Term
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Definition
| French residents of Nova Scotia, many of whom were uprooted by the British in 1755 and scattered as far south as Louisiana, where their descendants became known as “Cajuns”. (116) |
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Term
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Definition
| Intercolonial congress summoned by the British government to foster greater colonial unity and assure Iroquois support in the escalating war against the French. (117) |
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Term
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Definition
| Translated as “runners of the woods,” they were French fur-trappers, also known as “voyageurs” (travelers), who established trading posts throughout North America. The fur trade wreaked havoc on the health and folkways of their Native American trading partners. (111) |
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Term
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Definition
| Decree issued by the French crown granting limited toleration to French Protestants. Ended religious wars in France and inaugurated a period of French preeminence in Europe and across the Atlantic. Its repeal in 1685 prompted a fresh migration of Protestant Huguenots to North America. (109) |
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Term
| French and Indian War (Seven Years’ War) (1754-1763) |
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Definition
| Nine-year war between the British and the French in North America. It resulted in the expulsion of the French from the North American mainland and helped spark the Seven Years’ War in Europe. (116) |
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Term
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Definition
| French Protestant dissenters, the Huguenots were granted limited toleration under the Edict of Nantes. After King Louis XIV outlawed Protestantism in 1685, many Huguenots fled elsewhere, including to British North America. (109) |
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Term
| King George’s War (1744-1748) |
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Definition
| North American theater of Europe’s War of Austrian Succession that once again pitted British colonists against their French counterparts in the North. The peace settlement did not involve any territorial realignment, leading to conflict between New England settlers and the British government. (114) |
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Term
| King William’s War (1689-1697) |
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Definition
| War fought largely between French trappers, British settlers, and their respective Indian allies from 1689–1697. The colonial theater of the larger War of the League of Augsburg in Europe. (112) |
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Term
| Pontiac’s uprising (1763) |
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Definition
| Bloody campaign waged by Ottawa chief Pontiac to drive the British out of Ohio Country. It was brutally crushed by British troops, who resorted to distributing blankets infected with smallpox as a means to put down the rebellion. (122) |
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Term
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Definition
| Decree issued by Parliament in the wake of Pontiac’s uprising, prohibiting settlement beyond the Appalachians. Contributed to rising resentment of British rule in the American colonies. (122) |
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Term
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Definition
| Historic British victory over French forces on the outskirts of Québec. The surrender of Québec marked the beginning of the end of French rule in North America. (120) |
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Term
| Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713) |
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Definition
| Second in a series of conflicts between the European powers for control of North America, fought between the English and French colonists in the North, and the English and Spanish in Florida. Under the peace treaty, the French ceded Acadia (Nova Scotia), Newfoundland, and Hudson Bay to Britain. (112) |
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Term
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Definition
| Trained professional soldiers, as distinct from militia or conscripts. During the French and Indian War, British generals, used to commanding experienced regulars, often showed contempt for ill-trained colonial militiamen. (117) |
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Term
| War of Jenkins’s Ear (began in 1739) |
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Definition
| Small-scale clash between Britain and Spain in the Caribbean and in the buffer colony, Georgia. It merged with the much larger War of Austrian Succession in 1742. (114) |
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Term
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Definition
| Used to try offenders for violating the various Navigation Acts passed by the crown after the French and Indian War. Colonists argued that the courts encroached on their rights as Englishmen since they lacked juries and placed the burden of proof on the accused. (129) |
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Term
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Definition
| Clash between unruly Bostonian protestors and locally-stationed British redcoats, who fired on the jeering crowd, killing or wounding eleven citizens. (133) |
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Term
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Definition
| Rowdy protest against the British East India Company’s newly-acquired monopoly on the tea trade. Colonists, disguised as Indians, dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston harbor, prompting harsh sanctions from the British Parliament. (135) |
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Term
| committees of correspondence (1772 and after) |
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Definition
| Local committees established across Massachusetts, and later in each of the thirteen colonies, to maintain colonial opposition to British policies through the exchange of letters and pamphlets. (134) |
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Term
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Definition
| Patriotic groups that played a central role in agitating against the Stamp Act and enforcing non-importation agreements. (See also Sons of Liberty) (131) |
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Term
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Definition
| Passed alongside the repeal of the Stamp Act, it reaffirmed Parliament’s unqualified sovereignty over the North American colonies. (132) |
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Term
| First Continental Congress (1774) |
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Definition
| Convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies that convened in Philadelphia to craft a response to the Intolerable Acts. Delegates established Association, which called for a complete boycott of British goods. (137) |
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Term
| “Intolerable Acts” (1774) |
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Definition
| Series of punitive measures passed in retaliation for the Boston Tea Party, closing the Port of Boston, revoking a number of rights in the Massachusetts colonial charter, and expanding the Quartering Act to allow for the lodging of soldiers in private homes. In response, colonists convened the First Continental Congress and called for a complete boycott of British goods. (136) |
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Term
| Lexington and Concord, Battles of (April 1775) |
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Definition
| First battles of the Revolutionary War, fought outside of Boston. The colonial militia successfully defended their stores of munitions, forcing the British to retreat to Boston. (138) |
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Term
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Definition
| Economic theory that closely linked a nation’s political and military power to its bullion reserves. Mercantilists generally favored protectionism and colonial acquisition as means to increase exports. (127) |
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Term
| nonimportation agreements (1765 and after) |
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Definition
| Boycotts against British goods adopted in response to the Stamp Act and, later, the Townshend and Intolerable Acts. The agreements were the most effective form of protest against British policies in the colonies. (131) |
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Term
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Definition
| Required colonies to provide food and quarters for British troops. Many colonists resented the act, which they perceived as an encroachment on their rights. (129) |
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Term
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Definition
| Allowed the French residents of Québec to retain their traditional political and religious institutions, and extended the boundaries of the province southward to the Ohio River. Mistakenly perceived by the colonists to be part of Parliament’s response to the Boston Tea Party. (136) |
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Term
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Definition
| Eighteenth-century British political commentators who agitated against political corruption and emphasized the threat to liberty posed by arbitrary power. Their writings shaped American political thought and made colonists especially alert to encroachments on their rights. (127) |
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Term
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Definition
| Political theory of representative government, based on the principle of popular sovereignty, with a strong emphasis on liberty and civic virtue. Influential in eighteenth century American political thought, it stood as an alternative to monarchical rule. (126) |
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Term
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Definition
| Patriotic groups that played a central role in agitating against the Stamp Act and enforcing non-importation agreements. (See also Daughters of Liberty) (131) |
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Term
| Stamp Act Congress (1765) |
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Definition
| Assembly of delegates from nine colonies who met in New York City to draft a petition for the repeal of the Stamp Act. Helped ease sectional suspicions and promote intercolonial unity. (130) |
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Term
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Definition
| Widely-unpopular tax on an array of paper goods, repealed in 1766 after mass protests erupted across the colonies. Colonists developed the principle of “no taxation without representation” which questioned Parliament’s authority over the colonies and laid the foundation for future revolutionary claims. (129) |
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Term
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Definition
| Duty on imported sugar from the West Indies. It was the first tax levied on the colonists by the crown and was lowered substantially in response to widespread protests. (129) |
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Term
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Definition
| Non-importation agreement crafted during the First Continental Congress calling for the complete boycott of British goods. (138) |
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Term
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Definition
| External, or indirect, levies on glass, white lead, paper, paint and tea, the proceeds of which were used to pay colonial governors, who had previously been paid directly by colonial assemblies. Sparked another round of protests in the colonies. (132) |
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Term
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Definition
| Encampment where George Washington’s poorly-equipped army spent a wretched, freezing winter. Hundreds of men died and more than a thousand deserted. The plight of the starving, shivering soldiers reflected the main weakness of the American army–a lack of stable supplies and munitions. (143) |
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Term
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Definition
| Loose alliance of nonbelligerent naval powers, organized by Russia’s Catherine the Great, to protect neutral trading rights during the war for American independence. (161) |
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Term
| Bunker Hill, Battle of (June 1775) |
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Definition
| Fought on the outskirts of Boston, on Breed’s Hill, the battle ended in the colonial militia’s retreat, though at a heavy cost to the British. (147) |
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Term
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Definition
| Thomas Paine’s pamphlet urging the colonies to declare independence and establish a republican government. The widely-read pamphlet helped convince colonists to support the Revolution. (150) |
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Term
| Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776) |
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Definition
Formal pronouncement of independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson and approved by Congress. The declaration allowed Americans to appeal for foreign aid and served as an inspiration for later revolutionary movements worldwide. (151)
Formal pronouncement of independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson and approved by Congress. The declaration allowed Americans to appeal for foreign aid and served as an inspiration for later revolutionary movements worldwide. (151) |
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Term
| Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789) |
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Definition
| Declaration of rights adopted during the French Revolution. Modeled after the American Declaration of Independence. (152) |
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Term
| Fort Stanwix, Treaty of (1784) |
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Definition
| Treaty signed by the United States and the pro-British Iroquois granting Ohio country to the Americans. (164) |
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Term
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Definition
| German troops hired from their princes by George III to aid in putting down the colonial insurrection. This hardened the resolve of American colonists, who resented the use of paid foreign fighters. (148) |
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Term
| Long Island, Battle of (August 1776) |
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Definition
| Battle for the control of New York. British troops overwhelmed the colonial militias and retained control of the city for most of the war. This forced the American forces to retreat to Manhattan Island. (157) |
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Term
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Definition
| American colonists who opposed the Revolution and maintained their loyalty to the King; sometimes referred to as “Tories”. (156) |
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Term
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Definition
| Sample treaty drafted by the Continental Congress as a guide for American diplomats. Reflected the Americans’ desire to foster commercial partnerships rather than political or military entanglements. (160) |
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Term
| Olive Branch Petition (July 1775) |
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Definition
| Conciliatory measure adopted by the Continental Congress, professing American loyalty and seeking an end to the hostilities. King George rejected the petition and proclaimed the colonies in rebellion. (147) |
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Term
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Definition
| Peace treaty signed by Britain and the United States ending the Revolutionary War. The British formally recognized American independence and ceded territory east of the Mississippi while the Americans, in turn, promised to restore Loyalist property and repay debts to British creditors. (167) |
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Term
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Definition
| Colonists who supported the American Revolution; they were also known as “Whigs”. (156) |
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Term
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Definition
| Privately-owned armed ships authorized by Congress to prey on enemy shipping during the Revolutionary War. Privateers, more numerous than the tiny American Navy, inflicted heavy damages on British shippers. (165) |
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Term
| Saratoga, Battle of (October 1777) |
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Definition
| Decisive colonial victory in upstate New York, which helped secure French support for the Revolutionary cause. (160) |
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Term
| Second Continental Congress (1775-1781) |
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Definition
| Representative body of delegates from all thirteen colonies. Drafted the Declaration of Independence and managed the colonial war effort. (146) |
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Term
| Trenton, Battle of (December 1776) |
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Definition
| George Washington surprised and captured a garrison of sleeping German Hessians, raising the morale of his crestfallen army and setting the stage for his victory at Princeton a week later. (156) |
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Term
| Yorktown, Battle of (October 1781) |
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Definition
| George Washington, with the aid of the French Army, besieged Cornwallis at Yorktown, while the French naval fleet prevented British reinforcements from coming ashore. Cornwallis surrendered, dealing a heavy blow to the British war effort and paving the way for an eventual peace. (165) |
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