Those Americans who supported the war for independence against Great Britain.

Rule of Law

The principle that both those who govern and those who are governed must obey the law and are subject to the same laws.

Second Continental Congress

The body of delegates representing the colonies that met in 1775 shortly after the start of the Revolutionary War.
They organized the Continental Army, called on the colonies to send troops, selected George Washington to lead the army, and appointed a committee to draft the Declaration of Independence.

Self-Evident

Easy for anyone to see; obvious.

Self-Sufficient

Able to provide for most of one's own needs.

Social Contract

An agreement among people to set up a government and obey its laws.
The theory was developed by the natural rights philosopher John Locke to explain the origin of legitimate government.

Sons of Liberty

An organization created in 1765 in every colony to express opposition to the Stamp Act.
A popular goal of the organization was to force stamp distributors throughout the colonies to resign.

State of Nature

The basis of natural rights philosophy; a state of nature is the condition of the people living in a situation without man-made government, rules, or laws.

Subject

Someone who owes allegiance to a government or ruler.

Treason

Betrayal of one's country, especially by giving aid to an enemy in wartime or by plotting to overthrow the government.

Treaty

An official agreement between two or more countries.

Tyranny

A government in which a single ruler possesses and abuses absolute power.

Unalienable Rights

Fundamental rights that every person has and that cannot be taken away by government.
This phrase was used in the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Declaration of Independence.
Sometimes spelled inalienable rights.

Writs of Assistance

Documents giving a governmental authority the power to search and seize property without restrictions.