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American Revolution

  • French-Indian War

    French-Indian War

    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 the 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.
  • Mercantilism

    Mercantilism

    Beginning in 1763, England's economic policy was followed when it came to the 13 colonies. England saw the colonies as a market for English goods wanted to get money (taxes) natural resources from the colonies.
  • Stamp Act

    Stamp Act

    British tax on the American colonies requiring a tax stamp on legal documents, newspapers, playing cards, and other paper goods to help pay for British troops after the French and Indian War.
  • Quartering Act

    Quartering Act

    a series of British parliamentary acts in the 18th century that required American colonies to provide lodging and supplies for British troops, which led to widespread colonial opposition.
  • Townshend Acts

    Townshend Acts

    A series of British parliamentary acts named after Charles Townshend, imposing taxes and duties on goods like glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea to pay for colonial administration and recoup war debt.
  • Boston Massacre

    Boston Massacre

    This was a deadly confrontation in Boston, Massachusetts, where British soldiers fired into a crowd of colonists, killing five people and wounding others.
  • Boston Tea Party

    Boston Tea Party

    a political protest in Boston, Massachusetts, where American patriots, disguised as Indigenous people, dumped 342 chests of tea from the British East India Company into Boston Harbor.
  • Intolerable Acts (aka Coercive Acts)

    Intolerable Acts (aka Coercive Acts)

    a series of four laws passed by the British Parliament to punish the American colony of Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party.
  • Declaration of Independence

    Declaration of Independence

    announced the separation of 13 British colonies from Great Britain and explained their reasons.
  • Olive Branch Petition

    Olive Branch Petition

    a final plea from the Second Continental Congress to King George III, seeking to avoid armed conflict with Great Britain by affirming colonial loyalty and requesting the repeal of parliamentary statutes that they claimed fueled conflict.
  • Second Continental Congress

    Second Continental Congress

    Was the governing body of the American colonies
  • Battle of Lexington & Concord (aka “The Shot Heard Around the World”)

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

    It marked the first open military confrontation between Great Britain and the American colonies.
  • Common Sense

    Common Sense

    A widely-read pamphlet by Thomas Paine, published in 1776, that argued for American independence from Great Britain.
  • Articles of Confederation

    Articles of Confederation

    The first constitution of the United States, adopted by the Continental Congress
  • Daniel Shays’ Rebellion

    Daniel Shays’ Rebellion

    Is an armed insurrection by Massachusetts farmers, led by Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays, who protested high taxes and the resulting foreclosures on their farms under the Articles of Confederation.
  • Annapolis Convention

    Annapolis Convention

    It was a meeting of delegates from only five states (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia) to address trade regulation issues under the Articles of Confederation.
  • Constitutional Convention (aka Philadelphia Convention)

    Constitutional Convention (aka Philadelphia Convention)

    There was a secret meeting in Philadelphia where delegates from twelve states drafted a new U.S. Constitution, replacing the weak Articles of Confederation with a federal system of government.