American Revolution Study Guide

John Trumbull

American artist and painter who painted four panels in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington: The Declaration of Independence, The Surrender of General Burgoyne, Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, and The Resignation of General Washington.

King George III

King of England during the American Revolution

British Taxes

(2) Began after French and Indian War, enacting the Sugar Act of 1764, Stamp Act of 1765, Townshend Acts of 1767.

Revolutionary War

1775-1783 American War of Independence. Began as 13 colonies versus Great Britain but soon turned into G.B versus colonies, France, Netherlands, and Spain = American Victory The war not only led to a new country (The United States of America), but it created an example of democracy for the rest of the world. It motivated other people (like the French) to have their own revolutions against kings.

Declaration of Independence

1776 statement, issued by the Second Continental Congress, explaining why the colonies wanted independence from Britain. The Revolutionary War had already began when the D.O.I. was issued, but the document served as a formal statement of independence, and put in written form all the ideas of our founders. It was circulated all over the colonies so everyone could share the same ideas and values.

Committees of Correspondence 1772

Colonial radicals formed committees in each town and colony to spread word of any new English aggression. Significance: Way before radio, TV and the Internet, this was a way for people in different colonies to share ideas and begin to form an identity as Americans, not just residents of their own colonies.

"Any... dependence on Great Britain tends to involve this continent in European wars and quarrels and sets us at odds with other nations who would otherwise seek our friendship and against whom we have neither anger or complaint." Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776

How do the American colonists feel about England's control of their trade?

"Give me liberty or give me death!" Patrick Henry, member of the Virginia House of Burgesses (that colony's local government), when encouraging fellow Virginians to support the colonists in Massachusetts when their port was closed

How does this quote of Patrick Henry provide evidence that the colonists from the different 13 colonies were starting to come together against the British?

Paul Revere engraving of the Boston Massacre, 1770.

How is this image an example of colonial propaganda? What side of the conflict is it biased towards? What details give you evidence of that?

"I long to hear that you have declared an independency... I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands....Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could... " Abigail Adams, letter to John Adams, 1776

How might Abigail Adams have interpreted the phrase "All men are created equal" in the Declaration of Independence? What do you think she understood to mean "all men"?

"We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." Thomas Jefferson (main author), Declaration of Independence, 1776

In Jefferson's view, what is the purpose of government, and who gives government its power? What does "consent of the governed" mean, and why is it mentioned here?

Tea Tax

Parliament taxed the colonists on tea; maintained that they had authority over all subjects; led to Boston Tea Party

Boston Massacre

The first bloodshed of the American Revolution (1770), as British guards at the Boston Customs House opened fire on a crowd killing five Americans

Ben Franklin's "Join or Die" cartoon, originally printed in 1754, was used to encourage the American colonists to stick together to defeat the French and Native Americans during the French & Indian War. Ten years later, it was used to urge colonists to work together to push the British out of America.

What did Benjamin Franklin's image mean to American colonists in 1775?

"The problems of America are in a great measure the issues of all mankind. Many circumstances have, and will arise, which are not just our problems, but universal problems for all people, and through which the principles of all Lovers of Mankind are affected" Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776

Why is the American Revolution so important for other people in different parts of the globe?

"I am not a Virginian, but an American" Patrick Henry's comment at the First Continental Congress, explaining to representatives from all 13 colonies why they should see themselves as a united whole, not as separate groups

Why was Patrick Henry's statement so radical and shocking for its time?

"By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world." Ralph Waldo Emerson's 1837 poem about the battle at Concord & Lexington, the beginning of the Revolutionary War

Why was the American Revolution so important not just for the American colonists, but for people all over the world?

"My Friends and Countrymen, this howling wilderness has been converted into a flourishing [rapidly growing] and populous country. But, is this not due to the way in which the colonies have been treated from the beginning? Isn't our growth a result of Great Britain's willingness to encourage our industry and protect us from foreign countries? If so, surely some degree of gratitude, such as becomes a free and liberal people, would be appropriate." An anonymous writer in a Pennsylvania newspaper, 1775

Why were some people in the colonies opposed to war with England?