Turning Points U.S. History Chapter 5

Stamp Act

British law requiring colonist to purchase a stamp for official documents and published papers, including wills, newspapers, and pamphlets.

Townshend Revenue Act

Charles Townshend placed duties on tea, glass, paper, lead and paint to pay the salaries of governors and judges, thus removing their dependence on the provincial legislatures

Boston Tea Party

Government dropped a heavy import duty onto England to tea headed for America

John Dickinson

Philadelphia lawyer and owner of a Delaware plantation

Songs of liberty

group of enslaved men marching through the town shouting "Liberty!"

Thomas Paine

immigrant from England, published Common Sense

Nathaniel Greene

"The Fighting Quaker" The number two man in the Continental Army. Led the Continental Army on many campaigns against the British forces led by Lord Charles Cornwallis in the South.

George Rogers Clark

"The Washington of the West." Led American forces that captured important British forts in the Ohio River Valley. His successes led the British to include the Ohio River Valley in the area ceded to the U.S. at the close of the war.

Hessians

A german solider who faught for the british in the revolutionary war. British mercenaries who fought for money

Tories

AKA Loyalists residents of the British colonies who remained loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution. Also called tories after the pro-monarchy faction in England.

John Adams

First Vice President (1789-1797) and second president (1797-1801) of the US. Helped draft the declaration of independence and served on the commission to negotiate the Treaty of Paris

Articles of Confederation

First constitution of the US. Adopted by the original thirteen states in 1781, it remained the supreme law until 1789

George Grenville

First minister with responsibility for solving the debt crisis that resulted from the Seven Years' war. Grenville decided that Americans should pay more taxes because they benefited from the war and his program in 1764.

Lexington and Concord

General Gage was ordered to take action; British went to Concord and Lexington was ready to defend

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.

Treaty of Paris (1783)

Treaty Between England and the Colonies , formally ended the American Revolutionary War

Thomas Jefferson

Virginia planter and lawyer, author of Declaration of Independence

George Washington

commander in chief of the continental army, delegate to Congress and steadfastly committed to civilian control of the armed forces

Coercive (Intolerable) Acts

expected to isolate Boston, and convince other proves to be obedient, the policies actually pushed Americans towards more unified resistance.

Battle of Saratoga

American victory over British troops in 1777 that was a turning point in the American Revolution.

British East India Company

Bailed out of bankruptcy by the Tea Act

Sugar Act

British law that initiated the policy of charging duties primarily for revenue rather than regulating trade. The act reduced the duty on foreign molasses; added timber, iron, and hides to the list of enumerated goods; and increased the powers of vice- admiralty courts

Writs of assistance

Cereal search warrants; a writ of assistance authorized customs officials to search for smuggled goods

Stamp Act Congress

In resolution and petitions to Parliament, the congress upheld the power of representative assemblies, not Parliament, to tax the colonists.

Tea Act

Renewed opposition to the duty and caused outrage over favoritism and privilege

Lord Dunmore

Royal Governor of Virginia

Regulators

late 1760s- groups that demanded fair representation in the state legislatures but otherwise had distance goals and membership.

Joseph Brant (Theyendanegea)

led Tory and Native American forces against white settlements

Second Continental Congress

met in Philadelphia, facing the prospect of executing a war already in progress

First Continental Congress

obtain repeal of the coercive acts and other restrictions. --passed resolutions that ended all trade with Great Britain and Ireland and exports to the West Indies. Also banned importation of slaves.

Declaratory Act

passed in March 1766; parliament affirmed its power "to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the colonies and people of america, subjects of the crown of Great Britain, in all cases whatsoever"

Boston Massacre

pre- revolutionary incident growing out of the resentment against British troops sent to Boston to maintain order and to enforce the Townshend Act