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American Revolution

  • Townshend Acts

    Townshend Acts

    a series of laws passed by the British Parliament in 1767 to raise revenue from the American colonies by taxing imports of glass, paint, paper, and tea.
  • Stamp Act

    Stamp Act

    a British tax on the American colonies requiring a stamp on all legal documents, newspapers, pamphlets, and playing cards to help pay for British troops stationed in America.
  • French-Indian War

    French-Indian War

    aka the 7 Years' War, between France and England. In the colonies, it was called the French Indian War because the colonists fought with British soldiers against France the Indians who were on side of France. Because of the war, England had a massive war debt began to tax the people in the 13 colonies.
  • Salutary neglect

    Salutary neglect

    hands off approach by Great Britain; British policy of loosely enforcing laws and regulations in the American colonies, allowing them to govern themselves.
  • Quartering Act

    Quartering Act

    a series of British laws passed in the 1760s and 1770s that required American colonies to provide housing, food, and supplies for British soldiers stationed in the colonies
  • Boston Massacre  (March 5, 1770)

    Boston Massacre (March 5, 1770)

    British soldiers shot into a crowd, killing three people and mortally wounding two more, during a chaotic scene on King Street in Boston
  • Boston Tea Party

    Boston Tea Party

    a political protest on December 16, 1773, where American colonists, disguised as Native Americans, dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor to protest the Tea Act and taxation without representation
  • Intolerable Acts (aka Coercive Acts)

    Intolerable Acts (aka Coercive Acts)

    a series of four laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 to punish the American colony of Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party
  • Olive Branch Petition

    Olive Branch Petition

    a final attempt by the Second Continental Congress to avoid war with Great Britain by appealing directly to King George III for reconciliation and a restoration of harmony
  • Second Continental Congress

    Second Continental Congress

    the governing body of the American colonies from 1775 to 1781, acting as the first attempt at representative self-governance during the Revolutionary War.
  • Battle of Lexington & Concord (aka “The Shot Heard Around the World”)

    Battle of Lexington & Concord (aka “The Shot Heard Around the World”)

    marked the violent beginning of the colonies' fight for independence and inspired people around the world to seek their own freedom
  • "Common Sense"

    "Common Sense"

    paphlet written by Thomas Paine advocating independence from Great Britian to people in the Thirteen Colonies.
  • Declaration of Independence

    Declaration of Independence

    the founding document by which the 13 American colonies declared their separation from Great Britain
  • Articles of Confederation

    Articles of Confederation

    the first national framework for the United States, in effect from 1781 to 1789, establishing a weak central government with limited powers
  • Annapolis Convention

    Annapolis Convention

    a meeting of delegates from five states (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia) in Annapolis, Maryland, to discuss interstate trade barriers and economic problems under the Articles of Confederation
  • Daniel Shays’ Rebellion

    Daniel Shays’ Rebellion

    an armed insurrection by Massachusetts farmers and veterans in 1786-1787, led by Daniel Shays, protesting high taxes, war debt, and unresponsive government under the Articles of Confederation
  • Constitutional Convention (aka Philadelphia Convention)

    Constitutional Convention (aka Philadelphia Convention)

    a gathering of delegates from 12 states that ultimately drafted the U.S. Constitution