Samuel Adams
Massachusetts Revolutionary leader and propagandist who organized opposition to British policies after 1764 - radical member of Sons of Liberty who worried that violence of group would discredit it - proposed united plea for repeal of Townshend Duties and
James Otis Jr.
Massachusetts lawyer who claimed that Parliament didn't have the right to tax the colonies since they had no representation there, coined the phrase "No taxation without representation
George Grenville
British Prime Minister and architect of the Sugar Act; his method of taxation and crackdown on colonial smuggling were widely disliked by Americans. He passed the Stamp Act arguing that colonists received virtual representation in Parliament
--- Became pr
George III
English monarch at the time of the revolution. He was the main opposition for the colonies due to his stubborn attitude and unwillingness to hear out colonial requests/grievances.
---- King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760 to 1820. the American colo
John Dickinson
Drafted a declaration of colonial rights and grievances, and also wrote the series of "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania" in 1767 to protest the Townshend Acts. Although an outspoken critic of British policies towards the colonies, he opposed the Revo
Thomas Jefferson
He was a delegate from Virginia at the Second Continental Congress and wrote the Declaration of Independence. He later served as the third President of the United States.
--- Drafter of the Declaration of Independence; made the Louisiana Purchase in 1803
Crispus Attucks
The African-Native American man who was the first man to die in the Boston Massacre, also considered the first death in the Revolutionary War
Thomas Paine
Revolutionary leader who wrote the pamphlet "Common Sense" (1776) arguing for American independence from Britain. In England he published "The Rights of Man"
--- American Revolutionary leader and pamphleteer (born in England) who supported the American co
Chief Pontiac
The Ottawa chief led several tribes in a campaign to drive the British out of the Ohio Country. Overran all but three British posts west of the Appalachians and killed two thousand soldiers and settlers. The British retaliated by distributing smallpox inf
Benjamin Franklin
Printer, author, inventor, diplomat, statesman, and Founding Father. One of the few Americans who was highly respected in Europe, primarily due to his discoveries in the field of electricity.
--- printer whose success as an author led him to take up polit
John Locke
English philosopher who advocated the idea of a "social contract" in which government powers are derived from the consent of the governed and in which the government serves the people; also said people have natural rights to life, liberty and property.
Stamp Act
March 22, 1765 - British legislation passed as part of Prime Minister Grenville's revenue measures which required that all legal or official documents used in the colonies, such as wills, deeds and contracts, had to be written on special, stamped British
Proclamation of 1763
A proclamation from the British government which forbade British colonists from settling west of the Appalacian Mountains, and which required any settlers already living west of the mountains to move back east.
Pontiac's Rebellion
After the French and Indian War, colonists began moving westward and settling on Indian land. This migration led to ____ in 1763, when a large number of Indian tribes banded together under the Ottawa chief Pontiac to keep the colonists from taking over th
Sugar Act
(1764) British deeply in debt partly to French & Indian War. English Parliament placed a tariff on sugar, coffee, wines, and molasses. colonists avoided the tax by smuggling and by bribing tax collectors.
--- law passed by the British Parliament setting t
Quartering Act
March 24, 1765 - Required the colonials to provide food, lodging, and supplies for the British troops in the colonies.
Townshend Acts
In 1767 "Champagne Charley" Townshend persuaded Parliament to pass the Townshend Acts. These acts put a light import duty on such things as glass, lead, paper, and tea. The acts met slight protest from the colonists, who found ways around the taxes such a
Tea Act
1773 act which eliminated import tariffs on tea entering England and allowed the British East India Company to sell directly to consumers rather than through merchants. Led to the Boston Tea Party.
--- placed a tax on tea and cut colonial merchants out of
Quebec Act
designed to facilitate the incorporation of French Canadians into British America; Colonists feared a precedent had been established in the nonrepresentative government in Quebec; they resented the expansion of Quebec's territory, which they had been deni
Intolerable / Coercive Acts
a series of laws set up by Parliament to punish Massachusetts for its protests against the British -shut down the Boston Harbor until tea was paid for, no ships in or out; no town meetings more than once a year, the British army controlled the city; any c
Declaratory Act
Passed in 1766 just after the repeal of the Stamp Act, the Act stated that Parliament could legislate for the colonies in all cases. Most colonists interpreted the act as a face-saving mechanism and nothing more. Parliament, however, continually interpret
Sons of Liberty
A radical political organization for colonial independence which formed in 1765 after the passage of the Stamp Act. They incited riots and burned the customs houses where the stamped British paper was kept. After the repeal of the Stamp Act, many of the l
Olive Branch Petition
On July 8, 1775, the colonies made a final offer of peace to Britain, agreeing to be loyal to the British government if it addressed their grievances (repealed the Coercive Acts, ended the taxation without representation policies). It was rejected by Parl
Boston Tea Party
Boston patriots organized the___ to protest the 1773 Tea Act. In December 1773, Samuel Adams warned Boston residents of the consequences of the Tea Act. Boston was boycotting the tea in protest of the Tea Act and would not let the ships bring the tea asho
Committees of Correspondence
Oorganized by patriot leader Samuel Adams, was a system of communication between patriot leaders in New England and throughout the colonies. They provided the organization necessary to unite the colonies in opposition to Parliament. The committees sent de
Boston Massacre
British soldiers fired into a crowd of colonists who were teasing and taunting them. Five colonists were killed. The colonists blamed the British and the Sons of Liberty used this incident as an excuse to promote the Revolution.
First Continental Congress
Convened on September 5, 1774, to protest the Intolerable Acts. The congress endorsed the Suffolk Resolves, voted for a boycott of British imports, and sent a petition to King George III, conceding to Parliament the power of regulation of commerce but str
Massachusetts Circular Letter
A letter written in Boston and circulated through the colonies in February, 1768, which urged the colonies not to import goods taxed by the Townshend Acts. Boston, New York, and Philadelphia agreed to non-importation. It was followed by the Virginia Circu
Minutemen
Member of a militia during the American Revolution who could be ready to fight in sixty seconds
Daughters of Liberty
An organization formed by women prior to the American Revolution They got together to protest treatment of the colonies by their British Rulers. This orginization supported the boycott of British goods. They urged Americans to wear homemade fabrics and pr
Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer
This series of twelve documents published by John Dickinson denounced the Townshend Duties by demonstrating that many of the arguments employed against the Stamp Act were valid against the Townshend Duties as well. These documents inspired anti-British se
Common Sense
A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1776 to convince the colonists that it was time to become independent.