 | Term | Definition |
| |
stamp act |
required colonists to purchase special stamped paper for every legal document, license, newspaper, pamphlet, and almanac, and imposed special "stamp duties" on pachakges of playing cards and dice |
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Samuel Adams |
a founder of sons of liberty and proved himself to be a powerful and influential political activist |
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Townshend Acts |
passed in 1767 were indirect taxies levied on imported materials |
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boston massacre |
where fighting b/w colonists an dpoorly paid soldiers over competition for jobs left 5 dead |
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committees of correspondence |
assemblies set up to communicate with other colonies about threats to american liberties |
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boston tea party |
incident on which colonists dressed as indians destroyed british ships that carried tea and threw the 18,000 lbs of the East India Company's tea into the water |
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King George III |
King of G. Britain |
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Intolerable Acts |
shut down Boston Harbor b/c colonists refusing to pay for damaged tea. Quartering Act; appointed Thomas Gage governor of Mass.; held Boston under martial law |
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martial law |
rule imposed by military forces |
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minutemen |
civilian soldiers |
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Second continental congress |
where colonial leaders convened to debate their next move towards a Revolution in May of 1775 |
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Olive Branch Petition |
urging a return to the former harmony b/w Britain and the colonies |
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common sense |
an anonymous 50-pg pamphlet explaining Thomas Pain's own revolt against King George III that began with Lexington and Concord |
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thomas jefferson |
virginia lawyer known for his broad knowledge and skillfully crafted prose |
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Declaration of Independence |
concepts of English philosopher John Locke ---"life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"--- written by Thomas Jefferson |
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Loyalists |
those who opposed independence andremained loyal to the Crown |
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Valley forge |
site of the Continental Army's camp during the winter of 1777-1778 |
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Trenton |
where Washington and his men marched nine miles to reach a garrison of Hessians |
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Saratoga |
where Burgoyne surrendered his battered army to Gen. Gates on Oct. 17, 1777 |
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inflation |
when more and more money is printed and values plunge creating rising prices |
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profiteering |
selling scarce goods for a profit |
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yorktown |
where william fontaine and teh virginia militia stood with american and french armies lining a road on OCT. 19, 1781 to witness the formal britsh surrender |
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friedrich von steuben |
a prussian captain and talented drillmaster who vol'd. his services to General Washington |
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Marquis de Lafayette |
brave idealistic 20 yr old french aristocrat military leader |
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charles cornwallis |
general who saild with henry clinton |
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treay of paris |
confirmed US indep. and set boundaries of the new nation in sept of 1783 |
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egalitarianism |
belief in the equality of all people |
