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3.2 - Revolution (Problems and the Outbreak of War)

Terms in this set (44)

Age of Reason
Nickname for the Enlightenment, characterized by an increased interest in science, new ideas about government and power, and a focus on order inspired by Classical Greece and Rome.
John Locke
Enlightenment philosopher. His belief that humans are born with certain rights (he wrote "Life, Liberty and Property") inspired Thomas Jefferson and other American revolutionaries.
Enlightenment
Time period in Europe and America in the 1700s characterized by an increased interest in science, new ideas about government and power, and a focus on order inspired by Classical Greece and Rome
Cotton Mather
Massachusetts minister who advocated for scientific advancement, including immunization.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
French Enlightenment philosopher who argued that the common people should rule though elections.
Montesquieu
French Enlightenment philosopher who believed power should be separated between different branches of government instead of concentrated (as was the case of the kings of Europe.
John Peter Zenger
New York printer who was put on trial for libel. He successfully argued that telling the truth was not libel. His case was an important step toward freedom of the press in America.
Libel
Knowingly telling a lie about someone to harm them.
Bacon's Rebellion
Revolt in 1676 of poor Virginians against the colonial leadership led by Nathaniel Bacon. They felt that the royal governor was not providing protection from Native American attack and generally mistrusted the elites of the colony.
Nathaniel Bacon
Leader of Bacon's Rebellion.
Governor Berkeley
Royal governor who was eventually suppressed Bacon's Rebellion.
Regulators
Poor farmers in rural North Carolina who fought against the colonial government. Like Bacon's Rebellion, they focused on perceived and real injustices at the hands of the wealthy.
Paxton Boys
A group of Scots-Irish settlers in Pennsylvania who threatened to attack Philadelphia. Like the followers of Bacon or the Regulators, they were unhappy that the elites of the colony were not providing protection from Native American attack.
Mercantilism
An economic system in which colonies were only allowed to trade with the mother country.
Duties
Taxes paid on imported products.
Salutary Neglect
A British policy of not enforcing laws in the American colonies before 1763.
Magna Carta
Agreement signed in 1215 between the King of England and the nobles limiting the power of the monarchy.
Stamp Act
1765 law that established a tax on printed material.
Quartering Act
1765 law that required colonist to allow British troops to live and eat in their private homes.
Stamp Act Congress
Meeting of colonial leaders in 1754 to seek solutions to the problems caused by the Stamp Act.
Sons of Liberty
A group of American patriots (all men) who promoted independence.
Tar and Feathering
A form of torture in which a person covered in hot tar and feathers. It was painful and potentially deadly. It was used by some Patriots on British customs officers.
Daughters of Liberty
Groups of colonial women who promoted independence, especially by participating in boycotts of British goods.
Committees of Correspondence
Groups of Patriots throughout the colonies who passed pro-independence messages.
Samuel Adams
Patriot from Boston who organized the Boston Tea Party. He was known for his skillful political organizing and ability to provoke a response through direct action.
John Adams
Patriot from Boston. He was the primary promoter of independence at the Continental Congress and became the second president.
John Hancock
Boston Patriot. He was the chairman of the Continental Congress and his signature is the first, and largest at the bottom of the Declaration of Independence.
Paul Revere
Boston Patriot and silversmith. His engraving of the Boston Massacre helped promote the cause for independence. He also helped warn minutemen in surrounding towns of the approaching British troops on the morning of the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
Declaratory Act
British law passed in 1776 after the repeal of the Stamp Act. It asserted Parliament's right to make laws for the Colonies.
Circular Letter
Open letter to the King and Parliament started by the Massachusetts legislature and approved by other colonial legislatures. In it the colonial leaders voiced opposition to taxation without representation.
No Taxation Without Representation
Idea that the government should not levy taxes unless the people who must pay those taxes have the opportunity to elect members of that government.
Boston Massacre
Riot in 1770 between Boston citizens and British troops. It was exploited by Patriots to enflame anti-British sentiment.
Crispus Attucks
Former slave who was killed at the Boston Massacre
Boston Tea Party
Protest by Boston Patriots led by Samuel Adams in which a cargo of tea was destroyed. It resulted in the closing of Boston Harbor.
Coercive Acts
Laws passed in 1774 closing Boston Harbor as punishment for the Boston Tea Party.
Quebec Act
Law passed by Parliament in 1774 that recognized the Catholic Church in Quebec and extended the boundary of Quebec into the Ohio Territory. The English colonists felt that the land should belong to them and were mostly Protestant so they were angered by the official recognition of the Catholic Church.
Intolerable Act
American nickname for the Coercive and Quebec Acts.
Suffolk Resolves
Statements passed by the Massachusetts legislature in 1774 in opposition to the Intolerable Acts. They called for the raising of colonial militias and marked the beginning of official American government outside of the government recognized by the British.
Minutemen
American militiamen, mostly farmers and craftsmen, who would be ready to fight in a minute. They were the Americans who fought at the Battles of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill.
Paul Revere's Ride
Poem written in 1860 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow memorializing Paul Revere's ride to warn colonists of the British attack on Concord.
Battle of Lexington
First battle of the Revolutionary War fought on April 19, 1775. British troops killed eight American minutemen.
Battle of Concord
Second battle of the Revolutionary War fought on April 19, 1775. The British army was stopped and chased back to Boston.
North Bridge
The bridge into Concord where American minutemen stopped the advance of the British troops. It marked the turning point in the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775.
Shot Heard 'Round the World
Nickname for the opening battles of the American Revolution, so called because they inspired other Revolutionaries around the world.
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