Period 3 APUSH

committees of correspondence

Committees of Correspondence, organized 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 delegates to the First Continental Congress.

northwest ordinance of 1787

Congress provided a procedure for dividing the new lands into territories; set requirements for admission of new states

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 England during the revolution.

samuel adams

Head of the Committee of Correspondence. Older leader of the American resistance. Prominent anti-British agitator known for stressing the need for prudent collective action. Former brewery owner, Boston tax collector, member and clerk of the Massachusetts assembly, ally of the Loyal Nine, and Son of Liberty.

battle of yorktown

Last major battle of the Revolutionary War. Cornwallis and his troops were trapped in the Chesapeake Bay by the French fleet. He was sandwiched between the French navy and the American army. He surrendered October 19, 1781.

john dickinson; "letters from..."

Lawyer and author of Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, an incredible popular pamphlet published in the colonies. Argued that Parliament could regulate colonial trade, but could not exercise that power to raise revenue.

sons and daughters of liberty

Male and female organizations made up of a network of lawyers, merchants, tradesmen, and other townspeople organized colonial protests against British regulations.

american indians

Native Americans. Residents of North America prior to the arrival of the European immigrants who inhabited the colonies

albany plan of union (1754)

Plan that would have set up an intercolonial government and a system for recruiting troops and collecting taxes. None of the colonies accepted it.

treaty of paris 1783

This treaty ended the Revolutionary War, recognized the independence of the American colonies, and granted the colonies the territory from the southern border of Canada to the northern border of Florida, and from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River

salutary neglect

a long-standing British Policy in the 13 colonies which allowed the colonists to flout, or violate, the laws associated with trade.

thomas paine; common sense

a pamphlet written by a recent english immigrant; argued for the colonies becoming independent states and breaking all political ties with the british monarchy

james otis

a young lawyer in Boston, argued that colonists should not be taxed by Parliament because they could not vote for members of Parliament. "no taxation without colonist representation"

seven years war

(1756-1763 CE) Known also as the French and Indian war. It was the war between the French and their Indian allies and the English that proved the English to be the more dominant force of what was to be the United States both commercially and in terms of controlled regions.

sugar act

(1764) British deeply in debt partl 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.

quartering act

(1765) Required colonies to provide food and quarters, houses, for British troops. Many colonists saw it as an encroachment on their rights.

declaratory act

(1766) Stated that the British Parliament had the same power to tax in the colonies as it did in Great Britain. Parliament emphasized its authority to make binding laws on the American colonies.

townshend act

(1767) passed by Parliament in 1767, placed taxes on imported materials such as glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea. Led to outrage and tons of people boycotted British goods.

coercive acts

(1774) , This series of laws passed by Parliament were very harsh laws intended to make Massachusetts pay for its resistance, after Britain heard news of the Tea Party. It also closed down the Boston Harbor until the Massachusetts colonists paid for the ruined tea, banned most town meetings. Also forced Bostonians to shelter soldiers in their own homes.

stamp act congress

...27 delegates from nine of the colonies met from October 7 to 25, 1765 and wrote a Declaration of the Rights and Grievances of the Colonies, a petition to the King and a petition to Parliament for the repeal of the Stamp Act

george washington

1732-1799 led America's Continental Army to victory over Britain in the Revolutionary War and was the first President of the U.S, from 1789-1797. Because of his central role in the founding of the United States, he is often call the "Father of his Country."

quebec act

1744, law passed by Parliament in response to the Boston Tea Party, Expanded the borders of Canada, took land away from the colonies and gave it to Quebec, tried to take away colonies local self-rights

Pontiac's rebellion

1763 Conflict between the Native Americans and the British over settlement of Indian lands in the Great lakes area

peace of paris

1763 agreement between Britain and France that ended the French and Indian War

stamp act

1765, A tax that the British Pariliament placed on newspapers and official documents sold in the American Colonies

intolerable acts

1774; laws meant to punish Boston after the Tea Party; closed the harbor, created a police state, Quebec Act, and had to quarter troops in civilian homes. Passed by the British parliament.

first continental congress

1774; response to Intolerable Acts; 55 men from 12 colonies meet on Philadelphia; called for complete halt in trade with Britain; important step towards independence.

declaration of independence

1776 statement, issued by the Second Continental Congress, explaining why the colonies wanted independence from Britain.

shay's rebellion

1786 revolt by Massachusetts farmers seeking relief from debt and foreclosure that was a factor in the calling of the Constitutional Convention.

enlightenment

18th century movement led by French intellectuals who advocated reason as the universal source of knowledge and truth

thomas jefferson

3rd President of the United States, chief drafter of the Declaration of Independence; made the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and sent out the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore it (1743-1826); head of the Democratic Republicans; believed in strong state government/power; believed in a strict interpretation of the Constitution

battle of saratoga

A 1777 British defeat that was a major turning point in the Revolutionary War. The defeat convinced the French to ally themselves with the United States and enter the war against Britain. Most historians agree that without help from France, the United States could not have won the war.

edward braddock

A British commander during the French and Indian War. He attempted to capture Fort Duquesne in 1755. He was defeated by the French and the Indians. At this battle, Braddock was mortally wounded.

paul revere

A descendant of French Huguenots, in 1775 he rode to tell the people that the British were coming to Concord and Lexington

olive branch petition

A document sent by the Second Continental Congress to King George III, proposing a reconciliation between the colonies and Britain

land ordinance 1785

A law that divided much of the United States into a system of townships to facilitate the sale of land to settlers.

patrick henry

A leader of the American Revolution and a famous orator who spoke out against British rule of the American colonies.

unicameral legislature

A legislature with only one legislative chamber, as opposed to a bicameral (two-chamber) legislature, such as the U.S. Congress. Today, Nebraska is the only state in the Union with a unicameral legislature.

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.

articles of confederation

A weak constitution that governed the colonies during and after the Revolutionary war, up to 1787. It was inefficient, due to scares over too strong of a national government.