Revolutionary Period Flashcards

The Enlightenment

  • A movement based on reason, science, and natural law that challenged tradition.

The Great Awakening

  • A series of emotional religious revivals that stressed personal faith.

Mercantilism

  • An economic theory where colonies exist to make the mother country rich.

Salutary Neglect

  • Britain's policy of not strictly enforcing trade laws on the colonies before 1763.

Social Compact (Social Contract)

  • The idea that people create government to protect their rights.
  • Power comes from the "consent of the governed."

Virtual Representation

  • Britain's claim that Parliament represented all colonists, even though they couldn't vote for members.

Deism

  • Belief in a "clockmaker" God who created the universe but does not intervene.

Rationalism

  • The belief that the universe is orderly and can be understood through reason.
  • The core of the Enlightenment.

Pluralism

  • The coexistence of many different religious groups in a society.

Disestablishment

  • The process of removing a church as the official, tax-supported state religion.

Evangelicalism

  • Protestantism focused on a personal conversion ("born again") experience.

\"Hellfire & Brimstone\"

  • A scary, emotional style of preaching used to provoke repentance.

Non-importation

  • The main form of protest: boycotting British goods.

Mobilization

  • Getting large numbers of people to take action for a cause (like a boycott).

Self-sufficiency / Yeoman Farmers

  • The ideal of independent, land-owning farmers, seen as the perfect citizens for a republic.

New Lights vs. Old Lights

  • New Lights supported the Great Awakening's emotional style.
  • Old Lights were traditionalists who rejected it.

Sons of Liberty

  • A Patriot group that organized protests against British acts like the Stamp Act.

Committees of Correspondence

  • Patriot groups that created a communication network between the colonies to coordinate resistance.

Whigs vs. Tories

  • Whigs were Patriots who opposed the king.
  • Tories were Loyalists who supported the king.

Patriots vs. Loyalists

  • Patriots wanted independence.
  • Loyalists wanted to remain part of Britain.

Continental Army vs. Militias

  • The Continental Army was the main, professional army.
  • Militias were local, volunteer citizen-soldiers.

French & Indian War

  • (1754−1763)(1754-1763) War between Britain and France.
  • Britain won but went into debt, leading them to tax the colonies.

Boston Massacre

  • (1770)(1770) British soldiers fired on a colonial mob, killing five.
  • Used as Patriot propaganda.

Boston Tea Party

  • (1773)(1773) Protest where Patriots dumped British tea into Boston Harbor.

Lexington & Concord

  • (1775)(1775) The first shots and armed conflict of the Revolutionary War.

Battle of Trenton

  • Washington's surprise winter attack on Hessians.
  • A huge morale boost for the Americans.

Battle of Saratoga

  • (1777)(1777) The turning point of the war.
  • This American victory convinced France to become an ally.

French Alliance

  • (1778)(1778) The agreement with France that brought crucial money, troops, and naval support to the American cause.

Battle of Yorktown

  • (1781)(1781) The final battle of the Revolution.
  • Cornwallis was trapped by American and French forces and forced to surrender.

Glorious Revolution

  • (1688)(1688) The overthrow of King James II in England.
  • Led to the end of the Dominion of New England and strengthened colonial assemblies.
  • British laws designed to control colonial trade and enforce Mercantilism.

Molasses Act of 1733

  • A tax on foreign molasses that was mostly ignored.
  • A key example of Salutary Neglect.

Proclamation of 1763

  • A law that banned colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Sugar Act of 1764

  • A tax designed to raise revenue and stop smuggling.
  • Used Admiralty Courts (no juries).

Stamp Act of 1765

  • A direct tax on all paper goods (newspapers, documents, etc.).
  • Caused massive protest.

Declaratory Act of 1766

  • An act stating that Parliament had absolute power to make laws for the colonies.

Townshend Duties of 1767

  • Taxes on imported goods like glass, lead, paper, and tea.

Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts) of 1774

  • A series of harsh laws meant to punish Boston for the Tea Party.

Common Sense

  • An influential pamphlet by Thomas Paine that argued for immediate independence.

Declaration of Independence

  • (1776)(1776) The document that formally declared the colonies' separation from Britain.

\"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God\"

  • The most famous sermon by Jonathan Edwards.
  • An example of "hellfire & brimstone" preaching.

1st Continental Congress

  • (1774)(1774) Met in response to the Intolerable Acts to organize resistance.

2nd Continental Congress

  • Acted as the American government during the Revolution.
  • Managed the war effort and issued the Declaration of Independence.

Suffolk Resolves

  • Radical declarations that rejected the Intolerable Acts and called for colonists to arm themselves.

Jonathan Edwards

  • A key minister of the Great Awakening; delivered the "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sermon.

George Whitefield

  • A famous traveling preacher of the Great Awakening.

John Locke

  • Enlightenment thinker; his ideas of Natural Rights ("Life, Liberty, and Property") were key to the revolution.

Samuel Adams

  • A radical Patriot from Boston; a key leader of the Sons of Liberty.

George Washington

  • Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.

Thomas Paine

  • Author of Common Sense.

Thomas Jefferson

  • Primary author of the Declaration of Independence.

General Cornwallis

  • British general who surrendered at Yorktown.