| Term | Definition |
|---|
| adapt | to fit a new situation |
| challenge | a demanding task |
| convince | to make a person believe by arguing or showing facts |
| correspond | to communicate by letter |
| grant | giving consent or permission |
| military | armed forces |
| occupy | to take possession of |
| principle | a basic truth that other theories are based on |
| survive | to remain alive despite hardships and trauma |
| technique | the method or skill used to in accomplishing a goal |
| violate | to do harm or damage |
| boycott | to refuse to buy items from a particular country |
| burgesses | elected representatives to an assembly |
| cash crop | a farm crop raised to be sold for money |
| charter | a document that gives the holder the right to organize settlements in an area |
| charter colony | established by a group of settlers who had been given a formal document allowing them to settle |
| constitution | a formal plan of government |
| debtor | a person or country that owes money |
| dissent | disagreement with or opposition to an opinion |
| diversity | variety or difference |
| guerrilla warfare | a hit-and-run technique used in fighting a war; fighting by small bands of warriors using tactics such as sudden ambushes |
| import | to buy goods from foreign markets |
| indentured servant | a laborer who agreed to work without pay for a certain period of time in exchange for passage to America |
| Loyalists | American colonists who remained loyal to Britain and opposed the war for independence |
| Mayflower Compact | a formal document, written in 1620, that provided law and order to the Plymouth colony |
| militia | a group of civilians trained to fight in emergencies. |
| minutemen | companies of civilian soldiers who boasted that they were ready to fight on a minute's notice |
| neutral | taking no side in a conflict |
| overseer | a person who supervises a large operation or its workers |
| Patriots | American colonists who were determined to fight the British until American independence was won |
| persecute | to treat someone harshly because of that person's beliefs or practices |
| petition | a formal request |
| preamble | the introduction to a formal document, especially the Constitution |
| proprietary colony | a colony run by individuals or groups to whom land was granted |
| repeal | to cancel an act or law |
| resolution | a formal expression of opinion |
| royal colony | a colony run by a governor and a council appointed by the king or queen |
| smuggling | trading illegally with other nations |
| subsistence farming | farming in which only enough food to feed one's family is produced |
| toleration | the acceptance of different beliefs |
| triangular trade | a trade route that exchanged goods between the West Indies, the American colonies, and West Africa |
| Bernardo de Gálvez | Spanish governor of Louisiana; he raised an army whose efforts secured the southern frontiers of the United States |
| Crispus Attucks | dockworker, who was part African, part Native American; he was one of the casualties of the Boston Massacre |
| George Washington | he attended the Second Continental Congress; led the country as its first army commander and president |
| John Adams | young, successful lawyer who attended the Continental Congress on behalf of Massachusetts |
| John Paul Jones | daring American naval officer who raided British ports with his ship named Bonhomme Richard; he famously declared "I have not yet begun to fight" |
| King George III | colonists sent this British monarch the Olive Branch Petition; he sent them 30,000 additional troops to fight the war |
| Marquis de Lafayette | a French nobleman who helped fight the British; he was a trusted aide to Washington |
| Middle Colonies | previously belonged to the Dutch; these lands included New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware; came under English rule in the 1660s |
| New England Colonies | this cluster of colonies included Massachusetts; the economies of these colonies relied on shipbuilding and timber |
| New York City | it was first named the port of New Amsterdam; it became one of the fastest-growing commercial ports in England's American colonies |
| Paul Revere | colonist who rode to Lexington to warn that the British were coming; he actually shouted "The regulars are out!" |
| Philadelphia | the founder of the Pennsylvania oversaw the building of this city, known as the "City of Brotherly Love" |
| Roger Williams | Puritan minister who founded the colony of Rhode Island; he believed that people should be free to follow their consciences in religious matters |
| Samuel Adams | Massachusetts radical leader who opposed British rule |
| Samuel de Champlain | French explorer who set up a trading post named Quebec in what is now Canada |
| Patrick Henry | attended the Continental Congress on behalf of Virginia; was one of the most outspoken defenders of colonial rights |
| Southern Colonies | cluster of colonies with rich soil and warm climate; well suited to the growing of cash crops, including tobacco, rice, and indigo; used slaves |
| Benjamin Franklin | the best-known scientist in the colonies; his greatest service to his fellow Americans was guiding the colonies toward independence |
| Thomas Paine | a writer who convinced many Americans to fight the British with his pamphlet called Common Sense |
| William Penn | a wealthy English Quaker who received land in payment for a debt King Charles II owed his father; this land extended inland from the Delaware River and was as large as England |
| adequate | enough to satisfy a particular requirement |
| authority | power of influence over others |
| conduct | manage or control the direction of relations between two or more parties |
| currency | money |
| interpret | to explain the meaning |
| levy | an imposed tax required to pay off a country, region, or district's loan or debt |
| participate | to take part in something that other are doing |
| promote | to encourage or contribute to the growth of an idea |
| regulate | to govern by rules or laws |
| Antifederalists | individuals who opposed ratification of the Constitution |
| article | a part of a document, such as the Constitution, that deals with a single subject |
| bicameral | consisting of two houses, or chambers, especially in a legislature |
| checks and balances | the system in which each branch of government has a check on the other two branches so that no one branch becomes too powerful |
| compromise | the agreement between two or more sides in which each side gives up some of what it wants |
| confederation | a voluntary association of independent states |
| depression | a period of low economic activity and widespread unemployment |
| Enlightenment | the movement during the 1700s that spread the idea that knowledge, reason, and science could improve society |
| executive branch | the branch of government, headed by the president, that carries out the nation's laws and policies |
| Federalists | supporters of the Constitution |
| judicial branch | the branch of government, including the federal court system, that interprets the nation's laws |
| legislative branch | the branch of government that makes the nation's laws |
| manumission | the freeing of some enslaved persons |
| ordinance | a law or regulation |
| popular sovereignty | a political theory that government is subject to the will of the people |
| proportional | to be the same as or corresponding to |
| right of deposit | when Americans reached an agreement with Spain that would allow free navigation along the Mississippi River |
| sovereignty | supreme power |
| Alexander Hamilton | a New York lawyer who proposed calling a convention in Philadelphia to discuss trade issues; coauthor of The Federalist Papers |
| Appalachian Mountains | Britain issued a proclamation that prohibited colonists from moving west of this natural boundary |
| Daniel Shays | he led a rebellion of 1,000 angry farmers to Springfield Massachusetts that scared the national government |
| Edmund Randolph | served in the Continental Congress; was governor of Virginia |
| Governeur Morris | the powerful speaker and writer who wrote the final draft of the Constitution |
| James Madison | "Father of the Constitution" |
| John Jay | gifted political thinker; American secretary of foreign affairs |
| Mercy Otis Warren | a Massachusetts opponent of the Constitution; she expressed the need for a strong government but feared it |
| Northwest Territory | the greatest achievement of the Articles of Confederation was establishing a fair policy for the development of the lands west of this natural boundary |
| Robert Morris | Philadelphia merchant who pledged large amounts of money for the war effort; he headed up the department of finance |
| Roger Sherman | suggested what came to be known as the Great Compromise |
Combine with other sets
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