| A | B |
|---|
| Battle of Lexington | First fighting between redcoats and minutemen |
| Thomas Paine | Author of the best selling revolutionary pamphlet, Common Sense |
| Common Sense | Pamphlet that urges colonists to rebel against England. Written by Thomas Paine |
| France | Important because they supported the American Patriots against the English. |
| Treaty of Paris | Treaty that officially ended the war and set the new nation's boundaries. |
| Artciles of Confederation | First attempt by the states to govern themselves after winning the war. One of the few things the national government could do was declare war. |
| checks and balances | In this system there is a separation of powers among the branches of government |
| Federalists | Group that wanted a strong central government and supported the US Constitution. . |
| Antifederalists | Group that against the Constitution because it provided a strong central government but had no protections for individual liberties. |
| Bill of Rights | Added to the Constitution to protect individual liberties against a strong central government and encourage Antifederalists to ratify (vote) for the constitution |
| 9 states | The number of states that needed to vote for the Constitution so it would pass and become law. |
| Townshend Act | England placed a tax on glass, paper, lead, paper, paint and tea. |
| Stamp Act | English tax on all colonial papers. |
| Intolerable Acts | Closed Boston Harbor and placed Boston under martial law. |
| First Continental Congress | Formed in response to the Intolerable Acts. Where colonial delegates got together to discuss their response to English abuses. |
| Valley Forge | Continental Army camp where many soliders died from hunger and freezing temperatures. |
| Battle of Saratoga | Turning point of the war. American win that convinced France to sign an alliance with American patriots. |
| Mississippi River | The natural boundary that became the western most part of the new United States of America. |
| Great Compromise | Allowed that each state would have votes based on population in the House but in the Senate each state had only two votes regardless of population. |
| Battle of Trenton | First success of the Continental Army under the direction of George Washington. |
| Marquis de Lafayetee | French military commander whose arrival meant more reinforcement and inproved morale. |
| Shays Rebellion | 1,200 farmers march toward an arsenal protesting higher taxes. Significant because it showed the national government was helpless under the Articles of Confederation. |
| nullification | Legal right of any state to nullify or invalidate any federal law that they believe to be unconstitutional. |
| Alien and Sedition Acts | Federal government tries to stop freedom of the press. First use of the nullification process where states deem a federal law to be unconstitutional. |
| Olive Branch Petition | Sent by the colonists to King George with the hope that the "former harmony" between the two would return. It was rejected by the king. |
| Samuel Adams | Founder of the Sons of Liberty, a patriot resistance group against the redcoats and England. |
| Patrick Henry | Patriot who is most noted for his impassioned speech "I regret that I have but one life to give to my country" |
| Paul Revere | Engraved the scene from the Boston Massacre and also, one of the patriot riders who spread the message "the British are coming" at Lexington and Concord. |
| Yorktown | The last battle of the American Revolution and the site of the British surrender. |
| Egalitarianism | Belief in the equality of ALL people. |
| Declaration of Independence | Document sent by the colonial patriots declaring their indepedence from England and also all the reasons why. |
| "All men are created equal" | Found in the Declaration of Independence |
| Unalienable rights | Rights that cannot be taken away |
| "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness" | Found in the Declaration of Independence. Also, three unalienable rights of Americans. |
